March 16, 2024
Blown Away (Season 4)
Created by Ron Carroll & Amy Hosking (2024)
Ten glassblowers walk into an already packed bar. Bartender yells “Ah, you’re kiln me!”
That’s close to the premise of this reality TV competition that’s pretty much perfected a formula for showcasing the mystifying artistry of glassblowers. 30-minute episodes and a lighthearted tone keep things grounded, allowing all sorts of zany artists to be authentic as they compete to live up to nebulous design prompts. No producer is reinventing the wheel here - a good thing - so the spotlight stays on the art and an artistic process that’s full of molten eye candy and “how did they do that?!” moments.
Sure the writing is weak, the hosts mostly flat, and the drama muted - but the reveals at the end of each episode somehow always land as an exciting rabbit out of the hat moment. Simply put, it’s fun and mindbending to see what can be done with glass.
September 3, 2023
Curb Your Enthusiasm (Seasons 2 & 3) (2001-2002)
Created by Larry David
Thought we could utilize nap time during our Labor Day Weekend by revisiting Larry’s neuroticism, now with the benefit of gotten married and having watched some Seinfeld together too. My hot take here is that the early seasons were the true greats, before the show became too big for its own good, overly contrived, and a kind of nepotistic fairground for known celebrities.
Back in the old days, it was Larry and Cheryl at its heart, and relatable shenanigans that just barely went over the top. I’ve seen these episodes so many times, but I have been cracking up hard on this pass. There are so many short subtle facial expressions, and clever camerawork nuances that accentuate the humor of every scene.
Mission Impossible (1996)
Directed by Brian De Palma
August 19, 2023
Revisited this recently due to an interest in catching the latest entry in theatres having also never seen any of the other sequels. I must have been just 9 or 10 when I saw this, so I was very curious to see how it would hold up. Well, De Palma nailed it, particularly due to cleverly framed shots and editing that keeps things moving without being jarring. Part heist film, part international spy movie, and even part whodunnit, he threads the needle between corny camp and sophisticated thriller. As with much of his other work, echoes of Hitchcock reverberate throughout - and to my delight, De Palma’s modernized take on The Master of Suspense’s oeuvre injects unsettling canted angles that perfectly reflect the striking moments of paranoia befalling the film’s hero.
Speaking of, Cruise is also crucial to the success here, playing to his strengths as Ethan Hunt, a man convincingly cocky in the face of danger. Aside from his fearlessness, Hunt is very much a blank canvas, making it easy for the viewer to project themselves into the double-crossing world of the film. Lacking the charisma of a Bond, Hunt succeeds in his relatability.
Surely the film aint perfect, but it succeeds on its own terms and is a fun international ride. Some of its twists feel contrived, particularly the aha!-it-was-me-in-a-mask-all-along gimmick, but at least the filmmakers committed to the schtick from the film’s get-go. And even these silly choices have charm couched in a nostalgia trip to a pre-9/11 world.
