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Arts
Friday, January 16, 2015 — 5
‘Sunny’ starting
to show its age
FXX
You don’t wanna watch it, but you will ... because of the implication.
By CHLOE GILKE
Managing Arts Editor
Watching “It’s Always Sunny
in Philadelphia” is like com-
ing home to visit your high
school friends.
There’s a cer-
tain
comfort
in hanging out
with the old
gang, knowing
the ins and outs
of their humor
and anticipat-
ing every beat
and punchline.
You sit down,
beer in hand,
easily
falling
back into the
rhythm of your
former self, the person who used
to love these idiots with all your
heart. You secretly hope for
something beyond such a super-
ficial connection — some sign
that they’re real, evolving peo-
ple and not just a walking year-
book photo, but they’re always,
tragically, the same people you
left at home. And when you visit,
sure enough, they’re still sloppy,
silly and juvenile. That’s not
necessarily a bad thing, but you
can’t help but feel a little sad for
the gulf that’s formed between
you and your gang.
After 10 seasons on the air,
“It’s Always Sunny in Phila-
delphia” is finally beginning to
show its age. The premiere epi-
sode, “The Gang Beats Boggs,”
pulls every trick in the show’s
arsenal, mashing the premises
of previous episodes into a post-
modern mess. I really wanted to
love this episode. My “Sunny”
obsession commenced at the
end of the ninth season and just
before that brutal 14-month hia-
tus, so I’ve been counting down
the days to this episode like I
was anticipating going home.
But this episode was so disap-
pointingly formulaic that even
I, Queen of All Things “Sunny,”
could feel the clouds. “The Gang
Beats Boggs” finds the Paddy’s
crew aboard a plane to Los
Angeles, hoping to beat baseball
player Wade Boggs’s mythical
mile-high drinking record. They
tally the beers they’ve consumed
with marks on their shirts. (To
stretch this metaphor as far as
it’ll go, I’ll make my own tally
of the “Sunny” cliches that this
episode regurgitates. One for
“the gang plays a game and gets
way too competitive.” Two for
“a journey outside of Philly, fea-
turing general hijinks.”)
Dee (Kaitlin Olson, “The
Heat”) is the drunkest from the
outset, her beer tally already in
the teens when she boards. She
slurps down can after can, spi-
raling into self-destruction and
masochism until finally ending
up face-down on a luggage car-
ousel. Olson is a gifted physical
comedian, but once again she’s
relegated to being the punching
bag of the gang. Tally number
three: Dee is sad, drunk and dis-
gusting. We know.
“Boggs” also revisits “Sunny”
’s favorite trope of the gang being
terrible to innocent people (cue
tally number four). Some per-
mutations of this can be hilari-
ous, especially when the victims
deserve to be treated like gar-
bage. But this episode went too
far by putting someone’s life
in danger. The gang are sup-
posed to be guiltless sociopaths,
but it’s just not believable that
Frank (Danny DeVito, “Batman
Returns”) would nearly kill a
poor frat boy who has the stones
to order a beer from the plane’s
precious, limited store. After
spiking the kid’s drink with
a dozen sleeping pills, Frank
impersonates a doctor and bum-
bles around the young man as he
babbles incoherently. Tally five
for jumping the shark, edging
past hilarious and straight into
cringe territory.
But the episode’s strongest
thread is that it offers more time
to spend with Dennis Reyn-
olds (Glenn Howerton, “Coffee
Town”). Of all the gang, he’s the
one who seems to have evolved
the most from the show’s out-
set, transitioning from a typical
confident asshole to a confident
asshole who is also a total psy-
chopath. With his cold eyes and
Hitchcock-villain good looks,
Howerton knocks this plotline
out of the park. Dennis is inscru-
table as ever as he makes an
addendum to the beer challenge.
He eyes a beautiful, J.Crew-clad,
desperately sad lady and makes
it his mission to have sex with
her on the plane. He somehow
figures out that she’s married
and unattainable, and instead
bangs some “desert trash” chick
in the luggage compartment.
Why? Because “Dennis is a bas-
tard man” and we’ll probably
never crack that depraved skull
and really grasp his sociopa-
thy. Tally six for Dennis being
creepy and manipulative (not
that I’m complaining).
At this point, “It’s Always
Sunny
in
Philadelphia”
has
cemented its status as premier
caustic, black-spirited comedy.
The familiar elements make for
consistently funny television,
but at the same time, “Sunny”
seems to have shelved innova-
tion for easy laughs. After run-
ning the gamut of sitcom tropes,
from self-reflexive parody to
bottle episodes to road trips,
the show has fallen back into its
comfy seat on the couch, content
to sip beer and spew the same
jokes while viewers laugh along
automatically. “Sunny” is always
funny, but the gang’s schtick has
grown stale, and the show tragi-
cally runs the risk of becoming
the TV equivalent of a flat beer.
Not Jeremy Renner’s
Golden Globes
GENDER AND MEDIA COLUMN
I
t’s a term. A buzzphrase. A
slogan to slap on an event
and vaguely raise money
towards. Women in Hollywood.
The simple,
invaluable
idea that’s
the basis for
this column:
women must
be better
represented
both behind
the scenes
and in front
of the cam-
era in the media. While hugely
important, this concept can seem
sterilized when addressed so
professionally, so archly. But at
the 2015 Golden Globe awards
Sunday, my idol Tina Fey suc-
cinctly established the problem
Hollywood has with gender in
two biting sentences:
“Steve Carell’s ‘Foxcatcher’
look took two hours to put on,
including his hairstyling and
make-up. Just for comparison,
it took me three hours today to
prepare for my role as human
woman.”
The
Beverly
Hills
Hilton
resounded with self-conscious
laughter, and with it ushered in
the Women’s Golden Globes. A
show at times messy, as with Jer-
emy Renner’s bawdy comment on
JLo’s set of “globes” (not doing
yourself any favors Renner), but
at it’s heart a desperately needed
celebration of the diverse women
in the room. This was a true testa-
ment to the women of Hollywood,
beating and real and vividly com-
plex.
We saw it in Julianne Moore’s
triumphant win for “Still Alice,”
her second nomination of the
night. At 54, Moore sits squarely
in the working wasteland for
actresses, no longer a “hot young
thing” and not yet a Meryl. Her
success on Sunday alludes to a
progression
towards
positive
female
characters,
developed
based on their personalities rath-
er than their box-office-ability.
We
saw
it
with
Patricia
Arquette,
Best
Supporting
Actress winner for “Boyhood”
and my mother’s favorite road
trip discussion topic — “She grew
up in a cult!” — who did nearly
the unspeakable for her role. She
allowed herself to age on camera,
letting her face soften and body
change sans surgery or chemicals
over the 12 years of filming, in the
way her middle-class single moth-
er character would have. She was
proud to do so, saying in a New
York Times interview, “I need
space to grow and get old and be
a human being. I don’t want to be
trapped in your ingénue bubble.”
It was a rebellious move in an
industry still controlled mostly
by its dick, and her win serves to
acknowledge this bravery.
We saw it too in Tina and Amy’s
sharp joke about George Clooney’s
Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achieve-
ment award, and later in Clooney’s
graceful praise of his wife’s argu-
ably more significant achieve-
ments.
We saw it in “Transparent”
showrunner Jill Soloway’s emo-
tional testament to her own trans-
parent, and her public support of
all trans individuals.
But no one expressed the cli-
mate for women in Hollywood bet-
ter than Maggie Gyllenhaal when
she accepted her awardfor Best
Actress in a Miniseries for “The
Honorable Woman.” With her no-
nonsense pixie cut and younger
brother (and fellow nominee) look-
ing on proudly in the audience,
Gyllenhaal stood on that stage and
for two minutes provided some
desperately needed clarity.
“When I look around the room
at the women who are in here and I
think about the performances that
I’ve watched this year, what I see
actually are women who are some-
times powerful, and sometimes
not. Sometimes sexy, sometimes
not. Sometimes honorable, some-
times not. And what I think is new
is that wealth of roles for actual
women in television and in film.”
Finally, FINALLY someone pin-
pointing the importance of nuance
in women’s representations, the
value in complexity of character.
Someone once told me that Mag-
gie Gyllenhaal is the closest thing
I have to a celebrity doppelgänger,
and after this speech I’m cling-
ing even harder to that very weak
comparison. Because her words
resonated with me (and I hope
with the audience of that room)
with their laid-bare honesty and
frankness, with their inspiration
and grace.
These were the Women’s Gold-
en Globes, but not just of the new
Hollywood “woman” — strong
and slightly masculine and ball-
busting and, still, always, sexy. No,
these were the Golden Globes of
every type of woman and every
expression of femininity, whether
in the form of Amy Poehler’s goofy
grace, Amal Alamuddin’s blazing
intelligence or Amy Adams’s fum-
bling earnestness.
Much of this year’s ceremony
was forgettable, and some of
it awkwardly offensive, from
Renner’s comment to Margaret
Cho’s queasy North Korean cari-
cature. (Sorry Cho, but we didn’t
need to see that the first time, and
certainly not the second or third.)
But it was the Golden Globes that
gave women a voice, a fact fright-
eningly relevant given the just-
announced Oscar nominations.
All day Thursday my newsfeed
was whirring in outrage towards
the 2015 Academy Awards: no
women
were
nominated
for
any directing or screenwrit-
ing awards, nor were there any
people of color in any of the four
acting categories. Even frontrun-
ners in their respective catego-
ries Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and
Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”) were
shut out. Yes, it’s a problem. Real-
ly it’s the problem; representation
will never ever ever be equitable
until the people making films
and the people giving out awards
better represent the population.
But this very outrage reflects the
important self-awareness we saw
at the Golden Globes. It’s the first
step in a twisted 12 Steps pro-
gram for an antiquated industry;
first you have to recognize you
have a problem before you can
solve it. Well, it’s clear Holly-
wood is beginning to recognize.
I can’t wait to see what they con-
tinue to do about it.
NATALIE
GADBOIS
These were the
Golden Globes
of every type of
woman.
Generic ‘Wisdoms’
By CAROLYN DARR
Daily Arts Writer
In its most guarded heart of
hearts,
Christopher
Scotton’s
debut novel “The Secret Wisdom
of the Earth” is
about the det-
rimental
effect
of kept secrets
and their ability
to destroy those
around
them.
Its protagonist,
14-year-old
Kevin
Gillooly,
learns
about
the
complexi-
ties of love and
the vastness of
nature one fateful summer in the
Appalachian mountains.
The novel begins with Kevin
and his mother moving back to the
family homestead headed by patri-
arch “Pop” in the wake of the hor-
rific death of his younger brother.
Reduced to a husk of her former
self, his mother is practically non-
verbal, leaving Kevin to deal with
his perceived responsibility for the
tragedy.
Kevin is quickly drawn into the
politics of Medgar, a small town in
Kentucky. Historically a coal town,
its veins have dried up and a new
form of mining called mountaintop
removal has begun. This practice
involves completely leveling the
once proud mountains that defined
the town and the surrounding
area. When one of the main pro-
testers and close friends of Kevin’s
grandfather is brutally murdered,
an intricate mountain of deceit and
lies builds up and blasts apart in the
small town.
Through his novel, Scotton con-
fronts male love of all different
kinds. The relationships between
two men, two childhood friends
and a grandson and grandfather
are all examined, shining light on
the many ways men depend upon
and cherish each other. Under-
neath the main plot, Scotton also
inspects the harsh realities of coal
mining and its detrimental physi-
cal and economic effects on those
who partake in it. “The Secret
Wisdom of the Earth” gives a fic-
tional account of the real disparity
that can be witnessed in forgot-
ten towns across the rural United
States. A once rich enterprise, coal
mining has progressively slowed
down, leaving many families in its
literal dust.
Above all else, “The Secret Wis-
dom of the Earth” implores read-
ers to cherish the natural world.
His new friends see Kevin as a city
boy, with no practical knowledge of
the earth. Through the help of his
grandfather and friend Buzzy, he
learns to interact with and appreci-
ate the natural wonders contained
in the mountains surrounding the
small town. He comes to under-
stand why his grandfather will
never sell the family land and how
the earth can contain not just soil,
but living memories.
Scotton constructs beautiful
and thoughtful prose that truly
paints vivid pictures for readers.
As Kevin traipses through the
wilderness, readers can picture
the beautiful landscape he wit-
nesses. Unfortunately, at times,
the lengthy novel can drag and
readers are given somewhat
unnecessary information. While
Kevin’s work as a veterinary
assistant helps readers recognize
his maturation and character
growth, many may not be inter-
ested in the intricacies of castrat-
ing a bull.
Additionally, though the focus
of the novel is on secrets, many
of these seemingly deep and
dark mysteries are actually quite
transparent. By halfway through
the novel, readers can probably
guess both the murderer and
the ultimate ending. That being
said, “The Secret Wisdom of the
Earth” does what it sets out to do
in its examination of love and loss
in small town Kentucky.
Vance Joy’s album
one of the year’s best
By CARLY SNIDER
Daily Arts Writer
We all know the idea of a
soft-spoken
songwriter
isn’t
exactly revolutionary. Despite
this fact, Vance Joy still
manages to make waves with
his debut album Dream Your
Life Away. That feat alone
should earn him a spot on the
imaginary Top 10 Albums of
2014 list. But the worth of the
album is much more than just
a small but positive public
reaction. Simple in musical
arrangement and vocals, the
Ed
Sheeran-esque
Aussie
offers
something
inherently
relatable and engaging. Joy
jumps off the sounds and
themes of his 2013 EP in Dream
Your Life Away, giving listeners
exactly what they would expect
in the best way possible.
The force behind Joy’s debut
comes largely from the single
“Riptide,” which immediately
gave listeners a clear look at his
honest sound. The infectious
track launched him into the
public eye, pulling him into an
extensive tour as he produced
his EP, even playing a free show
in Ann Arbor last summer.
Coming from a place of not
being able to show his face on
his EP cover to playing gigs
like Lollapalooza, the singer’s
newfound
confidence
and
identity as an artist is evident in
his debut. Joy is now scheduled
to open for Taylor Swift on her
upcoming tour. (Upon hearing
this
news,
I
immediately
cranked up 1989 even louder
to celebrate. It was already
playing, obviously.)
Joy’s
sound
is
nothing
groundbreaking in terms of
musical
ingenuity,
but
its
simplicity and warmth should
be seen as a strength. Joy
tackles themes of love and
youth, without sinking into
the trap of the cliché. His
lyrics are straightforward –
confronting the best, and also
most
uncertain,
aspects
of
living. He does not shy away
from or gloss over the not-so-
perfect parts of life. Subject
matter ranges from separation
to personal identity to first
loves, all the while avoiding the
sappy and overly sentimental
things. Even the tone of his
voice, full of vibrato, expresses
a realness and vulnerability
that helps to validate the lyrics
without coming off as cheesy or
insincere.
Supporting these lyrics is
the go-to alternative combo
of guitar and ukulele. The
album rises and falls, using
these instruments to create
both contemplative and more
uplifting tracks. These more
upbeat tracks, such as “Mess
Is Mine” and “First Time,”
are
so
undeniably
catchy
they can tempt even the most
hardened of hearts to hum
along. The instrumentals work
well to compliment the vocals,
without
overshadowing
or
overcompensating,
creating
a very cohesive sound. While
most songs follow the standard
pattern of a pop song, Joy keeps
his distance from the meat
of the genre in his less than
perfectly manicured sound.
While Dream Your Life Away
is not busting down barriers
in
terms
of
instrumental
arrangement
or
stylized
vocals, it does offer audiences
something relatable to grasp.
It is a great source of easy
listening, perfect for car rides
or hanging out with friends. As
mushy as this may be, the album
sounds like summer – which
may help to warm up your now
frigid walks to class. The most
impressive quality of this album
is not actually musical, but
rather lies in the youth of Vance
Joy’s career. Joy has made great
strides since he started out in
2013 and is still growing. Not
many artists find success with a
breakout single about their fear
of the dentist and the dark.
Joy has made
great strides
since he started
out
B-
It’s Always
Sunny in
Philadelphia
Season 10
Premiere
FXX
Wednesdays
at 10 p.m.
The Secret
Wisdoms of
the Earth
Christopher
Scottan
Grand Central
Publishing
Jan. 15. 2015
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