Tag: april 2018

TV’s First $300M Man: The Wild and Weepy Backstory of Ryan Murphy’s Blockbuster Netflix Deal

[…] One of the things that became clear to him during this process is that he doesn’t want to be “just a showrunner” anymore. “It’s just not interesting for me to sit in a room for eight hours a day with my mind as a sieve pouring out ideas,” he says. Nor is he interested in waking up to a daily ratings report card. “I felt that frustration even with [The Assassination of Gianni] Versace, which I think is one of the best things I’ve ever done, but you couldn’t win because it’s like, ‘Well, it’s no O.J.,’” he says, referring to the first installment of American Crime Story, which smashed ratings records for FX and cleaned up on the awards circuit. “So, the Netflix way is an interesting way because it’s a purely creativity way. It is simply ‘Your show is doing great’ or ‘Your show is not doing so great.’ That’s it. It’s not a humiliating ‘Your show is down 30 percent.’”

TV’s First $300M Man: The Wild and Weepy Backstory of Ryan Murphy’s Blockbuster Netflix Deal

The 2 Best Moments From ‘American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace’ 2×08

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace recap: Season 2, Episode 8, “Creator/Destroyer”, Aired March. 14, 2018.

In this episode, we finally meet the man Andrew has spoken about so highly through the season – his father. His father made up this unrealistic world for Andrew, only to break his heart years later. We also finally find out why he consistently lies to people and has this strong desperation for people to love him.

Here are the 2 best moments of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace 2×08:

Passion for fashion

We’ve definitely not had enough of Versace throughout season 2 and episode 8 didn’t provide us with much more; however, we did get a short glimpse of Gianni as a young boy, finding his passion for fashion. Gianni’s mother was a successful seamstress, which definitely explains how he got in to that career, but the children at school didn’t seem to understand his passion’s. We see Gianni sketching a dress in the back of his class, in which his teacher notices and calls him out as a ‘pervert’, whilst another classmate calls him a ‘pansy’. Later on, Gianni goes back to tell his mother what had happened and she comforts him by telling the story of how she used to want to become a doctor, however, was prevented from doing so by her father because she was a woman. So, Franca became a dressmaker and opened up her very own shop.

“You must do what you love, Gianni.”

Daddy imposter

Andrew has said so much about his father throughout the season so far – true or not, we’ve always been unsure. However, one thing we are sure about is that his father did work for Merrill Lynch, although Andrew had milked the story just a little. His father talked his way in to a highly coveted job, due to his work ethic and track record. Andrew is soon treated to all sorts of fancy gifts such as a master bedroom and a car, because of how much his father was spending… Basically being treated like royalty by his parents, leaving his siblings neglected. Medesto (Andrew’s father) believes Andrew to be special and encourages him to feel special so success will follow – he consistently puts so much pressure on Andrew to be the best he can be – leaving Andrew to believe his dream is a big house with children and a fancy car, when asked what his one wish would be during an interview to attend the prestigious Bishop’s school. After being asked the question once more, he told them that his one wish would be to be special. Medesto drilled it in to Andrew’s head that being smart is enough and that if he wants to get anywhere, he needs to fit in – which most definitely explains why he is so determined to get the approval of everybody around him.

Years later, we find out that Medesto no longer works for Merrill Lynch, due to cheating good people out of their money by trading non-existent stocks. When he realises that the police are on to him, Medesto escapes the country, leaving Andrew and the rest of his family behind. Andrew refuses to believe his father left them with nothing and will soon enough be back with all the money he ‘supposedly’ has. He travels to Manila in search of his father and reality soon hits him, when he see’s for himself how much of a liar and a theif Medesto is – everything he put in to Andrew’s head was a lie. He calls Andrew ‘weak’ and a ‘sissy’ causing Andrew to draw a knife.

When Andrew returns to the United States, he realises his whole world is shattered and instead of becoming a better person than his father, he begins to pick up on his traits and believes that lying is better than facing the truth.

The 2 Best Moments From ‘American Crime Story: The Assassination of Versace’ 2×08

Wednesday’s best TV: First Dates; My Dad, the Peace Deal and Me

The Assassination of Gianni Versace
9pm, BBC Two

Andrew Cunanan’s inexorable journey to infamy continues. For sure, the reverse narrative structure has undermined the reveals, but really this is all about the nearly unwatchably intense performance of Darren Criss. Tonight, it’s 1996: Andrew goes to a party where he meets David Madson. John Robinson

Wednesday’s best TV: First Dates; My Dad, the Peace Deal and Me

Review: Crime anthology series captures complex characters | The Ithacan

★★★★☆

While Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” is notorious for its gratuitous scenes of sex and violence, his more recent series, “American Crime Story,” offers an unexpectedly neutral narrative investigation of the human condition. The excessive use of violence is avoided to focus on the humanity of the characters. In its sophomore season, the anthology series centers on the true story of the delayed FBI manhunt to locate Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), a closeted gay Filipino-American fugitive who killed five people, including, most notably, the famous Italian designer Gianni Versace (Édgar Ramírez). Instead of relying on a formulaic trope of glorifying an immoral figure, Cunanan in condemned. On the other hand, Versace’s wealthy lifestyle is portrayed as attainable, an unlikely deviation that characterizes him as a neighbor, colleague or friend. Here, LGBTQrepresentation is successfully given the same complexities of heterosexual representation; there are unfavorable, benign and positive characterizations.

The show’s first season, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” addressed topics such as sexism in the workplace, racial bias and media bias through the lens of the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” investigates identity politics, gay shame and political survival during the ’90s by way of remaining in the closet. The title of the show is a misdirection because the show is not primarily about Versace — it’s predominantly a psychological profile of Cunanan. Cunanan killed four gay men, starting with younger, closeted men and elevating to wealthy, unfaithful businessmen, before moving on to Versace, an openly gay man and representative of the gay community.

Versace is portrayed as Cunanan’s antithesis. His fame shielded him from anti-gay hostility, while Cunanan remained closeted until his suicide. Versace was proud of his foreign status in America, honoring his Italian origins with his designs, while Cunanan tried to assimilate. Cunanan is not completely villainized, just like Versace isn’t portrayed as someone who is immune to self-loathing and criticism. Cunanan and Versace are an incompatible pair, yet the show links them emotionally. This offers a complex character study that intensifies the dramatic storytelling.

The supporting characters are given their own arcs independent from the main characters, which lends credibility to the writing and performances. After Versace is murdered, his inner circle abandons each other. Versace’s partner, Antonio D’Amico (Ricky Martin), is discarded by his sister-in-law, Donatella Versace (Penélope Cruz), in a misplaced reaction to her grief. In other projects, Cruz is typecast as a sexualized Latina, but here she is able to stretch her acting muscle and is given a satisfying emotional arc. She is caught in the crossfire of preserving the family empire and becoming autonomous from her dependence on her brother. Another supporting character, a lesbian detective Lori Wieder (Dascha Polanco), is also well-developed and adds to the convincingness of the universe. She dismantles Cunanan’s plan in order to prevent damage to the reputation of the gay community.

The role of Cunanan is a welcome departure from Criss’ role as Blaine Anderson, a charming, openly gay high schooler on “Glee,” another Ryan Murphy production. Criss portrays Cunanan as an articulate, manipulative deviant who is ashamed of his identity. He victimizes younger men, Jeffrey Trail (Finn Wittrock) and David Madson (Cody Fern), and is prostituted by older men, such as Lee Miglin (Mike Farrell). With each, Criss convincingly plays a bully who is emotionally stunted. Criss’ performance is layered and shaded with nuance to show Cunanan’s mental decline. It’s distressing to watch him become a victim of his worst inhibitions. This humanizes him, but simultaneously, viewers are reminded of his immoral actions and destructive status as a murderer. Criss is terrifyingly brilliant as Cunanan because he elicits pity as well as palpable fear.

Cunanan is an unreliable narrator who shifts identities to comfort others. The fictional pursuit of Versace by Cunanan fits within the narrative that these events are his fantasy. There’s no central perspective representing the audience surrogate beyond Cunanan, which attaches pathos to a murderer. This narrative addition adds complexity to an otherwise one-dimensional manipulative character.

Miami Beach is the location of Versace’s murder, and the production design references the youthful nostalgia and cinematic mood of the late ’90s. The setting could have duplicated an aged, antiquated postcard, but here, it looks accessible. Miami Beach serves as an additional character that either nourishes the characters’ health or is despondent when Cunanan responds to his violent urges.

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” hopes to challenge homophobia just as “The People v. O.J. Simpson” offered political commentary on systemic racism, but this critique isn’t all there is to the show. The writing, acting and production design is where the show finds its footing. The writing relies on identifiable bonds between characters but also develops them by showing complicated relationships. This twisting of tropes elevates the series to a detailed character study where positive portrayals of the LGBTQ experience are also visible.

Review: Crime anthology series captures complex characters | The Ithacan

The ‘ACS: Versace’ Finale Sidelined Its Women For A Very Good Reason

Since its premiere The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story has been decidedly different from other shows. It’s a Ryan Murphy series that remains constantly somber and dark, veering away from the campy tone that so often defines the creator. It’s a show that portrayed a serial killer who targeted the gay community not as a sideshow attraction or a punchline but as a psychologically compelling horror story. It’s a show that proudly and directly discussed LGBT discrimination in broad strokes that applied to both Gianni Versace‘s murder by Andrew Cunanan and modern day conversations about discrimination. In many, many ways the Versace season of American Crime Story was revolutionary — but this revolution left very little room for the women of this story. That changed last night with the season’s finale, “Alone.”

It’s worth taking a minute to praise the skill that went into structuring Versace. The first 10 minutes of this crime drama started with the crime that made Cunanan a household name — his murder of legendary designer Gianni Versace. It was the dramatic and celebrity-laden hook that made this story instantly engaging, but after starting with that bang, Versace switched to a controlled burn as it slowly and painstakingly unravelled the lives of the five men Cunanan murdered, as well as Cunanan himself. After this winding narrative back through history, “Alone” snapped back to the moment right after Cunanan committed his most famous murder. This figure who was always defined by who he was, compared to the people around him, is now alone on a houseboat, waiting for his inevitable death. It’s a haunting transition from the confident and dangerous man the show has established Cunanan to be, and it’s also a shift that allows Versace to embrace its chorus of grief-stricken women.

Because of who he was and what he did, Cunanan is again the central focus of this episode, but he shares the spotlight with several personifications of grief; the most notable of which is Judith Light‘s Marilyn Miglin. Caught between relief that her husband’s murderer will finally be captured, and unbridled anger that it’s taken authorities this long, Marilyn’s grief is shown hiding under a deceptively strong-willed and steely exterior. In between her fiery glares and lip quivers, Light shows just how much this loss has wounded her character. Penelope Cruz‘s Donatella Versace has a similar but much more extravagant breakdown. Surrounded by gorgeous fabrics, this once seemingly fearless woman laments the last time she ignored her brother’s call. All season this character has been portrayed as the height of sophistication and wealth, but in this one moment as she sobs, she’s no longer beautiful. She’s in pain because of the man she lost, and no amount of beautiful dresses can bring him back.

Though Light and Cruz undeniably steal the show, there are other flickers of grief from Versace‘s female secondary characters. At one point, Cunanan (Darren Criss) is shown watching a reconstructed interview that actually happened with his longtime best friend, Lizzie (AnnaleighAshford). It’s a small moment, but Lizzie’s reminder that this serial killer was a godfather carries weight. Cunanan had a life and people who genuinely loved him before he became the monster he died as. Though its a far more subtle moment, the wide-eyed Mary Ann Cunanan (Joanna Adler) also gets her moment to mourn the son she used to adore. Shown transfixed to the crime report unfolding in Miami, Mary Ann follows without question when the police ask her to come with them. Regardless of what happens next, she knows her little boy is dead. As horrible as Cunanan’s many crimes were, that revelation hurts.

Ricky Martin‘s Antonio D’Amico also gets a heartfelt moment of mourning in Versace‘s final episode, choosing to take a handful of pills rather than face life without his lover. However, there’s a sort of intentional dullness to Martin’s portrayal of sorrow. He seems so hurt, he’s unable to fully express his pain in any form other than action. Though those actions communicate Antonio’s own personal grief, it’s the tears of the women around him that make “Alone” a distinctly sad episode of television.

In a way, it’s a bit odd that a show as revolutionary as Versace would end on such a typical portrayal of gender. In our society, women are the ones who are allowed to cry and express grief while men are expected to bottle up these particular emotions. Aside from a couple of pointed outbursts from Antonio throughout the season, that’s essentially what happens in Versace. But seeing as how this episode was directed by Daniel Minahan, the director who was responsible for some of this season’s most spectacular episodes including “House by the Lake”, it feels like there’s a very good reason why this show’s emotional climax hinges on breaking down its strong women.

As the show establishes, strong, confident women were always Gianni Versace’s muse. The designer had little patience for fashion empire institutions that took themselves too seriously, instead choosing to embrace models and designs that embraced life. Because of this, ending this powerful story with two of the show’s most powerful women shamelessly expressing grief over the lives they have lost feels like a tribute to Gianni Versace himself. Yes, the final moments of Versace are appropriately tinged with sorrow, but there’s an unexpected ray of happiness lurking beneath them. Though he was cruelly taken away before his time by a mass murderer, the world was lucky to have Gianni Versace while it did. That’s what Versace‘s mourning women partially represent — pain that such wonderful people were taken before their times.

The ‘ACS: Versace’ Finale Sidelined Its Women For A Very Good Reason