No Time To Rest! - June 10 - What's To Watch?

 

(Notes for any who are revisiting any of these pieces: First, I apologize for any of the inevitable, broken links. Things get pulled from YouTube all the time. Second, for the most current streaming availability for anything, go to JustWatch and type in the name of the show or movie. Streaming platforms are swapping material all the time these days. That JustWatch link will pop out into its own window. - Mike)
 
    Another busy week for me, probably for you, too. Too many uncomfortable things in the news, well outside my control, and too many moves back to Old Normal that I'm just not comfortable with yet. Local eateries taking down plexiglass protections, and too few people opting to go into stores masked. The coverage of the public hearings on the insurrection in the Capitol have begun, but I've little stomach for the blow-by-blow theater of the moment, including the pacing. My hope is that this slowly-turning mill will grind exceeding fine and thoroughly, and will lead to successful prosecutions of so many more, including Trump and the various, scheming, hangers-on and sycophants. However it goes, I'll largely be taking it in as daily postmortems and analyses from trusted sources. Don't worry, I won't be aiming to cover that here.
       It's good to have work to focus on, even if it has been reaching into my personal time of late. I've been giving some attention to trying to get one, extra, small but noticeable thing done after getting home (beyond the basics, like making dinner) before letting myself collapse. Thursday, that extra step was getting the lawn cut. That, and then taking care of dinner wrung the last drops out of me for the day, only to have word that an old comics buddy of mine has landed back in the hospital with a scary situation. The next 24 hours should tell most of the tale, as surgery Friday appears certain. That's some seven states and better than 1300 miles away, so I'm depending on update messages.
     Work, etc. continues to cut in to my entertainment screen time, but I still manage to see some things and to see some of what's about to arrive.

    Oh, a quick note on the latest Marvel debut, Ms. Marvel, as mentioned last week. It's a pleasant expansion of the MCU, with the high school perspective of early Spider-man, and reasonably relatable ethnic family elements such as worked well (with different cultures, of course) in something like Kim's Convenience. Inclusion handled fairly well - or at least so it seems to me from my more aged, mainstream perspective. The true nature of well-executed inclusion has to pass the sniff test of people from that group; in this case, that will be Pakistani Muslims. That part's not for me to say. I like the seed concept of getting to know the "brown girl from Jersey City" who might just save the world, and hope this helps broaden the spectrum of people to feel like part of it all.

   I'd lost track of the season length for the second season - the series' latest - of Hacks (HBO Max), in part because some of the release info incorrectly told us season two would be another ten-episode season, like the first. So, I was thinking that this week (the series drops 2 new episodes each Thursday during its run) would see the season finale. Instead, I was surprised to find, when I got around to it on the weekend, that the season had wrapped. Moreover, it wrapped in a way that has left the fans (and, based on what I've read, the people involved in the show) unsure if that season finale was also one for the series. The creative team behind the show say they have more to go - that when they pitched the show they included endings for the stories, and the season two finale was not that. Still, HBO Max has not yet officially picked the show up for another season. Hopefully it's all just part of a promotional calculus, they're listening for any buzz and/or grumble, but are otherwise just delaying the announcement.
     I wrote a little about the series early this past November, when I'd gotten around to checking it out. The second season built nicely on the first, story arcs for each of the characters advancing in satisfying ways for nearly all of them. I'm hoping to get to follow them the distance. (2024 note: Hacks' third season is currently rolling out over on Max, with the first six episodes in place.)

     While on the topic of HBO/HBO Max, some renewal and cancellation announcements came through this month: the semi-biographical pirate series Our Flag Means Death was renewed for a second season (thanks for the pass-along, Kate H.), while the sci-fi drama Raised By Wolves failed to get a third season. The HBO Max series Julia was renewed back in May. As a fan of all three series, that was more good news than bad. (2024 update: Unfortunately all three series were subsequently canceled, so those then-coming seasons proved to be the final ones for each.)

     On HBO, this past Monday saw the debut of a new series I'd heard nor read nothing about prior to running across its debut on HBO Max. It's largely a skewering of the film industry and the players in it, as it primarily follows an American actress on the rise who has come to Paris to star in a remake of a

1916 French film, Louis Feuillade's unusually long (roughly 7 hours) lurid crime thriller titled Les Vampires. The series is named for the character she will be playing in the piece, a sinister, seductive Irma Vep, a conspicuous anagram for "vampire." This was all part of the mystique of danger, not anything involving actual vampires, for a violent, criminal gang.
     Alicia Vikander plays the lead, Mira, who is trying to navigate the swirling waters of celebrity, hoping to better define herself and steer both her life and career in a better direction. However, she has to be careful not to recklessly abandon the games of a celebrity lifestyle. In part she's trying to distance herself from much of what got her into the spotlight (made trickier inasmuch that she's still part of the promotional machine for a recent sci-fi costume adventure movie), but do so without sinking her career by being too harshly honest about it. Among the challenges, the director of this new project may be worse than simply "troubled."
     Written and directed by Olivier Assayas, this is an expanded remake of his 1996 film Irma Vep. That film is also available on HBO Max, but I've decided to wait to watch it until after I've seen the 8-episode miniseries, expecting that the film almost couldn't help but spoil key elements.
     Here's the trailer for the series.

     The first episode hooked me enough to watch for the second. The layered nature of the fiction - that this is largely about the pitfalls and scandals of imaginary celebrities - is much more inviting to me as story elements than the "reality star" programming out there.

     Arriving today on Amazon Prime (2024 note: That final Craig Bond film is currently streaming on Peacock, long-gone from Prime) is a film I'd forgotten about, lost in the various pandemic decisions. Daniel Craig's reportedly final outing as James Bond, it's 2021's No Time To Die (R   163 min.)  Earlier production & director-related changes saw this delayed, then once those were settled the pandemic hit. So, a film originally targeted for a 2019 release became a September/October 2021 one, which was still too early for me to seriously consider packing back into a theater with the other, potential plague rats. Oh, it was almost certainly a good move for them, especially with all the money that had been sunk into this for production and post-production work, but that timing just wasn't going to work for me. As it wasn't streaming, it was out of sight and mind.
     Roll here to June 2022, and it was an "Oh, yeah. That." moment when I saw it would be hitting Prime this week.  Here's what was the final, U.S. theatrical trailer for it.

     Catching that - with a few interruptions - as Friday rolled through, it was a good, emotionally-rounded outing for Craig's final turn as Bond. While I'm sure I still would have enjoyed it, including taking in the sweep of action on a big screen, even pandemic considerations aside this was more entertaining for me as a home-view item. I'd have been squirming at least a little in the theater seats. Here, on a 50" screen, where I can pause it at will, especially makes a film approaching two and one half hours much easier to enjoy. 

      Returning this Sunday (on Paramount +) is the frequently quirky Evil, back for its third season. The first had been broadcast on CBS, but the decision was made to thereafter shift it to be one of the streaming exclusives, this back before the rebranding, when it was still called CBS All Access. I'd last written anything about it back in mid-October of last year, just after season two's finale aired.

     The show's seed concept is an odd trio of people who've been tasked by the Catholic Church to investigate specific claims of either the miraculous or the demonic. They represent the spectrum of faith and extreme skepticism, and as the previous two seasons have shown, while each had considerable baggage before accepting this assignment, each has added enough during the show's run that they're in need of a psychic porter. Belief systems repeatedly challenged and at least somewhat altered.
     This wasn't a series I was initially drawn to upon hearing about it, but I was very happy that I gave it a chance. The writing is generally clever, the interplay between the characters entertaining, and while it can get dark and authentically creepy, the cast has not only good chemistry but the comedic chops to play scenes to good effect.

     Each of the first two seasons was a tidy 13 episodes, and I (foolishly) expected that that would be the case for season three. No, it will be ten. New episodes drop on Sundays, and I'd braced myself for Paramount + to have odd spacing past a point, spreading it out well into the fall, as that's what they've done previously. However, initial info says they're going to follow an unbroken release schedule, one per Sunday, so the season will begin June 12th and wrap August 14th. If that holds I'll be pleased, even while lamenting a shortened season.
     Having a streaming show that lands on a Sunday is something I've found particularly cool, as it's there anytime after 3AM here on the East Coast. My fragmented sleeping schedule would often find me catching it hours pre-dawn Sunday, after which I might go back to sleep or just start my free-form day early.
     Here's the trailer for this new season - which isn't particularly spoilery as it's largely a series of dramatic cuts, and the show has enough of a fantasy/dream/illusion element that one can't necessarily take anything (especially in isolation) as real.

     Oddly, I pretty much slept through the night, and only remembered this was waiting for me after I'd been up for an hour or so. It was fun to have the crew back, and early misgivings about some specifics of both last season's ending moments and the same ones for the early stages of this episode, evaporated as I was reminded that we can't take all that we see as the clear truth. They do need to hire a reasonably savvy high-schooler as a technical consultant, though, because a mass spectrometer is not really what they seem to think it is. That aside, a special nod to this week's guest star, Wallace Shawn.
     I can already tell that this season - especially with it being shaved down by three episodes to a simple ten - will be flying by. In the meantime I'll enjoy my mid-weekend visit with them.
     2024 Note: The long-delayed fourth season of Evil is set to begin May 23rd.

     While (based on the trailer) not fully to my tastes, I want to at least mention that this past Wednesday Netflix premiered an original film that's also appearing in theaters. (Hey, I can't fault anyone for chasing a possible nod from the Academy.) A sports drama (basketball, specifically) starring Adam Sandler as a talent scout who's been at it for decades to too little real success, who takes a possible career-ending risk by bringing an unapproved player to the states. LeBron James is also involved, largely as a gateway to a raft of NBA talent peppered through the movie. Presumably if you're into the pro sport, this'll be a gold touch feature as that facial recognition area of the brain lights up again and again for you. (Me? Unless you stacked the line-up with white guys and people well under six feet tall, I wouldnt' be able to pick James himself out of a line-up.) As with most sports the list of things I'd rather be doing than watching a game is nearly infinite. I didn't grow up with them, I have no affection for them -- I do not care. If I ever do watch and manage to connect with the movie it'll be at the level of the characters, their aspirations, struggles and relationships. Every second of action on the court will find an almost immediate glaze forming on my eyes, though, and any characters' passion for the game itself will fall flat for me.
     Hey, after such a rousing build-up, how could you not want to watch the trailer for Hustle (Netflix  1h 58m)

     Sticking with Netflix releases where I'm not quite in the marketing cross-hairs, a new, supernatural adventure, queer, interracial romance, young adult series launches there today. Two young women, each at a coming-of-age point in their lives, each being told by their families that it's their time to step up and make their First Kill

     To belabor the obvious, it's a Romeo and Juliet tale with gender and race shifts, and at least a more obvious and justifiable reason for the enmity between the two family houses. We've seen again and again the importance of representation in entertainment media, so even if this isn't distinctly for you, maybe you know someone who might be interested in checking it out. Eight, roughly hour-long, episodes all arrived on Netflix today.

     One last one for Netflix, before turning our sights elsewhere, is a film from 2021 that's having its debut on Netflix. It's in that murky area of being "inspired by true events," that finds me looking for more details. It's set in 1994 Rwanda, while the horrific genocide against the Tutsi was ongoing. A disparate quartet of young women hide out beneath the kitchen floorboards of one of their family's homes, where they are trapped for a considerable time.
     It's Trees of Peace (2021  1h 37m)

     The horrific genocide is fact, as is that women spearheaded the rehabilitation movement in Rwanda in the aftermath of the genocide, and reportedly today that nation's government is one of three nations which currently have a female majority elected government. On the negative side, it appears that making the overriding concern the prevention of another genocide, the laws are so broad and exclusive that even basic dissent is essentially illegal, leading to what is effectively a single-party state. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have been critical of the process. The president, Paul Kagame, has been in office since 2000, this in a country where the president appoints the Prime Minister and the whole of the cabinet, though they are overseen by a popularly-elected, two-chambered Parliament (an 80-seat Chamber of Deputies and a 26-seat Senate), which have mandated minimum percentages of seats for women, and as noted above has had a majority female membership.

     Next Thursday (the 16th) FX sees the debut of a new series. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Amy Brenneman, it centers on Dan Chase (Bridges), who disappeared from the CIA decades ago, living off the grid. After all this time he's located by an assassin, and it soon becomes clear to him that the only way to save his future is to reconcile his past. It's The Old Man.

    It seems almost surprisingly straight-on and serious, absent intentionally ironic or comedic elements. Maybe they're there, but if so the trailer's not tipping that hand. With Bridges now 72, I expect there'll be a mix of reactions to his playing the action hero -- albeit the title of the series provides him some cover.
     As mentioned, it'll be on FX on Thursdays, which also means it'll be available to stream on Hulu by Friday.

     If things go well and reasonably according to plan (Hey! It happens sometimes!) I'll have a satisfyingly busy Friday, having effectively shifted the past work week back a day at the expense of a chunk of last weekend. Somewhere in there I'll get around to this week's episode of The Boys (Amazon Prime), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount +), and this Sunday will see the season finales on HBO for both The Baby (which I've fallen behind on) and Barry, which I've been following closely from week to week, but am envious of those who haven't watched it yet who will have the option of moving quickly from week to week instead of having to wait.
     For now, though, that'll have to do for this week. Let's all try to take better care of ourselves and those close to us, and come back here next Friday. - Mike

What's To Watch? - May 6 - New Paths

    Another trying week for many of us, tasked in part by matters over which we have little control. We each have our own political commitments, and have some sense of where our friends and relatives are in all this - for good or ill. We do what we reasonably can, and wonder how desperately dire it has to become before some people are moved to act.
     Work obligations and social politics continue to wear, and personal/home life and situation continues to task me. A move is in my future, and I even know where, but it's a complicated situation. However, you're not here for any of that.
     
     As mentioned near the end of last week's piece, yesterday was an overlap day for current Star Trek series on Paramount+, with the second season finale for Star Trek: Picard, and the first episode of new series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
     Picard's season finale was an emotional one, and left me wondering what the arc of season three (which they've already shot) will be. As time travel was central to this season's tale, I eased back on initial demands for plot rigor. I don't like to do that, but I remind myself there's little point in getting riled up in such a one-sided disagreement. Ultimately here the sentiment is what's weighed as more important by the writers or whoever overrides them, so for good or ill, hearts win out over heads. Ideally, season three will at least attempt to address what should be severe timeline ripples as 400 years of altered history would be involved.

     I remain well on-board for Strange New Worlds, but portions of the debut episode reminded me of the numerous problems that come from going back to fill in history that had previously just been a matter of scattered, casual references, if that. There were at least two story elements (an alien race being mentioned that was seemingly new to Starfleet in an original Trek episode that happened more than a decade after the events of this show, and setting up what really can't help but become a considerable, retroactive complication between Spock and James T. Kirk, again, ten plus years after the events of this series) in the episode that I see problems with, and that was with me deliberately trying to suspend judgement. It all looks terrific, though, and I'm enjoying the performances. I do fear a lack of restraint on their part in including calls-forward to character and plot elements from the 1966-'69 Original Series, the inclusion of which they may find to be too tempting as nostalgic sweeteners for the Trek fan base. And this is all just here in season one. Recent articles and interviews tell us that season two will be including a young James T. Kirk, so..?
     I've long since lost track of where things are since the J.J. Abrams' rebooted/alternate timeline was introduced... so if we choose to watch we would likely be best advised to just roll with it, and see how well it holds together over time. So far it's entertaining.

      Seven seasons on Amazon Prime saw them wrapping production of Bosch (2014-2021) an adaptation of a blend of various Michael Connolly novels centered on hard-nosed LAPD homicide detective and jazz aficionado Harry Bosch (ably played by Titus Welliver.) In the final episode of that series, having challenged and been challenged by administrative authority a few too many times, Harry resigned from the force and became a private detective. At the same juncture, his daughter, Maddie (played by Madison Lintz, who we got to see grow from childhood to young adulthood over the seven years of series production) ditched a budding career in law to follow in the family business, so to speak, enrolling in the police academy. This next chapter of their lives warranted a new series, and beginning today, on IMDb TV, we get the first season with Bosch: Legacy.

     I'm still working out the intent and dynamics of IMDb TV, as it's set up to operate online much in the model of broadcast tv - free access, with commercials. It was established back in January 2019, and is owned by Amazon, which brings me back around to wondering "Why?" as they already have their own streaming platform: Amazon Prime. Presumably this will become clearer as they develop more exclusive shows for this platform. I can't say I'm a fan of a format that takes this backward step into an era where we're forced to watch or at least wait out commercials. My expectation is that there will be (or maybe already is -- is that part of the incentive to become a subscriber to imdb-pro?) a pay option to eliminate the commercials? If so, then I'll really come to resent the decision to not just run this on Prime. It'll just be another money-grab.
     The entertainment landscape continues to (d?)evolve.
     Anyway, this isn't best taken as a jumping-in point, though it could be. They do lay out the key character elements - if sometimes with a bit of a leaden hand - so a new viewer will know the essentials. Lacking seven seasons of character exposure and development, though, could leave some of this a little cold. When it comes to Harry Bosch himself and especially attorney Honey Chandler (Mimi Rogers), there are direct continuations of events from season seven of this show's Amazon Prime predecessor: Bosch.
     Harry himself, though, has a new core case, and a brand new tech assist character, Maurice "Mo" Bassi (Stephen A. Chang), while Harry's daughter Maddie is a "boot", a rookie cop on those potentially slippery first rungs of her career ladder. The militarized mindset in the police department scenes is personally off-putting, but your mileage may easily vary. Beyond that, there's a chip-on-their-shoulder character attitude and a less than subtle heavy-handed formula to the characters that sometimes borders on being offensively condescending, but I understand that they're looking to connect with a potentially new audience and at least some of those will want Simple and Direct.
     The first four episodes of this 10-episode season appeared today. I've watched the first two, and will be getting back to it as time allows later in the day.

     This was my first formal brush with IMDBtv's Freevee streaming environment - you won't forget the name because it's obnoxiously plastered as a partially-transparent logo over part of the picture in the lower right-hand side of the screen. The episodes I watched showed considerable restraint with respect to commercial breaks, but I'm bracing myself for that to be an early come-on. For now I'm tapping into this via Internet browser, though it's adding to the reasons for this Old Dog to learn some new tricks -- in this case that starting with me finally trying out the Amazon Fire Stick son Nick gave to me what's becoming an increasingly embarrassingly long time ago. For now, this link should get you there. Oh, and FYI, it's already been renewed for season two.

     Next Thursday, May 12th, HBO Max will see the return of the comedy series Hacks for its second season. I'd intro'ed and discussed the series shortly before Thanksgiving last year (so follow that pop-out link to better see if it's a series you'll be interested in.) I've been looking forward to its return. Here's the season two trailer:

     
     The accidental tap of a control button earlier this week launched Crackle on my smart tv. That's one of those free streaming services that includes commercials. I can't recall the last time I'd intentionally launched it, but here it was, reminding me it existed. As it turns out, one of their recent acquisitions was a 10-part Australian tv show, based on characters from a popular Australian series of novels, the show built around and named for one character in particular: Les Norton. (That's Les as one would say the first syllable of Lester, not an errant bit of French.)
     Set in 1985, it centers on a hard-knock life, yet somehow still affable, young guy from the Outback who in trying to outrun some trouble there finds himself in the city lights and sleaze of the Sydney of at least that era. So, basically big kid from the sticks comes to the big, bad, anything goes city, where he tries to find a niche. He becomes a bouncer for an illegal gambling casino, and is very quickly awash in highly questionable types, each with their own agendas.
     The big selling point for it up in this hemisphere seems to be that this is also a showcase for Rebel Wilson, though it also has a prominent role for David Wenham, who was Faramir in the Lord of the Rings movies, Friar Carl in Van Helsing, and Dilios in 300. Here he plays casino kingpin Price Galese.Wilson plays twins, one of them the owner of a brothel.

      The unplanned push of the button happened at an odd time of night just a couple nights back, so I haven't seen more than about a quarter of the first episode. There's certainly enough going on, and all of it in unfamiliar environs, to find things of potential interest. It being a period piece set in Sydney reminds me that aside from various tech not being in play I really can't appreciate the details of what they're trying to recreate, not even to the degree that I can when watching something from a similar era for, say, New York City. I've never been there in person, but I'm at least familiar with the history.
     The show was on Australian screens back in late summer 2019, I've no idea yet how self-contained the story is, I don't know whether any more is planned. As it appears to be a partial adaptation of the first novel in that series, and there are twenty novels in that series, I'm guessing those involved were hoping it would fuel a multi-season show. For now it's best to presume this ten-episode series is all of it.
     I will note that while not at a wholly grotesque level, Crackle is heavier on the commercial breaks than I care for, though it's important to keep in mind that I've gotten used to avoiding most commercials for much of the past decade, between ad-free streaming platforms and time-shifted, DVR viewing where I can casually take 30-second leaps with the touch of a button.

     Closing with another online, freebie, tv movie, we go back to February 21, 1973, and what is most honestly seen as an unsuccessful attempt for Dan Curtis to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was the previous year's hit tv movie over at ABC, The Night Stalker. This time it was for NBC, and intended to be a pilot for a series that was never picked up. The cast includes Roy Thinnes as the titular David Norliss, Angie Dickinson, Don Porter and Claude Akins. It centers on tapes left concerning cases investigated by David Norliss, a writer who investigates supposedly supernatural occurrences with the intent of debunking them. As you may expect, this movie sees him finding a genuinely supernatural menace. It's The Norliss Tapes (1973  72 m)

     That's all more than I really had the time for. Now I have to try to keep several plates spinning at the end of long sticks, while making at least one seeming miracle happen. Wish me luck -- but mostly the stamina and focus -- to get this to happen. I'm feeling my age, and very off-warranty. Again, take care until next week! - Mike

 

Artful Dodges and Other Life Hacks - November 5 - Friday Video Distractions

 

   Another week to remind me that groans and complaints about things already tasking me only seems to invite new ones, while doing nothing to alleviate the old. I've made it to another Friday feeling not only drained and behind schedule, but keeping my ear cocked for the phone, part of a chain of likely expensive bits of news and decision(s) to make. But hey, that's life. Now, to escape it in controlled packets.

     A quick aside: One of the viewing highlights for this week was episode 9 of season 3 of Doom Patrol over on HBO Max. I've lauded the series before, and recent weeks have only reinforced that for me.
     This season's turns as they've been dealing not only with their manifold personal problems, but contending with the Sisterhood of Dada, coming through the weaponized art of The Eternal Flagellation with several members seemingly healed into action irrelevance, and now the return (though new to nearly all there) Brotherhood of Evil, have been gloriously entertaining. Wild fun. The snippy domestic friction between the Brain and hirsute housemate Monsieur Mallah, the latter peeved that this revival of Brotherhood nonsense is disrupting the tranquility of their long retirement in Boca Raton, remains one of several scenes I'm already anxious to revisit.  Next week will wrap season three, and season four will be too long in coming.
     Recently finally got around to watching  and enjoyed the 10-episode comedy-drama (is "dramedy" now a passe' term, or been tagged as something more distinct? What are the young people and the cognoscenti saying these days?) on HBO Max: Hacks.
    Starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, respectively as a legendary comedy diva who has been largely in a Vegas cocoon of fans who've happily kept her insulating from adapting to the times, and as a 25 year-old comedy writer whose first blush with success was derailed by an "insensitive" tweet she made, which cost her her job and helped make her a professional pariah. A mutual agent lines up the two in the hopes of fixing two problems, even though the first isn't looking for a writer, much less an update of material, and the latter really doesn't want this job.

     It's a fun, occasionally thoughtful trans-generational and -cultural clash. If there's a core message it's that we all tend to form largely dismissive opinions of others, and that's a character and operational flaw we'd be wise to correct. Most meaningful growth, at least as adults, involves discomfort. Most of the messages in Hacks are cautionary tales about the need for (negative) impulse control.
     I'd have moved through it even more quickly than I did once I tried it, were it not for my schedule and deciding I didn't want to rush it. The series ran from mid-May through June this year, and was renewed for a second season back in June. So, if you have HBO Max, add it to the list of items to get around to, and if you don't, add it to the list of reasons to consider trying the service (which has a huge inventory) in the months ahead.
     The next series I want to mention is one that reminds me how once strong entertainment appetites can be overwhelmed by formula and sheer, repetitive volume, all the more rapidly as lesser talents get involved. I can still remember when zombie apocalypse was a relatively small, sub-genre, decided off the mainstream, existing almost exclusively on the big screen. Jump ahead to 2021, and Kirkman's adaptation of comics' The Walking Dead has not only been on the air for 11 years and spawned two spin-offs, but I wandered away from it during a mid-season hiatus a solid three seasons back. In this age of aggregating, streaming content such things have become like reading material -- things to often be stacked-up for binge-attention at some later, somehow more appropriate time. They're not pressing, as we have this sense of "having" them.
     So it was that I was almost surprised at myself when I set DVR pre-sets to record a new, Syfy series Day of the Dead, which started back in mid-October. Friday nights at 10 (Eastern), tonight will be the fourth episode. It momentarily seemed odd that I was open for this, when I'd left so many familiar characters behind in this genre halfway through their war with Negan back in season 8 of The Walking Dead.
     While there's a little more to it, I realized it's mostly two things: First, the new series offers what I'll luridly reference as "zombie porn," which is most decidedly not a reference to any nudity or sexual material, but rather just to one of the hooks of the genre: We get to see new characters facing the new and unbelievable to them - the beginnings of this rising of the dead. It's made loosely novel again via the surrogates.

     Second, as it's a Syfy series I'm never sure where and when it's going to land as streaming content -- eventually, most likely it'll be Netflix, but it could be a looooong wait -- where I'll be able to watch it sans commercials. It's at the stage of currency where having the DVR catch it, so I can watch it when I want and do Hulk-like, 30 second leaps through the commercial breaks with the press of a well-worn button, is optimal. The downside is that my Fios DVR service has storage limits, so there's more of a press to watch items there so I can delete them and free up space for upcoming shows and movies. So it is that often lesser items get a faster viewing track than better material that's in a more stable location.
     Anyway, this new series is still at an early enough stage that we don't know the exact mechanism nor all the rules. The reanimated dead here are more Romeroesque in general slowness (much as those of The Walking Dead), though we're still working out whether or not being bitten is a death sentence, and  the usual head-shot solution isn't a remedy here. There are also elements of the very non-Romero, zombie sub-genres where whatever contamination or force that's reanimating corpses is also affecting the long-buried, so the local cemetery is suddenly busting out with corpses (some of whom dies with pretty amazing sets of teeth, it seems) erupting from the ground. Inexplicably, even parts of bodies are seen to move with deliberation. Magic or silliness -- it's too soon to tell.
     In a note reminiscent of one of the casual but repeated references in Jim Jarmusch's 2019 dark comedy zombie-fest The Dead Don't Die (which I and son Nick enjoyed, but didn't seem to be a crowd-pleaser), there seems to be a connection between local fracking operations and the undead unrest, though it may not be as direct as simply new contaminants.

     Some of the characters in this new series at least start off as cliches, none so more than this small-town, rural Pennsylvania mayor, Paula Bowman, who's cast in a role that would normally have been given to a man: White, Conservative, pro-gun (and pro-open carry), mayor who is tied to the town's contract with a fracking company, and otherwise tends to sneer at the feelings of "snowflakes" while acting in service of greater personal power and glory. She has a trophy husband whose looks have meant he's never had to focus on developing his wit or intellect -- a nice guy, but used to being generally kept. So far Paula's interesting mostly because she manages to walk the walk, as it were, demonstrating a willingness to act decisively and forcefully despite very possibly being the physically smallest character in the town. She's played by Canadian actress/singer-songwriter Miranda Frigon, who's under 5' 4".
     Anyway, there are other characters of interest, which we get to spend much of the time with - younger (and much older), more ethnically-diverse and simply likeable characters, but not such that I'll spend the time on them here at this early stage. (I'm already a little thrown that I've taken this much time with it.)
     As with most Syfy fare I so far can't really recommend it, but I still wanted to point it out while it's still relatively new, and episodes can be streamed on Syfy's site and likely one's cable provider -- albeit with commercials. If any of the above, and the trailer (in a moment) combine to be of interest to you, you now know that it exists. My work is done.

     I'll have much to highlight over on Disney+ as we roll through the month, but this week I'll just note that X-Men: First Class (2011, 2h 12m) has joined the offerings there, where it may end up remaining for all time. Part of the now-defunct Fox X-verse of films, from their attempt to relaunch the franchise with new actors. It's all owned by Disney now, so with the multiverse and all there's always the possibility of some eventual, cameo call-backs. No special reason for me to mention it, but it popped out at me while checking for newly-arrived items at the streamers. Probably just impatience waiting for new Marvel material while mostly ignoring The Eternals.

     Hulu's gotten an infusion of new-to-them, old material as of the new month, too.
     Not generally much of a John Wayne fan, but a few of his that I've liked to watch are now in the mix here: True Grit (1969), The Quiet Man (1952 and horribly dated -- but worth it at least for the cross-country fist-fight, complete with pub break), and The Shootist (1976 1h 40m Wayne's final film role, and something that coincidentally I brought up in lab conversation earlier this week.)
  

   Also in the Hulu mix is the George Pal-produced War of the Worlds (1953  1h 25m), which is one of those films fondly remembered from childhood. Sure, the ghastly 1950s U.S. socio-political atmosphere infected it with ham-fisted, pro-religion touches that likely would have gotten an apoplectic rise - or at least an overt series of eye rolls - out of secularist H.G. Wells had he lived to see hear them. I know I groan at a few spots. The last couple times I watched it I shut it off while the Martians were still winning, or at least before the final narration, so as to at least let it end on a more dignified note.
     Many, many changes from the source novel as the human center of the tale was relocated to the Pacific Coast, but the alien war vehicle redesigns, including trading in the mechanical tripod design for ones with invisible, electromagnetic ones, remains elegant. I'll want to check, but I expect this is the hi-res, restored 2018 version that the Criterion collection later put out, where they went back to the 3-strip Technicolor originals, instead of the inferior Eastman Color stock they'd been replaced by during the '60s, seeking to restore the visual quality it originally wowed with.
     Paul Frees' narration, including an on-screen turn as a broadcast correspondent, are among my most fondly-remembered touches in the film.
 

    Arriving on Hulu today is the second (new) season of the revival of Animaniacs. I watched the first couple this morning -- each with a piece featuring Wakko, Yakko and Dot, and another with Pinky & the Brain, and the rapid-fire, frequently cutting humor is still there. At worst the production lag resulted in more of an emphasis on Trump and even Brexit in one piece set in ancient Rome, but, hey, it works, and unfortunately it's not as if either of those real world debacles have gone away.
     Also newly-arrived (okay, yesterday) on Hulu is Playing God (2021  1h 35m). A con artist team targets a grieving billionaire, offering him a meet and greet with God. Despite a trailer that otherwise seems to give the movie away, I'm still uncertain what to expect in terms of a message, and I'm leery of digging for more info, not wanting to give even more away. Alan Tudyk (grieving billionaire) and Michael McKean (playing God) get me interested enough to risk potentially shoddy plotting and an indecisive message. The two leads (Hannah Kasulka and Luke Benward), playing the sister-brother con team are almost completely unknown to me.

     On Netflix, as I know at least one person who's a fan, I'll mention that season 5 of the animated, raging hormone adolescence comedy series Big Mouth landed today. A little of this goes a loooooong way for me -- I'm not sure I've gotten out of season one yet. The subject matter's not a go-to for me, and the line style succeeds a little too well for me in conveying the unpleasantness of most people as sexual beings. Hey, I'm at least owning my hang-ups.

     On Netflix since Wednesday is a new, made-for-Netflix, gangsta western The Harder They Fall. Interesting cast and possibilities.

     While not strongly drawn in by the true crime genre, and particularly wary of anything with an "inspired by true events" tag (the best one can hope for is that it helped the writers think of a story worth telling), Swedish production, The Unlikely Murderer, looks as if it could be an interesting series. Based on events surrounding the 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Palme, and how inept police work allowed the assassin to get away with it in nearly plain sight. The total run time is 3h 48m.

     Arriving today on Amazon Prime we have the intersection of Benedict Cumberbatch and Victorian era cats in The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021  PG-13 1h 51m). A biopic focused on the ultimately tragic tale of late 19th century artist Louis Wan, whose rise to prominence came through his surreal cat paintings, which reflected his failing sanity. The popularity of Wain's work is credited with popularizing cats as house-pets, rather than simply keeping one around to deal with local rodents. Co-written and directed by Will Sharpe, the film also stars Clair Foy, Andrea Riseborough, and Toby Jones. I'm informed it even has a brief appearance by Nick Cave, appearing as H.G. Wells.

     I'm looking forward to watching this, but at the same time I want to try to line up something else, or a different, affirming activity, to follow it up as I'm expecting it to leave me sad in the balance.
     It would probably have been classier to close on that note, but this Sunday. over on Showtime, we'll be seeing the return of serial killer Dexter Morgan, who we last saw in a mute, dehumanized state back on September 22, 2013, when the 96th episode of Dexter aired. Over eight years?!
     A great deal of (former) fan ire's been unleashed on that series finale over the years, in what I still see as an unfair focus. In reality, it was most of that final season that was a problem, with the show having gone fully off the rails well before the final episode, the audience's credulity abused beyond all reason by how Dexter managed to remain free and seemingly undetected. To only react to the final images of the series as if those are the problem still strikes me as absurd. The final few episodes had a clear arc, as the sociopathic Dexter had been stripped, a piece at a time, of his support system, his near life-long project of faking humanity till he might make it finally, fully abandoned. The silencing of his inner monologue was just the final deconstruction. We were just left uncertain with how temporary or final that state was to be.
     Anyway, starting Sunday we'll get to see where the intervening decade of survival adaptations has taken him as we see the start of Dexter: New Blood.

     Looking forward to it, including the full makeup of his new life. I'm particularly taken with how adoptive sister Deb has become his new, internal sounding board and general Jiminy Cricket virtual conscience, replacing adoptive father, Harry, who was banished as part of the late season eight deconstruction mentioned earlier. I can't be the only one looking on with interest. Any (former) fans with an opinion?

     Continuing my Friday vigil for the first of the diagnostic calls concerning the car. (It's quiet. Too quiet.) I don't know how late I should let it go before calling for an update. Making arrangements for an almost certain transfer from one mechanic to another will only be part of it, and it's getting late on a Friday afternoon. Finding out what support they have with respect to a rental car will be another.
     Wish me luck in sorting things out. Ideally I'll be in a much better state next week! Take care, and stay warm! - Mike