Exhilarating

]]> http://mikefrandsen.org/2009/11/23/20-most-attractive-actresses-in-movies/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:22:26 +0000 mikefrandsen http://mikefrandsen.org/2009/11/23/20-most-attractive-actresses-in-movies/

I don’t think anything will top the Most Beautiful TV News Women of 2008 blog, but this’ll have to do for now.

So this is my list of the 20 most attractive actresses in movies.   I list them as the most “attractive” instead of “beautiful,” because though most of them are beautiful, “attractive” implies personality traits and other intangibles.  The roles are also important, though this isn’t a list of great actresses – it’s a list of the most attractive women in my opinion based on their roles in these movies.  So it’s sort of more the character than the person, since obviously I don’t know them.

Without going through the whole list, this competition was over before it began.  Linda Hamilton has the nice girl, innocent look in “Terminator” and she shows she has a lot of heart.  Then in “Terminator II” she becomes a bad ass.  Franka Potente in “Bourne Identity” has moxie and style.  If I had just seen her without her being in the role, she might not make the top 100, but she is pretty phenomenal in the role of Marie.

Sometimes it’s a particular scene that leaves the impression, like when Sigourney Weaver is possessed by a ghost in “Ghostbusters,” or when Phoebe Cates walks by the pool in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” with an assist by the song “Moving in Stereo” by the Cars (one of the most underappreciated rock bands of all time).  Then there’s the woman as authority figure, like P.J. Soles who played an MP in “Stripes,” a variation on the teacher theme.  In “Silver Streak,” Jill Clayburgh looked wholesome; in “Basic Instinct” Sharon Stone did not.

Back before older women were called cougars, you had Jacqueline Bisset (“Class”), Anne Archer (“Patriot Games”) and of course, Anne Bancroft in “The Graduate,” who just edges out Katherine Ross from the same movie.  Believe it or not, Linda Fiorentino of “Vision Quest” was also an older woman although she played someone who was only 21 in the movie.  Her suitor in Vision Quest was 17.  I always thought her character was more like 25 until I saw the movie again.  Cheesy movie but great.

The mention of Sandra Bullock reminds me that I saw her twice in bars in Washington, D.C. about 10 years ago.  Each time she had her hair colored blond (or was wearing a wig) like she has it in her new movie “The Blind Side.”  It was definitely her.  Once was in Atomic Billiards in Cleveland Park.  I honestly can’t remember where the other time was.  Anyway, I went up to her to talk.   I didn’t mention anything about her looking like (or being) Sandra Bullock – just tried to talk with her but I have to say she was pretty underwhelmed.  She blew me off both times.  Then after that I told her I knew who she was.  Again, she was a little bit unimpressed.  Oh well.

So here you have it.  I’m going to add pictures later.

1. Linda Hamilton, Terminator
2. Linda Hamilton, Terminator II
3. Franka Potente, Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy
4. P.J. Soles, Stripes
5. Jacqueline Bisset, Class
6. Sigourney Weaver, Ghostbusters
7. Jill Clayburgh, Silver Streak
8. Linda Fiorentino, Vision Quest
9. Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct
10. Anne Bancroft, The Graduate
11. Katherine Ross, The Graduate
12. Anne Archer, Patriot Games
13. Julia Roberts, Ocean’s Eleven
14. Sandra Bullock, Speed
15. Lucy Liu, Charlie’s Angels
16. Jessica Lange, King Kong
17. Debra Winger, Officer and a Gentleman
18. Halle Berry, Swordfish
19. Robin Wright Penn, Forrest Gump
20. Ashley Judd, Double Jeopardy
21. Phoebe Cates, Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Honorable Mention:  Lynda Carter.  I know she was a TV actress and hardly did any movies, but I had to include her on the list. She can occasionally be spotted in Bethesda, MD and looks as great as ever.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ve missed a ton of attractive actresses but this is the list.  It was almost a year ago that I did the list of the most beautiful newswomen of 2008, and that blog entry has gotten more traffic than all my other blog posts combined.

So as I put this one up, and the previous one just below this, part of the hope is that more people will read the other parts of my blog that deal with www.mikeneedsakidney.com, which by the way, isn’t just for me but is designed to raise awareness for all people who need kidneys.  While I’m on the topic, check out the song that the Dirtbags, the Redskins Appreciation Club band did for me.

Run Lola Run: a stunning red head must find 100,000 Marks within 20 minutes to save her boyfriend. Despite this movie being almost all action you really get to know the two mains, thanks to them nailing their characters in what little screen time they have. The biggest feature for me was the music; pounding German dance tracks that emphasise the urgency and get you totally pumped up, especially through the first 15 minutes. Paying attention to every detail shows how neat and well-planned the film is, but doesn’t necessarily to add enjoyment – just a nice touch. It also has a themes of fate, coincidence and the butterfly effect, but again, they’re just there, and you don’t have to analyse them. It’s a very original idea, executed brilliantly and remains stylish throughout – all the scenes with Lola / Manni are striking in one way or another. With the dominant music, stunning visuals and a simple story it’s like a long music video, yet it never wears thin or peters out. A great example of film-making and essential viewing.

Score: 8.5/10

Che | Steven Soderbergh , 2008

Ambitious projects of this magnitude that are financed by an independent company are quite rare. So, I’m quite excited for any projects such as this are being developed. During the production everything seemed to be aligning to be an amazing experience. It had a great story (even if you don’t like Che Guevara you have to admit he had quite the story), a director who had wanted to tell the story for his whole life, a great below-the-line team, and a great Oscar-winning actor who seemed to had been born for the role. However, things didn’t quite go that way.

Che tells the story of Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Benicio Del Toro), Argentinian Doctor, Revolutionary, and future t-shirt icon. Part one, The Argentine,  tells the story of his involvement in the Cuban revolution and how he came about joining Fidel Castro. Part two, Guerilla, is about his disappearance from Cuban and eventual failed attempt at bringing the revolution to Bolivia. Along the way we meet some other important members of the revolution and people who meant a lot to Che.

As I’ve said, the movie ultimately disappoints, and I think the reason why it did not live up to its potential is the ambition of the project. On paper, the concept of spreading Che’s revolution story into two films seems great. However, the finished product was not as good. Each individual movie is too long and full of unnecessary parts. For example, in The Argentine, the UN, TV interviews are superfluous and only slowed down the film. In Guerilla, the part involving Franka Potente was not necessary. This is not the only thing that brings things down.

Aside from Del Toro’s great performance, every other performance is weak. The actors look at the camera and don’t seem comfortable. Also, cameos by Catalina Sandino Moreno and Matt Damon were distracting, no matter how brief the latter was. The weakest of them all was Damian Bichir as Fidel Castro. This could have been an Oscar-worthy performance, but he was horrible. His accent was not good enough, his mannerisms, everything about it did not fit the character.

But not all things were bad. As I said, Del Toro is brilliant. And the below-the-line crew do their best here. I’m a fan of the cinematography. Soderbergh clearly knows how to work his his cinematographers to create beautiful images.

Soderbergh’s Che could have been more than it was. He clearly was passionate abou the subject, but the scripts do not have enough good material to spread across two films. It would have been better if it had been one film. But since it was not, I’d say that part two is better than one, although neither is particularly great. There are good things about it, but it is still a disappointment.

Bei Kabel 1 liefen, so Michael Hanfeld in der F.A.Z., “Serien zweiter Ordnung”. Schauen wir mal ins Kabel-1-Portfolio:

“24″, Kommentar überflüssig.

“Damages – Im Netz der Macht”, mit Glenn Close.

“The Shield – Gesetz der Gewalt”, mit Michael Chiklis, CCH Pounder und, in späteren, in Deutschland noch nicht gezeigten Staffeln, wiederum Glenn Close, Forest Whitaker und Franka Potente.

“Life On Mars – Gefangen in den Siebzigern”, Kommentar überflüssig.

“Eleventh Hour – Einsatz in letzter Sekunde”, mit Rufus Sewell und Marley Shelton (samstags, 21.15 Uhr).

Hanfelds Maßstab angelegt, wäre man aber sowas von froh, wenn deutsche Sender wenigstens mal Serien dritter Ordnung zustande brächten … Ach was – vierter Ordnung wäre schon ein Durchbruch.

Adaptierte Formate wie “Stromberg” oder “Doktor Martin” zählen natürlich nicht.

The Bourne Identity (2002)
Directed by Doug Liman
With Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper.

identity

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Directed by Paul Greengrass
With Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles, Brian Cox.

supremacy

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Directed by Paul Greengrass
With Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn.

ultimatum

Recomiendo la trilogía completa, sin mas vueltas, una franquicia que revoluciono la forma de contar historias de espías, influyendo al propio James Bond y a muchas historias mas (Taken entre ellas) No creo que sea recomendable ver las tres de un solo tirón, pero recomiendo, por correlación de los hechos, que se vean en la misma semana, por ejemplo.

Franka Potente

Se transmitió anoche por Universal Channel en capítulo doble, el inicio de la muy esperada sexta temporada de Dr. House. Es la oportunidad una vez  más de decir que el fenómeno mediático está en marcha y no hay vuelta de hoja.

La imagen de House parece haber entendido el llamado de las masas, cuando fue elegido el mejor doctor de la televisión y también el más sexy de la pantalla chica.  Y es que este nuevo House, con el pelo más corto, medianamente mejor afeitado, con camiseta T que deja ver el musculoso brazo, está definitivamente pensado para seguir encajando en el gusto del público.

Los dos primeros capítulos además, se centran exclusivamente en House y su estancia en el hospital siquiátrico. Es ahí que vemos su sarcasmo, su natural condición de líder y todos los rasgos de su personalidad que nos encantan a todos. Es verdad que también lo vemos quebrarse un poco, pero no lo suficiente para dejar de ser atractivo a pesar de ser tan desagradable y de pilón loco.

Franka Potente hace el papel de  la nueva y fugaz conquista, que resulta interesante porque logra lo que ninguna de las otras galanas había podido: House reconoce que alguien le importa y también que sufre cuando se va.  Pero no canten victoria. El Dr. parece decidido a seguir siendo el misántropo que siempre ha sido  e incapaz de mantener una relación por largo tiempo.

Por lo pronto, ya nos urge saber que pasó con los demás y si House saldrá de ahí para nunca más volver, o terminará por ser un refugio recurrente.  Empieza bien, pero parece que hace falta algo más. Ojalá se componga hacia los demás capítulos.

]]> http://proscontras.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/house-sexta-temporada/ Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:30:35 +0000 Marcelo Dillenburg http://proscontras.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/house-sexta-temporada/

Além do segundo episódio de Dead Set, a noite de ontem marcou a estreia da sexta temporada da série House, em um episódio especial com duas horas de duração, entitulado Derrotado (ou Broken, na versão original). Se alguém anda mais por fora que cotovelo de caminhoneiro, a série acompanha o doutor Gregory House, especialista em diagnóstico, uma pessoa tão brilhante quanto infeliz, infelicidade que se traduz em certa falta de apreço pelas pessoas em geral. House é uma das séries atuais mais aclamadas por público e crítica. Se você não chegou ainda ao fim da quinta temporada, pare de ler aqui.

A sexta temporada começa com House no hospital no qual internou-se voluntariamente no fim da quinta temporada, com o intuito de  se livrar da dependência do remédio Vicodin. O prólogo mostra o médico passando pelo sofrido processo de desintoxicação, em uma sequência linda de imagens ao som de No Surprises, da banda Radiohead. Vencida esta etapa, o doutor se prepara para ir embora, mas é convencido pelo diretor do hospital (de forma pouco ortodoxa) a ficar e procurar a fonte de seus problemas.

Baseado nessa premissa, o resto do episódio mostra House convivendo com os demais pacientes do hospital psiquiátrico, com os médicos que tentam tratá-lo e tentando, como sempre, aplicar suas armações para tornar a vida das pessoas ao seu redor mais complicada. Derrotado é uma prova de que, por mais que a série tenha passado por percalços na quinta temporada, a equipe que escreve e produz é extremamente competente. A mudança de ambiente revigora muito o interesse, e a confiança é tanta que o elenco regular da séria não aparece, exceto por uma breve participação de James Wilson.

Falo em confiança porque mudando elenco e local dos eventos, a série tira do público virtualmente todos os referenciais, o que pode ser desastroso do ponto de vista da aceitação. Mas se o episódio funciona, deve-se em grande parte aos personagens introduzidos para essa estória em específico. Seria fácil se perder entre clichês de estórias de sanatórios, mas aqui médicos, enfermeiros e pacientes são interessantes e cumprem o papel de proporcionar a House (e aos fãs) uma jornada cujas consequências deverão ser sentidas pelo resto da temporada. Dificilmente poderia ter começado melhor.

Além de Hugh Laurie no papel principal, Derrotado conta com Franka Potente, Megan Dodds, Derek Richardson, Andre Braugher e participação especial de Robert Sean Leonard. A sexta temporada de House será exibida pelo Universal Channel às quintas-feiras, 23h.

Lolas pojkvän lyckas med bedriften att glömma 100 000 D-mark på tunnelbanan. Pengar som egentligen tillhör en gangsterboss. Förtvivlad bestämmer sig pojkvännen för att råna en mataffär för att få ihop tillräckligt med pengar, men Lola försöker övertala honom att låta bli. Hon får till sist tjugo minuter på sig att skaffa fram 100 000, annars går pojkvännen in i mataffären.

Spring Lola var regissören Tom Tykwers riktiga genombrott. Jag har inte sett mer än Parfymen av hans övriga verk, så jag är lite tunn om benen när det kommer till Tykwer, men Spring Lola är en riktig regissörsfilm, om man säger så. Med hjälp av intensiv softtechno och ett gästspel av “What a Difference a Day Makes” sitter man som tittare spänd hela vägen. Han använder många finurliga kameravinklar och gör vissa korta sekvenser i tecknat. Det kanske inte låter så märkvärdigt i dagens supervisuella filmvärld, men det här var faktiskt -98 så det ansågs fortfarande rätt coolt.

Franka Potente fick också ett genombrott i rollen som den ständigt springande Lola. Med sitt illröda/oranga hår är hon omöjlig att inte fascineras av.

På det djupare planet visar Tykwer att även de minsta smådetaljerna kan påverka folks livsöden. Speltiden på under 80 minuter bidrar också till att höja spänningen. Om man inte har sett Spring Lola tycker jag gott man kan göra det.

Betyg: Fyra stabila pladd

El impactante cierre de campaña de House M.D. provocó una auténtica oleada de alabanzas y comentarios en la red. No era para menos, ya que aquel final dejaba las puertas abiertas a un giro profundo y definitivo en una serie que pese a su enorme calidad, empezaba a dar sutiles muestras de agotamiento. Esa brutal y osada conclusión lograba hacer olvidar todos esos problemas que padecía la serie, elevando las expectativas por la nueva temporada hasta límites insospechados incluso para una serie estrella como House M.D. La gente no solicitaba tan sólo algo de calidad, un aspecto que el show cumple habitualmente con gran solvencia, sino algo diferente, distinto, tal vez único dentro de la larga lista de genialidades de esta tragicomedia.

Este es el terreno más inexplorado para House M.D., una serie cuya (gran) innovación puede que terminara en el mismo momento de su concepción y en la que sus responsables viven probablemente demasiado aferrados a su status quo. ¿Si algo funciona, para qué cambiarlo? puede que pensaran. Sin embargo, para este nuevo desafío se han soltado la melena llenando de cambios estos dos capítulos y rechazando el formato habitual de la serie. Estos dos primeros episodios, que tal vez se podrían titular “House voló sobre el nido del cuco”, funcionan como una perfecta unidad, un pequeño filme escindido del show nodriza y que sin embargo prometen alterarlo para siempre.

House aparece más demacrado, con el pelo más corto, más barba y tan cabrón e infeliz como siempre, aunque las cuatro paredes de su nueva residencia y sus nuevos compañeros prometen intentar cambiar esos aspectos. Los títulos de crédito desaparecen integrándose en una grandiosa presentación. Del reparto original sólo sobrevive en Robert Sean Leonard que aparece apenas unos segundos, siendo sustituido el elenco de la serie por nombres tan interesantes como Franka Potente o Andre Braugher. No hay caso médico y el paciente es el propio House, acompañado de otros compañeros aún más dañados que él con los que tiene que convivir. Se mantiene el tono tragicómico del original, combinando escenas descacharrantes y diálogos punzantes, con otras emocionantes, cautivadoras y muy sentimentales.

House sufre, House hace sufrir, cautiva, apasiona, ama, odia y repulsa. En estos dos capítulos el típico “desmontando a House”, proceso permanente en la serie, se lleva a una nueva dimensión más directa y brutal, con la intención de cambiar por fin al desgraciado médico y con él a la propia serie. House cambia y House M.D. promete cambiar, o al menos eso es lo que se desprende de este puñetazo en la mesa, brillante y vibrante, con un House más y menos House que nunca y cuyo final es uno de esos momentos intensos, emotivos, emocionantes que hacen a esta serie en algo único. Sin duda un gran comienzo, por encima de las enormes expectativas, que anticipa -esperemos- grandes cambios mejoras en esta gran serie y, quien sabe, si un final de altura. Marca de la Casa.  

(Season 6, Episode 1)

What a dramatic departure from any episode of House we’ve seen so far. There were no opening credits, and an almost entirely new cast of characters. It kind of reminded me of the excellent telefilm 24: Redemption. In fact, more of my shows can do this kind of thing.

It was awesome seeing Andre Braugher try and tear down all of House’s defenses so he could help him rebuild his clearly damaged psyche. It was even more fun seeing what a formidable opponent House was in that task. And tragic, for House, that he sees himself in that role.

As the episode progressed, I went back and forth as to what I wanted to see happen. House has never not been in control. Even when he was delusional and out of his mind he was grasping insanely to control. How could he possibly submit to the “system” and allow the doctors to do their work to help him.

How could he do that and still be House.

I was so glad that there was no sign of the regular cast anywhere. Instead, we got a new cast of patients, all of whom House insulted and one which he nearly killed, and the aforementioned Braugher. It was interesting that Braugher seemed more like House than perhaps either one of them want to consider.

Is it sad that I enjoyed this mental hospital more than the one on FOX’s summer series Mental? I wouldn’t be too upset if they considered this a potential pilot for a spin-off into psychiatric medicine in house’s world. He and Bruagher could become friends.

What will be even more interesting is what happens next. Through the turmoil and the struggle, House kicked Vicodin, is managing his pain and even learned to open up and give a damn about someone else. How will this impact his work when he goes back to work.

And what kind of work can he go back to after a stint in a psych ward? I hope it takes a bit to find out, before we slip back into the same old House routine. I get bored with the patient nonsense week after week.

Franka Potenta in "Lola Rennt" (1998)

On Sept. 21, the hit TV series “House” premiered its 6th season with a blockbuster 2-hour episode featuring Dr. House detoxing in an asylum and struggling to regain his sanity while connecting on a more human level with patients, doctors and supporting cast.  Why this even hits my blog-radar has purely to do with WHO was included in that “supporting cast”, and that who was none other than German filmstar Franka Potente. 

Now, Franke is not unknown to American audiences.  Her 2002 co-starring role in The Bourne Identify solidified her international acting career which launched in earnest with the 1998 Tim Tykwer German drama Lola rennt.   Since the Bourne films Potente has become a recognizable face on the American big-screen.  Now, her face is equally recognizeable on the small screen.  Microbloggers on Twitter were filling up the airwaves with tweets like “OMG, Lola is on #House!”. 

Franka Potente plays, Lydia, the sister-in-law of one of House’s asylum-mates and falls into a sensual relationship with the obstinate physician.  Whether or not the Lydia role will become a recurring figure in the series remains to be seen.  But Potente’s acting is as powerful as ever and as a foil to Hugh Laurie’s intense figure she offers a female role in which he finally meets his match.

Now to the elephant in the room:  Why is Franka Potente, without argument the hottest female actress in Germany, playing the small screen in America?  Answer:  “House” is popular not only in America, but in Germany and truly around the world.  Playing opposite Hugh Laurie is obviously a star on her résumé and the role highlights Potente’s dramatic acting skills.  But does this mean that Potente will be making a harder run at Hollywood in the coming years?  Or, perhaps closer to the truth, is this simply a confirmation of the growing globalization of world cinema (i.e. “Inglourious Basterds“)?  Potenta’s coming films provide part of the answer.   Two American films due for release late in 2009 and early in 2010 both play in settings outside of America (Shanghai plays in China and The Cheeseburger Manifesto plays in Romania) while a third, Wave, a 2010 French/Belgium production, plays on the west coast of Africa.

Without question, “Lola” is on American TV and Franka Potente is here to stay.  She will likely continue to make films in Germany, but her international appeal and high degree of recognition makes her perfect for the growing global cinema market.  Look for much more from “Lola”!

Kuigi mälu veab tihti alt, mäletan veel selgelt kuidas sattusin Opsi juurde House sarja esimest osa vaatama. Lammas nagu ma olen, olin kiire tol ajal takka kiitma, et ei paista kuigi hea asi olevat ega ka tulevat (maitse asi nagu tavatsetakse öelda). Nagu tavaks, eksisin korralikult, tänaseks kuulub sari minu lemmikute hulka ja on hea meel näha 6ndat hooaega algamas, topeltosaga. Eelmisest hooajast ilmselt kõik mäletavad, et House`i tee viis hullumajja, kuid mida ei näinud tulemas, oli poolteist tundi Lendas Üle Käopesa TV versiooni ja mitte sugugi halba seejuures. Sisse segatuna Der Krieger und die Kaiserin tähe Franka Potentega -sweet German accent and decent drama involved.

Kõik veel kindlasti mäletavad, et Käopesa ei lõppenud kuigi hästi, kuid House on sari mitte hullumeelne kurbmäng. Ja hullumaja meest ju ei murra. Kui sari tahab House karakteri pehmeks mudida, siis lasku käia. Isiklikult usun endiselt, et nali on vaataja kulul ka sel hooajal. Haiged vajavad abi, mitte tühja sümpaatiat. Get back to your tracks, Dr House.

“Broken”

September 21st, 2009

“You’re not God.”

There was a lot of response to “Broken,” as there is to many House premieres and finales. House, like many other shows which on a week-to-week basis only seem to dabble in serialized storylines, likes to pile on the sudden tension in the late and early parts of each season. It’s the time of year where Amber dies in a tragic accident, or when House begins hallucinating due to his use of Vicodin, or when House gets shot and goes into a dream-like state and regains some use of his leg. In all instances, the show presents us with a simple question: what if Dr. House changed? What if, after losing Amber or having his leg fixed or firing all of his fellows or the suicide of one of his fellows or (in the Season 5 finale) being institutionalized, he grows up in a way that changes his dynamic with the people around him and how he does his job?

Every year, however, the same thing happens: he and Wilson reconcile, he convinces himself his leg isn’t better, he hires new fellows and everything effectively goes back to normal. House is, ultimately, like every other procedural in that there are parts of its identity which cannot change as fundamentally as the finales want us to believe, the premieres always designed as a first step to righting the character’s universe. This is something that I’ve complained about in the past, but I think I’ve finally come to terms with it.

“Broken” is certainly, at the very least, the most impressive effort yet to make House’s re-entry into his world both believable and not without consequence. Taking the form of “House: The Movie,” ditching the entire cast save a cameo from Robert Sean Leonard in favour of a collection of doctors, patients and visitors from Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital, the two-hour episode takes the time to go through every stage of House’s process. It allows us to see his usual behaviour, conniving and manipulative, and then to deconstruct it in a way which never feels preachy, and which in the end reveals a character who remains acerbic and charming but who does seem a lot closer to what one might consider happy.

And while only time will tell how far these changes go, I’m not really concerned: long-term change or no, this was an extremely compelling two hours of television.

Hugh Laurie deserves to win an Emmy for this role, and in some ways this episode is almost cheating: he’s the only regular cast member in the episode and the two-hour running time allows him to demonstrate both the comic jerk side of House (which is entertaining to watch) as well as the vulnerable and weak side which seems to drive the previous behaviour. While the show normally tends to draw its impact (week by week) from people outside of House’s life, as the patients provide the emotional hook while House skirts around the edges entertaining us, this episode draws nearly everything from House. It takes its time to get House into a position where he starts to talk about his own feelings, but eventually he’s sitting in the chair and the episode is deriving its emotional impact from his own sense of love and loss, of happiness and disappointment.

The episode works tremendously well when it connects House directly to those ideas. His courtship with Lydia (Franka Potente) stretches out believability at least somewhat as she lets him steal her car and then doesn’t seem to mind that he was responsible for a young and delusional man to jump off of a parking structure, but it seems like a genuine connection that we haven’t seen House make in a long time. The episode starts with House in his element, diagnosing the patients around him and having a fun old time with it, but eventually we see him experiencing the types of things we haven’t seen in quite some time. I kept expecting the rug to get pulled out from under him, to have Lydia reject him for emotional reasons or to have her prove to be a figment of his imagination (unlikely considering the show will want to get back to normal, but likely considering the show’s desire to screw with us), but in the end the subtlety of the moment was what mattered: he cared about her, she cared about him, but they are eventually separated by circumstance and very little else, leading him to prove his sanity by feeling hurt and lost and going to a professional for help as opposed to self-medicating.

It’s a surprisingly subtle beat, which is why it works so well. For a two-hour premiere event, it never felt like it was going too far into theatrics, that it was shocking the viewer with twists and turns or anything else. Sure, Lin Manuel Miranda as Alvy, House’s roommate, was over the top and boisterous, but it nicely displayed the chaotic nature of the ward and how House’s first instincts are always to work with what he has to deflect from himself (first breaking them down and then rallying them together in protest). For House himself, it was more about trust and understanding, and the episode built that for us. It used its two hours not to cram a whole lot of content down our throats, but rather to slowly indicate House’s growing self-awareness to the point where we buy his “Re-Birthday” ceremony as genuine, if not quite so genuine as to fundamentally change his character.

Along the way, though, there were some hiccups. The moment with the deluded superhero as he jumps off of a parking structure was a bit too much of a tragedy that I don’t think even House would have overlooked (even in his “I’ll show you” mentality), and the eventual solution to Lydia’s sister-in-law (giving her the music box, as the defender had suggested) and her condition was contrived in order to fly Lydia away and to open House’s eyes tot he world around him. When the episode let the great Andre Braugher and House bond over Nolan’s father, or about House’s issues (such as the clever party scene), it felt like they were really getting at something. When they needed to turn a corner, though, the show demonstrated its roots in the procedural and cures seemed magical and flights from parking structures seemed sudden.

But, at the end of the day, “Broken” succeeds because of how great Hugh Laurie is at playing every facet of this character. Gregory House is far more human than he has any right to be, a fact which makes these occasional interludes so powerful. And while sometimes the episodes feel slighted and rushed in only an hour, as they take place in the hospital and have other stories swirling around them, this one was allowed to breathe and flow in a way that others were not. It wasn’t perfect, and it wrapped up a bit too cleanly like every episode of House, but it really did feel like a well-constructed piece of dramatic cinema that just happened to feature one of the best television actors working today. And while I can understand why some would want the show to return to the hospital and remain the procedural show it once was, it is the series’ willingness to go out on these limbs that keeps me interested beyond its basic premise week after week.

Cultural Observations

• It was a bit of a cliche to have a piano happen to be in the ward considering House’s penchant for the instrument, but it was well handled. I especially liked that House, discovering that the lid was left unlocked as he had requested of Lydia, plays a few notes but doesn’t actually play. He could have played it, but then it would have been considered behaviour and he wanted nothing to do with that.
• One would expect that Andre Braugher will join Laurie as an Emmy nominee with this episode: David Morse proved that you don’t even need to be good on house to grab a guest acting nomination, and Braugher was excellent and a two-time past winner (and multi-time nominee) for his work in Thief and Homicide: Life on the Street.
• Interesting to see them largely skip over (and ultimately ignore) House’s detox/pain period before entering War 6 – other than the montage set to Radiohead’s “No Surprises,” his own personal chaos was skipped over until the point where he felt he was fine and thus would start wreaking havoc.
• How much did Dr. Beasley (Megan Dodds) look like Kristen Bell? It was honestly driving me crazy.

Luego de miles de adelantos, posters y campañas publicitarias muy interesantes, finalmente la cadena Fox ha presentado las promos finales del primer episodio de la sexta temporada de House, llamado Broken.

En este episodio episodio especial de dos horas, dirigido por Katie Jacobs, House (Hugh Laurie) comienza un programa de desintoxicación en el Hospital Psiquiátrico Mayfield para eliminar el vicodin de su sistema en un intento por controlar sus alucinaciones.

House planea abandonar el hospital una vez que este limpio, pero es obligado a quedarse por su nuevo doctor, el Dr. Darryl Nolan (Andre Braugher). Nolan acepta escribir una recomendación para devolver la licencia medica a House si este acepta continuar con su tratamiento.

Cuando House es trasladado a un nuevo sector del hospital, desarrolla una relación con su nuevo compañero de cuarto , Alvie (Lin-Manuel Miranda), y Lydia (Franka Potente), una visitante frecuente que ayuda a House a doblar algunas reglas.

House pide ayuda a Alvie para conseguir información sobre el Dr. Nolan que le permita chantajearlo para poder salir del centro de tratamiento y convence a Lydia para prestarle el coche con el objetivo de permitir el escape de un paciente con alucinaciones como una forma de golpear el tratamiento de Nolan.

La sexta temporada de House es presentada los lunes por Fox.

This year, Fox seems to be pushing its hit show House in a different, more insistent way than it has in past seasons, with a Caduceus-centered, pseudo-viral campaign designed to raise interest and curiosity in the show’s premiere. The Caduceus symbol, the centerpiece of the campaign, started as actor Hugh Laurie’s idea for gifts for the crew, and was adopted by the producers and network to push the show’s sixth season to the public. The campaign started with drawings of a cane within a Caduceus symbol that began to appear on other Fox shows, with no reference to the House title, but prompting viewers to visit the Snakes on a Cane website, which featured a countdown (fans of the show quickly realized that the site was counting down to the September 21st premiere). Posters also appeared in major cities. In the following weeks, the drawing turned into a more elaborate image, which then turned into a Caduceus on a black tee-shirt, which in turn was revealed to be Hugh Laurie himself, wearing the tee-shirt. In its final phase, the image revealed Hugh Laurie as House as the center of the Caduceus, with snakes wrapped around his body. Though the mystery surrounding the Caduceus campaign didn’t (and couldn’t) last very long in the days of such elaborate viral marketing as that which surrounded The Dark Knight and Lost, it nevertheless succeeded in conveying a sense of quirkiness that made it stand out from the rather bland publicity that preceeded some (though not all) of the previous seasons of House, as well as several other shows, for which the publicity focus is on the castmembers posing in front of nondescript backgrounds. House is not the only show that has received heavy publicity; with few shows premiering this fall, Fox has pushed its shows more heavily, especially Glee, but the push for House nevertheless remains surprising for a show that is entering its sixth season. One of the final steps in the campaign came about through Facebook (and only through Facebook), in which Fox offered a limited amount of tickets to an advanced screening of the premiere episode (“Broken”) on September 17th in New York and LA (the cast attended the latter).

Of course, House is important for Fox; not only has it performed consistently well through an actors’ strike and a cast overhaul, but it has just achieved the distinction of becoming the most watched drama in the world. On the other hand, it’s lost visibility against competition from the cable networks, as well as newer shows on the broadcast channels. Critically, it has lost some of the support that it enjoyed in its first three seasons, with its original cast. Despite this, the show still received Emmy nominations, including one for its long-overdue star. So, with this year’s increased publicity push, the question becomes: does the premiere deliver?

When we last left House, the show had pulled itself together after a slow start to season 5. In its last stretch, House’s 5th season saw one of House’s fellows, Lawrence Kutner, commit suicide, forcing the rest of the staff at Princeton Plainsboro to evaluate what, if anything, they could have done to prevent the tragedy. The unacknowledged guilt that Dr. House felt in regards to Kutner’s suicide was the straw that broke the camel’s back, compounding the guild that House already felt over his role in the death of another former employee, as well as his antagonistic relationship with his father, who also passed away. The toll of three deaths in the space of a year, in addition to House’s long-standing addiction to Vicodin, set of a wave of hallucinations that compromised his judgment as a doctor and the safety, not only of his patients, but of the people around him.

Season 6 picks up where Season 5 left off, with House checking himself into a mental institution, Mayfield Hospital. Breaking from the show’s regular formula, House is now the patient that needs healing, and his healing is less physical than psychological. The greatest deterrent to his recovery is his own unwillingness to let himself be treated (he has entered and resisted rehab in the past). If there is one thing that counterweighs his desire to get better, it is the fear that sobriety will make him a less effective doctor, since his leg pain is, without drugs, unbearable. Now that his medical license is at stake, he has his strongest ever incentive to get better. As he begins his stay at the hospital, House must forge a strategy to get a recommendation letter from the head of psychiatry, Dr. Darryl Nolan (Andre Braugher) in order to return to medicine, but this will prove no small task, since Dr. Nolan is not one to be swayed easily, especially in light of House’s unwillingness to cooperate.

The entire two-hour episode is set inside Mayfield, with no cuts to Princeton Plainsboro or the staff there. Other than Laurie, only one other member of the regular cast appears, and very briefly at that. The different location and different cast give the episode a feel that is completely separate from the rest of the series. Set over the course of months, it is almost a self-contained story, one that could have functioned as an inter-season movie. In a way, it will be a shame to go back to Princeton, since the residents of Mayfield were such very rich characters. In addition to Braugher’s Nolan, who is both healer and a damaged person himself, there is a stand out performance from Lin-Manuel Miranda (from Broadway’s In the Heights) as Alvie, House’s schizophrenic roommate, who tries his patience to its limit, but also becomes his most enthusiastic co-conspirator against ‘the Man.’ Braugher and Miranda are more compelling in these two hours than a couple of House’s fellows have been in years of being on the show, and I wish they would become regulars, or at least recurring. If there are any complaints about this season opener, they lie with the Franka Potente character, Lydia. She plays a significant part in House’s life and recovery process during his stay at Mayfield, where her sister-in-law is a patient, but the character doesn’t feel fleshed out enough to warrant the interest and attraction that House feels towards her. I like Potente in other roles, most obviously in Run Lola Run, but I found something lacking here, perhaps in the writing of Lydia. I found myself wishing that instead of Lydia, we got to see more of Megan Dodds (Ever After), who was sorely underused as Dr. Beasley, the poor doctor who is in charge of House’s therapy group.

All in all, I found this to be one of the strongest episodes of the show, and certainly the best of its season premieres. It shakes things up quite a bit and brings new energy to the show. It also sets House (both the series and the character) onto a possible new direction. Laurie, as always, delivers. In fact, in his sixth year playing this character, he has just delivered some of his best work in this season premiere, which he carries without the help of his supporting cast (which usually includes the excellent Robert Sean Leonard and Lisa Edelstein). This premiere is proof, if any was needed, that while House can boast a very strong ensemble, it is Laurie’s show all the way. Here’s hoping that he gets some award recognition this year.

So, to answer my initial question, the premiere certainly delivers. It’s rare for a show to deliver such strong material so many years into its run. Certainly, the show has stumbled along the course of the last couple of seasons, and it will be difficult to maintain the freshness of the premiere once the show returns to Princeton and to the regular patients there, but if the focus remains on House’s journey of recovery or self-destruction, then this sixth season of House has the potential to become one of its best. “Broken” kicks off the new season, airing this Monday on FOX.