In all, Copper was a good show. The production design was great, and if anything the show suffered from an overabundance of story rather than too little.
BBCTV’s Copper
Flipping through the Netflix Instant Watch feeds, I kept coming upon the show Copper. I added it to my queue and if my mind worked like Windows Explorer the file name was \\hotpeople_periodcostumes_possiblydepressing_watchwhiledrunk.mov. Having watched the show, I feel validated about my naming convention, although it is certainly worth discussing in detail.
Copper is an ensemble piece following several interrelated stories in 1860s New York. One group, the Irish, is made up of cops headed by the titular Detective Kevin “Corky” Corcoran, a scrappy looker of a gent (Tom Weston-Jones) and veteran of the still-occurring Civil War. He immigrated as a boy, and spent a difficult childhood in the streets of Five Points. After seeing the way the Irish were treated, he joined the Army to provide for his wife and daughter, who begin the show missing. In the army, he served with Matthew Freeman (Ato Essandoh) under Major Robert Morehouse (Kyle Schmidt), who each serve as contact points for the other groups in the show.
I read another review of the first episode somewhere (can’t remember where and searching my history is proving fruitless) that describes it as VERY good. I am cautiously optimistic!
I’ve been devouring all the recent Preacher news like it’s made out of candied bacon.
OOOOOOOOOOO – The Dominic Cooper Casting announcement
Joseph Gilgun as Cassidy – Jesse’s compatriot and an Irish punk-rock vampire Cassidy casting announcement
I read another review of the first episode somewhere (can’t remember where and searching my history is proving fruitless) that describes it as VERY good. I am cautiously optimistic!
I won’t go into a big description of the story in today’s post, and I might try to do another one that introduces people unfamiliar with the comic in a spoiler-free way.
Fitting for today (St. Patrick’s Day!), Preacher is written by one of my favorite comics writers, Garth Ennis, who is Irish. He also wrote some of the best storylines (in my opinion) of Constantine – that show turned out to be somewhat disappointing, but I’m HOPING that Preacher delivers.
Fingers crossed!
My Mom had the DNA test thingy done – I am 38% Irish. I don’t hold much with the test results (since Ireland is a country, not an ethnicity – I guess I would be Celtic or Gaelic? Does that even make sense?) but she was excited about it and I am trying to encourage her to get out and do things. She’s been rather down lately.
But I’m not going out in a green paper hat to drink green beer or whiskey until I’m sick, either. I’ll stay in and spend time with my imaginary boyfriend for the holiday, Kevin ‘Corky’ Corcoran from BBCTV’s Copper. An Irishman just trying to make good as a cop in 1860s New York, he fights for truth and justice but also because he just likes getting in fights.
This is one of my FAVORITE Will Ferrell characters. And look at vintage Jeff Goldblum, trying to hold it together! MAGIC.
Since it nearly made me spray coffee all over my monitor, I thought it would be a good mood-lightener since things have been rather low around here lately. So watch it and enjoy – and I hope the rest of your day is awesome!
*Not a phrase I ever anticipated using but I LOVE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING!
So here’s to you, Mr. Craven. You knew what scared us, but it was because you knew what scared YOU first. Good horror comes from the heart, and by all accounts you were a wonderfully sweet man with plenty of heart to go around.
[NOTE: I was waiting until October to review Mr. Craven’s classic The People Under the Stairs, one of my all-time favorite movies, for my annual horror movie round-up. However, his untimely passing required tribute, so here it is.]
Dat Box Art
Back in the day, renting a movie at the video store was a gamble. If you rented the wrong thing, you wouldn’t find out until you’d got home, possibly hours later, possibly after the store had closed. It was terrible to find that the money you mowed a lawn or babysat for had gone to a dud, full of boring characters, dumb cliches, and forgettable story. The stakes were high on Friday afternoons after school, so I often agonized in the horror aisle making up my mind, my mom rolling her eyes and yelling at me to come on.
Imagine a time with no online forums, no websites, nothing but the movie reviews in the newspaper, articles in magazines like Fangoria or Starlog, or your friends’ recommendations.
I must have walked past the box for The People Under the Stairs 50 times before I actually picked it up to rent it. Although I look back fondly on the box art now, the somewhat generic design just couldn’t compete with the likes of Pumpkinhead, Deadly Friend, or anything coming out of Full Moon Studios for my money. I finally watched it in about 1996, and thence started a relationship that has lasted to this very day.
This is from two weeks ago! Still keeping the faith!
I STAND BY MY TWEET.
I’ve talked before about urban horror in the form of Clive Barker’s Candyman and what an interesting and clever deconstruction it was – but doesn’t even come CLOSE to The People Under the Stairs.
The film starts out brilliantly – Ruby is doing a tarot reading for her little brother Poindexter, nicknamed Fool, and we hear hushed voices as Ruby lays out the cards in flickering candlelight, and with them Fool’s destiny. We’re in. The setup is established – Fool and his family live in the projects, at the mercy of slumlords and in need of money for Fool’s mother’s operation. Fool, now the man of the house at 13, is convinced by Ruby’s boyfriend Leroy (Ving Rhames! In one of his early roles! With hair!) to help him commit a burglary that will net them enough cash to take care of his family.
The plan is to dress Fool like a cub scout and send him to the front door, so he can get in and case the house. What he finds instead is a highly paranoid, racist woman who won’t even let him into the secured house to use the bathroom, and a serious security system.
Not. Even. A Little.
Once Fool, Leroy, and their friend Spencer gain entry to the house, Shit Gets Weird. So wonderfully, GLORIOUSLY weird! I almost don’t want to go into it in case you are somehow reading this article having NOT seen the film! BUT I AM! So stop reading now. Go read the Candyman article, or… or come back when you’ve seen The People Under the Stairs! The post’ll still be here! Shoo!
OKAY.
As I was saying, TPUTS is brilliant as a horror movie for a lot of reasons. Mr. Craven was inspired by a news article about the police responding to a home invasion, who discovered children locked in a closet, and the story grew from there. A philosopher and teacher first, he didn’t begin making films until he was 30, and he started out making porn. How COOL is that?
Since the main baddies of TPUTS are some crazy-ass white people slumlords who toss around The N-Word with careless abandon and cackle at all the money they have drained from the ghetto, the movie has the feel of a modern fable. For some, THESE are the boogeymen, but they are no less terrifying than knife-wielding maniacs. They take children from the ghetto to raise as their own, but being utterly batshit crazy, no child can live up to their expectations. The children who fail are put into the basement, missing tongues, eyes, or ears, and are fed on human flesh.
GIMMEGIMMEGIMME
And since the movie didn’t know the meaning of the words ‘Over the Top,’ the performances by Everett McGill and Wendy Robie as “Daddy” and “Mommy” are MAGNIFICENT.
No Caption Needed. *wipes away a tear*Mama said there’d be days like this…
God how I could go on. A young A.J. Langer, of “My So-Called Life” fame plays Alice, the only girl and only child who has managed to toe Mommy and Daddy’s crazy line. Brandon Adams turned out a brilliant performance as the charismatic, intelligent, and compassionate Fool – I’m surprised to see so few credits under his name on IMDB.
The gimp suit, the attack dog, the dolls, “A man ain’t dead just cause he’s laying there,” and the wonderful, wonderful shouts of ‘GONNA FIND YOUUUUU!!’ interrupted by a brick to the face. GOD how I love this movie.
So here’s to you, Mr. Craven. You knew what scared us, but it was because you knew what scared YOU first. Good horror comes from the heart, and by all accounts you were a wonderfully sweet man with plenty of heart to go around.
Here is a link to Edgar Wright’s touching tribute to Mr. Craven, who perfectly expressed what I have been stumbling and blathering to say.
Farewell, Mr. Craven! We’ll see you in our nightmares!
