I've begun watching Netflix' (or is it Netflix's? what are the style rules in the age of the Twitter?) original production of House of Cards. Netflix has posted all thirteen (13) episodes of the political mini-series yesterday in an experimental distribution scheme, and it comports with my preferred method of watching serialized tales.
Most TV dramas nowadays have season-long or even series-long arcs that induce viewers to tune in for the next episode. I used to watch faithfully until the DVD boxed set and DVR made it unnecessary to reserve specific nights on one's schedule. It's now become obvious that the writers often were adjusting the stories to boost ratings through the cliffhanger. Take back control of your calendar, don't give in to their cheap dramatic tricks!
But enough of the form, what of the substance? House of Cards concerns politics at the highest level, and it's got Kevin Spacey, so one can be sure that there will be loads of cynicism and sardonic humor. Kevin Spacey again plays the smartest guy in the room. He periodically speaks to the audience through the fourth wall, making observations about other characters and speeding up the exposition. Will the protagonist-narrator be a good guy or bad guy? Probably both.
Kevin Spacey is multi-talented: he acts, directs movies, sang the vocals on the 2004 Bobby Darin biopic Under the Sea and is touring as the lead in Shakespeare's Richard III. On tonight's Letterman he described how he stopped an audience member from phone-recording the play:
No comments:
Post a Comment