Mad Men “Field Trip” Review: Awkward Turtle

The Partners talk about some issues on Mad Men

Photo Credit: AMC TV

A Review of “Field Trip” as soon as I trade this second sandwich for some gum drops…

“I wish it was yesterday”

-Bobby

Don’t we all wish we could take back the things we do and say? As we move through this season of Mad Men we’re getting to the point where the characters of this show are beginning to look back on their actions and wonder if yesterday is better and whether going back to the way things were is the way to go. What we get is from this is a wonderful exploration of Don and Betty as each makes their awkward field trip and ends up (just like Bobby) looking for yesterday with varying results.

Don finally gets the old fashioned wake up call and tries getting back in action with some mostly positive results. The wake up comes with the fallout with Megan after he gets concerned with her slight meltdown in California (or at least so it’s described by her agent). The resulting concern gets them into a nasty argument that ends in Don spilling the beans of his work situation and Megan forcing him to leave out of a nasty (and mostly deserved) outburst from Megan. This is the first time that Don gets a wake up call and decides that now is the time that life needs to get back to the way it was, he needs to get his old job back and try to convince his wife that he is still actually in love with her. It’s an interesting step forward for Don one that he could have easily slid away from.

And Don is given a chance to slip away from his old life to in his old Hobo taught fashion, but alas he tries to actually make progress; there’s even a nice girl seemingly waiting in the wings for him to sleep with along the way. Don manages to persist and in a fit of determination he brings the offer to Roger and asks him to let him come back in. The scene between Don and Roger is magnificent both showing the decent and yet strange amount of trust and liking that the two share for each other. For Roger it’s a both a power move and a way to get someone he likes back in his office and for Don it’s a way to get his life back.

By the time Don ends up being told to come in is where the awkwardness begins. Roger in true Roger fashion doesn’t actually tell anyone about Don coming in causing a strange reaction of the whole office being mystified and confused, in many different ways to Don’s unexpected return. We get a very eccentric reaction from Ginsberg, a very awful reaction from Lou (who continues to be awful), and a very angry reaction from Peggy. The partners, on the other hand are concerned with the ongoing value of Don and whether he can actually be of use and how much the man will actually will cost both on a financial and personal level.

Turns out that after a fantastic scene with some shrewd negotiation from one Roger Sterling that they do end up wanting Don back on some very strict conditions; these conditions (which involved no alone time with the clients, sticking to the script, no drinking, and worst of all reporting to the awful Lou Avery) would force the old Don Draper to instantly turn it down, but we’re at the point with Don at the moment that he just wants to make it right and in a fantastically timed last shot Don agrees with an “ok.” This sets up a lot of awesome potential with either storylines of Don trying desperately to adapt or we could get an awesome Don versus Lou showdown that could make for some great psychological warfare. The whole awkward office situation was a wonderful sequence that sets up some hopefully great storylines as we get through the season.

The other major storyline involves the return of Betty for what the a field trip with Bobby that gives the episode its name. Betty tries to reconnect with her son throughout the trip and for a while it seems to be working (Bobby making sure his mother had a seat on the picnic towel is a very cute little scene) as Betty actually seems to be making an effort to reconnect with her son. Sadly it seems that Betty’s childish nature seems to catch up with her again (or maybe, as she tells Francine it’s “old fashioned”) as when Bobby trades Betty’s sandwich (without really figuring out that it’s Betty’s sandwich) for some candy leaving Betty on an all out tail spin. She goes into a mode of thinking that her kids don’t love her anymore and breaks down in front of Henry and really condemns Bobby after the food trade. It’s a familiar Betty arch but it will be curious to see if she ends up getting some redemption out of this arc as we continue to move through the season.

“Field Trip” was a wonderful episode that got Don back to work and Betty back on the show. I’m loving  the way the season is progressing and really looking forward to where we are going as we get closer to the end of this year (sadly due to the split we have only four left)

Some other thoughts:

• Along with the return of Betty we get the return of Harry Craine! He gets his moment in this episode with Cutler pointing out his dishonesty and the issue of a potential computer for the firm. It’s also great to see the blank reactions on the partner’s face when Harry’s name is mentioned, shows how much he really matters.
• Dawn seems to be adopting to her job decently despite the constant running around (and now dealing with Don again).

That’s all for this week folks! Exams are over so I should be back to a Sunday night review schedule next week! Sorry about the last two weeks...

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

Transcendence Review: A baffling lack of nuance

Johnny Depp becomes AI in Transcendence

Transcendence

  

C+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Sometimes you need a smaller break out to get your stride and reputation. Thus is the case for most of the recent breakout blockbuster filmmakers, the most notable of them being Christopher Nolan. Nolan started smaller which allowed him to make free and risky films to give him a feel of how to develop his voice before gaining access to the big Hollywood picture. Sadly (or at least so it seems creatively) Nolan’s former cinematographer turned director Wally Pfister doesn’t get that room for growth as he’s thrown right off the deep end with his opening film being a bigger budget blockbuster. The result is a film that takes an interesting sci-fi issue and transforms it into generic film that never lives up to any of the potential of its individual parts.

In the near future, Dr.Will Caster (Johnny Depp) and his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) are developing new and more developed artificial intelligence. Them and a few other colleagues in the field of AI including Joseph Tagger (Morgan Freeman) and Paul Bettany (Max Waters) are targeted by a group of anti artificial intelligence mercenaries led by the mysterious Bree (Kate Mara). Will gets hit with a bullet that’s been laced with poison and only has a few weeks left to live leaving his wife and projects in dismay. In order to save her husband Evelyn transfers Will’s consciousness into his most powerful computing creation. Soon Evelyn connects this creation to the internet and it all spirals out of control threatening to control the world, forcing the government to team up with the mercenary group to try and shut it down.

Transcendence’s worst sin is that it takes a cool and potentially complex issue of artificial intelligence and turns it into a simple black and white situation. There is no pondering of the issue or any middle ground regarding the issue; instead it’s boiled down into the simplest terms. Artificial intelligence and what makes a person human are such interesting topics that could make a really awesome, thought provoking film. Instead it’s just a backdrop for the good guys and the bad guys (or potentially misunderstood guys) to battle it out for supremacy.

This ultimately wouldn’t be a complete disaster if the film didn’t make the artificial intelligence question half of the film. If the film had been a total 100% thriller or action film based on the subject it would have probably turned out okay but instead it tries to pretend to have intelligence by talking about the issue in a broad falsely dichotomized fashion. It makes the film look dumb and dull as a result. There is nothing subtle, nuanced, or interesting that comes out of this discussion that the filmmaker’s think is suppose to provoke thought on how we deal with technology.

The next biggest sin of Transcendence is that it treats its female characters very, very poorly. Evelyn doesn’t come off as a grief ridden widow determined to keep her husband alive but instead an insane, over emotional stereotype of a female character. The same is reflected in Bree who seems over impulsive and emotionally driven when she should seem like a suitable leader for this band of mercenaries. The characterization of the women wouldn’t be too problematic if the men around them weren’t depicted as rational beings whom had all of the intelligence while the women had too much emotion to do anything. But alas this is the case and throughout the film the feeling of slight sexism was hard to shake despite the female actors trying to give solid performances throughout the film.

For a first time director Pfister does a good job visually. Pfister’s cinematography always focused on big wider shots to cover the action and that is no different throughout Transcendence. Everything throughout this film is shot beautifully and everything that is presented is coherent and easy to watch. If there was a problem with the direction it’s that at time Pfister doesn’t seem to have a clear voice or style throughout the film. There are times where the direction seems like it’s from a calm and reflective film and in others it feels more like he’s making an action film. It may just be the result of the jumpy nature of the script but there are times that visually it feels like there isn’t a overly confident and collected single voice.

Despite what the title of the film suggests, there is little transcendent in Transcendence. The film stumbles with its vision, over simplifying and ultimately making generic a really cool science fiction subject while destroying its female characters in the process. The film just ends up being a very average to below average attempt at summer sci-fi fare, and a not great directing debut for cinematographer Pfister. This is one piece of science fiction that doesn’t need to be sleeked out.

Mad Men “Time Zones” Review: Everybody’s lost! Everybody’s lost!

Peggy Olsen in returning to action on Mad Men

Photo Credit: AMC TV 

And so it begins again! For the final time (or at least for half of the final time we still have to sit through a split final season… Thanks AMC) we’re back in the world of Mad Men and boy there is a lot to go over in this premiere so…

A review of Mad Men’s 7^th and final (ish) season premiere as soon as I make this conversation about coffee….

“Are you ready?”
-Freddy

So it’s only two months later and boy has so much changed. In fact this felt almost like we are in a complete establishing where everyone is mode in “Time Zones” which had a ton to cover of the course of a very short feeling hour. “Time Zones” found a lot of the characters in a state of being lost in their current positions. Familiar I guess for Don and Roger but even poor Peggy is in a state of disarray. It’s an interesting place to be in as the season begins, and “Time Zones” does a great job at establishing it.

“Time Zones” doesn’t open with Don, Peggy or any of the regulars for that matter; nope it opens with our wonderful recovering alcoholic Freddy Rumson! Yes Freddy is now the voice of Don Draper (which of course is revealed much later but the ad is so Don Draper you can almost tell/assume), and is making a name for himself through the work of the former creative master. The Accutron pitch sets us up perfectly for where we are going to go, what strange, strange places we are going to go.

So Roger is hosting an all day, every day orgy party? This seems very rock bottom for Roger (maybe where the LSD has taken him) as he seems to be lost in this predicament. He can hardly take the forgiveness charm from his daughter (who seems to have found something, therapy? LSD?) as he’s caught off guard and also finds himself detached from the situation in the first place. It seems that Roger has no clue where his life has gone, and even less of an idea of where it’s going to progress.  We saw over the last few seasons just how off Roger is about his career, and now it seems like we are going to get the same sort of thing with his personal life. It’s a little sad for Roger and the final shot of confusion on his face will hopefully, but not likely, spark a potential redemption for the old man.

Then there is Don, very, very lost Don. In a rare move for a Mad Men premiere Don doesn’t show up for a good 9 minutes, and when he does it seems so glamorous. Don gets his own big slow motion Rolling Stones backed scene where he meets his wife Megan at the arrivals section of the LA airport. Everything in that scene seems so sexy, so happy, and so right for Don, but of course as per usual it just quite frankly isn’t. Don is trying to keep his life from falling apart at the seams and, so far, it seems as though he’s not doing as well as he would probably like to. Let’s start with the marriage which is still as rocky as it has ever been, but not in the same ways. There are no blow ups, or big arguments to speak of (Megan even mentions that he’s not in California long enough for arguments) but there is just sheer lack of chemistry. They just don’t really click anymore, from Don trying to woo Megan with fancy gifts (in this case a big (for 1969) television) of which Megan wants absolutely none of, to the most awkward sex in the entire universe, these two are just holding their marriage together by a very thin thread. Even Don is at the point of admitting, in a strange moment of devil on his shoulder with ie the woman on the flight back to New York that he knows that Megan thinks he’s a horrible husband, and that what he has at the moment is a sham of what it may have been in the beginning.

The more troubling part of Don’s overall nature of being lost is the work aspect. Don’s been in a state of being lost before, whether it being in his personal life or keeping up with these kids now a days, but he has always had the constant of work to at least be able to have some outlet to get his creativity and whatever else out. Now that’s gone and has been for what seems to be for Don a very long two months. It’s gotten to the point that he’s funneling ideas through the now freelance Freddy Rumson, who is gladly taking his ideas and moving along with his life. It’s still not enough for Don who is lost not at least just going in to the office (which let’s face it was often the only thing he would do on a workday) and he’s just stuck at home to do nothing. Both Freddy and Pete are itching to try and get him to push himself back into the fold but to no avail. The final shot of him moving out to the cold patio alone and in his underwear when the sliding doors won’t close perfectly describe the sad state of Don. He’s got nowhere to go for the time being and is lost in a heap of the shadow of himself that he’s all of a sudden become.

Peggy’s doesn’t seem to be doing much better either. She’s so used to the Don order, and is ultimately so much like Don, that it’s so hard for her to bear the new, Mr. Rogers type creative head Lou Avery. It could be so easy for her to just walk through that door and work with this guy, who seems like the most sane creative head that Mad Men has ever presented, but Peggy can’t simply walk through it (in fact Lou even says “Why are you making it so hard? Open the door and walk through it.”). Peggy is so used to the hardcore, perfectionist, slightly off nature of her predecessors that she can’t stand the nice, laid back nature of the new world order. It leaves Peggy hot and bothered and attempting to ram through ideas that she knows that she can’t get through because they are way too late and spontaneous.

Not only is it frustrating professionally for Peggy, but her personal life is potentially even worse. The whole Ted situation has left her broken personally, she still ends up living in the terrible apartment with the terrible tenants, and is haunted whenever Ted shows his face back up in New York (which by how it’s presented in this episode is very often) leaving her personal life in shambles. She really has no one (she even seems to have alienated Stan by the end of this episode) both in the professional world and in her personal life and it certainly seems like it’s not a great time to be in Peggy land. The sequence at the end of the episode with her finally breaking down and crying at her apartment door perfectly reflects her position in the world at the moment, alone, personally destroyed, and unable to cope with what the rest of the world has to offer.

Finally we have the unlikely and dysfunctional duo of Ken and Joan. Full on captain eye patch Ken (I guess the eye is still healing) has now been put in charge of New York accounts and is not taking it well at all as he is crumbling under the constant stress of the job. Joan on the other hand is trying to work her way into the copy area of life, managing to defy the expectations of both a client and a University business professor, with her charms and knowledge. The scene with her defying the University professor’s expectations with her knowledge of commissions and fees (and in a funny way him defying her expectations by not being a total pig when he asked for a deal, instead asking for information for research) was a wonderful scene as was the quick turnaround that she managed to pull on the snarky client, putting the agency firmly back in control. It creates a little bit of a mentor underling relationship for Ken and Joan (even though technically speaking Joan has a higher rank than Ken) as Joan tries to get into the ropes of the accounts business. Hey we never know maybe Joan will go for head of accounts out of all this who knows.

Ultimately “Time Zones” was a strong place moving opening for the last season of Mad Men. We’re in some interesting places at the moment especially in rearguards to Don and Peggy and it’s going to be fun to see how all of these charcters ultimately get to say their final dues. We’ve only got 13 more left after this and boy I’m just happy to be back in this world with these characters again.

Some other Musings:

• California douche Pete!!! Wow was that wonderful to see Pete go unabashedly eccentric California hipster in this one after the strange crappy year that the character had last season. Poor guy just wants to get his tan on and have sandwiches with coleslaw in them! With Vincent Karthiser (along with pretty much the whole strew of California bound cast) still being regulars it’s going to be very interesting how we move from California to New York throughout the season.

• That airplane sequence with Don and the widowed potential lover was curios and fascinating. It allows Don to have the little devil on his shoulder (she clearly wants to sleep with him) and whether he will continue to ignore it like he did in this episode or whether we will add another mistress to the ever growing group. For now it seems like he’s backsliding less which is a good sign I guess.

• I wonder how the heck Betty, Henry and the kids are going to fit into this season. More Sally Draper please!

• Eye patch Ken needs to be a superhero, equipped with a Gif of him throwing that earring into oblivion (yay depth perception).

That’s it for this week folks! I’m pumped that it’s Mad Men season again and I hope this season is great, despite AMC’s strange decisions…

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?