ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Lost

Limetown: The Boundaries of Building Babel

by

Airing now on Facebook Live, Limetown follows Lia Haddock (Jessica Biel), a journalist for American Public Radio (APR) who is exploring the mystery behind the disappearance of over 300 people at a neuroscience research facility. As she gets closer to the answers behind the failed experiment, Haddock?s journey becomes increasingly perilous as unseen forces attempt to keep their actions hidden at the expense of human lives.

Based on the podcast of the same name, Limetown is a complicated web of science-fiction, intrigue and suspense. Borrowing elements from a wide-variety of popular modern mythologies such as Lost, The Leftovers and famed podcast, Serial, Limetown manages to carve out its own unique space amongst them. Interestingly, while Biel leads each episode (and the mythology is clearly tied to Haddock?s history), neither does she (wisely) demand the spotlight, allowing the stories of each ?survivor? to drive the narrative. In doing so, the mystery of Limetown maintains a more ?first-hand? account of the drama, giving more impact to its intrigue.

Without giving away any spoilers, Limetown speaks to mankind?s desire to create a perfect world in their own image. Set up as a scientific community, Limetown itself existed as a place where people could come together and attempt at building a ?better world?. However, as the truths behind the existence of the facility begin to unfurl, the audience discovers the dark underbelly of human progress and the damage that can be left in its wake. In other words, as human life begins to lose its value in the name of building something ?better?, the concept of progress can quickly give way to the abuse of power.

Interestingly, early on, the series references the ?Library of Babel?, a mythological library that contains all of the answers in the universe, though they remain buried under an infinite layer of nonsense that must be waded through to find them. While the show uses the analogy to describe the difficulty to finding the truth about Limetown, it?s reference to the Biblical Tower of Babel also points to a story where man attempted to prove their worth as greater than God by building a society in their own image. While the reference is merely a throwaway, it also speaks heavily to the vision for Limetown itself as it recklessly places the value of mankind?s scientific ingenuity ahead of the soul of humanity. Although technological achievement is essential to the progress of any culture, it can also create unspeakable horror when the value of life is misplaced for the sake of human glory. To its credit, it is this question of boundaries that lies at the heart of Limetown as the lines between advancement and exploitation blur.

With two new episodes airing each week, Limetown is worthy mystery to explore. By incorporating the podcast format, the series excels as it unravels its mystery from the perspective of its survivors (or victims). As a result, the personal accounts of Limetown add greater weight to the questions of human achievement which, although incredible in their scientific revelations, also contain the potential to damage the human soul in the process.

Limetown currently has released the first six episodes available via Facebook Watch with new episodes every Wednesday.

Why I Don’t Want To See The Force Awakens

by

forceawakens3I remember seeing The Return of the Jedi?as a seven year old. Sure, I’d seen?A New Hope?and?The Empire Strikes Back. I couldn’t wait for the good guys to bust in and reclaim?Han (remember, we didn’t know for sure he could be rescued but we?hoped), and for the evil Empire to be destroyed. In those days (the early 1980s), Darth Vader was definitively evil, Ewoks were cute and not too annoying, and Luke was on the rise. The film itself was remarkable, spellbinding, mind-blowing, and without comparison – those boring?Star Trek?movies with all of their witty banter weren’t even on my radar.

My friends and I ran around the playground battling unseen evil. I was Luke because I was blonde, and he was?good; my darker haired friend Jeff was Han; our tall friend was Chewbacca. We had a friend named Leia on whom I had a crush (ironically destroyed by the acknowledgment that Luke and Leia were, gasp, related) but she would only periodically move into the sphere of our imagined Tattoine and Dagobah. We could swing from the monkey bars, careen down the slides, slashing our sticks like sabers and riding our imaginary speeders.

Life was good, and?Star Wars?was even grander in our collective imaginations, before the war of?G.I. Joe?and the hassles of the real world (in middle school) crashed in. We didn’t care if Han shot first (of course, he had then) or if Jabba walked (he was a slug, not a lizard); the complexities of life and the disappointments of Jar-Jar Binks had not yet invaded the sphere of our imaginations.

forceawakens2

In many ways, that’s the way I want to remember?Star Wars. Before the awareness of how Anakin turned bad, and then was redeemed again. Before the world taught us that the rebellion in one galaxy is the ‘right’ in another. Before Jar-Jar and Disney crashed into the simpler model of what it meant to be part of the Force. [I’ll bet you that I hate BB-8.]

That’s why part of me doesn’t want to go to see?The Force Awakens.

It’s the part of me that doesn’t want to see my heroes older and fatter. It’s the part of me that thinks?Indiana Jones?should forever end with Harrison Ford and Sean Connery riding off into the sunset (in?Last Crusade, for the uninitiated, before?Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and Mark Hamill should stick to voiceovers.

It’s the part of me that doubts that CGI and grander special effects can top the moments on the playground. It’s the part of me that has only rewatched the original trilogy a half-dozen times, and why I’ve avoided rewatching?the terrible first three episodes. [Haters, bring it.] It’s the part of me that doesn’t want complicated politics or a sliding scale of morality to invade the grand, Lewisian-like (or is it Tolkien) epic that says that the good guys are on a redemptive arc and that ultimately, with great sacrifice, they will overcome.

It’s the part of me that has said, quite loudly, if Luke is Kylo Ren, that I’ll start a bonfire of?Star Wars?memorabilia that will be seen for miles. [No, I won’t raid Target; that’ll just be my own collection.] It’s the part of me that thinks, quite grumpily, that the genius of J.J. Abrams and his?Alias,?Lost, etc. back catalogue still can’t quite be ready to be canonical.

forceawkens

But then I remember the spring of 1984, walking into that theater?knowing?that Luke will destroy, annihilate,?kill?his father who is pure evil. And how the grace-filled redemption of Vader unlocked something in my heart that reminded me that love and forgiveness could be for?everyone.

And that spark, some might call it the Force, burns brighter again in my heart.

There’s nothing that could keep me from seeing?The Force Awakens, is there?

Do or do not, there is no try.

Lost & Justified Veteran M.C. Gainey Says Everyone Deserves Redemption

by

mc gainey

M.C. Gainey has been the face of evil?for years. The journeyman actor has played Tom Friendly in?Lost and Bo Crowder in?Justified, with guest appearances in series from?Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?to?CSI and supporting roles in various movies over the last thirty-five years. This fall, he’s an integral part of?The Pardon, a film that follows the story of the first woman convicted of murder in Louisiana, and he connected with ScreenFish from Los Angeles.

When I admit that he’s certainly intimidated me, even given me nightmares, Gainey laughed a deep chuckle. “I do get that a lot,” he admitted. “But which ones are your favorite?”

We spent the next few minutes discussing?Justified, a role that Gainey found rewarding. “Westerns are too often reduced to modern contrivances,” he said. “But this was?Elmore Leonard, just a good storyteller all around.”

Gainey shared nuggets from his experience breaking into Hollywood after acting around the country beforehand. He said that when he showed up in Los Angeles, a producer took one look at him and instructed the director to put a gun in his hand.

“They said, ‘He looks like a bad guy,'” Gainey said, matter of factly. “These shows like?The A-Team?needed a squad of goons a week, so I worked up the goon ladder.”

“Some of the films and shows I have done have actually inspired people and made them laugh. If you’re the star, you get to control that, but I’m a journeyman actor. There’s not a lot of personal satisfaction in the outcome because I’m doing my job. If you were in the hospital watching television and it made you laugh that I got mustard squirted in my face in?Wild Hogs?or something like that, then it’s a beautiful thing.”

“I believe for that moment, when you’re laughing, that you can’t be sad. For that moment you’ve forgotten what you were struggling with. I just don’t give myself much credit for that.”

Gainey laughed, remembering some of his more notorious roles. “I think maybe I view it that way is because much of what I’ve done is scare the hell out of people. I think?Breakdown?was my scariest, nasty role. So, to anyone I scared, I’m sorry.”

“Generally, I try to fight it. I remember with?Con Air?that my guy was the convict who flew the plane. Here is this horrible gang of guys, murderers, rapists, and assassins. My character had made some mistakes but I didn’t kill anyone!”

mcgaineypardonWe move into a discussion of?The Pardon, a story that Tom Anton and Sandi Russell have brought to the screen after hearing about Toni Jo Henry, who was condemned by the court in Louisiana in the early 1940s for a murder that she may (or may not) have committed. “I had never heard of Toni Jo,” the one-time resident of Mississippi admitted. “But I’ve known Tom Anton for a long time. There are a lot of movies made by big companies but Tom walked this one barefoot from Shreveport, Louisiana, to Los Angeles. He persevered like Moses in the desert!”

Gainey was quick to point out that the real credit goes to the script that the Antons wrote. He told me that their strength is that they are so forgiving of people and understanding of human nature. Gainey first worked with them on their first movie,?At Last, which was a retelling of how they had been separated by forces outside of their control and reunited twenty-five years later. Gainey admitted that he wouldn’t have made the film if it wasn’t the Antons’ story because he had just finished filming?Lost?at the time … in Hawaii … and a trip to Shreveport wasn’t high on his list but the Antons were involved, so he said yes.

In the film, Henry (played by?Hart of Dixie’s?Jaime King) is jailed for murder?where the jailer, Gibbs Duhon (Gainey), lives and works. Gibbs takes a liking to Henry, offering her kindness that she hasn’t seen in her own upbringing or in the trumped-up court process.

“In a strange way, my character is like Quasimodo from?The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Gainey mused. “This guy isn’t too powerful or smart. He’s a real sweetheart, so different from many of my other characters, but he has a simple belief in her.”

Duhon approaches the local priest, Father Richard (Bones’?T.J. Thyne), about sharing his faith with the convicted Henry as a last resort. “When I approach the priest in the graveyard, he walks away and I’m the only person on set who can see this, but he leaves his coat. I spontaneously picked it up and ran after him,” shared Gainey. “It’s like the old saying, ‘if you do the fighting, I’ll hold your coat.'”

“The jailer is a simple guy who doesn’t know a whole lot, but he knows the priest, so he asks him to speak to Toni Jo.”

mcgainey3Gainey’s appreciation for the film rises above just putting in time when it comes to the Antons and the story of Toni Jo. It’s apparent in his enthusiasm for them, and for the redemptive qualities of Henry’s story. “At the end of the movie, you see this picture of Toni Jo on the morning that she’s scheduled for execution and she just has this smile on her face,” Gainey said. “People want to brush it off and say, ‘Well, there are no atheists in foxholes,’ and I know Samuel Johnson said, ‘Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging.’ But you can just tell that she’s had this epiphany.”

It’s clear that Henry was up against a corrupt system and still, grace found a way to her heart. “You have the darker sides of life throughout the film, from the brothels to the justice system itself,” Gainey mused. “You’re supposed to get a fair crack at justice but they broke jurisprudence and this trial was a mockery. They even spread rumors that she had sexually mutilated the victim to further inflame the community.”

“I had no idea that they would execute women in 1941. I’m just completely against the death penalty,” Gainey told me, anger rising. “I think everyday someone is exonerated by modern science, forensics especially. It hasn’t worked because the people who are going to murder someone don’t stop and think that will happen to them. If only one person is put to death unfairly, it’s an outrage. I think a far worse punishment would be to be locked away alone for forty years. Even if they were beyond a doubt guilty, I’d rather see them in a cell with a chance for redemption.”

“The Pardon?isn’t about guilt or innocence, but the only testimony they had against her was from a sketchy character (played by John Hawkes). I was watching Dr. Phil the other day, and he had Susan Sarandon and Sister Helen Prejean on the show to talk about this man in Oklahoma who is scheduled to be executed. It’s the same thing!”

“I’m not part of any group or organization but I’m completely against the death penalty. I’d vote against it. You can convince people in California and Massachusetts to abolish it because it’s antiquated, but people in Texas and Oklahoma are more Old Testament. Who is it that said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?will soon mean we’re all blind and toothless?'”

Whether you love one of the actors like Gainey, King, Thyne, or Hawkes, or you simply love period pieces, you’ll be left considering the implications of?The Pardon?for the world today. It’s obvious that Gainey is still sifting through his experience, and giving a voice to his desire for redemption for all. Maybe that’s what makes him such a great character actor: he knows who he is and what he brings to the table, but he’s not afraid to show us a new angle along the way.

Gainey can brush aside his importance, and humbly accept responsibility, but when it comes to?The Pardon, he’s the one who brought light to Toni Jo Henry’s cold, dark world.

 

 

Justified: The Heart Of Harlan County #TBT

by

justified1Based on Elmore Leonard’s short story, “Fire in the Hole,” FX’s?Justified?ran for six seasons full of scene-chewing dialogue, adventure, humor, and trouble for one U.S. Marshal Rayland Givens (Timothy Olyphant). When the credits finally wrapped on the sixth season, Givens left a hole that may not be filled, but?Graham Yost closed out?his show in a way that left most critics satisfied. I had?hoped?for something happier for Givens, but the ending was ‘justifiable’ given the overall tone and arc of the last six years. In honor of its release on DVD and Blu-ray, I’m looking back at the best western on television (not named?Longmire) in a long, long time.

The show begins as Givens is sent ‘home’ to the Lexington, KY, branch of the Marshals after a dishonorable confrontation with a criminal. Soon, Givens sticks his nose into the midst of a conflict in the Crowder family. Givens’ old girlfriend, Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter), has killed her husband in self-defense; Givens’ one-time friend-turned-criminal, Boyd Crowder (Walter Goggins, The Shield), wants Ava’s blood but ends up shot by Givens. His ‘miraculous’ recovery leads him to believe God is calling him to something different…which will later include selling drugs! While Boyd cools his heels in prison, patriarch Bo Crowder (M.C. Gainey,?Lost) inches closer to his release, recovery of his drug operations in Harlan County, and revenge on Givens’ father, Arlo (Raymond J. Barry). As if this isn’t complicated enough, Givens is also trying to reconcile with his wife, Winona Hawkins (Natalie Zea).

justified3If the Crowders weren’t enough of threat to the safety and stability of Harlan County, the second season introduced Mags Bennett (Margo Martindale), whose moonshine is to die for. Her sons (led by Jeremy Davies, another Lost?alum)?want to expand their drug business into Crowder territory, but the feud between the Bennetts and Givens has lasted for decades; this only makes it more volatile. By the third season, an outside crime boss, Robert Quarles (Neal McDonough,?Boomtown) and his local henchman, Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns), are even more violent than the other villains Givens has faced, but the Bennetts are still working with the African-American crime boss, Ellstin Limehouse (Mykelti Williamson, also of?Boomtown), ratcheting up the intensity?again.

After the fourth season (which seemed a bit random in the overall arc but was highlighted by a snake-handling preacher (Ron Eldard)), the fifth focused in on the Crowes (led by Michael Rappaport) and Duffy working to ramp up their drug trade, prostitution, and other criminal aspects. Both seasons are entertaining enough, but they don’t necessarily advance the flow of the storyline featuring Givens, Boyd, and Ava. Every episode has?something?interesting, but from the opening collision of Olyphant’s and Goggins’ characters, this seems like the inevitable way that the series has to go done.

justified2The sixth and final season finds Givens, Crowder, and Ava wrapped tighter than Givens’ trigger finger. Ava had previously agreed to provide information in exchange for her freedom, and the tension begins to squeeze, and squeeze. An outside drug dealer looking to expand to Harlan, Avery Markham (Sam Elliott), gets mixed up in the season, but this really boils down to who will blink first between our main adversaries.

Ultimately, I thought the show was epic because of Olyphant’s portrayal of Givens. He was earnest, and for the most part, honest. While he often acted with his heart, not his head, Givens sought to be fair and just. His gun, and his steely glare, were his two weapons, hunting down the criminals and eliciting the truth from them. He was the long arm of the law, but he was better than our expectation of the law (if you watch the news): Givens?was?justice, Harlan-style, and he dispensed that with wit and enthusiasm for the last six years.

While you might think that Givens and Crowder were opposite sides of the coin, they were more likely to be on different edges of the same side. Sure, you could say Givens was “good,” and Crowder was “bad,” but ultimately, they both thought they were doing the right things. Their justice was very much Old Testament-style: “an eye for an eye.” In reality, they were also trying to lay their life down for what they believed in how they worked and sacrificed. You might even find that they were willing to die for a friend. In this murky world of Harlan County, being who you say you are was sufficiently close enough to righteous to make Givens rise to the top.

For six seasons, Yost, Leonard, and Givens rarely hit a bad spot, but now in their absence, they’ll be missed.