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La Famille Bélier : and the minstrel shows continue....

France might have create cinema and have a passion for film that runs deeps but this has not given them any advantage in leading the world movie market. It is only every couple of years when we hear about the new French film making waves (ie. Amélie, The Artist, Intouchables) and now it is La Famille Bélier, a film billed as the "feel-good comedy of the year" which will soon be released internationally. In France, the film was released late 2014 and after seeing it stay on top and in theatres for weeks on end, I finally decided to go and see it.

I was horrified after the first 5 minutes of the film but because of all the high ratings and praises the film received, I made myself stay and give it a try. It's a minstrel show and the fact that most do not see it make me concerned about the way our society treats "the other".

There is so much to say about this film but a lot is said and discussed in this article from the Gaurdian.

#la famille bélier #france #sourde #deaf #movie

Mixed Medias: Advertising in Television

More and more television series and films are finding ways to get in more revenue by going a step further than product placement to full on commercials integrated within the show. We have seen this done many times with reality TV from Top Chef's mad dashes through the aisles of Whole Foods showcasing how they really have everything for the modern day foodie, America's Next Top Model with Cover Girl and the Biggest Loser's deal with Weight Watchers. There are even shows like Celebrity Apprentice that do not hide the fact that its 80% advertisements and 20% drama.

However, I find it jarring when scripted television includes full out commercials integrated within a scene. Take for example Season 8 Episode 4 of The Game, Nothing Was the Game, were two characters were shooting a commercial for Snickers. Not only did they talk about and show the fictional commercial they were shooting for the candy, we also saw product placement along with a tagline used in the seemingly "off-set" moments of the stars with a pause and awkwardly delivered lines.

Working in television and film, I am completely aware of fiction while watching it. However, the mind is powerful and I am still able to occasionally suspend my disbelief to enjoy my favorite TV shows. Well, that is until I see forced fed advertising that have nothing to do with the story line and then I remember "Oh yeah, Soap Operas were created to sell soap..."

Copy Cats: Apt 23 seems really familiar

If you take a look at some of the newly released shows of last season and this season, you will notice a pattern. In my earlier post, I spoke about one of the themes I noticed before, but now there are even closer parallel's to draw from. In the new sitcom, Don't Trust the B--- in Apt 23, the pilot shows a lot of similarities to the pilot of 2 Broke Girls.

First, we have the obvious: a story of two female roommates.

Then we see that one roommate, in both series, is the dark-haired pessimist New Yorker with a deem view of life, love and family. She is also "uncensored" and speaks openly about anything sexual that comes to mind.

The second roommate is the "non-New Yorker"; innocent, naive but not a fool, MBA graduate, blond and from good fortune who, because of sudden misfortune (both involving billion dollar fraud) become homeless and find jobs as waitresses.

Some other similarities at first glance:

Cheating boyfriend who proves his infidelity by hitting on other roommate and thus, solidifies the new friendship.

Perverted man who appears in a window (adjacent building window/pick-up window)

Hopelessly in love and socially awkward Asian character

Did I miss any?

#2 broke girls #Don't trust the b in apt 23 #series

BET Lost The Game

As soon as I heard it, I knew this would happen. Like many other fans of Mara and Salim Akil, I have been on an emotional roller coaster. First, I learned that Girlfriends was coming to an end. Melancholy set in. But wait, the finale episode is actually a pilot episode for a new show featuring colorful and truthful characters never seen before on American television. Joyous.

The pilot was for The Game, the second brainchild of Akil Productions that focused on the lives of professional footballers and their women. Now the male fans of Girlfriends could openly admit to watching the show. It was refreshing, entertaining, and promising: a look into the lives of African-Americans that did not use a clumsy brush stroke to depict an entire race but meticulously applied daubs of the sub-communities within.

However, networks were blind to the popularity of this show, and like its predecessor Girlfriends, it came to a premature end. Miffed. An outpour of requests and petitions were posted on social media groups demanding the show to be reconsidered and in the end, BET picked it up. Mixed-emotions. As any pessimist that is familiar with BET knew, The Game was doomed.

BET has turned The Game into an over-the-top-real-gold-digging-housewives-of-ex-football-stars satire that has the depth of a music video. As I believe in the talent of Akil Productions, I like to hope that their remains some hope for future episodes but the over-the-top drama and buffoonery style comedy makes me cringe and miss the earlier seasons.

#The Game #BET #Akil Productions

Always Coca-Cola... not matter the situ

A contestant faints on American Idol and is brought back to life by none other than a can of coca-cola, the shows sponsor.

#American Idol #coca-cola #advertisement

Desperate Housewives: Season 8, Episode 12: What's the Good in Being Good

Renee (Vanessa Williams) hooks her hairdresser up with Lynette. As revenge, her hairdresser (the only hairdresser in this part of the burbs that knows how to relax black hair) leaves Renee with an afro.

Having an afro is revenge? Is natural hair that horrible? Could the writers not find another act of revenge like dying it purple or cutting it uneven. Plus, Vanessa Williams is so stunning with her afro that it is hard to see as an act of malice, even a humorous one.

#desperate housewives #Vanessa Williams #race

Commercials with a story line

Most people are now aware that TV shows actually interrupt commercials just as movies are to sell popcorn. Well, now while you are watching your favorite TV show or movie for that matter, you are simultaneously watching commercials. TV has gone beyond the traditional product placement on to integrating commercials in the storyline. This means that writers are not only responsible for developing compelling story lines but also finding a way to place sponsors' ads into this story, despite its lack of relevance.

Case in point: last week's episode of House. If the popular advertisers were promoting medical equipment, then the writer's could easily and more naturally place the advert. But how do you integrate a car commercial into a medical show? Despite the writers good effort, the Ford advertisement could not have been any more obvious and disruptive to the story.

#House

Critic's Notebook: TV babies in semi-permanent timeout

By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic

November 7, 2011

Every year, the networks trot out some show or other that revolves around a baby, and every year, I start counting the hours before that baby vanishes. Last year, it was baby Hope from "Raising Hope"; this year, it's baby Amy from "Up All Night." Five episodes into the latter, and creator Emily Spivey was already on flashbacks so we could experience the days leading to the birth. Pregnancy is, after all, much more interesting than new parenting because (and here's me pointing out an elephant in the writers room) babies are very boring. Not your baby, of course. Your own baby is a source of endless fascination; well, enough to keep you from leaving him or her on the counter at Starbucks. Intentionally. READ FULL ARTICLE.

This is what I have been saying!

BET's family comedy 'Reed Between the Lines' is one of the few TV shows featuring families of color.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-1119-black-family-20111119,0,7180167.story

#Cosby #Reed Between the Lines

The 9 Lives of Meredith Grey

It seems that Meredith Grey is gradually working through her nine lives on Grey's Anatomy. How many times can a character (almost) die? First there was the bomb in the first season, then she almost drowned, then she had a gun pointed to her, and now in the last episode, Dark Was the Night, she was hit by a car while in an ambulance on a rainy night, she didn't die but the van that hit her had no survivors. The first almost death scene is thrilling, the second is ok but after the third, its just uninspired writing.

#grey's anatomy

Untouchable - This film is being talked about everywhere in France. I will reserve my initial comments based on the trailer for after I watch it.

#Untouchable

Controversy Always Sells... Science of Making Your Brand a Social Movement

#ads #Benetton

Love It or Hate It? Benetton's new ad campaign: UnHate

#ads #Benetton

I Hate My Teenage Daughter - Will we love it or hate it? Only time will tell- Nov 30th to be exact

#I Hate My Teenage Daughter

Sexual innuendos anyone? Great show, good timing, but sooo many sexual references! I know sex sells but hopefully the writers won't let this easy urge to make everything a sexual reference kill the storyline.

#2 broke girls

The Game returns soon - looks like it has undergone a lot of changes, let's hope for the better.

#The Game

Top Chef is now Hell's Kitchen?

Top Chef Texas claims to be the biggest season yet but it seems to have lost its "authenticate-ness" and is trying to compete with Hell's Kitchen. With thousands of food based TV shows out there, I felt that Top Chef was able to create and maintain its identity until now. Top Chef, which has many spin offs including Top Chef Just Desserts, was a show for the real chefs of top quality where Hell's Kitchen was for new-to-the-industry chef's that wanted to make it to the top quickly.

Hell's Kitchen is always centered around the drama- first the drama created in the household and then the added drama from Chef Ramsay's uncensored script. Hell's Kitchen then started to realize the value of "sick" contestants for ratings and now promotes the amount of possible injuries that may occur from the next episode. As I have grown accustomed to this with Hell's Kitchen, I was shocked at the lead in created for Top Chef at the end of the second episode showing Padma cursing, some contestants needing medical attention and household drama.

Do all reality competition shows have to go down this road eventually? Is it impossible to create a reality show with integrity? Let's hope not.

#Top Chef #Hell's Kitchen

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