"Scream" (2022) and "Scream VI"

I haven't kept up with the "Scream" movies after seeing the original, and don't have much nostalgia for this franchise.  However, I noticed that the newest entries featured Jenna Ortega and Jack Quaid, and it had been an awfully long time since I'd seen Neve Campbell or Courtney Cox in anything, so I decided to take a look.  

I immediately remembered why I didn't much enjoy the first movie.  "Scream" has always been a traditional slasher series, which means we spend a lot of time watching attractive people running around and getting killed off in gruesome ways.  There are jump scares and big reveals that require a lot of suspension of disbelief.  Ghostface is also one of those killers who won't shut up - their whole schtick is that they spend at least as much time taunting their victims as they do trying to cause them physical harm.  "Scream" distinguished itself by being the franchise that was self-aware, but these movies have gotten so meta that they're in danger of eating themselves. 

The 2022 "Scream," which I will refer to as "Scream V" to avoid further confusion, serves as a reboot/sequel or "requel," as the movie puts it.  Our main characters are a pair of sisters, Samantha Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), who find themselves being targeted by a new Ghostface.  Their friend group includes characters played by Jack Quaid, Dylan Minette, Mikey Madison, Kyle Gallner, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding.  They seek help from the survivors from the first movie - Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), her ex husband Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).   It turns out that Samantha and Tara have ties to the original Ghostface, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), which may be tied to the new killer's motive.

The meta elements mostly come from a horror movie series that exists within the "Scream" universe called "Stab," which many of the characters are fans of and discuss constantly.  There's endless monologuing about various tropes and filmmaking sins, to the point where it stops being fun and gets very tedious.  However, the writers do play fair and have the extreme fandom around "Stab" tie into the motives of the killer.  So the villain was the audience all along!  The best parts of "Scream V" are when the material is actually played straight, and we have some nice moments with Dewey and Gale reconnecting.  The actual thrills and kills don't do much for me, though I like that Ghostface's primary female targets are more aggressive and willing to fight than the scream queens of older horror movies.

"Scream VI" is a step down, taking the survivors from "Scream V" and moving the action to New York City.  This allows for a big attack sequence on a subway train, but otherwise doesn't factor into the story much.  Hayden Panetierre, Samara Weaving, Tony Revolori, and Dermot Mulroney show up, and some of them are red herrings, and some of them aren't.  Courtney Cox is the only actor from the original "Scream" who bothers to make an appearance.  Again, unstable "Stab" fans are behind the newest round of Ghostface killings, but the meta is thankfully reduced to only one character, who keeps reminding everyone else that nobody is safe in horror franchise movies now, not even the main characters.  There's also one good in-joke, where Panetierre being an FBI Agent is called out as being highly dubious.         

I don't think I'll watch future installments of the "Scream" franchise.  These two latest installments aren't bad for what they are, but I'm not getting much entertainment value out of what they offer.  Still, credit should go where credit is due.  I find the self-aware bits mostly grating, but at least the fundamentals of pretty girls fending off stabby creeps are pretty solid.  The movies also understand what they are, and never try to get too full of themselves, the way those last two "Halloween" movies did.  "Scream" is very much a franchise that is ongoing, and has consistently featured some good talent and a good attitude about its place in pop culture.  It's the only slasher series left that really feels like it's trying to stay current, even if it's not always successful.

 

---

Back to "The Baby-Sitters Club"

Mild spoilers ahead.

"The Baby-Sitters Club" is back in my life again.  I read a good chunk of the book series, about a group of junior high girls who run a baby-sitting business, when it was first being released in the '80s and '90s.  Now the books being re-released as graphic novels has sparked a new wave of interest.   I decided to take a look at the Netflix "Baby-Sitters Club" series, which ran for two seasons, and racked up a slew of good notices.  I'd never seen any of the "Baby-Sitters" adaptations from the 90s, so all I had to compare it to were the books.

The first season consists of ten half-hours, each episode loosely based on one of the books in the series.  Enterprising Kristy Thomas (Sophie Grace) has the great idea to start a baby-sitting business, and invites her friends Mary Anne Spier (Malia Baker) and Claudia Kishi (Momona Tamada) to join.  Soon  new girls Stacy McGill (Shay Rudolph) and Dawn Schafer (Xochitl Gomez) are added to the roster.  The girls work through friendship troubles, family spats, and school worries together, while bringing in the childcare money.  There's a lot of emphasis on the supporting adults in many of these stories, including Kristy's strong-minded mother Elizabeth (Alicia Silverstone) her boyfriend Watson (Mark Feuerstein), Claudia's beloved grandmother Mimi (Takayo Fischer), Mary Anne's strict father Richard (Mark Evan Jackson), and Dawn's free-spirited mother Sharon (Jessica Elaina Eason).

The show is great.  I love that it's for an age group that doesn't get enough media - preteen girls who are too old for kids' series but too young for the more adult ones.  I love that the old stories have retained their basic shapes, but have been updated for the 2020s (no texting on the job).  The young actresses are excellent, and the characters are just as memorably imperfect and loveable as I remember.  I like some of the changes, like cutting down the romances and putting them into more appropriate context.  I'm cooler on some of the others, like adding a lot more drama.  For instance, the "Kristy's Big Day" wedding episode sees Kristy get into a fight with her mother over a dress, reconcile at the last minute before the honeymoon, and experience her first period.  None of these things happen in the book, "Kristy's Big Day," where the big crisis was Kristy having to rally the club to babysit fourteen kids on short notice.      

It's a little ironic that the first thing cut out of most of these "Baby-Sitters Club" stories is the babysitting.  I was surprised that the show never really addresses how babysitting has changed since the 80s, except for acknowledging online apps and much higher fees.  The focus stays almost entirely on the girls navigating relationships with each other and their parents.  To be fair, that was a big part of the fun of the books  - there were always mild soap opera dramatics going on between babysitting gigs.  The series just turns up the juice a little more and speeds things up, so Mary Anne's father and Dawn's mother date, break up, and get back together over the course of about six episodes.  When Claudia's grandmother has her stroke, it also involves flashbacks to her time in an internment camp during WWII.  The season ends with a big two-parter where everyone spends summer vacation together, based on one of the periodic "Baby-Sitters Club: Super Special" books for big event stories.

So, as a fan of the books, I can fully endorse the series.  Would today's kids connect with it though?  I don't see why not.  As much as I like some of the adult performers, the show is at its best when it's sticking to the POVs of the girls.  They're a good collection of personality types, from sheltered Mary Anne to boy-crazy Stacey to activist Dawn to artsy Claudia, who will always be the coolest.  Sophia Grace, however, is definitely the strongest performer as Kristy, who is going through the roughest transition out of everyone, and best embodies all the woes of a thirteen-year-old who is ready to take on the world - but still can't stay up late on school nights.

 

---

My Favorite Mira Nair Film

The best Mira Nair film is undeniably "Salaam Bombay!," her heartbreaking first feature about street children eking out a sad existence in Bombay.  It's what put her in the spotlight, as one of the first female Indian directors to enjoy international acclaim, leading to a long and eclectic career.  However, "Salaam Bombay!" doesn't have much of what I've come to enjoy most about Mira Nair films - moving immigrant narratives, sensual romance, and lush visuals.  Also, it doesn't have a young Denzel Washington setting the screen ablaze.

It takes a while for Washington to show up in "Mississippi Masala," Nair's second film, which opens with the expulsion of South Asians from Uganda in 1972.  Jay and Kinnu (Roshan Seth and Sharmila Tagore) and their young daughter Mina are among the refugees, who eventually end up in rural Mississippi many years later, running a motel.  The South Asian community is small, but well established, and Mina (Sarita Choudhury), now in her twenties, has adjusted to life in the U.S.  While her father continues to petition the Ugandan government to reclaim his seized property, Mina falls in love with an African-American man named Demetrius (Washington), who owns a carpet cleaning business.

The Ugandan exiles are a fascinating group - ethnic Indians who often had no ties to India, were forcibly displaced by Idi Amin's regime, and ended up scattered around the globe.  The community in Mississippi coexists uneasily alongside their mostly African-American neighbors, scraping by in typical immigrant fashion.  As committed as the film is to exploring both groups of residents, and putting an interracial relationship front and center, it doesn't hide the difficulties that come with it.  Mina and Demetrius immediately meet with hostility when their relationship is discovered, especially from Mina's parents.  Staying with each other means having to cut ties and leave, another expulsion driven by complicated motivations.  

Hollywood doesn't make enough romantic films anymore, and even fewer that are interested in being really sexy.  "Mississippi Masala" benefits from Choudhury and Washington's onscreen chemistry, but even more from Mira Nair's understanding of what to do with it.  90% of their courtship involves no dialogue, just watching the two of them physically and emotionally connect.  There are several points, including the end credits sequence, where Nair just lets her incredibly photogenic actors exist in the frame together, reacting to each other and enjoying each other's physical presence.  I was caught off guard by the sex scene, because it had been so long since I'd seen a halfway decent one in a major film.  It's not even a particularly erotic or explicit scene, but it stands out because it gets across how much both participants enjoy the act.   

Nair shot the film exactly where it takes place, both in Uganda and in Greenwood, Mississippi.  This lends a realism and authenticity to the film that is rare, and extremely effective.  The immersiveness is instantaneous in each locale, which is vital since the editing sometimes cuts quickly from one to the other, usually for flashbacks and memories.   The juxtaposition of Jay's narrative, which sees him grappling with the effects of an injustice that played out on such a historic scale, with Mina and Demetrious's much smaller, intimate romance, works very well.  It helps to give context to the behaviors and the biases we see in play without being too obvious or explicit, heightens the generational and social divides, and brings the parallels into sharper focus.   

  

Going through Mira Nair's filmography this year was one of the best film experiences I've had in a while.  She has such a strong body of work, and has such a distinct visual style and point of view.  I especially admire her willingness to tackle different cultural experiences, spending a considerable amount of time with Demetrious's family and friends in "Mississippi Masala," even as we see the story unfold mostly from Mina's point of view.  Many of Nair's films are ultimately celebrations of family and love and culture, some very personal and specific, but all wonderfully universal onscreen.  

What I've Seen - Mira Nair

Salaam Bombay! (1988)

Mississippi Masala (1991)

The Perez Family (1995)

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)

Monsoon Wedding (2001)

Hysterical Blindness (2002)

Vanity Fair (2004)

The Namesake (2006)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)

Queen of Katwe (2016)

---

"Biosphere" and "They Cloned Tyrone"

My entry point into a lot of different mediums was science fiction.  However, occasionally it takes some digging to find the good stuff, and often the science fiction movies that I enjoy most are the weird, little-seen, independent and straight-to-streaming films that never seem to get much attention.  I decided to pair up "Biosphere" and "They Cloned Tyrone" for a double review, because they both fall into this category, and they both run the risk of being overlooked this year.

"Biosphere" is "The Twilight Zone" via mumblecore, starring and co-written by Mark Duplass, with Mel Elyn co-writing and directing.  It takes place entirely within a biosphere dome, inhabited by the last two people on Earth - BIlly (Duplass), the former president who was probably responsible for the apocalypse, and Ray (Sterling K. Brown), his childhood friend, former advisor, and the scientist who built the biosphere.  When we first meet them, they've been stuck inside the biosphere for a while, sticking to a careful regime of exercise, chores, and video games.  Everything outside the dome appears to be lifeless, with omnipresent clouds obscuring the sun.  Inside, the delicate ecosystem is threatened when their last female fish dies. 

I was never much one for mumblecore movies, finding their rough production values, rambling narratives, and focus on difficult relationship quandaries not very conducive to being entertaining. I respect the creative impulse behind this style of filmmaking, and it's clearly given us some invaluable talents like the Duplasses, but after a few attempts I decided it wasn't for me.  Though aesthetically pretty conventional, "Biosphere" tackles many of the same themes as a typical mumblecore production - I immediately thought of Lynn Shelton's "Humpday" - with the science fiction allowing some ideas to be taken to new extremes.  At its core, "Biosphere" is about charting the changes in a relationship, brought on by environmental pressures and lack of options.  When faced with being the last two people on earth, Billy and Ray find themselves changing drastically in order to survive - not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.  The scripting is messy, and feels unfinished, cutting off at what's essentially a cliffhanger.  However, the performances are good, deftly avoiding the campier possibilities while presenting an honest, often uncomfortable look at sex and gender dynamics.          

I admit that it took me an embarrassingly long time after I'd finished watching "Biosphere" to realize that the relationship that I'd been treating as totally theoretical, because it came about through events that don't typically occur in nature, wasn't actually theoretical at all.  There's a big, honking, obvious social allegory right in the middle of the movie that I'd completely missed, because I was so used to certain tropes and gender dynamics in science-fiction stories.  I take this as a sign that the movie worked as it was intended.  Despite the shoestring budget and the script issues, I bought into the emotional reality of the characters, and can't help hoping that somewhere, out there, in whatever insane, contrived existence they may inhabit, that those two can come out okay.

 

Now, on to "They Cloned Tyrone," which is "The Twilight Zone" by way of blaxploitation.  This movie is not made for me.  I had to turn on the subtitling to catch a lot of the dialogue, and even then I found certain exchanges impenetrable.  I was, however, very entertained from the outset.  Fontaine (John Boyega), is a drug dealer who lives in a run-down, crime-riddled, predominantly African-American neighborhood called the Glen.  Along with the local pimp Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), and one of his hos, Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris), Fontaine discovers that the Glen is built on top of an underground laboratory full of scientists, who are running sinister experiments and tests on the inhabitants above.  As you might guess from the title, Fontaine and several of his neighbors turn out to be clones.  

The movie is set in a retro fantasy vision of a '70s blaxploitation world, with production design and costuming to match, so I was expecting "They Cloned Tyrone" to be more pulpy and violent.  We do get to the big showdown and fight scenes eventually, but director Juel Taylor, who also co-wrote the film with Tony Rettenmaier, is more interested in the satire.  The banter in this film is the best thing about it, full of great lines and clever turns of phrase that the A-list cast has a field day with.  The performances are a ton of fun, leaning into the comedic stereotypes of the genre, and then happily subverting them.  Jamie Foxx as the fast-talking Slick is hysterical, and pairs nicely with Teyonah Parris as Yo-Yo the badass ho.  As for John Boyega, he's the heart of the movie.  "Tyrone" wouldn't work half as well without Boyega giving some real soul to Fontaine's hero journey.  Also keep an eye out for Kiefer Sutherland and David Alan Grier in smaller roles.

There have been several similar pieces of media this year like  "I'm a Virgo" and "The Blackening," that have used genre conventions and absurdity to poke fun at black culture.  "They Cloned Tyrone" is happy to throw around references to "A Clockwork Orange," and "The Hollow Man," alongside its references to "Superfly" and "Foxy Brown."  And with "Tyrone," we get full on genre-mashing, such as a sequence where we learn how the vast government conspiracy is keeping black folks down through fried chicken, hair products, and the church.  Shortly after, an insurgency is secretly organized through, er,  X-rated activities.  This is a blaxploitation film, remember, and the sex and vulgarity are abundant.  I don't think I got as much out of this as someone more well versed in black culture would, but I had a great time.  It's good to see the revolutionary spirit is still alive and well.  

  

---

"The Witcher," Year Three

This is probably the last season of "The Witcher" I'm going to watch, since Henry Cavill is leaving the series, and even with his participation the show is severely hit-or-miss.  Frankly, the worldbuilding was always messy, and I'm bored of  all the various factions that are vying for power and trying to hunt down Ciri.  It's difficult to keep the secondary and minor characters straight, let alone care about them.  At least the narrative's pretty straightforward this year - no jumping around in time, and no annoying roadblocks like mysteriously lost powers or romantic miscommunications stand in the way.  The three main characters, Geralt, Yennefer, and Cirilla, actually get to spend a decent amount of time together being a quasi-family while they're searching the continent for a place to hide away in peace.

Of the eight episodes this year, there were exactly two that I enjoyed: the premiere where this season's story is laid out, and episode six, which sees a destructive attack on the magic academy of Aretuza.  It feels like most of the budget was spent on making these two episodes especially impressive, while the rest are pretty typical fantasy adventuring in the style of old "Hercules" and "Xena" hijinks.  "The Witcher" is obviously more expensive, with more impressive fight choreography and CGI beasties, but its attempts at political intrigue are clumsy, and even the beats of a basic love story between Geralt and Yennefer often seem to be too much for the writers to handle.  The show is better when  characters are reacting to immediate dangers, and at its worst whenever it tries to get us invested in anything else.  There's a lot of time spent on the various mages vying for power, scheming kingdoms, and the whole mess with the elves, and none of it really lands.

The oddest thing about this season is that it doesn't really give the audience a chance to say goodbye to Cavill as Geralt.  Episode six functions as a big climax, but the last two episodes of the season are busy setting up the next season, and leaves us without anything resolved.  The show brings back several characters like Cahir (Eamon Farren) and Dara (Wilson Mbomio) for updates, and introduces a bunch of new players like Milva the archer (Meng'er Zhang) and a new elf commander, Gallatin (Robbie Amell), but none of them are really around long enough to get attached to.  Ciri's progression toward becoming the chosen one is all well and good, including an entire episode of her wandering the desert on a vision quest, but Yennefer's arc has more or less stalled.  Cavill is as charismatic as ever onscreen, but season three doesn't doesn't give him anything new or interesting to play.  The character who actually gets the biggest badass moments and a real endpoint is Tissaia. 

And if Geralt is just spinning his proverbial wheels like this, I understand why Cavill decided to call it quits.  Bad timing has left him without a major franchise, but considering how talented he is, I can't imagine that it'll stay that way for long.  As for his replacement, poor Liam Hmsworth, I understand why he took the job but he's facing a no-win situation. Cavill was too good for "The Witcher" from the beginning, and the show is almost certainly going to capsize without him, unless it lets Anya Chalotra or Freya Allen take over as main character - which it won't.  "The Witcher" is still adapting the Andrez Sapkowski novels, and has four more to go.  

Looking back on the whole series, I can't see much to recommend.  The first season is a moderately fun watch, but the quality has been so up and down for the entire run, and there are so many better alternatives, it's a mistake to get too invested.  As a fan of high fantasy, I'm happy that "The Witcher" got made and found an audience, at least, which may hopefully pave the way for more shows like it.  Cavill left such an impression, though, I expect we'll see a remake in a few years - hopefully made by creatives with a better handle on things than this bunch.

---

The First Five of "Ozark"

Moderate spoilers ahead.

The least realistic thing about crime thrillers like "Ozark" is that nearly everyone is smart.  I can appreciate that everyone is greedy, ambitious, self-important, or willing to resort to violence at the drop of a hat, but the prevalence of criminal masterminds here is pretty unlikely.  However, it does make the show a whole lot more fun to watch than it would be otherwise.  

Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde, a Chicago-based financial advisor whose life is turned upside down by two revelations.  One, his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) is having an affair.  Two, his business partner has been stealing money from a Mexican drug cartel they launder money for.  Marty manages to talk his way out of being executed by cartel enforcer Del Rio (Esai Morales), but this requires moving his family to the remote Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri to set up a new money laundering operation.  

I love how aware the show's creators, Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, are of some of the usual tropes of this kind of show, and deliberately avoid them - or subvert them to their own advantage.  Marty and Wendy have two teenagers, Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner), who are told the truth about what's going on after only a few episodes.  When some of the money is stolen by the petty criminal Langmore family, Marty manages to recover most of it - not through force or trickery - but by confronting them directly, and laying out the bad consequences of what happens if they keep it.  However, Marty's got plenty of flaws and blind spots.  When he tries to find businesses to invest in and use them for his laundering operation, the locals are rightfully suspicious - and one immediately knows exactly what Marty is up to.  

And after five episodes, the most sympathetic character is Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner), one of the thieves who Marty recognizes is brighter than the rest, and ropes into his schemes.  Marty is acting out of desperation, but already shows signs of being  far more morally compromised than similar characters like "Breaking Bad's" Walter White.  Wendy, meanwhile, is getting her groove back through her own ruthless schemes, and displays the capability to be just as despicable as anyone else in the cast.  Bateman and Linney are very good here, and I like the very messy dynamic that their characters share - sure, they have some pretty severe trust issues, but their interests are so closely aligned, maybe they can still work things out.

"Ozark" is designed to be fast paced, with a new plot twist coming every episode, and cliffhanger endings are pretty much a given.  The way that the problems have been compounding and compounding as new characters are introduced has been fantastic.  We're five episodes in, and the Byrdes are already juggling three major sets of villains - the cartel, the Langmores, and the drug dealing Snell clan - plus an FBI investigator, Roy Petty, (Jason Butler Harner) they don't even know about.  Then there are at least two people that they're conning - lodge owner Rachel (Jordana Spiro) and a pastor (Michael Mosely), plus Harris Yulin living in the Byrds' basement, encouraging Jonah's budding psychopathy.  This is one of the best plot-driven shows I've seen in a while, with very smart writing and no boring installments.  I'm not fond of the Charlotte or Roy storylines at the moment, but I'm hopeful that they're leading somewhere interesting.

In short, I've found my latest binge.  "Ozark" has been a series on my radar since it was racking up Emmys a few years ago, but my "to watch list" was already massive, and "Better Call Saul" was always ahead of it in the queue.  Now I'm done with "Saul," and frankly I've missed having a thriller series in  my rotation.  The fact that it's only four seasons and 44 episodes is definitely a plus, and I expect I'll have to take care not to watch it all too quickly.  Definitely keep an eye out for more "Ozark" posts ahead.  

---

Alas, "The Flash"

Minor spoilers ahead.  

It's a little weird when a film's strongest section is its second act.  The second act is usually what gives many screenwriters trouble, since it has to show the hero actively struggling with a problem that doesn't get solved until the climax.  This is especially the case in a blockbuster film, where you'd expect the big opening and closing setpieces to be the highlights.  However, in the case of "The Flash," which shows every sign of being severely rushed and mishandled behind the scenes, those big action setpieces didn't really come off well.  Also, the second act is when the Flash, played by Ezra Miller, has to cede some of the spotlight to other characters, and I could almost pretend that he wasn't the lead of this movie.

Ezra Miller's Flash was introduced in the 2017 "Justice League," and worked decently well as a supporting character.  Six years later, after many delays, he finally has his own film, directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Christina Hodson.  It's an ambitious, overlong, way too interconnected film that's trying to do concepts that the MCU did in recent "Avengers" and "Spider-man" movies.  It puts The Flash front and center for the first time, and he's very mediocre as a lead.  He's sympathetic, sure, as the low man on the Justice League totem pole, who is obsessed with exonerating his wrongfully imprisoned father (Ron Livingston).  However, Miller's hyperverbal, self-aware Gen Zer performance is a lot, and he comes off as more obnoxious than funny.  Then we reached the second act and I realized he was still essentially a comic relief sidekick masquerading as a hero.

To be fair, there are plenty of interesting things going on here, and the basic ideas and story structure are pretty sound.  The execution, however, is frequently a mess.  It's all well and good to want to make a big crossover movie where you have multiple versions of familiar superheroes showing up.  However, you actually have to have the resources and the access to the talent to do that.   As you'd expect, there are a ton of actors from other DC media making appearances, notably Michael Keaton reprising his role of Batman from the Tim Burton movies.  Keaton is fantastic in this film, and I was happy every moment he was onscreen.  High marks also go to Sasha Calle, who plays a new, darker version of Supergirl.  However, it's also noticeable who doesn't show up in "The Flash," and who is clearly reused footage that doesn't interact with the other characters, and who was probably a last minute replacement when the actor they really wanted turned them down.    

The VFX work is noticeably subpar, and I suspect a lot of it may be placeholder animation that was never finished.  There are a lot of visuals in "The Flash" that would have probably looked really impressive if the artists had the adequate time to do them right.  Instead, there's a lot of uncanny valley going on, a lot of shortcuts, and a lot that looks cribbed from video games.  The big action sequence of the first act involves Flash rescuing a group of babies from a collapsing hospital, and I have to wonder if anyone involved ever saw a real baby in their lives.  The finale with all the cameos doesn't look much better than the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" special that the Arrowverse did a few years ago with a TV budget.     

Then there are the tonal problems.  "The Flash" has a lot more goofy and subversive humor than "Justice League" or any of DCEU's major superhero titles.  It often feels much more like a "Suicide Squad" film, and I wasn't suprised that "The Flash" has the same screenwriter as "Birds of Prey."  For the first hour, "The Flash" almost felt like a parody of a superhero movie, with Miller non-stop quipping like a wannabe Deadpool, and getting himself into some truly cartoonish situations.  When it's time to get serious, the slapstick often undercuts any tension or gravity, and these hijinks are allowed to go on for far too long.  That said, Miller's performance instantly improves with the more staid Keaton and Calle as his scene partners, and his Flash is perfectly capable of pathos and sincerity when he's finally allowed to show it.  He does become the hero of his own movie, eventually.

As for the third act, the best thing I can say about it is that it feels like it could have been much worse.  There's a big action finale that doesn't really work.  There's a big emotional finale that is fine.  Then everything ends on a couple of gags, and it's really up to the individual viewer as to whether the humor plays.  "The Flash" is pitched toward a nerdier, more well-informed DC fan, which means it's much more niche than its creators think it is.  And it's more dependent on the good will of a devoted audience of DCEU fans that, frankly, just doesn't exist.  

---

So, About This Mr. Beast

Mr. Beast is one of the most successful Youtube creators, with a channel dedicated to making content that can only really be described as "content."  He's known for outrageous, attention grabbing stunts like recreating the death games from "Squid Game" and giving away vast sums of money.  He'll spend massive budgets to blow up expensive vehicles, organize extreme challenges, and commit acts of mass altruism.  Famously, he's paid for sight and hearing correction surgery for thousands of people.  The whole point of Mr. Beast is that he goes to extremes to make a spectacle - and it's made him wildly popular with a certain kind of viewer.

I'd heard of Mr. Beast but had seen only clips of his videos before now.  They're not my idea of entertainment.  Frankly, watching his videos feels a lot like someone with ADHD flipping through a bunch of different reality shows and game shows and fast-forwarding through the slow parts.  I understand that the videos are designed this way to improve metrics.  It's difficult to skip around in them, and each installment is easily broken down into smaller shorts and gifs, perfect for going viral on social media.  Their appeal is also obvious.  Reality television became such a mainstay in recent years because it's cheap and easy to produce.  Mr. Beast videos are not cheap and clearly take a lot of effort behind the scenes.  He's regularly spending the equivalent of blockbuster movie budgets on twelve minute videos with incredibly simple premises.  Let's put a Lamborghini in a hydraulic press.  Let's wreck someone's house and buy them a new one.  Let's make the world's largest bowl of cereal.  Let's randomly give away large sums of money to waitresses and homeless people.

The real talent of Mr. Beast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is being a great showman and businessman, who has figured out a way to grow his audience and scale up his success to unprecedented levels.  He's not especially creative or insightful - most of the videos are just more expensive, sped-up  versions of reality show schtick, with shiny production values.  Mr. Beast isn't even an especially good host, often relying on his "Jackass" style posse of buddies to cheerlead and keep the energy up.  It's not surprising that the vast majority of Mr. Beast's audience is kids - the type of viewer who would be the most impressed with all of this maximalist chaos and instant gratification.  

If you're not a kid, Mr. Beast's videos get dull in a hurry.  All they really offer are easy doses of visceral spectacle or feel-good fuzzy feelings.  There's almost no substance underneath all the flash.   I felt compelled to write this post when I saw a recent Mr. Beast video about some car crash stunts with superficial similarities to  "Mythbusters." In "Mythbusters," there were certainly wrecks and explosions, but there was also an admirable commitment to showing and explaining the scientific method.  In  the "Mr. Beast" video, the crash test dummies were just being destroyed for the fun of it.  No accelerometers or shock measurement devices were in sight to show if it was actually possible to survive some of these situations.  You just had a passel of dudebro guys crowing every time something went boom, and there'd be a quick edit to the next stunt.  

There have been plenty of analysis pieces pointing out how disturbing the messaging is in some Mr. Beast videos, especially the way anything seems to be forgivable for the right amount of money.  However, it's the style of the videos themselves that worry me more.  They feel like a parody of reality television, so dumbed down and so attention deficit that part of me is still waiting for a punchline.  Will Mike Judge please step out from behind the curtain, and reassure us that this was just an elaborate marketing campaign for "Idiocracy 2"?

As for Mr. Beast himself, I harbor no ill will towards him, despite the cult of personality he's been cultivating.  He seems to be expending a lot of energy toward expanding his operations into branded food items like chocolate bars and burgers - a more stable long term business plan than running a Youtube channel.  He's also demonstrated an admirable  commitment to philanthropy and maintaining the appearance of a responsible human being.  I may find his screen presence subpar, but from the interviews I've seen, Jimmy Donaldson seems to be a nice, sane, stable guy.  

I hope that lasts.

---

The Video Essay Recs 2023

Since this is going to be a regular feature now, I've had to be more careful about keeping track of when these videos were actually posted.  I've decided that since some of the creators are so obscure, and Youtube is constantly taking videos down for stupid reasons, I am going to  allow myself a lot of leeway.  Most of the videos were posted within the last year, or close enough that I feel comfortable treating them as recent.  As always, most are video essays about media, or at the very least are related to media, and worth taking a look at if you're a fellow media nerd.

Pop Culture Detective: Marvel Defenders of the Status Quo and Verily Bitchie: The Consumerist Dystopia of Harry Potter - Let's start simple.  I'm going to talk about these two together, because they represent the most basic kind of critical analysis being applied to two popular franchises.  The first looks at the MCU through a political lens and reveals that the Avengers crew are on the conservative end of the spectrum, with lots of examples.  The second delves into the socioeconomics of the Wizarding World and how they mirror the endless merchandising of "Harry Potter" in the real world  Sadly, most video essayists that call themselves media analysts do not bother to do actual analysis, so I feel compelled to provide some examples.  

Be Kind Rewind: How Michelle Yeoh Went From Bond Girl to Best Actress Oscar Winner in the American Media - A great profile of Michelle Yeoh, in the wake of the success of "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once," with a focus on how the American media framed their coverage of her in the press throughout the years.  Michelle Yeoh was always great, but it took decades for the American media to treat her right, and it's important to acknowledge that.  We all know Yeoh taking home the Oscar was a win, and this sheds more light on why and how.

Thomas Flight: Why Do Movies Feel So Different Now - After modernism and postmodernism comes metamodernism.  Thomas Flight provides a quick rundown of how these movements have been characterized and what distinguishes them from each other.  Once again, this essay is a reaction to "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once," which is used as the primary example of the metamodern film - not the noble ideal of modernism, or the cynical subversion of postmodernism, but something more self-aware and taking elements from each of its progenitors. 

Breadsword: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is a Perfect Movie, and Here's Why - A deep dive, not just into Hayao Miyazaki's first masterpiece, but the entire history of Lupin III as an anime character.  This covers all the television series, the movies, the specials, the crossovers, and more.  There's a ton of detailed research, including cataloging many of the real world vehicles that appeared throughout the franchise, and all the media that took inspiration from Lupin III and the gang.  It also functions as a life update from creator Breadsword, who reveals why he spent so long making this one video.

Patrick Willems: I Went to India to Learn About Bollywood - This is the most ambitious thing that Patrick Willems has done, taking a trip to India to help showcase Indian films.  The resulting travelog is what I imagine Anthony Bourdain might have made if he were a cinephile.  Patrick barrels through a quick history of Indian cinema, peppered with discussions of several recommended titles, while visiting some of the places related to them.  In the process, Patrick plays cricket, Patrick goes to a Holi party, Patrick relaxes on a beach, and Patrick is clearly having the time of his life.    

Princess Weekes: Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires? - Myths about the noble intentions of the Confederacy are still alive and kicking in some recent vampire franchises, including  "Twilight," "True Blood," and "The Vampire Diaries."  Princess calls out and examines several examples of confederate bloodsuckers and how they're related to insidious Lost Cause messaging.  American movies have always had a problem with this, of course, going all the way back to "Gone with the Wind."

Broey Deschanel: Immersive Van Gogh: Why Art is in Crisis - Here's a nice take on recent trends in capitalizing on and commodifying art, touching on remake culture and the AI art debate.  The primary subject is  the "Immersive Van Gogh" art installations that have been touring the nation recently.  What happens to art when you take away the creator's intention, and then warp it into forms that it was never meant for?  When is a Van Gogh no longer a Van Gogh?  

F.D. Signifier: What Can Anime Teach Us About Masculinity? - Why are teenage boys so drawn to anime?  F.D. Signifier breaks down what anime does so well regarding male protagonists and power fantasies, while also acknowledging where they fall short.  This involves discussions of several popular recent anime series, including "Attack on Titan" and "Berserk," and ties into his other videos related to masculinity and culture.  Getting clarification on major anime tropes and how they function is especially illuminating.

And Finally…

Matt Patches: I Ate a Shoe Because of Top Gun 2 - Okay, okay, this isn't a video essay.  However, it is a spiritual sequel to the great Les Blank film, "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" and involves Film Twitter.  I know Patches from his work with Thrillist and as one of the hosts of "Fighting in the War Room."  Apparently, over a decade ago, he tweeted that if a "Top Gun" sequel were ever released in theaters, he'd eat his shoe.  Well, it did, and so he did.  And he documented the act for posterity. 

---

My Top Ten Films of 1944

This is part of my continuing series looking back on films from the years before I began this blog. The ten films below are unranked and listed in no particular order. Enjoy.

"Lifeboat" - One of Hitchcock's most inventive suspense films has the bulk of the action take place in and around a lifeboat on the open water.  The characters consist of eight British and American survivors of a wreck, plus a suspicious German U-boat captain.  Hitchcock is able to do a lot with a limited space and a passel of good performances.  He's even able to include one of his famous director cameos in an ingenious way.

"Arsenic and Old Lace" - Cary Grant famously disliked how silly his performance came out in this screwball classic, but I think it's a terrible shame that he rarely allowed himself to be this funny onscreen again.  It's one of the greatest un-scary Halloween films ever made, and features some of the sweetest murderers and most friendly lunatics you could ever meet.  Plus Peter Lorre as a bullied minion!  Plus Teddy Roosevelt taking San Juan Hill!  Chaaarge!  

"Meet Me in St. Louis" - A nostalgic portrait of Midwestern family life in the early 1900s, built around a year of holiday celebrations and anticipation for the World's Fair. Features some of Judy Garland's best remembered musical performances - "The Trolley Song" is a favorite - and all the greeting card visuals that Vincent Minnelli can conjure. The blissfulness is especially impressive in light of all the production chaos going on behind the scenes.

"Gaslight" - This is the George Cukor directed film, starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman, that was a direct remake of the 1940 British version.  It's probably the best remembered take on the story, known for a great Bergman performance, as well as Angela Lansbury making her screen debut as her sinister maid.  "Gaslight" has become a cornerstone of the paranoid thriller genre, and is still terribly relevant - especially since the term "gaslighting" took off.

"Hail the Conquering Hero" - This was the height of Preston Sturges' popularity, and 1944 saw the releases of three of his films.  My favorite is the tale of a hapless fellow who can't cut it in the army, but thanks to a prank, is sent home to an adoring town that greets him as a war hero.  I can't make heads or tails of the story logic, because all that matters here is the feelings of the crowd.  Patriotism wins out over any form of sense, and honesty somehow wins the day.

 

"Henry V" - The earliest of Laurence Olivier's great Shakespeare adaptations for the screen.  This is the one that recreates Shakespeare's Globe Theater and switches from presenting a staged version of the play to a full dramatization, and back again.  Meant to be a WWII morale booster, the emphasis is on the pageantry and the patriotism, all rendered in glorious Technicolor.  The best scene, however, remains Henry's intimate wooing of Katherine after the battle is won.

"National Velvet" - The horse girl trope really had its genesis in this Clarence Brown directed heartwarmer.  It made a twelve year-old Elizabeth Taylor a screen star, but she had help from a sterling supporting cast, including Ann Revere, Donald Crisp, Mickey Rooney, and Angela Lansbury.  The sentiment is laid on pretty thick, but handled with such care that it still feels like nearly every subsequent film about a child's bond with an animal owes something to this one.  

"None Shall Escape" - Hollywood's first stab at depicting the atrocities of the Nazis is a surprisingly even-handed melodrama.  It allows the audience to first sympathize with the protagonist, a troubled WWI veteran, before charting his turn to Nazism and the horrors that he commits against his former loved ones.  The starring performance of Alexander Knox in particular is memorably complex and often chilling.  It's obviously a very American production, however.  

"Torment" - Alf Sjoberg directed the film, but it's best remembered for Ingmar Bergman's involvement as its writer and assistant director.  There was some controversy around it at the time of release, because of its' unhappy depiction of school life, but the film has since come to be seen as a classic story of youthful rebellion against tyranny - found here in the form of the sadistic Latin teacher.

"To Have and Have Not" - William Faulkener famously helped script this adaptation of an Ernest Hemingway novel, but I don't remember much about the "Casablanca" -esque plot.  The chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, however, was off the charts.  The flirtations and the innuendoes come fast and furious, making this one of the best screen romances of all time.  

---

Hurling Ourselves "Across the Spider-verse"

Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) are back, this time chasing a new villain called the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) who has the ability to create space-warping portals.  Gwen has joined a group of other multiverse-traipsing Spider-folks who have formed a team called Spider Society.  Meanwhile, Miles is running into difficulties balancing his life as Spider-man with his relationship with his parents (Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez), and considers revealing his secret to them.  

Clearly, the only superhero they should make multiverse movies about is Spider-man.  "Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse," the sequel to "Into the Spiderverse," isn't quite as good as the first, but it's a wildly impressive piece of filmmaking on every level.  It's also an excellent comic book movie, and more specifically an excellent "Spider-man" movie.  Several live-action films have tried to do what "Into the Spider-verse" did with multiverses and meta commentary, but "Across the Spider-verse" makes it clear that pretty much the only way this is feasible is with animation.  It not only sticks with the multiverse concept, but doubles down on it, including hundreds of different universes and Spider-people, mixing and matching animation styles, mediums, and genres.

Let's introduce an Indian Spider-man named Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni) who lives in Mumbattan, and has movements based on Indian martial arts.  Let's introduce a British anarchist Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), who is animated to look like he's been ripped from punk rock posters, in an entirely different frame rate from anyone else in the film.  Let's make the Gwen Stacy Spider-woman come from a world of watercolor hues, where her emotions are mirrored by the color palette.  As an animation nerd, the only place I've seen some of these concepts attempted has been in experimental shorts - beautiful, but underseen and underappreciated.  This is the first mainstream film I've ever found that really embraces the full, dazzling potential of animation to this extent, and it's so gratifying to experience.      

As you might expect, there are a ton of references in the film to just about every other piece of "Spider-man" media over the past fifty years, sometimes cramming a dozen different ones in a single shot.  This doesn't feel like pandering, however, because the whole film is built on appreciating these endless variations, and there are so many that none especially stick out.  This is also one of those cases where you don't have to be familiar with any of the references to get the jokes - a Spider-Cat, and a Spider-T-rex, and a Peter Parkedcar just become visual gags.  There are action sequences where part of the spectacle is just having a multitude of Spider-folks onscreen at the same time, and it mostly works.

"Across the Spider-verse" is so much more ambitious than the first "Spider-verse" film and so much better at pulling off certain concepts that I wish I liked it more.  However, it's designed to be the first part of a two-part story, to be concluded in the upcoming "Spider-man: Beyond the Spider-verse."  "Across the Spider-verse" is very good as a part one, but without all the story payoffs and resolutions, it feels unfinished the same way that "Avengers: Infinity War" did.  There are promising characters like the newly introduced Spider-man Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) and Spider-woman Jessica Drew (Issa Rae) who haven't had nearly enough time to make an impact yet, and I suspect that's because their personal histories will play a bigger part in "Beyond."

Instead, this movie is actually about Gwen more than anyone else, and her relationship with her father Captain Stacy (Shea Whigham).  Amidst all the other chaos going on, this is the story that reaches a satisfying ending and helps to cement this Gwen as the best screen version by far.  I really like where Miles's story is going, but his arc is far from finished.  If "Beyond" can stick the landing, however, Miles will be in serious contention for the best screen Spidey of them all, animated or otherwise. 

 It looks like the next film has run into some major production trouble, and won't be making its 2024 release date.  However, the last thing I want the creators to do is rush this.  Sony should give them all the time that they need.  

   

---

"Strange New Worlds," Year Two

Minor spoilers ahead.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has established itself as the most consistently watchable of the recent "Trek" shows.  It's more formulaic and tends to fall back on familiar television tropes, but it's also got a much better handle on its characters, and the ensemble has coalesced nicely.  And since it has established such a sturdy status quo, the creators have been much more willing to have some fun with it.  This year, we get "Star Trek" standards like a trial episode, a time travel episode, and a particularly heavy moral dilemma episode involving war atrocities.  And we also get a musical episode, a partially animated crossover episode with "Star Trek: Lower Decks," and an episode about Spock trying to win the approval of his future mother-in-law. And they're mostly pretty great.

One of the strengths of episodic television is that we get much more opportunity to get to know the characters individually, and "Strange New Words" understands this.  There was clearly an effort to make sure each of the major  characters got a spotlight episode this season, and the stories are much more distinct and individuated compared to installments of other current "Trek" shows.  I like that La'an's episode is tonally different from Ortegas's episode or Uhura's episode.  There are plenty of episodes that feature the ensemble rather than foregrounding one character, but the character spotlights are valuable in helping to explore the world from different POVs.  We also get more insight into supporting characters like Captain Batel (Melanie Scofano) and the two Kirks, brothers Sam (Dan Jeannotte) and James (Paul Wesley).  The most significant new character of the season is the replacement Chief Engineer, Pelia (Carol Kane), a kooky, loveable mentor figure.

As much as I appreciate some of the big swings, not all of them connect.  The musical episode, for instance, has some priceless high points, but as someone who watched a lot of "Schmigadoon!" this year, the music is pretty underwhelming and a couple of the weaker singers are noticeably autotuned.  I like that "Strange New Worlds" is more comfortable exploring relationships and other aspects of the crew's personal lives.  However, the Spock-Chapel-T'Pring love triangle farce is starting to get on my nerves a bit, and I wish that some of the other relationships got more attention.  The performers are all consistently good, but some of them need more to do - M'Benga surely has more going on besides licking old war wounds, right?  Of course, this is a problem that all the "Trek" series have faced since the beginning.

I think that "Strange New Worlds" appeals to more casual watchers because it's more lighthearted and less demanding.  Whenever it tries to do more thematically heavy material, the results have been fine, but anything involving adventuring and hijinks tends to land better, and the out and out comedic episodes have been a blast.  Even better, the comedy still manages to be very "Star Trek."  Putting the live action Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Mariner (Tawny Newsome) onboard Pike's Enterprise is a cute idea, but the writers also figured out how to make them representative of a certain kind of "Star Trek" fan for some meta jokes, and actually made their appearances matter to a few of the ongoing "Strange New Worlds" storylines.  The musical episode is built around several characters finally addressing issues they've been dealing with all season long, because an anomaly forces them to sing their private feelings.  It's a great reminder that the original 1960s "Star Trek" was often pretty goofy and silly.  Also, the crew were much less cerebral, and more willing to fall in love at the drop of a hat.  

With "Discovery" on its way out, "Strange New Worlds" is poised to become the new flagship "Star Trek" show, and I'm worried this means that the folks at Paramount will be tempted to have the series overstay its welcome.  "Strange New Worlds" is a prequel, and it's already got a built in endpoint.  I have no desire to see the show get dragged out like "Smallville." Well, unless the creators decide to drastically change the premise the way they did with "Discovery."  This is, after all, still a science-fiction program.

 

I doubt "Strange New Worlds" will ever supplant "The Next Generation" as my favorite "Star Trek" series, but it's definitely in the top three at this point.  And after a few more seasons, who knows?

---

"Picard," Year Three

 Minor spoilers ahead.

This season of "Star Trek: Picard" is the one the Trekkies and Trekkers have been waiting for.  It brings back almost the entire main cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" for one big reunion and adventure, twenty years after we saw them all last.  I understand why Patrick Stewart wanted the first two seasons of "Picard" to be something different, and I was mostly satisfied with them, but I have to admit that season three was what I really wanted.  To cap off the series, this season was conceived of as essentially the final "Star Trek: The Next Generation" movie that we never got.  I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll see the crew of the Enterprise NCC 1701-D, but this is undoubtedly their last goodbye in every way that matters.   

Everyone important is back - Riker (William Frakes), Worf (Michael Dorn), Troi (Marina Sirtis), Data (Brent Spiner), Geordi LaForge (Levar Burton), and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden).  Many less important characters are also back, but naming them would be spoiling things.  It takes multiple episodes to get everyone in the same room, but the plot is kicked off by Picard getting a mysterious distress call from Dr. Crusher, who with her heretofore unseen adult son, Jack (Ed Speleers), is being chased down by mysterious enemies.  Picard and Riker bluff their way aboard the Federation ship Titan, where Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) has been posted under the hostile Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick), in order to mount a rescue mission.

These ten episodes are awash in shameless nostalgia and fanservice, not just for "The Next Generation," but "Voyager" and the movies, with a few easter eggs for other parts of the Trek franchise too.  However, it all feels earned because "Picard" does the work of creating endings for so many of the character arcs and revisiting recurring themes that have been with these characters since the beginning.  Finally, we get some resolution to the Picard and Crusher romantic tensions.  Data is resurrected for the umpteenth time, but now he gets to be almost fully human, and we see how he deals with that.  Worf has found more productive ways to channel his aggression, and remains a work in progress.  Geordi LaForge is a father.  The changes make sense, and it's so satisfying to discover how everyone has grown since we've seen them last.  And these aren't throwaway background details, but a big part of the narrative.        

The characters from the prior seasons of "Picard" have almost all been sidelined.  Only Seven of Nine and Raffi (Michell Hurd) return, in order to make room for Jean-Luc Picard's old crew.  And the reunion is everything you'd want it to be, revisiting the old relationship dynamics, and even gently correcting a few missteps.  Dr. Crusher was always rather underutilized in the past, but she gets to be in the thick of the action here.  The Riker and Troi romance has matured beautifully into a lifelong partnership, and the sappy moments are deployed exactly when they should be.  Everyone gets their share of quips, but Jonathan Frakes is absolutely the MVP for nailing the comedy beats every time.  His exchanges with Worf are priceless.

 

The underlying story isn't as strong as I'd like - some elements are awfully repetitive, and too many of the one-liners fall flat - but the execution is great.  Jack Crusher is an extremely difficult role, but I thought Ed Speleers knocked it out of the park, and I'd love to see more of him in future Trek endeavors.  Other new characters of note include the changeling villain Vadic (Amanda Plummer), who is way better than this kind of material deserves, and Sidney LaForge (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut), who shows up as a pilot on the Titan.  All of the Paramount+ era "Star Trek" shows have looked fabulous, but you can tell a lot of care went into the production of this one. 

Interconnected universes have become all the rage in recent times, but "Star Trek" is one of the few that has really managed to keep its sense of continuity and legacy over so many shows and so many decades.  I know very well that the reason I find the third season of "Picard" so moving is because I've been watching these characters for thirty years, and recognize that the creators of the show are rabid fans who have also been watching these characters for thirty years.  My patience has paid off, and I got exactly what I wanted - a happy ending that does justice to the show I loved, while leaving the door open for more to come. 

---

"Foundation," Year Two

I liked the first season of Apple's TV+'s "Foundation," but thought it had some serious flaws, mostly to do with how much trouble it had dramatizing certain characters and concepts from the source novels.  The second season is a significant improvement, though it still has some of the same difficulties with handling such heady, philosophy-driven subject matter.  I strongly suspect that veteran genre writer Jane Espensen joining the writing team made a big difference - she's credited on six episodes this season - but maybe the whole show just finally found its groove.  

Many new characters are introduced this year.  We've time jumped several more decades into the future, where the Foundation has become a religion, being evangelized by a pair of con-artist clerics, Poly (Kulvinder Ghir) and Constant (Isabella Laughland). They get mixed up with Hari Seldon's latest prophecies which involve a roguish trader named Hober Mallow (Dimitri Leonidas).  Empire is turning its attentions toward Terminus again, refortifying its fleet and bringing back a disgraced general, Bel Riose (Ben Daniels) to lead it.  However, the current Brother Day is more occupied with a plan to end the genetic dynasty, choosing to continue his line by marrying young Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith) of the Cloud Dominion.  Gaal and Salvor, meanwhile, are reunited with a version of Hari Seldon, and on their own quest to stop another major crisis that will be caused by a psychic named The Mule (Mikael PersBrandt).  This eventually brings them to a community of psychics, led by the sinister Tellem Bond (Rachel House).

I think the biggest difference between the last season and this one is that this year puts a lot more focus on characters and relationships over plot.  A lot of work went into humanizing characters like Hari Seldon and Salvor Hardin so that they're not just exposition machines this time around.  I no longer think it was a mistake to expand Hari's role, since the show leans into the sketchy nature of his existence, and gets a lot of mileage out of putting him in multiple storylines.  It's Lady Demerzel (Laura Birn), however, who emerges as the most fascinating character this season.  Her relationship with the Cleons and her curious role in the preservation of the genetic dynasty take center stage as the Empire reaches a dangerous new phase in its inevitable decline.  Lee Pace and Jared Harris remain the clear standouts among the cast, but Birn and several others get a chance to leave more of an impression.  I especially liked Laughland and Leonidas as Constant and Mallow, and Ben Daniels as Bel Riose - not a very large role, but boy does he make it count.  

The action and spectacle is also handled better.  There are fewer shoot-em-ups and more one-on-one fights between characters we're actually invested in.  The premiere episode treats us to Brother Day fending off assassins in hand-to-hand combat while stark naked.  Meanwhile, the show's production values remain very high, showing off grandiose science-fiction environments and plenty of the Empire's pageantry.  The show has more fun being a space opera this year, with cults, modified humans, alien beasties and all manner of wild costuming.  "Foundation" is a very talky, old fashioned kind of a science-fiction, modeled on classical literature in many respects.  It can seem stuffy and technobabbly at times, but it also allows the show to enjoy a sense of immensity and scale that I really enjoy.  When Hari Seldon talks about the future, it's in the very grandest terms, and without an ounce of cynicism.

And frankly, that's the kind of genre fiction I enjoy best these days.  Along with "Star Trek," "Foundation" is probably the best science-fiction television currently running, and seems to represent a nice shift away from grungy realism and back toward a more aspirational, romantic mindset.  The show is moving farther and farther away from Isaac Asimov in terms of style, but not in spirit.  I don't know how well "Foundation" is doing for Apple TV, but I'm very much looking forward to the next season, and I no longer have any doubts about the creators being able to see this centuries-long story through to the end.  It's not likely, given the state of streaming these days, but the possibilities are intriguing.    

---