Jack Comes Back with a Bang

I have been a fan of the show “24” from the very first season.  I remember reading about the concept and how it was supposed to be an entire season where each episode was an hour during one particular day.  The buzz was great that first season.  It was also a first season that opened with an entire plane exploding in mid-air with the terrorist responsible actually escaping out of the plane to do it.  That’s quite an impressive way to start. 

From that point forward “24” has seldom disappointed.  Has it made a few missteps along the way?  Sure, all of us who are fans recall with a cringe the whole Elisha Cuthbert versus the cougar phase.  Many of us also remember the season that just sort of meandered around while Jack flew into
Mexico and dealt with drug dealers and somehow the drug dealers had something to do with a virus or something.  It seemed to take forever to get going.  However, even that season, once the virus got released in a hotel full of people things started moving.  It made me realize that the whole season should have started with the virus being released in the hotel instead of the whole drug dealer thing. 

Anyway, last season “24” reached some kind of state of action-packed perfection that many shows just dream about.  Last season started off with some kind of two-hour premier that was, without a doubt, the two most-tension filled hours of television I had ever watched.  Sure, it stretched the plot a bit even last season, but it was consistently watchable.  Part of what made it so compelling were the strong performances of the President and First Lady.  That means when the plots was focused off of Jack and onto them the story was still compelling.   

Of course this season had a lot to live up to.  For those of you who are fans of the show and perhaps have yet to watch the four hours of the “24” premier this year that the show has not disappointed.  It may have taken until the second two hours of the four-hour, two-day premier to really make me sit on the edge of my seat and audibly gasp in surprise but it definitely did not disappoint. 

Now comes the hard part.  In this day and age when people have TiVo which has created an entire culture and class of people who immediately shout things at you like, “don’t tell me about it!  I have it TiVoed and I haven’t watched it yet!”  how do you actually talk about a show that relies almost solely on surprises for maximum effect?  I also know of people who let the entire “24” season go by so they can then either buy the subsequent season DVD release or put it into their NetFlix queue.  This really makes talking about it hard. 

Needless to say if you have seen any of the commercials you know that super hero and super agent Jack Bauer, played by Keifer Sutherland, is back from his escapade in
China.  At the end of last season Jack was captured by the Chinese and taken away on a boat for events that had actually happened the season before.  This season plays it smartly by starting the action two years later. 

David Palmer’s brother, Wayne, is now President.  The
United States is, once again, in trouble.  Terrorists have been committing acts of terrorism and suicide bombings in cities across the country.  Buses are exploding.  Bombers are walkig into crowded restaurants and shopping malls and pressing buttons that take dozens of people with them.  The terrorist responsible has one demand and he says he will point him to the man organizing all of this.  He wants Jack Bauer’s head on a platter. 

So, this is how Jack comes back from
China.  The man who comes back, however, is a slightly different Jack Bauer than we are used to.  In every other season no matter what happened to the man (even dying) he was always a man who knew exactly what to do.  He was also willing and capable of doing anything to get information.  This is a man who once uttered, “ I need a hacksaw” when it came to getting information from an informant.   

Well, two years in prison has actually tamed Jack Bauer.  He is a man with doubts.  He is a man who is now almost incapable of torturing another person, probably due to the torture has had to endure.  We see Jack is a man criss-crossed with scar across his back and a right hand badly burned and scarred from tortures we have yet to see.  He is a man who is furtive, unsure, and all too  human. 

Of course the threat is also all-too real this time around.  I do not want to give any of it away.  You should discover what the terrorists have planned all on your own.  The scary part is that this is a threat that many countries on the planet might have to face.  In fact, even before the bigger plot is revealed the idea of terrorists committing smaller acts of terrorism in multiple places is all-too real. 

Just remember that there are certain rules every season of “24” must follow.  There is always a traitor in the midst.  Many times this traitor is right in the President’s cabinet (or even the President himself, last season).  Multiple times someone with vital information will end up shot and dying before the information can be gleaned.  Everything is within twenty minutes driving time despite the fact the entire show is set in
Los Angeles.  Every time someone goes with Jack on a mission and that person is not a main character that person will die.  Also, whatever the terrorist plot seems like it will be at the beginning it will end up being something much larger and more convoluted than initially presented. 

Keep those things in mind.  The season opener has delivered the thrills.  During the second two-hours I found myself shouting at the television and putting my hands on the top of my head and gasping audibly and comically.  I was also, surprisingly, touched by Jack and his new attitudes. 

In the past the peripheral characters were always just a little bit more interesting than Jack.  That is still the case.  Lord help the writers if anything ever happen to Mary Lyn Rajskubs’ Chloe.  However, Jack himself was always rather one dimensional.  Yeah, sure, you liked him and wanted him to win but he didn’t quite tug at the heart strings.  There was once a rumor his character might get killed off and I actually thought that might not be a bad idea.  This season, I am very glad he is still around. 

So, I am once again hooked ‘til the end.  I am looking forward the next installment and I will be on the edge of my seat all season long.  This is a great show and it is just way too much fun.  Yes, it’s about terrorism, but it is still a blast and you know Jack will eventually just kick some serious terrorist butt. 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

Living as a Lobbyist: a DVD Review

The movie “Thank You for Smoking” is now available on DVD and it is definitely worth adding to your NetFlix list or taking a trip down to your local rental store or whatever it is you do to watch movies these days.  If you want a movie that will repeatedly make you laugh out loud while also making you think with devastatingly biting writing and outstanding comedic performances than you need look no further than this movie.  While much of this has to be slightly over-stated for comedic purposes you know that there is much truth hidden here. 

“Thank You for Smoking” tells the story of Nick Naylor who is also known as the Sultan of Spin.  He works for the big tobacco companies and he does what he can to spin the negative aspects of smoking and the detrimental effects of smoking into something positive.  For example, in the opening scene as he sits next to a boy who is maybe sixteen and has been smoking since he was a pre-teen and is now dying of cancer he makes a surprisingly valid point.  Why would big tobacco want to kill this young man?  They are losing a customer.  The anti-smoking people, however, want this boy to die because in his dying he furthers their cause.  Now THAT’S spin. 

Naylor meets regularly with two other lobbyists and they call themselves the MOD Squad.  MOD stands for Merchants of Death.  Maria Bello plays the lobbyist for the alcohol companies who dreads the fact that 60 Minutes is running a report about fetal alcohol syndrome.  His other friend is played by David Koechner who is the lobbyist for the anti-gun control people.  He, right now, is trying to deal with yet another disgruntles postal worker who has gone berserk and offed some of his co-workers.  They meet, have dinner and discuss strategies and compare who has the larger death toll. 

Meanwhile William H. Macy turns in another outstanding and comedic performance as a
Vermont senator who is trying to pass legislation that will require a skull and crossbones to be placed on every pack of cigarettes.  You see he feels it’s unfair to  want to kill the people who don’t speak English because they can’t read the wording on the other warnings.  Macy sits behind a desk covered with maple syrup bottles of all shapes and sizes. 

Naylor works for a company that is supposedly created to study the effects of smoke on people.  This company has been in existence for thirty years, was created by the tobacco companies and has managed to, for thirty years, prove that there is no correlation between cigarette smoke and cancer and other diseases.  As Naylor himself admits of the scientist in charge he is “brilliant.” 

J.K. Simmons, he of J. Jonah Jameson in “Spider-Man,” is Naylor’s boss.  They come up with the idea that they need to get celebrities in movie to start smoking again.  Off goes Naylor to meet with Rob Lowe, who plays a superstar agent.  Lowe is also hilarious as a man who only wants to make a deal and doesn’t care about the consequences.  Eckhart and Lowe play convincing characters as they discuss that they cannot get superstars to smoke in a movie set in modern times.  However, if it were a period piece set in the past when everyone smoked or perhaps in the future when smoking would be made safe again…wellllll…. 

Katie Holmes even shows up and puts in a decent performance of a sexy reporter bent on getting the story behind Naylor.  Cameron Bright plays Naylor’s son and he turns in an outstanding performance.  He understands what his father does and he evidently has some of his father’s talents.  When his father shows up at his school on career day, before his father goes up to speak, he begs his father to “not destroy my childhood.”  Naylor then skillfully defends his position when told by a young girl in the class that her mother says smoking is deadly.  “Is your mommy a doctor?”  he asks. 

There is a definite note of deep cynicism of this movie.  However, one scene leads seamlessly into another.  The movie is put together beautifully and keeps you hurtling forward.  There is an interesting note that not a single person is shown smoking or holding a cigarette throughout the entire movie.  The closest you get is a scene involving nicotine patches and that turns out to be played for comedic purposes.  Also, Robert Duvall turns in a brief performance as The Captain, a man who is legendary as an advocate for tobacco.  He wields a cigar at one point. 

The movie is full of well-timed jokes.  The performances are all spot-on and that even goes for Katie Holmes who has, at times, been rather jarring for me in other performances.  The writing is crisp and intelligent and witty.  This is not a movie that resorts to scatological humor to get its point across.  There is also not a single scene of someone wrestling another man while nude. 

Somewhere along the way, in
Hollywood, comedies became an attempt to throw as many jokes at you at once as could possibly be fired.  It’s like loading a cannon with grapeshot and firing it at a group of marching soldiers.  You throw as many as you can and see what sticks.  Those that don’t you just ignore and hope that more sticks than doesn’t.  This becomes a way for writers to find a way out of writing decent comedy.  Rather than carefully crafting humor or creating humorous situations you just need a bunch of quick jokes in rapid succession.  “Thank You for Smoking” takes the time to let its jokes build.  I feel this makes the laughter more rewarding. 

Of course you know there is truth behind this story.  Despite the payouts big tobacco has had to make in recent years you know they still have spin doctors out there.  They put out ads telling people about the dangers of smoking while still putting ads in magazines telling you how great their cigarettes are.  More and more of them seem to be selling towards younger and younger people.  You get them hooked young and then maybe you can get thirty years out of them before the smoke finally kills them.  I am sure tobacco companies loved the idea of the cigar bar and the popularity of cigars that swept the country for a while. 

In the end this is a very good and smart piece of comedy.  It is a movie that should be seen by adults as it is a comedy made for adults and made for adults who are intelligent and capable of thinking.  It is also a satirical and biting look at the inside of spin-doctoring and how companies and organizations can use people, words and images to make their policies a reality and affect legislation. 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

What Big Oil Wants, it Gets: A DVD Review

The movie “Syriana” came into theaters in 2005 and won George Clooney an Academy Award.  At the time the critics praised it but they warned that the plot was a labyrinth and almost impossible to understand.  Upon hearing that it was determined by me that I would simply not try to connect all of the dots or put all of the pieces together and that I would just watch the movie and watch the performances.  Although the DVD has been out for a while, I must recommend this movie because you cannot watch it without having the feeling that this is true. 

Essentially what you need to know about the plot is that big oil companies have gained such power that they can influence the policies of not only this country but the countries where the oil comes from.  That, in a nutshell, is the point of this movie.  The details as to how each individual story fits together are really secondary.  This is a complex movie with very adult themes and that trusts its audience.  This is a movie that does not pause to explain at length what is happening.  This movie trusts the people watching that they are adults and capable of adult thought and it makes its point and moves on.  This is a rare thing in modern movies. 

The cast list is very impressive and it is long.  Matt Damon, George Clooney, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Jeffrey White, Christ Cooper, Tim Blake Nelson.  The main characters and those whose stories you follow are Clooney, Damon, White and the story of a man who wishes to become the next Emir of his country played by Alexander Siddig.  Also within this story is that of a man looking for work who ends up recruited by a fundamentalist Muslim group and ends up a suicide bomber. 

Each of these stories is told compellingly.  Matt Damon’s character is an energy analyst living in
Geneva who ends up invited to a party thrown by the Emir in some foreign land.  He accepts on a whim and pressured by his co-workers.  What happens at that party sets him onto a path he has not predicted and that brings him toward a conclusion that brings together his story, that of the prince and that of George Clooney. 

Clooney shows he deserved his Academy Award by turning in a fantastic performance as a CIA operative pretty much on his way out.  He is a man looking to stop playing around in the field that has become increasingly dangerous for him and to settle down behind a desk until he can retire.  The problem is he has trouble keeping his mouth shut at the right times.  Soon he is back in
Lebanon and meeting face-to-face with the leader of Hezbollah.  Not long after that he is tied to a chair being tortured in a scene that beats the one from “Reservoir Dogs.”  Trust me, this is a scene that is not easy to watch. 

Jeffrey Wright is a lawyer who is looking into the merger of two large energy companies.  He has to prove that these companies are doing their due diligence and that may mean certain people may need to be sacrificed to keep appearances up.  He is not a lawyer meant to show some great noble quest.  He is a lawyer who knows how this game needs to be played and he plays it. 

The tale of the young prince is very compelling.  His father is aging and his younger brother seems to show more interest in partying and becoming some kind of rock star.  His younger brother wants to keep things in his country the same as they have been.  Of course, to the oil companies and the
United States this is fine with them.  That means the oil keeps flowing.  His older brother, however, wants to make changes. He has lofty goals.  He wants the Arab countries to start better-controlling the oil and to start exporting oil to
China.  Needless to say, this will not due and that sets things into motion with the CIA and the politicians owned by big oil. 

These performances feel very real.  Not once did I feel it was George Clooney playing an aging CIA agent.  I felt his character was real.  The story of the worker who ends up a terrorist is also compelling and shows how these men get jerked around by the large companies and how this could easily lead to disillusion and spin someone into fundamentalism.   

These tales are told with equal weight and drama.  There are a few stray plotlines that seem to go nowhere.  The Jeffrey Wright character has an alcoholic father who shows up from time to time but seems to go nowhere and add nothing to the overall plot.  Amanda Peet’s character is very well portrayed but limited perhaps due to time and I felt she could have had a bigger role.  These are small quibbles, however. 

One of the standout performances is that of Tim Black Nelson.  You may have seen him in “O, Brother Where Are Thou?”  In this movie he plays one of the executives at the energy company that is trying to complete its merger.  He gives a speech about corruption and how corruption makes the entire system work that has to stand up there with Michael Douglas’ speech about greed in “Wall Street.”  It is a brief performance but impassioned and memorable. 

This is, in short, a very good movie.  It may make you angry.  It is amazing to think that this kind of thing must be going on.  The
United States is in very dangerous waters with its reliance on a substance that exists only a few places on the planet.  It seems a very cruel joke of nature that so much of this much-needed substance exists only in some of the most dangerous places on the planet.  So, despite hating terrorism and the policies and morality that is evident in some of these countries the
United States has to accept them and put up them because they need that resource.  Therefore those who may want to bring about real change in this region are considered dangerous because any upsetting of the balance may cut off the flow of that substance.“Syriana” is not a light-hearted movie.  It is not a movie to sit by and watch passively.  It tells multiple stories and it does it well.  The performances are powerful.  The camera-work is excellent.  The plots are intricate and well-written.  The overall plot may be too thick to see through, but if you take it in its component parts you can enjoy and amaze at excellent modern filmmaking.   

In short, I recommend a viewing of this DVD.  It will make you think.  It will make you gasp in surprise.  It will make you wonder about this country and who really runs whom.   

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

Low-Tech Movies for You to See

I am a movie snob.  I have a degree that gives me permission to be this way.  Considering the tremendous amount of money my parents forked over to the university I went to so I could earn that piece of paper I think that truly entitles me to the right to be a movie snob.  It wasn’t my actual major but my minor and it technically is called Film Theory and Criticism. 

The great thing about getting this minor is that you spend a lot of time watching movies.  The other great thing is that you got to watch a lot of older movies.  Older movies are things a lot of people don’t think about these days.  I know some people who don’t even want to consider looking at a movie that isn’t in color.  It’s like there is an entire generation who thinks the history of movies started with “The Godfather” and then advanced from there.  Good lord, it would be unthinkable to consider watching a movie that’s in black and white. 

The problem with that line of thinking is the tremendous amount of great movies that are not being watched by large generations of people.  Of course, watching something in black and white and older than 1970 seems counter-intuitive to modern home film watchers.  The problem is that the modern home watchers all have these high-tech fancy crystal-clear DVD machines with state-of-the-art sound.  The fact that older black and white movies are often a tad blurry or indistinct means that most don’t want to consider watching them.  I think this is wrong. 

So, get out that Netflix list and start jotting.  I am going to shock and amaze you.  Ok, really, I am just making another list, but it sounds so much better to suggest I am going to shock and amaze you.  In fact, I am going to suggest that you go back further than the 1940s for movies.  In fact, I am going to suggest you go back to the beginning of cinema.  Yes, I am suggesting you find some titles that are so low-tech that they don’t even have sound. 

The silent film era is really not understood by a lot of modern movie-watchers.  The mere idea of reading anything is anathema to most of them.  The fact that so many were willing to read subtitles about Jesus still amazes me.  However it is amazing to look at film when it was still going through some growing pains.  It is amazing to watch movies that use emotion and the lack of dialogue and still tell a story with mood and images.  Movies should be about images anyway, really.  It is a visual medium. 

Some of the best uses of silent film fall into two genres: horror and comedy.  When it comes to horror you can’t go wrong with mood and images.  “Nosferatu” was directed by F.W. Murnau and released in 1922.  It was a very loose adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  However, it was close enough that Broker’s relatives sued the filmmakers over it.  Still, how effective is this movie?  How scary is actor Max Schreck as the vampire?  So scary that when they made Stephen King’s “Salems ‘Lot” into a television movie they made the chief vampire look like the vampire in this movie.  The special effects are cheesy but they add something to the creepiness of the movie.  The weirdness of the film run backward gives the whole movie a sense of unrealness. 

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is considered by many to be the first true horror film.  It uses a term that became known as expressionism to great effect.  Buildings branch off at crazy angles.  The movie deals with madness.  This movie uses darkness and shadow to tell the tale of a kidnapping, a sleep-walker and one of cinemas first mad scientists. 

When it comes to silent film comedy a lot of people will steer you towards Charlie Chaplin.  This is all right.  I have seen a lot of Charlie’s work and he’s funny.  However, if you want to see where Jackie Chan got his inspiration and you want to see some movie stunts that will make you gasp and some gags that will truly make you laugh until you hurt then you have to go with Buster Keaton.  He is often referred to as “Old Stone Face” but that isn’t entirely true.  He does show emotion but somehow he manages to keep that face pretty serene in even the most ridiculous situations.  For my money you can’t got wrong with “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” and the tornado scene.  You also should watch “The General” which many consider to be one of the greatest films of all time.  Also, catch one of his later works “The Cameraman.”  There are scenes in that movie that had me rolling in the theater I was watching it in. 

Finally, when it comes to silent films I recommend a movie that will surprise many.  It is called “
Sunrise” and it is probably the finest silent movie that ever was, in my opinion.  It’s, of all things, a love story.  Yes, I know, I said it was a love story.  It tells the tale of a marriage, temptation and redemption.  When I was told what this movie was and what it was about I was not looking forward to it.  I am not a love story guy.  We were going to see a special showing of it at a theater on campus.  As the movie started, complete with a live piano, I found myself completely taken up in it.  I found myself edging forward on my seat.  I was amazed.  It touched me.  It was moving.   

When it comes to silent film you also can’t go wrong with Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.”  The movie took two years to film and was the most-expensive of its day.  Sadly, it is also reported to be one of Hitler’s favorite films.  Lang went on to make sound films and the movie that falls into the “must-see” category is his serial killer movie “M.”  You must see this movie.  Yes, it’s in German but you will never look at the actor Peter Lorre the same way again.  You will also be shocked at a movie that old dealing with a child serial killer.  There is no music in this movie save for the creepy whistling of the killer.  Lorre’s tortured performance will do a truly remarkable thing – feel for the monster.  Seeing him on his knees screaming “I can’t help myself!” is movie-making magic at its best. 

Once you start getting into sound the usual suspects in black and white start to emerge.  Too many critics have hyped “Citizen Kane” to the point where it cannot possibly live up to expectations.  I happen to love the movie but, as I said, I am a movie snob.  It should be seen for movie historical purposes.  It is an amazing character study as well as a commentary on money, power and the media. 

Finally, I am suggesting you get a health dose of Humphrey Bogart.  For my tastes “The Maltese Falcon” may be the best black and white detective movie ever.  “
Casablanca” is another movie that suffers from too much hype but it’s a movie that is tense, funny, moving and strangely touching.  It really should be seen if you haven’t. 

There is much more I haven’t seen.  That’s the great thing about movies.  They have been in existence for a long time now.  That means there are a lot of movies to watch.  I hope you get a chance to see the ones I suggested.  Happy viewing. 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s latest novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

The Good Ol’ Days of Horror

I have been a fan of horror and horror movies for almost as long as I can remember.  I have been through the various phases of horror.  When I was a kid it was common to find those black and white movies that probably instilled terror into the hearts of movie audiences in the 1930s.  Back in those days, during the depression, the idea of mummies and vampires was probably pretty scary.  Bela Lugosi in a cape and speaking in a strange accent was probably enough to scare the heck out of people. 

Even as a kid I never found those monster movies very scary.  I mean, for crying out loud, you could get Dracula, Phantom of the Opera and Frankenstein’s Monster action figures when I was a kid.  How scary is it when you can get a plastic toy to play with?  Especially when the plastic toy is only slightly bigger than the Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader action figures I had sitting somewhere across the room, how scary can they really be? 

When I first started watching movies on video it was the time when the slasher films had just started to take over.  I watched Halloween and had nightmares.  It was wonderful.  Like all trends, however, before too long the entire pool was saturated and by that saturation the entire genre got diluted.  With the creation of other movie monster like Jason and Freddy it kid of diluted the fact that the original Halloween is a brilliant and simple terror story about the boogeyman.  It’s scary because of the use of shadow and implication rather than splattering gore.  There is just enough blood to put the idea of blood in your head and then your brain fills in the blood the rest of the way. 

Since the pool became diluted the glory days of the slasher film came and went.  In fact, it seems like horror films went through a period where nothing was particularly good.  There was the gorefest films, of course.  I saw most of those during college.  These were movies that just amped up the gore and made it so that nothing was left to your imagination.  These movies dazzled with amazing special effects and sly tricks.  The great movies in this genre are “An American Werewolf in
London,” “John Carpenter’s The Thing,” and “The Fly.”  The fact that those three all took old-time monsters and updated is not lost upon me.   

Those movies were good.  They entertained.  They scared.  I remember watching them and turning away from the screen.  It was fun.  I have written about these movies and given my opinion about which ones you should watch.  Yes people died in these movies but there was always this sense of fun about them.  It is hard to explain this to someone who does not like horror movies.  The fun of horror movies is that they often are things that could not happen.  It is not possible for Michael Meyers to really exist.  You cannot have a man in a spray-painted Shatner mask who is invulnerable and comes back to life after being shot six times.  There really are no werewolves.  Vampires really do not exist.Watching a horror film was my equivalent to going on a thrill ride.  I hate thrill rides.  My stomach cannot take all of that dipping and spinning and turning upside down.  However, I can experience a visceral thrill watching a guy with knives for fingers swallow Johnny Depp into a bed and then fountain gallons of fake blood onto the fake ceiling.  That’s fun.  It was all done with a wink and a nod. 

I think that maybe horror films are, in some way, a reflection of the times in which they are made.  I, personally, enjoyed the brief dip into Japanese horror films.  While the American remakes may be a little less intense than the original Japanese movies I enjoyed them for the most part.  I like the way the Japanese are willing to accept ghosts and mediums and vast mental powers even from little girls trapped down wells.  To cynical American society such things have to be explained and, in that explanation, some of the magic and scariness of the originals is lost. 

There has been a more disturbing trend lately and it is one I am just not willing to take with the horror movie industry.  I am not sure I understand it.  I guess we live in a world when our own military is accused of torturing prisoners and you can find beheadings of hostages online if you look hard enough.  We live in a world when faceless people seem to be plotting to do us harm and the harm done in our minds is so terrible that seeing someone tortured must not seem so bad. 

Of course I am talking about the recent spate of torture films.  I don’t understand them.  I have not watched them.  It may have started before the movie “Saw” came out but I really don’t remember them before that.  I think maybe “Saw” just become enough of a hit that others figured they could make copycats of them. 

Just like when the pool became saturated with the slasher films the market is now inundated with these movies.  Far too often they do well at the box office.  “Hostel” begat “

Wolf
Creek” which begat “Chaos” which begat “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Beginning” which begat “Touristas.”  Now I see a movie that is supposed to come out this December about a torturer at Christmas time (although I think it’s actually a remake of a 1974 film, but I digress).  Perhaps I will need to reevaluate my holiday movie list, eh? 

In each of these movies it seems the same plot is followed.  A bunch of young people end up in a group going some place.  Most of the time they go somewhere in a car.  Then they veer off of their original course and end up somewhere where a guy is waiting for them.  Is it a slasher?  No, that would be bearable.  This is a guy who doesn’t just want to kill people.  This is a guy who wants to stalk, capture and then torture them.  As I understand it there are times when the bad guy doesn’t even want to kill his victims.  From what I read about the movie “Wolf Creek” there’s a point where the guy severs one of his victim’s spine and leaves her a “head on a stick.” 

I don’t understand the desire to watch this.  Maybe it is like when I was younger and people get some kind of thrill out of it.  I don’t see it.  These don’t seem to have a sense of humor.  They are dark and depressing and relentlessly mean and cruel.  It’s like being one step away from watching a snuff film.  Even “The Passion of the Christ” was, for all intents and purposes, a two hour movie of a man being horribly tortured to death. 

It’s strange to wish for the time when the scariest thing was Robert Englund with make up that made it look like he had a skin condition.   

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

The Place for Food

Chicago is a great town for food.  Oh sure, you are likely to point out the fact that I am a resident of this fair city and, as such, might be a little biased.   However, I have traveled to a few places throughout my life.  More importantly, my family has traveled a lot more than me.  My brother and sister-in-law lived in
New York for a long time. 
New York!  That’s supposed to be a
Mecca of great food.  You know what my family found?  Yeah, that food in the Big Apple sucks about as much as a giant apple that’s been sitting on an island in the ocean for centuries. 

There may be better restaurants in a place like
Paris and I am willing to concede that.  When I think of the places my family has visited and which of those places had restaurants we all raved about I am able to come up with one place:
New Orleans.  Since New Orleans has a bit of a French influence I am betting
Paris does all right for itself.   

So, it’s time for another list.  I recently got to play tour guide and got to see
Chicago from a visitor’s perspective and it reminded me about how great this city is when it comes to food.  My friends agreed.  So, here is a list for any of you that may decide you want to visit the

Windy
City.  Many of these are downtown, but they are presented here as they come to my brain and not in any particular order of greatness. 

1. Superdawg – this is one of the last real drive-in restaurants you are likely to find.  While, technically speaking, this is not a true Chicago-style hot dog this is one of the tastiest dogs you are likely to find.  You can also walk up to a window and order and you can order burgers and other things besides hot dogs.  This is located on the northwest side of the city, out near O’Hare Airport.  It is worth the trip.  The malts and shakes are small but delicious. 

 

1. Lou Malnatti’s Pizza – There are pizza places all over the city.  You can find a good pie on nearly any corner (by the way the word “pizza” means pie so saying pizza pie is saying pie pie).  There are Malnati restaurants all over the city as well.  It’s great.  Here’s a secret, though.  Chicago-style pizza is thick crust pizza in a deep dish.  However, most Chicagoans I know actually at thin-crust.  Still, find a Lou’s and enjoy.

 

1. Portillo’s – this is where you can find a true Chicago-style hot dog.  A true Chicago-style dog is on a steamed poppy-seed bun with an all-beef
   Vienna dog.  The dog should have relish, tomatoes, mustard, celery salt and a sport pepper.  I think there maybe onions too but I am not sure and I am too lazy to look it up.  There should never be ketchup but I put it on there anyway.  Portillo’s also has Italian Beef sandwiches which are also a
   Chicago original.  If you want to try on you can’t got wrong with Portillo’s.

 

1. Carson’s Ribs – there are several of these as well.  If you are downtown you might as well try the one down there.  These are the best barbecued ribs, bar none, end of story, period.  You can even buy their ribs online and have them shipped all around the world.  They have other food there as well but the barbecue sauce is so fantastic.  It is sweet, which I love, but these ribs are good enough you will write home about it.

 

1. Ditka’s – this is the restaurant started by Da Coach Mike Ditka.  I have no idea how much he is really involved with the day-to-day operations of this establishment but the food is excellent.  They are renowned for their pork chops.  It is also a place where you can have a cigar and not have to worry.

 

1. Ben Pao’s – I just discovered this place with my friends.  It is part of the Lettuce Entertain You group of restaurants.  It is an Asian restaurant.  It is fantastic.  Their crab
   Rangoon looks like long sticks but tastes delicious.  Their soy sauce has a fantastic sweet taste.  I would gladly go back here just for the chicken fried rice.  I want to take it home and roll around in it.  OK, maybe not, but this is damn fine food and you should seek it out.  It is downtown just blocks from the House of Blues

 

1. Jake Melnick’s – this is a bit of a bar and is a fine place to watch a football game.  It is also a great place to get some food.  They have a great selection of beer, as my friend Scott can attest.  I had a salmon dish and it was fantastic.  You don’t expect fine salmon from a bar with football on the televisions but this stuff was really good.  I enjoyed the fries and the staff was fun too.

 

1. Ed De Bevic’s – this is right across from a Carson’s Ribs and there is one way out in the suburb of
   Deerfield.  You can’t go wrong with the original.  The waitstaff are being deliberately rude.  It is part of the act.  They dance on the tables.  They sit down in the booth with you.  They call you names.  The food is great but the entire experience is what sells this.  That and the music.  The cheese fries are great.

 

1. Roma’s Italian Beef – this is down the street from Superdawg’s.  This is the place to go for Italian Beef.  It is worth the trip out toward O’Hare again.  The cheese fries here may be the best I have ever eaten.  It is a hole-in-the-wall place but my GOD this is the best beef sandwich you are likely to eat.  Get it “juicy” and they will dip the bun in the beef juice but you will have to eat it with a knife and fork.  Get sweet peppers on it for additional flavor.  You can get hot peppers on this sandwich too if you want.  This is a
   Chicago original and it is worth the trip.

 

1. The Signature Room – what could be better than eating in a fancy restaurant that happens to be near the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city.  The food is expensive and I think you need to wear a tie if you are a guy but this is a great place to eat.  The food is world-class and the views are fantastic.  I love the John Hanncock building and this place is right on top of it.  There is also a Signature Lounge just above the restaurant if you just want to have a drink.

 

In truth you can turn a corner anywhere around here and find a great restaurant.  Part of the fun is exploring.  I hope I have given you a good start. 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com. 

The Dumb Squad

If you are anything like me, first of all let me give you my condolences, then you were made to feel afraid, very afraid, when you saw Lindsay, Britney and Paris all in the same car together.  The combined brainpower in that vehicle had to equal about one watt and they were behind the wheel of a vehicle that must weigh close to a ton or more.  It certainly made me glad that I did not live anywhere near wherever they were likely driving and puking and endangering pedestrians. 

At some point it must have become cool for young women to be stupid.  I know this is something that has been written about before and by others but it really struck me while I sat there looking at the photograph of those three in a car.  I don’t understand what kind of message this sends to anyone who might be young and also female.  Hell, I wonder what kind of message it sends to anyone anywhere about anything.  These are the people we deem newsworthy?   

The list of the dumb women seems to be getting long all the time.  There is Britney who likes to walk into gas station restrooms barefoot and drive with her infant son on her lap.  There is Paris who says “that’s hot” as though it means something and isn’t annoying.  There is Lindsay who seems to be partying at a rate that makes me wonder if she has some kind of fatal disease and is trying to pack as much drinking into her life as possible before she dies.  There is Jessica Simpson who has made being dumb a career move.  Her sister is Ashlee who probably wouldn’t be able to find her way out of a large paper bag if you left it tilted on its side with opening wide open.  There is Tara Reid who walks around topless and seems to be giving Lindsay a run for her money when it comes to the partying.   

What happens in the lives of these children?  Do their parents just get caught up in it?  Do they either decide to put their kids into the entertainment world or listen to the kid and let them enter the entertainment world and just decide to stop caring about them?  Britney didn’t just decide one day to get photos taken of her getting out of a car with Paris Hilton where you can clearly see her most private or areas.  She had to slowly develop that way.  She must have had potential as a child to be smart.  Somewhere along the way someone must have seen she could sing with some ability and then decided to focus just on that and not the rest of the training the rest of us got.  Somewhere along the way she missed the lesson that one should not wear a skirt so short everyone can see your hoo-hoo without the need of a high-powered lens. 

With
Paris you begin to understand at least part of it.  She was born into wealth.  Nothing breeds idiocy like money.  Yes, sure, I am positive you can point to people who are the exceptions that only prove the rule.  Even Paris’ own sister seems to be just slightly more intelligent and more adjusted in some way than
Paris. 
Paris is like some kind of female Forrest Gump. She just blows on the wind and flits and flirts from one place to another like a feather.  She seems bored with life.  She certainly seemed bored with sex on that infamous tape.  She does not look like a person who you could have a conversation with.  She seems the type who you would ask, “how’s the weather?” and she would reply “whether what?” 

I tend to like women who can hold up their end of the conversation.  To me, at least, a brain is very sexy.  A great conversation can be almost as powerful as a romantic interlude.  On the other hand there seem to be other men who agree that the dumber the better.  As for me, I will stick with women who may actually know what is going on in the world and avoid those who may be stumped about which world they may actually be currently standing on. 

I guess this is a phenomenon to go hand in hand with the craziness gene that seems to have kicked in with the older celebrities these days.  If they aren’t standing on a stage or being pulled over by police to spout hateful things then the celebrities are as dumb as a post and making sex tapes.  Why would anyone who wants to be in the public eye make a sex tape?  Is there a woman alive who thinks that when the man tells her that if they make a tape it will just be for private viewing and will be erased?  Does anyone really think that no matter what that boyfriend will not show that video to about half a dozen friends or post it on the internet?  I should know as I have probably downloaded at least half of the world’s supposedly private sex tapes.  I’m not proud of that fact, just desperately lonely. 

I digress, however.  I guess when you look back throughout history the actual female role models who were intelligent were few and far between.  All too often the women who were strong and smart were mocked in later generations.  Sure, Susan B. Anthony may be a great role model and a smart woman but most men wouldn’t want a calendar of her on their walls.  Despite the fact that most of the men I know are no brainiacs themselves (and I am including myself in this group) they are still the people who are in control of much of the world.  Men being in control of much of the world has not done a damn thing to make the world a better place and yet they still seem to be the ones who control so much of what women think.  Far too many women seem to think that being stupid but just looking like a bimbo is enough to get you somewhere in the world. 

Of course the dumbest woman on the planet has to be Anna Nicole Smith.  She actually fell out of favor with men because she gained weight.  This was a bad move on her part because she wouldn’t be able to find the floor upon stepping out of bed if you judge her from the reality show she used to have.  Granted, she has suffered a great tragedy lately and that should count for something. 

I just want the world of women to know that there are some of us out here who actually want to be able to have a decent conversation every once in a while.  Sure, someone beautiful is great to look at and have fun in the bedroom with but what do you do with the rest of the time?  Do you just play Play Station Three?  You have to be able to talk to someone and that has to be hard to do when they can’t even spell dog. 

So, be careful out there.  If this trend continues the Dumb Squad may just get bigger.  Buses full of dumb bimbette celebrities may be swarming your very streets.  Keep your wits about you.  Keep a lot of shiny things around to distract them with. 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available for sale in print and eBook form at www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

The Holiday Movie Thing

My original idea was to create another list.  Since the holidays are upon us I figured it would be a good time to write about some of the best holiday movies.  People like lists.  The other lists I wrote seemed to get a decent response.  It creates dialogue, it seems.  People like making suggestions.  As such, I figured holiday movies would be a great topic what with it being the Christmas season. 

However, as I sat down to write I immediately ran into a problem.  The problem is very simple and can be summed up in three words:  holiday movies suck.  Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying.  I tried to come up with a list.  I went for a walk.  I pounded my head against a wall.  What did I end up with?  I got sore feet and a headache. 

I couldn’t come up with a list.  Yes, there are classic films that everyone watches year after year but, really, they aren’t very good movies either, are they?  You only watch them during one time of year.  It’s the time of year when you probably have warm and fuzzy feelings going already.  A lot of people associate the holidays with good memories and some of those memories surround watching certain movies with family members.  All of that suddenly makes “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” suddenly seem like a good movie rather than a poorly-acted, cheesy
Chevy Chase comedy which is what it really is.   

So, here is my list of holiday movies that are heart-warming, funny, and classic: 

A Christmas Story – In my opinion there is nothing better than the story of Ralphie and his family and his attempts to get hold of a Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.  It’s funny and, more importantly, it’s universal.  Yes, the movie is set in about 1940 but the themes mean as much today as it must have back then.  I know in my life that every year there was one toy or one present I looked forward to more than any other.  I would sit there in class and daydream about it.  I would doodle pictures of it on my notebooks.  I would dream of playing with the thing.  Then, when I finally got the chance to play with the gift, normally I was done and bored with it by the end of the day. 

This is a story that brings up nearly every single family holiday goof-up and tradition.  My house too had outlets that were crammed with plugs.  My father wasn’t exactly like the father in the movie but he did love to pick at the turkey my mother would be cooking all day long.  I even had one Christmas where I was longing for a BB gun.  I then proceeded to shoot up the basement of my parent’s house with it. 

The rest of the movies that come out during the holidays just don’t have the same feel to it.  Everyone watches and talks about “It’s a Wonderful Life” but I can’t sit through that movie anymore.  I honestly don’t care much about Zuzu and her petals any longer.  I also hate the idea that every time a bell rings and angel gets its wings and wish Clarence would freeze to death and drown.  Am I cynical?  Probably.  Cantankerous?  Most definitely. 

I watched “Miracle on

34^th Street

” and the remake just like everyone else.  Again, it was mildly amusing the first time I saw it.  Then it rapidly became annoying.  Once again I no longer cared if Santa ended up in the loony bin or not.  I’d rather just see the kid yank on the beard over and over again. 

I guess I still have a soft spot for the Rudolph movie.  Something about that harkens back to my childhood.  Does anyone remember the other Rudolph movie where he had to save the new year?  I remember that one because he had a friend who was a whale and I thought that was really cool. 

I have watched seemingly countless versions of “A Christmas Carol.”  I have to admit I was amused when I first saw the Bill Murray version “Scrooged.”  However, to me, the movie now seems dated.  It’s amazing that at one time having a movie with Bobcat Golthwait didn’t seem like a disaster in the making.  Even as I sat there in the theater I have to say I was thinking that this was not really a very funny movie. 

The problem in recent years is that the quality of these movies has managed to get worse.  Right now there is a movie about two guys who are competing or have problems with the decorations on the other person’s house.  Sounds like the same story that was “Christmas with the Kranks” which was just out last year and completely sucked.  Let’s not forget Ben Affleck’s movie where he tries to live with Tony Soprano or something. 

I blame Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad for this trend.  They did that stupid movie where the two of them run around looking for the hot toy of the season.  I knew it was going to be dumb for a couple of reasons, namely, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad.  Has there ever been a good movie with Sinbad in it?  I don’t think so. 

Of all of the movies I would have to say that the story of Ralphie, his brother, Scut Farkus and the BB Gun is the one I can watch again and again and again.  The great thing is that I can do exactly that because there’s that one cable channel that shows it all day and night on Christmas day.  I still laugh.  Just show me his brother saying “Meat loaf, beat loaf, I hate meat loaf” and I am on the floor dying. 

Beyond that, I have to say that holiday movies, much like holiday songs, have a very short shelf life and that is as it should be.  You can have your “White Christmas” and enjoy them if you want but you can count me out.  I can do without Bing Crosby in my holiday life, thank you very much.  I have no desire to watch that one again.  I saw it once and watched it with this really cute girl back in college.  Unless she is going to show up again to watch it with me, I really don’t care to see it. 

So, I am sure the airwaves will be filled with holiday movies.  There will be women having their lives made wonderful and various adaptations of Scrooge and his ghosts.  They will show the Peanuts kids shopping for that tree.  I will be taking walks in my neighborhood and enjoying the lights.  However, during that marathon, you had better believe I will be watching Ralphie dress up like a giant pink bunny. 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is now available in both print and eBook versions at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

Bond Gets a Shot in the Arm

Just like the movie “Batman Begins” did last year for that flagging franchise the new James Bone film “Casino Royale” gives a stale series a much-needed shot of adrenalin.  This is, without a doubt, the best Bond film I have seen in a long time.  For those of you who were worried about Daniel Craig taking over the role, you don’t have to worry because he could be the best Bond yet and, yes, I am even factoring in Sean Connery. 

I am a James Bond fan.  I can’t help it.  In my family the James Bond movies were always watched whenever they were on television.  To this day, whenever AMC or one of the other cable channels has the Bond marathons, I am glued to the television nearly ever night.  Yes, some of them are fairly dreadful (“Moonraker”) but most of them are a lot of fun.  In fact, even the bad ones are fun.   

There was a big flap raised when Craig was picked to be the next bond.  He wasn’t tall enough and he’s blond.  The thing is he is EXACTLY what this movies needed and what this franchise needed.  He is real.  He is also probably the best-built Bond of any of them.  He looks like a guy who could kick your ass. 

This Bond goes back to the beginning.  We see James make his second kill to get his Double-O rating in the pre-credit sequence.  This is a James Bond unlike what we have seen before.  He is raw.  He is new to this.  He makes mistakes.  He is reckless and arrogant.  He doesn’t even regularly drink martinis.  Also, he is utterly and completely ruthless.  This Bond is a stone-cold killer.  He doesn’t kill his enemies cleverly and then make a witty retort.  He drowns them in sinks and shoots them right in the face. 

Bond’s mission is to take down Le Chiffre.  Le Chiffre is a man who is the financial wizard for terrorist organizations from around the world.  This is a villain who does not live in some gigantic island base or underwater in some base that rises from the ocean depths.  He has a fairly fancy yacht but that’s about it.  He is the man who takes care of the money for terrorist organizations from around the world.  He invests the money and makes it available to them anywhere on the planet.  He also, occasionally, has to create a terrorist act of his own in order to ensure that his investments pay-off. 

When James disrupts one of his activities he finds himself in a bit of debt.  With terrorists, you don’t want to tick them off by telling them you have lost their money.  Le Chiffre has an ace up his sleeve, almost literally.  He loves to play poker and he is very good at playing poker.  So, if he can win a high-stakes game at the infamous Casino Royale, he can make back the money he lost plus more.   

This is where James comes in.  He is given his Double-O status and then backed by MI:6 and sent to Casino Royale to beat him in poker.  He is to bankrupt Le Chiffre and thereby disrupt the finances of countless terrorist organizations across the globe.  Of course, they also know that Le Chiffre will probably not be long for this earth once the people he is supposed to be helping find out hey lost all of their money. 

So, yes, this is a movie where the major centerpiece of the movie is a card game.  In the original Ian Fleming novel it was baccarat.  They have made it a little more modern by making this card game Texas Hold ‘Em.  They manage to make even this very exciting.  Who would imagine watching men playing cards could be exciting?   It’s tense.  It builds.  You’ll gasp.  You’ll cheer.  Man, this was a good movie. 

The opening sequence, right after the credits, is a chase scene that you will just have to see to believe.  The price of admission is worth it just for this scene alone.  I have no idea who the actor is who plays the man Bond is chasing but this guy, or his stunt double, can do some of the most amazing acrobatics I have ever seen.  This scene goes on for a long time and not a single moment of it is wasted.  Is it realistic?  Hell no, but damn it is exciting.  They jump off of giant cranes and up and down a building under construction.  This is one of the best chase scenes in any Bond film ever. 

This is a stripped-down Bond.  There is no “Q.”  Judi Dench is back as “M.”  It’s not that there are NO gadgets, but there is no pen that shoots missiles or a car that can somehow turn invisible to the naked eye.  There are cell phones with tracking devices and an implant in the arm that allows Bond to call home for help.  Beyond that the only thing Bond needs are his fists and his gun complete with silencer. 

This Bond is brutal.  He has bloody knuckles when he’s done fighting.  He gets hurt.  He even falls in love.  Yes, there are Bone women.  There are two of them, actually.  Caterina Murino is the wife of one of Le Chiffre’s associates who ends up in Bond’s bed.  The second is Evan Green who plays Vesper Lynd and she is the one who is supposed to provide the money for Bond’s game should he go through the original ten million she provides.  She also steals Bond’s heart.  Then…well, you’ll just have to see it to find out. 

This is a Bond story that manages to take you back to the old days while also reminding you of more modern spy stories like the Bourne movies.  In fact, I have a feeling a lot of the action was inspired in some way by those movies.  We don’t need a bond with a rocket pack anymore.  However, a Bond who can use his fists and a gun better than anyone will work just fine, thank you. 

If there is one complaint I have about this movie is that it is a tad too long.  There is a long sequence near the end where you kind of wish they would have tightened things up a bit.  It’s nice to see Bond have a tender moment or two but it shouldn’t drag on quite as long as it does. 

This is a very good movie.  It is an excellent movie.  As far at James Bond movies, this is one of the best.  I loved it and I look forward to seeing it again during those James Bond marathons a few years from now.  I look forward to seeing what Daniel Craig does next and sort of wish they’d just let him remake all of them starting with “Dr. No.” 

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook at www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.

The Surprise of the Season

It’s amazing to think that there are places in this very country where men and women devote all of their time by high school football.  You see it in places like Chicago in some of the suburbs as well but it takes on a whole new level in some places like in Texas.  When you live in a big city like Chicago or New York or Detroit you have major league sports team to serve as a distraction.  You also have a lot of city with a lot of opportunities for kids to take advantage of.  In short, football isn’t the only way to actually get out of the town and into a big city. A few years back there was a book called “Friday Night Lights” about a town in
Texas where football was pretty much the very lifeblood of the town.  It was a kind of obsession that even the most ardent Bears or Packers fan would find strange.  It was the kind of obsession that made it seem as if people would live and die based upon what the local high school football team did.  Whereas you may wait until Sunday with anticipation for your NFL team or maybe Saturday to watch you favorite college team but these places waited for Friday night.  The games are carried on local television and news stations.  The local sports radio stations talked about the games and the players the way your local sports radio stations may talk about the NFL team. 

That book was turned into a movie starring Billy Bob Thornton.  It was a modest hit and pretty well received by critics.  It told the story of a man who came to the town of Odessa
Texas and was put in charge of a team called the Panthers.  It gave information about how life centered around high school football in that town.  It told the story of how economic depression had pinned everyone’s hopes on whether or not the high school team would make into the state finals every year. I never saw that movie.  A television show about football wasn’t one I was particularly interested in seeing.  I also had a problem that a television show called “Friday Night Lights” was not actually going to be on Friday nights which seemed logical.  However, I liked the actor Kyle Chandler who was going to be playing the lead and the previews seemed to be rather interesting and intense.  I decided I had nothing better to do and would tune in to the first episode. 

What I found was the surprise of the season. I found a show that was filmed in a documentary style.  I found a television show that was powerfully written with well-developed characters.  I found compelling storylines and interesting people plus amazingly filmed football game footage.  Finally, I found a show that was well-acted. It’s tough to find actors who are supposed to be high school students who can act.  This seems to be an issue that “Friday Night Lights” has solved.  There is the quarterback who ends up with the spinal injury.  His recovery has managed to become a story that is almost as compelling as whether or not the team is going to make it into the finals.  The story of the back-up quarterback trying to maintain leadership over the team resonates with me here in Chicago after going through last Bears season and watching back-up quarterback Kyle Orton hold the team together. 

Then there’s the player who is the quarterback’s best friend who is also an alcoholic and has a huge crush on the quarterback’s girlfriend.  He blames himself for his friend ended up in the hospital and uses that as an excuse to fall deeper into his addictions and self-destructive behavior. Meanwhile there is the quarterback who was illegally recruited to play on the team.  He was displaced due to Hurricane Katrina and was an all-star player on his Louisiana team.  Now the coach and the team may be in trouble due to the illegal recruitment. 

Holding all of this together is the story of the coach and his family.  How does a man manage to live day-to-day when the hopes and dreams of the town are placed squarely on his shoulders seconds after he wakes every day?  Everywhere he goes people give him advice on how he should coach the team and who he should play.  When he loses the townspeople seem to feel they have the right to threaten the man and his family.  There is a disturbing scene where the coach enters a fast-food restaurant with his daughter and his daughter is accosted by a man who at one time won a state championship with the football team.  The fact that he is now fat, still living in the town, and still obsessed with high school football doesn’t seem to matter with him. Some of the racism that was dealt with in the movie is absent in this television show, but it is there.  The black students are treated more like animals who are expected to perform on cue for the masses.  Meanwhile each of them holds out hope that a big college might recruit them and then they might get to the pros and provide money to their families. 

What is so compelling about this is that you know there are towns like this going through things like this right now.  There are towns right now gearing up for the Friday night game and there are kids who are putting the hopes and dreams of the entire town on their heads.  There are kids right now who think that football is the only hope they have to getting out of some small no-name town and into a life of untold riches.  All of them forget the toll that this game takes on their bodies or forget that the rich linebacker can now barely walk with his career over because his knees are shot forever. The head coach of the Chicago Bears, Lovie Smith, came from a town like that.  Part of the reason he may be so good at what he does is because he came from a place where everyone lived on a steady diet of football.  I would guess that he is the exception, however, and not the rule.  I am willing to bet that all of those kids out there in that town right now really have no more chance of turning pro than I do.   

It’s a sad fact that all of that pressure may not lead to more than a life in a small town, growing old, gaining weight and then sitting there at middle age looking at a tarnished state championship ring.  That is what the show “Friday Night Lights” is about.  That seems heavy, but the show is also compelling, well-written and exciting.  You care about these people.  It’s the surprise of the season and I am hoping the Dillon Panthers make it to the state championship. Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available at his website www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.