Author Archives: Liz Shannon Miller
Liz Tells Frank What Happened In the 1992 Robin Williams Film Toys
Dear Frank,
It’s weird to remember, how much a thing Robin Williams used to be. I mean, for literally DECADES he was huge! His body of work is the furthest thing from consistant — for every sublimely wacky performance like Mrs. Doubtfire there’s an embarrassing flub like Flubber; for every nuanced dramatic moment in Good Will Hunting, there’s the hair-pulling melodrama of What Dreams May Come.
But the man had a brand, and the man knew how to get butts into movie theaters. Can you trace the recent decline of the American box office to the fact that Robin Williams has kinda sat out the last few years? No. No, you cannot. But the fact remains that in 1992, Robin Williams being in a movie was enough to get people to go watch it. Today, not so much.
Frank, here are the important things to know about my attempt to tell you what happens in Toys: Read the rest of this entry
Liz Tells Frank What Happened In MTV’s “Teen Wolf”
Dear Frank,
As you know, there are no depths to my dedication to telling you about stuff. Well, maybe there’s a depth. Speed 2: Cruise Control was pretty bad.
But over the last three months, I have noticed a surprising uptick in the number of people in my sphere discussing the MTV series Teen Wolf — which would normally inspire me to watch it, except that for some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. (I’m trying to catch up on Damages, Frank! I’ve got a lot on my plate.)
Fortunately, one of those aforementioned Teen Wolf fans agreed to hop on IM and talk me through what actually sounds like an intriguing post-Buffy dramedy, with a strong social conscience and frequently shirtless young men. Below is the edited result of my discussion with Megan Westerby. It’s all her fault.
Liz: LET’S TALK ABOUT TEEN WOLF.
Megan: Okay!
Liz: First off, let me say what I know. Which is that Teen Wolf is a show about a teenager who is also a werewolf.
Megan: Well, they did manage to re-use a rather descriptive title. TEEN. WOLF.
Liz: It doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Read the rest of this entry
Liz Tells Frank About The Time She Interviewed Bryan Cranston
Dear Frank,
To the delight of cliche-addicted writing professors everywhere, today’s installment is a is more of a “show” than a “tell.”
In 2010, Frank, I was working full-time as an online video journalist, which meant getting to interview a very odd assortment of folks: Celebrities and CEOs and anyone else deigning to explore the possibilities of new media. It was good fun! I still dabble. And one of those random opportunities ended up being one of the great interview experiences of my life — completely by accident. Read the rest of this entry
Liz Tells Frank What Happened In “What’s Your Number?”
Dear Frank,
Of all the elements of my genetic makeup I most hate, my addiction to romantic comedies might be number one. The lizard part of my brain that responds automatically to pop music montages, snarky best friends and dramatic climaxes where the girl runs down the street to tell the guy she loves that she loves him is not only annoying but time-consuming — I mean, Frank, do you KNOW how long it takes to rewatch all six seasons of Sex and the City mutiple times? (I do. But I’m not telling.)
I could be reading books, Frank! Real books with big words in them! Instead, I watch shit like What’s Your Number.
But in this case, I had real reasons for checking this movie out, aside from appeasing the girly moron within. First off: The film’s premise, which it could be argued is a refreshing twist on the standard romantic comedy plot lines, because it puts front and center the eternal question of how many dudes a lady can sleep with before society deems her a complete ho.
Except the movie basically answers that question…
Aaron Sorkin: The Skip It/Watch It/Stop Watching Guide
Friends and/or faithful readers of this site will know that I have a lot of complicated feelings about Aaron Sorkin, Academy Award-winning screenwriter and bane of my existence. Not because I don’t think he’s talented — I think he’s crazy talented. Not because I don’t love his work — some of the shows he’s created and movies he’s written number among my absolute favorites. But his particular combination of genius, ego and laziness has a way of crawling under my skin, even when I really am trying to give his newest project a chance.
I try to let these feelings go, y’all, but then some lady Sorkin dated writes about how she was used as the basis for the gossip bitch Hope Davis played on The Newsroom and I see something like this:
Liz Tells Frank What Happened In... 