Another harried week at least nominally down (I've still got too many things that need attention Friday before I can declare the weekend begun), we've landed on the doorstep of the final weekend of July 2022. Monday, August begins.
Comicbooks (I still struggle with jamming that all together as a single word, but I've come to agree it's likely for the best in order to simultaneously give a nod to its historical roots while leaving it free to refine its definition -- but that's a discussion for another time and place) have become such a standard source of material for screen projects since at least 2002 that it likely barely merits mentioning. Since it's a medium which intrinsically accomplishes one of the things that's a common part of film production - the creation of storyboards to visually lay out the flow of action - comics openly became the new source of spec scripts a solid two decades ago. Would-be, first time screenwriters began to tumble to the reality that using the comics market as a place to pitch something was far more effective than trying to peddle a script around Hollywood. I see it as important for those who are dissmissive of the medium to remember that it is a medium, not a genre, and so focuses on any number of subjects, from romance, to science fiction, crime, war and horror, and not merely the seemingly ubiquitous masks, costumes and super powers crowd.
The 2002 Tom Hanks and Paul Newman blockbuster vehicle, Depression era tale of a hit man, The Road To Perdition was sourced from a graphic novel -- a fancy-packaged comicbook printed in a bound form rather than released in a series of issues. That same year, I saw that before the second issue of a three-issue horror comic about vampires targeting the town of Barrow, Alaska, 30 Days of Night, hit the shops, a deal had already been signed to adapt it into a film. The film wouldn't come out until 2007, because those big, expensive wheels turn much more slowly, but those of us plugged into comics knew what was coming. Pardon the digression, but from time to time I like to point that out to a general public which can sometimes still be narrow and snooty about the medium.
Initially set in 1988, four 12-year old girls from disparate backgrounds, each with a paper route in an Ohio suburb, end up banding together in the pre-dawn of the day after Halloween, referred to as "Hell night." Initially just dealing with local punks who've gotten less in control of their baser selves than normal between beer and costumes, the girls soon find themselves in the thick of a conflict between warring time travelers. Those forces at least initially present as long, white-coated, fascistic authority figures on the hunt, and harried, ragtag rebels who are apparently part of an Underground. Initially we're left to just pull this from context, as we get to see a little more than what the girls do.
Each of our protagonists felt driven in some way to have that paper route, ranging from simple economic survival (supplementing a low family income) to being in service of other plans for bold, bright futures. It's casually noted that what was once the almost exclusive province of boys has in large part fallen to girls because the job now pays about half of what it once did. As the Bush (and in George H. W.) campaign sign spotted on a lawn reminds us, we're in the final months of the second Reagan term, and the deep decay of middle class expectations has long since set in.
Soon, after some surprising and bloody confrontations, the quartet of girls find themselves transported 31 years into the future. Desperately in need of allies and reference points, they're forced to seek out their future selves as they try to sort out their situation and ideally make their way back to 1988. Each of the girls is faced with how their futures compare to their aspirations, along with being confronted with what happens to family members in the course of those skipped-over three decades... all while getting pulled further into the conflict between the warring, time-traveling factions. Technically set to arrive today, Amazon Prime did an early launch, which one of the people in my facebook feed noticed it Thursday night, so I watched for first two (of 8) episodes already.
Consequently, the seeming fates of only two of the girls have really been revealed, with a mix of puzzled disappointment and shock, though we've gotten a leading tip that seems to show some promise for a third girl's life having lived up to and possibly even exceeded her aspirations. An underlying theme will be whether or not each of the girls will be resigned to the fate time appears to have dealt them, or if these can be taken as cautionary tales they might be able to course-correct if they can just make it back to 1988.
The show is definitely intended to tap much the same nostalgia vein as Stranger Things, albeit with its distinct differences, including being centered on four young women, and a focus on how the future of 2019 compares to the expectations of a quartet of eighties kids. Because the majority of people will know these things only from the screen adaptations, I'd like to point out that the source comic for this series began the year before the Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things appeared.
I've finished the show, so while avoiding spoilers I do want to note a few things. One, I enjoyed it and am interested in seeing how the adaptation will play out (see point four.) Two, the distinct emphasis of the show is about who we think we are, who we expect to become, how at-odds with those notions reality may be, and our capacity to change. Three, the reference to the aspiration to appeal to fans of Stranger Things doesn't mean it's offering the same things; they're obviously hopeful it'll be as successful, and it could be, but it's a substantially different story. And four, this eight-part series ends on a cliffhanger. With no formal announcement made of a commitment it's best to presume that Amazon will be closely watching the viewing numbers on this, so the more people who put it off for later the less likely it'll be given that second season. Vaughan's overall film and tv development deal, struck back in 2018, for his properties is with Legendary Entertainment, not with Amazon, so this is a layered thing. I'm far too much on the outside of this to know how any deal between Legendary and Amazon is structured, so I can't make any useful assessment as to how invested in this Amazon is. On a basic level, a streaming service needs to have distinct items people have to come to them to see, but I've no idea how much this show costs them nor how long it would remain exclusive to Amazon Prime.
On Netflix, an anime series adapting a manga series that's been produced since 2018 (now reportedly seven volumes and counting) began appearing in weekly installments. A college-age nephew provides our contact with his uncle, a man who was hit by a truck and went into a 17-year coma. Suddenly awaking, he tells his nephew that while his body's been in the hospital bed, he spent those 17 years in another world. There he was reviled for his appearance, but he also not only learned their language but largely mastered magic there. Back in the human world, he finds that he still commands that magic, only having to adjust to casting the spells in Japanese, rather than the language of that other world. The nerdish man had almost no social life prior to his accident, and was obsessed with the SEGA gaming console. Discovering that the era of console gaming, and particularly of the SEGA system, largely went away during his absence is a terrible blow to him.
It's Uncle From Another World.
The Russo Brothers recently directed a reportedly $200 million CIA assassin spy thriller for Netflix, with a modest theatrical release so as to allow it to be eligible for considerations by the Academy; given both the clout of the directing team and the frankly staggering budget, I can certainly understand them wanting to keep all options open. Primarily a vehicle for Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, it has an international cast. It's The Gray Man (2022 129 m) This is based on a series of novels, and indications are that there's already a commitment for Gosling to return for a sequel, but that there's also to be some sort of spin-off project - though I know they have to be watching the metrics closely. I'm tending to think this is one of a set of moves they made a few years back, before Netflix's fortunes began to slide. It's difficult to believe the long-term bang for a streaming service when it comes to something like this is going to be the best use of a buck.
I haven't made time for this as yet, in part because I'm concerned I'm going to get much action and very little brain. Honest attempts at good performances made while stringing explosions and cliches together. I would be very happy to be wrong in this. Having Chris Evans getting to play strongly against type after a decade of being Captain America, complete with a practically smeared-on mustache, should on its own be worth some time, so there's that.
Also
on Netflix as of nearly two weeks ago (May 2024: It's currently on Hulu.) is a Sam Raimi-produced
supernatural horror thriller involving toxic motherhood reaching from
beyond. It stars Sandra Oh as a single mother, home-schooling her
daughter on a remote farm, primarily producing honey, and where she is
very deliberately living without electronics, explained by her as being an extreme allergy - though the opening segment gives us good reason to believe it's another matter entirely.
Her reaction to her own,
terrible, childhood saw her severing ties with family and her Korean
heritage, and retreating to a life that's creating different problems
for her own daughter. An uncle tracks her down, bringing news of her
mother's death, her ashes and final belongings, an unhealthy, heaping
dose of old world shame, and maybe something more threatening. It's Umma (2022 83m)
It
had a theatrical run here in the states starting back in mid-March. It's best approached with an eye on the
underlying psychological and sociological themes, and the "Don't become
your mother" tagline, as opposed to looking for a straight-on
supernatural horror story. This is a writer-director project for
first-time director Iris K. Shim.
Two weeks ago I managed to finally get out and see Thor: Love & Thunder, the fourth Thor-centered MCU film, co-written and directed by the same guy who directed the previous entry, Thor: Ragnarok: Taika Waititi. I generally enjoy Waititi's sensibilities, and agree that strong infusions of levity and human foibles are vital to making these things work well - trying to be unrelentingly, grimly serious would be a disastrous move. Still, I took a protective posture going in, wary of an excess of finger-pokes to ribs and belly -- and the caution was warranted.
The film folded two dramatic arcs into a single film, either one of which was sincerely capable of carrying a film, and of being worthy of attention. This was also strung together by an understandable existential crisis for the lead, following the events of both his previous movie and the final two Avengers films. He's lost both parents, several friends, and an adoptive brother who despite having mostly been a thorn in his side had shown some signs of sincerely coming around, along with the complete destruction of his homeland -- and those were just the losses among the nominally "immortal". He also had mortal comrades fall, who had become very dear to him. All of that accumulated drama, now woven through learning that the One Who Got Away has cancer, and while Asgardian magic can empower her (allowing her to wield the hammer Mjolnir and command the power of Thor) it undoes such gains as chemo had brought her, ultimately hastening her death -- and the rise of a new, god-slaying threat (Gorr - played with feeling by Christian Bale) who has his own heart-breaking tale to tell. He'd lived his life in piety, praying and leading his daughter in prayer as their world slowly baked and withered around them, ultimately losing everything, only seemingly at the end to meet his own god and find that the prick's a malignant narcissist. Fate supplies Gorr with an alternative to simply perishing ignominiously, supplying him instead with a sword, shadowy, godly powers and a mission to slay the gods. The mantle will ultimately claim his own life, too, but he was ready for that the moment his daughter had died in his arms.
Anyway, yes, more than ample angst and drama for at least two films, pressed into a single one by a director who ultimately wants to pepper everything with jokes, usually at the lead character's expense.
We still managed to get an overall entertaining film out of it, but I can't escape the idea that potential was squandered. The movie will likely arrive on Disney + in late August or early September, and I'll be interested to see how it plays for me during a revisit -- here at home, where I can casually pause it for a bathroom break. In the meantime, here's the trailer. Oh! Btw, Disney+ recently added three more R-rated genre films of note: The joke and violence strewn pair of Deadpool movies, and something of a last X-Men tale -- at least an end for two major mutants, set a little in the future in its own timeline, and likely Hugh Jackman's final starring turn as Logan/Wolverine: Logan (2017).
As noted up top, Monday will be August 1st. Those who have access to Turner Classic Movies (be it via increasingly out-of-fashion cable, or as an add-on to one of the streaming services) know that August is that channel's Summer Under the Stars celebration, where from 6am each day until 6am the following day, the programming features a star du jour.
The full schedule for the month (click that link and it'll pop out as its own screen) lays out the run of stars, and each of the films shown during that star's 24 hour turn. The first week of star spotlights will run as follows:
Monday Aug 1: Elvis Presley
Tuesday Aug 2: Jean Arthur
Wednesday Aug 3: Sidney Poitier
Thursday Aug4: Ruth Roman
Friday Aug 5: Orson Welles
Saturday Aug 6: Audrey Hepburn In the meantime, I'm continuing to enjoy the weekly, new episodes of The Orville: New Horizons (Thursdays on Hulu -- haven't watched this week's yet) and Evil (Sundays, on Paramount+), though each of their mere ten-episode seasons are too soon to end. Even the superb Better Call Saul is now down to its final three episodes, and has been delivering surprises each week. The most recent episode, for instance, which was shot in black and white, with full attention to noirish conventions, turned me around yet again by not only bringing a focus I wasn't expecting until the final episode, but managed to slip in a prime episode role for comedy icon Carol Burnett. Here she appeared in a dramatic role she so magically disappeared into that I watched the full episode, engaged with the characters as the characters, only realizing afterward that that was the turn for Burnett we were told to expect. Meanwhile, for no particular reason I've been letting both What We Do In the Shadows (season 4) and Only Murders In the Building (season 2) build up on Hulu. Will I make time for them this weekend? I've no idea.
I've run out of time once more, and there's little doubt that I've forgotten to get to several things I'd meant to. Too easily distracted, but also trying to be more mindful of getting a good night's sleep, I seem to accomplish less these days.
Next week we start to wade into August's bounty, including at least a couple new series of interest that'll land that same day. I'll be lining up the calendar for the month shortly, and may play a little with how I go about previewing things. - Mike
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