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snicketsleuth · 6 years

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Slackin’ with the Sleuth: reviewing Netflix’s “The Vile Village”

After two sluggish double-episodes, we are now headed to the three best two-parters of the second season, nay, of the entire show until now. Today, we’re going to talk about direction. “A Series of Unfortunate Events” has suffered not only from being overwritten, but also from being under-directed. Not an unfortunate consequence of the original writer being involved in the production of the television series, but rather of the other writers not controlling him enough. Episodes written by Daniel Handler get a bad rep amongst the fandom, but from their structure it’s pretty clear that he was more than willing to change his own outlines and listen to the contributions of other people. That being said, it’s hard to criticize the guy who came up with the work you’re supposed to adapt. Which is why episodes written by other people and peer-reviewed by Handler tend to fare better, as his role is to remind everyone of what made the story so successful in the first place.

We’ll see how this contributed to the improvement in direction in the latter half of Season 2. Most of it comes from the production team finally treating the series not only as an adaptation, but also as its own cinematic work. Let’s determine why below the cut.

DISCLAIMER (NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REVIEW):

I missed you guys, it’s been a while.

I apologize for abandoning the blog for so long, to the point that some of you people started worrying about me. I do appreciate the concern, so thank you. Most of my absence can simply be explained away by the many hours I’ve had to put into my day job. This has led to difficult choices regarding my hobbies and extra-work activities, writing for this blog being one of them. Truth be told, I don’t feel this blog fulfils as interesting a purpose as it did before. I’ve already talked about most book theories I cared about, and the books have been discussed to death at that point. As to other types of analyses, there are plenty of talented people on Tumblr who do it as well as me, so I didn’t feel the need to add much to the debate. But I’ve had time to think about plenty of Snicket-related topics during my absence, so no, the blog isn’t dead, just… much less active as it was a few years back. Stay tuned for more, my love for the books and their associated material is very much alive and kicking.

With all due respect (and affection) for our community, your duly devoted Sleuth.

This is the most atmospheric episode to date, and a beautiful one at that. While episodes of the first season certainly had their ambiance, most of it came from the introduction of new musical themes. The second season tries to bring the direction to the next level by fashioning each double-episode after a certain genre, which influences the entire aesthetic of the piece from its writing, colors and camera work. This is perfectly in line with the tone of the original series: each book focuses on a vivid and peculiar location which becomes a character in and of itself, and also parodies specific literary tropes. In keeping with this tradition, the televised version of “The Austere Academy” mocks coming-of-age teen movies, “The Erstaz Elevator” has shades of musical romantic comedies from Hollywood’s Golden Age, “The Vile Village” pays homage to Westerns, “The Hostile Hospital” is a straight-up horror exploitation flick and “The Carnivorous Carnival” is a neo-expressionist drama. Or rather that’s what we were supposed to infer. In reality, “The Austere Academy” and “The Erstaz Elevator” don’t have anything special in terms of direction to truly allude to their models, and while “The Carnivorous Carnivale” is a blatant remake of “Freaks”, so was the book in the first place. Only with “The Vile Village” and “The Hostile Hospital” do we see the direction add a substantial commentary on the original aesthetic of their respective book. So while the intention is laudable, the execution is somewhat lacking as far as the entire season is concerned. More on that in the next review.

But for now let’s just gush over the gorgeous visuals of “The Vile Village”. Westerns describe the struggle of civilization in a lawless territory, a perfect setting for the crux of a book concerned with legality and mob psychology. While the introduction of the Nevermore tree leaves something to be desired, we do eventually get some fantastic shots. The integration of the CGI and the digital matte paintings significantly improves from this episode on, although whether the artificiality of previous episodes was an intentional choice from the directors is anyone’s guess. The scene of Hector’s first flight aboard the self-sustaining mobile home is a work of beauty. One must regret his line about crows being too “scary”, though. Not only is this an unnecessary change to his character (he is fascinated by the crows in the book), it doesn’t even make sense as the adaptation does not portray Hector as being scared of crows in any shape or form otherwise. He actually has a line about admiring them in the first part of the episode! What on Earth were the writers thinking?

The feels of Western movies is well-rendered, with an impressive focus or lighting. What the director seems to have forgotten is how dusty the Village of Fowl Devotees should look. This is pretty unforgivable given that the book insists on the unbearable feeling of dirtiness which permeates the town. There’s an egregious continuity error where the Baudelaire orphans escape from prison in a massive cloud of debris… then come into the next shot with immaculate clothing. This is a major sin as far as immersion goes.

Another blatant directorial choice is the tendency to film scenes across a two-dimensional space, with characters moving from one side of the screen to the next. This ever-present horizontal axis gives the series a somewhat stiff aspect, with characters not being able to express themselves in a dynamic body language in action scene. There are two possible reasons for this camerawork. Firstly, it makes certain scenes easier to follow (we must not forget that the series is expected to remain watchable for small children), although a little boring on the visual side. Secondly, it does imitate the format of a theater stage, and the theater world plays an important role in Snicket’s world, from “The Marvelous Marriage” to “La Forza del Destino”. I do think the showrunners went a little too far in this direction, though. If they’re so deadest on reproducing the feel of a theater production, maybe they should just pitch the series as a Broadway show rather than a television series. The chase sequences in this double-episode look more like a Street Fighter screen than a cinematic production.

But by far the greatest contribution of this episode is the merciful introduction of SILENCE. What a relief to hear the godforsaken concertina shut up for one minute and let us enjoy the dialogue! The heart of the double-episode comes from the back-and-forth dynamic between Jacques and Olaf (or, to a lesser extent, Esmé and Olivia). Truly a battle between blind, hopeful idealism and cynical nihilism. Major props to Nathan Fillion, who remains possibly the best actor in the entire series, and Neil Patrick Harris who should ruin the seriousness of the scenes with his constant bebopping but somehow doesn’t.

This however comes as the expanse of the Baudelaire orphans themselves, whose presence is somewhat secondary in this episode. The symbolism of them escaping the town in a fire truck is a strike of genius… but the Isadora couplet subplot is drastically skipped over and the unnecessary introduction of Mr Poe drastically reduces their screentime. It’s more forgivable than in “The Erstaz Elevator” as most scenes between the adult characters do help move the plot forward and provide interesting information, but it’s still one of our major criticisms for this season. The writers are clearly infatuated with the adult actors, which hurts the pacing of the story. It’s a shame as the child actors’ acting shows major improvements in the second season. Louis Hynes comes into his own in the prison scene, but the breakneck speed of the scene’s direction does not leave him enough room to grow. We will however concede that Jacquelyn and Larry don’t overstay their welcome in this episode, and that Jacques and Olivia’s romance is sweet to look at. While we disagree with the changes made to Olivia’s character on the whole (we’ll get to that in my review of “The Carnivorous Carnival”), it did produce some well-written, well-acted scenes. Less appreciated is the unnecessary and overstated introduction of a Violet/Duncan romance subplot… this is what happens when you base 90% of an adaptation on what admittedly amounts to fan-pandering. It’s sweet, then it’s sweeter, then you’ve got diabetes.

As far as character development goes, it’s pretty hit-or-miss. Esmé is as usual fantastic. The writers have managed to attain a difficult equilibrium regarding her character dynamic: she obeys enough not to overshadow him, but she also acts as her own antagonist, pursuing her own goals and betraying him if the need arises. The rest of the troupe also has an interesting dynamic with her and her integration in the crime family feels pretty seamless.

But so far we’ve saved the worst for the last paragraph, and as you’ve probably guessed, we’re going to have to speak about Hector. Gods almighty, what a waste of a perfectly good character. Josephine’s death was shot in a very disrespectful manner, but at least her character remained mostly the same. Here the Hector from the books, a tragic and heartbreaking portrayal of peer pressure and social anxiety, is reduced to a joke. To add insult to injury, it’s not even a funny joke: his constant fainting gets tedious quickly. And the ultimate twist about his mom’s fate not being the source of his trauma after all basically reduces his arc to a complete waste of the viewer’s time. If the writers hated him so much, why not just cut his screen time instead of demeaning his entire existence? This does not bode well for a potential adaptation of “All The Wrong Questions”, as Hector’s outlook on family loyalty and peer pressure is somewhat of a plot point in this series. I truly cannot begin to understand these choices as Hector plays a similar role to Hal, Charles and Jerome, who also have likewise personalities… but the writers have adapted Hal, Charles and Jerome faithfully and cleverly, so what gives?

#0542 #Lemony Snicket #ASoUE #a series of unfortunate events #review #daniel handler #Sunny Baudelaire #klaus baudelaire #violet baudelaire #Hector #esme squalor #count olaf #Arthur Poe #jacques snicket #neil patrick harris #nathan fillion #asoue netflix

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theliterateape · 2 years

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Tribal Allegiance Didn't Save Anyone from COVID

By Don Hall

Last year, the wife and I took a road trip to Flagstaff to chill out and spend some time with my brother-in-law. We were in the height of the Delta variant and we both wore our cloth masks diligently.

The hotel was practically abandoned. The in-house restaurant was closed. There were still people staying there but I'd guess the place was only at 15 percent capacity on a weekend. There was a gas station with a deli across the street so we headed over to grab some sandwiches.

In line, waiting for our turn, an older man (which for me, at fifty-six, is older) shifts on his feet in front of me. He turns and does a slight double-take and then his unmasked face becomes sour.

"You know," he says with an edge of disgust. "We don't have to wear those things here."

"Better safe than sorry, I suppose," I answer as neutrally as possible. I just want a sandwich, not a political debate.

This seems to rankle him even more. He looks as if he's going to throw me some heavy-lidded lecture on the pandemic, possibly the standard trope of a government conspiracy when it becomes is his turn to order. I gesture for him to go ahead. He shakes his head in frustration and proceeds.

A year before, I was working as an operations manager at a local dive casino. We had all the protocols in place recommended by those who recommend such things. We had a sanitizer gun, a mister that spewed clouds of disinfectant for the slot machines, hand sanitizer stations peppered throughout, sanitizing wipes in other places, and of course, the requirement to wear a mask.

For my last few months at the casino, I spent more time arguing with folks resistant to wearing masks than almost anything else. The fake ADA cards. The insistence that veterans with PTSD were exempt. The complaints about wearing masks when there was a drink present or if someone wanted to smoke.

We found out much later that, while stubbornly objecting to the government inconveniencing them, they weren't wrong. We never needed to sanitize the surfaces. The cloth masks did next to nothing to avoid the virus. Hand sanitizers aren't a net negative but they didn't do much to block an airborne disease.

Since Nevada lifted all the COVID restrictions, I've become spotty with my masking, I'll admit.

I vaxxed and boosted. I wore my (now found to be effectively useless) cloth mask everywhere I went. I did not wear it outdoors. In the gym, in the casinos, in the movie theaters. I was a responsible member of society. I believe the science.

The science has evolved and thus my response. That's how science works. Data is gathered and theories are formed. Recommendations become mandates. Then more data, different theories, new recommendations. Man's desperate attempt to feel that he is in control of the natural world.

In March of 2020, we knew next to nothing. We took serious precautions. Lots of people got sick, many died. This shit was real. Then came the vaccines. Despite the fact that Big Pharma is just shy of Breaking Bad level corrupt, I still believed these pushers of fentanyl and pills to make sure older guys get boners had cracked the code. As the virus went from an existential threat to a politicized bludgeon, the science grew more understanding of that which we faced.

We now know:

78% of everyone hospitalized and died were obese

75% were 65+ years old

Cloth masks were no more effective against Omicron than wearing a veil made of lace panties you found in the dumpster behind Victoria's Secret

Wearing a mask to enter a restaurant then taking it off when you sat down to eat is stupid

The vaccines (and booster) do not prevent infection but significantly lessen the possibility of death (mostly for those fat 65+ year olds)

COVID is likely a white supremacist disease due to the disproportionate numbers of black and brown people dying from it (although, to be fair, it may just be a fat shaming, ageist virus)

Lockdowns are both ineffective and tend to make kids and teens off themselves at alarming rates

With each variant, COVID becomes more infectious and less dire

So, now we have BA.2 and cases in China and Europe are creeping back up. Cases in the United States are increasing slightly. Still, we perform for one another.

Masks now represent less a protective measure and more a badge of progressivism, allegiance to a cause, the uniform of the leftist believer not dissimilar to the MAGA hats of old.

I feel odd not wearing a mask as I'm likely to be assessed and judged as some libertarian idiot clinging to some hair-brained notion of freedom while aggressively supporting the abridgment of the freedoms of everyone else from pregnant women seeking an abortion to trans athletes looking to compete.

I also feel out of place wearing a mask. We know they are pointless in terms of blocking the virus and, in Nevada, I can feel the judgment of those libertarian zealots wondering if I am someone who believes that America is founded exclusively on white supremacy and that JK Rowling is the devil.

I think it's silly to over-indulge in the performative protective measures as well as eschew any protection because 'murica.

Just a few days ago, I went into the Paris Casino to work on editing as I waited for my wife to finish up some modeling work. I didn't even have a mask on me. I forgot to throw one in my pocket (which became the personal protocol in the last months).

During a break from editing, I came out to the floor, plopped down in front of a Crazy Money machine, and fed my twenty-dollar bill in the validator. The woman right next to me was masked. She looked at me in the same way the old guy in Flagstaff did.

"Do you mind playing at a different machine if you're not going to wear a mask?" she asked. I say asked because those were the words but she was not asking.

I smiled. Nodded. Cashed out my unplayed twenty bucks and moved to another machine.

There's simply no profit in being a dick about this. Acknowledging how many people are wandering around looking for opportunities to police one another, I'm not one of them. It takes too much unnecessary energy to get worked up about what is no longer a protective measure but a virtue signal. A BLM t-shirt worn to be seen. A Greenpeace button to alert anyone in range of fealty to a cause. A MAGA hat or jacket with a Confederate flag stitched on the back.

I used to perform theater and the costume was an important part of creating the character. I'm not onstage, so I no longer need a costume but I often feel as if I wandered into a play filled with costumed actors, all demonstrating which tribe they each must cling to.

I'm not into tribes these days. Tribalism did not save one person who contracted COVID and died from it. It won't save the next, either.

#COVID-19 #maskholes

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