Mary Kills People

No matter what your point of reference is - angel of death, mercy killing, DNR, assisted suicide - it all comes down to the same thing.  Someone, usually terminal, can't live with the pain of life and/or illness any more, and are unable or unwilling to do themselves in, and need a helping hand to end their misery.

I get it, I really do.  I can't imagine anything worse than the helplessness of a body that has turned against you and is killing you slowly and painfully.  The on-the-nose "Mary Kills People," a show out of Canada airing on Lifetime, is the fictional story of Dr. Mary Harris, played by Caroline Dhavernas, who also gets it, and is in a position to do something about it. 

Assisted by friend and ex-doctor Des, played by rugged Karl Urban lookalike Richard Short, Mary helps people in need of such things a painless peaceful send off.  Stalked by a pair of cops, a drug dealer, and raising out of control daughters make things a bit more difficult.

The cast and the story pulled me in almost immediately.  And despite the content, this drama has a touch of black humor that keeps it from getting too depressing.  I'm glad I found this show, definitely worth checking out.  Recommended. 

Tusk

Tusk ~ I haven't seen Red State yet, so this weird horror bent that Kevin Smith has been on of late is new to me. This, his second oddity in the field, is quite the eye opener. Twisted just doesn't seem to cover it.

The parts of Tusk that are recognizably Kevin Smith involve podcaster and former comedian Justin Long, who along with Haley Joel Osment does a podcast called The Not See Party. Sigh. Yeah, I know. The point of the podcast is for Long to interview folks and then later describe the experience to Osment, who 'doesn't see,' get it? They also mock the subjects mercilessly. Oh, it's bad, but it gets worse.

On a trip to the backwoods of Manitoba, an interview goes awry and Long must find a new subject. He goes to the home of Michael Parks, who claims to have been saved by a walrus. Once there, Parks drugs Long and amputates his leg, with plans to turn him into a walrus. No. I. Am. Not. Kidding. This is really effed up on a Human Centipede level, folks.

There is some brief humor, mostly at the expense of Canada, but once the transformation begins, this movie goes off the rails quickly and becomes unwatchable. Smith tries for horror but it falls apart when you realize what you're looking at. There's an almost O. Henry Freaks-like ending, but it doesn't take.

I was excited when I heard there was going to be a third Clerks movie, and even a Mallrats sequel, and now… after seeing Tusk, I'm not. Kevin, I love ya, but what the eff, man?

Glee Star Dead at 31

Over the weekend, "Glee" star Cory Monteith was found dead in Vancouver, he was 31. Recently released from rehab, drugs are suspected but unconfirmed.

Acting since he was a child, he rose quickly to stardom on Fox's "Glee" a few years back playing Finn, high school footballer who joins the glee club. The musical comedy drama experienced great success in the first couple seasons, but then fell victim to what does in most high school shows - graduation. Trapped between following popular cast to college and introducing new characters, "Glee" has floundered. Finn recently returned to a bigger role as a co-teacher of the glee club.

The Canadian actor and singer had been in a relationship with "Glee" co-star Lea Michelle for a time before his death. He will be missed.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi ~ Well, it may not be the live action version of Calvin and Hobbes, but the moral of the story is Don't move to Canada.

I saw Life of Pi the day after I saw Skyfall, marking not only a return for me to seeing movies in theaters after a while, but also seeing two visually stunning films back to back. The visuals are amazing. This is notably the first film I have seen in 2D, that was available in 3D, that I have regretted not seeing in 3D. I spent a good amount of time saying, "Wow, that would have been incredible in 3D."

Told in flashback, in the framing sequence of a man telling a writer of a life-changing event he experienced as a younger man, Life of Pi is about perception. Pi's family, who owns a zoo in India, decides to move to Canada, with the animals, via a shady Japanese freighter. Shipwrecked, Pi finds himself alone with a tiger on a lifeboat at sea for months. His survival is at the core of the tale, and director Ang Lee makes it all worthwhile with this incredible piece of eye candy.

There's a kicker at the end, that in the film disappointed me, but had I read the book the movie is based on, I might have hurled it across the room. Yeah, it's like that. Good thing I didn't read the book, I'm sure it would have infuriated me. It is the stunning visuals in the film that talk my anger in off the ledge.

Young Pi, played by Suraj Sharma, is fantastic in a role using primarily gestures and facial expressions - and acting for the most part alone, with and against a completely CGI tiger. Yeah, that blew me away. There's no tiger, it's all CGI. But that tiger is a hell of an actor too. The adult Pi is played by one of my favorite Indian actors, Irrfan Khan, who folks might know from The Amazing Spider-Man or Slumdog Millionaire, but who I loved in HBO's "In Treatment." His performance is both solid and subtlety brilliant.

Life of Pi must be seen, preferably on the big screen, and preferably in 3D. This film will be in contention for several Oscars this year. See it.

And oh yeah, don't move to Canada, or at least not the way Pi did.