The Best Classic Films I Saw in 2023

In an effort to highlight older films, here are the best films I watched this year that were not released in 2023 or 2022.  I've also disqualified films from the 1940s, because I'll be writing about several of them for Top Ten lists in the next few months.  Entries are unranked and listed below by release date.

Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) - The Ernst Lubitsh directed adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play is less concerned with skewering Victorian moral hypocrisies, and more concerned with touching melodrama.  Also, an awful lot of Wilde's dialogue is lost because this is a silent film.  However, the actors are excellent, especially May McAvoy as the title character, and Lubitch is a deft hand at engineering farce and pathos.  

Havoc in Heaven (1961) - One of the highlights of Chinese animation, created by industry pioneers, the Wan brothers.  The film depicts the early days of the famous Monkey King from "Journey to the West," specifically his rebellion against the Chinese pantheon of gods and demons.  With character designs taking their cues from Peking opera traditions, this set the standard for the many, many adaptations of "Journey to the West" that followed.

Immortal Love (1961) - One of Keisuke Kinoshita's best domestic melodramas, starring Hideko Takamine and Tatsuya Nakadai as a bitter couple who hate each other throughout their long, eventful marriage.  It's a typical love story until it's not, transforming in its second half into this fascinating look at how people cope with disappointments and regrets.  It's also got the best performance I've seen from Nakadai, as the  crippled, self-loathing  husband.

Hollywood Shuffle (1987) - Robert Townsend famously was a struggling actor who observed too many of Hollywood's terrible practices in portraying African-American characters up close.  So, he independently wrote, produced, directed, and starred in this scorching satire of Hollywood from the African-American perspective.  The film often gets by on sheer enthusiasm more than anything else, but the talent of the filmmakers is undeniable.

Salaam Bombay! (1988) - Mira Nair's film debut follows the progress of life in a poor red light district in Bombay, with a special emphasis on the plight of its street children.  The cycles of exploitation, addiction, and vice are especially poignant to witness, as the young hero's hopes are dashed over and over again.  There's a lot of shameless heartstring tugging, but the movie is so well made and so humane in its outlook that I couldn't care less.    

Running on Empty (1988) - River Phoenix had such a fantastic screen presence.  This is the kind of film that could have so easily been maudlin and overdramatic, but between Sidney Lumet's careful direction and Phoenix's performance, the film stays small and intimate and wonderfully personal.  They really don't make films like this anymore, where the characters are allowed to be so wonderfully ordinary in spite of their unique circumstances.

Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) - A startling reminder that the Material Girl, at the peak of her powers, was a cultural force to be reckoned with.  The provocation was all on purpose, the controversy was the point, and the music still makes me wanna dance.  Madonna herself is often terrible, often admirable, and just so deeply fascinating to watch.  Has there ever been another female pop star who embraced her own notoriety like Madonna?

Like Water for Chocolate (1992) - I want this movie to be better than it is, because I love the story and the characters and the whole magical realist approach to the material so very much.  However, the execution occasionally falls short, and there are points where director Alfonso Arau clearly bit off more than he could chew.  However, when the film works, it's about the most delicious, fantastical, over-the-top romantic cinema you could hope for.

Drag Me to Hell (2009) - It took me a while to warm up to Sam Raimi's charms, which are funnier and sillier than I gave them credit for.  This gleefully heightened supernatural tale is all about leaning into the grossness and the weirdness of the pulp horror.  You can bet our heroine is going to get what's coming to her, and the audience is going to have a great time.  Alison Lohman pretty much disappeared after this film, and it's such a shame.       

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) - Finally, this is a small, unassuming horror film with a very simple premise, but the participation of Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch make all the difference.  Not many horror movies get me to care as much about the characters before all the terrible things start happening to them.  I didn't expect much from the film, and discovering it this year was one of my better surprises.

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"Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning" and "Sound of Freedom"

I can't remember whether or not I wrote anything about the last "Mission: Impossible" movie that came out in 2018.  I've gotten tired of this franchise, the same way I seem to have gotten tired of all the big action franchises this year.  I predicted that "Dead Reckoning Part One" was going to make a lot of money because it's coming off of Tom Cruise's success with "Top Gun: Maverick" last year.  However, "Dead Reckoning Part One" underperformed, maybe because it was a "Part One," maybe because it picked the wrong release date and got clobbered by Barbenheimer, and maybe because this is the first film where I can finally tell, unmistakably, that Tom Cruise is getting old.

Ethan Hunt certainly isn't slowing down, getting into death-defying chases and fighting countless bad guys.  He goes rogue almost immediately, as the race is on to recover a stolen key that may be the only chance to stop an evil AI called the Entity, and the evil terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales) who is in league with it.  Ilsa Faust from "Rogue Nation" and "Fallout" is back, but Hunt shares most of the big action set pieces with a thief named Grace (Hayley Attwell), a newcomer who has gotten thoroughly mixed up in the fight over the key.  Other returning actors include Edgar Wright, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, and Henry Czerny, while new additions include Shea Whigham as Briggs, an intelligence officer trying to hunt down Hunt, and Pom Klementieff as an assassin named Paris.  

I really dislike the character of Ilsa Faust, which I've realized has nothing to do with Rebecca Ferguson, and everything to do with how terribly written Ilsa is, and how every time an interesting female character falls for Ethan Hunt, she becomes boring in a hurry.  The cycle repeats itself here with Grace.  Hayley Attwell is bright and snarky and the best part of the film by far.  And the second Ethan Hunt starts staring at her intensely, and promising that he'll risk everything to keep her safe, you can see her disappearing into the black hole of being his love interest of the moment.  I understand that the "Mission Impossible" movies are trying to distinguish themselves from the James Bond movies, but "Dead Reckoning" is absolutely dire when it comes to romance.  I don't buy for a second that Ethan Hunt is actually in love with any of these women.      

     

Frankly, the only thing that works about this movie is the action.  The opening scenes, with their endless expository scenes, are stilted and dull.  The business with the AI is played straight, and despite the best efforts of talented actors, it all comes off as very silly.  It's only when we get to the first cat-and-mouse sequence in the airport that everything seems to snap into focus, and the movie gets down to the business of being entertaining.  There are two other massive set pieces - a funny one involving a car chase with our heroes in a yellow Fiat, and a multi-stage train infiltration that involves that shot of Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle over a cliff that's been in all the advertisements.  It's wildly impressive stuff, and lives up to the action of any other "Mission: Impossible" installment.

So in the end I felt like I'd gotten my money's worth for the rental fee, but the franchise's formula is stale, and Cruise just can't get away with as much as he used to.  I'm sure he'll be making action movies for decades more - see Liam Neeson and Harrison Ford - but his time with "Mission Impossible" really feels like it's nearing its end.

As for "Sound of Freedom," the heavily fictionalized account of Tim Ballard's highly dubious efforts to combat human trafficking in South America, it's not a terrible movie.  However, it's certainly not very good, either as action or as melodrama, and Ballard has since been outed as a grifter and a fraud.  I feel some acknowledgement of the movie is appropriate, considering how well it did over the summer, but it's going to be better remembered for its unusual marketing tactics and pay-it-forward scheme than anything else.  I decided to tack on this assessment at the end of the "Mission Impossible" review because leading man Jim Caviezel's performance is similar to Tom Cruise's - super intense, unconvincing, and more creepy than anything else.

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"John Adams" is an Achievement

This 2008 HBO miniseries covering the life and times of "John Adams" has been on my "to watch" list for a very long time, and I'm happy I was finally able to make the time for it.  Covering Adams' political career from the early days of the American Revolution, through his journeys in Europe, his presidency, and finally old age, it's an epic in every sense of the word.  Each of the seven episodes runs over an hour, and the cast is full of familiar names.  Front and center are Paul Giamatti as Adams, with Laura Linney as his wife Abigail.  The biggest surprise, however, was discovering that the whole series had been directed by Tom Hooper, only a few years before he made "The King's Speech."

I found "John Adams" a more difficult watch than I was expecting, because it assumes the viewer is already very familiar with all the historical figures in play, and I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.  Also, the episodes are very dense with information, and the language often requires some focus to interpret, especially if you're not familiar with the politics of the era.  I kept being caught off guard when the show would skip ahead in time, sometimes crossing years with a single cut.  This is necessary due to the scope of "John Adams."  The series covers over fifty years, not only of Adams' career, but of early American history and politics.  The famous events like Adams' Presidency and Vice Presidency are covered, but we start in the first episode with Adams' involvement in a court case following the Boston Massacre, where he's taken the unpopular role of representing the British soldiers.  

Pains were clearly taken to present a historically accurate, and largely unvarnished look at life in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.  Though the production design is immaculate, there's not much spectacle on display.  Instead, thanks to Tom Hooper's penchant for often uncomfortably close-up shots, we get a good long look at the effects of harsh weather, constant illnesses, and the unfortunate state of Adams' teeth in later episodes.  It's a little jarring at first, especially if you're only used to the more idealized and sanitized versions of history, but I eventually came to appreciate the degree of immersion.  You really appreciate the dangers presented by things we take for granted like international travel and inoculations.  And seeing the difficult environment the founding fathers operated in makes their accomplishments all the more impressive.   

 

John Adams was the cranky old man of the Founding Fathers, a Boston lawyer of great integrity and intellect who often rubbed other people the wrong way.  Giamatti is the perfect person to play him, both physically and temperamentally.  He easily gets across that Adams is well aware of his faults and his unpopularity, yet sure enough of his own skill and moral fiber to dive into the political arena regardless.  There's an insecurity and self-loathing to his actions at times, but also a relentless drive to fight for his own ideals, backed up by the unwavering support of his loving wife.  Giamatti is great at both the big speeches and the intimate conversations.  Laura Linney as Abigail Adams is thoroughly engaging, matching Giamatti in every scene they share.  She also provides the lion's share of the emotion, especially when faced with the prospect of being separated from her husband for long periods of time.  The famous partnership between Abigail and John forms the backbone of the whole series, and roughly equal time is spent on their home life and their public one.  

 

And it was the depiction of Adams' private life that I wound up liking best.  This is where it feels like the real emotional stakes are, while the Revolution and the founding of the nation are happening far too quickly around them to keep track of.  I especially appreciate that the final episode is entirely devoted to Adams' retirement and old age, marked by several tragedies, and ending in his death.  It's a deeply humane, sobering capper to a miniseries that managed to completely top my expectations for it.  "John Adams" requires some effort, but I found it well worth the time to seek out.

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"Bottoms" Chooses Violence

I spent a lot of last summer guiltily avoiding raunchy comedies starring women.  As much as I enjoy and want to support these filmmakers, raunchy comedies and I just don't get along.  Then came "Bottoms," directed by Emma Seligman and starring Rachel Sennott, and written by both of them.  There were an awful lot of other actors I liked on the cast list too, so I sucked it up and watched the movie. 

Besties PJ (Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edibiri) are "ugly, untalented gays," which put them at the bottom of the high school pecking order.  They want to lose their virginities to hot cheerleaders Isabel (Havana Rose Liu) and Brittany (Kaia Gerber), and come up with the idea to start a women's self-defense club under the sketchy guidance of their teacher Mr. G (Marshawn Lynch).  This attracts a group of other female outcasts - Hazel (Ruby Cruz), Annie (Zamani Wilder), and Sylvie (Summer Joy Campbell) among them.  This also attracts the ire of the football team, lead by star quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine) and his best friend Tim (Miles Fowler).    

"Bottoms" is a very self-aware satire of high school sex comedies, purposefully built on a pile of absurd clichés that are sometimes called out, and sometimes just background visual gags that get more and more insane as the film goes on.  You have the football players and cheerleaders constantly in uniform no matter what the situation, it's impossible to tell what subject Mr. G teaches, and the high school football rivalry is ramped up to truly deranged extremes.  The violence, however, is what caught my attention.  In most comedies of this type, a lot of the big laughs come from raunch, gross out, and embarrassment humor.  "Bottoms" has some of this, but the overwhelming source of laughs is violence.  Boy, does "Bottoms" have a lot of violence, from the fight club to the football antics to a prank war.  And while a lot is exaggerated, there's an unusual brutality in the way Seligman shows it.  Even simple punches can cause bloody injuries, and there's a sequence of someone getting viciously beat up that is as horrifying as it is ridiculous.  

And that attitude is why I think "Bottoms" works so well.  It calls out misogyny, bigotry, and bullying without sugarcoating them, at the same time that it's mining these topics for humor.  The bullies behave in absurd ways, but the damage they deal to our heroes is very real.  The F-slur is thrown around constantly, but not casually.  There's a joke about sexual assault that's designed to make you wince at the same time you're laughing.    The film stops occasionally for someone to nudge the fourth wall, and point out something happening that doesn't make sense, but then rolls with the punches anyway.  For me, it also helps that "Bottoms" isn't much of a sex comedy.  PJ and Josie sort out their priorities and get the girls in the end, but their own self-improvement and decision to use violence for a good cause take up most of their attention in the last act.  And I, for one, thought it was funny as hell.

If nothing else, watch this movie for the cast.  Like the heroes of "Superbad," who they have a lot in common with, PJ and Josie are lovable, but also awful.  Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edibiri do a fantastic job of playing terrible liars and pathetic con-artists.  I don't buy for a second that they're high schoolers, but I got invested in their friendship.   Hazel, the earnest, wide-eyed true believer, is somehow Ruby Cruz's film debut, and Nicholas Galitzine takes a break from rom-com princes to play one of the dimmest, silliest screen himbos I've ever seen.  However, the MVP of the film may be Marshawn Lynch, who delivers his line readings with irresistible sincerity.  

   

I left "Bottoms" very happy that I had taken a chance on it.  This still is definitely not my genre, but I like that we're seeing female-led comedies like this and "Booksmart" come around more often.  And if Emma Seligman and company decide they want to make more movies in this vein, I'll happily stick around.   

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Rank 'Em: "Indiana Jones"

Well, after that last sequel, I think we're done with theatrical "Indiana Jones" films for a long time.  So, I'm ranking the five existing "Indiana Jones" from best to least.  Minor spoilers below.

"Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade" (1989) - After thinking long and hard about it, "Last Crusade" wins out over "Raiders" for me.  This is the installment of the original trilogy that I watched the most often as a kid, and have the most favorite moments from.  Indy was never more human or relatable than as the frustrated son to Sean Connery's Henry Jones Sr., and the opening with RIver Phoenix as the young Indiana Jones is so effortlessly entertaining.  They made an entire "Young Indiana Jones" television series based on those first few minutes.  I feel like this is the funniest of the original trilogy, with some visual gags that are as ambitious as they are absurd.  It's also the most touching, with the final tussle over the Holy Grail.  And I'll always love the last shot, of our heroes literally riding off into a perfect sunset the way they only can in the movies.  

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) - This is one of the best pure action films ever made, and I can barely take any objective stance toward it because it's been such a cinematic touchstone for me.  Looking back on "Raiders" over forty years later, the Orientalism and the brownface don't pass muster anymore, and the special effects work is rough, but the fundamentals of the filmmaking are as astonishing as ever.  The chase sequences and the fights and the clever bits of visual storytelling come straight from the pulpy old adventure serials that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas are paying homage to, but elevated to such an extent that they became iconic in their own right.  And I was so mad that Marion didn't come back for the rest of the original trilogy, and so relieved that she turned up in the later films.  I think she's still my favorite character in this franchise.

"Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" (1984) - This was honestly in a very, very close race with "Dial of Destiny" because "Temple of Doom" was always an afterthought for me.  I think I've watched the whole film through a grand total of once, and just to check it off a list.  It's a much goofier film than "Raiders" and "Last Crusade," has a more difficult leading lady in Kate Capshaw's Willie, and the crummy portrayal of the Indian characters is just cringe now.  It didn't scare me as a kid, because I didn't see the scary parts until I was an adult.  However, the film had Short Round, who I knew through sheer cultural osmosis, who was one of the only memorable Asian child characters to be found anywhere in the movies in the 1980s.  And the opening sequence was a magnificent feat - the closest Spielberg got to directing a musical until "West Side Story" decades later.   

"Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny" (2023) - I was happy to write "Dial of Destiny" off as a well-intentioned mediocrity until the last act happened, and  found myself suddenly very happy that I was with Indiana Jones on this adventure.  James Mangold will likely be the only director besides Spielberg to have made an "Indiana Jones" film for the foreseeable future, and he did a perfectly fine job of it.  The trouble is that Harrison Ford has no business being in this kind of action spectacle anymore, and the digital double technology is not good enough to sustain that whole opening sequence with the younger Indiana Jones during WWII.  The scripting is also remarkably bad at giving Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her sidekick anything to do.  Still, "Dial of Destiny" got the premise of an older, outdated "Indiana Jones" right, in a way that "Crystal Skull" didn't.  Speaking of "Crystal Skull…"   

"Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008) - I honestly don't mind the film as much as other fans seem to.  I just don't like it enough to spend much time thinking about it.  The shift to the '50s and Russian villains made perfect sense, but they weren't handled well.  There was far too much reliance on CGI, and actors like Cate Blanchett and Ray Winstone were wasted.  I liked that they brought Marion back, and that's about it. 

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"Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake" and "Tiny Toons Looniversity"

It can't be a good sign that the majority of what I'm watching on Max these days are the animated shows.  Quickly, here are two of their latest ones that I have some notes on.

A long time ago, I expressed on this blog that while I was interested in "Adventure Time," the only parts of the show I'd really managed to form an attachment to were the rare "Fionna and Cake" episodes that featured the genderswapped, species-swapped, versions of the main characters, Finn and Jake.  Well, now Fionna and Cake have their own miniseries.  

The last time I saw Fionna (Madeleine Martin) and Cake (Roz Ryan), they were adventurers in a fantasy world much like the Land of Ooo, where "Adventure Time" takes place.  However, this time we meet Fionna Campbell as an ordinary young nobody, hopping from one dead-end job to another to try and get by in a very non-magical world.  Her cat Cake is a real cat, though she's been acting odd lately.  Meanwhile, in another universe, a man named Simon Petrikov (Tom Kenny), who used to be the villainous Ice King, is also living a sad, lonely existence after the loss of his fiancee Betty (Felicia Day).  However, there's plenty of magic in Simon's universe, and his attempts to find Betty open a portal to Fionna's world by accident.

Despite my having missed so much of "Adventure Time," which ended in 2018, but has seen the story continued in several spinoffs since, I could more or less follow "Fionna and Cake."  Essentially, it's "Adventure Time" really digging into the multiverse concept, with Fionna, Cake, and Simon journeying through several different universes, while trying to work through some personal problems.  Fionna is directionless and Simon is in mourning, and they both think magic can help them.  In their search for the magical Ice King crown, they meet many versions of familiar "Adventure Time" characters.  Fionna's friends Marshall Lee (Donald Glover) and Gary Prince (Andrew Rannels), who are male versions of Marceline (Olivia Olson) and Princess Bubblegum (Hynden Walch), get their own subplot in a few episodes.  Finn (Jeremy Shada) shows up too - sometimes as a grown-up with kids.  Many of the characters were ones I didn't recognize, but there was just enough hand-holding to keep things coherent.  For instance, it was nice to finally have a quick and easy explanation as to who Prismo the Wishmaster (Sean Rohan) is, and what his Time Room is all about.   

"Fionna and Cake" is definitely worth a watch.  It's obviously best enjoyed by existing fans, but if you just want to get a taste of how strange and oddly deep "Adventure Time" is, "Fionna and Cake" isn't a bad place to start.  I felt like I'd skipped about a decade of lore, and I honestly didn't mind, because I still got to see and appreciate the emotional payoffs to some big storylines.  Ice King/Simon is still so compelling after all this time, and it was nice to see some parts of his past filled out.  This is easily the best version of Fionna so far, a very brave and very green youngster who is trying out new roles and coming to some important realizations.  I think the series actually does work as a standalone story, though a very chaotic one.         

On to "Tiny Toons Looniversity," which is one of the strangest cartoon reboots I've seen.  I understand why you'd want to reboot this early '90s favorite, just as "Animaniacs" was rebooted a few years back, but "Looniversity" messes with the original formula in some very odd ways.  First of all, Acme Looniversity is now more analogous to a college or university than a high school, and the characters have all been adjusted to behave quite a bit older.  Most episodes revolve around the characters having issues around roommates, internships, and campus activities.  There's a very sitcommy vibe to the show, with a core group of regulars, two or three recurring locations, and a pat life lesson at the end of most episodes.  Except, you know, with "Tiny Toons" characters.

The trouble with "Looniversity" is that it's a new version of "Tiny Toons," while "Tiny Toons" was a new version of the old Warner Bros "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" shorts.  Though the shows are aimed at more or less the same audience, those are two very different goals, especially now that different things are expected from children's cartoons in the 2020s.  As one of the old show's decrepit old fans, I think "Looniversity" is fine for my kids, but it's not "Tiny Toons."  The changes are big, and often baffling.  Why are Babs (Ashleigh Crystal Hairston) and Buster Bunny (Eric Bauza), no relation, no longer best friends, but now fraternal twin siblings?  Why mess with the oldest and most consistent joke from the original show?  Giving Buster's new roommates Plucky Duck and Hamton J. Pig (both David Errigo Jr.) some additional backstory is fine, and pairing up Babs with a rage-prone Sweetie Pie (Tessa Netting) works okay, but Furball (Natalie Palamides) talks?  Villain Montana Max (Candi Milo) is only in one episode, and Elmyra's MIA?  I get that the creators of "Looniversity" want to appeal to the current crop of kid viewers, but every change here feels far too calculated to be safer, nicer, more digestible, and way less interesting than the "Tiny Toons" I watched as a kid.            

I suspect a big problem is that the initial order for "Tiny Toons Looniversity" was only ten episodes, so there was no chance to get really crazy like so many of the best episodes of "Tiny Toons" would.  There are occasionally glimpses of the old, anarchic Looney Tunes spirit in the show, like a brief "Road Warrior" spoof that really goes hard on the absurdity.  The Looniversity teaching staff is still composed of the classic characters from the '40s and '50s, including Bugs and Daffy (both Bauza), with Granny as the Dean (Milo).  There are even some real obscurities pulled out of the vaults for the Looney Tunes die hards to spot.  However, almost none of the old humor comes with them.  Cartoon violence went through a few controversies in the late '90s and early 2000s, and "Looney Tunes" style slapstick isn't a thing in kids' shows anymore.   

I toughed out all ten episodes of "Looniversity" because I was so baffled by the pilot episode I wanted to dissect the whole thing, and it doesn't get any better.  To be fair, it doesn't get any worse either.  You can tell there were some honest efforts to make a smart, positive show for young viewers with these characters.  I just wish it wasn't called "Tiny Toons."

 

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"My Adventures With Superman" Flies High

Mild spoilers ahead.

I saw the Fleischer "Superman" shorts from the 1940s recently, as part of my self-guided tour through WWII propaganda.  It was an odd, but gratifying experience, seeing a major touchstone of superhero cartoons that has been so influential on so many pieces of animation that I'd watched over the years.  The 1993 "Batman: The Animated Series," which set the template for the DCAU, drew heavily from it, and pretty much every cartoon version of Superman followed in its footsteps.  Well, until 2023.

"My Adventures With Superman" is an anime retelling of the Superman story.  Okay, technically the animation is from Studio Mir, a Korean outfit, but the visuals and storytelling are anime through and through.  Nerdy Clark Kent might have been a disguise for other versions of Superman, but here it's not a disguise.  This Clark (Jack Quaid) is just starting out as an intern at the Daily Planet with his best pal Jimmy Olsen (Ishmel Sahid), under a grouchy Perry White (Darrell Brown), and is still discovering his powers.  Critically, though he's still a foundling who has been raised by Ma and Pa Kent (Kari Wahlgren, Reid Scott), and has taken up superheroing in a cape, he doesn't know anything about Krypton.  

Then there's ambitious go-getter Lois Lane (Alice Lee), a more seasoned intern at the Planet.  She and Clark immediately take a liking to each other, but are charmingly clueless about romance, and go about their courtship in the most endearingly awkward way possible.  There is a lot of romance in the show, far more than other animated superhero shows.  They move from "will they, wont' they" to coupledom surprisingly quickly.  This might be the reason this "Superman" is premiering on Adult Swim instead of a more kid-oriented outlet.  Next to MAX's aggressively bawdy "Harley Quinn" show, however, "My Adventures With Superman" looks positively family friendly.

The anime influences are the most noticeable in the various adjustments to our familiar characters, with Lois gaining giant eyes, a tomboyish hairstyle, and a comedically aggressive attitude toward becoming an ace reporter.  In Clark Kent's case, the changes are less to do with his character design, and more to do with the amount of interiority he gains.  This Clark is transparently insecure about his past, his relationships, and his place in the world.  He angsts and worries constantly, though in a terribly wholesome way.  There's something very old fashioned and appealing about the way Clark is such a forthright good guy through and through, and his nervous crush on Lois is terribly sweet.

For the nerdier viewers, the creators have indulged in both DC and anime references everywhere.  The show's roster of villains trends toward the more obscure, so no Lex Luther yet.  Instead, we have a version of Parasite (Jake Green) who wears power armor that looks an awful lot like an Evangelion mecha, a Mr. Mxyzptlk (David Errigo Jr.) straight from "Dragonball's" Planet Namor, and a Livewire (Zehra Fazal), who gets her powers from alien tech.  Superman is also being investigated by the government's Task Force X, led by a sinister figure known as The General (Joel de la Fuente).

I was a little taken aback at first at how far some of these changes went, especially to Lois, who is so strident in the early episodes that she borders on being too much.  However, the show finds its groove eventually, and the writing is good about letting the characters grow up significantly by the end of the first season.  This is a very different version of "Superman," but ultimately it still feels like "Superman."  It succeeds at feeling much more modern, and aimed squarely at the current generation of kids and young adults who have grown up on shonen action shows.  There hasn't been an animated "Superman" show since the DCAU version from the '90s, so this reinvention may be overdue.

I'll look forward to future seasons of "My Adventures with Superman," and any other reboots of DC characters that Warners might want to try in the same vein.  Magical girl Wonder Woman, anyone?

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My 2023 Holiday Wishlist

2023 was a year that the entertainment industry will not soon forget.  This was the year of the strikes.  The year AI reared its head.  The year the superheroes and the long-running action franchises started flopping, and "Barbie" became queen of the box office.  Looking back on last year's wishlist, it's amazing how fast things have changed and continue to change.  

So this year for the holidays, I want… 

For all the strike delayed projects to find a way forward.  There has been all kinds of scheduling chaos, but I'm the most worried about the shows and films that may be permanently kaput thanks to the long delays.  There have already been a round of cancellations of shows like the "Wonder Years" reboot, and some previously greenlit projects are stuck in limbo.  We're looking at a pretty big content drought next year in any case, and it feels like we're officially past Peak TV.

For more physical media and less streaming exclusivity.  Last year, I was very thankful for the ability to buy a few streaming favorites on Blu-ray, just for my own peace of mind.  The content purges waged by the big streamers seems to have paused for now, but more are surely on the way.  Many steaming exclusive shows and movies have been shuffled around to different services.  It was a great relief that Prime picked up "Pantheon" after it was dropped by AMC+, so we got to see the second season.  However, there are a lot more orphan titles out there.  At the time of writing, "The Nevers" is still stuck on Tubi, and extremely difficult to watch.

For the forthcoming 2024 election cycle to be boring.  I don't want it to be even remotely interesting.  The last few elections have felt like a life-or-death struggle to preserve American democracy, and I'm not ready for another round of that.  The results of the 2024 presidential race should be a foregone conclusion.  It shouldn't even be close.  I also have little interest in any of Donald Trump's trials being televised, but if that's what it takes to finally convince his supporters that he deserves everything that's coming to him, I guess it's a necessary evil.

For Elon Musk to get bored.  It's been very entertaining to watch Musk drive Twitter into the ground, and I admit to rubbernecking the drama more than I should have this year.  However, it's gotten very tedious watching him chip away at the platform, and enable fascism, and erode civilized online discourse.  No viable alternative has really turned up since Zuckerberg royally screwed up the Threads launch, while Bluesky is still taking way too long to establish itself.   

For Disney to break some bad habits.  Last year wasn't a total disaster for Disney, but it was pretty close.  Most of its theatrical releases bombed or flopped or underperformed.  The MCU is in crisis, with "Secret Invasion" being an especially low point.  It's clear that the company has relied far too much on a handful of franchises, and audiences are exhausted with them.  I don't think the problem is with audience interest, but simply that Disney has been slacking on quality control, and let some really subpar media reach our screens.  It's going to take them a few years to really regroup and reorient the ship, and I hope they do, instead of doubling down.

For better streaming ads.  Now that ad-supported tiers look like the inevitable status quo for most streaming services, the creators of those ads really have to step up their game.  I should not be seeing ads that I am not remotely the right audience for.  I should not be seeing the same ads running over and over again ad nauseum with every ad break.  Those ad breaks should not be placed at random intervals throughout the programming, in the middle of sentences, disrupting the flow of important scenes, and making the viewing experience that much worse.  Get it together, streamers!  

For all the media coming next year to exceed my expectations, and the creators behind them to have every opportunity to do good work.

Happy holidays!  

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How to Blog About "John Wilson"

I haven't written about the "How to With John Wilson" documentary series before now, because I haven't watched the show consistently.  It was a show that took me a few tries to get on the same wavelength with, because it's so utterly unique.  There are three seasons of six episodes each, where our host, writer, and cinematographer, John Wilson, gives advice on a particular topic of the day, like "How to Put up Scaffolding" or "How to Be Spontaneous."  

This is really just a jumping off point for Wilson's long, rambling, existential monologues as he explores his native New York, capturing all the little oddities and idiosyncrasies of life in the city.  His spoken observations are ironically contrasted with the images his camera captures, and he's prone to going off on these amazing tangents, and meeting interesting characters from all walks of life.  In one episode he ends up in a convention of "Avatar" enthusiasts.  In one episode he checks in on self-cleaning public bathrooms.  Many episodes are deeply introspective and involve exploring Wilson's own life and search for self-improvement.  Sometimes he touches on fairly deep and heady material, as Wilson struggles with how to approach modern society and his place in it.  The show is also known for wild turns, like the time "How to Appreciate Wine" turned into a meditation on how to fit in with groups, and we eventually learned that John Wilson participated in a contentious college a capella competition that ended in beef with a notorious NXIVM cult leader.  However, Wilson's adventures always start with the mundane and ordinary little frustrations of living in a city crammed with so many other human beings.  

"John Wilson" feels like watching a series of video diaries, made by a very endearing, very anxious man who doesn't get in front of the camera if he can help it.  Wilson has a great knack for catching weird moments of modern life on film that are unquestionably authentic.  Clever editing might smooth out some of the bumpy transitions, but I take Wilson at his word that many of the lucky chance encounters he has are real.  He's incredibly relatable and reassuringly ordinary in every interaction, and thus able to express the experience of living in New York in a way that I don't think anyone else ever has.  Wilson also has a love of nerdy minutiae that is reflected in the show.  There's an entire, wondrous episode just devoted to scaffolding, the omnipresent, building-obscuring structures that every New-Yorker is well-practiced in navigating themselves around.  And Wilson is able to construct an insightful, funny half hour on the topic that both despairs of how scaffolding has gotten so out of hand in the city, and celebrates how New Yorkers have found ways to deal with it, work around it, and maybe even embrace it.

Many episodes take Wilson out of New York, and send him on long trips to interview people across the country and attend events, like a convention on the Mandela effect in Idaho, or a vacuum cleaner enthusiast convention in Pennsylvania.  He always winds up back home, however, and we get to know his spartan apartment, his cat, and his ancient landlady, who he always addresses as "Mama."  The style of the show is very DIY and no frills, which just adds to its charm.  The opening titles are done in Wilson's messy scribbles, and he provides the voice over narration for every single episode.  It's a little disappointing to learn that Wilson isn't a one-man filmmaker, doesn't shoot all the footage in the show himself, and has help on his scripts.  However, his vision and his voice never feel compromised for a second.    

"John Wilson" makes for an excellent time capsule of 2020s New York, especially one episode from the first season - "How to Cook the Perfect Risotto," that starts with John Wilson's attempts at cooking and ends with the city shutting down as the COVID lockdowns start taking effect.  This collision with current events is truly surreal, and seen through Wilson's eyes it feels especially anxious and bleak.  It's a turn that he clearly didn't script, but dutifully filmed and preserved as part of his life.  And I'm very, very grateful that he was able to share it with us, and that HBO somehow funded three seasons of this strange, profound, ineffable and truly singular piece of television.    

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"SmartLess" Brings the Laughs

There's a very specific kind of documentary about performers on tour, usually about musicians, though most of the ones I've seen have been about comedians.  Some spend significant time capturing the live shows for posterity, but then also look in on all the parts of touring that happen between performances - catching flights, killing time on tour buses, trying to navigate venues, settling into hotel rooms, and sometimes taking in the local sights.  They offer a view of a strange, liminal existence, as nobody is at their best on the road, away from their families and everything that grounds them.  

And so we come to "SmartLess," which is an interview podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes.  The trio are friends in real life, and started "SmartLess" during the pandemic, taking turns springing surprise guests on the other two.  Because the three of them are famous people, the guests include A-list actors like George Clooney, sports stars like LeBron James, and even President Biden.  In 2022, the three of them went on a special cross-country tour together, presenting "SmartLess" to live audiences in six cities across the USA.  A six episode documentary series, shot in black and white, currently available on Max (though who knows for how much longer), chronicles their adventures.  It's called "SmartLess: On the Road."

I admit I had never heard of "SmartLess" until I stumbled across the documentary series.  I did not start listening to the podcast "SmartLess" until after I had watched all of it.  Immediately, the appeal of the enterprise was obvious.  The hook is the surprise guests every week, but the real fun is listening to these three guys banter and gab with each other with comfortable familiarity.  On tour, they make no attempt to look good for the cameras or hold back their kvetching.  They're frequently getting on each other's nerves, amplifying each other's frustrations, and talking one another down.  I've seen media featuring all of these actors, but I wasn't familiar with them at all offscreen.  Bateman turns out to be a tightly wound neurotic with many dietary obsessions.  Arnett is there to call him out and roll his eyes every step of the way.  Hayes has a lot of little brother energy.  They're constantly insulting and jabbing at each other, as only close friends can. 

And it's hilarious.  I don't know why one of the funniest things I've seen in 2023 is Jason Bateman ordering room service like a total lunatic, but it's undeniable.  It was a little jarring at first to hear Bateman and Arnett casually tearing each other down, but as the show went on, I got my head around their antagonistic, dryly sarcastic dynamic.  And soon they're on Segways for a city tour of Washington DC together, and then goofing around on the ice of a frozen lake in Wisconsin, and finally home in Los Angeles.  I love the jetlagged, grumpy hangout vibe, and the long, meandering running times, and the nervous backstage anticipation.  The tour mostly goes well except when it doesn't - there's real tension in the Boston episode, where one of the shows totally bombs. 

"SmartLess" the podcast has been a nice, easy listen with its slickly produced, well-paced, hour-long episodes.  However, I can't help wishing for a sequel to the much shaggier, unvarnished documentary.  It reminds me so much of "The Trip" movies, which also feature cantankerous, middle-aged white guys constantly needling each other and talking too much about their ailments and food.  However, there's a far more intimate, comfortable mood with the "SmartLess" guys.  They're not afraid of letting us see a few glimpses of their families and talking about their colorful pasts.  I think it's helpful to be at least a little familiar with the work of the trio beforehand, but it's not necessary.  

The guest list, however, is truly remarkable, especially if you're a comedy fan.  There are some genuinely pleasant surprises in the mix.  I was disappointed that we didn't get to hear more of some of the featured interviews, but then again I still have roughly three years of the show to catch up on.  And the miniseries isn't about the guests - it's about three guys and their friendship, and how a cross-country tour in pandemic times would drive anyone insane.    

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When the Movies Went to War

For my Top Ten project, I've been working my way through films from the 1940s, and a lot of WWII movies.  I should clarify that I don't mean just movies about WWII, but movies about WWII that were being released while WWII was taking place.  WWII was the first major war that took place after filmmaking really became an industry, and the various world governments were able to turn to them for their propaganda needs.

Hollywood was awash in patriotic and morale boosting films, especially during the later years of the war.  In addition to information documentaries, like the "Why We Fight" series, there were also a ton of films about supporting the troops, maintaining the homefront, and generally portraying the US involvement in the war in the best possible light.  Famous actors and filmmakers enlisted in the armed forces, while those who stayed behind were often involved in fundraising and volunteering for projects like the Hollywood Canteen.  You can find advertisements for war bonds and other calls to action all over movies and shorts from this era.  

The popular films of the time reflect this, full of adventure stories about the exploits of brave fighting men, with titles like "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" and "The Story of G.I. Joe."  There were also a ton of lighthearted musicals like "This is the Army" and "Star Spangled Rhythm," designed to lift spirits and inspire patriotism.  "Mrs. Miniver," a melodrama depicting the Blitz and the Dunkirk evacuation, topped the box office in 1942, after the U.S. entered the war.  These films still stand out because at no other time did Hollywood devote its efforts so wholeheartedly toward the cause of any armed conflict.  Moreover, there wasn't an ounce of cynicism to be found anywhere.  Korean War films existed, but these were far fewer and less popular.  By the Vietnam War, filmmakers were less enthusiastic and audiences were less receptive.       

There are some wonderful pro-war movies that came out of the WWII propaganda effort, including "Casablanca," "This Land is Mine," "The Human Comedy," and "Went the Day Well," and they clearly influenced how Hollywood operated going forward.  They're also a huge reason why the American involvement in WWII is still largely viewed positively.  The war films of today are far more cautious about their political stances and resist reducing any conflict to simple good v. evil.  They don't offer the easy, straightforward narratives of beating back Axis foes, and the villains were never quite so evil as the Nazis and the Japanese Empire.  Disney and Warner shorts turned them into grotesque cartoon caricatures.  Service men and women. By contrast, were lionized without question.  

I also watched a few wartime films from Germany and Japan, and they were more similar to the American and British films than different.  Keisuke Kinoshita and Akira Kurosawa made propaganda films - fairly innocuous morale boosters about domestic life in wartime.  I did, however, manage to track down a dramatization of the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective.  "The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya," released in 1942, used miniatures to stage such convincing air raid sequences, that it was mistaken for actual combat footage.  Alas, despite the technical quality, the film is a notorious bore.  

Germany famously had more disturbing examples of propaganda, but the Nazis were also concerned with keeping the morale of the country high, and pushed filmmakers to create a steady stream of escapist fare like romances and comedies.  There are some fantastic German films from this period like "Romance in a Minor Key," "The Punch Bowl," and "Munchhausen."  The films that did try to demonize the Allied Powers often did so clumsily.  I watched the 1943 German version of "Titanic," which mostly plays like a typical disaster film, except that it places the blame on greedy British and American businessmen.  

I don't think I've delved deep enough into this subject to draw too many definitive conclusions - but I'm glad that I took the trouble to track down many of these titles and get some different historical perspectives on WWII.  These films were made for audiences that had to deal with the war as a day-to-day reality, and were often more empathetic and sensitive than I expected, especially when dealing with civilian experiences.  WWII remains popular subject matter, and subsequent films were much more sophisticated and have the benefit of hindsight.  However, those first, often crude attempts at depicting modern warfare retain an immediacy and a power that is still remarkable.      

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In a "Landscape With Invisible Hand"

I feel like I've seen every variation of alien invasion movie, but "Landscape With Invisible Hand" finds some new wrinkles to explore.  Like the best science-fiction, its aliens are really a thinly disguised allegorical lens through which to examine current social problems.  The allegory is not subtle, and the execution is awkward at times, but I found myself fascinated with the film's scenarios the whole way through.  

So, welcome to Earth in 2036, where the alien Vuuv have conquered the world.  The Vuuv, who resemble pink rectangles of flesh with some skinny, brush-like appendages and eyestalks, managed to do this peacefully and efficiently.  They simply brought some new technology to Earth, replaced the top tier of capitalism, and massively widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots.  The Vuuv live with a few select humans in fabulous wealth on their floating islands, while the rest of humanity is stuck in a rapidly disintegrating society, literally below them.  Jobs are few, everyone is scraping by, and the Vuuv are gradually replacing things like schools and governments with systems designed to benefit themselves.   

The film focuses on the Campbell family, who try to deal with the realities of the occupation as best they can.  Mother Beth (Tiffany Haddish) is out of work, despite being highly educated.  Her teenage son Adam (Asante Blackk), is a promising artist, but feels directionless.  He connects with a classmate, Chloe (Kylie Rogers), and eventually arranges for her displaced family to live in the Campbells' basement.  This leads to friction almost immediately, but Adam and Chloe fall in love.  Their attempts to earn money and keep their families happy, however, keep backfiring.  First, Adam and Chloe try to livecast their relationship to a Vuuv audience.  Then, the Campbells allow a Vuuv to roleplay as their father figure.  Finally,  Adam's artistic talents are noticed by the Vuuv.

Written and directed by Cory Finley, and based on the novel by M. T. Anderson, "Landscape with an Invisible Hand" takes aim at social media figures, tech conglomerates, rich elites, and clueless capitalists by mirroring their behavior in the Vuuv invaders and colonizers.  The worldbuilding here is fascinating, showing how the Vuuv have wormed their way into every part of human life, and how so much of their power comes from human complacency.  We don't see much of the original meeting between Vuuvs and humans, but their day to day interactions speak volumes.  The average Vuuv is not stronger or smarter than the average human - they just have more power and money, so they feel entitled to behave like the superior species.   Conversely, you have Chloe's family - her traumatized father (Josh Hamilton) and contemptuous brother (Michael Gandolfini) - who are jealous and  hostile in spite of the Campbells' generosity, and desperate to curry favor with the Vuuv to put themselves higher up on the social ladder.  Their behavior contrasts with the Campbells, who are more willing to question the Vuuv and resist the measures designed to make humans subservient.  

"Landscape" sometimes feels like it's hopping between too many different targets and topics, at the expense of the characters.  The whole film could have been about the livecasting, and the way that the performative aspect of Adam and Chloe's relationship affects their behavior.  However, I like that the film aims for bigger targets and wants to explore more of this disturbing utopia.  The Vuuv are both repellant and fascinating, and extremely memorable.  They're so non-threatening in person, and yet so immediately off-putting, I couldn't stop staring at them whenever one appeared onscreen.  The Vuuv's tactics are both sinister and yet at the same time extremely familiar.  I think the movie works so well because the Vuuv dystopia is a barely exaggerated version of our own world, and the Vuuv are horrible in very human ways.  I love that the most ruinous thing they do to Adam is to threaten a lawsuit. 

Trying to compare this to other alien invasion movies is a challenge.  "They Live" is similar, but the subterfuge is totally unnecessary, of course.  The same goes for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."  Why waste so much time coming up with these fiendish plots, when the mechanism for conquering humanity is right here, having been developed and put in practice by humans themselves?

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My Top Ten Episodes of "Ozark"

Netflix's crime thriller series ran for 44 episodes, which contained enough gems that I had trouble narrowing this list down to ten entries.  I'm compiling this list within a few days of finishing the series, so my recall of the events of specific episodes is as good as it's going to get.  

The episodes below are unranked and ordered by airdate.  Spoilers ahead.

"Sugarwood" - Does a good job of setting up the show's primary characters and conflicts, but what the pilot episode really excels at is setting the tone for the rest of the series.  This sucker moves fast, and violence is everywhere.  We go from the Byrdes as typical Chicagoites to packing up their entire lives under extreme duress, and moving to the Ozarks.  The scene of Marty making his desperate pitch to Del Rio is especially well done, because it makes it clear that Marty is spinning the entire Ozarks money laundering scheme out of thin air.  

"Blue Cat" - However, I didn't really get onboard with "Ozark" until the second episode, where the Langmores steal the cartel cash from Marty, and Marty gets it back - not through violence, but by explaining exactly what will happen to them if they keep it.  The writers would go back to this solution a little too often in subsequent seasons, but it's thrilling to see the first time.  Marty's suicidal behavior at the end of the episode is also a part of him that I wish we got to see more often.  Bateman's great, but the character could have used more interiority.

"The Toll" - The season one finale is one of the clear highlights of the entire show.  In the aftermath of the boat dock electrocution, most of the storylines and character arcs come to violent inflection points - the standoff at the Byrde house, Mason's disturbing behavior with baby Zeke, and Marty's attempts to broker a deal between Del Rio and the Snells, which goes spectacularly sideways.  Marty comes up with one of his best ideas - the casino - but this isn't "Mad Men," and the successful pitch is almost immediately overtaken by Darlene's rage when she feels she's being disrespected.  

"Game Day" - Several big secrets are revealed once Roy decides to identify himself and help the FBI play hardball with the Byrdes.  Consequently, Helen and the cartel muscle also take measures to clean house, which escalates tensions even further.  Most of the blowback lands on Ruth, who is set up to look like Roy's informant and ends up tortured and waterboarded.  And despite his attempts to stop it, this is definitely Marty's fault, and a key part of the episode is ensuring that he knows it.  Wendy and Helen also team up against the stubborn Snells, which has a lot of repercussions down the line. 

"One Way Out" - It's difficult to pick episodes from the second season, because a lot of them seem to run together.  However, the episode where Mason kidnaps Wendy to get Zeke back definitely stands out.  Mason is not one of my favorite characters, because he's not smart or dangerous enough most of the time to be anything more than a temporary hindrance.  Here, however, we see Mason at the end of his rope.  This is also a fantastic episode about the Byrdes' marriage without ever specifically addressing the unhealthy state of their relationship - the ironic PR event at the end is the icing on the cake.  

"Boss Fight" - Marty's kidnapping was a big part of the ad campaign for the third season because it has some great images that represent how Marty has gotten in over his head with the cartel.  Nothing that bad actually happens to him, but the suspense is off the charts, and it's great.  Honestly, the events covered here should have taken place over a couple of episodes for more impact.  We finally get another set of flashbacks to fill in details about Marty's childhood, leading to his epiphany.  Ruth takes charge in Marty's absence, but discovers she can't replace him.  The show needed more of these slower, character-building stories.

"Fire Pink" and "All In" - I'm going to write about the last two episodes of season three together, because they're the high point of the show.  Ben goes fully into a bipolar spiral, Wendy has to make an awful choice, Ruth breaks with the Byrdes, Charlotte and Jonah actually do something useful, Darlene is a badass, and Helen makes a quick exit.  The furiously paced chase episode is everything I want from a good thriller, and we finally see Wendy lose her cool in a no-win scenario.  The follow-up is even better as everyone regroups in the aftermath, still very much in danger.  Marty doesn't get any of the big dramatics, but I think one of his best scenes in the entire show comes in the finale, where he manages to coax a shellshocked Wendy out of bed in the sweetest and most disturbing way.   The big win they pull off feels earned.  And good grief, that final shot in Mexico is one of the best shock endings I've seen in a long time.  

"The Cousin of Death" - I don't feel like I've included enough of Ruth on this list, even though she plays a major part in many of the episodes.  However, this is the only episode that really feels like it's about Ruth, as she makes her way to Chicago to take her revenge on Javi.  The depiction of her grief is fantastic, and I adore the way that music shepherds her along on each part of her journey.  Killer Mike of Run the Jewels puts in an appearance, and Javi enacts his own revenge against a former professor.  And while Ruth's final encounter with Javi is very satisfying, her dressing down the Byrdes is even moreso.  

"Trouble in the Water" - I understand that the show was trying to be ambiguous about how bad Wendy's childhood was, but how did we never get a flashback to Ben and Wendy as kids?  There are so many unanswered questions about this part of their lives, and the only real glimpse of any answers come at the end of the custody hearing, where Wendy confronts her father and Laura Linney gives it everything she's got.  I have a lot of issues with the writing in this episode, especially how fast it goes, and how the kids make such dumb decisions with little lead-up, but that climactic scene is undeniable.   

Honorable Mentions: "Outer Darkness," "Coffee, Black," "The Gold Coast," "It Came From Michoacán," "In Case of Emergency" and "Sanctified"

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"Good Omens" Year Two

Mild spoilers ahead.

There may be nothing as infuriating as realizing that the sequel that you've been anticipating for several years is actually the second part in a planned trilogy - and that trilogy may never be completed.  It turns out that "Good Omens 2," which comes four years after the first "Good Omens" series, ends on a significant cliffhanger.  But we'll get to that in a minute.

It's good to see the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) again.  The two aren't facing the apocalypse this time, but the mysterious appearance of the archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) on Aziraphale's doorstep - buck naked and suffering from amnesia.  Both Heaven and Hell are looking for him, and send agents to investigate.  Heaven sends the very eager, and totally clueless youngster Muriel (Quelin Sepulveda), who is in disguise as a police officer.  Hell is keeping tabs through Crowley's replacement at the London post, Shax (Miranda Richardson).  Aziraphale and Crowley try to figure out what's going on by themselves, while hiding Gabriel (renamed Jim).  Also, a supernatural accident forces them to play matchmakers for a pair of local shop owners - Nina (Nina Sosanya) and Maggie (Maggie Service) - which prompts them to reevaluate their own relationship.

I like this season of "Good Omens" a little better than the first, because it's entirely about Aziraphale and Crowley, the stakes are smaller, the storytelling is more straightforward, and the number of characters is greatly reduced.  There's still some time-hopping and trips to other planes of existence, but our intrepid angel and demon duo are at the center of the story the entire time, and it's really about their relationship more than anything else.  In flashbacks, we get to see how they first met and how various encounters through the ages shaped who they became.  My favorite episode recalls that time that Aziraphale and Crowley got involved in the whole Job (Peter Davison) fiasco when God and the Devil had their famous wager.  Some of it feels indulgent until the last episode reveals what the whole season has been building up to - a big choice that will fundamentally upend their status quo.  

  

I'm very pleased that the whole season was devoted to so much character-building, because this is precisely the kind of material that usually gets skipped over or rushed through in other big fantasy shows.  Aziraphale and Crowley were what everyone liked about the first "Good Omens," and Tennant and Sheen continue to be absolutely delightful onscreen together.  So giving them a more intimate outing together makes perfect sense.  And without all the mayhem of so many subplots and side characters, all the actors get a chance to shine a little more.  The humor works better.  The emotional beats hit harder.  There's room for some shameless "Doctor Who" references.  An interesting wrinkle is that several actors who appeared in the first season are back in the second, but in different roles - almost all better ones.  Miranda Richardson gets to show her evil side as Shax, and Sosanya and Service are terribly loveable.  Hamm is essentially playing an entirely different character as the amnesiac Gabriel.  He gets to be positively goofy, and it's a joy.    

I still feel like some of the episodes run a little long, despite the variable episode lengths, and there are some dead moments here and there.  Still, this feels like the right size and the right shape for "Good Omens."  I want a "Good Omens 3" as soon as humanly possible, but since it took four years for this latest installment, and there are multiple labor strikes going on, it's going to be a long wait.  And this is assuming that a third season is even economically feasible, given that the streaming content boom looks to be turning into a bust.  We're probably lucky to have had the second season at all.

So thank the deity of your choice, and give this a watch with my hearty recommendations.     

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"I'm A Virgo" Takes Aim

Boots Riley's film, "Sorry to Bother You" was overflowing with ideas and opinions and calls to action on social issues, and his series for Amazon Prime, "I'm a Virgo" is no different.  On the surface level it's a satirical fantasy series about a thirteen-foot-tall African American teenager named Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), who has been hidden away by his parents (Mike Epps, Carmen Ejogo) for his whole life.  However, he eventually sneaks out into modern day Oakland, and befriends some young adults his own age - Scat (Allius Barnes), Felix (Brett Gray), and political activist Jones (Kara Young).  He also falls for a fast food worker named Flora (Olivia Washington), who turns out to be special in her own way.  

Cootie not only has to learn the way the world works, but he also has to unlearn how he thinks the world works from the mass media he's consumed.  He loves comic books, especially the one about the exploits of The Hero (Walton Goggins), a wealthy vigilante, but in real life The Hero is an extension of racist law enforcement, and only means trouble to black and brown folks.  Cootie is obsessed with a fast food place called Bing-Bang Burger due to their omnipresent commercials, but is the first to admit the food is terrible.  Riley clearly has a lot of grievances with the current state of American culture and media, and is staunchly anti-capitalist.  It's weird that the series is being released on Amazon Prime, but then again "I'm a Virgo" seems to take place in a universe mostly dominated by old media, and the anti-superhero messaging is similar to what we saw in "The Boys."  Riley's just a lot more blunt about who he thinks is to blame.   

As Cootie gets to know Oakland, the public's reaction to him evolves from episode to episode.  First, he's an urban legend dubbed The Twamp Monster.  Then he becomes part of an advertising campaign for a clothing brand, a curiosity for capitalism to exploit.  Finally, when he tries to express his frustrations against injustice, he's pushed into the role of convenient villain.  Thematically, "I'm a Virgo" is very similar to "Sorry to Bother You," but tackling the ideas through the lens of superhero mythology.   Cootie being a giant immediately makes him into a symbol of black exceptionalism, and is thus innately a challenge to the oppressive systems that keep African Americans down.   The villain isn't really evil, but has simply bought into the messaging of the corrupt system to an even greater extent than Cootie has. 

The show is bursting with visual inventiveness, employing a huge array of visual tricks and techniques to make Jharrel Jerome look thirteen feet tall, and interact with regular sized people.  The production design is fantastic, full of little DIY details.  The bungalow that Cootie's parents build for him is so huge, it takes four regular sized doors stuck together to make a door sized for Cootie, and he bench presses a junker car instead of weights.  Later on we meet  a group of dispossessed people who have all been shrunken as a side effect of their economic instability, including one poor guy using a receipt as a makeshift toga.  Flora's powers are shown using these beautifully low tech collage effects, while the Hero's gear seems to take its aesthetics from '80s sentai shows and action figures.  His headquarters is a mobile skyscraper that may have escaped from a "Godzilla" movie.  "I'm a Virgo" contains a show-within-a-show, a cartoon called "Parking Tickets," that everyone seems to find hilarious despite only delivering disturbing portents of doom. 

What I really appreciate the show for is showcasing the talents of Jharrel Jerome and Olivia Washington, who are both fantastic in the roles of Cootie and Flora.  Cootie is an incredibly physically challenging part, with him constantly trying to navigate a world that isn't built for him, where he's bigger and stronger than everyone else, but still has plenty of reason to be fearful.  He connects to Flora because she's also an outsider.  We see how she's learned to adapt, and can help Cootie find ways to adapt.  The two share a tender, absurd, magnificent sex scene in the fourth episode that is the most original thing I've seen in any series in years.

So don't miss "I'm a Virgo."  There aren't many things in the American media as pointed and daring and all around interesting as this.  It does what genre media is supposed to do, which is to talk about difficult aspects of life through allegory and fantastical constructs.  "I'm a Virgo" has its rough patches, and not everything comes off as intended, but Riley is fearless, his intentions are clear, and his vision is out of this world.

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