05-30-09

Moonlight: Well this really sucks…

Pardon the vampire pun, but there’s nothing worse than getting sucked into an awesome new TV show only to find out it has already been canceled.  My latest letdown was over the CBS series Moonlight, a show about a vampire P.I.  living in modern-day Los Angeles who struggles with life, love and his oft-challeneged quest for redemption.  Sounds cheesy, I know, and there’s no shortage of awful vampire shows—even some with strikingly similar premises—but Moonlight was one of the best I’ve ever seen.  I typically don’t watch many TV shows (at least not while they’re still airing), I guess because I hate commercials, waiting a week to find out what happens next, and spoiler-happy assclowns online.  So most of my TV show consumption is done all at once in the form of downloads, DVD, or Hulu, even though watching shows all at once usually means I’m unfashionably late to most fandoms.  Which brings me back to Moonlight…

Forget for a moment that the name of the show is Moonlight, which is a bad idea for several reasons, the most obvious being confusion with Stephenie Meyer’s much lamer Twilight.  Also look past the fact that main character Mick St. John (Alex O’Loughlin) is brutally hot, which much of this show’s popularity with a rabid female fanbase can be attributed to.  Underneath you’ll find an intelligent, action-packed, funny, and yes, romantic supernatural drama with high production value, great direction, and a kickass soundtrack.  As far as vampire lore goes, Moonlight doesn’t deviate too much from conventional mythology, but does throw a few unique and interesting twists into the mix, like silver as a lethal substance, sunlight causing progressive degeneration, and my personal favorite, sleeping in freezers. For the geeks, there’s even a geek vampire with plenty of video game and World of Warcraft references—even a full-blown Leeroy Jenkins battle charge.

Critically it seems Moonlight didn’t fare too well, with many having dismissed the show as silly, or perhaps more detrimental, comparing it to Angel. But it was an obvious hit with fans, having won a People’s Choice Award for Best New Drama, and its ratings were nothing to scoff at. So it’s beyond me why CBS would choose to cancel a good show, especially after claiming there were plans for a second season.  I’m just bitter I started watching it without knowing it was already over.

Fans of the show can sign the online petition to save Moonlight, even though most online petitions are like pisisng into the wind.  As for me, I’ll just have to be content with re-watching the first and only season and mourning the loss of yet another good show that’s gone too soon.

11-28-08

A vampire movie done right

How does a movie manage to be dark and deeply disturbing, yet tender and touching in the same breath? Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in) is a beautifully-told macabre fantasy story that accomplishes exactly that.

Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) is a quiet but troubled twelve year old who is bullied by his classmates and doesn’t know how to stand up for himself. His life begins to change when he befriends Eli (Lina Leandersson), the mysterious girl who moves into the apartment next door.  But when Oskar’s small snowy hometown is devastated by a series of grisly murders, he starts to realize his new best friend and love interest is not the girl she pretends to be.

Let the Right One In is part coming of age story, part atmospheric horror.  Never too obvious or overly deliberate, it’s a subtle and slowly-building story punctuated by gory visuals that are jarringly terrifying against the film’s otherwise serene and isolated snowbound setting.  Director Tomas Alfredson’s use of special effects is welcomingly understated in favor of a few blink-and-you-might-miss them moments of pure shock, underscored by gruesome visuals and an uncomfortable feeling of foreboding.

Most disturbing, however, is Oskar’s dangerous infatuation with Eli despite the horrifying things she is capable of.  It’s the focus on the delicate relationship between these two alienated youths that really sets this film apart and establishes new standards for what good vampire movies should be.