4 posts tagged “dvd”

   Earlier today I was actually thinking of sports in relation to the way we think about film and television, mainly in terms of spectatorship. Most film theorists including Christian Metz viewed film as a medium that, although viewed in a theater packed with other people, is actually consumed by an individual rather than as a group. Sure, you can argue against that statement, but contrast watching a film in the theater with watching a film on TV with a group of friends. In the former mode of viewing there's more of an internalization of the story (let's assume the film is a fictional narrative), more engagement with what's ultimately going on in the world on-screen. In the latter mode one is more prone to staying outside the boundaries of the diagesis, remaining grounded in the real world via talking, making jokes and references, et cetera. As one theorist - whose name I unfortunately can't remember - wrote, film's relation to a viewer is likened to that of a novel. (Bare with me, I'm getting to my point regarding television and sports.)
   Now television works on a fundamentally different level in terms of spectatorship. For the most part television is produced as a medium that actually depends and thrives on a large audience, though to a large extent fictional television still retains many of the functions of film. Take a show like Battlestar Galactica, a terrific serial that invokes the same engagement with the diagetic universe created for the audience. You know you're not the only one watching, but, as you're watching and remaining engaged with the story you unconsciously negate that factor. It's okay, that's natural.
   Sports, on the other hand, along with certain types of shows including newscasts and reality television, tend to work in the opposite manner. Whereas narrative fiction is all about engaging one-on-one with the content, sports use the content to invoke a sense of unity between the largely unseen audiences. Here, the sports event is the spectacle, but because sports are inherently about a kind of a shared pride akin to something like nationalism within a country, it automatically presupposes this notion of 'us' - as in 'our team'. Not only do fans stand behind their team, but they also stand alongside - though not literally, at least when watching on TV - countless others, forming a collective group of fans who also share the same experience. This experience isn't the same as the kind you get from a show or film, especially these days when select episodes are available for download at any given moment or available for purchase on DVD. No, sports events are based solely on a fleeting moment in time, one that is often forgotten barring any memorable moments. What remains usually is the effect, either of a win or a loss, that carries over to the next game and remains cumulative over the course of a season.
   Take sports rivalries for example. Not only do they exist between the teams themselves, but fans also feel the same distaste for each other that the players do. And the fans tend to remember and relive old rivalries long after the players do in many cases - the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames have been rivals in the National Hockey League for years due to the Sharks besting the Flames in previous playoff series, and even though many players have come and gone in that time, the rivalry is still felt between the players, both rookies and veterans. And, of course, the fans on both sides have kept the 'flame' going (hur hur, pun!), due to the two teams facing each other in the 2008 playoffs.
   You can see this unity most clearly at sports bars, with everyone huddled together watching the television screens, cheering their team on in hopes of a victory. The fans watching the game on TV automatically have a kind of affinity for the fans in attendance at the actual game in that they're all watching the same game at the same time, and cheering for the same team. Get it?

   Yeah, it's getting late and my thoughts are starting to get a bit cloudy. I should get some sleep, not only because I have another early morning tomorrow, but because game five of the series between the Sharks and Flames is on tomorrow night. And you know I'll be watching, along with thousands of other Sharks fans. And with that, I give you ... Joe Thornton.

   The other day my friend and his parents gave me a ride back to San Francisco, and along the way we stopped by Costco so they could get some food for Easter Sunday. As my friend and I browsed through the crappy selection of video games and mostly cheap films we stumbled upon a gold mine of cheap television boxsets for as low as $15 a pop. Granted, most are shows I've never really watched, but they did have all three seasons of both Arrested Development and Veronica Mars, two of the most intriguing shows I've seen in awhile. Needless to say, I wound up getting something (er, rather, my friend's parents got me something so now I owe them $16) - I decided on the first season of Arrested Development.

   Back around Freshman or Sophomore year of college I first saw AD with my two friends, because one of them bought the entire first season after his mom introduced him to the show during a vacation. At first I figured it'd be the typical show my friends, both of whom I'd always thought were more intellectual and 'sophisticated' than me: funny in a witty, the-jokes-on-the-people-who-don't-get-it sort of way, with characters that make obscure references and who get into situations that aren't funny unless you've experienced it. Well, it wasn't all that, but it was the type of show I didn't normally watch back then. However, I did start finding it extremely funny, and by the end of the first season I found myself really adoring the colorful cast of characters, the engaging narrative structure, and the hilarious situations. It was, for all intensive purposes, the one sitcom I actually liked (I was never a fan of Friends or Seinfeld).
   A year or two later, when I first upgraded to DSL and discovered torrents, I downloaded the second season of the show, but watching it by myself I could never get farther than a couple of episodes. My friends had long watched the season, so I was on my own. Eventually I just kind of stopped and forgot about the series. Until now, that is. My mom and I have been watching the first season together, and she really digs it as well. It's been fun to watch again, and I'm glad I bought it. Maybe sometime soon I'll head back and get the rest of the series. Real shame that it was canceled after only three.

   Television series and serials are strange like that though, especially in the United States. Unlike films, we always seem to want TV shows to go on forever, even when they seem to get stale. Hell, I stopped watching The Simpsons a long time ago because it started getting boring; even The Office is going down that road too. There's just something about wanting to hold on to the experience that those shows bring, but ultimately that experience really just has to end, less the material gets old. In some ways I'm glad Ronald Moore straight-out told Sci-Fi that season four is the last season of Battlestar Galactica. As much as I love the series, I couldn't imagine how they'd possibly stretch it out for more than another season. I mean, they've done practically everything that can be done without repetition or continuity errors. While I'm sure all the fans are going to be sad with the show ending, at least the creators get to end it their own way, they get to end it right.
 

  You can't say the same for all good shows. Most of my favorite animated shows from when I was a kid didn't get a chance to end things on their own terms. Rocko's Modern Life was just kind of phased out after Joe Murray (the creator) left the show, and Craig Bartlett, who made Hey Arnold! wasn't able to end the series with the 'jungle' movie he wanted to do, and instead the show's final season ended with a bunch of crappy episodes that put the characters in ridiculous situations. Sure, give Doug a proper graduation but forget all about the football head.
   It's always the good, interesting, unique shows that tend to suffer. Arrested Development and Firefly are two more recent examples of good shows that went underappreciated by both networks and fans until long after their cancellation. It's really too bad, because they're shows that should've been able to go on longer; I would've much preferred a secon season of Firefly over Serenity, which didn't really provide the closure I was hoping for.

   Television is definitely a realm that needs to be changed. The current network-dominated setup just doesn't allow for creativity these days, what with all the reality shows and crappy new sitcoms that won't ever be as popular or funny as their predecessors. Personally, I think we need to start thinking about alternative means, possibly using the internet or other public-funded channels. Sure, like film, television shows cost a lot of money to produce, but when has that ever stopped independent filmmakers from making good movies? Hell, you just need the same things - a camera, a crew, a cast, and material. TV shouldn't be seen as this horrible thing that's rotting the minds of kids and turning people into couch potatoes. Maybe it's what I learned from Prof. Hastie over the past year, but I'm starting more and more to see the vast potential for an alternative form of television, one that has yet to be cultivated. All it takes is a little embrace and ingenuity.

    Oh god, do I hate winter quarters. Usually they consist of difficult and/or crappy classes, procrastination, and overall boredom with everything I'm going in general. Aside from skipping unimportant lectures (they're not film-related anyway) I've spent many hours on my PlayStation3, not only with games like Warhawk and Wild ARMs, but watching some DVDs with my girlfriend and roommate. And while I've been good on keeping most of my resolutions, I've yet to really do anything of value this quarter in terms of personal projects.
    There's the research for my Senior thesis, but I'll hold off on discussing that until after I do a substantial amount of research.

    Perhaps later this week I'll do another post with something a little more ... I don't know, "meaningful"? In the meantime, I found a neat little Asian torrent site that actually links to a lot of good films, including obscure films by directors like Edward Yang, Jiang Wen, and Jia Jiangke. Check it out.

   2008 is coming up fast, and I've been coming up with a rough draft of resolutions for the new year. One of my main resolutions is to watch 120 new films throughout the year, broken down into about 10 films a month. Now that may not sound like a big number to someone who constantly watches films, but with graduation and a thesis to write in the next few months I won't exactly have a lot of freetime to kick back with a good flick. Not to mention going to the movies these days is getting extremely pricey, and new DVDs aren't cheap either. Still, I'm going to try and make time to watch that many movies.
   Looking back on 2007 is still fun though. Despite my year being fairly ordinary (yet incredibly fast), I did manage to see a lot of good movies. To me it felt like this year was big for comedies, as most of my big picks for the year seem to consist of such. Good to see that something so "simple" can get the appreciation it deserves; comedy is harder to pull off than you'd think though.
   Anyway, here are my top ten favorite films of this year, including some that - before 2007 - I had never seen before: