Day One Hundred and Ninety-four - The Manhattan Project, "Remember the Cold War of the 80's... it remembers you."

If you remember the 80's like I do, you remember the yuppie paranoia of the end of the Cold War. It wasn't the biting fear the Bay of Pigs, but there was still plenty of scapegoating features that painted us as one minute from the brink... a picture not all that dissimilar to the one that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons painted for us in Watchmen.

I remember WarGames and Miracle Mile and Red Dawn... I remember The Manhattan Project.

While having very little to do with the Soviet Union, nevertheless The Manhattan project had quite a bit to do with Cold War paranoia and pretty much everything to do with Nuclear Deterrence and Brinksmanship.

Set it upstate New York where an affable scientist, John Mathewson (John Lithgow), relocates his team of nuclear engineers to create a plutonium production facility, TMP mostly follows the teenager he comes to know while courting his mother.

The boy, Paul (Christopher Collet), is quite intelligent, assertive, and a nefarious prankster. While trying to win him over, Mathewson gives Paul a tour of the facility, passing off all the nuclear material as merely medical production. This, of course, doesn't fool Paul who hatches a plan with his would be girlfriend, Jenny (Cynthia Nixon), to swipe some as proof that the government plopped a nuclear facility in the middle of New York State with no oversight or warning.

The theft goes off without a hitch, switching shampoo for the plutonium slurry, and the rest of the film is Paul and Jenny making a bomb (I know, what a quick jump from exposing the government to actual Mad Science!) and taking it to be entered in the National Science Fair, then escaping when the feds close in and try to take the bomb away, leading to a climax defusing and a schmaltzy happy ending.

There's a lot that's completely weak about this film... for one thing that a nuclear facility in the heart of the cold war isn't being guarded by at least a platoon of soldiers checking and double checking everything... every hour on the hour.

For another, all the exposure Paul, et al, go through during the course of the film should've had them all flat on their backs, losing hair, and coughing up blood. It's one thing to occasionally hint at the contamination with Geiger counters and glib remarks, it's quite another to contradict it by shoving one in the face of two people in constant, unshielded contact with plutonium and get nary a trace just because it's plot convenient.

I mean, really... "just background radiation?" You've got to be kidding me.

Science aside, there's also very little in the way of chemistry... emotional chemistry between any of the leads. While I actually believed Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy and their mostly tame courtship in WarGames, I can't say the same here whether it's Lithgow and Jill Eikenberry or Collet and Nixon.

I also cannot believe the reactions of anyone in the staff or armed forces. As much as I like John Mahoney, his angry face had nothing on Barry Corbin.

It should be noted that there's a very small part for Robert Sean Leonard here as one of Paul and Jenny's school friends, but it's nothing all that special.

While it's not the most sterling example of a message movie, at the very least it tries to lead you to a few good ones by showing clips from tremendous films concerning the subject like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Dr.Strangelove. It feels a little like cheating, but it's still a nice nod.

I think it's decent enough for starting a discussion with your kids about the feeling of that era, but there are much better examples out there... like WarGames, actually... or, if you want to go back a generation, Dr.Strangelove.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Seven - Frasier: Season 11, Episodes 23 and 24, "Goodnight, Seattle."

As much as I wanted the next episode of Frasier that I blogged about to be one just previous to the finale, featuring more Laura Linney and a hilarious guest spot by Stephen Root, I raced through the last few episodes (skipping the Crock Tales, of course) to get to that satisfying conclusion that makes me revisit it at least once a year.

Episodes 23 and 24 span a whirlwind of life changes as Marty and Ronee get married, Niles and Daphne have their baby, and Frasier, himself, is offered a new job in San Francisco.

The double-wide finale starts in the first class section of a flight in progress where Frasier and an attractive fellow psychiatrist take their minds off turbulence by Frasier sharing his past few weeks. It's an obvious ploy that's supposed to plant the seed that perhaps this beautiful woman is a possible love interest in Frasier's future life.

But the future is isn't the issue, as this is a sort of flashback episode... that seques in bed as Frasier and Charlotte (Laura Linney) are enjoying their final day together as, sadly, she is returning to her hometown of Chicago to resume her matchmaking service there.

It's a lovely, bittersweet sort of parting that allows for a few genuine laughs as Frasier misses his afternoon show (which sets up a mistaken assumption later) and Charlotte is harassed by the return of Daphne's drunken brother (Anthony Lapaglia) who has brought two other siblings to guest for the finale (UK faves Robbie Coltrane and Richard E. Grant).

THAT trio does a good job breaking the morose mood and serve to do so for the rest of the first half, until Eddie eats Marty and Ronee's rings and has to be taken to an emergency vet for some puppy ipecac which allows for yet another guest, this time from Jason Biggs as an inept vet.

Over the finale, lots of loose ends are tied up so that Frasier's big choice doesn't come as such a shock. Roz takes over as station manager from Kenny, sly agent Bebe continues her reign of sociopathy... and, of course, Marty moves out a married man and Niles becomes a father.

All of it is heartfelt and endearing, but still feels more than a little rushed. As I mentioned in my last blog entry for Frasier, the Charlotte romance needed to span the entire season to really have the impact it should have. Or, at least, more than the last quarter. To have any merit, I would've begged a minimum of twelve episodes and fought for more.

I did really dig the plastic surgeon/missed show excuse miscommunications which, when combined with Frasier's secretive big news and his giving away of personal mementos really did feel like a 6-months-to-live announcement.

It was hilarious, but the crocodile tears from all involved in that scene didn't, well, feel real. Maybe it's because I've never seen Niles or Martin cry in grief before... I just wasn't sold. Still, it was a good scene, even if I had a hard time swallowing it.

It really was a good send off... and had a decent twist at the end that I should've seen coming the first time I saw it almost a decade ago. It's weird to think of these shows as being that old. Cheers definitely seems to have aged, but Frasier still feels fresh. I don't even want to think about what Friends or Seinfeld look like now.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and One - Frasier: Season 11, Episode 20, "Finally, after all these years... I guess?"

Usually, when I start a show on Netflix, I go from the beginning and work my way through the series. The only time I generally skip around is when I've recently seen a season and have specific episodes that I want to revisit.

With Frasier, I don't think that's necessary. Frankly, there's not much reason so go back if you watched Frasier over the years. Really, if you've seen one episode, you've pretty much seen them all. The only real progress over the life of the series was Niles' gradual relationship with Daphne.

Sure, if you take the long view, there have been plenty of great episodes... emmy-winning ones, at that, but it's all so much sophisticated sound and fury. They all love each other despite their respective differences in art, entertainment, and animals (Oh, Eddie, how you thwart Frasier's eternal attempts at good Feng Shui) and nothing ever changes.

The only thing I really cared about over the length of the series was Niles and Daphne and them getting together (which took seven freaking seasons, and another three to tie the knot)... then, the only thing that interested me was the possibility of Frasier gaining a lasting relationship.

I was surprised in the final season (eleven) when the writers took a different approach and gave his father, Martin, a second lease on life... giving him a relationship with his sons' former babysitter (and now, vivacious lounge singer) Ronee, who is played by Wendee Malick.

With both Niles and Marty moving on with their lives and only a few more episodes before the series was slated to finished, I was actually expecting the show to end with Frasier riding off into the sunset an eternal bachelor.

And, honestly, I would've been happy with that. He'd have his work, his apartment back to himself, and his family would be taken care of.

Then Laura Linney entered the picture.

It's only on episode 20 of season 11, FOUR EPISODES before the completion of the series... that any serious attempt is made to give Frasier a tenable lovelife. Sure, he meets her (as his freaking matchmaker) in episode 18 and is shown to be smitten with her at the end of the episode... but, really, it's episode 20 that things get both ridiculous and oddly interesting at the same time.

Why? Because not only does he have to make his romantic intentions known, but he has to do so AND beat out the competition. When said competition is a multilingual, devastatingly handsome naturalist who is played by Aaron Eckhart, you'd think things were hopeless.

Now, its obvious from both the placement of this romance towards the end of Frasier's final season and the generally goofy shenanigans that Frasier, Charlotte (Linney), and Frank (Eckhart) go through that Frasier will win the day and the lady, but still... it's an oddly satisfying episode both in terms of tender moments and cheap laughs.

I mean, really, pretty much any time Frank opens his mouth... whether it's to converse in French with a maître d' or ask for a back rub, I can't help but laugh. It silly and pandering, his caricature of the typical Greenpeace hippie, but it works for the sitcom situation.

I also just really, really love Laura Linney. 

Her smile on top of her beauty and personality make her dazzling to my eyes and the way she plays her character feels like a perfect match for Frasier. It would have been nice to meet her quite a bit earlier in the season and have this competition for her affections last longer than a single episode, but I'm pretty darn satisfied with what I've got.

The B and C stories concerning Marty/Ronee and Roz I can just skip over. The best of the episode is all Frasier and Frank. I mean, honestly... "I punched a raccoon in the face" just has to be one of the best lines ever!

Ooo! I should also give a shoutout to the maître d' who is played by Michael Des Barres whom folks might recognize as Murdoc from MacGyver. Always great to see him (he's also been on Gilmore Girls~).

Back to the matter at hand, if you've ever watched Frasier, you know the overall gist of the series. Really, the only reason to go back is to revisit these last few episodes (probably starting with 18). I've watched them so much that I only need to start with 20 (and plan on skipping 22, as it's just a series retrospective episode that has nothing to do with Charlotte).

Overall, it seems that I'm just a sucker for the pretentious snob with a heart of gold getting the girl. I wonder why that is? ;P

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~