Movie Review - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) -  Nerdy musician Nick (Michael Cera) is in love with alpha girl Tris (Alexis Dziena).  Sadly for him they went out for 6 months, she cheated on him the whole time and then dumped him.  Nick is still mooning over her and sends her mix CDs of indie rock groups.  Tris dumps them where her frenemy Norah (Kat Dennings) finds them and loves the music.  Eventually Nick and Norah meet, go on a rescue mission for Norah's friend and find something special between themselves.

This is kind of a silly movie.  A warm, charming and rather innocent silly movie.  The cast is almost entirely folks you never heard of (John Cho of Harold and Kumar and the latest Star Trek series has a REALLY small role, Andy Samberg has an even smaller one.  They along with Cera and Dennings are probably it for the "known names" in this one) and the story is very intimate.  The characters are mostly stock but that's OK.  They're only needed to perform stock dialogue while the story of Nick and Norah works itself out.  (Have we reached the point where the supposedly-shallow-sassy-gay-friend-who-really-has-a-heart-of-gold has become a cliche?).  They aren't asked to be anything beyond what they are and the actors playing them have such fun with them that you can't help but carried along.  The screenwriter, Lorene Scafaria limits herself to a single gross out joke and manages to turn the novel into a fun little rom/com.

I expected the music to play more a central role to the story but it's really just a backdrop for the story to play out against.  I'm thinking the soundtrack is a fairish collection of 2008 Indie Rock.  I happened to see part of one of my favorite "music nerd" movies right after seeing this (John Cusack in "High Fidelity") and thought "Nick is Rob as an even younger man".

Don't ask it to be more than it is and you'll have a great time.

Rating - **** Recommended

Intellectual Terrorism, Media Bingeing, Well Excuse Me

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Monday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of September 23, 2013


My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Well Excuse Me                                                                                          

Let me start off by saying I have no delusions about the impact of my commentaries.  I know I have an audience among WRFA listeners because some of you have made the point of telling me you enjoy these programs.  And I know I have a small following of the blog that is connected to this show.  Just Google “The View From the Phlipside” and you’ll find it.  There you’ll not only find the scripts to each week’s programs but reviews of movies and books.

It’s that last fact that spurs today’s program.  I review movies and books because I love them.  My hope is that I can point folks in the direction of examples that they will enjoy, even help them choose from the enormous universe of these particular media.  Again, I have no illusions about what I do.  I do it because I enjoy it and because I’ve gotten some positive response from authors and publishers.

There’s a website called NetGalley that links up reviewers with publishers and vice versa.  You go on, fill out a bio sheet and then request titles.  Over the last year or so I’ve done about 8.

Last week I received a very politely worded e-mail from the folks at Viking Publishing telling me that I didn’t meet their standards as a reviewer and therefore they declined to offer me a copy of the book I’d requested.

For the record NetGalley deals in digital books, ebooks.  So there was no question about postage and handling and publishing costs and the like.

I’m not really angry about this rejection as much as I’m puzzled and bemused.  The cost of letting me review their book is effectively ZERO.  So from a cost to benefit basis it appears that Viking is saying my review has a negative value.  It’s just not worth anything to have me review the book.

In an age when legacy publishers like Viking are screaming about the future of their industry, when fewer people are reading, when ebooks are becoming the larger part of the publishing industry, when the Internet is becoming a bigger part of how all of us make decisions on what we buy will someone please explain to me how getting a review that costs you nothing and might just result in sales or word of mouth is worth nothing?

I’m not going to mention the book because I don’t want to punish the author.  But I think this is a case of the publisher being penny wise and pound foolish.

At least that’s the thought in this tiny and apparently unimportant little corner of the world.

Media Bingeing                                                                                     

Binge eating?  Bad thing.
Binge drinking? VERY bad thing.
Binge viewing?  That’s an interesting topic of conversation.

Have you come across this concept before?  Binge viewing is watching episode after episode after episode of a TV series or movie series.  You might call watching a marathon on one of the cable networks binge viewing.  You could certainly do it if you bought an entire season of a TV show on DVD or Blu-ray.  But binge viewing really took off with the advent of services like Netflix that allowed you access to not just episode after episode but season after season of TV series for a single low price.  You can just plug in and take off for an entire day.  No commercials, no disc changing.  It’s not a marathon, it’s a binge.

The dictionary defines binge as an unrestrained, immoderate period of self indulgence.  The words uncontrolled and excessive also appear in definitions.

So this is generally not associated with behaviors that should be a regular part of our lives.  See binge eating and binge drinking.

So what’s the down side on binge viewing?  Well there’s that whole circles-under-the-blank-staring-eyes-of-a-zombie look.  It’s followed by the inability to talk about anything else for days which is then followed by a complete collapse into catatonia as your brain attempts to go back to processing real life.  So there’s probably no real long run negative effects.

But I’d like to argue against making binge viewing a regular part of your media consumption.  There are things that you have to give up when you go on a binge.  That’s any opportunity to savor what you’re seeing.  If the show you’re watching is just eye candy, like Baywatch or Dancing With the Stars, then go for it.  Gorge yourself.

But for shows that offer some depth, some story telling, some deep characterization do yourself a favor and take a break.  After every episode or two stop and give yourself the chance to revel in the quality of what you’re seeing.  Letting the show appeal to more than just the short term rush of enjoyment.  It’s the difference between just getting high and full engagement with an experience at every level.

So when it comes to media bingeing it’s mostly about picking your spot.

Intellectual Terrorism                                                                                                     

This week, the week of September 22, is Banned Books Week.  Each year the American Library Association highlights the attempts around our nation to ban certain books from libraries, especially school libraries.  What kind of books?  Books like these, all of which appear on recent lists compiled by the ALA:
Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, The Kite Runner by Kaled Husseini, Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeliene L’Engle, the Goosebump series by RL Stine, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Hadden and just to fill out our irony quotient for the week Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  A book that is about book banning.

Banned Books Week is designed to celebrate our freedom to read.  The freedom to explore ideas, even odious ones.  Let me be clear about two concepts.  

First I believe that people that want to ban books, to limit other people’s access to books they believe are somehow “dangerous” are intellectual and cultural terrorists.  Having no faith in the strength of their own point of view to stand up to a challenge they try to insure the supremacy of that view by banning opposing ones.  It’s pretty much the same technique used in political spheres by bomb throwing terrorists.  And should be fought against with the same energy and determination we bring to the bomb throwers.

The other thing is that I think this protection should extend to all books.  The most odious, vile, evil book I can think of is called “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”.  It is a hoax created in Russia in 1903 that has been used for a century of violence and hatred aimed at Jewish populations worldwide.  There is not a micron of truth in this horrible book.
But it should not be banned.  Ideas need to be dragged into the light, to be examined, weighed and judged.  Only those who fear ideas want them hidden away.  Only those who do not trust humanity want to place blinders on their fellows.  Only those who can not compete in the market of thought will demand that theirs be the only thought permitted.

Pick up a book and read it.  Fight back against the terrorists of free thought and read a banned book.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Book Review - Inferno

Inferno by Dan Brown (2013) - Robert Langdon is back again using his knowledge of symbols to save the world.  This time it is the philosophy of Transhumanism, which believes that humans need to enter into the process of their own evolution, that stands at the center of the threat.  One genius has come up with own solution to saving humanity, one that may just involve the end of humanity itself.

Set mostly in Florence and Venice Brown puts Dante's "Inferno" as the key to unraveling the mystery in this novel.  History, current events and ancient symbols weave together once again as Brown takes the reader on an exciting ride to the end.

So my real question is this: why would anyone come within a hundred miles of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon?  Disaster follows this guy like a new puppy.  But then so do beautiful women so it's not a bad life I suppose.

This book has all the positive and negative qualities of the Langdon series from Brown.  It requires a slight warping of history sometimes and there are some logical flaws but on the whole Brown can tell a story.  If you're reading Brown for history (or theology) you should probably be careful.  If you're reading him to get a great flavor of those subjects plus have a rollicking good read then you're in the right place.  I will admit that it's great to have a hero that doesn't need guns or fisticuffs to save the world.  You just need to be smart and pay attention.

Decidedly better than the last (which I think is easily the weakest of the series) you'll have a great time reading the story then want to look up the history and finally go visit the places Brown has taken you in your imagination.  Can't think of much higher praise.

Rating - ****  Worth A Look

Movie review - The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days (2010) - A community college English professor decides to risk it all to break his wife our of prison.  She's been convicted of killing her boss but denies any guilt.  All the appeals have failed and she has attempted suicide he begins to plan a jail break.  The journey takes him to places he is utterly unprepared to survive.

This is a movie that I walked into prepared to love.  Shot in Pittsburgh with some incredible shots of my favorite city in the world.  Solid cast (Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson,  and a whole bunch of great supporting actors).  I can identify with a man who would do anything for the woman he loves.  This should be a movie that absolutely connects with me.

And somehow it never does.

The movie drops you into the middle of the action then bounces around for a while before settling into a linear groove.   The problem is that it's not quite clear what's going on at first (I assumed that the wife had killed her obnoxious sister in law at first rather than her boss) and you never really come to care about the characters. Curiously, the characters never seem to connect with each other either.  The husband/wife, mother/child, grownup child/adult parent, even the relationship with another parent, none of them feels connected, none of them make any sense.  Characters pop in and out at seemingly random points. The story wanders through the first half of the movie then picks up speed at a weird lurching tempo in the second half.

In the end a story that should have come together into a really nice adventure turns into something that just misses.

Rating - *** Worth A Look

The Cyrus Thing, What Makes Great TV? and New Reading Models

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Monday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of September 15, 2013


My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

New Reading Models                                                                                          

I have been a fair bit of traveling recently and that means my beloved Nook Color is getting a workout.  One of the advantages of an e-book reader is that I can carry around not only things I really want to read but also things that I think I probably will be interested in.  One of those is a very ebook kind of book called “Ebooks and Self Publishing - A Conversation Between Authors Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath”.  It’s actually the transcript of a live Google Docs discussion and for those of us interested in these kinds of things it is fascinating.  So imagine my joy when I got home and sat down to look for topics to find two ebook related stories waiting for me!

There are books that I would love to have on the Nook.  Roger Zelazny’s “Chronicles of Amber”, Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” trilogy, Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”.  Books that I love to reread every couple years.  The problem is that building a new digital library is a huge expense for books I already own.  Well the folks at Amazon are looking at solving that problem.  Their newly announced Kindle Matchbooks program allows you to buy Kindle versions of paper books that you have purchased from Amazon.  There are two really cool things about this.  First it will cover any book you’ve purchased at Amazon going back to 1995 (which just happens to be the year they were founded).  The other thing is price.  Most of the ebooks will be priced between 99 cents and 2.99, some may even be free.  Curiously this is exactly the price range that the two guys in that book I read feel is the sweet spot for ebook sales.  It’s an interesting concept that actually makes a logical connection between the old and the new.  The first thought that came to mind was the video combo packs that combine Blu-rays, DVDs and, wait for it, digital versions.
The other story I think has great potential for an old line media.  The folks at Barnes and Noble have entered into a deal with UWire to be able to offer college newspapers on Nooks.  What I really like is that it gets an audience that has effectively given up on newspapers to start thinking about newspapers on their readers.  If you can get the future leaders of the nation in the habit of turning to their e-readers to get the daily news it might translate into a potential future for the rest of the newspaper industry.  As per usual it is NOT the industry itself that has figured this out but the thinkers outside the industry.

Which is exactly what would have been predicted by those two guys in that book I was reading.

What Makes Great TV?                                                                                     

Here’s a question that could make us all rich if we can just come up with the answer.  What makes compelling television?  What I mean by that is what needs to be done to create the kind of television that people will really want to watch?  It’s also called “appointment television”.  In the old days, you know like 2010, before you could watch television shows on the internet, most TV was appointment TV.  People would plan to be home at such and such a time on such and such a night to catch a show.

There is still some of that.  Most recently were the final episodes of AMC’s show “Breaking Bad” are shows that will have the shows fans glued to their seats.  Sure you could record it and time shift the program but the reality is that no one wants to miss really good TV.  That’s the compelling part.  You want to be able to talk about the show.

Now there are two things we do know about making compelling television.  First, that some people are already doing it.  The second is that plenty of other people don’t have a clue.  These are the people who need our help.

Now most commonly there are two ways for people who don’t really get it to try and fake their way to compelling programming.  The first is get as racy as possible.  It’s tough if you’re working on network TV because of the FCC regulations.  We’re seeing more and more cable channels seeing how far they can go.  A recent NPR story said that AMC actually has a limit on the number of times the “f-bomb” can be said.  In the end does that really create “Must See TV”?  Only in the short run.  The problem with relying on shock is that after a while the audience gets used to it and it’s not shocking anymore.  “Breaking Bad” has certainly been shocking in its run.  At the same time it has also offered memorable characters and great storylines.

The other way that folks try to create that special TV is to re-make the hits.  Steal ideas, do spin-offs and sequels.  If you pick the right ideas or follow the right characters from one show to the next.  So it’s interesting to note that now that “Breaking Bad” is ending its run the producers have to try and create some new compelling programming.

What are they doing?  Creating a sequel.

The Cyrus Thing                                                                                                      

I was really hoping that I could avoid this whole thing.  It’s stupid, and pointless and very much a tempest in a teapot.  I don’t care that it was the lead story on news outlets that should have known better the morning after it took place.  The fact that it is still managing to be news is astounding.  What’s worse is that by actually taking notice of it here I’m actually becoming one of those people who keep it high profile.

But it just won’t go away.

What is it?  It’s the Miley Cyrus...you groaned right there, didn’t you?  I don’t blame you.  It’s a stupid story about a stupid act.  

The latest bump up for this stupid story is an equally stupid story in USA Today in an interview with dowager rock queen Cher.  In the interview itself she pretty much trashes Miley.  Not because it was bad taste, let’s face it that’s a subject that Cher has no standing on, but because she thought it was badly done.  Once the story was published there was the inevitable backlash and Cher sort of backed away from her comments.

And that’s really the unfortunate part in my opinion.  Cher DOES have standing to discuss outrageous female stage performance.  That is almost certainly why McNewspaper asked her the question.  Sadly what Cher retreated to a “she’s pushing the envelope, being an artist” stance that smacks of PR timidity.

If what Cyrus did was in fact art somehow, and you can count me among those who find that concept dubious at best, then it ought to be able to stand up to scrutiny by people with expertise in that area.  That’s part of the whole process and always has been.
So by backing away from her criticism Cher is pretty much telling us that she realizes it’s more about the outrage than the art.

Which is, of course, what most of the rest of us realize from the outset.  So how do we fight back against the onslaught of these nonsense stories?  Two ways I think.  The first is follow the path Cher took before she lost her nerve.  Treat it like art and then take it apart.  It will become obvious quickly to the vast majority of people that’s it not worth the time and effort.

The second way?  What I wish I could have done from the beginning.

Just ignore it.  The stories die without sunlight.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Book Review - More Forensics and Fiction

More Forensics and Fiction: Crime Writers Morbidly Curious Questions Expertly Answered by D.P. Lyle, M.D. (2012) -  D.P. Lyle has worked as a consultant to TV shows like "CSI Miami", "House" and "Law and Order".  He's also made quite a little cottage industry out of writing books about forensics science including a series of books where he answers questions he has received from authors doing research for their own books.  Dr. Lyle is quick to point out that he's not trying to help the bad guys but is just trying to keep things accurate in the world of fiction.

The questions can almost hysterically funny ("What injuries can result from depleted uranium bullets?", "Could my killer completely drain a human body of blood and make it appear as if a vampire were the culprit?") to the obscure ("How were comas treated in the 1500's?") to the painful ("How is a castration performed?").  The answers are fascinating in their detail and reasoning.

Not really bed time reading but great fun for people who love forensics or just enjoy learning strange stuff.

Rating - *** Worth A Look

Movie Review - Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup (2001) A retired Mexican American chef and the father of 3 adult daughters tries to find a way through life.  They are all looking for love and struggling with new directions.  Along they way they find their anchors in their family.

So what's the worst thing I can say about this movie?  It's utterly predictable.  Why not?  Ang Lee had already written the movie once before in "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman".  There's absolutely nothing that will surprise you in this movie.  Nothing.

What's the best thing I can say about this movie?  The cast is warm and wonderful and easy to like.  They are talented and carry forward a predictable story beautifully.  Kudos to Hector Elizondo, Elizabeth Pena, Raquel Welch and even Paul Rodriguez in a small role.  The whole cast does a nice job without much to work with.

Watch the movie for the cast. And to drool over the food.

Rating - *** Worth A Look