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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 2, 2023     Shelton Mason County Journal
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February 2, 2023
 
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Page 16 Shelton-Mason Journal Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023 Review: Director Rian Johnson tips hat to influences continued from page character as a man, because he’s Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House and Peter Falk as LAPD Lt. Colombo. Their brilliant insights were offset by their rumpled clothes and five-o’clock-shadowed faces, and the many people they managed to infuriate by being impolitic. While House was openly, confrontationally offensive, Columbo passively aggres— sively employed his attempts at manners to irritate his ‘sus- pects into committing distract- ed errors. ‘ Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale ,— the starring charac- ter of the new “Poker Face” streaming series on Peacock, created by “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” writer—director Rian Johnson — qualifies as the same sort of “clever mess” ' as House and Columbo, but she’s also far more transgres- sive, in her own casually unaf- fected way. Whereas a previous genera- tion of self~espoused “femi— nist” storytellers, like Joss Whedon of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” had focused on creat— ing “strong female characters,” recent years have seen gals like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Rachel Bloom make the case, through sitcoms like “Fleabag” and “Crazy Ex—Girlfriend,” that audiences should sympa— thize with female characters even if their personal lives and relationships are disaster zones. Lyonne is well-suited to carry this standard forward in Johnson’s “Poker Face.” Her face is a young enough 40 to retain hints of her teen years (she’s 43 in real life), but her raspy honk of a voice re- calls the chain-smoking Selma Diamond as the original old lady bailiff on “Night Court,” back in the early ’80s. Lyonne’s character, Char- lie, is an unhygienic slob who lives in destitute conditions even before a catastrophic misstep against a terrifyineg powerful person forces her to go off the grid and live out of her car, forever heading down the highway, like if Bill Bixby’s Dr. David Banner didn’t need to hitchhike to his next destination in “The In- credible Hulk.” Charlie’s sole exceptional talent is her ability to tell whether anyone’s direct state- ments are true or false, but she’s frequently determined and resourceful enough to piece together the rest of the facts of a given situation after that. We’re told that, for a while, Charlie’s talent earned her a comfortable living through low-stakes card games, since she was smart enough to want to avoid attention, but too aimless to succeed at stay- ing off the radar of people ENTER in wiNAr THE HEAD-thorns, COMPETITION PRESENTED 3': 34% I’m,“ ©Ltwmm. “8%” powerful enough to eventually get her banned from gambling places. What makes Charlie most fascinating is how fallible the narrative allows her to be, not only when it comes to common-sense considerations — in spite of her flawless abil— ity to spot an intentional lie, Charlie is remarkably bad at reading people’s true natures otherwise — but also morally. / In the pilot episode of “Poker Face,” we see Charlie railing on social media against the larger injustices of the world, but when faced with two competing evils, she’s willing to cut a deal with the greater evil, simply because the lesser evil was responsible for the death of someone she was close to. This is not a criticism of the show, because it’s both shock- ing and refreshing to have a murder-mystery show be hon- est about its protagonist being motivated not by the grand desire to see broader justicee, ~ but by the need to settle scores against those who have hurt her and those she cares about. What’s most compelling about “Poker Face” is that like “Columbo,” it has the confi- dence to allow Charlie to be the least interesting character in her own show. As with “Columbo,” the opening of each episode is de- voted to ourguest murderers and victims, but they exist in Ignaz: GRAB THAT ‘ from your wall. garage or attic and bring it to me Washington Spmsmen's Show at the Washington State Fair Events Center. Official Record Book scorers will ineasure it and prizes ‘will be awarded. YOU COULD WIN GREAT PRIZES . inducing a brand new Fort Knox Spartan Sale Model 6041. Valuable prizes an; awarded and provided by Blodr 73 u, Dormer, Hm Knox, Berber. lasso, meoid, Muzzy, Rage, Rocky Mountain Elk foundalian and Savage. TROPHY EATEGDRIES= Black Bear - Mule Deer (Typical Nonlypical) - Blacktail Deer (Typical 8r Non—Typical) - Whitem Deer (Typical Non-Typical) 0 Mt Goat - Rocky Mt. Elk (Typical Mon-Typical) 0 Roosevelt Elk (Typical Non-Typical) Pronghorn Cougar 0 Bighorn Sheep Moose a high-tech yet low-rent world where the fashions, music and other aesthetics are straight out of the 1970s, even as the internet access, smartphones, streaming media, online file- sharing, and digital audiovi- sual recording and playback equipment are all state-of- the-art, regardless of how iso- lated the rural locales are that Charlie finds herself in. Johnson tips his hat to his influences by recreating what appear to be the exact same title sequence fonts as the original “Columbo,” then goes one better by following much the same nonsequential storytelling formula as “Knives Out”-and “Glass On- ion,” flashing back to reveal how Charlie was already in- volved in each episode’s story, but simply operating outside the focus of those episodes’ openings. , Because of Charlie’s need to earn quick cash with no strings attached, she winds up working at a number of entry- level positions that few people pay attention to, which allows her to see what each episode’s murderers seek to conceal from those whom they’re actu- ally worried about. Whereas “Columbo” often made the mind games be- tween its disheveled detective and his affluent suspects into coded commentaries on class, the three episodes of “Poker Face” after its pilot have pitted the vagabond Charlie against a succession of equally desperate graspers with all— too-modest dreams, from auto shop mechanics and barbecue chefs, to has—been metal bands ‘ looking to make unlikely comebacks. Charlie retains her under- dog status against such work- ing-class foes not only by not being a cop, but also because she’s hiding out from the law herself, and all it takes is for herto withdraw some money from an ATM, or get caught on camera in a viral Video, for her ill-intentioned pursuers to ar- rive at her location four hours. later. . With Charlie’s demon- strated lack of long-term plan- ning skills, I have no idea how “Poker Face” will sustain that chase in a world that’s much smaller than when the‘ protagonists of “The Fugitive” or “The A—Team” eluded the authorities; What I do expect is that Johnson, a filmmaker who ex- “ cels at unexpected and satisfy- ing conclusions, will continue to employ episode writers who share this strong suit, because in 2023, the twist ending of a murder-mystery episode hinged on a passing familiarity with the 1980s sit- com “Benson,” }and no, I’m not spoiling anything with that reveal, because I guarantee you still won’t figure out how that episode ends. ,Shelbie ‘ Kitten Rescue We have many sweet and loving adult and young cats available for adoption, ready to bring love and joy into your life! Indoor only and a warm lap to sit on are ours and the kitties’ only request. Shelbie is a sweet kitty who loves to play, run around, and explore. if you move slowly while approaching her, she can be patted. She is looking for a furrever home with a fam- ily who will continue to work with her and bring her out of her shell. an 32 OFF For more information, please go to our website at or call us at (360) 427-3167. ‘ ' nmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmm adieu-lies. visit thesportshows.com Thank you Shelton for voting us #1 Septic Service SIX y’ars in a row! And thank you Belfalr for votlng us r “*1 Septic Service FOUR years in a rowl w We are proud to be a part , of this community! H We have created a . low-stress, healthy environment ’ with sofl‘lighiing, music, a regular . exercise program, and frequent, ' individualized oh‘eniion. We treat every pel wilh affection, respect, and kindness. I Joar ‘ I oooo¢é¢¢ooooooooooooiQOoooo gas/AA; 1E1 or: 360-42?.61 an ' ORTABLE TOILET RENTAlS SEWAINWNANC ‘ inmaamn -- WNW mmmwum: “4‘9”an Wm murm.ma¢mmnmmekma (360) 426-3052 270 SE Spring Place Shelton, Washington 98584 Email: sylvan@hctc.com