Transparent

I recently got a Kindle Fire, and along with it, a free thirty day subscription to Amazon Prime, so I immediately took advantage of it and sat down to binge watch "Transparent."

The series had gotten quite a bit of recent buzz with its Golden Globe nominations, but I knew it from hearing its star, veteran character actor Jeffrey Tambor, interviewed on the Satellite Radio circuit quite a few months back when the show first took off. I was intrigued, and looking forward to a chance to see it, and I'm glad I finally did.

On the surface the series is about Tambor's Morty/Maura who has lived an entire lifetime with a transgender secret, finally deciding to come out to family, and the world. Maura's journey is brave and sad and inspirational, but as I said, it's on the surface, and not really what the show is about when you get right down to the nitty gritty.

"Transparent" is about secrets, and the prices paid by keeping them. Maura's coming out affects each of her three children distinctly, making them examine their own lives and their own secrets, and how her secret has impacted them growing up as well as in the present. The show has an amazing ensemble cast including standouts Gabby Hoffman, Amy Landecker, Judith Light, and of course Tambor.

As I said, I'm glad I finally got to see "Transparent" but sorry I waited so long. Don't wait. This is very good television, and well worth paying for.

HBO's Phil Spector

I was completely taken aback by the title card that preceded HBO's Phil Spector. Here's what it said: "This film is a work of fiction. It is not "based on a true story." It is a drama inspired by actual persons in a trial, but it is neither an attempt to depict the actual persons, nor to comment upon the trial or its outcome."

What?? Wow. I wonder how many lawyers between HBO and Phil Spector it actually took to write that nightmare up? I understand it's worded to keep either party from suing the hell out of each other, but it also seems like open season to make up whatever the hell they want about real people and not get sued. Wow.

The facts: Phil Spector, perhaps one of the world's greatest music producers, shot model and actress Lana Clarkson in his home in 2003. Spector claimed it was suicide, was tried twice for murder, and finally convicted to serve nineteen years in prison.

This film: Helen Mirren plays defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden who enters Spector's madcap mental ward world in an attempt get him out of the murder charges. Jeffrey Tambor as attorney Bruce Cutler provides occasional comedy relief.

Al Pacino plays Spector as subtle but completely insane, sort of like a sedated homeless clown person with voices in his head and a violent streak. His home is like cross between a museum, a circus, the Addams Family house, and the Psycho house. And oh, those wigs. Sadly the wigs were real.

The film's soundtrack, like the performances of Pacino and Mirren, is one of its few saving graces. HBO's Phil Spector is a wonderful example of a few diamonds hidden within a piece of dog crap. If I didn't know about the case, and Spector's career, I wonder if this movie would even made sense. It seems built for footnotes.

The film is surprisingly and unrecognizably written and directed by David Mamet. What was he thinking? And what did Phil Spector ever do to David Mamet? These are the mysteries I would like solved. I love Mamet, and this was a major disappointment.

As the tagline for this flick says, 'the truth is somewhere in the mix.' Unfortunately, I think that mix has been erased and taped over multiple times. This is a mess. This is two down in my book as far as HBO movies go. Between this and The Girl, I think they should stop making movies about real people, it's just not working out. I'm dreading the Liberace biopic coming later this year now.