Lately, I've been deluged with advertisements in which a dopey
basketball player with big hair played by Will Ferrell promotes the
movie Semi-Pro. Although Ferrell was my favorite Saturday Night Live
cast member during his time on the show, largely because of his
hilarious impersonations of such venerable figures as George W. Bush,
Alex Trebek and James Lipton, I've generally found his films to be crude
and stupid. However, there has been one notable exception to that
trend.
Elf stars Ferrell as Buddy, the tallest elf in
Santa's workshop. He lives in a world built for people half his size and
smaller. Though he's bursting with Christmas cheer, always wearing an
exuberant grin as he prances about in his green suit and yellow tights,
physically, he just doesn't fit in, and there's a very good reason for
that. Buddy is not an elf.
No, he's a regular old human who
stowed away in Santa's (Ed Asner) pack as an infant and wound up at the
North Pole, a fish out of water but still presumably much happier than
he would have been at the orphanage he left. Though he loves his frosty
home and especially the elf who raised him (Bob Newhart), when he gets
the shocking truth about his past, Buddy is determined to go to the big
city and meet his father (James Caan). But the naive young man with the
emotional maturity of a five-year-old isn't prepared for what lies
ahead...
Ferrell completely throws himself into his
performance, making Buddy funny without being obnoxious, sweet without
being saccharine. Yes, he's over-the-top, but having seen what Ferrell
is capable of, I'd say he exercised admirable restraint. While Buddy was
physically out of place at the North Pole, he is mentally out of place
in New York City, impossibly bright-eyed and naive like Giselle in
Disney's Enchanted.
Like Giselle, he finds himself falling for a jaded New Yorker. In this
case, it's department store elf Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), who isn't too
full of the Christmas spirit. Their romance unfolds gradually, prodded
along by Buddy's encouragement for her to sing, an activity she doesn't
want to admit she loves. Speaking of singing, the movie got a nice
little squeal out of me with an off-hand reference to Simon and
Garfunkel; if you love Paul and Artie as much as I do, keep an ear out!
While I don't expect much out of Semi-Pro, Elf
is a thoroughly enjoyable movie, a gently funny showcase of all the
best Ferrell has to offer, and I hope he has a film or two along those
family-friendly lines in his future.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
McFarlane's Eko Captures the Enigmatic Priest's Spirit
I recently received the distressing news that McFarlane Toys is on the verge of canceling its production of LOST-related
action figures. I found this especially disappointing when I learned
that the third series of characters would include Desmond, who holds an
exalted position in my quartet of favorite characters, and Ben, who is
firmly in the second tier, along with Rose and Tom, who are sure to
never get action figures, and Sawyer, who has been cast in plastic
already. It was actually Sawyer I'd planned to purchase when I decided
to do my part to keep the line alive earlier this week. After all, I've
been wanting the series two figures for months but haven't bought any
because I figured I'd wait until the price went down. Apparently, that's
what everyone else thought too. But I went to two different stores and
found no trace of either Sawyer or Jin, so I went with my second choice,
the fantabulous Mr. Eko.
Eko is almost certainly the most intriguing new character of season two, with the possible exception of Desmond. But Des only shows up in a handful of episodes that season, while Eko is a major force in the progression of the story. A Nigerian priest with a violent past, he seeks atonement and purpose on the island. His personality is just as forceful as John's, and he is more intimidating, keeping quietly to himself most of the time and never taking orders from anyone. He is a spiritual leader, but it also becomes clear that despite the authority with which he carries himself, he still has a lot to learn.
This figure is taken from The 23rd Psalm, a brilliant episode that explores Eko's dark history and his bizarre connection to the island. While LOST frequently dabbles in religious themes and imagery, rarely does it do so as overtly as in this Emmy-nominated installment, whose key elements include a cross necklace, statues of the Virgin Mary and a recitation of the titular psalm.
The aforementioned cross is around the plastic Eko's neck, and he also brandishes his "Jesus stick," which can be removed from his right hand. The only trouble? There are no scriptural inscriptions on the stick, a rather glaring omission if you ask me. He carries himself in a hulking stance, a yellowing shirt draped in tatters over his muscular chest as he glares ahead of him in steely determination, still sporting the odd little beard he later cuts and gives to "Henry Gale" as an act of contrition. His dirty black pants are torn, his shoes worn, a mark of the trials he has faced on this island.
Eko stands on the rocky jungle floor, unless you take him off the pegs holding him there. Both of his arms move at the elbow, so there are a few posing possibilities. Behind him are several bunches of weeds that press into depressions in the stand, and they give it an especially cool 3-D look. Conversely, the green backdrop with its patch of jungle is more generic than those in series one. I would have preferred a glimpse of his brother Yemi's plane, but in any case without those annoying plastic poles, the backdrop doesn't fit snugly around the figure, so it feels much more superfluous.
Among the rocks is one just in front of Eko's right foot that serves as the button that delivers his three quotes from the series. This is one of the nicest aspects of the figure. All of the season one figures featured a black box that was attached to the cardboard backdrop with a series of plastic rods. Having the button incorporated directly into the stand makes for a much more streamlined display. The batteries - 2 AAAs - are inserted in the bottom of the stand, which is a bit more awkward than with the box, but it's well worth it.
All of Eko's quotes are very apt and delivered in a low, vaguely menacing tone:
* "Hello. I am Mr. Eko."
* "And tell your friends I let you live. That Mr. Eko let you live."
* "I understand that you live in a world where righteousness and evil seem very far apart, but that is not the real world."
The latter two are especially demonstrative of Eko's struggle to balance survival with compassion, self-preservation with morality. It's a dangerous dance that is fascinating to watch. Lest the avid Eko fan be disappointed that this figure is rooted almost entirely in his back story, the special prop is two stills from the portion of the film strip that was removed from the orientation film in Desmond's hatch. One is a shot of Dr. Marvin Candle and the other of the symbol for the Swan hatch. While I would rather have had a replica of Yemi's cross, the slides are interesting and serve as a nod to the epic battle of wills between Eko and John that will follow.
Take home one of the greatest characters LOST has seen, and perhaps increase the likelihood that four more of the cream of the crop will soon be released. Until the enigmatic drug lord-turned-priest makes an appearance again, I'll be proud to have him on my piano.
Eko is almost certainly the most intriguing new character of season two, with the possible exception of Desmond. But Des only shows up in a handful of episodes that season, while Eko is a major force in the progression of the story. A Nigerian priest with a violent past, he seeks atonement and purpose on the island. His personality is just as forceful as John's, and he is more intimidating, keeping quietly to himself most of the time and never taking orders from anyone. He is a spiritual leader, but it also becomes clear that despite the authority with which he carries himself, he still has a lot to learn.
This figure is taken from The 23rd Psalm, a brilliant episode that explores Eko's dark history and his bizarre connection to the island. While LOST frequently dabbles in religious themes and imagery, rarely does it do so as overtly as in this Emmy-nominated installment, whose key elements include a cross necklace, statues of the Virgin Mary and a recitation of the titular psalm.
The aforementioned cross is around the plastic Eko's neck, and he also brandishes his "Jesus stick," which can be removed from his right hand. The only trouble? There are no scriptural inscriptions on the stick, a rather glaring omission if you ask me. He carries himself in a hulking stance, a yellowing shirt draped in tatters over his muscular chest as he glares ahead of him in steely determination, still sporting the odd little beard he later cuts and gives to "Henry Gale" as an act of contrition. His dirty black pants are torn, his shoes worn, a mark of the trials he has faced on this island.
Eko stands on the rocky jungle floor, unless you take him off the pegs holding him there. Both of his arms move at the elbow, so there are a few posing possibilities. Behind him are several bunches of weeds that press into depressions in the stand, and they give it an especially cool 3-D look. Conversely, the green backdrop with its patch of jungle is more generic than those in series one. I would have preferred a glimpse of his brother Yemi's plane, but in any case without those annoying plastic poles, the backdrop doesn't fit snugly around the figure, so it feels much more superfluous.
Among the rocks is one just in front of Eko's right foot that serves as the button that delivers his three quotes from the series. This is one of the nicest aspects of the figure. All of the season one figures featured a black box that was attached to the cardboard backdrop with a series of plastic rods. Having the button incorporated directly into the stand makes for a much more streamlined display. The batteries - 2 AAAs - are inserted in the bottom of the stand, which is a bit more awkward than with the box, but it's well worth it.
All of Eko's quotes are very apt and delivered in a low, vaguely menacing tone:
* "Hello. I am Mr. Eko."
* "And tell your friends I let you live. That Mr. Eko let you live."
* "I understand that you live in a world where righteousness and evil seem very far apart, but that is not the real world."
The latter two are especially demonstrative of Eko's struggle to balance survival with compassion, self-preservation with morality. It's a dangerous dance that is fascinating to watch. Lest the avid Eko fan be disappointed that this figure is rooted almost entirely in his back story, the special prop is two stills from the portion of the film strip that was removed from the orientation film in Desmond's hatch. One is a shot of Dr. Marvin Candle and the other of the symbol for the Swan hatch. While I would rather have had a replica of Yemi's cross, the slides are interesting and serve as a nod to the epic battle of wills between Eko and John that will follow.
Take home one of the greatest characters LOST has seen, and perhaps increase the likelihood that four more of the cream of the crop will soon be released. Until the enigmatic drug lord-turned-priest makes an appearance again, I'll be proud to have him on my piano.
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