Supernatural: Jus In Bello
(S03E12) There’s no way that Kripke and the team over at Supernatural HQ could have foreseen the strike, only completing 12 episodes, and an extended break after episode 12. Had they been able to do that though, it’s hard to imagine a better send off as we head into the break than what we saw in “Jus In Bello.” The return of Henricksen and the introduction of Lilith made for a great mid (3/4) season intermission.
Let’s get started with our old pal, Special Agent Victor Henricksen (Charles Malik Whitfield, The Guardian). I’ve been looking forward to his eventual return for some time now. I love the continuity of it all. It’s always good when shows pick up those lingering threads and pay them off. Equally important though, I really like the way that Henricksen interacts with the boys. He had some choice lines as he described them to the ill-fated Sheriff Dodd. In Henricksen’s world, Sam and Dean are Hannibal Lecter and his half-wit little brother, two Satan worshiping nutbag killers. I particularly liked Nancy’s (Aimee Garcia, Greetings From Tuscon!) reaction to that last bit. It went a long way to sell her character later in the show.
But I’ve gone and gotten this cart ahead of the horse now. We have to talk about how the boys found themselves at the feet of Henricksen. Lovely Bela. Increasingly, she is becoming the Lucy to Sam and Dean’s Charlie Brown. How many times will it take before they realize, “Yep, she’s going to pull the football away again!” I’m still operating under the assumption that at some point Bela is going to have a breakthrough of sorts and join the team. I just hope that at some point before that the boys get to take her down about 18 pegs, and really relish in that fact. She really has it coming.
Unlike Ruby, who does seem to be genuinely invested in helping Sam. To what ends? That’s still a little murky. I thought her plan for sacrificing the virgin and vaporizing every demon within a mile was an interesting twist, especially given that it would kill her as well. I have a little trouble with her conclusion that it would have ultimately been better than Dean’s mass exorcism gambit though. There’s no guarantee that Lilith just wouldn’t have shown up at the police station later and done the same thing. It was going to be a crappy outcome either way.
The real telling bit of it was the revelation to Dean that Sam had been keeping things from him. Just a little more tension that their relationship doesn’t need. We also got yet another look at the continuing flip-flopping of the boys morals as Sam was ready to go with Ruby’s plan while Dean was up in arms about not harming an innocent.
As to the siege itself, thumbs up all around from me. Henricksen being possessed was something I didn’t see coming. Director Groves (Peter DeLuise) was pretty obvious, but I figured that Henricksen would come around and realize that he needed Sam and Dean to help him get out of this jam when he came face to face with a couple of black eyed demons. As it all played out, I couldn’t help being reminded of the classic John Carpenter film, Assault on Precinct 13. Demons instead of gangs and Dean goes to the car for weapons and amulets instead of trying to hotwire it and go for help, but the basics are there.
Getting to the bigger picture, I’m still a little undecided on Lilith. I’m glad that they paid off the hints from earlier so quickly, especially given the upcoming break. And I thought Ruby revealing that the new big bad is a she, and she wants Sam’s intestines on a stick, was a great moment. The part I am undecided on is did it have to be a little girl? Maybe it’s just a holdover of my disappointment with Blade: The Series, but I got a distinctly Charlotte feel from that brief introduction. Ultimately, I’ll probably come around, but I’m not completely sold on little Lilith at this point.
The only other complaint I really have this week would be the death of Henricksen. Yeah, it sucked that Nancy died, but there was mileage to be gained for just how bad Lilith really is there. And I didn’t have any hopes or expectations that Nancy would be hanging around for a return engagement, unless it was maybe to do some celebrating in the back of the Impala. Henricksen on the other hand, he could have made for a great recurring character. We got the whole story of how he came to be a hunter right there. Given his speech to Dean before it all went down, it really looks like he would have fully committed to this new life. And wouldn’t a friendly connection in the FBI be a handy one to have? I guess we can take some small measure of solace in the fact that at least the boys did appear on the casualty list. When the news report came on my worry was that they were going to be fingered for another string of killings.
All things considered, another great episode. The flash-forward and the Oceanic Six have certainly breathed new life into Lost, and there is no way Supernatural is going to beat it in the ratings battle. For me though, Supernatural is in the middle of the best season for any returning show. Cross your fingers for that Saturn award.
So, that’ll do it for a bit. As of now, it looks like the boys will be back with four new episodes starting on April 24th. That means our season three arc is probably going to be a little rushed compared to what was planned going in. With four episodes to wrap things up though, it should work out just fine.
Uma Thurman Talks New Kill Bill Anime, The Whole Bloody Affair From Quentin Tarantino
It’s a slow Wednesday in 2008, so that must mean it’s time to grind the rumor mill yet again for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair DVD(s)! Uma Thurman teased MTV with news that Tarantino is currently working on a new anime to be included with the long-planned definitive edition of the director’s legendary magnum opus. Moreover, she says the complimentary anime segment(s) will not focus on her character Beatrix Kiddo aka The Bride, leaving speculation open that the new anime will revolve around Bill.
“Right now he’s putting the two films together with an intermission with an added anime sequence he had already written,” said Thurman. “So additional stories are in there, in animation.” She adds, “his anime stuff is strong.”
Of course, Thurman played it coy and left it at that, but she’s far less prone to spouting coolness to the press for the hell of it, so maybe KB: TWBA is on the way. Personally, I await the day when QT’s Inglorious Bastards, planned for 2010, starts production, but I’m curious to see what type of gluttonous “intermission” he has in store as well. Can you make perfect films more perfect I wonder?
SAW Marathon Screenings in Select Cities on October 25th
Lionsgate is running a SAW marathon in some cities on October 25th starting at 6:00pm. So if you want to see the whole Jigsaw series from the beginning, this may be your chance. I’m not sure exactly how this will be run, if there will be a break or intermission (I assume that will be the case), but it seems like a great idea. And SAW 4 will be shown at midnight, how great is that? I wish more movie franchises would do something like this.
When I met with Steven Spielberg last week, he was asked about the possibility of seeing the originally Indy trilogy on the big screen prior to Crystal Skull. And while, he wasn’t totally against the idea (he seemed excited about the possibility for a few seconds), he said he is concerned that a large scale rerelease would take the event type feeling away from the fourth film. He was worried that if people could go to the theater to see Indy on the big screen, Crystal Skull wouldn’t be as special. While I agree, I think Lionsgate is handling it right.
You buy one extremely overpriced ticket for the night before at 6:00pm, and get to watch the trilogy back-to-back. And then at midnight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I think if you did this in every major city, you could pack at least one theater for the whole eight hour marathon.
You can check your local area for SAW Marathon tickets on Fandango.com.
Steven Soderbergh’s Che Receives Major Response at Cannes, Palm d’Or Talk
Today, director Steven Soderbergh’s four hour subtitled Che Guevera biopic, Che (presented as two films entitled The Argentine and Guerilla) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Online, critical reception is already momentously loud and divided, in a “Here we go…” way. And as you might expect, the film(s)’s questionable commercial prospects and controversial depiction of the Argentine revolutionary, as played by an uncanny Benicio Del Toro, have some critics waiting it out and chatting about the terrible sandwiches given at intermission instead. However, Cinematical’s Kim Vonyar is incredibly stoked on both films and believes that Soderbergh is a lock for the festival’s top prize, the Palm d’Or…
“Consensus among many of the very smart people I know here at Cannes (well, except for Variety, apparently) is that Che will almost definitely win the Palm d’Or, and if Benecio del Toro doesn’t win the Best Actor Oscar come January, there’s something wrong with the world.”
Stunned by Soderbergh’s DV auteurism, Cinematical’s James Rochhi observed in the first full-length review around, that the biopics’ style, tone, character study and story choices are all open for heavy debate (umm, that’s cool, I agree with him), but says that Oscar talk for Del Toro is also certain. In summation, he proclaims…
“Bold, beautiful, bleak and brilliant, Che’s not just the story of a revolutionary; in many ways, it’s a revolution in and of itself.”
Put that in your pipe, eh? Sounds sweet. In his own way, Jeffrey Wells has stepped out as one of the first supporters/gushers of both films, calling The Argentine “brilliant” and Guerilla “killer.”
“[The Argentine] is what I’d hoped for and more. The tale is the tale, and it’s told straight and true. Benicio del Toro’s Guevara portrayal is, as expected, a flat-immersion that can’t be a “performance” as much as…I don’t know, some kind of knock-down ass-kick inhabiting. Being, not “acting.” No sentimentality, very straight. Oh, God…the second half is starting right now…”
Note the phrase, “it’s told straight and true,” because many historians, college students, Cubans, critics and Slashfilm readers (I’m predicting…) will inevitably take issue with Soderbergh’s decision on what to leave out and what to include from the man’s combative, violent life and ethos. Another reason why these subtitled films are a hard sell. Variety’s Anne Thompson [no linkage] doesn’t dive into the films’ politics, but she was nonetheless underwhelmed and glum. She believes the majority of the press on hand reacted similarly…
“‘A folly.’ ‘A mess.’ ‘Great.’ These words came from some of the critics coming out of Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour 18 minute Spanish-language Che Wednesday night. At the end there was slight applause; no boos. My own description: noble failure.”
She adds that “Benecio [sic] del Toro gives a great performance…” but she’s particularly down on the direction of the second film, Guerilla, saying, “Soderbergh isn’t interested in the things that compel moviegoers to engage with characters: drama, psychology, motivation. He doesn’t dwell on the relationship between Che and Castro. He doesn’t tell you how ‘Ernesto’ turned into ‘Che.’” This works against the frenetic industry buzz that Spoutblog has thoroughly documented; that site points out that the films are being pitched to buyers separately…
“Rumor has it that the second half of the story is currently in better shape than the first; it remains to be seen what would be lost if half of Che was demoted to straight-to-DVD.”
Please, let’s hope this doesn’t happen. I don’t think the Interwebs (or Che) could survive the weight of so many blog tears and life-hating, unedited diatribes. We’ve posted a new video clip from Che (The Argentine half) below. It doesn’t reveal much, but it gives you an idea of the camera work and Soderbergh’s depiction of jungle warfare. One thing is for sure, Che’s t-shirt posse won’t be going away anytime soon (feh!).