Tom Cruise blasts into Oblivion
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” sang Bob Dylan, but these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
• MOVIES
Big release: Oblivion (April 19) The big picture: Oblivion gets the summer blockbuster season cooking early. Think of it as The Matrix meets Battlefield Earth meets WALL-E. An alien invasion reduced the Earth to 99 per cent rubble and Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a mechanic assigned to repair fallen drones that protect the planet’s skies (sifting through the Earth’s garbage for technological gems, Harper is like the robot WALL-E — only with better hair and less facial expression). Harper works for a floating human city far above the Earth’s surface. However, an unexpected encounter during one of his surface maintenance missions finds him questioning “everything.” He meets a stunning woman (French actress Olga Kurylenko) and a man (Morgan Freeman), both part of a secret underground resistance. How is that even fair? A French bombshell AND Morgan Freeman question BOTH your allegiances? Count Harper in for the insurgency.
Forecast: Freeman grounds this sci-fi fantasy as the wizened, 102-year-old leader of the insurgency, keeper of the truth and maker of meaningful proclamations. (Picture Morpheus from The Matrix — only with less prowess in martial arts and giant sunglasses that would be the envy of Nicole Richie.) It turns out good ol’ “floating city” might be a police state complicit in what happened to the planet below … Wait a minute. A guy named Harper from a future police state? Don’t be surprised if the Liberal party starts citing this film as a documentary during the next election.
• TV
Big event: Defiance (Showcase, 10 p.m.)
Big picture: It’s not a good week for the planet Earth in pop culture. The premiere of Defiance offers another dystopian future. The shattered remnants of humanity live among the seven alien races they once waged war against — a tense coexistence in a scarred planet with few resources. Defiance is the frontier town at the heart of this ambitious sci-fi show set in the remains of … wait for it … St. Louis — a city that can apparently only qualify as a setting for a work of fiction AFTER Armageddon. The show boasts an “unprecedented approach to storytelling” — have these guys even seen Jersey Shore? — because its TV universe will unfold in alignment with an online game. If only all TV shows had an online gaming component. Why not go one step further and make TV interactive? Think of the all the fun you could have. Making the Gossip Girls mute. Making Peter Mansbridge and Rex Murphy duel with swords shirtless on The National. Making Don Draper ... smile on Mad Men. The possibilities are endless.
Forecast: It’s Firefly meets Star Trek meets The West Wing. There’s nothing better than a dystopian scifi world that combines elements of the future with the Wild West. Canada’s Graham Greene lends his authority as the town’s reprobate mine owner — and resident curmudgeon — Rafe McCawley. Julie Benz (who played the ill-fated wife from TV’s Dexter) also grounds the show as the town’s mayor Amanda Rosewater. TV has been looking for a new sci-fi champion since Battlestar Galactica and this is the one that just might defy the usual critics.
• MUSIC
Big release on April 16: Arts & Crafts 2003-2013
Big picture: Just as arts and crafts got me through preschool (paste offers great sustenance), Arts & Crafts helped get me through the last two decades. It’s tough not to be impressed by a label that has introduced us to the likes of Broken Social Scene, Jason Collett and Feist, and now includes a roster of Canadian artists as varied as Hayden and Cold Specks. This label compilation includes tracks by Stars, Amy Millan, Apostle of Hustle, Dan Mangan, Cold Specks, The Dears and The Hidden Cameras, among others.
Forecast: Anniversaries are overrated (note: If you’re my wife, I’m just kidding). But not this one. If you’ve been living on the moon for the last two decades, pick up this album. It’s a broad introduction into some of the best in Canadian indie music. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Here’s to 20 more years.