Recently-arrived on both HBO Max and Disney+ is Steven Spielberg's remake of the classic musical West Side Story (2021 PG-13 2h 36m) There are several things I'm interested in noting as I see this, ranging from a simple compare and contrast with Wise's 1961 version, to whether an emphasis on casting ethnically turned out to work well enough to justify the emphasis, and to where the new version places some of the social emphases. The proximity to the Academy Awards balloting, that while highly lauded the film was a theatrical flop (the pandemic mentions generally being parried by noting the high box office for Spider-man: No Way Home), and the future of movie musicals (and pretty much anything theatrically-released that's not an action franchise these days) all seem to be more points of discussion at the moment for most of the people writing about such things. I understand that, but at the moment I'm more interested in seeing how the film turned out. I'm not broadly a fan of musicals, but the 1961 film is one I've enjoyed several times, and I'm hoping to enjoy this new version.
A markedly different stripe of curiosity applies to a new live action & mixed-style animation blend from Idi Shankar's Bootleg Universe (a series of unauthorized, non-commercial, short subjects he's produced), which is riffing on themes we in comics fandom have been buried in ad nauseum since the mid-'80s, said source material probably most broadly seen in the mainstream via the 2009 Watchmen film. Here, arrived this past Tuesday, with the new month, it's the Netflix series Guardians of Justice. With the limited budget, fan-made feel, the overly-trod subject matter, sometimes pro-wrestling level (low) acting, and an awkwardness that leaves me uncertain of whether it's intended at least in part as parody, I'll be trying to come at this allowing it to be whatever it's intended to be when I make the time for it. If this seems to have come out of nowhere, that's reportedly intentional. The series creator and showrunner ideally wanted it to arrive with as little fanfare (and related expectations) as possible, and to let people find it.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it ended up having more substance than I'd expected. It's largely an intersection of the mid-'80s dark 'n' gritty sensibilities that still infect more comics than they should, with heavy arcade-style gaming elements during most of the fight scenes, and frequently takes a
Trek fans with Paramount+ had the start of a new, second season of Star Trek: Picard as of yesterday. The series' ten-episode first season ran from Jan 23rd to March 26th, so it's been nearly two years since we left off. Intended to be a more contemplative show, some fans found the first season slower-paced than they'd have liked, but then again some fans seem to live to complain, and often don't really know what they want. The guest-stars and character call-backs, primarily to Star Trek: The Next Generation, were something of a bridge between the camps, and it appears we'll be seeing even more of that in this second season.
The series is currently planned to run for three seasons, and to help streamline the process following the pandemic delays, the second and third seasons were produced back-to-back, so we are told to expect season three early in 2023.
The season's off to a solid start, with a new mission and some additional insights into Jean Luc's childhood.
Also yesterday (March 3rd), over on Hulu, saw the appearance first three episodes (of eight) of a dramatization of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her blood test tech company Theranos. It's based on the eponymous podcast series, and stars Amanda Seyfried in the lead. The remaining episodes will appear, one per week, finishing April 7th. It's The Dropout.
A story of the pursuit of wealth and fame driving someone to prize them over truth and sane expectations of a positive outcome. On the one hand it's a humanly fascinating willful train wreck of a story, but it's not something that's immediately drawing me in largely because it is all based on real events. It's not as if I need anything else to reinforce the dangers of ego, greed, and their frequent meeting place - Capitalism - or that I find those realities to most often be less than entertaining. Still, they've assembled a great cast for this, and it seemed worth noting.
Today on Hulu, a new Searchlight film arrives. The pitch starts out with potential to be a romantic comedy, but takes a sharp turn into being a thriller. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan star in Fresh (2022 R 1h 54m) If you've watched the trailer, you know just about as much about it as I do as of this writing.
Arriving today on Amazon Prime is an animated tie-in to The Boys - the hyper-violent, super powers series adapted from (and improved on -
seriously, I do not recommend the source comics) the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comics series of the same name. The Eric Kripke-shepherded, live-action series, however, has so far been great, violent and profane fun.
This new item is under the title The Boys: Diabolical. It's a series of eight cartoon shorts - each 12-14 minutes long - set in that universe, often involving characters we've met there, each done in a different style. The mix of styles was fun, ranging from a faux Chuck Jones to an anime, to a very Rick & Morty style, etc., and ranging from light and upbeat to tearful, though all with the casual loss of life we come to expect from The Boys.
An import item from last year that I only recently got around to is an adaptation of an early 21st century manga, over on Netflix. An amnesiac man, living a mostly separate existence - homeless, but not joining a nearby camp of the same, he's living in his car. He's approached by a strange man who offers to pay him substantially to be the subject of an experiment. Initially rejecting the offer, circumstances back him into a corner and he relents, allowing himself to be the subject of a trepanation. A hole is bored through his skull, with the intent of releasing pressure, improving blood flow, and ideally awakening potential normally closed off from adults. He awakens to soon discover he's gained the ability to see the bizarre self-images people carry around in their heads, and eventually that he can meaningfully interact with and affect them -- seeing and even venting the trauma that formed each. It's Homunculus (2021 TV-MA 1h 55m)
The
term is familiar to some via alchemical lore and some nineteenth
century fiction, wherein a literal "little person"is constructed, here
it's the twisted self-image people carry around in their own heads, the
net result of their life's traumas.
Hideo Yamamoto's 15-volume manga tale, as one might expect, suffers considerably in being condensed to a single film, so fans of the source material will need to loosen up and lower their expectations. However, if one is unfamiliar with the source material or otherwise more easily open to allowing this project to be its own thing, it makes for an interesting item.
Today happens to be the 47th anniversary of the premiere of one of those '70s Movies of the Week, a horror anthology that left a lasting imprint -- albeit most prominently for the final story in the package, which is all in all the head-and-shoulders above, strongest entry. All three screenplays were based on short stories by Richard Matheson, though that third one was the only one where Matheson also wrote the screenplay, based on his short story "Prey." He knew it would be a delicate translation, and so insisted on handling that himself. It was produced and directed by Dan Curtis, who is most widely remembered as the man behind '60s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, and the Herman Wouk World War II adaptations of the '80s, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, and this mid-'70s horror trio.
Here's a reasonably good copy, free for all, on YouTube, though I see that's also currently freely available to Amazon Prime subscribers - if you have an account, that's the way to go. It's Trilogy of Terror (1975 72m)
It's a very mixed bag of material, with the only links between the stories being the original authorship of the short stories they were all based on, and that each was a showcase for actor Karen Black. Each story is named for the character(s) Black plays, so the three stories are Julie, Millicent and Therese, and Amelia. The stories themselves are completely separate, with different characters.
As tough to watch as I found parts of Julie in 1975, it's the story that's aged the worst, with a predatory, somewhat misogynistic slant. The middle story involves a presumed twist that is - no offense to Ms. Black or the people in makeup and wardrobe - not going to surprise anyone. Unlike a great many people who caught it that Tuesday night in 1975, you can go in with the assurance that the third story's the charm. Whether that fortifies you to stick through the first two stories, or finds you skipping along to the third one, that's up to you.
Karen Black reportedly had long-term regrets over accepting this set of roles, as the popularity of it made it difficult on average to get non-horror/-"scream queen" work. She'd initially passed on the project, only accepting it when her husband at the time, Robert Burton, was cast as a lead for the Julie segment. I've found it one of the scraps to keep in mind to add a little interest to that lead story, where he plays the seemingly predatory part. Their less than two-year marriage was over before the movie even aired.
Weaving back towards Oscars season again, another March reminder for TCM subscribers that their 31 Days of Oscar theme rolls on. Click on that link to see the entire month laid out, with each movie title being a hyperlink that'll open a new screen with information on that particular film. Just this evening (starting at 5:30 PM Eastern), back to back, there's Cabaret, Network, The French Connection, Midnight Express, and The Omen.
I'd originally intended to spotlight another resource this week, but I've run out of time, so that'll shift to next Friday.
That's all I have time for this morning. Not getting into any specifics, but wish me luck on the day. Each of us finds some things very difficult to do, and I have more than one of those in the day's plans. I hope your week's ending on an up note, and you and yours are keeping well. See you on the 11th! - Mike
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