TV Time! Thoughts on House of Cards and How I Met Your Mother.

Alright. So, this is only my second post. I had an idea for one last night, to write about the evolution of wasting time, but, ironically, I just ended up watching Youtube videos and going on Buzzfeed. I still might write it in the future, but I just didn't get around to it yesterday.

That leads to today's topic: House of Cards.

Fresh off watching all of Breaking Bad (which was absolutely brilliant and a great use of a month and a half) and meeting Bryan Cranston*, I took a break from binge-watching and stuck with some old favorites (How I Met Your Mother) and a new Youtube subscription (to the vlogbrothers, who my roommate told me about months ago, but I just got around to watching. I highly recommend watching them. Their videos are funny and interesting and they're just plain awesome), tonight I decided it would be a good idea to find a new show to pass the time. Given that Kevin Spacey is one of my favorite actors (and, in my opinion, one of the best working actors overall. I mean, has this guy ever given a bad performance?) and David Fincher is one of the best directors (The Social Network is as close to movie perfection as we've gotten in the last few years), this series seemed like an excellent way to go for my next binge-watching experience.

(*)I really like the way that Alan Sepinwall (probably the best TV critic today) at hitfix.com writes his reviews, including longer tangents which are always formatted in this way. I prefer to think that I'm paying respect to him by copying his style of tangentry (that's definitely not a word). So, in this space, I'll write out the story of how I met Bryan Cranston. I saw him in the show "All the Way" at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in which he was excellent. I stuck around after the show and was one of the few people (because most had left to go home) to meet him, shake his hand, get an autograph, and take a picture with him. Needless to say, it was the MOST star-struck I have ever been. If you're interested in my opinion of the entire show (which is now heading to Broadway), here's a review I wrote for my school's paper, "The Justice".

The show, for those who haven't seen it, those who don't have Netflix, or both, revolves around a South Carolina Congressman, Francis "Frank" Underwood (Kevin Spacey) who is promised by the president-elect during his campaign that he will be Secretary of State when he is sworn in. However, when the President reneges on his deal, he and his wife Claire (Robin Wright), a non-profit worker, swear to take down the new Secretary of State, Michael Kern. In the process, Frank involves Congressman Peter Russo (Michael Kelly) and ambitious journalist Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) to unwittingly help him.

Spacey is given a lot of attention in this first episode and rightfully so. Spacey, who speaks in a slight Southern twang, is given lots of great dialogue, much of which he spits at the audience by breaking the fourth wall.** His lines are juicy, and you can tell that Spacey enjoys every bit of the shady (if not evil) character that he embodies. I look forward to seeing where his character goes, and how much more evil he becomes. My assumption is that he stays above Walter White/Heisenberg area, but in television these days, you never know what could happen. (I mean, really, who ever thought that one of the most watched and critically acclaimed television shows in history would be about a Chemistry teacher and his junkie sidekick cooking meth?)***

(**) Just in case you don't know what this means, breaking the fourth wall, in theater terms, is when a performer talks directly to the audience. It comes from the concept that, in a show, there are three walls to the stage: right, left, and back. Most shows exist entirely within these three walls, with all action taking place in it's own world, which the audience merely observes. However, the front of the stage can be thought of as a fourth wall: an invisible barrier between the audience and the performer. Thus, the wall is broken when a performer directly references the audience, in turn, making it a character of its own. 

(***) Sidenote: How does one even come up with something like that?! I envy you, Vince Gilligan. I really do.

As for the other characters, Robin Wright and Kate Mara both stand out. Robin Wright is very good in playing the cold-hearted, Lady Macbeth-like Claire Underwood. She is just as ruthless as her husband, and Wright is a great complement to Spacey. Both are big-time performers, and both step up to the plate and deliver in this episode (much like Big Papi did in the Red Sox game last night).**** Furthermore, Kate Mara gave a solid performance as Barnes, the aspiring political writer for the fictional Washington Herald. I wish I had more to say about it than that I liked her performance and that I could really dive into reasons why, but I'm afraid I have nothing of the sort. I like her in the role, I think she was good in the first episode, and that's about it.

(****) To be totally honest, I'm not sure if that metaphor fits in there. My thought process behind it was that I used the phrase "Step up to the plate," which reminded me of David Ortiz's game-tying Grand Slam home run last night, and so I threw it in there. Feel free to comment (if anyone is even reading this) on whether or not you thought that metaphor worked.

This is a show that I'm happy I've started watching. The production is top-notch, with David Fincher (Director of Fight Club, nominated for two Oscars for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network) and Beau Willimon (Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award nominee for The Ides of March, with George Clooney and Grant Heslov) both as executive producers. Fincher also directed the first two episodes (and won an Emmy for it) and Willimon wrote 10 of the 13 episodes. The first episode left a lot of promise for the rest of this first season. It's always exciting starting to watch a new TV show, and it's even better when the show is good. I look forward to seeing where it goes.

I can't promise that I'll review every episode after I watch it. That's not what this blog is supposed to be, anyway. Maybe I'll post occasionally. But I enjoyed the first one. So, that's good news.

Also, before I wrap up this post (which has taken a while to write... I started it at 12:41 AM and it's now 1:23 AM...), I'd like to take a minute to express my feelings on How I Met Your Mother's ninth season. I thought the first episode was great--maybe even a throwback to the quality episodes of seasons past (which I have watched way too many times on Netflix). The best part, however, was watching Ted interact with the Mother (by the way, I think Cristin Milioti is great). Here's where my problem comes in--SHE HASN'T BEEN SHOWN SINCE. I know, I know, the show is about how Ted met the mother, but that flash forward was a really solid moment for HIMYM. It made me want to see more of her, more of her and Ted, more of her and the gang. But, in the last three weeks, it hasn't happened. Instead, we've only seen some mostly unfunny shenanigans of Barney and Robin's wedding weekend, which I'm sick of already. Stop showing Marshall driving cross-country with Sherri Shepherd, or on an iPad pillow man! Stop showing Barney and Robin navigate silly foibles relating to their families! I love Wayne Brady, and the divorce subplot is an okay change, but it's not funny! Ted's misery and being-in-love-with-Robin-ness got old three seasons ago! END THE WEDDING WEEKEND AND GIVE US TIME WITH THE MOTHER! I know the show is called "How I Met Your Mother," but does that really mean that we can't extend past that moment and explore their relationship? It's getting on my nerves. And this isn't the first time I've said this! I'm obviously going to keep watching the show. I'm invested in the characters too much. And the good episodes are really good. But this wedding nonsense? Please, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. End this misery. Please please please. As an ardent HIMYM fan, I've resorted to begging. It's too much. Move on.

Whew. Okay. Glad I got that off my chest. Considering it's 1:33 AM, and I really want to watch the next episode of House of Cards, I'm going to end this blog post with the picture of me and Walter White/Heisenberg/CIA Director from Argo/Hal from Malcolm in the Middle/Tim Whatley from Seinfeld/Bryan Cranston. If you've come this far, you must really love me, because this post was a lot of ranting and tangents. I commend you.

Bye-bye. 

Zach

Pilot. First Post.

I don't know how to start writing this blog.

It's going to be about nothing in particular. 

I've tried my hand at writing a blog before. It was cinemarlin.wordpress.com, and in it I reviewed exactly three movies that I saw in theaters. I tried really hard to make the writing neat and cozy, while at the same time being insightful and using colorful, expansive vocabulary to make my points, some of which were forced. I stopped enjoying it, so I stopped writing it. I'm hoping this blog will go much better. 

The title should suggest my laziness. In fact, this blog was born right out of my laziness. I was too lazy to even think of a clever name, so, after writing down a long list of unfunny, not-at-all clever names for this blog, I settled on the one where you, the reader, can create your own joke. I'm all ears for good fish jokes. And by the way, this blog is not about Marshall Eriksen's stand-up routine on How I Met Your Mother. Though I do love that show, and think the bit is very funny. 

So, what is this about? Why am I writing this? Well, currently it's because I'm avoiding my American Judaism class homework. But in the long run, it'll really just be musings that I have. Stories about my life. Opinions on sports, movies, TV, or theater. Maybe I'll write about the craft of acting. Maybe I'll write about how I should drink more tea (I really should). The point is, that I'm not planning this. It'll be stream of conscious. I'll talk about what I feel like talking about. That's the key here. 

And who am I? Why should you care about what I'm saying? 

To answer number one: Hello world. My name is Zachary Marlin. (Also, I consistently go back and forth as to whether I should go by Zachary or Zach. On social media, at the moment, I go by Zach, but I'm consistently unsure on how to proceed. Suggestions are welcomed.) I'm 20 years old. I'm Jewish. I'm from Pittsburgh, PA (Originally from New Castle, PA but that's a long story I don't want to go into.) I attend Brandeis University, and I'm majoring in History and Theater. I one day hope to move to Los Angeles and become a famous actor. I realize this is not easy, but it's my plan. If it doesn't work, I'm also getting a teaching degree so I can make some amount of money. 

To answer number two: I don't know why you should. I think I'm pretty interesting, but everyone thinks that they're interesting. I'm probably not that interesting. I have a pretty normal life. I'm not making anyone read this. 

I don't expect a whole lot of readers. If any, for that matter. It's more for me to vent than anything else. But if you feel inclined to read what I have to say, I welcome you. There's a reason this is on the internet after all, and not in a journal. 

I wish I could say that I had a better reason for doing this. But I really don't. It's for my own whimsy, my own thoughts, my own conclusions. But I share them with you, readers. Or reader. Or whatever. 

Just enjoy. You don't have to agree, but just enjoy. 

(Also, if you like this blog, feel free to follow me on Twitter. @zachmarlin)