How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: They're Really Trying, But They Don't Quite Succeed

This week, I caught the Wednesday matinee of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Al Hirschfeld Theater after several months of wanting to check it out. To be perfectly honest, I was spurred less by a love for Broadway and more by a curiosity to see how Daniel Radcliffe did as a song-and-dance man. After all, I am part of the Harry Potter generation, and while I am by no means a die-hard Radcliffe fan, I have seen him in eight movies so I wanted to see him live on stage.

I think the following conversation - between the two old ladies sitting behind me during intermission - perfectly sums up the show:
Lady #1: "I saw the show 40 years ago, and I have to say I wasn't crazy about it then. I thought they would have updated it or something but it still feels very dated."
Lady #2: "Well I never saw it then, but yes it does seem a little dated. But that Radcliffe is doing well for himself for someone who can't dance or sing."
L1: "Oh yes, he's not that bad, and he's doing an American accent too, did you notice that?"
L2: "Yes, he's doing a good job. He must have a vocal coach. But I feel like the acoustics aren't that great - I'm not hearing everything very clearly. Or it could be that his voice is a little shrill."
L1: "Well he certainly owes his whole career to that JK Rowling. Did you watch those Harry Potter movies?"
L2: "No I didn't, what are they all about anyway? Does Radcliffe have much to do in them? Doesn't he just fly around - there can't be much dialogue."
L1: "Well yes he flies around, but there's a lot of dialogue too. It's just a fantasy series like those Twilight movies."
L2: "Oh I never watched the Twilight movies, I think the actor in them has very strange eyes."
L1: "You mean Robert Pattinson?"
L2: "Yes, I don't like looking at his eyes, that's why I didn't see the movies."

OK, so maybe I could have omitted the part about Pattinson's eyes (but why would I?), but there in a nutshell you have an accurate recap of this latest revival of How to Succeed. If I had to rate it out of five, I'd give it three stars. It was solid, but nothing much more than that, and like the ladies behind me said, the material felt way too dated. I saw Promises, Promises last year and while that was also set in the 60s, it felt classic but still relatable. How to Succeed feels much older, with several pop culture references that would have probably gone over great when it released in 1961, but are kind of wasted in 2011. At one point someone mentions that the company should get a major actress to represent them, "like Grace Kelly or Marilyn Monroe!" Both references are a bit jarring to a modern day audience who knows what happened to those ladies. There's also a snickering aside about Vassar that is based in the fact that Vassar is a women's college, which it no longer is. But aside from dated references, the whole story is also vastly stereotypical and predictable. From the musical number with a bunch of male executives declaring "A secretary is not a toy!" to the President of the company having an affair with a red-headed ex-cigar girl from the Copa, it all feels like a campy musical episode of Mad Men.

The saving grace is the cast. Radcliffe really is trying his best, and while his singing was definitely not great (putting on that 60s American accent made his romantic "Roooosemary!" and all other high notes become rather nasal) he definitely made up for it with surprisingly adept dance moves. And he was so apparently loving every minute on the stage and raring to go in every scene that you couldn't help but applaud him for it. Rosemary was played straightforwardly but sweetly by Rose Harrington, who sang beautifully and let us know what "Roooosemary!" ought to really sound like, Tammy Blanchard sashayed up and down the stage marvelously as the ginger-haired vixen Hedy LaRue, and Christopher Hanke puts in a snivelling and chuckle-worthy performance as the boss's nepotism-dependent nephew. And of course, there's John Laroquette (I was shocked to discover that this was his Broadway debut) who won a Tony for his role as the supremely goofy President of the company.

I also can't say enough about how gorgeous the show is to look at. The costumes are stupendous and fully worthy of 1960s fashion. And the set demonstrates the bewildering versatility of the Broadway stage, using every available inch of space to showcase different sets and fantastic dance numbers. Frankly that is my favorite part of a Broadway musical, watching a stage come alive in creative and unexpected ways, and I can forgive a lot just for the pleasure of that two and a half hours spent in suspended reality.

I do think the show will be more slick and worthwhile when Darren Criss takes over from Radcliffe for a few weeks in January, because Criss can actually sing and dance and might be just the shot in the arm that the show needs. But if all you want is to see Harry Potter ditch the glasses and fly around as a window-washer instead of a Quidditch player, you can't go wrong with buying a couple of cheap rush tickets and get some lessons in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. 

The Simpsons: Witty Musings on Publishers, Authors, YA, and Neil Gaiman

Two Sundays ago, The Simpsons aired an episode entitled The Book Job. I don't watch The Simpsons, but I watched this particular episode because one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, was guest-starring (or do you say voice-starring? Anyway.) and that made me curious. What followed was a well-observed, sharp, and poignantly hilarious look at the state of Young Adult novels, the tweens who fuel their popularity, the publishers who package them, and the authors who despairingly write them.

The episode kicks off with Lisa Simpson finding that the author of her favorite fantasy series is actually just a frontwoman for the publishing company that churns out the formulaic YA novels and markets them for huge profit. As Lisa mourns the discovery of this publishing corruption, her father Homer immediately sees an opportunity to make millions. Enlisting the help of Bart and trusty mercenary friends, they form a writing group to come up with a generic fantasy novel that will appeal to the adolescent masses. The show goes through every step of the writing and marketing, deftly poking fun at the entire process. While her father and brother have decided to take the low road, Lisa avows to predictably take the high road and fulfill her ambition of being a novelist. She is the one who will break the mold and write a bestseller all by herself. Brimming with good intentions, she sets out on her task, only to find procrastination and writer's block at every turn. Typing "Chapter 1" on the first day, she is quickly distracted by the fact that she needs music to write to, which leads to the need to first organize all her CDs in a logical system. Then she decides she needs a change of scenery, so she heads to the coffee shop, where she feels guilty about using their free Wi-fi without a purchase so ends up swilling coffee and getting nothing done in a brand new location. Ultimately, while Homer and his team complete their novel about high-school trolls (because the market is so saturated with vampires these days), Lisa is frustrated to find that all she has is "Chapter 1."

The plot takes a nice twist when Homer's gang discover that the publishers have completely re-written their novel to make it about vampires instead of trolls, since that appeals more to their demographic. What started out as a quick get-rich scheme has surprisingly turned into a collaborative labor of love, and the episode morphs into an Ocean's Eleven-style heist as the gang tries to rescue their book and preserve their (admittedly dubious) artistic dignity. Oh, and lest I forget, there's Neil Gaiman, who offers to help Homer with his book, but is relegated to being in charge of the catering. He has an evil genius twist at the end, slyly suggesting that his many bestsellers might be a product of publishing corruption as well.

This is an episode that got me interested in The Simpsons, and if you don't watch the show either, I suggest you give it a shot now. The episode will be up for a short time on Hulu (again non-US readers, I'm sure you'll find an ingenious alternative) and it is simply a wonderful 22-minute piece of comedy to enliven your day. Whether you are a longtime Simpsons fan or a complete novice, there's something in this episode for everybody. Especially if all you want to watch is a not so subtle indictment of the Twilight franchise in particular or the prevalence of vampires in general. 

Top Gear: A Car Show For People Who Don't Even Own a Car

Top Gear is another one of those fantastic British shows that teaches you that there is no real limitation to any genre. Ostensibly a show about three guys who love cars and spend an hour reviewing them, driving them, and salivating over them, the show is actually a comic masterpiece filled with stunts, jokes, silliness, Formula One drivers, bromances, and occasionally, some useful facts about cars.

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are the three presenters of this long-running show (currently in its 17th season after the spiffy relaunch in 2002) and they are simply mad about cars. These men can talk about chassis, the advantages of manual versus automatic, gearbox placement, engines, trunk sizes, and an endless array of automobile-related minutia for an enthusiastically long time. Then why does someone like me, who doesn't even own a car and hasn't driven one in almost two years, continue to watch Top Gear with endless fascination? Because. It's just that good.

The joy of this program really lies in the challenges. Every week, the show's producers come up with some of the most devious and ingenious challenges to throw at their presenters and what follows is a series of accidents, mishaps, minor explosions, and endless squabbles over whose car is the best. Especially fun is when the trio are whisked away to a foreign land and the show becomes more of a travelogue than a car show. Their drive across Botswana was epic, while their attempts to ride all the way through Vietnam on motorcycles was nothing short of heroic, considering Jeremy Clarkson's particular aversion to bikes. The design challenges are also ridiculous fun, like their multiple attempts to build an amphibious car that mostly resulted in a near-drowning in the Channel. Or the attempt to create an affordable good-looking electric car, which just got them stranded in Oxford as they tried to find some place to charge their woefully inadequate batteries.

Perhaps what makes this all more amusing is that these aren't suave twenty-something singletons with a need to impress girls and go off on adventures. Instead, these are three middle-aged, not very fit men (Jeremy's bad back is a constant annoyance if he lands in a car with poor suspension), who are nonetheless in it together, driven only by their passion for engines, wheels, and the open road. They fight a lot over who knows more about cars, and they all have very distinct personalities. Clarkson is the extremely un-PC, non-environmentalist, gas guzzler-loving one who yells "Power" as he roars past his colleagues, while May is the practical, scientific, and methodical one, who will usually be left behind in the dust. Hammond is somewhere in the middle, keen on speed and power, but also cognizant of comfort and stability. Together, they balance each other out, and present a united front to tackle whatever insane idea arrives from the fevered imagination of their producers.

The reason I am writing about Top Gear now is because BBC America just started airing the Top Gear Top 40, a series of the show's best challenges as voted on by the viewers. Top Gear itself is a lot of fun and I heartily endorse it. But as I have just discussed, the challenges are the main reason that I tune in, so this Top 40 series is like a condensed mass of Top Gear excellence. If you get BBC America and have yet to experience the wonders of Top Gear, I strongly urge you to find it on your cable line-up and start watching every Monday night. Who knows, you might even learn something about cars.

Dexter: Serial Killing as a Public Service

Last night's episode of Dexter ended on a twist that sharply reminded me of why I love this show so much. I was afraid I was slipping into a Dexter comfort zone, where I religiously watched every new episode each Sunday but didn't feel as tantalized or desperate to see what the next episode would hold. Well, now that has changed.

First, a little blurb on my history with the show. I discovered it in my senior year of college when I was in desperate need of a distraction from my thesis. The show had completed two seasons, and over the course of one week, I proceeded to watch all 24 episodes at a blinding pace. I concluded my Dexter marathon with a back-to-back viewing of the last 6 episodes of Season 2. At the end, I was extremely satisfied, although definitely over blood and gore for a while.

The show's premise is marvelous. Based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, the show follows Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department (yes, that is an actual job), who harbors a dark secret. He is a serial killer. He was adopted at the age of three by police officer Harry Morgan, who quickly discovered his son's "Dark Passenger" and taught him how to behave and blend in like any normal kid. Recognizing Dexter's mounting need to kill, Harry imparts to his son "The Code," a set of moral rules for serial killing. He teaches Dexter to investigate people who have gotten away with murder or other heinous crimes and kill them. He reasons that this will sate his son's desire to kill and rid the city of its more dangerous inhabitants. After Harry's death, Dexter continues to follow "The Code," and his job with the Police Department gives him ample access to tracking criminals and investigating potential leads. And as each season unfolds, Dexter is faced with tracking down serial killers who are terrorizing Miami and need to be punished by his scalpel.

I will maintain that Season 1 of Dexter is a contender for the most superbly crafted 12 episodes you will ever see on TV. The season told us everything we needed to know about Dexter's background, the origins of his psychopathic tendencies, and featured twist after twist in every episode. The next 2 seasons were fine, and then John Lithgow brought a whole new level of malevolence as the Trinity Killer in Season 4, whose final kill was the a season-ending twist that changed the landscape of the entire series. Last year's season, guest- starring Julia Stiles was great, but seemed slightly more rote. After all, there's only so much serial killing you can take before you start wanting more suspenseful plot developments. And that brings us to the current Season 6.

The overarching villain this year is the Doomsday Killer (DDK), a man who has begun killing people and placing them in elaborately constructed tableaux to prophesize the coming End of Days. DDK is a Bible-devouring ex-college professor James Gellar (played with fanatic creepiness by Edward James Olmos) and he has enlisted a submissive and impressionable former student Travis Marshall (played with tortured intensity by the always stellar Colin Hanks) to help him in his mission. Dexter has been tracking them, and after turning the murder-free Travis over to the good side, he is seeking to kill Professor Gellar. Last night was the showdown, when Dexter came face-to-face with his prey. And therein lies the twist that I will not tell you about. Because any self-respecting TV enthusiast needs to just rent this season of Dexter and find out what happened themselves. Needless to say it was pretty phenomenal and I simply cannot wait to see what happens in the last few episodes of the season.

Obviously Dexter is a dark and gory show, but it also finds a surprising amount of humor in its bleak material. Last night, Debra Morgan (Dexter's sister, who is a police Lieutenant) was talking to her new therapist and proceeded to list a series of horrific events that had happened to her, culminating with the fact that earlier that day she was doused in a bucket of blood courtesy of DDK. Horrified, her therapist's response is, "Do you think we should meet  more than once a week?" The show consistently mines both the humor and the drama in Dexter's peculiar life, and frankly it is just a marvel to have a show in which the audience is firmly rooting for a serial killer. Full credit to Michael C. Hall, the actor who has imbued Dexter Morgan with such likability and logic in the face of his demons that you start despairing every time he's in danger of being caught.

Dexter is a perfect example of the daring programming on cable TV and has consistently gone from strength to strength in every season. They make impeccable use of their guest stars, feature an unimaginably talented cast, and come up with crazy stories and characters that are still somehow believable. So if you haven't already, give Dexter a try. Serial killing is much more entertaining than you could have imagined. 

Spoiled: Fug Girls + Young Adult Lit = A Crackling Read

I picked up Spoiled from the library on Saturday and less than 24 hours later, I finished reading it. No, I am not boasting about speed reading skills here, I am merely stating that this book is one hell of a page-turner, continuing in the trend of great Young Adult literature that people of any age can enjoy.

Here's a rough synopsis: Laurel Dix has cancer and on her deathbed tells her 16-year old daughter, Molly, that her father (who she thought was a dead soldier) is actually Brick Berlin, world-famous movie star and Hollywood heartthrob. Laurel decided that Molly was better off with her in Indiana, safe from the glare and superficiality of Hollywood so she never told Molly the truth. However, once Laurel dies, Brick swoops in and asks Molly to move in with him and his daughter Brooke. Uncertain about her future, but not willing to give up on the only parent she has left, Molly decides to take the plunge and move to Los Angeles. Hilarity and teenage drama a la Mean Girls ensues.

The novel is the debut of co-authors Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, more popularly known as the Fug Girls who write the hilarious GoFugYourself blog where they dissect celebrity fashion lowlights and highlights. As such, the novel is full of sharp insights into the bizarre LA celebrity lifestyle, replete with hot yoga sessions, screaming paparazzi, discussions of colon cleanses, frenzied carb counting, and of course, heaps of shopping and high fashion. At first Molly is awestruck by LA and how everything seems orders of magnitude larger than her life in Indiana. Unbeknownst to her, however, her newly-discovered half-sister Brooke is not pleased that Molly has arrived just in time to crash her Sweet Sixteen party and is determined to leak stories of intoxication, bad behavior, and anything else that will make Molly a complete PR nightmare. Her father, Brick Berlin, is your average superstar, alternating between quoting Zen-like rules for healthy lifestyle choices and stress-free living and then barking orders into his myriad phones and running off every day to work on writing, producing, directing, and starring in various blockbusters.

Between these two characters, Molly is the bewildered but sensible one, trying to get over her mother's recent death while also trying to find some time to fit in with this new family. She quickly discovers that Brooke has launched a personal vendetta against her, learns where she falls in her new school's social strata (answer: not very high) and has to figure out if this life is really going to work out. Along the way she meets new friends, some who will support her, others who will stab her in the back. It's nothing you haven't seen before, but the story is executed with flair, making it an absolute delight to read. Cocks & Morgan have honed their celebrity-mocking skills for years on their blog now, and the novel is filled with amazing one-liners and throw-away references that come at you at an alarming rate. At one point a character's nerves are described as being "as frayed as a pair of tights on Taylor Momsen." Somewhere else, Brick proffers conservative wardrobe advice: "I don't trust people who don't wear pants...Our thighs should be our greatest mystery." When Brooke does something admirable at school, a jock starts a slow clap leading to a cheering hallway of students who are "straight out of one of those terrible teen movies that are also secretly awesome."

All of these references keep you on your pop culture toes, and when Brooke finally sides with Molly on something, she reasons that "blood was thicker than smartwater, wasn't it?" You just chuckle at these people who do have depth and a rich inner life but yet can be incredibly vapid at the same time. Like most teenage heroines, Molly and Brooke are not perfect, but they aren't idiots either, and they stumble their way to a deeper understanding of each other's insecurities and strengths. And most importantly, they understand what it means to be sisters after having spent sixteen years apart in two very different worlds. As you follow their squabbles, varied misunderstandings, and changing family dynamics, you get wholly invested in these characters and as annoying as they can be at times, you can't help but hope they find a way to work things out. Ultimately the epilogue arrives far too soon, because Spoiled tells one of those stories that are not-so-secretly awesome.

The Muppets: Let Them Teach You About Life

Since I left the theater this afternoon, I have been humming "Life's a Happy Song" nonstop. The theme song of the new Muppets movie, it is catchy, simple, funny, wise, and just plain happy to sing along to. And all those descriptors can be applied to the movie as a whole.

A passion project for co-writer, producer, and star Jason Segel, his sheer love for The Muppets comes bursting through in every scene. The plot is straightforward: Gary (the lovable Muppet-like Segel) and his brother Walter (a new Muppet created for this film) are two close siblings who share a love for The Muppet Show. When Gary decides to take his steady girlfriend of 10 years, Mary (the always delightful Amy Adams) to Los Angeles for their anniversary, he also brings Walter along so that they can take a tour of the hallowed Muppet Studios. However, when they arrive, the place is deserted and falling into disrepair. It turns out that a rich oil tycoon, Tex Richman (played with evident relish by Chris Cooper who does a great "maniacal laugh") is going to buy the studio when the lease expires in two weeks, and though he claims he will turn the studio into a Muppet Museum, Walter overhears him in secret conference with his henchmen hatching a scheme to demolish the studio and drill for oil. Horrified, Walter enlists Gary and Mary's help to find Kermit and the other Muppets so that they can save the studio from this terrible fate.

What follows is a series of introductions to these beloved characters (either in separate plot elements or as one glorious montage), a trip to Paris by map, and the decision to put on a Muppet telethon to raise the $10 million necessary to save the studio from the evil oil tycoon. As these plans go underway, there are plenty of songs, both silly and sweet courtesy of musical supervisor Bret MacKenzie, who you may know as one half of the New Zealand-based Flight of the Conchords comedy music duo. That background served him well in writing some fantastic songs for The Muppets and this wonderful New York Times article details his work as well as featuring a duet between McKenzie and Kermit. Along with the songs, there are multiple celebrity cameos that will shock and surprise you and induce a chuckle all on their own. And there are several joking references that break the fourth wall and remind you that this is a silly, joyful endeavor meant to appeal to the adults who have grown up with the Muppets and the children who have no idea who the Muppets are.

I would put myself in the latter category. I never watched The Muppet Show, never saw the Muppet movies, and aside from a love for the Mahna Mahna song (who doesn't love this song?), I didn't really think I cared much about the Muppets at all. But this movie changed all of that. It is filled with nostalgia, looking back at a time when some pieces of felt operated by genius puppeteers could enthrall audiences and keep millions entertained. At one point in this film, the Muppets are told that the world is now a "hard and cynical place," and their act has no place in it. But as these indomitable Muppets go on to show, there is still plenty of room in this world for chickens that cluck their way through Cee-Lo's "F- You,"  a barbershop quartet rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and of course, a frog with a banjo singing "Rainbow Connection." This mix of the old with the new proves that the Muppets are just as relevant now as they were so many years ago, and more than that, they are necessary. The world might be more hard and cynical now, but as long as you have the Muppets, you are reminded that, "Life's a happy song when there's someone by your side to sing along."

Adele Live At Royal Albert Hall: Setting Fire to the Stage

Through a bout of fortuitous link-clinking on Twitter two weeks ago, I found myself on Adele's official website and discovered the chance to enter my name for a free screening of her performance at Royal Albert Hall. The concert took place a few months ago but a DVD of the performance is being released on November 29th, so a series of screenings were arranged in different cities across the world. Crossing my fingers, I put my name in, and hey presto! was contacted 48 hours later to let me know that I could show up at the Angelika Cinema on the 16th and catch the show.

Now going to a movie theater to watch a DVD of a concert seems like an odd arrangement (one that certainly confused my friend Lucy who was my +1 for the screening) but come on. It's Adele. If I can spend hours watching her sing songs on Youtube, I can certainly traipse down to the Angelika to watch her on the big screen with speakers blaring that big beautiful voice at me from all sides. And sure enough, this screening did not disappoint.

The concert is a 90-minute masterpiece that shows you just how many amazing songs she has in her repertoire despite only having two albums out. Quite frankly I'd be hard pressed to name a single song on either of her albums that is not superb, and this concert features only the most superlative songs of the bunch along with some truly inspired covers. The concert opens with "Hometown Glory," one of my especial favorites, and from that opening piano melody and luscious verse onward, I was transfixed. The songs keep on coming, the sad ones, the happy ones, ones requiring multiple violinists or a banjo player, other requiring just the sublime piano accompaniment from Miles Robertson. Throughout Adele's voice is in fine album-quality form, delivering the goods almost effortlessly. But what makes this concert truly enjoyable is what goes on in between the songs.

Adele is a charming, warm lady, who wants the cavernous Royal Albert Hall to feel like an intimate gathering among friends, so she tells stories (with some merrily R-rated language), introduces her best friends, gives us the background on many of the songs on her album, and basically lays her life bare. The most telling part is when she mentions that she is now friends with her ex, the infamous cause of the break-up that resulted in the mesmerizing songs on her latest album, 21. Some members of the audience boo at this news, and Adele laughs and chides them, saying that she thinks it's good that they've made up and can share the success of the album that was born out of their miserable relationship. She is quick to note that although the album portrays her as the hapless victim, she gave as good as she got and was equally to blame for the relationship's demise. The whole concert is filled with moments like this, serious discussions of her personal life, combined with hilarious anecdotes and the famous Adele cackle. Hearing her talk is such a different experience from hearing her sing, but it only makes you appreciate her as an artist even more. She is clearly invested in every one of these songs and their personal connection to her is what makes them soar.

This is a DVD that any Adele fan should have. This is a DVD that any fan of simply great music should have.  You can watch the trailer here and get an idea of what to expect. There are plenty of uplifting and tear-jerking moments, notably her "Make You Feel My Love" tribute to Amy Winehouse, which make this concert not just a musical journey but an emotional one. And even if you can't or won't buy the DVD, I will leave you with two videos that showcase Adele's otherworldly talent. The first is her famous performance of "Someone Like You" at the Brit Awards this February. The video has 69 million hits on YouTube - about 500 of those just from me - so chances are you've seen it already. This performance highlights what is so perfect about any Adele song. Her voice has so much power and feeling in it that a piano is all the accompaniment she needs to silence a crowd and let the magic happen. The other video I love is her Tiny Desk concert for NPR Music. Crammed into a small room with just a piano and a guitar, she goes through three songs, chatting away in between them, and being her simply astonishing self. It doesn't matter if she's in a packed auditorium or a small office in NPR. That voice cannot be contained. 

J. Edgar: Peeling Away the Layers of a Fascinating Life

Clint Eastwood's latest directorial feature is a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover, the man who created the Federal Bureau of Investigation and remained as its director under 8 different Presidents until his death in 1972. This is a long amount of time to cover, but Dustin Lance Black's script weaves effortlessly between time periods and episodes, building up a portrait of this enigmatic man and his startling career.

Playing Hoover is Leonardo DiCaprio, who simply melts into the role. His voice is different (there's a stray DiCaprio inflection at times, which only serves to remind you of how hard that odd accent is to pull off), while the make-up and extra pounds of prostheses make him far removed from the pretty-boy image of his Titanic days. He is clearly in the running for another Oscar nomination here, and judging from the films I've seen so far this year, he's a definite contender. The performance is reminiscent of his work in The Aviator, the biopic of Howard Hawkes. Both characters were from the same time period, and were famously eccentric men, but while Hawkes' excesses were those of a millionaire with a passion for airplanes, films, and starlets, Hoover's excesses are far more intellectual. And as such, I find this performance to be slightly more compelling. DiCaprio has to emote all he can (a hard task given the layers of make-up on his face at varying points in the film) in order to give us a glimpse of the inner workings of this famous man that we know so little about. His only confidants are his personal secretary, Helen Gandy (a woman whose only ambition is work, not marriage, and is portrayed wonderfully by Naomi Watts) and his deputy director, Clyde Tolson. Tolson is played masterfully by Armie Hammer, who I think deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination solely for the way he portrays the elderly Tolson when he is recovering from a stroke. Unlike DiCaprio, I found Hammer's make-up as an old man somewhat less convincing, but after watching his mannerisms and the weariness of his gait, I quickly suspended my disbelief. The man can act and he holds his own against the established talents of Watts and DiCaprio.

The relationship between Hoover and Tolson has been rife with speculation, and this film decides to take the middle ground - the two men do love each other, but the relationship never goes beyond one violent kiss. They stand by each other through thick and thin until Hoover's death, rarely even missing a meal together. Similarly, Helen Gandy is unfailingly by Hoover's side, the only one he trusts to handle his confidential files bearing secrets about the powerful and influential people of the time. He tasks her to destroy these files immediately upon news of his death so that President Nixon cannot get to them, a task that she duly carries out at the end of the film. All of these events are guesswork, there's no concrete proof to establish the truth of the conversations these three people had and how they felt about each other. But it is true that they spent their lives together and shared an implicit trust that no one else in the FBI was privy to. The film merely tries to give us one version of an unknowable story, and in so doing, lends some heart and emotion to the tale. Aside from this trio, Hoover's relationship with his mother (Judi Dench, stealing the show as always) explains many of his tics and hang-ups, why he speaks so fast, why he likes things and people a certain way, and in one powerful scene, shows us the possible origins of Hoover's alleged cross-dressing.

Apart from the speculative scenes, there are several depictions of key moments in the 20th century that will pique the interest of any enthusiast of American history. We see how Hoover and the FBI had to roust out communists and anarchists, arrest violent gangsters like John Dillinger, institute new laws, investigate the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, and establish scientific investigative techniques and a central fingerprinting database. In fact, Hoover seems to have cemented the methodical and rigorous approach to crime solving and CSI that has shaped our current view of proper police procedure. Any cinephile will perk up at the mention of Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, or Dorothy Lamour, and enjoy the screening of Jimmy Cagney movies that alternately portray the FBI in an unfavorable and then glowing light. Even though the film is chronicling the life of this one man, it also chronicles the ever-changing United States and does so with a flair and attention to detail that is characteristic of Eastwood's movies.

From the very look and feel of the sets, to the costumes, make-up, and lighting, everything immerses you in the world of J. Edgar Hoover. Eastwood is an efficient director - his scenes are crisp and succinct, and the pacing keeps you on your toes. As you go back and forth between time periods, you are mesmerized by the sheer volume of information that is handled so effortlessly and nothing feels wasted or superfluous. I never knew much about Hoover, but after watching this movie, I came away wanting to read more about him and see if I could sort out what elements of the film were fact and which were fiction. Any biopic that can inspire this kind of interest in its subject has clearly done something right. 

Moneyball: Not Your Usual Underdog Story

Moneyball, the 2011 film adaptation of the 2003 Michael Lewis book, is an interesting idea for an American sports movie. It is the real-life story of Billy Beane, the General Manager of the struggling Oakland Athletic's baseball team in 2001 after they lost some major players and didn't seem like they would ever make a success of themselves. The problem was money - baseball is an inherently unfair sport, where big teams like the Yankees have all the money to buy themselves the best players, while smaller teams like the Oakland A's are caught in a downward spiral of low budgets and no-name players. However, all this changed when Beane decided to put his faith completely in sabermetrics, the use of purely objective data and statistics to analyze a player's worth. With this approach, he built a team of unknowns and players that nobody else wanted, and managed to create a machine that went on a 20-game consecutive winning streak, an American League record.

All this reads like your typical underdog sports story, and the film spends the majority of its 2-hour running time chronicling the slow but steady ascent of the Oakland A's during that season. The climax is the 20th game, when it looks like the A's won't make a record winning streak after all, but then a last-minute home run saves them. This is a twist that would seem unbearably cheesy if it wasn't for the fact that the game really did play out that way in 2002. It's a heart-pounding, anxiety-ridden event, played up with the requisite silence as you see the ball soar away and then the cheers of the crowd when they realize what has happened. All of this makes you, the audience member, cheer and shout as well, celebrating the triumph of the little guy.

But, the story doesn't end there. Yes, the A's did manage to defy the baseball world and all the commentators who said that a team based solely on player statistics could never succeed in the game. Unfortunately, despite their record winning streak, they didn't manage to win the games that counted and as of 2011, have yet to ever make it to the World Series. Which is a strange way to end a film that is ostensibly about beating the odds.

A word on the acting (this is a movie after all) - Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, and while he's doing his usual Brad Pitt shtick, it works just fine. He is a thwarted player, who gave up a scholarship to Stanford to play for the Mets right out of high school, and life hasn't exactly worked out according to plan. You feel for him when you see flashbacks of his dashed ambitions, but his passion for the sport is evident, most of all at the very end of the movie when you find out that Beane turned down the chance to be the highest paid general manager ever for the Red Sox in order to stay with the A's. Jonah Hill plays Peter Brand, the stats whiz with a degree in Economics from Yale, whose equations and computer programming let him evaluate all the available players and hunt for the best bargains. You know when you complained about learning algebra or calculus in high school and your parents insisted that it would all be relevant in the real world? Well Peter Brand is the character your parents were talking about, as he geeks out on complex statistics to create a blockbuster sports franchise. Philip Seymour Hoffman does a turn as the team manager who stridently opposes this newfangled approach to baseball, while the team is nicely rounded out by a bunch of supporting actors (notably Chris Pratt of Parks & Recreation fame) who valiantly do their bit and give the film plenty of heart.

The nitty-gritty details of strategically playing the game went whooshing past my head as I know nothing about baseball. However, the actors do a great job of making you root for these characters, and even though the statistics and terminology were a jumble of nonsense as far as I was concerned, I didn't care because I just wanted everything to work out. That's the hallmark of a good sports film: it has the ability to get you invested in the team, even if you know nothing about the sport. When the A's win those 20 games, you are elated, but when they lose the important match against the Minnesota Twins, you groan, wishing that real life didn't have to be so disappointing.

Hollywood tends to insist on grand sports movies that end on a positive note of unparalleled success. And that is what makes Moneyball a refreshing twist on the classic Hollywood sports movie. It embraces reality and the fact that you can't always hit that game-clinching home run when it counts. Instead, it is a loving ode to the game of baseball and the fact that you have to take chances if you want to get ahead. As Billy Beane claims towards the end of the movie, "You can't help but be romantic about baseball." That's the kind of poetic worldview that keeps an underdog going. 

Life's Too Short: Ewoks, Goblins, and Leprechauns, Oh My!

Hello again, dear readers! This is not an attempt at procrastination - I completed NaNoWriMo yesterday with 12 days to spare so can now resume blogging about miscellanea and start to get into the swing of the impending Oscar movie glut. I've been too exhausted to blog this month since writing 50,000 words in 18 days understandably took up all my writing abilities, but I did indulge in a lot of pop culture distractions during those 18 days to keep me sane, so you can expect a steady stream of posts about some of the books, movies, TV, and music I discovered.

To kick things off, I have to bring your attention to Life's Too Short, the latest TV offering from the dream team of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the men responsible for giving us The Office and Extras. I just watched the first episode today, and it is just as brilliant and inventive as any of their previous work. The show is centered around Warwick Davis, the dwarf actor who I know best from his roles as Professor Flitwick and Griphook the Gringotts goblin in the Harry Potter movies, but who started his career playing an Ewok in Return of the Jedi. Faced with a dearth of acting roles and in the process of getting a divorce from his wife, he decides to join the legions of minor celebrities who allow their every move to be filmed, in a hope that a documentary about his life will garner him greater exposure and get the phone ringing again. Warwick also runs an agency called "Dwarves for Hire," where he represents a multitude of dwarf actors.  In the first episode, he decides to go to Ricky and Stephen, who once cast him in an episode of Extras, hoping that they might consider casting him in another series or movie. They clearly find him to be a nuisance but can't seem to get him off their back. 

This is the first Gervais & Merchant show that doesn't have Ricky playing the central character. Instead, the spotlight is completely on the amazing Davis, who plays a stereotypical smug, egotistical celebrity, with the added inconvenience of being only 3 foot 6. The show combines the mockumentary style of The Office, with the behind-the-scenes look at the ridiculousness of the film industry that was featured in Extras. Like Extras, the show promises to be rife with celebrity cameos, and these are a real highlight of the show. This is an opinion that is based solely on Liam Neeson's fantastic five-minute cameo in the first episode. He barges into Ricky and Stephen's office while they are in conference with Warwick and tries to get some advice about doing more work in comedy. He wants to create a stand-up act, a fact that is met with polite incredulity by everyone present in the room. He decides to engage Ricky in an improv sketch and the situation quickly becomes fraught with that characteristic blend of awful awkwardness and humor that made The Office and Extras so memorable. Later episodes will feature people like Johnny Depp and Sienna Miller, and I dearly hope they fully embrace the self-parodying perfection that Neeson has introduced. 

Warwick Davis is a commanding presence on screen, and I am really looking forward to seeing what heights he scales and what depths he sinks to as the series progresses. Mainstream shows never seem to prominently feature dwarf actors (notable exception being Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones) and their stories are rarely told without a heavy serving of "little person" stereotype, so it is refreshing to see a series that is centered around a dwarf actor who is every bit as narcissistic and insane as the celebrities featured in Extras. Only, he faces slightly different challenges when seeking film roles, and I dare you not to laugh when you hear Warwick talking on the phone to someone who wants to hire some people from his acting agency. Upon hearing that this person wants to hire seven actors to play leprechauns, Warwick interjects, "Seven makes people think of dwarves, if they're supposed to be leprechauns I'd tend to go with either six or eight." With lines like that, you can't help but feel that Gervais and Merchant have yet another hit on their hands.