And the mystery continues...

A fifth human foot was found off a beach in Canada. This time it was a leftie (the other four were right feet). This article doesn't say whether or not the foot was also clad in running shoes. I still say...creepy.

On another note: It seems to be business as usual for LOCI's Logan/Wheeler episodes. Poor acting, shoddy scripts, and a pointless meandering plot that ended in a sort of WTF was that all about, and why do I care? denouement. Music Wench stated she was looking forward to Wheeler's return for the lighter aspect she brings to her half of the show. I say the jury's still out. I don't blame Julianne Nicholson as much as I used to. The scene where Wheeler questions a possible rape victim was quite powerful in its understated display of empathy (almost ruined by the piss-poor acting of the young woman playing the victim). But improved lead acting doesn't an entire show make. As long as the storylines continue to be muddled and lack any depth or character, I will continue to watch with a look of complete incredulity. The preview for next week's Goren/Eames didn't even excite me as it used to. I am woefully afraid for the rest of this season.

I'm late finding out everything...

...mostly because I rarely touch a computer on the weekends. I sit in front of one all week. Weekends are for reading, hanging out with my husband, and watching addictively bad movies on the SciFi channel. So imagine my surprise this morning when I go to the Reel and find out Warren Leight is leaving as showrunner for LOCI.

But, unlike my fellow obsessives, I don't quite see it as a loss. Oh sure, the series's ratings increased in its move to USA, but that couldn't have been hard considering the disaster known as the sixth season (Leight's first as head script writer for the show), which had some of the weakest storylines, worst guest acting, and intelligence-insulting crap to be shown on network TV. No wonder their ratings dropped. Not that the entire season was a loss. The Goren-backed bookends Blind Spot and Endgame were brilliant in that way something mediocre is made brilliant by a talented cast. The rest of the season was a complete waste of the talent Leight was handed on a silver platter, as he attempted to salvage the floundering show by making it more a cross between the cringe-inducing CSI Miami and the last three seasons of SVU.

Gone were the days when the actual criminal intent was a part of a show titled Criminal Intent. Gone was relying on talented local acting in favor of badly used guest stars (really? did anyone really care that Fran Drescher was in an episode? or Doris Roberts? Brooke Shields? really?). Gone were the carefully nuanced scripts that balanced the sophisticated crimes against the intellect and detecting prowess of the teams. Oh no, we must RIP FROM THE HEADLINES!!! And not headlines from days of yore, but ACTUALLY YESTERDAY'S HEADLINES!!! WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY!@!! OOOH LOOK!, LIZA MINELLI! SHE CAN'T MOVE HER FACE, BUT WE'LL STILL USE HER!!! WAIT, IS THAT TOM ARNOLD?!? GAY PREACHER SCANDAL ANTI-TYPECASTING! SQUEEE!

Please.

And gone were the days when our favorite detectives actually detected, apparently because they only need to be led around by the nose from suspect to suspect until the solution was blaring across the screen in giant letters. Doesn't anyone else remember that smirk Goren would get when he know someone was telling him a big fat lie? When he would sit in that room and stare at something waiting for the pattern to emerge, chips bags and coffee cups artfully strewn about? He and Eames poring over files together? Remember when Logan episodes were - while not brilliant - actually watchable?

The only thing the sixth season brought us that kept me returning were amped up personal storylines, pulled off only by the amazing acting abilities of the core cast. That and the hope it would eventually get better. Which, in the first half of season seven, it seems to have. Detecting returned. Depths showed some research happening. Self-Made reminded us Goren sometimes does get a clue on his own. The usual crime-solving hijinks came across in Courtship. And so I look forward to the remainder of the seventh season if only because the first half showed so much improvement over last season. Because, honestly, if it hadn't, the only reason I would be watching at all anymore is this man:


PS, if you want an even longer, more intelligent sounding, and more direct post about the travesty that was season 6, read this. My favorite is when the author basically equates it with fanfiction due to the high emotional content.

When Comparing Apples to Oranges...

I went to see Iron Man last weekend and I can't stop talking about it. I mean, it's a fun superhero movie and all, but that's not what made it stick in my brain. Robert Downey, Jr. is what what is sticking in my brain. I walked into that movie with absolutely no expectations and walked out enthralled anew. My first thought was, wow. I just want to go give him a hug right now and tell him how proud I am of him. It takes a shitload of strength and determination to live on the knife-edge of disaster and pull yourself out and keep working for something you love. We see too many stories of celebutants and pretty young things falling into notoriety and never quite bringing themselves out of it. Most of these people have so little talent, even if they were to truly clean up their acts it wouldn't matter. If your entire self-image is built upon nothing more than your celebrity status, then what do you have to fight for when being a fuckup keeps you a celebrity? Robert Downey, Jr. is an actor who - I believe - loves what he does. His self-image was apparently built upon something greater and more lasting than celebrity. And he cleaned up and took whatever jobs he could until someone gave him the break he needed to get where he belongs, on theater marquees.

And there's that little thing where, in Iron Man, he portrays a character of such confidence and intelligence with such conviction, I found him...compelling. Like, if I were single and he were single, after that hug of support, we would hopefully be finding somewhere to have hot monkey sex.

When I admit this to the husband (who gracefully takes such things in stride), he asks, So your #1 has been replaced?

I'm sorry, what?

Here's the thing, Robert Downey, Jr (why do I feel I need to write out his entire name?) is a very talented actor. He's a good-looking man. He's aged well. But he's no Vincent D'Onofrio.

This isn't about sex appeal. Whether or not I find one more or less attractive is irrelevant in this case.

Vincent D'Onofrio is a more compelling actor. He inhabits his characters so fully that one believes he is Detective Robert Goren; he is Private Pyle; he is every lovable, despicable, and irascible persona he's ever portrayed. Some accuse him of over acting, but I say pshaw, because:

Robert Downey, Jr is a great actor who's been given one great character to portray and he shined in that role. Vincent D'Onofrio is a great actor who has shined in every role he's played regardless of the quality of material he's worked with. His characters literally jump off the screen and into your face. They excite you, irritate you, scare you, creep you out, and turn you on. There is no middle ground. And during that time you are in the theater or on your couch, there is no actor playing a character. There is only that character.

Few actors have this ability to fully embody a role. Male or female, there is always this recognition happening, the visibility of acting. Book reviewers frequently make reference to the transparency of an author's writing. Transparent writing brings character, setting, and emotion alive without the reader even noticing. The writing may be beautiful or evocative, but it is simply the backdrop for more important elements to come alive. I believe transparent acting is the same. I've seen many die-hard Law and Order: Criminal Intent fans admit they took awhile to get into the show because the Goren character was so irritating to them. Then, after some time he grew on them (much like an annoying friend does).

That is transparent acting. That is compelling acting. That is why, in an industry of fakers and prettyboys, Vincent D'Onofrio will always rock my world.