L'EDICOLA DI LOU - Stralci, cover e commenti sui telefilm dai media italiani e stranieri 

UPROXX
10 motivi (meno uno) per non perdere "The Americans"
"The Americans is three episodes into its second season on FX, and so far, the series has only improved upon an already stellar first season. It’s dark, it’s stylistic, it’s emotionally complicated, and it is riveting drama. Unfortunately, despite being an incredibly sexy show at times, The Americans often doesn’t get the kind of buzz that The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones or True Detective gets, even if it is often as good as those other dramas. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because it’s not a Sunday night show. Or maybe because there isn’t a fantasy element involved, or zombies, or sneering douchebag villains.

I wish that The Americans were more talked about on the Internet. I wish it was appointment viewing. I wish that it got the appreciation that it deserves. I wish that I could convince people that haven’t given it a chance yet to tune in, catch up (the first season is on Amazon), and make memes and mash-ups and GIFs and develop theories so that the Internet will jump on board, so that it can become one of the most discussed shows every Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and so that we can all share it together. Here’s the best 9 reasons why.
1. Because It Involves Anti-Villains — If you’re tired of the glut of anti-hero dramas on television, The Americans offers a nice twist: The Anti-Villain. Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings are Commie spies, and as capitalist Americans, we shouldn’t be rooting for them. But we do. Why? Because The Americans isn’t about the interest or the motivations of the character, it’s about the characters themselves, who we become intensely invested in.
2. Because It’s the Show Homeland Wanted to Be — Homeland was at its best in the first season, when we found ourselves rooting for Nicholas Brody, even though we knew he was probably a terrorist. The Americans is the Cold War equivalent of that, only the daughter in this equation is much less annoying than Dana Brody, and the writers don’t have any intention of flipping the script by turning The Jennings into FBI informants. In fact, one of the most compelling conflicts in The Americans is the tension between the Jennings’ duty to Mother Russia and their obligation to their American children, who essentially embody American suburban values.
3. Because It’s a Great History Lesson — I happen to know a writer on this show, and I happen to know that she spent a lot of time studying the period, which not only helps the writing staff get the details right, but they manage to work in bits and pieces of actual Cold War history into the show. It’s a fascinating examination of a period most of us were too young to experience, and that the television and film world barely explores outside of stereotypical Communist villains. The Americans humanizes the bad guys.
4. Because of the Wigs — There are so many fantastic wigs in this show. Does it actually disguise the Jennings? Not particularly, but they are ridiculously fun.
5. Because of the Soundtrack — So much of television and film that goes back to the 80s often focuses on the cheesy music of the era, but The Americans tends to include the darker, heavier songs of the early 80s in its soundtrack. In other words, the good stuff. There’s quite a bit of early Peter Gabriel, there’s The Cure, the Squeeze, Pete Townshend, and Roberta Flack. It’s fantastic, period-perfect, moody and often haunting music that’s not a bunch of Cyndi Lauper or a series of one-hit wonders (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
6. Because of the Writing — As great as the first season was, the writing is even better in the second season. It’s a show that takes its time. It doesn’t aim for huge, shocking episodes. It doesn’t throw in a lot of huge twists. It creates tension, then it slowly turns the screws, and it doesn’t release that tension every other episode with a killing spree designed to provide relief. Deaths are matter of fact, a sometimes necessary evil, but all they do is ratchet the tension, increasing the likelihood that the Jennings will be caught.
7. Because Sexy — The Americans is a very stylistic, and sometimes, dead sexy drama. Think Jennifer Garner in Alias, only with a more frequent (and more graphic) sex scenes (ironically, when J.J. Abrams cast Alias, his prototype was a kick-ass Felicity). Other times, that sexiness is awkward. For instance, when the daughter walks in on her parents in full-on 69 mode, a first for television (which happened in the same episode that Keri Russell’s character was also involved in a threesome).
8. Because Keri Russell is Seriously Bad Ass — If you only know Keri Russell from Felicity and other similar roles, you may be surprised by how adept she is in the action scenes. What’s perhaps even more remarkable is how sly she is about it: She doesn’t walk into a room and punch out three guards. She’ll sneak up on someone one in some nice lingerie and then, at their most vulnerable, she will SLASH THEIR F***KING THROAT. And maybe sometimes, she’ll just KICK SOMEONE’S HEAD THROUGH A WALL. She’s ruthless and cold.

9. Because of the moral ambiguity — There are no good guys or bad guys in The Americans. There are simply people doing their jobs, serving the interests of their own countries. The interests aren’t always good — on either the American or the Russian side — but the intentions of the characters are pure. We’re exploring the lives of bit players in a huge, decades long war. There are no individuals attempting to build empires or gain the throne. In fact, for the Jennings, it’s just the opposite: They want to serve their country with as little disruption to their suburban lives as possible. Their aspirations are nationalistic, not individual.

L'EDICOLA DI LOU - Stralci, cover e commenti sui telefilm dai media italiani e stranieri

UPROXX
10 motivi (meno uno) per non perdersi "The Americans"
The Americans is three episodes into its second season on FX, and so far, the series has only improved upon an already stellar first season. It’s dark, it’s stylistic, it’s emotionally complicated, and it is riveting drama. Unfortunately, despite being an incredibly sexy show at times, The Americans often doesn’t get the kind of buzz that The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones or True Detective gets, even if it is often as good as those other dramas. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because it’s not a Sunday night show. Or maybe because there isn’t a fantasy element involved, or zombies, or sneering douchebag villains.

I wish that The Americans were more talked about on the Internet. I wish it was appointment viewing. I wish that it got the appreciation that it deserves. I wish that I could convince people that haven’t given it a chance yet to tune in, catch up (the first season is on Amazon), and make memes and mash-ups and GIFs and develop theories so that the Internet will jump on board, so that it can become one of the most discussed shows every Wednesday night and Thursday morning, and so that we can all share it together. Here’s the best 9 reasons why.
1. Because It Involves Anti-Villains — If you’re tired of the glut of anti-hero dramas on television, The Americans offers a nice twist: The Anti-Villain. Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings are Commie spies, and as capitalist Americans, we shouldn’t be rooting for them. But we do. Why? Because The Americans isn’t about the interest or the motivations of the character, it’s about the characters themselves, who we become intensely invested in.
2. Because It’s the Show Homeland Wanted to Be — Homeland was at its best in the first season, when we found ourselves rooting for Nicholas Brody, even though we knew he was probably a terrorist. The Americans is the Cold War equivalent of that, only the daughter in this equation is much less annoying than Dana Brody, and the writers don’t have any intention of flipping the script by turning The Jennings into FBI informants. In fact, one of the most compelling conflicts in The Americans is the tension between the Jennings’ duty to Mother Russia and their obligation to their American children, who essentially embody American suburban values.
3. Because It’s a Great History Lesson — I happen to know a writer on this show, and I happen to know that she spent a lot of time studying the period, which not only helps the writing staff get the details right, but they manage to work in bits and pieces of actual Cold War history into the show. It’s a fascinating examination of a period most of us were too young to experience, and that the television and film world barely explores outside of stereotypical Communist villains. The Americans humanizes the bad guys.
4. Because of the Wigs — There are so many fantastic wigs in this show. Does it actually disguise the Jennings? Not particularly, but they are ridiculously fun.

5. Because of the Soundtrack — So much of television and film that goes back to the 80s often focuses on the cheesy music of the era, but The Americans tends to include the darker, heavier songs of the early 80s in its soundtrack. In other words, the good stuff. There’s quite a bit of early Peter Gabriel, there’s The Cure, the Squeeze, Pete Townshend, and Roberta Flack. It’s fantastic, period-perfect, moody and often haunting music that’s not a bunch of Cyndi Lauper or a series of one-hit wonders (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
6. Because of the Writing — As great as the first season was, the writing is even better in the second season. It’s a show that takes its time. It doesn’t aim for huge, shocking episodes. It doesn’t throw in a lot of huge twists. It creates tension, then it slowly turns the screws, and it doesn’t release that tension every other episode with a killing spree designed to provide relief. Deaths are matter of fact, a sometimes necessary evil, but all they do is ratchet the tension, increasing the likelihood that the Jennings will be caught.
7. Because Sexy — The Americans is a very stylistic, and sometimes, dead sexy drama. Think Jennifer Garner in Alias, only with a more frequent (and more graphic) sex scenes (ironically, when J.J. Abrams cast Alias, his prototype was a kick-ass Felicity). Other times, that sexiness is awkward. For instance, when the daughter walks in on her parents in full-on 69 mode, a first for television (which happened in the same episode that Keri Russell’s character was also involved in a threesome).

8. Because Keri Russell is Seriously Bad Ass — If you only know Keri Russell from Felicity and other similar roles, you may be surprised by how adept she is in the action scenes. What’s perhaps even more remarkable is how sly she is about it: She doesn’t walk into a room and punch out three guards. She’ll sneak up on someone one in some nice lingerie and then, at their most vulnerable, she will SLASH THEIR F***KING THROAT. And maybe sometimes, she’ll just KICK SOMEONE’S HEAD THROUGH A WALL. She’s ruthless and cold.

9. Because of the moral ambiguity — There are no good guys or bad guys in The Americans. There are simply people doing their jobs, serving the interests of their own countries. The interests aren’t always good — on either the American or the Russian side — but the intentions of the characters are pure. We’re exploring the lives of bit players in a huge, decades long war. There are no individuals attempting to build empires or gain the throne. In fact, for the Jennings, it’s just the opposite: They want to serve their country with as little disruption to their suburban lives as possible. Their aspirations are nationalistic, not individual.

LA VITA E' UNA COSA SERIAL - “Lost”, la realtà parallela è vera arte?
Ma la scontatezza può essere un’arte? Sono cresciuto con l’idea che l’Arte coincidesse con l’innovazione, la sperimentazione, l’originalità; che avesse crismi rivoluzionari, che il suo motto fosse quelo di essere non al passo coi tempi, ma un passo in avanti (forward). Poi mi sono imbattuto, disgraziatamente, nei flash sideways dell’ultima stagione di “Lost”. Se Nanni Moretti urlava a scuarciagola “No, il dibattito no” in “Io sono un autarchico”, mi verrebbe da prendere un megafono e lanciare l’allarme “No, la realtà parallela, no!”. La “mirabolante” trovata ha spiazzato i più. Anche qualcuno, addirittura, tra i fans più incalliti. Ma dico io, uno segue per anni la serie con più misteri ed interrogativi della tv e poi cosa ti ritrovi? Che molte risposte si trovano in un microcosmo a margine, una sorta di ileostomia virtuale. Troppo scontato. Al limite della banalità. Roba da rivalutare il fondo più nero dell’intero serial: quando a Charlie è apparsa in visione la (pseudo) Madonna on the beach. Al confronto sono da considerarsi capolavori assoluti i finali di “A cuore aperto” (1982) – in cui si svelava che tutto il serial non era niente altro che il sogno di un bambino autistico – di “Pappa e Ciccia” (1988) – le vicende narrate erano fantasie della protagonista che stava scrivendo un diario – o, addirittura, la famigerata doccia sotto la quale si addormentava per un’intera stagione Bobby Ewing in “Dallas” (1978). Francamente, senza peli sulla lingua e dicendola fantozzianamente, quella di “Lost” mi puzza come “una cagata pazzesca”. Ma la delusione fa sorgere un’ulteriore questione “a margine”, se vogliamo “parallela” a quella avviata su Joss Whedon nella rubrica “Nano Nano” un paio di numeri fa del magazine: J.J. Abrams è davvero un genio? Più incompiuto che incompreso, ha sempre cesellato le sue produzioni come montagne russe: picchi estremi di qualità quando era presente, discese spericolate quando bigiava col cinema (altra realtà parallela!). Non a caso, forse, è “Felicity” la serie che più ha mantenuto costante la sua rotta (sebbene inferiore alle altre in quanto ad innovazione). Era il periodo quando doppio J non aveva ancora velleità cinematografiche. “Alias” è stato quello che ha mantenuto di più le promesse al fulmicotone, tranne verso la fine; “A proposito di Brian” già partiva zoppo per aver ingaggiato Raoul Bova; “Sei gradi di separazione” aveva dietro un’idea forte, avviata egregiamente ma che poi finiva in un vicolo cieco (come molti telefilm del “bulimico” Abrams, uno che nel futuro immediato ha in cantiere ben 12 progetti, tra cinema e tv!). Unica eccezione “Fringe”: partito moscio e con l’ombra di “X-Files” sulle spalle, ha saputo trovare la sua cifra dalla seconda stagione. Già immagino l’alzata di scudi dei seguaci più incalliti – si veda a tal proposito cosa scrive il docente di Filosofia Simone Regazzoni nella rubrica “Edicola di Lou” – pronti a difendere a spada tratta Abrams anche se sull’isola, al posto dell’Orso Polare, fosse comparso Bombolo che sbofonchiava “tze, tze, c’ho tutte le scarpe piene di piedi” come in “Delitto al Blue Gay”. Mi viene in mente quella scena in cui Woody Allen, in fila per vedere un film impegnato al cinema, incappa in una coppia che si masturba di aggettivi ridondanti all’indirizzo del regista. La realtà – parallela o meno - è un’altra: che sempre meno si ha il coraggio di criticare i telefilm, anche e soprattutto in senso negativo. E’ tutto un incensare, applaudire, osannare. Giusto farlo fino a qualche tempo fa: raramente trovavi una mela marcia in un cesto. Come se ci fossero solo Cult e Stracult e dimenticassimo i Cotti e Stracotti. Il caso di “Lost”, ripeto, è emblematico. A più d’uno è parso che gli sceneggiatori siano ricorsi all’espediente dei flash besides perché “non sapevano più che pesci pigliare”. In pochi lo hanno ammesso. Meglio giustificare: che figata, la realtà parallela, come uno specchio in cui rifletterci, che genialiata! A mio avviso bisognerebbe invece riattivare quel senso critico – ripeto, anche negativo e tranchant – che si è perso per strada. Non è un caso che il genere seriale conosca la stagione peggiore degli ultimi anni. In piccola parte, anche perché è vissuto nella bambagia di commenti troppo benevoli. Ha fatto la fine di certi cineasti definiti “intellettuali”: a parlarsi addosso. A compiere giri concentrici. Si è prese troppo per buone produzioni che non meritavano poi tanto; i girasoli hanno faticato a risaltare tra tante erbacce spacciate per dalie azzurre. Così si rischia di ritornare ai tempi in cui i telefilm erano “roba di nicchia” (lo sono acora in un certo senso, ma sono stati perlomeno sdoganati a livello culturale agli inizi degli anni 2000), visti solo dai fanatici che mai e poi mai si lancerebbero nella celebre espressione fantozziana. Naturalmente, lo spero e ne sono convinto, sarò smentito dal finalissimo di “Lost” che sarà stratosferico, inimmaginabile, eccezionale. Sarà vera Arte e la metteremo da parte. In Dvd o Blue-Ray che sia…(Articolo di Leo Damerini su "Telefilm Magazine" di Aprile)

NEWS - Becki Newton, da "Ugly Betty" al cinema
Dopo anni di comparsate in telefilm come "Streghe", "Law&Order" e "Cold case", è giunta l'ora del successo anche per Becki Newton, colei che in "Ugly Betty" su Italia 1 interpreta l'odiosa segretaria Amanda. Ex testimonial della Nike ed ex musicista, forte di una laurea in Storia europea, l'attrice oggi trentenne sogna di portare in televisione la storia che ha scritto su una donna di potere del piccolo schermo. Nell'attesa, debutterà al cinema in "August Rush" al fianco di Robin Williams, Jonathan Ryhs Meyers e di un'altra collega che deve la fama ad una serie tv: Keri Russell di "Felicity".
(Articolo di Leo Damerini pubblicato su "TU")

NEWS - Keri Russell, "mission impossible" per il matrimonio di TomKat
Keri Russell, l'indimenticata protagonista di "Felicity", ha declinato l'invito di Tom Cruise, con il quale ha lavorato in "Mission Impossible 3", a partecipare al suo matrimonio con Katie Holmes a Bracciano. L'attrice infatti è impegnata a Brooklyn (nella foto a fianco), sul set del thriller prisocologico "The girl in the park", al fianco di Sigourney Weaver e Kate Bosworth. La pellicola è scritta e diretta dal pressochè debuttante David Auburn. Prima del film in questione, l'attrice sarà nelle sale americane nel 2007 con il film fantastico "August Rush" (al fianco di Robin Williams) e con il romantico "Waitress", in cui comparirà nei panni di una cameriera-Cenerentola.