Dream of Californication

David Duchovny has come a long way since his days as the timid Fox Mulder on the 90s scariest television show. In his current role, Duchovny plays the obnoxious Hank Moody: a writer who despises Hollywood despite having sold out to it, drinks his weight in whiskey, hides weed in his typewriter, and constantly chases after his ex-girlfriend. Duchovny is the star of Showtime's hit show Californication.

Season 3, now on Showtime.

In the first two seasons of the vulgar show, Moody:

1) Struggled to write a new novel after a Hollywood adaptation ruined his last one. While doing this he is trying to win his girlfriend back before she ties the knot with another man and be a good father to his pre-teen daughter.

2) Met a rock star and wrote his autobiography. After winning back his girlfriend, he struggles to keep her and he's still trying to be a good role model for his daughter.

You see, Hank has a hard time being a role model because he constantly drinks, smokes, and has sex with women he just met. He is shameless and is no good at hiding it from his daughter. The third season, which just started, is the first that has (so far) been without Natascha McElhone, who plays Moody's longtime love interest Karen. The premise is that she is gone to New York for a new job. Left behind in California are Hank and his daughter Becca, played by the very convincing Madeleine Martin.

Madeleine Martin and Natascha McEhlhone on Californication.

This is the first time that we've seen Hank trying to raise his daughter by himself and so far he's doing a miserable job. In the first episode he caught her smoking pot with a friend and the second episode ended with him throwing her cell phone against the wall and yelling "I hate you too!" while she runs to her room.

The first episode was, in a word, hilarious. The irony of Hank throwing a lit cigarette at the man whose house he would be eating at that evening was great! And then he re-awakes an alcohol addiction in a high-class college professor. When it is established that this professor will have to go back to rehab, the teaching job is then offered to Hank.

Professor Richard Bates unveils his "mangina" at a dinner party after rekindling
his love for whiskey in the season premiere of Californication.

The second episode gives us a glimpse of Hank's first days on the job. In this little while, Hank manages to hit on one of his sexier students, drink during his office hours, smoke up before a meeting with the Dean, and push a student to the brink of suicide. I believe it is a blend of his brutal honesty and obnoxiousness that bring about these situations in his life.

Even though this all seems a little ridiculous and unbelievable, it just works so well because the writing is just fantastic! Hank Moody is a sex addict, alcoholic, and pot head yet we're drawn to him and we want him to succeed in all of his endeavors. How can this be!? The writers have just created a character that is so complex. Despite the horrible side to Hank Moody, there is a certain humanity that appeals to us that we just can't ignore. We see the father who is desperately trying to connect with his daughter. We see the man who regrets decisions from his past and just wants his girlfriend back. It is these simple things that the audience can relate to and therefore take Hank's side.

David Duchovny as the complex Hank Moody in Californication.

On top of the character, each season has one overarching story line (much like Dexter, post on that coming soon). The overarching story progresses a little further with each episode and there are smaller sub plots that begin and end in the same episode. This keeps us interested in the larger story of the season and it keeps the show fresh with new content and characters.

I love this show. I think it gets better and better with each season. The writing is witty and the acting is authentic. It's vulgar, disgusting, and hilarious. Kudos, Showtime, for bringing us yet another great show. If you do not watch this show, I suggest you start because you're missing out on what great television really is.

Goodbye Summer... Hello TV!

In the past two weeks I have:
a) Eaten all the food in my place.
b) Spent all the money I had in my bank account.
c) Watched The Godfather Part 1, 2, and 3.
d) Watched the complete 3rd season of Dexter.

Okay, the 3rd season of Dexter was watched in the last three days, not two weeks. But can you imagine watching twelve hours of mind-blowing television with no junk food to munch on at all!? I vowed to never do such a thing again.

Today I spent about an hour and a half at the grocery store, stocking up for the next few weeks of season premiers, movie nights, and old school cartoon marathons. So as soon as I came home, with a room full of food, I put on the first two episodes of the second season of Fringe.

Peter, Olivia, and Walter are back!

Fringe's season finale last year left me with wide eyes and a jaw hung open. It answered questions that were brought forth all season and, despite its cliff-hanger ending, left me satisfied...more so than the ending of the first season of Lost anyways. So I had high hopes for this new season and its capability to push the laws of science even further and see how much the audience would believe. And I have to say...

I'm disappointed. The last season ended on such a high note (SPOILER ALERT): Olivia Dunham meeting with William Bell on the top floor of the World Trade Center in an alternate universe. It left me in wonder. It left me in awe. It left me craving more. So I was really looking forward to at least partial answers to some of these questions:

• How do people travel back and forth between all the alternate universes?
• WHAT THE EFF happened to the Peter Bishop from the universe we're in that Walter had to bring the other Peter Bishop over?
• What is going on in the alternate universe that Olivia and William Bell were in? What kind of world is it? What are some of its current events?

To be honest with you, I was expecting this season to take place mostly in the alternate universe answering those questions. And yes, I knew they wouldn't all come in the first two episodes but to not even mention it? That's just cold.

The first episode was effective enough. It established that Olivia didn't remember anything and was being tracked down by a shape-shifter being who would take the form of the last human he hooked his thinger-ma-jigger up to. The FBI was threatening to close down the Fringe division (similar to what happens in every other season of the X-Files). The episode ended on a cliff-hanger. I was okay with it. I didn't think the first episode was that bad.

The shape-shifting device used in Episode One of Fringe's second season.

Now for the second episode. I found this one to be long and boring. It told the story of a man who had genetically mutated his unborn son so that the kid would survive the childbirth (the mother had lupus therefore she couldn't give birth). The mother died while giving birth and, it was assumed, so did the child. Now, seventeen years later, people are disappearing in a small county in Pennsylvania. This half-human half-scorpion is living underground beneath his father's house and feasting on humans there. Peter and Olivia decide to go down and check it out. My biggest problem with this episode was that it felt as if I had seen it before. And I sort of have.

In the eighth season of the X-Files, there was an episode titled Patience that took place in Idaho about a genetically mutated human living underground, killing the people of a small community. This mutant was half-human half-bat but the resemblance is still too close for me. Everyone's comparing Fringe and the X-Files and now the writers of Fringe are giving us more and more reasons to do so. Not only was this episode boring, it had nothing to do with any of the Fringe mythology. No references to the pattern, the Fringe division being almost shut down, Massive Dynamic, William Bell, etc. We got to see more of the shape-shifters actions and Nina Sharp giving Olivia the name of a man who can help her overcome her symptoms of traveling between dimensions which include super-hearing powers. That was the extent of the mythology in the episode.

Other observations of the new season? Walter is a little more ridiculous in some of his dialogue but I like it still. He's always been funny and they're just pushing that a bit further.

And did anyone catch the X-Files shout out in the first episode?

Mulder and Scully on TV in Fringe!

STORY - Substance, Structure, Style, and The Principles of Screenwriting

So this year I am throwing myself into the world of screenwriting as I have at least two classes at all times until the end of the academic year.

Last week, I had a reading assigned to me from Robert McKee's very popular screenwriting book STORY - Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. Now when I say very popular screenwriting book, I mean very popular screenwriting book. It is the winner of the International Moving Image Book Award and has giant advertisements in every screenwriting magazine I've read.


So I open this book and start reading. The introduction hooked me right away. In it were eight statements about Story:

Story is about principles, not rules.

Story is about eternal, universal forms, not formulas.

Story is about archetypes, not stereotypes.

Story is about thoroughness, not shortcuts.

Story is about the realities, not the mysteries of writing.

Story is about mastering the art, not second-guessing the marketplace.

Story is about respect, not disdain, for the audience.

Story is about originality, not duplication.


Now, one could argue that these statements are made about McKee's book, since it is titled "Story" but I like to think that he's talking about actual stories. Everyone of these statements made me think of all of the current scripts I have in progress right now to see if they apply. Some of them do, some of them don't.

And it can be very hard to follow these "guidelines". Especially in today's world where there are so many stories circulating via film, novels, video games, music, and many more mediums, it is hard to come up with a story that is original. And then respect for the audience. As a storyteller, I get so caught up in my own world and the world of my story that I forget about the audience and just think about how I would like my story to go. Don't get me wrong, I will not write my story based on what an audience would want, but it's very important to keep them in mind while you're writing.

So thank you Robert McKee for opening my eyes a little more to the world of the storyteller. I very much enjoyed the introduction to your book.

Moving on the first chapter, this was a different story. The first chapter, titled The Story Problem, is McKee rambling bitterly about how writers these days are just not the same and how the "craft has been lost". Overall, it was a negative view on the screenwriting industry today. Since it's an industry I plan on entering, a negative insight on it isn't what I'm looking for. Where's the good!?

I haven't read any further than that yet though but I sure hope it turns around to something more positive.

Have you read any of Robert McKee's Story? What do you think?

My Return to Blogging!

So for the past month or so I've been feeling like part of me is missing. I realized, it was blogging. I have had a CRAZY month full of ups and downs and side to sides that I just couldn't fit blogging into my schedule. However, I am back. Fear not, dear followers. This post marks my return to blogging and I promise right now to never take a leave of absence like that again! Here are a couple of things that happened in the past week:

- I moved into my Don suite in residence! This is a giant room that I am living in for the year while I am a Don (or R.A.) in my residence!

- Blink 182 live. That's right. I got tickets to see the comeback concert of one of my favorite bands! It. Was. Awesome! They got on stage and acted like they were 18 again. It was fantastic. There was no mention of their "hiatus", they just got on stage and played.. or as Tom put it, they "impregnated us with their music". And for the Encore, we got to see this:

That's right, I got to see Travis Barker's floating drum solo! They ended the show on "Dammit" and "Carousel" and left me in awe, patiently waiting for new material.

- Don Training was about 12+ hours of intense training for 8 days. They trained us to deal with all sorts of crises and situations. It was nuts.

- Move in / Frosh Week: A fantastic time that I have experienced from almost every angle now (as a first year, a frosh boss, and a Don). I had a blast.

- Classes started up which meant a return to hardcore school-going. I'm in a lot of writing classes this year so I'm pretty excited to post some samples of my work.

So stay tuned! I've been watching a lot of movies and have a lot to comment on! I missed you interwebz. I'm glad we've been reunited!