PDQ

Film

and

Television

Reviews

by

KE Monahan Huntley

Carnivàle There's no biz like showbiz, even amidst titanic rust colored dust storms in depression era Oklahoma:

Samson: I'm about to make you the offer of a lifetime. . . . How would you like a career in showbizness?

Ben: What's the wages?

Samson: Nothing at first . . .

Tales told of the curious carnies' code. DiVine DuVall. John Savage. John Doe. Samson the Magnificent. God and Babylon. . . . Yes, join this circus.

A Decade Under the Influence Auteurs articulate recollections of 70s films that were not just "canaries in a cage" — but viable life forces that effected cultural change. Prescient to what would happen once they hit the big time can be found in an exchange between Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper's characters in Easy Rider:

Peter: You know Billy . . . we blew it.

Billy: What? . . . That's what it's all about, man. . . . I mean, you go for the big money and you're free, you dig?

Peter: We blew it.

Gracious is the wish these "easy riders raging bulls" hold for the new generation of filmmakers who interview the filmmakers for the Decade documentary: that is to continue to follow their dreams on the path of independence.

The Kid Stays in the Picture Robert Evans animatedly revisits his decades under the influence through signature oversized rose-colored glasses.

Love Actually A wry slice of sigh.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Technically well done, but it's no Captain Ron.

Matchstick Men Is there anything wrong with an obsessive-compulsive disorder? Not when it puts the quirk in the con artist.

The Office BBC America broadcasts the pathos and bathos of office politics — without a bloody laughtrack.

The School of Rock I know, it's only rock 'n roll — but I like it, like it, yes I do. Get yer hey ya-ya's out in pedagogues Richard Linklater, Mike White, and manic Jack Black's music appreciation class.