Bloodline

Glenn Kessler / Todd Kessler / Daniel Zelman, 2015

IMDB

4/5

Bloodline is a very different piece of episodic television. We have now been spoiled by amazing pilots, episodes that completely pull us in upon first viewing. Many years after Lost (possibly the greatest pilot of all time), the standards are basically set and expectations are always high. Honestly, Bloodline's pilot isn't all that great. It's undeniably bold, you have to give it that. Not many writers have the balls to show the final events of the season in the first episode. That sort of tactic exudes confidence in the sense that you feel self-assured that everyone is going to stick with it waiting to see WHY what happened actually happened. And for a couple of episodes, you sit there wondering if you really did see all that you really needed to see. You decided to hang in there because of the veteran cast: Kyle Chandler, Ben Mendelsohn, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard. But then, there's a shift. It's actually hard to reflect on the season and determine when exactly this shift is, but it's somewhere around the fifth episode. The amount of character development in such a short period of time is stunning. You get pulled into the dysfunctional family dynamic and you don't want to leave. The series is so menacing and yet so alluring. The dream sequences, past memories constantly resurfacing in their present moments, talking to imaginary figures. All while trying to run a family business and dealing with the same conflicts that many families do in terms of competitiveness and jealousy. Anyone with siblings likely will identify with many of the conflicts that arise, hopefully without the whole murder and criminal elements at play. The series really serves as a coming out party for Ben Mendohlson who is just fantastic in his Danny character. But it doesn't stop with him, the series is perfectly cast. Not one bad performance. Everything is so well executed that by the conclusion of the first season you really don't want to leave the Rayburn Inn. And that's strange because you've spent enough time there by the 13th episode to realize how foreboding the place can be when you get off of the beach and venture inside.

The New Year

Brett Haley, 2010
 

3/5

Sunny (Trieste Kelly Dunn) drops out of college to return home to Pensacola to take care of her sick father. She gets a job a the local bowling alley and dates Tai Kwon Do instructor Neal (Kevin Wheatley). After reuniting with high school friend Isaac (Ryan Hunter), she becomes eager for a change in scenery.

There are a lot of Indie pictures that have a similar construct. High school buddies reuniting, underemployed at the embarrassing job, stale relationships. It's just a matter of its done well. Here it is done well. That's largely due to Trieste Kelly Dunn's performance as Sunny. Kelly Dunn possesses the physical qualities of Rebecca Gayheart combined with the quirky demeanor of Aubrey Plaza. Sunny is a complicated person. Shes interesting, because while she keeps a lot of her emotions locked away she is still quite expressive to those around her. Spontaneously eccentric like Ellen Page's character in Juno, but with more unpredictability. She returns to Florida, not exactly thrilled, to take her of her father after he is diagnosed with cancer. Her mother nowhere to be found, all that remains is photographs on the refrigerator door. Her father, who appears defeated by the disease, also bears a sense of guilt over keeping Sunny around but is clearly appreciative. There is no manipulation or guilt trips. You get a sense of good parenting on his part, because Sunny takes care of him on her own accord. She feels the weight of being his live-in nurse, but obviously doesn't want to waste whatever time she has left with him. Clearly someone who puts others first, she finally gets a taste of the outside world when she runs into Isaac. Isaac, amateur stand-up comedian, did what she wasn't able to do. He was able to take a risk and just leave Pensacola to see what was out there. Not really confident that his stand-up career will pan out, he can at least pat himself on the back for giving it a shot. Sunny feels the clock is ticking, and she can almost feel the roots growing.

The film is quite character-driven and they all have some colorful and comedic qualities. Sunny's best friend Amy (Linda Lee McBride) is a good example of the friend who settled into her hometown and grew roots. She's sort of the opposite of Sunny's character in the sense that she's very extroverted and attention-seeking. She's married to wannabe-G Bobby (David McElfresh), who barely speaks himself and lets her do all of the talking. There's something really funny about his character, still stuck in his high school thug persona. You have her boyfriend Neal who takes great pride in his martial arts school. He's a nice guy, and is good to her but doesn't have the same urge to leave Pensacola. She can see him doing the same thing ten years later and she doesn't want to look that far ahead. It's an accessible piece because it feels real, and that's all you really need. If you can get invested in Sunny's character, it's going to work for you.

The Queen of Versailles

Lauren Greenfield, 2012

3/5

Schadenfreude -  is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

This is a documentary that is basically a "riches to rags" tale. It follows the Siegels, a wealthy couple who at the beginning of the film are building a replica of the Palace of Versailles as a home, only to hit a rough patch with their wealth that comprimises the construction of their dream home. You don't feel sorry for the couple, and why would you? The house is a monstrocity, and they are an epitome of everything thats going wrong with our country. Jackie Siegel, the wife, at least has some compassion, some sense of generosity. The problem is her greedy naïveté overshadows these qualities. David Siegel is even worse. You see that he is nothing but an arrogant shell of a person. When things are going good he is a lukewarm, egotistical narcissist. As soon as the fortune begins to dwindle you see the real David appear. The douchiest of douches. They make you grateful for your status quo. They are not able to stop and smell the roses, because there are no roses. There is only a garage filled with unused bicycles from past Christmases, and endless white carpets covered in ignored dog feces. The half built construction site is a symbol of their empty souls. The best thing that could happen to these people is they lose everything and get brought down to the same level as the rest of humanity. The only praise I will give them is that they were willing to let the camera document so much over the course of two years, through what they considered difficult times for their family. As far as the filmmaking went, the structure itself seemed loose but there was noticeably impressive editing. Its no surprise that the Siegel's ended up filing a defamation suit against Greenfield after this film was released.