Featured shows and films:
Scream Queens,
season 1 (13, 45-min. eps. 2015) **
The X-Files,
season 10 (6, 45-min. eps, 2016) ***½
Agent Carter,
season 2 (10, 45-min. eps. 2016) ***½
The Age of the
Medici, mini-series (3, 90 min. eps. 1972-1973) **
The Witch
(2016) ****
Gandhi (1982)
***½
It was a light
week—lots of extracurricular activities for the kids this week—but I did finish
up a few television shows and took in a couple of heavy investment movies. “Scream
Queens” was a show I started watching as it aired and just had too much trouble
getting into it. It seemed to suffer from a similar problem from creator Ryan
Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s other horror anthology series “American Horror Story”
in that each season seems to be too saturated in ideas and not enough in
substance. The fact that “Scream Queens” is a comedy horror anthology helps in
that respect, which is why I finally returned to it. After four or five
episodes it seemed to calm down a little with turning in every horror idea the
writers could think of, but as is also always the case with “American Horror
Story” it seemed to take far too long to wrap things up. It would’ve worked
much better with 10 episodes than it does with 13. It’ll have to have a damn
good cast and very interesting premise to get me back in next season.
I actually
finished up the newest mini-season of “The X-Files” the night it finished up,
but I forgot to tweet about it until the beginning of last week. I’ve been so
concentrated on the Doug Loves Movies Challenge that I had forgotten to include
my TV viewing. I was a huge X-Files fan in its heyday and am one of the few who
think the last movie they did was just as worthy of the entire series. So it’s
really no surprise that I enjoyed the new television season. It was too short.
But, I think it’s a good idea to avoid the full 22-episode season thing.
Getting it right is better than getting a bunch of it. I’d like to see a
13-episode run.
I liked that
they tried to cover every type of classic X-Files episode in their limited run—the
government conspiracy, the monster of the week, the meta episode, the
relationship episode, and even introducing a new B-team. There were two monster
episodes, one scary and one meta. Those two were the best, as monster episodes
always were the best of the series. They left it with a cliffhanger, which was
met by a surprising response from fans and media in my view. There was
widespread disappointment expressed about this and a great deal of media
speculation about whether the series would return. Doesn’t the cliffhanger
pretty much demonstrate that the makers are confident they will return? I’m
encouraged.
My favorite
comic book-inspired network show, “Agent Carter”, is rumored to be getting a 3rd
season renewal, which would make me a happy camper. “Agent Carter” is a
throwback, not merely because it takes place during the Golden Age of
Hollywood, but also because it recreates the storytelling of the 80’s era
action/adventure television show. It does all this with a strong female leading
character who is becoming instrumental in changing the image of women in
entertainment. Hayley Atwell continues to convince me she may be the only
actress with the chops necessary to pull this bold television statement off.
She has a whip-crack wit. She carries the weight of the anti-feminism of the
time period. Further more Atwell sports a different, more realistic and more
attainable physique for an action star. She isn’t supermodel thin, but she is
beautiful in a way that makes one desire a woman with her looks, intelligence
and abilities. She may be setting the bar higher than it ever has been for heroines.
Now, The
Criterion Collection is considered the cream of the cream of the crop of
filmmaking. Their commitment to putting out films that might be overlooked or
forgotten and well as showcasing the greatest of the great doesn’t always come
together as a complete package. “The Age of the Medici” was a three episode
Italian television series that focused on the Renaissance of Florence, once
thought to be the center of world culture. As a document of this time, Roberto
Rossellini’s series is admirable. As a dramatic work, it is awfully dry. The
production took pains to stage and frame its scenes as if they were actually
Renaissance paintings. Unfortunately, it is played as if the audience were
reading a history book. It gets better as it goes along, if only because you
get more familiar with the political maneuverings of the time, but I can’t say
it is essential viewing.
“The Witch”
seems to have become a problematic movie. Many have praised it, but now that it
is out there for the public to see, I’ve heard many people say, “That was the
worst movie ever!” Yes. I put that in quotation marks because that is verbatim
what at least three people said to me when asked about it. It seems extreme to
me, since at the time I saw it I would’ve praised it as the best movie I’d seen
so far this year.
It could be an
example of how expectation can affect a personal view of a movie. I believe the
three people who said that to me were expecting to be scared shitless watching
it. I on the other hand was expecting to see something of an unusual European
style horror movie, something along the lines of “A Field in England” or “Berbarian
Sound Studio”, which were more about the feeling of horror than actual scares.
What I saw in “The Witch” wasn’t really very different than a typical American
horror movie plot wise, although it didn’t depend on shocks and surprises as
much as it depended on a well thought out plot. The Puritan New England setting
is certainly something modern horror audiences aren’t used to, but it makes a
great deal of sense for a story about a witch.
When it comes
down to it, “The Witch” is a horror movie with a brain rather than one that
depends on the conventions of its plot. That makes it an excellent horror flick
in my eyes. Nothing could’ve disappointed me more than yet another “Paranormal
Activity” sequel/spin off that gives you all the same tropes and clichés of
typical horror films. “The Witch” makes great sense in the world it is trying
to portray. It also works on thematic and metaphorical levels. This is what I
like to see in a horror movie. I loved it.
“Gandhi” was
one of those classics that I’d never really gotten around to seeing. I’d seen
the end many times as a child on HBO, but I never watched it all the way
through. Of course, I might’ve been able to watch it from the beginning before
if I’d realized that the movie opens with the exact same scene that ends it.
Anyway, It’s one of those movies that are very moving and very important. It’s
a typical 80s epic. As a film, its subject matter is more important than the
film itself, but I am glad I finally saw it. Ben Kingley’s performance as
Mahatma Gandhi is quite impressive, especially considering he was an unknown
before that role.
Well, those are
my views; here are my tweets.
2/29
Finally
finished #ScreemQueens.
Thinking I shouldn't have bothered. Great horror comedy ideas that never result
in anything satisfying.
3/1
Belated on #TheXFiles
season 10. Loved that it was a series of individual episodes. Far too short,
but I liked the shortened season. Want more.
I love, I love,
I love #AgentCarter.
Peggy gives me such joy. I wish Howard Stark were on the show more. Please renew
it again #ABC.
3/2
Despite its #CriterionCollection
status. #TheAgeofMedici
is at best interesting. Never high praise.
3/5
#TheWitch
interprets one of man's most infamous frauds against women expertly made from
"historical" writings. #DLMChallenge
No. 68
3/6
#Gandhi told us
that, "all tyrants fall, all of them." Now we just need to figure out
how to stop them from rising. #DLMChallenge
No. 69
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