Flights and Frights - Oct 29, 2021 – Friday Video Distractions

 

   Another week gone?! Another Friday arrived? Nearly October's end, too! Horrors!
     I'll be ending the piece with a Halloween-specific item for this final October weekend. Monday's sun will rise over the first day of November, which for me brings the first hint of the end-of-year holiday season. Oh, the official launch of that will be off on the 25th, with the start of the extended Thanksgiving weekend here in the states. For me, that's part of a "holiday feel" block that will run till New Year's Day. I expect I'll be hitting those themes again and again in the remaining weeks of 2021, though. No need to rush it. Still, a hint of

something in the wind. The leaves have finally begun turning hereabouts.
     But that's Out There! For us and now, though, to the screens!
     I wanted to squeeze a reminder to myself and any others who might be interested that this weekend's the end of the HBO Max run for Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark. Come Monday it'll be gone, not back for months.
     Some shows have been wrapping their seasons recently, others just beginning.
     On Hulu, Only Murders In the Building wrapped its 10-episode first season (it was renewed for a second back in September), remaining engaging throughout, even as it layered in plot and character complications. The creation of Steve Martin (one of the leads) and John Hoffman, it centers on a cross-generational trio of misfits who bond initially over being fans of a true crime podcast, and then as people who live in the same, storied, New York City building -- and are confronted with the increasingly suspicious death of a fellow tenant. I'd given the intro to the series back in my September 3rd piece.
     Over on Paramount+, the second, ten-episode season of the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks finished back on October 14th. The series managed to deliver an action comedy that both pokes fun at the overall universe, lore and tropes of the extended, 55 year-old, Star Trek universe, while still very much being an ongoing part of it.
     In a similar spirit of expanding the universe of Trek, this week (also on Paramount+) saw the launch of a new, animated (cgi style) adventure piece that's co-branded with kid's entertainment brand Nickelodeon. It's Star Trek: Prodigy. It centers on a diverse group of young people of various species who will be discovering the highest ideals embodied by Star Fleet. The series launched with the first two, 23-minute each, back-to-back episodes, which assemble the main players and begin the hopeful arc. It's an all-ages affair, specifically targeted to be welcoming to kids. Here's the trailer:

     I watched this very shortly after it appeared 3am local time here on the East Coast - I keep odd hours when I can, and even when I really can't - and was generally pleased with the performances, pace and themes, all taken in with the understanding that it's intended to draw in a younger audience. Voice talent here - the adult end of it - includes John Noble and Kate Mulgrew, which added to the fun.
     Recorded Thursday night while I was sleeping (knocked out early, waking back up for a block early Friday), I still have yet to get to the third season finale for FX's vampire mockumentary What We Do In the Shadows, which is also available over on Hulu.
     Another good season finale, setting up a new, scattered pairing for at least the start of season four.
     Sunday, on Halloween, BBC America (here in the states -- guess where in the U.K.) we'll

see the launch of the latest, very abbreviated season of Doctor Who. This constitutes the third - and final - season for this, the official thirteenth incarnation of the British science fantasy hero, first introduced to our world back in 1963. Very much a composite creature of multiple generations of actors and writers, The Doctor has come to be a hero who seeks to protect those who need protecting, and to try to be a force for reason and understanding. A virtually immortal being with the means of traversing space and time, who (generally) manages to retain something of a child's aspect - occasionally a grumpy one, but generally that of wonder and acceptance. A two-hearted hero that doesn't travel with a gun, but most often with a sonic screwdriver -- the ultimate multi-tool. As with most fans, I've occasionally gotten cranky as writers have repeatedly emphasized heart over head resolutions - and I suspect I will have such moments of pique in the future, too - but I've come to embrace the fantasy, heart and ideals they've generally striven for.
 

    The current Doctor, played by Jodie Whitaker, and current showrunner Chris Chibnall, are doing these, six, weekly episodes from October 31st through December 5th, then will have three specials in 2022, the final one being somewhere in the Autumn (part of the BBC's 100th anniversary celebration) where this Doctor will depart and the new, as-yet-unnamed Doctor will debut as they regenerate. As I understand it, these six, 2021 episodes will flow one into the other as a six-part story, titled Flux, as opposed to the modern era (the show was relaunched, after a long hiatus, back in 2005) convention of having each one (or occasionally a pair) be stand-alone adventures.
     So, this Sunday will launch the last, concentrated run of Doctor Who we'll be seeing until sometime in 2023 - the Doctor's 60th anniversary, when once and future showrunner Russell T. Davies (who presided over the relaunched series in 2005, and stayed through 2010, when the second modern Doctor ,David Tennant, also departed the series.)
     Let's not rush things, though. Here's the trailer for this 6-episode season, overall titled Flux, beginning Sunday. (Programming note: BBC America will be debuting the first episode in a simulcast with the BBC, where it's five hours later than here on the East Coast, so it'll first be airing Sunday afternoon for us. An expanded version will air for us 8PM Sunday, too.

     Before getting to this week's final item, for those who have Turner Classic Movies, I'll mention what seasonal items they have coming this weekend - at least the ones I consider highlights - starting tonight (all times Eastern):
   Friday:
     8PM The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) (I keep coming back around to this, don't I? Well, this time it's TCM that's done it.)
     10PM Night of the Living Dead (1968)  (This may be the cleaned-up/restored/enhanced version available through Criterion and over on HBO Max. The film's also available free on Tubi.)
   Saturday:
     Midnight Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
     8:15 AM Chamber of Horrors (1966)  A somewhat gimmicky, revenge picture. The trailer (seen here in a moment) is a sad joke, played out so long it may have been a template for too many Saturday Night Live sketches, but I remember the film itself as being entertaining.

     2:45 PM The Haunting (1963)
     4:45 PM The Tomb of Ligeia (1964/5 depending on where)  Okay, it's one of those Roger Corman, pseudo-Poe films, but isn't that really enough? Starring Vincent Price, though over the years I've found out that that was at the insistence of the investors. Corman wanted a younger, more contemporarily handsome actor, like Richard Chamberlain, as the part was supposed to be a man around 25-30. Price was in his mid-fifties.
     Looking back on it, screenwriter Robert Towne doubled down on this thinking, perhaps a tad unkindly to the star.

     He said the film "...was a little dull. I think it would have been better if it had been with a man who didn't look like a necrophiliac to begin with... I love Vincent. He's very sweet. But, going in, you suspect that Vincent could bang cats, chickens, girls, dogs, everything. You just feel that necrophilia might be one of his Basic Things. I'd felt the role called for an almost unnaturally handsome guy who the second wife could easily fall in love with. There should also be a sense of taboo about the close tie he had with his first wife – as though it was something incestuous, two halves of the same person."

      6:15 PM The Fly (1958) Once again with Vincent Price, albeit in a supporting role.
      8 PM Frankenstein (1931)
      9:30 PM Young Frankenstein (1974)
      Midnight Cat People (1942) The first of a pair of Jacques Tournier-directed, feline fright flicks, being followed by...
     Sunday
     1:22 AM The Leopard Man (1943)
     4:30 AM Carnival of Souls (1962) -- yeah, it's a low-budget piece that IMHO opinion goes on half-again longer than it should, but some have elevated this to cult film status. Still, here at 4:30 on a Sunday morning, it may be just what you need to go back to sleep.

    6 AM  Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) Another Poe adaptation, though this one of a detective story. Possible points of interest include Karl Malden, Steve Forrest (one of those "I know the face" actors for many of us), and even future talk and game show overlord Merv Griffin. Also there's some modest amusement in seeing how some scenes were filmed, as this was a (largely failed) attempt to recapture the previous year's lightning in a bottle success with House of Wax -- which is to say this was originally filmed and shown as a 3D film.

     7:30 AM Macabre (1958) Noted almost exclusively as a William Castle film, this being the one where the promotional gimmick was a $1000 life insurance policy from Lloyds of London for any audience member who died of fright while watching the film. Beyond that, it may be worth noting that Jim (Mr. Magoo/Thurston Howell III) Backus plays the police chief, and Ellen (Grandma Walton) Corby has a supporting player role. It's not a bad, Peyton Place-ish mystery overall, with some themes (including child abduction and live burial) that could be disturbing. Another money-maker for Castle and his investors, as a budget of $90K saw $5 million in box office come back.
     8:45 AM White Zombie (1932)
     3:30 PM The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) Another Roger Corman-directed Poe adaptation starring Vincent Price, this one with the screenplay by Richard Matheson, who had gotten firmly on the genre map back in 1954 with his novel I Am Legend, and whose story work has been adapted repeatedly to screens big and small.
  

   5 PM Curse of the Demon (1958) AKA Night of the Demon (its original title for British release the year earlier.) Fortunately, despite the U.S. release title, this appears to be the full, 95-minute original version, not the chopped-down for the ADD Yanks 83-minute version. Anyway, it's a very effective tale of witchcraft, starring Dana Andrews as a science-based debunker of the supernatural who has to adapt on the fly to accepting the real thing in a race for his life. Ana adaptation of M.R. James' 1911 story "Casting the Runes." Somewhat infamously, the producer (former child actor, and general adult wheeler-dealer Hal E. Chester) overruled the collective objections of the writer, the director, and the film's leading man (Andrews) by having a special effects creature, the titular Demon, created, filmed and inserted into the film both very early on and at the end of the film. On the bright side, it was a well-crafted creature and effects sequence for the time, but I certainly understand the objections, in wanting to leave the source of the horror unseen. The creature's become the go-to image when the film comes up, which, again, is that mix of understandable and unfortunate. This is the film I always think of whenever someone is passing a paper to me, as that's a critical mechanic in the story.
     8PM Psycho (1960)  Well, hey... you have to have seen this at least once.
     After that, I guess, go to bed. The true horror waits mere hours away, with the start of Monday!
 
     Forty five years ago tonight – October 29, 1976 – ABC gave Paul Lynde a broadcast hour for a holiday special. ABC knew he was wildly popular, but two attempts to fit him in sitcoms had failed terribly, so they were struggling with how to best showcase him, and to otherwise help keep him busy with something. This special – so very much a thing of its time – was all in all a much better move. Oh, it’s campy, but there’s a greater expectation and so a higher tolerance for that sort of thing in this format.
      With a bizarre array of guests – including Margaret “Wicked Witch of the West” Hamilton, Billie “Witchiepoo” Hayes, Tim Conway, Florence Henderson, Billy Barty, Betty White, Kiss, and Donny & Marie Osmond - It’s The Paul Lynde Holiday Special. In so many ways a creature of its time.  Running 50m 37s in this YouTube video.

I've no idea what any of this will look like to a modern, substantially-under-50 audience, there's much to date it, most of all perhaps the inclusion of Roz Kelly. Roz was modestly famous at the time for playing Pinky Tuscadero, girlfriend of Fonzie (Henry Winkler) on the then highly popular Happy Days. Moreover, how much currency the likes of "Witchiepoo"will have is also a mystery to me, as I've no idea if Sid and Martgy Kroft's H.R. Puf'n'stuff has gotten much syndication in the past forty or so years. (The show itself was a single season, in the fall of 1969, and spawned a musical film the following year.) Aside from that, Donny and Marie? Disco?
     Hey, it's a Friday! I'd suggest considering taking this with a strong drink - just the way Paul did!
     Here, comedy writing legend Bruce Vilanch  - who was part of the writing team for the special - reminisces about it in a brief section from his interview for the Archive of American Television.

     And that's plenty for this week. I'll think about November once I'm a step or two closer! Take care, and may you only get the best candy! - Mike

Various Beginnings, Returns, Continuations and Endings - Sept 10 - Friday Video Distractions with Mike Norton

     Welcome back! My first post of Year Three of the Consortium of Seven!
     I've been revisiting these pieces to add comments after getting to the movies/shows, which I'm putting in this blue font.
    The latest of this year's big screen & HBO Max simultaneous releases arrives today, as a woman's childhood imaginary friend is introduced to everyone around her. No, it's not Drop Dead Fred (though that might make for an interesting double feature), it's Malignant (2021 R  1h 51m Available on HBO Max till October 10th)

    I can't say this one grabbed me strongly. As ever, your mileage may vary, as is seemingly the case with many James Wan fans. The opening flashback section, indirectly introducing us to Gideon, and his powers of control over electricity and electrical equipment struck me as comic book cliche, almost to a level of parody.
     Speaking of HBO Max, I was too busy last week to do much with it, but I'm happy to report that my Vizio smart TV finally saw them adding the app for it, so I can finally make proper use of the service.  Having to navigate it via a browser was irritating with my clumsy set-up.
     Now to figure out how to get it to default to showing me closed captions... It keeps resetting, even when I'm watching a series and it moves on to the next episode.
     Arriving today on Netflix is the sixth and final season of the fantasy crime dramedy series Lucifer.
     Largely as a matter of licensing, and how the deal was made to bring the series to television (and how could one properly deal with this character without having deceptive deals involved?) it's technically noted that this is some form of adaptation of the Lucifer character created by Neal Gaiman,

Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg first in the pages of Sandman, and then spinning off into his own solo series for seventy five issues. That set up expectations in the minds of the comics cognoscenti which were immediately dashed when they saw that what came to Fox was a crime procedural with sexual tension between the two, too attractive to be believed leads - a kick-ass, female LAPD detective, and the fallen angel, former king of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar; the latter having decided to abdicate a throne he never asked for, come up to Earth, and open a fancy night spot in LA. A charming fellow, he's a deal-maker with the special ability to get anyone to reveal their deepest, truest desire -- well, anyone but detective Chloe Decker, which is part of what attracts him to her. Also, Lucifer never lies. But when someone with supermodel looks and a suave style opens a club in LA, everyone takes it in stride that a guy presenting himself as Lucifer Morningstar is just spinning a glamour. It's all part of the show, so absurd truth becomes easily-accepted lie.
     I was on board from the start, interested to see where this might go, content to let it be its own thing.
     The infamously vile Christian fundamentalist organization American Family Association, under the misnomer banner of One Million Moms, had gathered a bit over 134,000 signatures to try to block the show from airing only raised interest. The many critics who dumped on the show because it was "another crime procedural" only proved to me why I generally don't care what critics have to say.
     It ran three seasons on Fox, then following a decision not to renew for a fourth, a fan campaign helped steer it to a pick-up from Netflix, bringing us these three seasons.
     Here's the brief story so far trailer they put together to accompany the release date announcement for this final season, back in late July. It's mostly a riff of scenes from the previous seasons which wouldn't in the least bring any newcomers up to speed -- and nor should it.

     I'm hopeful for it getting a proper send-off with this final group of ten episodes.
    Happily, it did. I hadn't gone into it with a marathon in mind, and even pointedly broke it up, nudging myself to do and watch other things after an episode or two, but then I went back for a couple more, and the final ten were casually gone by early Sunday.
     Starting Monday, exclusive to FX on Hulu, is an adaptation of the Brian K. Vaughn, Pia Guerra series Y: The Last Man.

     The comics series ran 60 issues from 2002 to 2008. It won industry awards, and I know many who are excited to see it adapted to the screen.
     I found the initial pitch - which sounds suspiciously like one for a pornish, adolescent fantasy - to be a little off-putting. The main character is meant to be the only hetero date option remaining among  billions of women. Indeed, the seemingly supernatural sweep is down to the cellular level, wiping out not only the living males at every stage of life, but even any sperm that had been kept frozen in storage.
     Ideally, the people behind the series have a distinct plan for the length. That they have a specific endpoint in mind - I'm perfectly fine with them having various subplots they'd like to get to if the show is successful enough to give them the room - but I demand (to the extent I can do such a thing) that they are given the opportunity to wrap it up. If it's not pulling the viewership that they want, and the people paying for it decide it's not the asset they thought it would be, that they are told to skip to the endgame, and then given a set number of episodes to resolve it. I'm presuming this has been greenlit to be a permanent part of the Hulu archive, and that by this stage they have the sense to know that it's far more valuable to them as a potential subscriber draw over the long haul if it presents a complete story.
     Caught the first episode when I innocently ran across it during another splash of insomnia early, early Monday morning. So far, so good. They dropped the first three episodes there on day one, which is likely a good idea. It gives more of an opportunity to dig in and start to get acquainted with the players. The remainder of the run will be one per week.
     Back over to Netflix, having arrived this past Wednesday, is the second season of Into The Night. Produced in Belgium, it deals with a seeming sweep of death across the Earth as the Sun rises, with us following a desperate group flying to outrace the sunrise by flying West, searching for sanctuary.
     I'll risk that it's not too much of a spoiler to reveal that some of them made it to a sanctuary by the close of season one. How safe a haven that may be is the open question of season two. If I recall correctly Netflix provides options for this, including a full English dub.

     At this point I have no idea whether this second round of six episodes concludes the story or not.
     Before moving on from Netflix, I'll mention that while doing a sweep for items I decided to add  Tidying Up with Marie Kondo to my watch list.

     Her new series, Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo, is being pushed now, which was what reminded me of her. To say that I have nearly lifelong issues with clutter (honestly, in some significant ways I'm a hoarder) would be a mild statement. I need to at least start to get myself into a more receptive state of mind. Wish me luck, and I won't shy away from any inspirational, personal experiences any of you might have about de-cluttering one's life.
     Over on Amazon Prime a couple things caught my eye.
     A 4-part documentary on the rise, cultish fanaticism and twists, then fall of a company I'd never heard of is laid out in LuLaRich (2021)

     This may simultaneously scratch that shadenfreude itch, and also be an oddly fun palate-cleanser for the investing focus I've been drawn into in recent months, wherein I've been giving special attention to a list of factors one looks for in a company worth investing in. Seeing past the hype and often genuine enthusiasm - nearly ignoring it in deference to facts and figures - is an important part of the process.
     Another casual watch that first weekend, it pulled me along and through, even though I deliberately broke away between episodes. It was an interesting ride, even just tracking my own sympathies with the players. I had a sense of general, genuine good will through the first and a chunk of the second episode, as it seemed to be a case of good intentions leading to an out-of-control situation. The shades of Mormon conditioning coming through were the first warning sign, revealing an intrinsic narrowness of  view and fairly typical blindness to one's own privilege. After that my sympathies started to turn harder and harder against the LuLaRoe founders. Beyond that it was mostly a matter of the ultimately unknowable, and whether or not they were saying what they were saying from a position of belief or as a defensive legal posture.
     It was interesting to track the journeys of several people, including seeing where they settled by the end.
     Arriving on Amazon Prime is a 2019 independent film project that's being branded as 2021 because this is its big, U.S. debut: The Tangle (1h 39m).
     In a near-future world, all mankind is linked by a nano-bot maintained Artificial Intelligence that connects every mind and is supposed to make violence against each other impossible. A secret agency polices it from within special tech-safe rooms that allow them to operate unaffected by the bots pervading everyone else.

     A neo-noir tech thriller, I'm approaching it warily as most of the criticisms have to do with protracted, less than natural exposition. Very talky. Ideally this will turn out to be the root of praise, marking it as a more cerebral outing that resisted devolving into an action picture with broader, lower common denominator appeal.
     As for ongoing, current series tv, I've been enjoy the latest seasons of the FX/FXX (I can't keep which is which straight) series What We Do In the Shadows, and Archer. Episodes of both series show up on Hulu the following day. Over on Paramount+ each Thursday is bringing us a new episode of the Star Trek animated adventure comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks, and on Sunday a new episode of Evil. 

    The former manages to be episodic, moving the stories and relationships of the characters along while deconstructing the various tropes of over half a century of Star Trek adventures. The latter is clever fun, as the trio of often philosophically-differing investigators move from assignment to assignment, investigating claims of the supernatural, employed by the Catholic Church. Significant subplots run alongside, connecting the episodes. The cast is terrific, and not just the leads, and the writing sharp, with humor, drama and creepiness blending with deceptive ease. Definitely a show to watch from the beginning, to just jump in with a random episode would be to cheat yourself.
     The ninth episode of season two is this Sunday, and we're in a straight-shot run of Sundays through October 10th's season finale - refreshing after the aggravating dry patch that was nearly all of August. I've been devouring each new episode early (early) Sunday mornings (they appear just after 3AM Eastern), and will miss it when we're again between seasons. At least I know it's been renewed for a third season. I've mentioned the show a few times, talking about it at some length the first time back in October of last year.
     Another hectic week, despite the Monday holiday. My staff gradually returning from out-of-state trips (one delayed an extra day by food poisoning), and us observing stepped-up COVID protocols for a a while in case either of them asymptomatically brought back anything. Meanwhile, well, that's not for here. I just have other matters on my mind, and they're tapping me out. I am the world's largest, delicate, hothouse flower.
     Closing this week with another '50s/'60s sci-fi or horror picture, I've decided to go with one that's really more interesting in its origins than its end product: Battle Beyond the Sun (1962  64 min). I'm offering it in the spirit that it's an interesting work of piracy and repurposing - more interesting to be aware of than necessarily sitting through it.
     This US version of the film was set up by Roger Corman, who hired young film-school student Francis Ford Coppola to re-cut, culturally scrub, and add footage to a 1959 Soviet science fiction fantasy Nebo Zovyot ("The Sky Calls").
     As I understand it, Corman negotiated a price to have the right to distribute it in the West, and had no qualms about turning it into a very different film. Even the actors, director's, etc. names are changed in the credits to anglicized ones. Other footage is worked into the film, ranging from stock rocket launch footage, to gratuitous giant monsters, to some footage from the Rose Bowl Parade - the latter used as part of a heroes' homecoming finale.
     The original Soviet film was very distinct about the two nations represented being the USSR and USA, and was a decidedly pro-Soviet, anti-American piece, framed as the speculative imaginings of a reporter who's just interviewed a space scientist and ponders a time perhaps not far off when a manned mission to Mars is being planned. In the U.S. version, the dream/fantasy framework is removed, it's set in 1997, years after an atomic war, and the two nations are the post-apocalyptic ones of North Hemis and South Hemis.
     Here is the US version: Battle Beyond the Sun

     ...and here is the Soviet original (with English subtitles) Nebo Zovyot ("The Sky Calls")

     That wraps things for me for this week. Tomorrow's art post by Esther will wrap the first, full week of posts for Year Three of the Consortium of Seven. I hope you check out all of the other contributors' posts, and come back to see me next Friday. -- Mike