KWIF: Creed III (+6)

It's been exceptionally difficult to keep up on everything there is to keep up on, both as a consumer and as someone who likes to prattle on about the things he consumes.  So Kent's Week in Film is this: each week (or so) I have a spotlight movie which I write a longer thinky piece about, and then whatever else I watched that week I do a quick little summary of my thoughts. Capice? It's a busy week (with a few stragglers from last week), so let's get it happenin'...

Kent Week In Film #7:
Creed III (2023), d. Michael B. Jordan - in theatre
Rocky V (1990), d. John G. Avildsen - Crave
Luther: The Fallen Son (2023), d.  - Netflix
Mackenna's Gold (1969), d. J. Lee Thompson - Silver Screen Classics
Royal Warriors (1986), d.  David Chung - Criterion Channel
Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022), d. George Miller - AmazonPrime
Sunshine (2007), d. Danny Boyle - Disney+

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Creed III presents a story that wrestles with the concept of whether violence is ever the answer and seems to come out on the side of, "yeah, sometimes it is". It could have been terribly hokey in how it got to that answer, but for Adonis "Donnie" Creed (Michael B. Jordan, Fant4stic), it's about speaking to his old friend, now rival, Damian (Jonathan Majors, Devotion) in the language he understands.

A secondary, but probably better handled aspect of the film, is the failure to communicate. Whether it's regret for not staying in contact with someone, or for not conveying one's emotions, or talking about one's past, there's a lot going unsaid, and there's a damaging impact to it. Communication is key here, doubly emphasized by the appreciably ample amount of ASL used in the film. Even with multiple modes of communication, it doesn't always mean Donnie is saying what needs to be said to the people in his life.

Bianca (Tessa Thompson, Westworld) losing her hearing in the first film, the worries about their child being born deaf in the second, and Amara being a not-inconsequential part of Donnie's life in this third...these are things this series didn't have to do. It's representation that doesn't have anything to do with boxing, but this series has been committed to it, and doing so without exploitation. It's just the world these people live in and I have huge respect for that.

The draw of course is seeing two of the world's most attractive men punch each other in their beautiful, beautiful faces, and it certainly delivers on that. Jordan's first directorial effort is suitably strong, with a lot of attention paid to the fight choreography. Having just binged the first four Rocky movies for the first time, and also been quite a fan of this spin-off franchise, I'd dare say this is the best fighting of the series (though nothing tops Coogler's one shot in the first Creed).  Jordan has cited anime as his inspiration for the fight sequences and he certainly captured the dynamic and dramatic visual style of the genre in live-action form.

With more than just a performance on the line Jordan's commitment here is total, putting everything into it. Majors, for his part, is fantastic, given what he's asked to do: sympathetic with a percolating seed of menace that perhaps erupts too abruptly, but Jordan as director and Majors as performer always make sure we know where Damian's mindset is at that time. He's really not hiding anything, which points to Major's incredible ability to speak text and convey subtext.

There's only a brief mention of Rocky Balboa, but not as Donnie's mentor or coach, rather it's in the context of giving an underdog, re: Damian, a shot, a callback. This film lets Adonis Creed be the star of his series without the shadow of Rocky or even Apollo loom over him. Donnie has proven himself, but also needs to learn that he truly earned what he has, it wasn't just handed to him.

I also appreciate the series using elements common to the Rocky series and equally subverting them. Donnie retiring, only to come back for a bout he has to take on is a standard. But Donnie is also the better, more devoted father and family man than Rocky, for whom fighting seemed to always come first. Donnie's relationship with Bianca is a highlight in this series, where the Rocky/Adrian relationship peaked halfway through the first film, and went steadily downhill into afterthought territory thereafter. Bianca is never gnashing her teeth or watching disapprovingly, or even exceptionally worried...she trusts her man to do his job, as he supports her equally in hers.

It's not an exceptionally deep film, but it is thoughtful and considerate, it's quite entertaining, it looks great (chalk me up as an appreciator of Jordan's third act stylistic flourishes) and it's cohesive with the series. Hard not to like, and I do. A lot.

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I recently did a heavy dive into the first four Rocky movies for the first time, (even watching both the original cut as well as the 2021 Stallone re-edit of Rocky IV), and was surprised to find a more complex series with a richer cast of characters than I had ever thought (since I largely dismissed the series as cheap jingoism and silly thrills).  Where the first two Rocky films are largely straight-up dramas, the third tries to turn the hero and the story into muscle-bound heroic warrior fare, where the fourth both dials back how kiddie-friendly it is, but dials up the "rah rah, 'Merica" spectacle to 11, before giving Rocky a congenial out. In Stallone's re-edit of Rocky IV, he really tries to bring back the character of Rocky that went missing in Rocky III.  In Rocky V, written but not directed by Stallone, slow, mumbling Rocky is back in full force.

The film begins with Rocky having retired from boxing (yet again), with the threat of irreparable damage should he continue to fight (yet again). Oh, and he's broke, again. The first act of this movie is complete feels-like-we've-been-here-before vibes (and we have, in Rocky II). So instead of fighting ol' Rock embraces his family, spending time with Adrian and Robert and hanging out at the gym, where he reminisces about ol' Mick in faked "cut scenes" from prior movies introducing a new and integral-to-this-movie hand-me-down good luck charm. 

Rocky agrees to manage/train a new dumb kid from Oklahoma (get this, his name is Tommy Gunn) who soon supplants Robert (and Adrian, and Paulie) as his number one guy, especially since Rocky lives vicariously through him and his fights. But there's an unscrupulous fight promoter of Don King's ilk (but let's be clear for legal reasons, not Don King) who is keen to get Rocky to fight again and thus steals Rocky's overeager golden boy, which wounds Rocky greatly. So Rocky starts spending time with his family again, until Tommy for some reason challenges Rocky to a street fight which is some weak-ass-shit for the climax of a boxing movie. And wouldn't bare-knuckle, no-rules brawling be even more dangerous for Rocky's medical condition?

Anyway, this one's a pretty weak entry to the series. It's got all the drama, tension and flair of a made-for-TV movie of the era, and feels like the budget to match. It doesn't look great. It's got a pretty enjoyable generic 90's rap soundtrack, though.

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I would say that both Toast and Kent are fans of Luther (or "Loofah"), the very dark and pulpy Idris Elba detective series that's been running on and off for over a dozen years now (Season 1-3, Kent, Toast | Season 4, Toast). The show has killed off any number of partners (both at work and at play) that John Luther has had in their very harrowing four series, so the cast that needs to be carried into the film is incredibly small...basically just Luther and his boss/friend/enabler DSU Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley).  The hook of Luther is that he's an incredibly effective detective who can read a crime scene and the perpetrator's psych profile pretty instantaneously. He's a highly intuitive guy.  But also, he's a bit of a corrupt cop, circumventing the law many times over to ensure justice (of some form or another) is served, while also, at times, taking a bit for himself.

The new Luther movie, The Fallen Son, does as the rest of the series fondly does, which is present a series of murders that are viscerally and conceptually disturbing. The makers of this show really want you to squirm thinking about how sick these murders are. These are also never "whodunnits" either, the murderers tend to be major characters in each "season" too, the show creators really want you to know how gross or perverted or disturbed these individuals are, and it's always effective in creating a sense of urgency for Luther to solve the case. Of course, some aspects of John's shady past always gets in the way of his crime solving, as is the case here, where the shrew, conniving, long-game murderer (played by Andy Serkis) airs Luther's dirty laundry in public to the point of having him thrown off the case, arrested and sent to jail.

The film then requires Luther to get out of jail, elude the police and figure out the murder's plot, and it works well, to a point.  As a film, it doesn't do enough to introduce you to Luther, it basically expects you know who this guy is. It doesn't let you come in cold very well.  Besides that, the film is a pretty engaging thriller, with some shocks and unexpected twists. It's a marginally bigger budget Luther production, with some traveling expenses, so it winds up in the third act in Norway, but for what is less a horrifying setpiece, but rather a kind of silly one (I find "dark web" plots have kind of been spoiled by Letterkenny).  Overall, agreeably enjoyable and with an end sequence that may just allow Idris Elba to be a secret agent (though not James Bond) afterall. Sure, more please.

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Sometimes I just leave the TV on in the background and stuff pops up that catches my attention for a while. More often than not it's a documentary, but every now and again it's an old film that confuses or surprises me in some way. Mckenna's Gold was the latter. I did not see the beginning 20 minutes or so of the film, but I quickly caught onto the gist of it. Gregory Peck has has a lead on some gold, and Omar Sharif is a bandit who holds a European beauty hostage to force him into taking him to it. The bandit also has a pair of Apache mercenary guides along with him (played by white people of course, including Catwoman Julie Newmar).

It's always difficult to for me to enjoy these types of movies with white people playing Native American, or where tribes are very coarsely presented as basically an environmental adversary. There's no sensitivity to the portrayals here, and perhaps its my own ignorance of history that makes me distrust anything Hollywood of this era wants to present with respect to Indigenous culture. Here Newmar plays a "crazy" Apache who tries to sexually molest Gregory Peck at every turn and murder any romantic rivals. There's an extended underwater nude scene that caught my attention, less because it was titillating (it wasn't), but more for its confusing, abrupt edits (and also the shock of nudity in a western of this era...also note that Peck is FULLY clothed in the water in these scenes).

I don't think anyone ever expects a western to be a special effects extravaganza, but that's kind of what it becomes unexpectedly in its third act. It looks pretty cool, like a pre-Irwin Allen disaster film, with lots of camera trickery and miniatures. I liked it all quite a bit, but I'm a sucker for ambitious, competent practical effects. Omar Sharif is the scene stealer here. Telly Savalas is a great bad guy as always. Peck's performance is pretty reserved and non-committal, and paired with a sleepy Camilla Sparv, they make for an uninteresting on-screen couple. Can't recommend it because of the racist crap, but a fascinating Sunday afternoon watch.

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Royal Warriors gets all of 40 seconds in before Michelle Yeoh starts kicking ass and then seemingly doesn't stop the ass kicking for a half hour. The first fight sequence is incidental (but great), the second is the inciting factor for the whole film, which is like a reverese revenege-a-matic, where it's the bad guys out to get revenge on the good guys for killing their friends (and it's great). This film is wild. The fight choreography is top notch, creative and glorious to watch. The early fight on the plane leads to a sequence I've only ever seen one other place (Alien Resurrection).

The first act ends with an absolutely shocking moment I was not prepared for.

The second act gets going with an absolutely insane set piece in the most gloriously 80's neon-and-glass filled two-story bar that you just know is going to get smashed all to shit, and boy is it satisfying when it does...completely. I was seriously impressed that they seemed to get every last bit of glass shattered. 

The second act ends with another gobsmack of a moment that, again, I just wasn't prepared for. The third act gets quite silly, but in a deliriously enjoyable '80's way.

The characters in this movie have personality, but that's about it. There's not much going on with them beneath the surface. and our ostensible hero, Yeoh, is probably the least developed of the main cast.  But this is next-level '80's action that I cannot believe isn't talked about next to the greats of the era. It's so well done, so bonkers, I want to watch it again and again.

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Yeah, I like Idris Elba. I also like Tilda Swinton. And I guess I like George Miller too. But I don't like these three blindly. Bad reviews kept me away from seeing this in the theatre. Good reviews kept it on my radar for when it would inevitably reach streaming.  That time is now.

Swinton plays a woman who has devoted her life to stories, such that she leads a rather solitary existence, one which leaves her content, but perhaps not fulfilled.  A chance acquisition in Instanbul finds a Djinn (Elba) in a bottle who proceeds to offer her three wishes, and the ground rules of what he can and cannot accomplish. But, Swinton being a scholarly woman, is more than aware of the warnings fables about Djinn and genies present.  She will not callously wish, but the Djinn proceeds, through telling his own stories of his three prior mistresses, why she must, lest what might tragically become of him should she not.

The first story is highly fantastical, and each subsequent becomes more grounded in something recognizable. The stories are bizarre but captivating, and for Swinton, rapturous. They are foremost full of love, betrayal, and heartbreak, and, in the end, always hope. Elba's Djinn is not an impish or mischievous sort, and he seems to earnestly be angling for Swinton's trust, effectively conveying how in her debt he is.

This is a vibrant (gads, the colours!), luscious, ornate production that may just be too unusual for the masses, but in a world where Everything Everywhere All At Once is both a commercial smash hit and Oscar best picture, it shouldn't be that far off.  I loved it, though. I found it sweet and delightful, the visual acuity so very, very satisfying, like a rich decadent dessert.

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I saw Sunshine when it debuted in 2007, but remember very little save for my feelings of disappointment. Why was I disappointed? Those thoughts are lost in an old blog, scattered into the digital winds, but if I had to guess, it was probably that I wanted something more adventurous out it.

In revisiting it 15+ years later, I feel the Alex Garland of it all. I loved the slow, atmospheric, heady sci-fi of Devs and, in many ways this feels like a precursor to it. I feel like the tone (and tones, both visual and audio) of Sunshine were adopted by Garland's work on Devs. I have to wonder how much time Garland spent with the production of Sunshine, and how much of the crew he's carried over from his various works with Boyle.

I've become rather enamored with "slow sci-fi" in recent years, in a way I certainly wasn't in 2007. From the first few seconds of this rewatch I was in. It's a gorgeous movie with a stacked cast of (suitably) not-yet-stars (most would come to shine brighter in the future): Cilian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Mark Strong, Benedict Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada and Cliff Curtis. But it very slowly loses me as it goes along, though never completely lets me go.

If anything, I think I want this movie to be even slower than it is. It starts to enter peril fatigue midway through it's third act, and the final 5-8 minutes seem, frankly, unnecessary. I think it's meant to be a hopeful movie, but after two acts of relentless bleakness and bad news, it's really hard for that maudlin final scene on Earth to feel as uplifting and triumphant as I think it was meant to.

I love Underworld a massive amount, and their score is really great, but the song that kicks off the credits is not one of their best, and it's tonally ill-suited for closing out the production. And the clipshow running over the credits is a bizarre choice.

 

 

10 for 10: TV Ketchup

[10 for 10, that's 10 tv shows which we give ourselves 10 minutes apiece to write about.  Part of our problem is we don't often have the spare hour or two to give to writing a big long review for every movie or TV show we watch.  How about a 10-minute non-review full of half-remembered scattershot thoughts? Surely that's doable? ]

In this edition:

1. Supergirl Season 4

2. His Dark Materials Season 1 (HBO)

3. Locke & Key Season 1 (Netflix)

4. Titans Season 2 (Netflix)
5. Avenue 5 Season 1 (HBO)
6. Queen Sono Season 1 (Netflix)

7. The Last Dance (Netflix)

8. SNL at Home (NBC)

9.Star Wars: Clone Wars Season 7 (Disney+)

10. Shrill S2 (Crave)

aaaaallonz-y

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The DC-CW shows (colloquially referred to as "The Arrowverse" because Arrow was the launching point for all of it) have become... how best to say... cumbersome I think.  There's a lot of them with more on the way, each with differing season lengths, but most of them running longer than necessary.  With the end of Arrow, I've felt exhausted with the majority of them.  Short dips back into the Flash continue to be more aggravating than enjoyable; Legends of Tomorrow has gone on a non-superhero path I don't really love (though it does have a great tone and fun stuff); Batwoman I fell off of early and haven't been able to get back on; and Black Lightning I tend to leave for summer binging on Netflix.  Which leaves Supergirl.

Supergirl is the show I watch with my daughter but she's become a binge watcher and doesn't like to wait, so I had to find time to set aside so we could catch up.  As I write this, Season 5 is just shy of its finale, withheld because of COVID-19, but we only just caught up on Season 4.  We got a few episodes in when they originally aired and then were sidetracked for, like, a year.  It wasn't anything to do with quality or content, as I think Season 4 may be the best yet for the show.

The season features a very heady anti-immigration storyline, where an angry and xenophobic professor starts up both a street gang under the guise of Agent Liberty, and later becomes a right-wing mouthpiece talk show host, followed by a political opportunity under Bruce Boxleitner's equally xenophobic presidency (ripped from the headlines!).  The show handles this subject matter tremendously well.  It's upsetting the level of manipulation and lies that anti-immigration mouthpieces perpetrate, but the show makes it clear that the root their hatred is actually better recognized as fear. 

Meanwhile at the DEO, Alex and Kara have to deal with their new boss, a woman who is so buttoned down as to be impossible to read or guess her motivations or actions.  She's very much a duty-over-dignity, follow-chain-of-command type, even when it disagrees with her.  She expects the same of her subordinates.  It creates a lot of meaty conflict for the team to work through.  Especially when your commander-in-chief is obviously in the wrong, do you follow your conscience or your sworn duty.

The season careens into left field in the final third as they deal with the Russian copy of Supergirl created during the "Elseworlds" crossover, and Lex Luthor enters the fray.  I don't think anyone thought Jon Cryer would make for a good Luthor, turns out we were all wrong.  He, dare I say it, may be the best live action Lex of all time.  He's absolutely phenomenal, and even showing he's been pulling the strings of almost everything all season still doesn't satisfy the fact that there are so many xenophobes still calling for aliens to go home and ready for violence against them, but it just shuts down their most prominent propagators.  It's definitely a subject Supergirl can't just muscle her way through.

[12:20]

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I initially gave up on His Dark Materials after two episodes.  It was plodding and kind of boring.  I didn't understand the rules of the world or the intent of what I was being shown.  The book series by Philip Pullman has a very good reputation but the Daniel Craig/Nicole Kidman film was panned both by critics and fans of the series, and this HBO series was supposed to get it right.  If this dull intro was getting it right, I wasn't sure I could stay in.  I thought better to wait for the series to complete, so I could binge it, rather than try to follow week to week.

It took its time, but I suppose it did do justice to the source.  I've never read the books, but just past the halfway point, the series took on incredible weight, and what seemed like misguided kiddie fare turned into a deeply disturbing, dark roam through alternate realities.  I'm not sure how to get to where they did by the end, showing all the crushing disappointments and disasters in Lyra's life, without first taking her through the early journey, as tedious as it was.

I still don't fully understand some of the fantastical structures of the world (namely the sort of spirit animals everyone has, things the book likely clarifies outright), but the religious authoritarianism, and the callous disregard for life and well-being in their pursuit of suppressing thought and exploration of heretical ideas is literally bone-chilling.  This isn't Harry Potter-style high-adventure magic, it's a deeply tragic world that's devoid of really any humour and it's only Lyra's perseverance through the darkness that sheds any light.  The young cast is really great, and of course Ruth Wilson is always compelling to watch.

What I find most curious is, in the midst of world building this entire other reality, the story also introduces a character in "our" reality, an Earth more familiar to us, and another character who has found the soft spots that bridge the two.  The title sequence, hoping for - but not quite reaching- Game of Thrones highs, folds over with the idea of layers of realities, which seems to indicate that there's a multiverse happening, and that as much as anything leaves me intrigued.

It's definitely a slow, slow start, but the latter half makes for an enthralling journey overall.  It feels like there's a snowball effect at play and it's just going to get bigger and bigger from here.

[Turns out, I already reviewed the show, albeit only after three episodes]

[21:21]

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The complete 6 volumes of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez Locke & Key had been sitting on my bookshelf for years, left unread by me, for no other reason than I have too many things sitting on the shelf to read with more usually coming every week.  There was a false start to adapting the series to network television a few years ago but thanks to Netflix it found a new life.  In anticipation of its release I binged, and binged hard the six volumes, finding a bit of a messy narrative but otherwise engrossing story full of weirdness and cleverness.

It's the story of the Locke family who, after the tragic murder of the family patriarch, move back to the  familial home in Massachusettes (?).  The matriarch and three kids are each in their own way experiencing PTSD fallout from the murder, and the weirdness of the family home (and some of the people in the town) are potentially just distorted images as a result. But the youngest, Bode, his imagination the most liberated, finds the strange keys around the house and their really absurd uses.  One unlocks a door that, when stepped through, turns that person into a spirit.  Another unlocks the mind, presenting a doorway that others can step into to look around.  Another still opens a cabinet that can repair anything to its original state.  And one even will open a doorway to anywhere.  The keys have powers, large and small, and there is a malevolent force in the wellhouse that wants them all.

The graphic novel series paints a history for the keys that leads into the reveal of their true origin and purpose.  The TV show does also, but has a much more difficult time negotiating the past and present, really not developing the history well at all. 

As well, the show seems to have difficulty with tone.  Where the comic book flirted with elements of adventure and horror, name checking both Lovecraft and Richard Matheson, the TV show doesn't really angle for any specific pastiche.  It just kind of happens.  It seems to lack guidance and concrete direction.  It progresses through the story but without any style or enthusiasm.  Its versions of the characters, like Tyler, Kinsey and Nina are all stripped down from the complexity of their comic book counterparts.  The graphic novel makes an attempt at exploring race issues (to muddled, potentially wrong-headed results), looks at depression, and alcoholism, where as the show pretty much avoids any difficult subjects.

It's not a very complex or challenging show, and actually not anywhere near as fun as it should be.  It wasn't uninteresting but I think reading the comics first made it harder to accept the choices the show made, even if they did make some improvements here and there.

[34:07]

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Titans airs in the US on a streaming service called DC Universe, which gives its audience access to thousands of digital comics, and much of its back catalog of movies, cartoons and TV shows.  The big draw, however is its original programming - Titans, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, Young Justice and Swamp Thing all debuting on the service.  The rest of the world does not have DC Universe available to them so we have to hunt out our own sources for these shows, with Titans being the most accessible via Netflix.  However, Netflix only airs Titans after its seasons are complete on DC Universe, which means there is plenty of reviews and reactions to try and skip past online while we wait.

One of the things I noticed, though, was that week-to-week there seemed to be a lot of frustration with season 2 of show, and it's understandable.  It builds an over-arching narrative but it jumps and diverts to different characters and puts focus on side stories while leaving cliffhangers unresolved for an episode or two at a time.  On a week to week basis I can totally see this being aggravating, but in a binge situation, it's not even a thing.  In fact one of the biggest side diversions, a whole episode introducing Superboy to the program 9while we wait to see the resolution of Jason Todd's fall off a skyscraper rooftop from the end of the previous episode), is easily the series' best.

The show starts off Season 2 needing to resolve the Trigon/Rachel's Dad situation from season 1.  What seemed to perhaps be building to a new story arc is instead kind of haphazardly disposed of making for an inauspicious start to the new season.  But from there it just kind of crackles with energy and then keeps going, as it introduces new players (like Superboy, Deathstroke, and Rose Wilson), advances the storylines of older players and, more than anything, feels kind of like classic Wolfman-Perez soap-opera Titans of the 80's, but with a bit of (some might say unfortunate) Zack Snyder edge to it.   But the "fuck Batman" grit that misguided its first season is basically gone, and instead it really goes into its teen sidekick trauma, and the family that forms out of it.

We get so much, it's a loaded season, mostly centered around being unable to let go of the past, or forgive one's self for past sins, or escaping one's history.  This includes Bruce Wayne (played by Game of Thrones Iain Glen) helping Dick Grayson to resolve the issues that caused him to quit being Robin, steeling him to lead a new team; Starfire facing ghosts from her home; Hawk and Dove unable to escape from "the life"; and Jason Todd unable to escape the shadow of his own reputation.  The show gets so much right, that what it actually gets wrong makes it all the more glaring.  It's still trying too hard to be edgy with its swearing, and there's a bit too much moping about by superheroes (mopey superheroes are the worst *cough*The Flash*cough*) but it seems to slowly be crawling out of the darkness it started out in.  Despite a tragedy the conclusion leaves the promise that maybe bigger, brighter adventures are ahead next season.

[50:29]

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Avenue 5 was a straight-up recommendation from Toast, and one I was grateful for.  I hadn't bothered to watch Veep but I did see Armando Iannucci's Death of Stalin (review sadly lost to the dark year), which was hilarious and right in my humour wheelhouse, full of clever wordplay, the sly back-biting between horrible but not unlikeable people, and grounded absurdism. 

Taking place on a galactic cruise ship, Avenue 5 has all those Iannucci trademarks that made Veep so popular (I'm guessing), but placed in a satirical future setting.  The problems on Earth are only hinted at and get shut out as the troubles on board the starcruiser become myopic.

It's been a long time since I've seen a good comedy of errors, one that manages to build in surprising and unexpected ways.  As one disaster after another occurs, the crew and guests aboard become embroiled in personality politics.  The disasters themselves range from massive to minor but it's the fallout from those that generates the intrigue and comedy.  Some disasters have silver linings, but sometimes silver linings can reflect deadly rays.  I love the character building here, and how all the characters slowly lose any pretense or artificial edifice they may have had.

Everyone is good in this, yes, even Josh Gad.  Hugh Laurie manages to escape the grizzled doctor drama and worm his way back into his comedy origins with the role as "Captain" of the ship, a role that allows him to mock his own fake American accent and grizzled persona.

Underneath the absurdity is a show that is examining class structures and how they affect modern politics.  As well it looks at the mindset of people that distrust the people in power, that perhaps is justified but which also mistakenly leads them to distrust experts in science and technology to their own detriment.  But it never hits you on the head with its commentary, it's just ugly and representational of modern times...and also funny.  The show is also not above a galactic-class poop joke.

It's certainly got its own unique tone and rhythm so I get why it hasn't caught on bigger, but it's pretty great, ridiculous fun.  Oh, and the soundtrack by Adem Ilhem is astounding, intoning horror at some of its biggest points of comedy.  It's very deftly handled.

[1:06:31]

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You had me at South African spy.  Queen Sono follows the titular character, the daughter of a legendary revolutionary murdered when she was a child,  who has since become a top operative for the country's Special Operations Group.  She's super competent but also a little overconfident which makes her a little sloppy, and perhaps she's even a little suicidal.  Her best friend from childhood is a psychologist so she gets him to sign off on her psych evals even though something is clearly wrong.

The show works through Queen's history, her family, her trauma, but she tries to avoid working through any of it, and avoiding it seems to be causing her some serious harm.  As she starts to look deeper into her past while working on a case investigating a militant liberation group that uses her mother's name and visage as its rallying point, she starts to see inconsistencies in the story she's been told about her mother's death, lies that lead back to her own employers.

There's a tremendous character story with Queen Sono, but also its central adversarial story leads to a lot of intrigue that affects Queen and her supporting cast in different ways.  As well the story leads to some insight with South African politics and sub-saharan relations, as well as continental relations with particularly European interests.  It's not something I've been exposed much to, and with Netflix's backing it's a story told with quality production values.  Beyond that, the characters and situations have complexity, shades of grey that cause some debate as to what's really bad, and what other alternatives are there.

There are a couple drawbacks, mainly when the show tries to get invested in side stories of certain secondary characters, it's not handled very cleanly, often feeling forced and unnatural (Frederique's search for his missing sister always feels jammed in).  The other is it's very brief six-episode run leaves the viewer wholly unfulfilled as most of the balls juggled remain in the air.

The biggest revelation is Pearl Thusi who plays Queen.  She's damn charismatic, utterly captivating, fierce, intimidating and gorgeous.  Not that playing a super-spy is small potatoes, but she needs to be in a big profile superhero film, like, now. 

[1:17:30]

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I flirted with watching basketball in high school.  I don't know if it was to fit in, or if it was out of genuine curiosity.  Lord knows I had no interest in playing it, and generally I avoided televised sports because of its lack of special effects.  But I was into hip hop, and hip hop was so integrated with basketball you couldn't see a music video without an NBA jersey, and then in '93 Shaquille O'Neal started rapping with the Fu-Shnickens (a group I really liked at the time).  Michael Jordan was everywhere, and the 92 dream team was just the most high-wattage sports star power of all time, it was hard not to be caught up in it all.

So yeah, I watched and even lived a little basketball throughout the 90's.  Not deep, deep into it, but I watched some regular season games, some playoff games, and most of the finals throughout the decade...I was still an outsider though, not fully invested.  I believed the hype, the unstoppable Bulls, the unconquerable Jordan, and I so desperately wanted the underdogs, pretty much any other team, to beat them.

The Last Dance follows Jordan and the Bulls through their 97-98 season in which they would go on to win their sixth championship in 8 years, and their second three-peat, an unheard of achievement in the history of the sport.  But in telling that story, mired with intrigue and furor internally and externally, the docu-series intercuts telling the history of its key players - Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson, Denis Rodman - and taking a hard profile look at each of the championship years (as well as the tumultuous two years between while Jordan was "retired".

It's a fascinating documentary, well told, despite the confusing leaping back-and-forth between 97-98 and all other periods.  In its efforts to concentrate narratives on specific players and time periods it has to tell the overall story out of sequence which leads to more than a bit of fuzziness in how it's all connected and how it all played out.  But I was rapt the whole time watching it.  We binged the first 6 rapidly then had to wait a week for two more and another week for the final two parts.  It's not like there was any question that the Bulls would win their 6th's championship, but it's the unparalleled insight into the team and its players, both from outside perspectives and from their own recollections.

Produced by Jordan, he had a hand in dispelling his own myth with this series.  He's a man of preternatural talent in the game, with unparalleled ambition and drive and that led him to be a very dominant and domineering force on the court and behind the scenes.  The astounding rise of his celebrity impacted everything around him and he had to accommodate for that.  As such he seemed distant from his teammates instead preferring the company of his security team.  He never talks about his family and we only meet his kids briefly in the final episodes as young adults.  A much as the series reveals about him, there's still a lot of mystery there.  But despite popping the bubble of his smiling, Looney Tunes-playing, Coke-shilling facade, he's still an endlessly captivating person.

[1:35:15]

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Saturday Night Live operates in waves, talent comes in, talent blows up, talent gets lazy, talent leaves.  It's rare for the show to go from megawatt talent to megawatt talent without some waning in-between.  At this stage in its run, the current cast is largely long-in-the-tooth, most having been on board for more than 5 years, and the new talent, while good, are certainly not blowing up the spotlight.  The biggest buzz the show has these days is the Alec Baldwin impersonation of Trump (and the many many guest stars who come on as Trump cronies or adversaries like Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller, or John Goodman), which unfortunately casts too much of a shadow over the main cast.  I struggle remembering faces and names at times, while of course Kate McKinnon has broken out as its current cast superstar, she's failed to transition that into successful other media as of yet.

What's kind of critical to Saturday Night Live is both it airing on Saturday night, and it being live from New York, in front of a studio audience.  Following the dire spread of COVID-19 in NYC and shutting the city down, SNL couldn't verily proceed as scheduled, could it?   I think we were all expecting SNL to just call it a season.  But they did perhaps the most daring thing they could do, which was let their talent be as creative as possible given the restrictions, and put together a show that was not broadcast live, nor recorded on a Saturday Night.

Veterans McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong and new recruit Chloe Fineman easily shined, and seemed to garner more individual time than any of their co-stars, producing skits that seemed deeply personal (or in Fineman's case, as impressive show reel for the breadth of her talent). 

Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, and Kristen Wiig were "hosts" of the three SNL at home episodes, but beyond introducing the show with a monologue and closing out the show Hanks (still recovering from his coronavirus infection) didn't do much.  Pitt portrayed Anthony Fauchi in an opening sketch, and Wiig managed to participate in a sketch or two, delivering perhaps my favourite sketch of all - Beauty Waves (in which she plays a beauty youtuber facing downward into a phone camera, flopping her hair about to increasingly absurd effect).  Oh, we also got a "What's Up With That" which is my all-time favourite recurring sketch, maybe even just for Jason Sudekis' dancing

Weekend update was the best its first week, with both Colin Jost and Michael Che seeming very loose and a little goofy.  Che piped in a small group into the feed as an "audience" to hilarious results.  Subsequent weeks got more produced and polished which takes away from the charm.  Che works best rolling with punches, not buttoned down (and losing his grandmother permitted him a great dunk on Jost).  Jost is never better than when things aren't going as planned.

It's not sustainable, SNL at Home, because it takes them away from their core conceit but it's a definite shot in the arm creatively and feels so much fresher than much of what they've been doing in recent years.  If SNL has been playing too into youtube-friendly sketches (ever since Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island crew jumped aboard), this may actually be the unexpected evolution, where SNL is pretty much all youtube sketches.  Perhaps the show will branch out into both maintaining its live Saturday night show, and it's "At Home" self-recorded skits from its very talented crew. 

It puts talent in the spotlight, gives them some much needed freedom to go a bit wilder, weirder and more personal.  Plus I loved gawking around their various houses/apartments.

[1:55:20]

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Welcome back, Clone Wars, you'll be missed, again.

You know I love Star Wars.  I also like Star Wars.  And at times I'm not too happy with Star Wars.  When The Clone Wars first came out, I was in the "not too happy" camp.  So it took me a long, long time to get into.  About a decade or so.   Once I got into it, I had to get past the animation, which I only recently learned was designed to resemble Greek relief carvings.  That makes sense, but still, it's really wonky to look at.  By the end of Season 5 and the subsequent "lost Season" I was more or less back in "happy mode" with the franchise.

But if there's one thing I love about Clone Wars, it's Ahsoka Tano.   If it's another it's clone Captain Rex.  And this final season gives us plenty of both.  It kicks off with a 4-part arc, "The Bad Batch", which is a completed and updated version of the arc that ran in animatic form on starwars.com for a number of years.  I can see why they went with this, first given that it was almost complete already it's probably cost-efficient, plus it throws the viewer right back into the reality of the clones, and their complicated existence.

The second arc finds Ahsoka having a hard time, befriending a mechanic in the lower decks of Coruscant, only to become between sisters and get embroiled in a spice run gone wrong, and face down a nasty criminal empire.  To be honest, the arc is a little corny, and heavy handed at times, but in between its action and intrigue, it provides exposition as to Ahsoka's position in life, how she got there, and why she chooses to stay.  Together the two arcs successfully lead into the final arc of the series.

The denouement, however, is possibly the best in the entirety of this 7-season series.  Ahsoka has to face the Jedi council as Mandalor pleads for help in the wake of Maul's rule.  The council, already aware that the Sith are in their end game in the Clone War, cannot spare much but give Ahsoka Rex's battalion.  They take to Mandalor where civil war erupts, and Ahsoka faces down Maul 1-on-1.  It's epic, but that's just the beginning.  This arc dovetails with the events of Revenge of the Sith and the moments where both Maul and Ahsoka become aware of a deep disturbance in the Force are absolutely spine tingling.  It's not long before Ahsoka has to deal with a ship full of clones responding to Order 66, eliminate all Jedi.

The fight coordination is next level, one particular fight actually animated with motion capture with Ray Park reprising his physical position as Maul.  It's astounding.  As well, the score from Kevin Kiner is easily the highest watermark in the series.  Opting for something more "Tangerine Dream"rather than "John Williams" it's a wonderful deviation into synths instead of orchestral, and it works so damn well.  Where usually the music in Clone Wars is forgettable, here it adds to the weight of everything going on, it pushes everything making it feel even weightier than Revenge of the Sith itself.

These two characters from outside the film series are given the full spotlight here, knowing that they'll reemerge in Star Wars Rebels (and beyond?) but providing one hell of a story showing how they got there.  It closes out the Clone Wars admirably and gives us more of the two greatest characters in the whole pantheon.

[2:07:30]

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The first season of Shrill gave SNL star Aidy Bryant a vehicle and a voice that seemed to be right where she felt at home.  It explored being a fat woman in modern America through the eyes of a journalist attempting to find some peace with herself as well as her place in the world.  There are a lot of systemic structures that oppress people, based on skin color, or name, gender or physical size or physical capabilities.  We're in a time where we're confronting those structures, more aggressively than ever, but also experiencing almost sinister resistance to it.  The first season felt the weight of that offensive - but not immovable - wall.

The second season picks up immediately after Annie has confronted her cyberbully and put a rock through his car window.  She's emboldened and empowered, but the reality is she tore her life up.  She chewed out her mom, quit her job, and settled down with Ryan, who treated her like absolute garbage when they were first just hooking up.  A month later, she's struggling with the fallout of her actions.  Her mom took off to Vancouver and isn't talking to anyone, she's cozying up in a love nest with Ryan to the exclusion of her friends, and she's more broke than ever with no one willing to give her a paying gig (offers of interships though) despite acknowledging her talent.

Season 2 of Shrill doesn't lighten up on the subject matter, but the show's tone has noticeably shifted.  I think the first season had some reliance up the source novel by Lindy West, but season two feels more like Bryant's comedic sensibilities coming through.  What could be awkward or tense situations are disarmed by their absurdity, and the performances are slightly broader comedically.  The addition of Jo Firestone (Joe Pera Talks To You) and some other spotlighted minor side characters who fill out the crazy world of the Register (with David Cameron Mitchell's egocentric Gabe being even more overshadowed by Patti Harrison's eccentric Ruthie) makes the world of Shrill feel well rounded, while Annie passes all focus to Fran (Lolly Adefope) for an amazing episode where they attend Fran's cousin's wedding and we get a peek into Nigerian-immigrant culture and Fran has to face down her judgemental family.

Maybe not Shrill's best moment, but certainly my favourite, finds Annie facing down her cyberbully again, trying to interview him for a story, and the dynamic between Beck Bennett and Bryant is probably as broadly comic as the series gets, almost too silly for an otherwise grounded show, but it's for a very pointed purpose, and also results in huge laughs.

I was a little intimidated to venture into Season 2 to start, hoping Annie's train-wreck life wouldn't continue down that path, but the tonal shift, the ability to put focus on other characters, and to truly show Annie's growth (as well as some very pointed commentaries, like the Natasha Lyonne-directed episode dedicated to the commercialization of feminism) made for truly remarkable programming that make me eager for season 3 (confirmed).

[2:18:17]

T&K's Xmas Advent Calendar: Day 8

Angel of Christmas, 2015, Ron Oliver (All She Wants for Christmas) -- Netflix

Since Kent put an image from this movie in the post that introduced this series, I was curious about it. This movie was so much that angel image, but it was also so... much... more.

Susan (Jennifer Finnigan, Salvation) is a copy editor for the New York Courier, which explains why in one of the opening scenes we see her actually reading a paper newspaper. Usually movies relegate these things to Old Men who haven't caught up on the fact that paper is dead. But these are the establishing opening scenes, where we understand she doesn't care for Xmas (normal coffee, not holiday blend), she is Not Interested In Handsome Strangers (annoying guy behind her in line for coffee) and that said Stranger is Brady (Jonathan Scarfe, Van Helsing), the Painter With Strategic Dabs of Paint.

Back at the office, Susan is offered a chance to write her first story for the paper if she dives headlong into a Christmas story, that will be published on Christmas Day. And we are introduced to the other male lead / love interest, be-suited co-worker Derek (Tahmoh Penikett, Battlestar Galactica).

Peanut Gallery (J) stated that she could not buy into Tahmoh being the second runner up. He should have been lead.

Also, I forgot to mention an opening scene set in the sepia toned past, where a man obsessed (sorry, in love with) an actress presents to her a carved angel as a symbol of his undying love, but she does not accept.

Said angel turns out to have been carved by Susan's great-great grandfather. Mom passes on said angel, a very creepy looking thing, that is said to connect people to who they are meant to spend the rest of their lives with. P.S. Mom was going to give it to Susan on her wedding day, which makes no sense because doesn't that imply having found True Love already? Thus, more appropriate to get it now, beyond the reason as inspiration for her Xmas News Story.

Second meeting with Brady is at a local gallery, where he is supposed to be doing hosting duties, but looks like he just crawled out of the painting dungeon, covered in Strategic Dabs of Paint (again) and an incredibly messy, and likely incredibly stinky, shirt. He comments on some photos with Susan and hits on her a few times. Thus begins Doesn't Take No for an Answer phase. While Susan finds him cute, and less irritating than Derek (who has GOALS!!!) she wants to focus on her story. Leave her alone Dirty Artist Brady.

But we wouldn't have a Hallmark movie unless she relented, so they begin hanging out. Jennifer Finnigan does ALL her acting through overly expressive emoting, which is distracting to me, because pretty much all the other roles I have seen in her, she was a Very Serious Person. Here, she is emoting like she is the host of a kid's morning show. They have not-dates, because she doesn't want to be distracted from her story but she drags him into the research, looking through notes about her great-great grandfather and the actress he left behind. Brady mentions his great-great grandmother was also an actress in NYC. Ding ding ding!!

Also, in this scene there is a mention about Susan only doing Xmas Trees when she has a yard to place them, as her family tradition is to place Xmas Trees outside. The writers seem to forget this scene, or did some later re-working, as an even later scene has Brady and Susan finding out that BOTH of their families have this tradition.

Also, said box of notes came from her own grandfather, when he decided to clean up the basement where his own father's stuff was stored. "Spring cleaning in August?", she asks her grandfather. Uhhh folks, its December -- get your dates right.

Meanwhile, story is being written on the magical word processor, where the font says "Times New Roman; 14pt" but the scene shows it is definitely "Arial; 36pt". She writes on a screen like she is a hard-of-seeing senior. Days are passing and she's been hanging out with Brady more and more, who by the way is a TERRIBLE artist. Instead of presenting some local Vancouver artist off as his, it looks like they got the set designers to mock up some terrible (TERRIBLE!) renditions of abstract, impressionism, whatever styles they found in an Art Book. So, dude, don't quit your day job doing terrible hosting of other artist's openings. She's getting closer to the submission date and has no ending. Whatever will she do. Oh, breakup with Brady, cuz THAT makes sense.

But finally, in the final hour, she realizes she has made a mistake and runs off to find Brady's whose staying in his family cabin in the woods. They reconcile and while she works to write the rest of her story, she blunders into the letters between her great-great grandfather and Brady's great-great grandmother where they realize what most of us guessed quite soon in --- that the actress was related to Brady, that the love that wasn't meant to be was so that, in the distant future, these two could hook up. Thus the scary wooden angel proves not only the master of love, but of space and time.

And the all live happily ever after, after burning the angel in the woodstove. OK, maybe I added that bit.

The Draw: Well, really? Only because Kent already saw it, and somewhat because the Peanut Gallery wouldn't mind any movie with Tahmoh in it, even if he got to play The Dick. I guess I have a new formula element.

The Formulae: Jilted lead. She got dumped on Xmas Day and has been a Grinch ever since. It only takes The Right Man to make her heart grow three sizes. There isn't an Xmas fair, but there is caroling. And yes, there is an Event near the end of the movie, but its only one of those mythical Office Xmas Parties, but she wears a Red Dress. There HAS to be some sort of Freudian meaning to women in red dresses.

Unformulae: No PST (picturesque small town) and while she seems to have a decent enough job to live in NYC without wealthy parents, she is not uber rich. There was no proper Xmas Fair, which is disappointing.

True Calling? Technically, she's an angel of love, but since she's a tree topper, I guess that makes the title accurate.

The Rewind: So many! All the goofs and editing blunders, script changes and ... well, THAT PAINTING. Oh, didn't I mention it? Terrible (TERRIBLE!) Artist Brady painted her as the Christmas Angel. Its the angel version of a Scary Clown painting.

The Regulars: Beyond the Familiar Cast of Canadians, not too many are regular Hallmarkies. But Supportive Best Friend is played by Christie Laing, who most might recognize from Arrow or Once Upon a Time, has a few under her belt. Mom played by Wanda Cannon, also was in a few, around the same time, which makes me wonder if you are cast to appear in 2 or 3 at a time, as I doubt they are long shooting schedules. Dad, played by Barclay Hope, another "oh that guy from Canada" has done a TON of these movies, and most are Xmas themed.

How does it Hallmark? These Canadian ones, may be a little lower budget than the others (obviously rushed) but the less than formula, but creative twists (magic angel?) make them lovely little romance tales.

How does it movie? This goes into the category that makes many people think Canadian movies, or at least small budget Canadian movies are just not that well done. But at least they are solid.

(BONUS) How does it snow? Oh mi gawd, but for one sidewalk scene (probably show over and over and over on the same night) there is no real snow in the movie. In fact, most of the snow in the background, laying on the tree branches and such, is that artificial cobweb stuff you use at Halloween!!  (D-)

I Saw This!! What I Have Been Watching (PT C)

Pt. A, B can be found there.

I Saw This (double exclamation point) is our feature wherein Graig or David attempt to write about a bunch of stuff they watched some time ago and meant to write about but just never got around to doing so. But we can't not write cuz that would be bad, very bad.  Y'know, three types of aliens invading your world, bad.

So, back from three abandoned shows to three more completed seasons. If I was blogging about these while they were running, it wouldn't be an entry of I Saw This!!

Before we roll into the latest SyFy Channel genre series with a lone female kicking ass, i.e. Van Helsing (disappointgly not based on the Hugh Jackman movie), let's go back and talk about season one of another lone female kicking monster ass. Amusingly enough, both are descendant based, gender bent (kinda) heroic shows.

Wynonna Earp, 2016, SyFy -- download

Based on a comic book, which I only know from some atrocious covers, Wynonna Earp is a descendent of Wyatt Earp, the American lawman who had the Shootout at the OK Corral. But we only heard half the story; those fallen to Wyatt's peacmaker returned in generations after, as demon possessed people.  Someone, a descendant of Wyatt, as to re-kill them with The Peacemaker. There is also something about them being contained within a western triangle.

Wynonna's returns to Purgatory after an extended absence and resumes her role as the town pariah. Years ago her older sister was kidnapped and her dad killed, all in front of her; by said demons. She was institutionalized. She comes home only to find out that all the "delusions" she had as a teenager (not that long ago, really) were real and there are demons in Purgatory. Aaaand she is quickly recruited by a current day lawman, a Black Badge -- an agency that combines cross-border (FBI/RCMP) enforcement of supernatural crimes. Something is up, and he is here to make sure the demons don't escape their magical confinement.

In the genre range, that goes from Asylum (Z Nation) all the way  up to Firefly, this show is a little bit above middling, smacking of Canadian scifi shows (shot in Alberta) but having more heart than most of them do. At that heart is the relationship between Wynonna and her sister Waverly.  As well, there is the antagonistic relationship between them and chief demon Bobo Del Rey, played by my fav Canadian bad guy Michael Eklund. The rest of the cast, unfortunately including Black Badge Dolls (it took me five episodes to hear his name correctly), are so generic it hurts.

The series tries to milk the demon of the week but does so weakly. It shines when it focuses on its primary story. Sure the demons are back again, but this time they are organized by Bobo (yes, stupid name, but he used to pretend to be Waverly's imaginary friend) and witches are involved. Some sort of End of Days conspiracy is at play. Again, the weakest story link was the whole Black Badge element which is badly attempting some X-Files shadowy backstory.

Outcast, 2016, Cinemax -- download

On the other end of the spectrum is the incredible, spectacular, the second best thing I watched this year past -- Robert Kirkman's Outcast. Kirkman is the creator behind The Walking Dead and this is his new story, about demonic possession and a coming apocalypse. But just calling it demonic possession is doing it so much injustice. This is a deeply nuanced story, which had me sitting up straight in my seat once I realized what they were doing.

At the core of the story lay Reverend Anderson, a small (incredibly grotty) town preacher known for a successful exorcism years ago, and Kyle Barnes (holy crap, Patrick Fugit, the kid from Almost Famous), the now grown son of the exorcised. Kyle has his own dark recent past, which has forced him back to Rome and the abandoned home of his childhood. The Reverend has been milking his own pride at exorcism and continues them. Nobody asks why such a small, one horse town has so many possessions.

When Kyle returns it not only stirs up a lot of emotions, but also sheds some light on the demonic possession situation. The good Reverend was never successful at the exorcisms, in fact the only time he actually did get rid of a demon, it was due to Kyle -- blood & tears, when in contact with the possessed, causes horrific expelling reactions. The Reverend learns that many of his "successes" were just demons pulling the wool over his eyes. And he begins to come unhinged. That slow realization, the turn around from a confident man to a stumbling, ranting pariah was incredible.

As for the possessions, it has all the attributes of an alien invasion. For one, the black goo at the heart of it, highlighted in the opening credits (with incredible music by Trent Reznor collaborator Atticus Ross) which reveals more with each watching, is very X-Files. And then there is the creepy man-in-black leader of the demons, played by Brent Spiner. He is a man who has come to terms with the demon inside him, a pact having been made, an agreement that benefits the two.

And furthest out in the already-done series is S2 Daredevil.

(Uh, where's my review of S1 ?)

Daredevil Season 2, 2016, Netflix -- Netflix 

I guess I didn't do a post about season one, but let me just say... it... was... incredible. The Marvel cinematic universe was barely touched upon, and it wasn't needed, in this microcosmic story set in NY's Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood where blind lawyer Matt Murdock decides to put his extreme martial arts training to use defending his town from the enigmatic, powerful Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin. If I remember anything about the first season, it was the powerful fights -- heavy hitting, heart pounding, bone crunching, chest heaving, exhausting fights. Conversely the connections between the mains: Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page, had more heart than almost anything on TV. I loved the season, but for the weak final episode, something Marvel TV seems to repeat.

Season Two begins with a heat wave. Foggy Nelson is still pissed at Matt for revealing he is the masked vigilante in town. Matt is also majorly letting the lawyer side of his life slide, and their agency is hurting. Karen seems to be doing most of the heavy lifting. The void left in Fisk's absence has been filled by the gangs, but someone is voiding them -- The Punisher. Thus appears the core question asked this season; how far should you go as a vigilante? How far is too far?

Jon Bernthal as The Punisher is the best of the many sordid versions of Frank Castle to be seen on the screen (Dolph Lundgren, Ray Stevenson and my fav Thomas Jane) and the only to actually take on the rather broken soul he is. His tragic history is dug up by Karen, who again proves she is much more than any man in the show cares to notice, and makes us care for an ultra violent man, so much more so than Suicide Squad did.

Meanwhile Matt is dealing with his own connection to the end goal of every vigilante -- to stop criminals. He was trained by Stick to be a weapon, an ultimate weapon. And his ex-girlfriend, Elektra Natchios (mmmm nachos) has returned to remind Matt of how he was supposed to turn out. But from Matt, she wants her own redemption.

Again the season moved towards a weak ending, one that is probably going to connect to in greater detail to the larger Marvel cinematic universe -- magic and Iron Fist and Dr. Strange.

The Lobster

2015, d. Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth)

Critics are buzzing about The Lobster, but sometimes you need to be wary of critical buzz, because they have a tendency swarm around films that dare to be different, and even more films that dare to be abstract.  This critical praise doesn't necessarily translate to a wider audience because too often different and abstract are too much.  Critics watch hundreds of films per year and are paid to think about them, to process their story and meaning and construction.  The average filmgoer pays to be entertained, and, on occasion, challenged.  Either way, it's meant to be a bit of an escape, but if you're forced into thinking about the film as you watch it, you're not really escaping.  The reviewer sees so many cookie-cutter, carbon-copy movies with rehashed, wanna-be stories and gags (whether violent or comedic) that they become numb to much of the experience.  A film like The Lobster, by being different, will shock them out of that numbness, and therein lies appreciation.  The question for a film like this is does it earn its buzz merely by being different, or is there more to it?

Much of The Lobster takes place in a hotel where single individuals go to find a partner, but they only have 45 days to do so.  If they don't make it, they're transformed into the animal of their choice.  The film doesn't make it entirely clear that this is a mandatory procedure.  It seems elective at first, but as the first act wears on, it becomes clear that there's a sense of fatality here.  The rules of the hotel are very, very restrictive, designed to promote a desire for coupling and rejection of the individual.  There's punishment for masturbation and mini one-act plays that highlight the dangers of being alone (choking on one's meal, getting assaulted walking alone).  One guest of the hotel desperately searches for a partner, declaring her intention to kill herself soon if unsuccessful.

Our protagonist (if you can call him that, he's the central figure for sure, but I'm not clear if we're supposed to genuinely like or relate to him, so alien is his world) is David, played by a mustachioed, bespectacled, paunch-bellied Colin Farrell, every trace of the swarthy leading man sucked out of him as he transforms completely into a monotonal schlub (his rarely heard Irish accent makes him sound almost exactly like Ardal O'Hanlon, which makes me wonder if it's a put-on as well).  He arrives at the hotel, and like all guests, is stripped of almost every trace of his individuality, and told that he needs to declare a preferential sex (bisexuality was fazed out last year due to persistent confusion).  Men are issued a standard blue suit while the women are provided a uniform floral dress.  David has brought his brother Bob with him (Bob was transformed into a dog after his stay at the hotel) but Bob is confined to David's room.

Everyone at the hotel speaks in a forthright manner that is inherently comedic.  There's still some small worry of offense as we see David's reservation in making certain statements, but at the same time, people generally speak their mind.  But it's not an honest society by any means, as David's new friend (Ben Whishaw) fakes nosebleeds in order to get paired with the girl who gets a lot of nosebleeds (Jessica Barden).  Pairing in this society seems almost entirely based on single, obvious characteristics... a proper couple will both have nosebleeds, or be myopic, or both have a limp.  There seems no consideration of actual emotional investment or thought to common interests.  David himself takes the challenge of coupling with the "heartless woman" (Dogtooth's Aggeliki Papoulia), surmising that it's easier to fake not having emotions than it is to fake liking some.  It turns out to be a bad plan and forces David to flee the hotel into the woods, where the Loners live.

The Loners are the outcasts of this dystopian society of forced relationships.  Loners are not accepted by society, and the Loners are only accepting of each other if they follow the rules of staying true to being alone.  No flirting, no kissing or sex, no relying upon each other, with some pretty dire punishments if caught.  As a Loner you dig your own grave in preparation of dying alone, and you listen to your own electronic music on your own discman so you can dance alone even when everyone is dancing.   The Loners pretend to pair up as they visit the city, where we witness individuals standing around at the mall getting harassed by police for their partnership papers. 

David and another Loner (Rachel Weisz) find themselves drawn to one another they conduct themselves very discreetly, only daring to declare actual affection for each other once they discover they're both short-sighted.  The rules of coupling in society still hold sway over them, just as the rules of being a Loner do.  Ultimately they're discovered and forced to face the consequences, until they escape.  But stuck at a highway restaurant, between the city of couples and the country of Loners, the film ends unsure of where they fit, or where they sit.

The Lobster (named after the animal David chooses to become) does provide escape, it provides the different, and also the abstract.  But it also provides it all in a way that throws you into your own mind as it plays out.  You have to puzzle out the characters and their motivations at least until snippets of the overall weirdo alt-society are dispensed.  I was in a mid-day, practically empty theatre (only two other viewers) but even still I was looking around to see if I could catch someone's eye, wondering if we were all having the same puzzling experience.  Yet I wasn't not entertained.  The affected seemingly uncensored thoughts-turned-dialogue and monotone delivery is inherently funny.  It's basically a Wes Anderson interpretation of Gattaca, wry yet sternly serious.  There's a darkly comedic bent to all the horrifying tragedies of the film (including a botched suicide which serves as the backdrop to David's courtship of the heartless woman, which is easily top 5 of the most uncomfortable scenes in a movie I've ever seen), and even some terrific action (watching the hotel guests hunt the Loners with dart guns in slow motion action is incredibly, incredibly cool... the guests get an additional day's stay for each Loner they tranq).

I enjoyed The Lobster, but I can't for the life of me pinpoint what it's trying to say.  It's a film that seems to desperately be conveying a message through a satirical alternate reality, and yet that message seem painfully obtuse.  Something about relationships and the pressures society put upon individuals, whether they want to be a couple or an individual.  Is the point that we're almost better off just being an animal?  Again, there's no real clarity.  It'll be worth the journey for some, but the be-puzzlement that persists afterwards is frustrating.

3 Short Paragraphs: Chef

2014, John Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens, Iron Man) -- cinema

Its really hard for me to write well (shaddup) about something I really like. Often the minutia that comes together to make something that perfectly clicks with me is intangible, even to me. But some of the elements of Chef are already right down my alley, so they have to be contributors. First, its a food movie with all the classic overhead shots of tasty looking food being well plated. And its also about a food truck, one cliche of the mid-otts that I am happy to indulge in; well, whenever you can under Toronto's draconian food truck laws. And it is about love: familial love, romantic love and the tight bonds of friendships that cannot be denied. It even tosses in some insightful uses of social technologies, focusing on how they can bring people together instead of just sharing their naughty pics. It is a feel good movie that presents itself to all the senses and emotions.

John Favreau is Carl Casper, a chef in an LA resto. He wants to cook his best, present his creativity but Dustin Hoffman wants him to continue to cook the favs on the menu, the items that keep the patrons and money flowing in. Add to that a food blogger (Oliver Platt) gone national who ridicules Casper and you get the first act, the life Casper is leading and how he is struggling. His difficult relationship with his ex-wife and young son only further complicate things. So, of course, it all has to collapse when Casper freaks out on the food blogger with it all being captured on someone's phone cam. He is instantly a meme. He is fired.

There is almost an entire movie in that first act, and what I loved so much about this movie is how much it continued on. It didn't feel rushed through the different acts of the story, but filled them up with so much. That we could cover an entire act with Casper rebuilding a food truck in Miami, along with the dedicated friendship of Martin (John Leguizamo) and Casper's son, is lovely. Its about rebuilding relationships, with his son, with his ex-wife and re-establishing why Casper and Martin are such good friends. The final act has the guys driving the truck back to LA, stopping in key cities to promote the truck on Twitter and add local fare to the menu: cubano sandwiches from Miami, beignets from New Orleans and BBQed pork from Austin, Texas. This act is a road story, a music story and the vacation I desperately need in my life. Oh, if I could have half the passion with which these guys live their lives I would be a much richer man, even if you ignore the fact that once again, people pursue a grand life only because of a grand amount of money. Ignore that lil bit of cynicism. I loved the movie. And the best sign of loving a food movie? I was hungry afterwards.

So, where can I find cubanos in Toronto?

3 Short Paragraphs: Maleficent

2014, Robert Stromberg -- cinema

A few things to say right off the bat. It's Mal-E-ficent, not Mal-I-ficint as so many TV news programs were misspelling and mispronouncing. I have no childhood attachment to the original character, but if you want to see her character done better in live action, see Susan Sarandon in Enchanted. If you see this all because you think Angelina is hot, this is probably not the movie to see. No, not me. I do not find her remotely attractive in her current incarnation. I was here for the visual effects and Sharlto Copley as the King. For a first time director with over 90 visual effects credits under his belt, he did a masterful looking job. Just wish I had enjoyed the movie more.

Maleficent is the ruler of The Moors, the extension of faerie that sits next to a traditional human (i.e. white, euro) kingdom. Think the sweeping vistas of Chinese wuxia films combined with the denizens of a Brian Froud painting. She is so cute as a child, all raven wing and dragon horned with those big manga eyes and an absolute love of the world. She has been warned about humans but all it takes is one innocent acting thief (in fae worlds, river stones are priceless gems) to steal her heart. Unfortunately, as he grows, so grows his ambition and when they are in their 20s, he returns to The Moors to steal not her heart but her life, so he can become King. He is tortured about it so he second guesses and takes her her wings. That is an injury to her soul as well as a violation of her body, and turns her bright, gold magic into something putrid, green and dark. I won't go so far as saying evil, for she never really is.

And honestly, while I was not attached to the Bad Guy original character, it really did diminish her in this movie. She's misunderstood and even that's stretching it -- we completely understand and probably root for her green magic acts. We spend most of the movie watching her play Godmother to Sleeping Beauty, who only really sleeps briefly. We see motherly devotion, love lost and misplaced kindness. by the time we get to see her with her agro all riled up, I was bored. I get it, Angelina is the current Mother Goddess figure to the media, a patron of all things matronly. But Maleficent is also a very boring spurned lover. She wants nothing more than to have revenge on the boy who spurned her and satisfies herself by becoming proxy mother to his daughter, more loved than she loves her own father.  And all of Angelina's grace and cheekbones and equine movements were not befitting Queen of the Faeries for me; she needed to be a bit more rough around the "lives in a swamp" edges. And in the end, it all sums up that Maleficent finds fulfilment not through getting the boy (or even getting revenge) but by bequeathing her kingdom to her surrogate daughter. I wonder how the rest of the faeries felt about that, or were they just happy the sulkly green lighting was gone?