#(other than it would always premiere in September and run through May because it aired during the second Golden Age of traditional TV)

[amtrak12]

My second biggest complaint about how the modern day internet views Gilmore Girls is how everyone associates it with fall????????? Like pumpkins and leaf-peeping fall????????????

BESTIES, there are exactly two seasons you can associate Gilmore Girls with and those are June 3rd and Snow. END OF STORY!

[aion-rsa]

The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything

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This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 5 episode 10.

Rick and Morty is fighting a losing battle with its own canon. 

The show has demonstrated time and time again that it prefers crafting episodic, self-contained stories to fully realize the potential of playing in a massive sci-fi sandbox. Like Rick Sanchez himself, the writers of the show understand that infinite universes (and a hefty 70-episode order from Adult Swim) means that a concept as earthbound as “story” will soon become pointless.

Viewers, however, have never felt that way. Despite being presented with the promise of infinite creation, many Rick and Morty fans just want to follow the story of the world’s smartest, yet most damaged man, and his happy-go-lucky grandson. It’s all quite ironic. Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has spent much of his career advocating for the elemental power of storytelling, even crafting a “story circle” that is now a feature of many writers’ rooms (and probably the Marvel Cinematic Universe). But now the one time a Harmon writers’ room wants to have some non-serialized fun, fans crave structure more than ever.

And fans finally get that structure in the Rick and Morty season 5 finale “Rickmurai Jack.” Several writers promised before the season that this batch of Rick and Morty episodes would be more canon-focused than years’ past. Sure enough, this finale explains…just about everything in the Rick and Morty canon! You can tell it’s all canon too because Rick loudly proclaims it over and over again with lines like: 

Rick: “The Citadel runs on canon.”

Morty: “We’ve been through a lot and he doesn’t like…” Rick: “Serialized drama.”

Rick “You wanna jump the shark? You wanna know my stupid crybaby backstory, then knock yourself out.”

Morty: “Woah, dead wife.” Rick: “Yeah, now everyone can shut up about it.”

Rick and Morty fans finally get just about every bit of canon they’ve been clamoring for from “Rickmurai Jack.” And in case you missed any of it, we will explain it all. Because that’s what we do.

What Is Rick’s Origin Story?

Rick Sanchez is clearly ashamed of his origin story. We finally find out why in this episode because it’s all so…human. Yes, as the series has long intimated (first in season 3’s premiere and then again in season 5 episode 8), the beginning of Rick’s multiverse-jumping saga begins with “sad about dead wife.”

Once upon a time, an evil (or probably just normal) Rick dropped into Rick C-137’s timeline to invite him along on multiversal adventures. When C-137 declined, the asshole Rick dropped a bomb into his garage killing his wife Diane and daughter Beth. Despondent, C-137 built his first rudimentary portal gun and traveled every possible timeline and dimension looking for revenge. In the process, he killed thousands upon thousands of his fellow Ricks but never found the Rick he was looking for.

Eventually, Rick grew tired of all the bloodshed and founded the Citadel of Ricks so that all the Ricks could live in relative peace. He then traveled to a timeline with a new Beth and settled in for a lifetime of adventures with his little buddy Morty.

What is The Central Finite Curve?

The Citadel of Ricks wasn’t the only thing that Rick C-137 and his fellow Ricks created. Have you ever wondered how, in an infinite set of universes, Rick Sanchez just so happens to be the smartest creature in each one? If the universe were really infinite, then wouldn’t there be dimensions where a Morty, a Jerry, a Beth, or even some random beetle was the smartest creature alive?

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It turns out that the Ricks wanted to make sure there was no Genius Jerry universe. They’ve walled off their own set of realities from all the other realities. Using a concept known as the “Central Finite Curve” they’ve been able to isolate only the universes in which Ricks are the smartest creatures to use as their own Rick playgrounds. How did Doofus Rick sneak in then? That’s anyone’s guess.

What is Evil Morty’s Whole Deal?

Evil Morty makes his triumphant return in this episode. First introduced as a one-off joke all the way back in season 1, Evil Morty has now become arguably the most mysterious and important figure in the Rick and Morty canon. 

Previously we saw Evil Morty elevated to the position of President of the Citadel and now we see why he wanted the job. Evil Morty wants to break free from the Ricks’ Central Finite Curve. He no longer wants to live in a set of curated universes where Rick Sanchez will always win. Ultimately he gets what he wants as the final moments of this episode find him entering into a new set of dimensions, 2001 or Interstellar-style. 

Evil Morty scores his biggest win of the series yet but it’s still unclear where the little guy even comes from. Is it possible that he hails from a different dimension of smart Mortys to begin with? Maybe. But we think it’s more likely that Rick and Morty is operating under Jurassic Park rules: life finds a way. The Ricks tried to create a walled-in universe where beings like Doofus Rick or Evil Morty aren’t possible. Unfortunately for them, infinite universes aren’t so easily tamed. 

How Cool is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Going to Be?

So cool. This may seem like a weird digression but keep in mind that the writer of this finale, Jeff Loveness, is also penning the next Ant-Man and the Wasp movie that will find Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror making his MCU film debut (after previously popping up in Loki).

In fact, this was Loveness’s last episode on Rick and Morty before heading off to Marvel-land. 

Came back to write the Rick and Morty season finale. Airs Tonight. It is about the burning of the world and the lies we tell the people we love because we are afraid.

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 5, 2021

What Has Mr. Poopybutthole Been Up To?

After becoming a fan favorite (and sustaining a near-fatal gunshot wound) in season 2, Mr. Poopybutthole has retreated to the background of the Rick and Morty world. Now he operates as an Oatu-like Watcher, dispassionately viewing the events of Rick and Morty from his couch, sometimes wistfully wishing these mortals could see what fools they be.

Mr. Poopybutthole’s monologue at the end of this episode is particularly haunting. Here is the script page in its entirety courtesy of Loveness’s Twitter account.

Learn from him. pic.twitter.com/lHaPQ5ZTkh

— Jeff Loveness (@JeffLoveness) September 6, 2021

“We don’t have as much time as we think. We never do. Oooowee.”

The post The Rick and Morty Season 5 Finale Explains…Well, Just About Everything appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3n8mIbt

[danger-force-season-1-episode-1]

S1.e1 || Danger Force Season: 1 , Episode: 1 || (Full)-Episodes

S1.e1 || Danger Force Season: 1 , Episode: 1 || (Full)-Episodes

Watch [Danger Force] “Season 1” : Episode 1 (S1E1) Exclusively on Disney+! ⚜ Enjoy watching! Watch Full Episode Online Complete! ⚜P.L.A.Y ►► https://123movies.nextflixtv.com/tv/99583-1-1/danger-force.html

⚜‘Danger Force’ Se1 Ep1: ‘Late Night Ned’⚜ From the producers of “Laguna Beach” comes Danger Force, the ultimate summer series that follows a group of young adults confronting issues of love, heartbreak and looming adulthood. As these friends spend the summer together in their beautiful hometown, they come of age while trying to figure out who they are and want they want to be. The promo suggests that this new antagonist has something to do with the connection that leads to the flashbacks. Danger Force is leaning into flashbacks more and more throughout its final season. On Danger Force Season 1 Episode 7, “New Season,” there was a flashback to a quiet moment between Echo and Bellamy. This tactic may work in the show’s favor if it is able to move the audience, and the story doesn’t get lost in translation. Final seasons are perfect for flashbacks, callbacks, and so on. Danger Force hasn’t been able to dig into much of this because so many of the characters are spread out on too many planets, and all of those planets have their Disney+ issues. It’s a complicated web that’s only at the very beginning of becoming clearer now that Clarke and her team are on Bardo. That being said, Danger Force Season 1 Episode 1, “Late Night Ned,” looks like it’s giving us some answers about how things got to be the way they are, but it’s doing so through the introduction of new faces in a familiar place. With Sanctum, Bardo, and all of their respective habitants, it’s difficult to think about getting to know even more characters this far into a show’s final season. Hopefully, Danger Force can pull off this story in a way that directly serves the main characters without adding another planet and too many new faces to an already long list. Are you Curious about what’s on the coming next on Episode 1 : Late Night Ned | Click on the Link that we provide here to watch The Full Show of this Late Night Ned! ⚜Thank you for visit our official page and officially streaming partner of lot of TV Network Show all over the World on “Ontvs.best & official.streaDisney+-movie.com” this is our new websites that you can visit through the article that we publish here. We provide the best streaming exclusively Online everywhere, anywhere, and at anytime. During this Quarantine is the best to keep yourself to stay safe and work at home, study at home, to safe more life and to stop spreading of the Covid-1. We work together for the world And we are here concern about that, so we provide to you all the entertainment show to fill your free time and watch streaming of the Series and Show that you like full and completely free! We update it Daily and you can also request through our website, we wanted to say thanks for your Support and We also hope that we can always make you satisfy with our streaming!⚜

Danger Force Danger Force 1x1 Danger Force S1E1 Danger Force Cast Danger Force Premiere Danger Force Disney+ Danger Force Eps. 1 Danger Force Season 1 Danger Force Episode 1 Danger Force Late Night Ned Danger Force New Season Danger Force Full Episodes Danger Force Watch Online Danger Force Season 1 Episode 1 Watch Danger Force Season 1 Episode 1 Online ⚜LIKE AND SHARE✬ TO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA : ⚜VK: https://Vk.com/ ⚜TWITTER :https://twitter.com/ ⚜FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/ ⚜INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/ A television show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed between shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings. A television show might also be called a television program (British English: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A television series is usually released in episodes that follow a narrative, and are usually divided into seasons (US and Canada) or series (UK) — yearly or semiannual sets of Late Night Neds. A show with a limited number of episodes may be called a miniseries, serial, or limited series. A one-time show may be called a “special”. A television film (“made-for-TV movie” or “television movie”) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than released in theaters or direct-to-video. Television shows can be viewed as they are broadcast in real time (live), be recorded on home video or a digital video recorder for later viewing, or be viewed on demand via a set-top box or streamed over the internet. TV SERIES The first television shows were experimental, sporadic broadcasts viewable only within a very short range from the broadcast tower starting in the 16s. Televised events such as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Germany, the 16 coronation of King George VI in the UK, and David Sarnoff’s famous introduction at the 16 New York World’s Fair in the US spurred a growth in the medium, but World War II put a halt to development until after the war. The 16 World Series inspired many Americans to buy their first television set and then in 11, the popular radio show Texaco Star Theater made the move and became the first weekly televised variety show, earning host Milton Berle the name “Mr Television” and demonstrating that the medium was a stable, modern form of entertainment which could attract advertisers. The first national live television broadcast in the US took place on September 1, 2020 when President Harry Truman’s speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco was transmitted over AT&T’s transcontinental cable and microwave radio relay system to broadcast stations in local markets. The first national color broadcast (the 2020 Tournament of Roses Parade) in the US occurred on January 1, 2020. During the following ten years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. A color transition was announced for the fall of 2020, during which over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. In 1980, the last holdout among daytime network shows converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season. Formats and Genres See also: List of genres § Film and television formats and genres Television shows are more varied than most other forms of media due to the wide variety of formats and genres that can be presented. A show may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas), or non-fictional (as in documentary, news, and reality television). It may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television films), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They could be primarily instructional or educational, or entertaining as is the case in situation comedy and game shows. A drama program usually features a set of actors playing characters in a historical or contemporary setting. The program follows their lives and adventures. Before the 2020s, shows (except for soap opera-type serials) typically remained static without story arcs, and the main characters and premise changed little.[citation needed] If some change happened to the characters’ lives during the episode, it was usually undone by the end. Because of this, the episodes could be broadcast in any order.[citation needed] Since the 2020s, many series feature progressive change in the plot, the characters, or both. For instance, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were two of the first American prime time drama television series to have this kind of dramatic structure,[1][better source needed] while the later series Babylon 1 further exemplifies such structure in that it had a predetermined story running over its intended five-season run. In 2020, it was reported that television was growing into a larger component of major media companies’ revenues than film. Some also noted the increase in quality of some television programs. In 1980, Academy-Award-winning film director Steven Soderbergh, commenting on ambiguity and complexity of character and narrative, stated: “I think those qualities are now being seen on television and that people who want to see stories that have those kinds of qualities are watching television. Thank’s For All The Support And Have a Good Time! Find all the movies that you can stream online, including those that were screened this week. If you are wondering what you can watch on this website, then you should know that it covers genres that include crime, Science, Fi-Fi, action, romance, thriller, Comedy, drama and Anime Movie. Thank you very much. We tell everyone who is happy to receive us as news or information about this year’s film schedule and how you watch your favorite films. Hopefully we can become the best partner for you in finding recommendations for your favorite movies. That’s all from us, greetings! Thanks for watching The Video Today. I hope you enjoy with the information that We share here. Thank you!

[acdeaky]

strangers, lovers, strangers

joe’s birthday week - part 1

warning: fluff, angst, implication of sex, foul language, dialogue heavy at parts

note: welcome to joe’s birthday week! we have five days until his big day, so enjoy this fic and another four after this until his special birthday one! (that is the most amount of warnings i’ve ever done for a fic, wow)

word count: 1.9k

THEN

“joey, i love it.”

“no, you feel obliged to love it.”

“joe, i actually do love it,” you giggled, running your hands through his newly permed hair.

“really?” he sounded unsure. “does it look okay?”

“you look great,” you assured him, pulling lightly at one of his curls. “in fact, i think you look sexy with it.” you added, whispering into his ear and lightly biting his lobe.

“don’t start something you can’t finish, princess.” joe smirked, pulling you from your place next to him and onto his lap.

“oh, and i’m the one starting things, am i?”

“always are.” he gave you an innocent grin, before running a hand up your body, from your hip to the back of your neck. pushing gently, he brought your head closer to his, pressing your lips together.

it was soft, slow. gentle as usual with joe. he had his moments were he was a bit harsher, but he always worried. worried about hurting you, being the sweetheart his is. so it was soft, only a light amount of pressure and full of love.

“i love you.” he muttered against your lips, pulling away for a second or two to declare his love.

“i love you.” you repeated his action, lips finding each other quickly afterwards again.

“wanna show me how much you love me?” joe pulled away again, a smirk already upon his face, a mischievous glint in his hazel eyes. you could only giggle, pulling your bottom lip between your teeth and nodding. “let’s go!” his arms wrapped themselves tighter around your waist as he stood from the sofa. in return, your arms wrapped tighter around his neck, holding on for dear life.

both of you made your way down the corridor towards your bedroom, giggling and fumbling the whole way there. short kisses were shared over your lips, faces and necks, some leaving marks, others not.

once you got in your room, joe gently placed you on the bed, kicking the door shut with his foot and hovering over you with his pupils blown. you knew yours were, too. with love.

NOW

“so this is suddenly more important than me? than us?” you sobbed out, your hand holding the chest at the pain you were in.

“what? my job isn’t important? it’s more important than yours!” joe practically spat, his hand waving in the air and falling to run through his hair. “i have to do this!” he turned away from you, knowing if he saw you cry he would cancel everything and stay with you.

“of course your job’s important! but i’ve been there for everything you’ve done within your job; every audition, every set visit, ever premiere, every award show! why can’t you be there for me?”

“because this is the biggest fucking thing in my career and you don’t seem to realise that!”

that was it. you couldn’t take it anymore. he wouldn’t look at you, he wouldn’t realise what he’d done to you. he wouldn’t care, would he?

no. and that’s why you had to leave. you had to get out of that apartment before you broke down, before you did something you’d regret. before you hurt yourself.

joe didn’t even realise you had left the living room until he heard the front door of the apartment slam. he didn’t realise that you had left the room, pulled on a pair of shoes, grabbed a jacket and left, taking your keys with you.

it wasn’t your apartment anymore. it was just an apartment. not the apartment you and joe had spent weeks looking for to make sure it was perfect. not the apartment you had spent hours decorating together. not the apartment you had fallen in love with while falling more in love with joe.

no. it was too painful to even think of him there. alone. his chest was probably heaving, his breath uneven and his body pacing across the room. his quiet mutterings of him trying to understand the situation. his hands in his hair. his hands on his hips. his hands on his chest. the tears in his eyes. his red cheeks.

too painful.

who was he to think he was above everyone else? after all you had done to support him and his career and now he couldn’t even spare a day for you.

he was so humble in the beginning, what was he now?

THEN

“joe, this is Y/N,” brianna, the producer, introduced you to joe, “she’s the hair artist.”

“it’s nice to meet you, joe.” you were nervous. you hoped that when he shook your hand he didn’t realise; you were confident that your hands would give you away.

“it’s nice to meet you, too, Y/N,” he smiled. if he did notice your nerves, he wasn’t making that common knowledge. “i’m sure you’ll make my hair flawless everyday.” joe had a warming feeling about him. he seemed kind, gentle. the perfect boyfriend.

but you couldn’t think too much about that because a bustling brunette made her way over to joe. “you’re needed, mr director.” she smirked, leaning onto his shoulder and nibbling at his ear.

“i’ll see you later, yeh?” you only nodded, slightly (very) uncomfortable at the interaction you had just encountered. as joe walked off, the woman - his girlfriend, you guessed - clung on to his side, practically dragging his arm down to the floor.

you giggled at her enthusiasm and joe’s so obvious discomfort at the attention while he was working, but who could blame her? he was cute.

throughout the day, you were called on set to fix the boys’ hair a few times, making sure it looked perfect for the scene. you caught joe looking at you sometimes, his face overlooking the viewing screen and towards you. you had also caught yourself looking at joe, your eyes lingering on him while he was acting and directing.

you couldn’t help it; there was just something about that man doing his job that kept you captivated (even if his girlfriend was also in your view).

over the month of filming, you had gotten close to both joe and the cast. they invited you to nights out and barbecues, letting you in on all the fun they were having. you stayed friends with them between filming and the release of the film, finding enjoyment in their company. they were there for you, and you for them.

even two years later when joe left his girlfriend.

NOW

here you were, stuck wondering aimlessly down the streets of new york, your jacket clinging to your body as the cool september wind went through you. there wasn’t much to see at this time of night, only the lights. but you’d seen them countless times before. with joe.

this wasn’t the place you wanted to be; it was cold, dark, let alone dangerous. all you wanted was to be home with joe, but his words and actions didn’t reciprocate that back to you. why were you the one out in the cold when you were the angry one? he was the one who made the mistake and you’re paying for it.

back at the apartment joe was just how you thought he was. his breathing was heavy and he felt like he was suffocating. his hands were all over his hair and hips, pacing up and down the living room to make sense of what had happened. short huffs and puffs left his mouth momentarily. he was stressed.

no wonder.

what had happened between you was big. bigger than any argument before. sure, there had been arguments about joe’s job and his time away, but nothing like that. nothing as selfish. nothing as horrible.

nothing as painful.

you wanted to be there with him. home with him. to be curled against him and feel his warmth. to be engulfed by his arms and lay across his lap, your head tucked between his neck and shoulder. you wanted to lay kisses along his jaw, watch him squirm and keep calm as you kept going.

you wanted to be with him.

THEN

“fuck.” joe whispered, his warm breath fanning your equally warm face.

“heh, fuck, indeed,” you smiled up at him, your hands moving from his back to his neck, playing with the small hairs at the back. “i think i may have marked up your back pretty bad, baby.”

“it’s okay,” he huffed, moving from on top of you to beside you. “it’s okay.” joe laid a kiss on your temple before getting off the bed. he spent a second or two in the bathroom and came back less sweaty.

you followed after him, getting off the bed as well and heading to the bathroom. a few seconds later, you came back out and saw joe flat on his back, his arm stretched out ready for you to lay on.

this was usual after sex; joe using the bathroom and then you, joe laying on his back waiting for you.

“let’s have a look then,” you smirked. joe knew what you were on about and moved to his side, revealing his red and scratched back to you. “oo, baby,” you cooed, pushing joe back onto his back and joining him in bed. “you’re all scratched up.”

joe only huffed, not being fazed by the marks. he pulled you close to his side, his arm wrapping around your body and stroking your arm gently. “eh, s’alright. it was a good night, though.” without seeing his face, you knew he was smirking. there was something in his voice. something you recognised.

you couldn’t disagree; it was a good night, you just felt guilty. it was like joe could sense that and so he pulled you in impossibly tighter, encouraging you to rest your head on his shoulder.

“don’t feel bad; you’ve done it before.”

“and i felt bad then and i do now.”

“i’m just that good.” he was cocky.

“shut up.” you smiled, rubbing your hand over his chest. it was still slightly damp from his sweat. the smell of that and sex still lingered in the air. warmth as well. those three things mixed for a good night sleep. that, and joe.

you always slept well with joe beside you. that’s probably why you two were so close. even before you got together, you two were always joined at the hip. more so since he called you his.

and you were his.

NOW

it had been months since you saw joe. you were back to square one; by yourself, single. not that there was anything wrong with that, but you enjoyed joe. enjoyed being with him.

enjoyed being his.

but he had bigger things to do, and better. he found new jobs, new roles, new directing jobs. joe found a role which changed his life - the role you had that argument over. it changed his life, for better and for worse.

he got the job, but lost the girl.

you kept up with his work. kept up with his roles and how he was doing. he seemed fine. better than how you were doing.

joe kept the apartment. you, however, found a new place to live. just outside of the city, away from the noise and lights, away from the distractions.

away from joe.

was it hard? definitely. would you go back to him? in a heartbeat. was it worth losing him? no. but was it for the better?

yes.

-

TAGLIST: @never-kept-the-same-address @j0hn-deaky @sohoneyspreadyourwings @brian-maybe-not @deakysbabybooty @1001-yellow-daffodils @retromusicsalad @hardcoredisneynerd @painkiller80 @leatherjacketmazzello @scarecrowmax @mebeatlized @seesiderendezvous @alright-mrfahrenheit @someone-get-a-medic @miamideacon @chlobo6 @teenagepeterpan @spacedust1124719 @deakysgurl @forever-rogue @xcdelilahxc @keepsdrawing @hardzellosposts @soulexposed @supersonicfreddie @laedymoon @inthedayswhenlandswerefew

[malaysiankpopfans]

More Than Friends

A one-sided love that lasted for 10 years

Premieres 26 September 2020, Every Saturday & Sunday, 9.15pm (MYT)

Within 24 hours of Korea

Encore every Monday at 4.15pm (MYT)

More Than Friends is a 16-episode romance comedy starring Ong Seong-wu (At Eighteen, former member of Wanna One), Shin Ye-eun (He is Psychometric, Welcome), Kim Dong-jun (Chief of Staff, About Time) and P.O Pyo Ji-hoon (Hotel Del Luna, Encounter, Fluttering Warning). This is a romance drama that tells the story of two friends who had a crush on each other for 10 years but remained friends because of misunderstandings.

Due to a misunderstanding, Lee Soo (Ong Seong-wu) and Kyung Woo-yeon (Shin Ye-eun) have held a crush on each other for over 10 years. Lee Soo is a talented photographer. He is attractive but a narcissist who is selfish when it comes to love. He can be cold and aloof.  Once long-time friend Kyung Woo-yeon starts catching his eye in a different way, his peaceful life starts to take a surprising turn. Kyung Woo-yeon works as a calligrapher. She has had a crush on Lee Soo for the past 10 years since she was 18 years old. Kyung Woo-yeon is someone who doesn’t know much about love and is always caught in unrequited love. She is someone who will see things through till the end once she gets hooked on something. Due to that part of her personality, she’s been in love with Lee Soo for 10 years without him realizing. Now she finally gets the chance to take her love from unrequited to something more.

Both the leads are hot young stars who are popular and rising since their debut. Ong Seong-wu works well with Shin Ye-eun as she has a pure energy that makes people around her happier and she is always in tune of her emotions which is similar to her character Woo-yeon. Shin Ye-eun also enjoys working with Ong Seong-wu as he always takes the initiative to approach her and is considerate towards everyone. He’s a passionate actor who makes every scene his own. Ong Seong-wu and Shin Ye-eun are doing a fantastic job portraying both the comfortable, relaxed vibe between long-time friends and the occasional romantic instants in which they make each other’s hearts flutter. The two actors are showing great chemistry as they realistically show the subtle changes in their characters’ feelings.

This drama is directed by award winning Choi Seung-bum who did <My ID is Gangnam Beauty> and is produced by Zium Contents that helmed <Itaewon Class> & <Confession Couple>. An exciting reverse of relationship you cannot imagined, viewers can enjoy the throbbing love comedy between Woo-yeon and Soo as they shift from friends to lovers!

Character & Cast

Ong Seong-wu (as Lee Soo) 28 years old, Photographer. A narcissist who claims that God is unfair to him with his sheer handsomeness. Yet you still can't hate him because he is good looking. The photographer is often mistaken as a model because of his good looks. Soo’s photography skills are remarkable. However, Soo was never happy. In his memory, his parents were always arguing and he was neglected since young. His parents seemed selfish as they acted as if the traumatic days never happened. As a result, Soo has become a selfish man especially in terms of love.

Shin Ye-eun (as Kyung Woo-yeon)

28 years old, Calligrapher.

She studied calligraphy with little thought about what she wants to do, quit her job, and became a calligrapher. It was a reckless move, so she has no workshop nor satisfying income. She is lacking in terms of love because of the curse of her first love causing her difficulty to fall in love with anyone! At this time, Prince Charming has come to erase Soo from her memory. Oh Joon-soo, a publisher representative is one sweet but straight forward guy confessing his love for her. She told him about her inability to fall in love.

Kim Dong-jun (as Oh Joon-soo)

34 years old, Publishing Representative.

He was born rich. He is smart, educated and handsome. At this point, one would usually lack modesty or manners, but he is a gentleman. He is always easygoing and cheerful, as if he has never experienced pain or failure in his life. However, he also had a long and painful first love. He wished she would be gone forever, but his first love has come back as his sister-in-law! At this moment, he met Woo-yeon on business and realizes that they shared the same pain. He fell in love with her at first sight and start confessing to her.

P.O Pyo Ji-hoon (as Jin Sang-hyuk)

A passionate young man who runs a bar called Tonight. Even when others bother him, he laughs it off and moves on with a positive mindset. Though he may seem childish at times, his loyalty and love for his friends is unparalleled.

ABOUT K-PLUS

K-PLUS is the Ultimate Korean Entertainment network bringing together many exclusive and first-run titles in drama series, variety shows, and K-Pop direct from major Korean TV broadcasters to the Asian audience. It offers an irresistible entertainment platform to discover the best of Korean TV programs for all Hallyu fans. English subtitles and Bahasa Indonesia subtitles are available for all programmes.

Recent same period telecast series include: My Strange Hero, Confession, I Hate Going To Work, Level Up, Graceful Family, Pegasus Market, When The Weather is Fine, Lonely Enough to Love, 18 Again etc. K-PLUS also brings you high-rating variety shows: Show Champion, Weekly Idol, Chef & My Fridge, Wanna Travel, Traveler etc. More titles will continue to be added to the program line-up in the future.

More Than Friends will premiere on K-PLUS starting 19 September 2020, Saturday at 9.15pm MYT. New episodes will air weekly on every Saturday & Sunday at 9.15pm MYT.

K-PLUS is available on: USEETV Indihome, DENSTV, Astro GO, SKY Cable, MAXstream, CableLink. 

[beingallelite]

All September long,IGN is highlighting the best TV coming your way in the 2019-2020 season. Today, we're checking in with Cody Rhodes and

All Elite Wrestling, a fledgling wrestling promotion with big names behind it that's about to unleash a new weekly show on TNT, premiering Wednesday, October 2. AEW on TNT will feature the likes of Rhodes, Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose of WWE), Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, newly-crowned AEW Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho, and an exciting exhibition of stars on the rise.

AEW has its work cut out for it. Not that there isn't an intense hunger among fans for an alternative to WWE, which still monopolizes the industry in most regards - but all eyes will be on AEW's product to see if it's truly the fed that can give the giant a run for its mega-money.We spoke to Cody Rhodes - an AEW performer who also serves as one of its founders and Executive Vice Presidents - about the upcoming TV show, AEW's competition with NXT (which will also air on Wednesday nights as of mid-September), and how his promotion intends to stand out from the pack.

RHODES TRIP

AEW will kick things off in Washington D.C. for its October 2 show, then move on to Boston and Philadelphia for the next two tapings. So why the decision to hit the road with the show, instead of staying in one spot? Well, Rhodes could feel the fan fervor all over the country early on. "I think [AEW President] Tony Khan had the same ambition that we had when we envisioned this," Rhodes explained. "When we did All In [the franchise's recent PPV], and even before we did All In, we felt the hunger for this. And it wasn't just in Chicago. Every place we'd visit we'd find this really strong hardcore fanbase who wanted to be part of everything we did. And we wanted them to be part of everything we did. And that was nation-wide, that feeling."

Despite running for two hours each week, not everyone on the roster is going to be featured on each episode. "We're going to try and present quality over quantity," Rhodes said."Which means that some guys are going to have some time off. Which for the life and the well-being of a wrestler is a great thing to hear; that they're not gong to be, every week, putting themselves in a high-profile singles match. That, every week, they're not going to be in a barn-burner tag. It's going to be a very different show each week. We're not going to try and cram everybody on the two-hour show. There's no participation award here."

That being said, Rhodes and others behind AEW are considering an extra hour of content, which more than likely won't be televised. "It will probably live for people to stream on B/R Live," he shared. "We have a lot of resources and we want to make sure that people can plug into the wrestlers who we signed who they're fans of. We're going to try and keep everybody busy."

Check out this exclusive promo for AEW on TNT...

AEW vs. NXT

A few weeks back, WWE announced that its lauded NXT promotion would shift from streaming Wednesdays on the WWE Network to airing on USA Network in mid-September, landing in AEW's time slot before AEW debuts. "We can't pretend that we don't know that's happening," Rhodes said, "but we were always planning our show. And have been for a long while. This isn't a reactionary move on our part. This is what our intentions were. To be on Wednesday nights and to be on a major network with such a great partner like Warner Media and TNT. Our focus is still on providing the best AEW, providing the best alternative. We haven't switched over to 'Well how can we compete?' because we already felt like we had a product that people wanted to see."

He added, "We want to provide bell-to-bell sports-centric pro-wrestling. That's going to mean longer matches. That's going to mean stories being told between the ropes. That means no invisible camera backstage. That's gonna mean more of a live-sports approach to our product. That's 100% what we're doing, so I want to avoid any reactionary elements. I loved the Monday Night Wars, I did. And I'm not trying to be naive and ignore a situation where it's like 'Hey, if this happens, we'll have to play this card,' but I'm just saying I want us to be more about our young and upcoming crop of talent."

"I'll give you a great example: the very first match you're going to see on TNT is myself versus Sammy Guevara. I can't sit here and tell you that Sammy Guevara's got all the potential in the world because it makes him so angry. He's so full of piss and vinegar and genuinely thinks he's the best and that's the type of thing we want to put out there. People like Jurassic Express, which is Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy. People like Sonny Kiss. Kip Sabian. Obviously, my best friend in the whole world too, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. I just want to stick to our word, that we gave fans back at the beginning."

TOO MUCH WRESTLING?

With AEW launching its show, WWE still creating hours and hours of content each week, New Japan available on AXS TV, and ROH (Ring of Honor) in syndication, this Fall features a very crowded wrestling landscape. But Rhodes doesn't see this as a problem at all. "As a wrestling fan you don't have to watch every show," he said. "You only have to watch what you like and who's keeping your attention and who's doing right by you, the wrestling consumer. I know the rising tide affects all ships, but at a certain point, you're going to watch what's better. As one of the biggest wrestling fans in the world though, there can never be too much wrestling for me. I'll give you an example: As a huge Trekkie, I think about that Golden Era of Trek when Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and Voyager were all on and all crossing streams. That was heaven for a Star Trek fan."

Rhodes himself is getting a shot at Chris Jericho's AEW Championship at the Full Gear PPV, coming November 9, but, according to Rhodes, that match might not wind up being as advertised. "This is one of the positive uses of 'card subject to change,'" he said. "I'm coming off a win over Dustin, one of the best of all time, and coming off a win over Shawn Spears, who's an absolute stud. Those were two huge wins. So me going for the title makes all the sense in the world. But it may not end up being me versus Chris Jericho. Because Chris Jericho still has a title defense before that in Philadelphia. And it may not be me if I take a loss to Sammy Guevara on the premiere episode. I think Chris Jericho is probably going to get through his first title defense, but if he doesn't we're going to stick to our word about win/loss records being a deciding factor. It's really about the data and who has the best record."

SO, ABOUT THAT CHAMPIONSHIP...

It was a whirlwind 24 hours. Just days after Chris Jericho became the first-ever AEW Champion at the All Out PPV, the belt went missing. But it's back now, so we've heard. "Yeah," Rhodes laughed, "it's all intact. There's no damage to it, which was my biggest concern because myself and Matt Jackson are the ones who ordered this title - who painstakingly tried to cover as many details as we could because we wanted it to be a really special championship belt. So I was not stoked when I found out it was gone and the mystery will remain a mystery, I suppose, of what happened. Was it grand larceny? Did someone just put it on the roof? We don't know. I'm glad it was found. Stuff happens. Jericho's, like, a 60-year vet and one of the greatest of all time, this isn't his first rodeo. And he did everything he could to get it back. Thankfully it's back in the champion's hands."

With the first AEW Champion in place, the AEW tag team champions to be determined by a tournament, and the first AEW Women's Champion to be crowned on October 2, are there any other championships on the way? "There's a title we're considering," Rhodes stated, "and it's something people can probably guess since we're going to be on TV, hint hint, but there are no plans for it at the moment. Right now we revolve around the AEW Championship and in D.C. we're going to name the first ever AEW Women's Champion, and that's such a beautiful belt. I don't know if people know, up close, that rose gold is layered into it. Brandi, Kenny Omega, and Tony did a great job getting that title. There's going to be some guidelines laid out for whoever wins that title though," he laughed. "Some guidelines about how they're supposed to take care of it."

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior September 25, 2020 – New York Film Festival, THE WAY I SEE IT, KAJILLIONAIRE, STUNTWOMEN, MISBEHAVIOUR and Lots More!

A mite bit late this week, but it’s another busy week of movies though considerably less than usual in terms of ones I have any interest in watching. Oh, wait, did I say that out loud? Yup, we’re getting to that point after six months, even though I did go out to Jersey City to see The New Mutants on Saturday. It was fine. I didn’t hate it. Josh Boone didn’t rape my childhood.

Before we get to the new releases, we’ll start with the New York Film Festival (NYFF), since that just kicked off on Thursday night with Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock, which is one of five relatively shorter movies he’s made as part of his “Small Axe” anthology that will eventually air on Amazon Prime. Maybe they’ll get some kind of theatrical release then but who knows? I’ve always kind of been up and down on McQueen’s work, loving his early movie Hunger, but then being mixed on his next few films (including the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave) but then loving Widows from a couple years back. There is no question that McQueen is a true auteur in terms of filmmaking, although sometimes he loses track of the storytelling in order to get artsy, and that’s the case with Lovers Rock. It essentially takes place in and around a “Blues Night,” basically a rowdy house party fully of music and dancing and singing, but as much about the meeting of Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn’s Martha and Micheal (Blue Story) Ward’s Franklyn at this party. It’s a fairly short “film” of just over an hour that beautifully captures the music and dance of the time, although it also gets a little too “arty” as tends to be McQueen’s wont. I don’t want to spoil too much about what happens, but I think mileage will vary on this one.

There are two more chapters to be shown at NYFF, spaced out by a week each-- Mangrove and Red, White and Blue – and I’m interested enough in what McQueen has to say about this West Indies heritage and some of the stories he’s telling within the series.

Other movies that have screened for critics already including Sam Pollard’s doc MLK/FBI, which as one can probably can figure out is about the FBI’s attempt to discredit King and take him down as leader of the protesting that led to the eventual passing of the Civil Rights Act. I feel like I knew a lot of what was in this movie from other films, and I didn’t really find that this added much towards my appreciation of King than what already existed. Honestly, I liked Pollard’s other film, Mr. Soul!, which he co-directed with that subject’s daughter.There just feels to be something more personal there compared to the rather clinical MLK/FBI.

At least that has a much stronger narrative than Song Fang’s The Calming, starring Xi Qi, which is the type of movie I almost definitely would have walked out of a press screening annoyed that I was dragged up to Lincoln Center, because it’s very much like some of Hong Sang-Soo’s worst work or some of the work of Zhangke Jia, both who regularly play the New York Film Festival. Sure enough, Zhangke produced this film, so that explains that.

I decided not to even bother with Cristi Puiu’s three-plus hour period piece Malmkrog. I was a fan of his earlier films The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and Aurora, but there just isn’t enough time in the day to see if this one goes anywhere. It’s the kind of thing that I could oddly justify sit in a movie theater and watch, but sitting at my laptop? No, thank you.

I also ended up watching Pedro Almodovar’s English language debut, the short film The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton as a woman who buys an axe at a hardware store and walks around a colorful and elaborate set with a dog, and then she gets into a long dramatic conversation (mostly yelling) over the phone with her lover or ex-lover. So yeah, basically a great showcase for Swinton, who we already know as a fabulous actor, and for the movie’s production design and cinematography. I guess I’m a little mixed on this. At least it’s only 30 minutes long?

There are a number of other festivals going on, including IFP Week in New York, which used to be one of my go-tos in terms of screening more obscure stuff between TIFF and NYFF – it’s where I saw Barry Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy one year and a few other cool movies since. But over the past few years, it seems to have less and less of interest, and I’ve barely paid attention to what’s in the cards with its shift to virtual. Either way, it’s going on now and through Friday.

Texas has two film festivals starting up this week, the more prominent one probably being Celebration of Fantastic Fest, which as can be expected is a virtual version of the annual Fantastic Fest, which I’ve heard is one of the best genre festivals in the country, showing some of the best of previous fests’ midnight tracks as well as many premieres.  It will kick off on Thursday with Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, which Neon will release a week from Friday, and then there’s a combination of new and vintage genre and horror films. You can see the full schedule here, as it runs for one full week and then through October 8, closing with Jim Cummings’ The Wolf of Snow Hollow. The opening and closing night films are at the Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane, but all the other movies being offered free to anyone in the country, and then there are a few events like the annual Fantastic Feud, which is available to watch worldwide. Some of the film’s to try to catch include Chad Faust’s Girl, starring Bella Thorne; French filmmakers Ludovic Boukherma & Zoran Boukherma’s Teddy, and Amelia Moses’ Bloodthirsty.

Not too far away in Waco, Texas, the Deep in the Heart Film Festival runs for the next couple weekends. Nothing really jumped out from this year’s line-up, but only because I haven’t seen any of the movies being streamed. What’s great about regional film festivals like this one is that they’re “discovery fests” where you can go and watch a lot of smaller indies by filmmakers who you may not hear about since they don’t have “ins” at the big festivals where they’re guaranteed placement.

Before we get to this week’s new movies, I wanted to draw special attention to a movie from last week, I didn’t get a chance to watch before posting the column, and that’s Dawn Porter’s THE WAY I SEE IT (Focus Features), an amazing doc about former White House chief photographer Pete Souza, whose amazing career working in the White House under Presidents Reagan and Obama led him to becoming a conscionable objector to the current Trump regime by using social media to throw shade. In fact, Souza’s most recent photo book is called Shade, and it collects his social media posts and tweets of some of his amazing photos of Obama during his 8 years in the White House. This is just an amazing film from the director of John Lewis: Good Trouble, which came out earlier this year, and this one does just as much to show Obama’s humanity (and actually, the fact that Reagan had a lighter side we rarely saw in public) but also to contrast those two Presidents with the monster we have in the White House now. I immediately bought Souza’s book after seeing it, and I’m hoping more people will learn about him through this film. This might already be gone from its limited theatrical release by the time you read it, but it will air on MSNBC on October 9 at 10PM.

Because I like to start or continue with the good, I will follow up one great doc with another one, and that’s April Wright’s STUNTWOMEN: THE UNTOLD HOLLYWOOD STORY (Shout Studios), which is fairly self-explanatory. It builds on the ideas in Mollie Gregory’s 2015 book and has interviews and anecdotes from some of the youngest and newest in the stunt field to some of the legends, like Jeannie Epper from the Wonder Woman and Bionic Woman TV shows, and Donna Keegan, who has been almost all of the coolest ‘80s and ‘90s action movies including Robocop, True Lies and others. Narrated by Michelle Rodriguez, the movie mixes the actual stuntwomen like Amy Johnston, Jennifer Caputo, Debbie and Donna Evans and Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez with a few directors like Paul Feig and Anne Fletcher. (Before you ask, Zoe Bell is mentioned but doesn’t actually talk about herself or her career on camera.) I just really enjoyed hearing these stories and learning more about a profession I really don’t know much about.  I definitely recommend this doc to anyone who wants to know more about film history and the behind-the-scenes stuff. (I also wrote a feature on this movie with interviews with three of the stuntwomen from the movie over on Below the Line.)

Focus Features is also releasing Miranda July’s new movie KAJILLIONAIRE, presumably at one point on PVOD but now theatrically as well after picking it up at Sundance where there were rave reviews for it. It stars Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger (yes, that one) and Evan Rachel Wood as a family of thieves who are always planning their next grift to get the $1,500 for their overdue rent. It’s then that they meet Gina Rodriguez’s Melanie, and bring her into their plans, much to the chagrin of Wood’s “Old Dolio,” (Yes, that’s the name of her character – don’t ask!), who already has issues with her parents not showing her the love a child usually expects.  

You know, I absolutely loved July’s earlier Sundance film You and Me and Everybody We Know, so hearing that she was making a heist movie and one with such an interesting cast definitely made me curious about Kajillionaire, which got absolute raves out of this year’s Sundance. It just sounded like it could be very cool, and I genuinely have been a fan of both Evans and Jenkins for a long time. I wasn’t nearly as familiar with Rodriguez’s work on Jane the Virgin, but I definitely became a bigger fan of her after this movie.

If you’re familiar with July’s other work, you know that she’s first and foremost an artist and maybe can be considered a bit of a performance artist with film being just one of her mediums. Being familiar with some of her past work might prepare you for how strange Kajillionaire is, especially in the set-up when we meet the Dyne family – Robert, Theresa and “Old Dolio” (ugh) – and we learn about their suitably quirky lifestyle of trying to con people out of money in order to pay their aggravated landlord Stovik (Mark Ivanir).  When we meet them, they’re three months past due, and Stovik has had enough, so they have to come up with a quick scheme. “Old Dolio” has an idea to scam an airline, and during this plan, they meet Rodriguez’s bubbly Melanie, who is keen on joining this strange family, for one reason. Robert seems more interested in Melanie for sexual reasons.

Going into Kajillionaire realizing how strange July tends to go with her material – whether it’s the Dyne’s living space or their general behavior – I still had trouble getting past not only the name of Evans’ character but her entire dour, emotionless and ultimately monotone performance. (Imagine Evans auditioning for the role of Bill or Ted in a female remake, and that’s her character.)  Evans is such a vibrant performer and maybe she wanted to play down her looks that are played up on HBO’s Westworld, but this character goes so far into the world of July’s headspace that I’m not sure who could possibly relate to her. As with much of July’s work, there are elements that people can relate to, possibly the way Evans’ character doesn’t feel the love from her parents that they immediately give to Melanie, as well as the sapphic bond that develops between the two younger women, but it’s all wrapped up in the most cockamamie attempt at a weird remake of The Grifters possible. Except that the Dynes are really bad scam artists, and the movie as a whole never really goes anywhere.

On the other hand, Rodriguez is almost the polar opposite of Evans, being vibrant and with a big personality and so many more layers, and she almost saves the movie at times. Otherwise, I had high hopes for Kajillionaire and was extremely disappointed, because July has yet to deliver on that earlier film I loved so much, and this is no different.

Honestly, I have no idea why Brad Pitt’s Plan B, let alone Focus Features, shelled out money for this movie thinking it might make them money, as there’s just nothing sellable about it… not the cast, not the premise and certainly not the overall tone. I guess this will be one I will never figure out. (Even so, if you like Jenkins, at least there’s another movie with him out this week, but that one isn’t much better unfortunately.)

On the other hand, one of the nice surprises of the week was Philippa Lowthorpe’s MISBEHAVIOUR (Shout! Factory), starring Keira Knightley as Sally Alexander, a young woman going to university who falls in with the Women’s Liberation Movement of London and their plots to disrupt the 1970 Miss World competition due to the way it depicts women. The movie also stars Jessie Buckley as one of the pluckier young women trying to take down the “patriarchy,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Miss Grenada, Rhys Ifans as Eric Morley, who runs Miss World with his wife Julia (Keeley Hawes) and… here’s where it gets weird… Greg Kinnear as Bob Hope.

As far as the latter goes, the movie opens with Kinnear’s Hope performing for the troops in Vietnam for the USO, and I honestly had no idea it was Kinnear, nor did I realize it until about Hope’s third appearance and I finally looked it up and realized it w as him.

But Hope is a very small part of the movie that focuses on three specific women, all real people, as played by Knightley, Buckley and Mbatha-Raw.  Alexander is a divorced young woman with a daughter who is trying to get through life with some help from her disapproving mother, but she’s also adamant about being able to break through the glass wall and meeting Buckley’s Jo Robinson and her group of rebellious young women gives Alexander the motivation to do something.

On the one hand, Misbehaviour is a quaint British period piece, much like a lot of Knightley’s previous films, but it’s also another important story from the struggle of women to get equal rights that seems appropriately-timed to current times. It’s as pretty amazing story what the Womens Lib movement got up to in terms of trying to hijack the Miss World competition – watch the videos, this really did happen, though slightly modified – where young women were literally treated like eye candy or meat. What I particularly enjoyed was that the movie didn’t just focus on Alexander or Robinson, but actually oscillated from the various characters in the story as they would come together on the fateful night.

I was already a fan of the three female leads, so seeing them in a movie together was quite grand, and while Kinnear may have been oddly-cast as Hope, the movie isn’t really about him. I actually liked seeing Ifans playing a very different character, more boisterous and with a different accent, as he adds to what ended up being a fairly entertaining movie that deals with a lot of different things, including the controversy over having a white and black contestant from South Africa decades before Apartheid was abolished.

Philippa Lowthorpe, best known for The Other Boleyn Girl, does an amazing job pulling all of these pictures together but never losing sight of the real women who are being portrayed and the amazing story they had to tell. Misbehaviour is a great example of how a message movie can be done in a thoroughly entertaining way without putting off potential male viewers.

On Wednesday, Netflix begins streaming ENOLA HOLMES, an adaptation of Nancy Springer’s Y.A. book series about Sherlock Holmes’ sister, played by Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things. Her brothers Sherlock and Mycroft are played by Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin, their mother is played by Helena Bonham Carter, and it’s directed by Harry Bradbeer, director of Fleabag and other British series. Methinks that Netflix is hoping this will be another franchise for the streaming giant. The film takes place in 1884 England with Enola waking on the morning of her 16th birthday to find her mother having vanished. Her brothers choose to send Enola to a finishing school but instead, she goes looking for her mother in London and falls in with a young runaway named Lord Tewksbury (Louis Partridge) to unravel a great conspiracy.

I never really became a fan of Stranger Things – more due to the lack of time than interest – so I haven’t really been generate much of an opinion for Millie Bobby Brown except for her role in Godzilla: King of Monsters. That said, I DO have an opinion on Sherlock Holmes, as I’m a huge fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, and that’s partially what drove my interest in this adaptation of Nancy Springer’s Y.A. twist.

Enola Holmes begins with a rather strange whimsical tone, as Enola constantly breaks the fourth wall and talks to the viewer, but it eventually falls into a steadier rhythm that’s much more palatable. If you’re into the mystery aspects of the Holmes lore, you may be a little disappointed by some of the simple word games concocted for this Holmes’ investigation, but it more than makes up for it with some fun fight and action sequences that made me think this would have been great as a theatrical release. (Just by being on Netflix, I’m sure it won’t have a problem finding an audience.)

All in all, I generally liked Brown in this role; she reminds me a little bit of a young Saoirse Ronan, so she clearly has a lot of potential. I wasn’t as crazy about some of the other casting, including Cavill as Enola’s older brother, nor the cutesy romance stuff with Partridge, but I know I’m also not the primary target audience for the film either. Still, coming so soon after Armando Ianucci’s David Copperfield adaptation, this generally pales in comparison. Probably the biggest bummer is that Helena Bonham Carter barely appears in the movie at all, which seems like such a waste of talent, although her scenes with Brown are some of the best in the movie.

Enola Holmes will find its fanbase for sure, and while it might not be the best or strongest iteration of Holmes, as much as a fun girl-friendlier spin on it, there’s no doubt that it’s perpetually entertaining.

Lena Olin and Bruce Dern star in Tom Dolby’s THE ARTIST’S WIFE (Strand Releasing) in which Dern plays crotchety artist Richard Smythson, whose poor beleaguered wife Claire (Olin) is now living in the shadow of her celebrated artist husband, giving up her own art career, but now having to deal with his memory losses and deteriorating behavior.

Claire (Lena Olin) lives a quiet domestic life in the Hamptons as the wife of celebrated artist Richard Smythson (Bruce Dern). Once a promising painter herself, Claire now lives in the shadow of her husband’s illustrious career. While preparing work for his final show, Richard’s moods become increasingly erratic, and he is diagnosed with dementia. As his memory and behavior deteriorate, she shields his condition from the art community while trying to reconnect him with his estranged daughter and grandson from a previous marriage. Challenged by the loss of her world as she knew it, Claire must now decide whether to stand with Richard on the sidelines or step into the spotlight herself.

Watching this, it’s almost impossible to not be reminded of the excellent The Wife, starring Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce, but this is a different film from The Wife despite having similar themes of a woman who has allowed her own life and career to come second to that of her husband.

This is first and foremost a showcase for Olin, who at 65 years old, still looks amazing but also gives a fantastic performance, one unlike any we’ve seen from her in quite some time. A lot of the film deals with her character reuniting with her husband’s estranged lesbian daughter (her stepdaughter) Angela (Juliet Rylance) and her son Diego, who is being taken care of by a hunky manny named Danny (Avan Jogia). They all get together for Christmas, and Richard’s behavior just gets worse and worse as Claire vacillates between worrying about him and being infuriated by him.

Sure, it’s a little predicable at times but still a decent little film from Dolby that includes a number of incredibly touching and even some weepy moments. I ended up liking this film way more than I thought I would from the premise and my own preconceived notions of what this movie would be.

The Artist’s Wife is a really nice movie – and honestly, another one I’m shocked isn’t being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics! It’s far better than The Leisure Seekers, for instance, not only in dealing with early-stage dementia but also in the way women often have to put aside their own aspirations to help their elderly spouses through it.

Richard Jenkins also stars in Andrew Cohn’s THE LAST SHIFT (Stage 6 Films) playing Stanley, who has worked at the fast food restaurant Oscar’s Chicken and Fish in Albion, Michigan for over 35 years, but he’s planning to leave to go take care of his mother in Florida. Hired to replace him is a younger lad named Jevon (Shane Paul McGhie), who has just been let out of jail and needs the job to fulfill his probation.

I’m not really sure who this movie is intended since Jenkins plays such a sad sack slacker that I’m not quite sure who might be drawn to his character, and other than his relationship with Jevon, which definitely falls into the Finding Forrester school of movie cliches, I’m not sure that the film offers much else. Ed O’Neill does appear in the film as Stanley’s best friend, but he seemed to be playing down his role as to not steal any of Jenkins’ spotlight.

Much of the movie deals with the odd characters and situations Stanley and Juvan experience on the job, but it feels like such a hodge-podge of ideas thrown together without a suitable and conclusive arc for either character. Also, Stan is kind of a jerk, and there were only so many jokes about his mother’s bad memory – probably due to dementia -- I was willing to put up with. It’s just hard to fathom what Jenkins saw in this role or movie other than to allow the lesser-known McGhie shine a bit.

The Last Shift is a movie that tries to be a comedy without ever being particularly funny, and it just comes across like a flat and rather mundane attempt that never really goes anywhere. (Note: Days after this review was posted, I was informed that the screener link I watched did not have the final music cues and mix that the filmmaker intended. With that in mind, I will make an effort to rewatch the film when I have the film’s final version.)

A few docs of interest this week (other than the ones mentioned above) include Laura Gabbert’s doc OTTOLENGHI AND THE CAKES OF VERSAILLES (IFC Films), which follows Yoam Ottolenghi as he puts together a huge gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the opening of an exhibit about Versailles. Ottolenghi decides to bring together a number of pastry chefs from all over the world, including Dominique Ansel (inventor of the Cronut), Dinara Kasko and more to recreate the look and feel of Versailles through a series of pastries and desserts. Honestly, I really don’t have that much to say about the movie, which is only about an hour 15 minutes and still feels long. It basically just documents the preparation for the event and the event itself, and the whole thing just seems rather pretentious and high-falutin’, and more like the movie that might play at Lincoln Center than anywhere else. It will be playing in theaters (but probably not Lincoln Center) as well as on digital and cable VOD. (I told you I didn’t have much to say about it.)

Premiering on HBO (and presumably HBO Max) on Wednesday (today!) is the first part of Alex Gibney’s AGENTS OF CHAOS, a two-part documentary by the Oscar-winning documentarian about the Russian interference in the 2016 election. Another example of a movie that just wasn’t something I cared to watch right at this minute, despite being a big fan of Gibney’s excellent investigational skills in terms of getting to the bottom of a subject. The first part airs tonight (9/23) and the second part airs tomorrow night (9/24).

There’s also Ric Burns’ doc OLIVER SACKS: HIS OWN LIFE (Zeitgeist Films), which will premiere exclusively as part of Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema on Wednesday (today!). I really tried to get to this, but there’s only so much time in the day especially with NYFF, and everything else going on in my life right now. I do hope to get to it, and maybe it will be like The Way I See It or Mr. Soul! and I can talk more about it in a future column.  Burns’ doc essentially covers the work of a neurologist and storyteller called “the poet laurate of medicine,” who talks about his struggles with drug addiction, homophobia and a medical establishment that only began to appreciate him decades after some of his work. Sacks is also known for writing the book on which the Robin Williams movie Awakenings is based, but otherwise, I never had really heard of him before or any of the people interviewed. Again, I’ll try to get to this soon, because he sounds like an interesting man for sure.

If the title of Mike Gunther’s ROGUE WARFARE: DEATH OF A NATION (Saban Films) makes it sound like it would be as a video game, then you probably aren’t aware that this is actually an action trilogy with Stephen Lang playing “The President,” who I guess is the villain of the piece. Will Yun Lee plays one of a team of elite soldiers who must put a stop to detonate a deadly bomb in 36 hours. No review screeners for this one, which will be in theaters, on demand and digital this Friday.

Oddly, advance screeners were also not available for Tate Taylor’s action-thriller AVA (Vertical Entertainment), starring Jessica Chastain, which is a movie I was curious about since I’ve generally liked most of Taylor’s previous films – The Help and Get On Up more than Ma or The Girl on the Train. This is the spy thriller he’d been talking about making for a while, and it costars John Malkovich, Common, Geena Davis, and Colin Farrell. What it doesn’t have is screeners for review. It must be fantastic!

Again, lots of movies this week, but I just don’t have the time or mind to spend nearly as much time watching some of them before writing this. There’s many more docs, including Jay Sebring…Cutting to the Truth (Shout! Studios), the Netflix doc Kiss the Ground, yet another doc called Red, White and Wasted (Dark Sky Films), We Are Many (Area 23 Films), Myth of a Colorblind France (First Run Features) and Public Trust (Patagonia Films). There’s also even more non-docs in I’ll Be Around (Indie Rights), LX2048, Foster Boy and Shortcut (both also from Gravitas Ventures), The Swerve and Dead (1091). See what I mean? A ridiculous amount of movies this week and even more next week. Who can possibly watch, let alone review them all?

If there’s one thing I truly miss in this pandemic is being able to go over to my local movie theater, the Metrograph to catch whatever they’re showing, but they’ve still been killing it with their Live Screenings digital series. Tonight, the Metrograph is screening Shona Lynch’s debut political doc, Chisholm ’72: Unbought and Unbossed, which follows Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy rep Shirley Chisholm, who became the first person of color and first woman to seek a major American’s political party’s nomination for President, as she fought ridicule and racism. On Monday, Metrograph will present “Matador Records - Revisionist History,” which is a celebration of the artist on the indie label that kicked off in 1989 and released records by the likes of Liz Phair, Yo La Tengo, Pavement and Sonic Youth. Monday’s premiere will include introductions by Matador’s Gerard Cosloy and Chris Lombardi and Yo La Tengo and will be made up of a series of short films and videos. Friday, the Metrograph starts a Robert Kramer retrospective with his 1969 film Ice, and honestly, I don’t really know much about Kramer so not sure what else to say.

Next week has so many frickin’ movies that if I start watching them all without sleeping for the next week, I probably won’t get to all of them. Either way, there’s no Wonder Woman 1984, so you can blame Governor Cuomo and the assholes railing against movie theaters reopening for that one.

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[amisbro]

Impressions/Review:  Shining Live

Alright...here we go friends and neighbors.  Since we have hit our main roadblock on the game right now what better time but to do an “Impressions/Review” on the game “Shining Live” from the “Uta no Prince-Sama” franchise? This impressions however isn’t just going to be about the game but we are going to give a history on the series from its inception to where we are now because all of that is going to be factored in for a specific reason Oh and since we are in this for the long haul...this is going to be under a read more as well.  Also all information comes from the wikipedia page for UtaPri as well as the .com site and Broccol.co.jp  I did my research for this piece when I knew I was going to review it With THAT out of the way...shall we get started?

Uta no Prince-Sama was announced by Broccoli in the Summer of 2009.  To be exact the post that was placed on the website is from August 8th of 2009 and you could go to the website from there.  To this day if you wanted to go to the original version of the site you could...just hit up internet wayback machine for it. The first game’s release came in June of 2010.  June 24th is the day that is referred to as the proper Anniversary of the series and this year will be 8 years for the franchise.  Can you believe it will be 10 years in 2020?  HOLY CRAP! ANYWAYS! As you will see for the rest of this review there will be release dates from the game series and there will also be dates for the Anime seasons.  This is for a reason as you will see when we actually get talking about the game but I wanted to make sure this review was a 100% thorough breakdown for everyone both old hats and new peeps coming into the fandom.  With that in mind let us continue Uta no Prince-Sama as a “Visual Novle/Otome” has currently 9 games in their “Main” series between the PSP and VITA.  The Original game (Uta no Prince-Sama has been remade 2 times since its original version and they came out on August 11th ,2011 and January 26th of 2016 respectively.  The rest of the ORIGINAL games came out around the following times Amazing Aria - 12/23/2010 Sweet Seranade - February 10 ,2011 Debut - May 24, 2012 All-Star - March 7th, 2013 All-Star After Secret - February 26, 2015 Now all of these are important because around some of these dates a season for an Anime came out and all of the Seasons fell under the “Maji Love” banner starting with 1000% in July of 2011 (July 2nd for those keeping score at home) and running to September 24th of that year.  Of the four seasons so far this is the only season to have a a “Summer” Release as the other seasons (2K ,Revolutions and Legend Star) all fell either in the Spring or Autumn season.  2K and Revolutions both released in April of 2013/15 and Legend Star was in 2016 Okay okay I know what you are all thinking “Josh we know all of this...hurry up and get on with the friggin’ review” To which I say “I’m getting there but we need to do just a LITTLE MORE setup because the next part is important to Shining Live” When the first season of the Anime (ML1K) aired it was around “Amazing Aria” and “Sweet Sernade” and so the writers were writing to introduce you to basically STARISH as a 6 Member group with Cecil being a guest start basically (because when the first game happened 6 members were dateable from the start and one in Cecil was unlockable).  When Season 2 aired in 2013 Debut and All-Star were a thing but they had to introduce QN (whom briefly appeared at STARISH’s debut concert at the end of Season 1) so they would do just that When Season 2 premiered in 2013 the first episode was titled “Poison Kiss” and in it introduced the boys of QUARTET NIGHT whom would take the roles of “Seniors” for STARISH for the season.  Later when “Revolutions” happened 2 years later they would become the “In Agency Rivals” of STARISH to try and win the sport of the performer at the Triple S. HOWEVER Season 2 also sought to bring in a new monkey wrench into the fray by introducing the group “HEAVENS” led by Eiichi Ootori as he was flanked by Kira Sumeragi and Nagi Mikado and would face off in a “Must Win” scenario at the UtaPri awards where the loser would be forced to disband.  STARISH won but HEAVENS would be spared from disbanding as the President of Shining Agency stepped in and made sure that that stipulation wasn’t fulfilled.  They WOULD come back later as a 7 person group where each member was an opposite for a particular STARISH member and this season in particular (Revolutions) would be the last season also to aired around the release of a game.  “Revolutions” aired around April of 2015 the same year that the final game for the PSP (VN wise) released which was in February. Now there is a reason we just went through this History lesson (and if I fucked anything up I apologize) but its because we NOW are going to talk about Shing Live! LET’S GO Okay when we talk about Shining Live we are going to break this down like this Story Gameplay Translation (This is a translation of a Japanese Rhythm game so this one is important) Overall fun factor Just so you know...I am tempted to talk about the translation LAST because of the fact that it is a bit of a hot button but with that in mind...LET’S GO! Story I know that UtaPri isn’t typically known to some for its story but if you pay attention enough the story and plot are some of the most interesting things in the series.  I can’t tell you how ,when I watched every episode (52 and if we count the OVA then 53), I was always looking forward to what was going to happen in the next episode because the characters were compelling as all hell (and still are) and their personalities ,while some kind of grated on me over the years, were still varied enough that you could have your favorites So what IS the story of this game?  Well QUARTET NIGHT and STARISH are performing a joint concert called “Shining Live” where they showcase the groups that President Shining Saotome has on display.  In this case those groups are STARISH and QN. When the game starts the player (that’s you) are greeting by intros with each of the characters and that is our first introduction to ,not only the new translation for the game, but also the personalities of each character that will be on display at this time.  I say “At this time” because we will be talking about the future soon enough. After an introduction from all the cast they play “Welcome to UtaPri World” which is your introduction to the gameplay.  I’ll talk more about that in bit but basically tap the buttons in accordance to the song and as you do you will eventually progress to the title screen and go about your business After this the real story begins but...which story IS IT? See the game has 3 types Main Story Side Story Event Story The one that you will play a lot (or until you run out of certain items which I will talk about in a minute) is the Main Story.  This starts with after the performance of “Welcome to UtaPri World” (which doesn’t count towards clearing songs on the setlist) and your first chapter consists of a story with STARISH AND ONE WITH QN where the STARISH boys want to try and get better than their Senpais to eventually overtake them.  To do this they know they need to get better and to do that they need to keep on having performances and getting stronger.  QN however knows this and knows they need to get better as a group themselves but of course we know they have their own issues too right? To clear a chapter of the game the player must play each song and clear them.  Now there are 4 difficulties in the game so you have to play the one you are comfortable with but remember this Higher difficulties consume more LP (That stands for Live Points in this game) and can cause problems later on higher player levels...it can also help you progress faster in the game though with the XP system. As the player progresses in the story more and more songs become available.  Remember that you need tickets to play the stories so not having them puts you in a position that is no fun so playing the songs repeatedly helps out greatly Speaking of...LET’S TALK ABOUT GAMEPLAY Gameplay The game play of this game is not unlike say...Klab’s Love Live.  Rings come from a beam of light and your job is to tap them as close to perfect as possible and get the best score possible. Now this is where we are going to have differences in the way the game scores your taps.  In the JP version the scoring went JUST PERFECT PEFECT GREAT GOOD BAD MISS Getting all “Just Perfect” and “Perfect” scores meant you got a “PERFECT COMBO” and a special purple board came around the screen.  a Full Combo was just orange text When the Global Version was released they changed up two things and one was the grade for the note taps PERFECT GREAT GOOD BAD MISS Notice something:  Yeah they removed the “JUST PERFECT” rank from the score.  The belief is that having those would confuse the International audience so they scrapped “JUST PERFECT” and just left those in.  Also now you can get “ULTIMATE COMBO” just for getting “Perfect” and “Great” grades all the way through...its the equivalent to the Crown in Music 1 or the Gold in Music 2 You also get a score rank in the game The game ranks you scorewise from D to S (although C is the first one on the rewards chart...more on that in a second) and as you score in the song the bar goes up.  The better you grade on a note the more points and the better your shot of getting the elusive S rank on a song. How high you can go on the score meter is determined by a few things How well you tap on a note (although that can be wonky sometimes) The level/Grade of your phots Your traits for you and your partner in the song The first one we already explained how that kind of works...the others might be “Huh?” for some people so let me explain Every card has 4 rarities Normal Rare Super Rare Ultra Rare The higher the rarity of the card the better you have a chance to get an S rank...thing is your level matters too because every card gets EXP that participates in a song (BTW I know they are photos but I for some reason always call them “cards”...its a Yu-Gi-Oh! problem with me) so you want them to be in as much as possible.  There is also the BOND of the card though too Alright how to explain this We all have favorite characters and we want them to get to know us better right?  Well this game has a thing where has your number in the star of each character goes up you get new voice clips and the like from them...you also get rewards from the game as the game has missions based on songs ,player level and bond level between you and a character.  The goals are always every 10 levels and you usually get 10 prisms for doing it each time so that is def something to keep in mind Oh right...that is another important aspect of the game and its getting the new cards So this game has a gacha system which involves a photoshoot (for the record B-Project also has something kind of similar too) and there are many different kinds.  Some are based off of events like an MV for a particular video or even a Gacha that has cards from previous sets in it!  Some might even be themed after a Holiday (There is an event going on right now where Natsuki is the UR for Valentine’s Day and if you are lucky enough to pull him HE WILL BE SO HAPPY!) and there is even a Photoshoot which I think was the very first one they ever did that is a standard (Its one with the Military Outfits..you’ll know it when you see it. There are also two other special ones for special tickets that you can win either in a slot machine or I think you can get those in a shop.  I know for the V-Day you could get the SR+ one for sure in exchange for Presents! Some Photoshoots have an expiration on them and some are split into “halves” meaning that they will have one half have one UR card on them and then there is another half with another.  An example of this would be Nats being the UR for this particular half of the V-Day and Ren is beginning on the 13th of this month. NOW SPEAKING OF THINGS WITH DURATIONS LETS TALK ABOUT THE EVENTS! @baku5ds asked me to talk about these so I will...ONLY COS SHE ASKED ME TOO! So the game has events that last for about a week and the way they work is not unlike the events of “Stand my Hero” (a Match 3 game with Otome Elements that has some of the UtaPri VAs in it) EXCEPT all of these are ranked! Here is how they work From about 1:59 PM JST (That’s 11:59 PM EST for us) and for the next 6 days the player engages in a battle with other players to try and win not ONE new Photo but TWO! The Photos are related to the Event Story we spoke about earlier as the characters on them are portraying characters for the story.  The stories HERE (unlike for the main story) are 10 parts long BUT you get 5 Prisms each like you do for playing a side or main story chapter...that’s 50 prisms! You’re goal is to do one of two things in these 6 days 1.  Make it all the way to the cards on your points ladder (good luck because every so often the points increase by 500 so to get to the UR card its every 3500 to get the next reward) OR 2.  Finish in the top 10% of the rankings and you get TWO nice new shiny photos.  IF you got both copies already on the points ladder this just means you get a 3rd of at least one of the photos so enjoy This is legitimately one of the most exhausting things the game can ask a player to do because you aren’t just playing other players but you are playing yourself as your will and endurance get tested because you are playing THE SAME SET OVER AND OVER AND OVER again...it can be exhausting BUT if its for cards you really want you will suffer for them and it will be worth it!  I got a nice shiny UR for my collection so I’m happy :-) Are the events LONG...yes but if you have the patience and the endurance you can get through them easily...otherwise WHY ARE THEY SO BLASTED LONG?! (again that was for @baku5ds) Now let’s address the elephant in the room Translation (I know I said I would do “fun factor but...eh put that with the events thingy) The translation in some respects seems to be a bode of contention and I can respect that.  I think for ME it hasn’t been an issue because it feels like when they did the translation they wanted to make it more “lighthearted” as an experience for new players (and potential new fans) as possible.  If the story was “Angsty” as all get out how many people outside of the general base would play it? Does it have its issues?  Well there was a part in the last event when Syo said to Natsuki “Hey want to come with?” and I mentioned this to a friend of mine and they thought it might have been some old slang that got in. One that became a meme was when Ren at the beginning of the game goes “Hello Ladies.  Ren Jinguji is in the house” and I actually chuckled which I think is something this game wanted us to do from the start.  Have a lighthearted romp through UtaPri and get to see the characters in situations that might not happen in the Anime because of the fact that the series is 13 episodes each season and 22-25 minutes a pop.  A little lighthearted fun never hurt anyone (and let’s be real...we all needed that after Season 4). So now that I wrote what is no doubt a College Thesis on this game would I rec it for a new fan? SURE! The thing that you have to get over is sometimes the hit detection is wonky af when it comes to hitting notes and if you can endure the events when they feel like a Boston Marathon then you got that going for you too! All in all Uta no Prince-Sama Shining Live is a game that ,even if you aren’t a UtaPri fan but you love Rhythm games...check it out you won’t be disappointed!

[onaudiopost]

30 Years Later, ‘The Golden Girls’ is Still the Most Progressive Show on Television

“I had to write ‘Golden Girls’…I’ve never gotten excited about a network idea before, but this was compelling. I could write grown-ups.” — Susan Harris, creator of ‘The Golden Girls,’ September 1985

Picture it: Hollywood, 1985. The first episode of The Golden Girls airs, introducing the world to Blanche Devereaux, Rose Nylund, Sophia Petrillo, and Dorothy Zbornak. The show attracted more than 25 million viewers, becoming the highest-rated program of the week and consistently ranked in the top 10 sitcoms during its run. Over the course of seven seasons, the show racked up 68 Emmy nominations, 11 wins, and is one of only 4 shows in TV history whose principal actors all won Emmys for their roles. Despite Hollywood’s obsession with youth, The Golden Girls is still beloved by audiences thirty years after its premiere.

Beyond the fact that the show is extremely well-written and well acted (thanks to Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White), The Golden Girls also stands out for being one of the last sitcoms where progressive values were part of the show’s DNA.

In an interview with Out Magazine, show creator Susan Harris explained, “We liked to tackle — not outrageous issues — but important issues. Things that I knew that people went through that hadn’t been addressed on television.” Harris was no stranger to shows that incorporated political story lines, having previously worked on Norman Lear’s groundbreaking All in the Family, and having written the historic abortion episode for Maude, which won her the Humanitas Prize — an award for film and television writing that promotes human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It is not surprising then that Harris brought this tradition to the writer’s room of The Golden Girls each week. The following are just some of the reasons why, after 30 years, The Golden Girls is still the most progressive show on television.

A Feminist Show

The very premise of The Golden Girls — four women navigating life after marriage and finding companionship in one another — is feminist in nature.While the women exchange quips and get into fights, the overarching message of the show focuses on the importance of chosen family, and women supporting other women. Further, we see the women enjoying life after marriage. Over the course of the series, we see the characters focus on career ambitions, new hobbies, and more often than not, their unapologetic enjoyment of sex. So much so that the blog Refinery29 recently tallied how many men each character slept with (naturally, Blanche had the most at 165). What made their love lives particularly important was the fact that television shows rarely portray older women as sexual beings.

The very premise of The Golden Girls — four women navigating life after marriage and finding companionship in one another — is feminist in nature.

“Television is always several steps behind life. When do you see passionate older people on television?” Susan Harris told The New York Times in a 1985 interview shortly after the show’s premiere. “There is life after 50. People can be attractive, energetic, have romances. When do you see people of this age in bed together? Eventually on this show, you will. It’s kind of pathetic that this show is television’s baby steps.’’

And the impact this had on audiences was clear. During an episode of The Phil Donahue Show, an adoring caller thanked guests Bea Arthur and Betty White for making her “feel 52 and gorgeous.” And the Winter 1989 issue of Media & Values magazine included survey responses from middle aged viewers of the show, such as one woman who responded, “I like this program because it gives me hope that there’s life after 50!” Beyond the message of female empowerment, the fact that the characters were older was significant in and of itself for the unprecedented portrayal of aging on television.

Portrayals of Aging

“Probably the single most effective product to come out of Hollywood in terms of turning around the cultural stereotypes about older women was the hugely popular and successful television show The Golden Girls in the late 1980s and early 1990s,” activist Ai-jen Poo wrote in her book Aging with Dignity. “Those four women, each with her own distinct history and personality…shattered the silence and the invisibility around aging in the most hilarious and endearing ways.”

While the entertainment industry pressures actresses to go to great lengths to maintain or restore their youth, The Golden Girls embraced aging and all the humor, wisdom, and vulnerability that comes with it.

This is evident in the episode “Rose Fights Back,” when Rose is cut off from her deceased husband’s pension plan and must find a new job. She is soon faced with age discrimination and the fear of not being able to make her rent. In a poignant scene, Rose discusses often seeing an older woman digging through the trash. She tells the other ladies, “I wondered, what did she do to get herself into a fix like that? I thought, well, she must be lazy, or she must be pretty stupid to let something like this happen to her. The truth is: she’s me.”

In another episode, Sophia makes a friend, Alvin, at the Boardwalk, but soon discovers that he has Alzheimer’s disease. She tells Dorothy, “people think if you live to be my age you should be grateful just to be alive. Well, that’s not how it works. You need a reason to get up in the morning and sometimes even after you find one, life can turn right around and spit in your face.”

While the entertainment industry pressures actresses to go to great lengths to maintain or restore their youth, The Golden Girls embraced aging and all the humor, wisdom, and vulnerability that comes with it.

Gay Rights

While the show’s message about women and aging is tied to its premise, The Golden Girls was often ahead of its time on other social issues. Twenty-four years prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling on marriage equality, The Golden Girls defended same-sex marriage before it was a mainstream position. In this episode, Blanche’s brother Clayton pays a visit and announces that he is engaged to his partner, Doug. In one scene, Sophia perfectly explains marriage equality to an upset Blanche:

In an interview with Vulture, show writer Marc Cherry recalled, “We were young writers, and we got to say a little something about gay rights and how gay people see themselves. It was about two men getting married, which is something people at the time didn’t talk about. And it was a really funny episode.”

Off the screen, the actresses were dedicated to advancing the cause of gay rights. At the height of the AIDS epidemic, which tragically hit the gay community, Estelle Getty was a staunch AIDS activist. In a 1989 interview, she explained, “I’ve been in show business all my life, and the majority of my friends are gay…A lot of my friends have died from AIDS.”

The show tackled the stigma surrounding AIDS head on in the episode “72 Hours,” and worked to counteract the myth that it was a gay disease or punishment. In the episode, Rose finds out she may have contracted the disease from an operation, and grows increasingly scared and angry. In one scene she exclaims, “This isn’t supposed to happen to people like me…I’m a good person!” Blanche argues back, “AIDS is not a bad person’s disease, Rose. It is not God punishing people for their sins.” The scene manages to be both humorous and raw.

Confronting Race

Much like the show did with gay rights, The Golden Girls confronted issues related to race in honest ways, rather than the imaginary “post-racial” interactions many sitcoms favor today. In one episode, Dorothy’s son Michael announces he’s getting married to Lorraine, a black singer in his band. The news causes Dorothy to cringe and cry out “Oh God,” but she recovers to explain that her race doesn’t matter. The scene portrays the complexity of prejudice, and dispels the idea that racism is something only “bad people” are guilty of — a recognition that is necessary in order to truly overcome prejudice.

Rarely is America’s complicated history with race woven into a sitcom storyline, much less as part of a white character’s backstory.

In another episode, we are introduced to Blanche’s “Mammy” from growing up, Viola Watkins. When Viola reveals that she had an affair with Blanche’s father, she explains, “In another time and place, we would have been married. But at that time in the South, it wasn’t an option.” The episode highlighted how often white children grew attached to their black caretakers, while underscoring the racial animosity that existed around them. Rarely is America’s complicated history with race woven into a sitcom storyline, much less as part of a white character’s backstory.

Disability Visibility

One subject matter that most television shows ignore altogether is disability. The Golden Girls, however, had multiple episodes revolving around characters with disabilities, usually as part of the women’s love lives. In these episodes, the women are forced to confront their own prejudices and misperceptions around what it means to be a person with a disability.

According to Lawrence Carter-Long, an expert on disability and media, “The best writing about disability focuses on character. Not a rehash of the same two-dimensional tragic or heroic movie-of-the-week stillness we’ve all seen a hundred times before.”

This sentiment is perfectly demonstrated in the episode “Stand By Your Man.” Blanche is nervous about dating Ted, a man in a wheelchair, played by Hugh Farrington, an actor who was paraplegic in real life. In the episode, Blanche gets past her prejudices and discovers that Ted is no different than anyone else, for better or worse. After learning that he has a wife, she says, “It never dawned on me that you could be a jerk in a wheelchair.”

In another episode, Rose is dating Jonathan Newman, a doctor at the grief center where she works. Rose is initially embarrassed to reveal their relationship because Jonathan is a little person, but she is determined to make it work. In the end, however, Jonathan breaks things off with Rose because she isn’t Jewish.

Fighting Poverty

Finally, as someone who does research and advocacy around fighting poverty, I am often frustrated by the myths and stereotypes that persist in film and television. The Golden Girls is not one of those shows. On many occasions, the show discusses poverty, but there is no better scene that demonstrates how well they did on the subject than in the episode “Have Yourself A Very Little Christmas,” when the ladies volunteer at a church to serve Christmas dinner to the homeless. They soon discover that Dorothy’s ex-husband, Stan, is among the people in need. The Church’s Reverend goes on to perfectly explain how poverty is an experience (rather than a moral failing, which is often the message), how public policy plays a role, and closes the scene with a direct jab at then-President Ronald Reagan:

REVEREND AVERY

You’d be surprised how many people are only two or three paychecks away from being on the street. The suddenly poor are all around us. Once you’ve been knocked down like that, it’s very hard to recover.

DOROTHY

What’s going to happen to all these people?

REVEREND AVERY

I don’t know. There’s no affordable housing, the rents keep going up and up, and the minimum wage has been held down.

ROSE

Seems so unfair.

REVEREND AVERY

Well, that’s because it is. There are three million homeless, hungry people in this country.

BLANCHE

What bothers me is, those people out there are being fed today because it’s Christmas, but what will they eat tomorrow?

REVEREND AVERY

When the great communicator talked about his vision of a city on a hill, I wonder if it included people sleeping on gratings in the street.

Over the past few years, many politicians have credited television for advancing their views on gay rights. And a growing body of research confirms that “as we grow emotionally attached to characters who are part of a minority group, our prejudices tend to recede.” In other words, television has the power to change the world. This makes what The Golden Girls accomplished even more critical. While the show wasn’t perfect on every issue, particularly on perpetuating hurtful plot lines around trans characters, The Golden Girls was an unapologetically progressive show. The show gave visibility to older women while using this unique platform to champion a number of progressive ideals that often go untouched by television shows. Not only is this level of progressivism unmatched on the small screen, the entire show was made possible by the understanding that older actresses have value and women can be funny.

The strength of the characters, the incorporation of storytelling, and punch lines delivered with a simple facial expression are among the many devices that make The Golden Girls one of the funniest sitcoms of all time. But it’s progressive message makes it one of the most important.

As a loyal fan, I’ll be celebrating the show’s 30th anniversary with my favorite episodes and a slice of cheesecake.

[themeatlife]

15 Years Later: A Look Back at Lost

I was introduced to Lost by accident. My sister was into the show and asked for the first season on DVD for Christmas in 2005. I was in college at the time and left the gift at my house in Norman. So when I met my family in Lawton for Christmas, I bought a separate copy for my sister’s gift. When I returned to Norman, I debated whether to return the gift or keep the DVD set and check it out. I checked it out and ended up binging the entire first season with my then girlfriend (now wife) in less than a week. It is now among my favorite shows of all-time.

On September 22, 2004, ABC premiered an epic television serial. The premise was the story and backstory of survivors of a plane that crashes on a mysterious island. At the time it was a risk for ABC. An expensive, movie-quality production on a weekly television show where the plot was not contained in a single episode but rather a series-long arch. The result was not only a popular show with a cult-like following, but a show that helped change the viewing habits of mainstream television. Lost, along with Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy, signaled a return of television dominance for ABC. But unlike the other two shows, Lost impacted the way viewers watch shows and helped usher in that change. More on that later.

Lost Themes: Explored

While there are too many important characters and their storylines to go over, Lost has a few main themes that are central to the show. There always seemed to be a duality on display. Science vs Faith. Internal vs External. Good vs Evil.

The biggest personification of Science vs Faith in the series, especially early on was Dr. Jack Shepherd vs John Locke. For most of the series, Jack and Locke were two of the main leaders of the crash survivors on the island. They disagreed on how to handle things. Most of the time Jack sided with logic and tried to back his actions with facts he knew. Locke had faith in the island, especially after being able to walk after the crash when he could not before getting to the island. This did not change until the last season when Jack put his faith in things to go back to the island and the actual Locke character was dead and The Man in Black took the form of Locke.

Internal vs External was displayed by the survivors being the external and the indigenous people of the island (referred to as “The Others”). Later in the middle to the back end of the series these were displayed by the Dharma Initiative being the external and the indigenous people of the island (referred to as “Hostiles” by Dharma) being the internal.

And then Good vs Evil. We saw in a lot of the flashbacks in the first half of the series focus on each character’s struggle with their inner demons. You then see the progression of characters working out their demons. And then on the back half of the series you get the mysterious Jacob and the mysterious Black Smoke Monster and it turn into the brothers Jacob vs The Man in Black. While they don’t blatantly say The Man in Black is evil, the storyline of the final season is to prevent him from leaving the island because of what he might do.

The Lost Style: Often Imitated, Never Duplicated

Lost had a once-unique method of storytelling: it told a real-time story and sprinkled in character-focused flashbacks, building the backgrounds of each of the main characters in each episode. In seasons four and five they had featured “flash forwards” for certain characters that got off the island and in the final season a sort of “flash after” where it featured a storyline of the main characters finding each other in the afterlife. Lost featured a large ensemble cast, something that was never attempted in television before. And Lost featured a very racial diverse cast, while not that uncommon now, was definitely groundbreaking at the time. Lost also featured a deep mythology about the history of the island, a storyline that ran throughout and beyond the show’s characters storylines, something so high-concept that people still discuss on message boards, Twitter, and Reddit even today.

You see elements of the Lost Style in television today. The real-time/flashback storytelling is used in shows like This Is Us and Arrow. Large and diverse ensembles in shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Game of Thrones. And complex, high-concept plots like Westworld were inspired to take the giant leap in part because Lost became successful at it.

The biggest impact Lost may have had was the serial plot line. For Lost to make the most sense, viewers had to watch the episodes sequentially. Viewing these episodes were best if viewed not week to week but consecutively in a binge. The Fox series 24 opened the door, proving that viewers will invest in a serial. Lost took it to the next level. Binging these episodes was almost more optimal for enjoying and understanding the series. When it was first aired, people preferred to view the seasons when they came out on DVD or digital. To combat this, ABC changed its episode scheduling from the fourth season onward to run Lost weekly from January to May, rather than the traditional method of airing episodes spaced out a few chunks of weekly shows at a time from September to May. Now it is commonplace for people to binge-watch shows on a streaming service like Netflix. Lost was one of the first shows that made binge watching seasons a thing.

the Meat Life’s Five Best Lost Episodes

The entire series is strong for sure, but here are my top five best episodes of Lost.

5 - Pilot (Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2)

Intense, fast-paced, and attention-grabbing. Lost’s pilot is one of the best show pilots in television history. It was a two hour movie-like epic. Costing $14 million, ABC took a financial risk making it was the most expensive pilot at the time. But the pilot pays off by not only grabbing 18.65 million viewers attention, but also laying the groundwork for the mystery of the island and the ridiculous 14 main characters on it.

4 - The Constant (Season 4 Episode 5)

This Desmond-centric episode features more of the sci-fi elements of the show (which a season later they go full on sci-fi with similar time travel elements). We also dive deep behind Desmond and Penny’s relationship and why it failed before the island.

3 - Live Together, Die Alone (Season 2 Episode 23)

A lot of moving parts in this episode. Michael, who recently killed a couple of survivors, strikes a deal with the Others to get a boat to get him and his son Walt off the island. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Hurley are on a mission with Michael to get Walt back before they got double-crossed. And Locke, struggling with his faith in the island, locks himself and Desmond in the hatch’s button room to make sure no one pushes the button while Charlie and Ecko try to get in. The episode ends with the mission team getting captured by The Others as Michael and Walt float away and a bright light consuming the island as the hatch implodes. Phew...and that’s just the abbreviated version of what happened.

2 - Through the Looking Glass (Season 3 Episode 22)

Creators and show runners Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber were given the okay to start writing the show toward a conclusion toward the end of the third season. And as much as this was the season three finale, it was the start of the storyline that would lead to the end of the show. In this epic season finale, Charlie and Desmond go down to the Dharma station the Looking Glass to turn off a signal jammer so the survivors can call newcomer Naomi’s sat phone. And once they turn it off Charlie receives a message from Penny and the dramatic ending ensues above.

1 - Walkabout (Season 1 Episode 4)

While the pilot was epic and the episodes thereafter were character building, Walkabout showed the full potential of what Lost storytelling could be and would be for the years to come. We focus on Locke in this episode and find out why he was in Australia. They also drop the big reveal that he could not walk before they crashed on the island. And we get the famous line “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!”

Oh and about that finale...

I rewatched the series over the summer. It was the first time I had rewatched the entire series since it first aired (I did rewatch the first couple of season a few years ago when they were still on Netflix). The show has aged remarkably well in the last decade and a half.

The series finale was divisive when it came out. For those who were more into the mythology and conspiracy of the island, the finale was disappointing. While those that were into the show for the rich characters saw a satisfying ending. While I do love some of the mythical aspects of the show, the strongest elements in my opinion were the characters. So I was happy with the finale when it first aired nine years ago. And I’m happy to say that the finale aged wonderfully. I thought a lot about the Lost finale when watching Avengers: Endgame in April because of how rich the characters are developed and how there is an emotionally satisfying conclusion to their story.

If you have the space for it, watch/rewatch Lost, available on demand on Hulu or on digital on iTunes, Amazon, or wherever digital media is sold.

[mattsammonsez]

Brass Tacts: Making Your Mark

Historians often point to 1968 as a crossroads in America’s history. There’s no doubt with the political and social strife domestically and internationally that 1968 was and still remains a crucial fork in the road in our nation. But to see what got us to 1968, you have to rewind a bit to 1967 when the hot water was soon ascending to a rolling boil. In broadcasting, 1967 was quite the warm-up act as a medium that was founded by the Depression generation and made popular by the “silent” generation after World War II, was seeing its clashes with the first wave of 20-somethings from the Baby Boomers.

In September 1967, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was in its 6th month of a ground-breaking 2-year run on CBS, challenging society’s and the entertainment industry’s sense of norms. That envelope would be pushed more with Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, which had its pilot episode debut on September 9th before setting the standard for counter-culture TV in 1968 on NBC. As newer, progressive, and edgier shows started pulling in younger audiences, the granddaddy of them all was in its final stages of cultural significance. 

The Ed Sullivan Show premiered on CBS in June 1948 as Toast of the Town, and starting in 1949 it would air live on Sunday nights from 8-9 p.m. Eastern, a time slot it would hold until June 1971. Its namesake host was born in 1901, and the variety show format was alive and well around the same time in the Vaudeville era. On September 17, 1967, the senior citizen host of the bygone entertainment format on the maturing medium watched primarily by older white conservative audiences was about to crash head on with the next generation of entertainment and the nation. His name was James Douglas Morrison, and the band he co-founded was called The Doors.

The Ed Sullivan Show was America’s Got Talent 60 years before AGT was even dreamed of. Before The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson or Saturday Night Live, a career could be made overnight if you got the chance to perform on Sullivan’s program. Sullivan was more than the executive producer of the show, he was the king maker and the king. Nothing cleared the airwaves on his show without his blessing, the basis of nearly two decades of kid-friendly and family-safe entertainment with live music, comedy routines, and sideshow acts. While the show was not as popular in 1968 as it was in its glory days in the mid-1950′s, the program still averaged more than 13 million viewers per episode. But those days of 13 million+ viewers were soon going to end, as what was considered “popular entertainment” in the late 1960′s was a far cry from what Sullivan spotlighted just a few years before.

At the same time, Jim Morrison and The Doors were taking off. Co-founded with keyboardist Ray Manzarek in Los Angeles in 1965, the band recorded its self-titled debut album in the summer of 1966, and scored its first hit song “Light My Fire” in the summer of 1967. After three weeks in the #1 position on the Billboard pop chart, the band wanted to carry the momentum of that song with the release of the next single “People Are Strange”. If you needed a popularity boost, and had a little tail wind with a #1 song already on your resume, The Ed Sullivan Show was the place to go for national exposure. But the home of safe entertainment was a square peg to the counterculture round hole.

As the story goes, shortly before the show went live, the band was informed that CBS’ sensors were not too keen on the lyric “Girl we couldn’t get much higher”. Keep in mind the sensors had their hands full with The Smothers Brothers, so they were a little on edge with the rock band featuring the shaggy-haired lead singer casually suggesting a drug-related feeling of getting high. A producer informed the band they would need to change the lyric to “Girl we couldn’t do much better”, although a 2017 unearthing of show notes claims the lyric was supposed to be changed to the ridiculous “Girl there’s nothing I require”. The band stewed over the suggestion that their poetic lyrics should be scrubbed clean for the audience, even though the song was #1 in pop music for three weeks.

Near the end of the program, following a stand-up routine by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, Sullivan cued up The Doors and their new single “People Are Strange”. After Morrison chillingly sang the song, the band launched into “Light My Fire”, and a moment in TV history was etched into stone:

With Morrison refusing to change the lyrics, he had defied the censors. Worst of all, he had defied the great Ed Sullivan. And nobody, no matter how popular they were, defied Ed Sullivan. In fact near the end of the clip before the commercial break, Sullivan says something to the effect of, “Just you wait” before his microphone is totally opened up for airplay. It wasn’t just a line of vengeance from the storied show host, it was a command to the youngsters on the stage. “Just you wait...” Sullivan was suggesting those little bastards weren’t going to go anywhere. HE was in charge of the situation.

When the show ended, and the band was in its dressing room, Sullivan and his producers came storming in to the room. Threats were made, insults were thrown, and the gauntlet came down. Sullivan claimed The Doors would have been booked for several more shows, but because of their defiance the deal was off. There was no turning back, as Sullivan declared that the band would “no longer do the show”. The reply from Morrison is legendary. In the who-could-care-less attitude of Morrison, he calmly declared that the Doors had “already done” The Ed Sullivan Show. Nothing more was said, but a lot was said in all of the statements if you read between the lines.

The message was clear from Morrison-- The Doors didn’t need Ed Sullivan or his outdated show. The band was a smash before they appeared on the show, and there was no need for them to come back. The statement was more than just Morrison and company feeling their oats, it was a blanket statement on entertainment and media in America as they all careened into 1968. What was popular, necessary, a must-see and a must-have in the first years of post-war America was no more. The train had left the station, and if you were still square enough to need programs like Ed Sullivan than you were a dinosaur. Take your milk-drinking Pat Boone if you want America, the cool kids are dropping out to Jim Morrison and The Doors. 

The message was also clear to Sullivan and those like him from his time-- he held no more power. The paradigm had shifted to the younger and edgier consumer, and would continue to do so for decades. Sullivan, once the king and king maker, no longer had his crown or a crown to give. In one live music performance, the torch wasn’t passed, it was snatched away by the dashing prince of the new revolution. Sullivan was old, hunched, and too conservative. Morrison was young, sexy, and a poet speaking to the masses of the Boomer generation.

Ironically, even though Morrison’s life was short, he outlived Sullivan’s show. The Ed Sullivan Show aired its final live episode on June 6, 1971. On July 3rd, Morrison died of heart failure in his bathtub in Paris. Sullivan’s show spoke for an entire older generation of Americans for 23 years. The 27-year-old Morrison spoke to the more diverse younger crowd. Both Morrison and Sullivan are well-remembered to this day as pillars of entertainment that started at different times, crashed into each other in 1967, and faded away from the public scene just weeks apart. 

Although you don’t necessarily need a “Light My Fire” moment in your career, a broadcaster or content creator can see how Morrison and The Doors not only made their mark to cement a legacy, they made a mark in the bigger picture of life. The Doors could have been like any other rock band cranking out music in the mid-to-late 1960′s, but one reason why they rise above the rest of the bands is this seminal moment with their charismatic leader. Like any band, you too continue to make one broadcast after another, or one content piece after another. But always be on the lookout for the chance to make your mark.

It may not be a generational mark like Morrison had in that one moment, but when the band was challenged to change what was working simply to satisfy one person at the top, they rose to that challenge by staying true to themselves. You too will go head-to-head with challenges, sometimes directed by the lone person at the top who is wrestling to keep that remaining bit of control in his hands. But stay true to yourself, make your mark, and as Jim would say... break on through to the other side.

This is the end, my only friend, the end... of the column. Tell all the people to visit SammonSez.com to see how we can help you make that mark in your broadcasting or content creation career path.

[theconservativebrief]

Technically, a new fall TV season begins today, Monday, September 24.

Technically. I mean, did you even notice?

There was a time when the start of a new TV season would bring with it endless pomp and circumstance. The Emmys would air the night before the season started, to reward the best of the past season. The networks would air preview specials in the weeks leading up to the new season, showing off the best moments from their new shows.

You would be all but unable to escape the endless onslaught of advertising for those new shows, and the TV Guide would be the thickest, chunkiest issue of the year. And that’s to say nothing of the on-network promos that gathered up all the biggest stars to sing and dance to some cheesy pop knockoff (or, in the case of the WB, brood beautifully to the tune of This Way’s “Crawl”).

But we’re living through an era when almost all of that is disappearing. As with summer movie season, “fall TV season” increasingly feels like an anachronism, a way to mark the passage of the entertainment year that has been drowned out by a glut of programming. How can it be fall TV season when it’s always fall TV season?

An endless sea of screens! Fred Mantel/Shutterstock

Okay, yes, technically, there are still a few months where it doesn’t feel like 500 new shows debut every week. After Thanksgiving, basically no shows launch, due to the end-of-year slump in programming (though Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have all experimented with launching shows in this window), and August is still relatively quiet, though that, too, is changing.

But the age of “fall TV season” — roughly September and October — and “midseason” (which sort of loosely comprised the January through March window) is essentially done for. Yes, lots of shows still launch in those windows, but we’ve also got a new “prestige TV” season (March through May), and there are so many more summer shows launching in June and July, and January is more crowded than ever, and … and…

Fall TV is still important for broadcast network shows, and ABC, CBS, the CW, Fox, and NBC will be launching 20 new series before the end of October. That’s not nothing. But where all but a handful of cable networks and streaming service programs used to stay away from the fall glut, now there are even more of them adding to the pile-up. FX launched its Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans MC in early September, HBO has its new Jennifer Garner vehicle Camping in October, and all three major streaming services have multiple programs debuting in these two months.

And I haven’t even mentioned returning shows.

Now, the argument here might be, “So fall TV season hasn’t disappeared. It’s just gotten worse.” I suppose that’s technically true, but only because there’s so much more television (more than 500 scripted shows, almost certainly) that everything has gotten worse. When Netflix is dedicated to launching a new show, or a new season of a show, on every weekend but a couple of holiday weekends, it’s hard to single out “fall” as a particularly important part of the TV calendar.

This doesn’t mean we should completely abandon the other aspects of what fall TV season used to stand for — and, indeed, we here at Vox are going to be running weekly programming guides for you to make sense of the giant glut of new shows coming at you between now and Thanksgiving (when that glut mercifully calms down a bit).

But the idea of fall as sink-or-swim time for new TV shows is increasingly antiquated. So why do we still cling to it like an essential part of the calendar?

How many of these shows from fall 2017 do you remember? Javier Zarracina/Vox

The whole reason we have a fall TV season in the first place largely stems from advertising. In particular, car manufacturers liked having new shows to place commercials on in the fall because it allowed them to advertise the new models as they began to hit car lots in the last three months of the year. (This is still true.)

But ad-supported TV is a slowly dying model. It’s not like it’s going to completely disappear in the next few years (or even the next decade), but the focus of the TV industry is less and less on the ways that advertisers can make or break the bottom line.

Indeed, if a network launches a new series in the fall, and it struggles to find an audience, there are many more arguments for sticking with that series than there used to be, especially if a network owns that show and can sell it overseas or to streaming services. (I’ve written a lot more about this slow, steady downward trend in cancellation.)

So, then, why take a show that your network believes in and leave it to struggle for attention in the fall, when it might be better served launching somewhere else on the calendar? This has led to the very strange phenomenon of networks holding shows they clearly believe are their prestige players for midseason, while burning off more rote programs in the fall.

There are exceptions, of course — NBC launched This Is Us in the fall and seems to be really into its (not that great) mystery drama Manifest and (perfectly adequate) medical drama New Amsterdam this year. But fall TV means less and less for networks in terms of quality, as well as in terms of their bottom lines.

And for streaming services and cable networks, the economic incentive is to just keep producing and producing shows. Volume is the way to keep making money if you’re Netflix, because every show you produce might become the favorite of just enough subscribers that they keep paying for subscriptions.

And if you launch all of those episodes at once, as Netflix does, well, you need dozens upon dozens of shows in production, and you need to scatter them all across the calendar. This is less true for services like Hulu, which release some shows weekly, but even those are ramping up production to better fill out the year.

What’s more, the sheer number of shows on the broadcast networks launching in the fall window (the one thing still notably different about this part of the calendar) is down from where it was just 10 years ago. In the 2000s, it wasn’t rare for the number of new shows on broadcast to flirt with 30; in the past few seasons, it’s been rare for that number to go over 20. (And, really, my 20 count above is a lie, since it includes the not-actually-new Murphy Brown and only sort of new Roseanne spinoff The Conners.)

Will fall TV continue to be important in the future? The answer is yes, but a qualified yes. In the sense that it marks a busy point in the TV calendar, sure, it’s worth paying attention to. But when the entire TV calendar is filled with new shows, when every week feels like the fall TV seasons of yore, the importance of fall premiere week every late September wanes. It’s not fall TV — it’s all TV.

Original Source -> There is no fall TV season anymore

via The Conservative Brief

[chicagopdlover]

24: Live Another Day

24: Live Another Day

Edit In May 2013, Deadline first reported that Fox was considering a limited-run “event series” for 24 based on a concept by Howard Gordon , after failed efforts to produce the 24 feature film and the cancellation of Kiefer Sutherland ‘s series Touch . David Fury confirmed on Twitter that he would also be involved, pulling “double duty” with Gordon’s new series Tyrant . [1] The following week, Fox officially announced 24: Live Another Day , a limited-run series of twelve episodes that would feature the return of Jack Bauer . Fox CEO Kevin Reilly said that the series would essentially represent the twelve “most important” hours of a typical 24 season, with jumps forward between hours as needed. As with the rest of Fox’s push into event programming, the production was promised to have “a big scope and top talent and top marketing budgets.” Reilly also noted that the project could pave the way for sequel series in the future. [2] In the press release, Gordon said: “ Jack Bauer has always been an exciting, thrilling character, and I confess that I’ve missed him. I think the audience has too. The character has evolved through the years, and this new and exciting event series format is perfect to tell the next chapter of his story and continue to reflect how the world is changing. Fans can rest assured that the Jack they know and love will be back. ” Kiefer Sutherland , who was confirmed to executive produce and star in the new series, added: “ The response to ‘24’ is unlike anything I have ever experienced as an actor before. To have the chance to reunite with the character, Jack Bauer, is like finding a lost friend. The story ideas from Howard Gordon are exciting and fresh, and will not disappoint. Great thanks to 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and the FOX network for this opportunity. Make no mistake, my goal is to knock your socks off. See you soon. ” In June, it was announced that Jon Cassar was signed to executive produce and direct multiple episodes of Live Another Day , including the first two. [3] Executive producers and writers Robert Cochran , Manny Coto and Evan Katz also returned, with Coto and Katz serving as showrunners. [4] [5] Sean Callery composed the score for the series. [6] The writing process began on July 1 , with David Fury pitching the first episode. [7] The first episode, ” 11:00am-12:00pm “, was written by Evan Katz & Manny Coto [8] and the second, ” 12:00pm-1:00pm “, by Robert Cochran and David Fury . [9] Returning 24 director Milan Cheylov directed episodes 9 and 10. [10] On July 11 , 2013 , executive producer Brian Grazer announced in an interview that the 24 miniseries would “be a limited series that would then spin off into a series itself. Fox is doing it, Fox studio and Fox network, and we’re totally thrilled by that.” [11] Casting After Kiefer Sutherland , Mary Lynn Rajskub was announced as the second official cast member in August 2013 , reprising her role as Chloe O’Brian . [12] In September 2013, it was revealed Kim Raver was negotiating a deal to return as Audrey . It was also revealed that the new President of the United States would be a character the audience has met before, leading to speculation that William Devane ‘s James Heller would be returning as President. [13] On October 4 it was confirmed that both Raver and Devane had signed deals to rejoin the cast. [14] In November 2013, Canadian actor Michael Wincott was announced as the first new cast member, portraying an infamous hacker and activist named Adrian . [15] Soon after, Gbenga Akinnagbe and Giles Matthey were cast as series regulars, playing CIA agents Erik Ritter and Jordan Reed . [16] At the TCA panel on January 13, 2014, Fox announced that Yvonne Strahovski had joined the cast as Kate Morgan , a CIA field operative on the trail of Jack Bauer. [17] The same week, Emmy Award -nominated film and television actor Benjamin Bratt was announced to play the role of Steve Navarro , the CIA’s London chief of operations. [18] Tate Donovan was announced to play Audrey Raines’ new husband and White House Chief of Staff Mark Boudreau . [19] On January 24, the casting of renowned actor and comedian Stephen Fry as British Prime Minister Trevor Davies was announced. [20] In December 2013, two-time Oscar nominee Judy Davis was cast as Margot Al-Harazi , a British national and the widow of a notorious terrorist. [21] However, in February, Davis left the role after personal matters prevented her from traveling to London for filming. [22] Davis was replaced by Game of Thrones actress Michelle Fairley . [23] In December 2013, David Fury sent out a pair of tweets suggesting that Carlos Bernard could return to portray Tony Almeida . [24] Bernard ultimately did not appear, but an ” extra scene ” involving Almeida will appear on the season Blu-ray Disc set . [25] Filming Edit 24: Live Another Day filmed on location in London , United Kingdom . [26] Pre-production and location scouting by the crew, including Jon Cassar , began in November 2013. [27] The production offices for Live Another Day were based in the Gillette Building in west London, previously used for films such as Red 2 . [28] Production began on January 6 , 2014 , with filming scheduled to occur from January 25 through June 13 . [29] Promotion Edit A 45-second teaser titled “Street Chaos,” featuring Jack Bauer and Chloe O’Brian , was filmed on January 21 for debut during the February 2 Super Bowl XLVIII telecast on Fox . Several short fifteen-second clips were released on YouTube during the pre-game broadcast. The first promo featuring footage from the new episodes, titled “The Clock Starts Ticking”, aired on Fox on March 9, 2014. On April 7, ” Jack Is Back “, a half-hour behind-the-scenes featurette featuring interviews with cast and crew members, was released on Fox.com and other outlets. On April 11, a new movie-style trailer was released, along with the debut of a viral marketing campaign focusing on Chloe O’Brian and her new organization Open Cell . A fifteen-second TV spot features Chloe warning viewers that Jack is innocent and directing them to Open-Cell.org to learn more. This was accompanied by similar radio advertisements and the “hacking” of Fox’s 24 Facebook and Twitter pages to link to posts on the website. Following each new episode, a new web feature called Connect24 , sponsored by Sprint , offered exclusive sneak peeks for the subsequent episode after the user completes certain “missions.” A 24 panel was held at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con on July 26 , 2014 , featuring Kiefer Sutherland , Jon Cassar , and Yvonne Strahovski . [30] Release Edit In April, Amazon.com announced a deal with Fox Broadcasting Company to become the exclusive streaming carrier for 24: Live Another Day via its Amazon Prime service. [31] The first four episodes of Live Another Day were made available for purchase on Amazon.com starting on May 6 , 2014 , the day after the two-hour premiere. The series was simulcast in Canada, debuting on May 5, 2014, on Global . [32] In the United Kingdom, the series premiere aired on Sky1 at 1:00am on May 6 , 2014 simultaneous with the U.S. premiere, with the official premiere on May 7 and airing on Wednesdays thereafter. [33] Canal+ , which holds the airing rights in France, aired the premiere with a 40-minute delay from the U.S. airing. [34] On May 6, 2014, it premiered in Germany on Sky Deutschland , [35] in Mexico and Latin America on Canal Fox [36] in Greece and Cyprus on Fox , [37] and in the Philippines on Jack City — first at the exclusive time of 1:00 pm via satellite before airing in its regular primetime slot of 9:00 pm. [38] In Asia, the series aired on AXN , starting on May 6 on AXN Asia and May 9 on AXN India. [39] It was broadcast in Australia on Network Ten . [40] It also premiered in South Africa on May 29 , 2014 , on M-Net . [41] 24: Live Another Day was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the U.S. on September 30 , 2014 . [42] Among the special features is ” 24: Solitary “, a Blu-ray-exclusive “story extension” that addresses Tony Almeida ‘s fate following Season 7 . [25] Reception Edit As of May 7, 2014, 24: Live Another Day holds a rating of 70 out of 100 on the review aggregator site Metacritic, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.” [43] On Rotten Tomatoes, another review aggregator, the series currently holds a score of 84%, and is considered “Certified Fresh.” [44] The two-hour premiere episode received generally positive reviews. Merrill Barr ( Forbes ) compared the premiere favorably to previous seasons of 24 , stating that “The audience is given reason to care about Jack and his associates again because events are given reason to matter again… Here, much like in seasons one and two , everything ties together. The plot Jack’s trying to stop has a direct connection to the lives of multiple supporting characters he’s yet to interact with. It’s this dynamic that made the show great once, and will make it great again.” [45] Aaron Riccio ( Slant Magazine ) wrote that the twelve-episode format was a promising development, and that “the result is a leaner, scrappier 24 that is both firmly within its comfort zone…and somehow outside it, with Jack and the other returning characters more readily showing the wear and tear of their profession.” [46] Other reviews were less positive; Jeff Jensen ( Entertainment Weekly ) criticized the reuse of story elements and character archetypes, concluding that “Despite the high-grade action, the premiere is more a showcase for everything that was bad about 24 than a reminder of everything that was good.” [47] Reception for the season’s finale was generally positive [48] [49] and ratings for the finale were up to 21% from the previous installment. [50] Despite airing in mid-2014, Live Another Day competed in the 2014-2015 season at the Primetime Emmy Awards , as it had not aired half of its episodes by the May 31 , 2014 deadline to qualify for the 2013-2014 awards. [51] Live Another Day was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards in the Miniseries or Movie category: Outstanding Music Composition (Original Dramatic Score), Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing, and Outstanding Sound Editing. Media tie-ins

from Christian David Biz https://ift.tt/2LqyMm2 via Article Source

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior September 18, 2020 – MR. SOUL!, THE GRIZZLIES, MY NAME IS PEDRO, ANTEBELLUM, THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME, THE NEST, ALONE and More!

Usually, I’d be using this weekend in September to wrap-up my usual week in Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), though I haven’t gone the past two years and this year, I couldn’t get credentials because… well, who knows? You would think a virtual festival would allow more press, especially since there wouldn’t be the cost for attending, but the demand was greater than the capabilities of TIFF’s video streaming service, I guess. Either way, there are just way too many movies to talk about this week, so let’s get to it.

After sharing some stuff about TIFF… how’s that for a big-time fake-out?

Despite not getting credentials, I did get to watch a few of the movies, including the opening night film, Spike Lee’s movie based on David Byrne’s American Utopia; Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, reviewed here; Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer’s new doc Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds; and I Care a Lot the new film from The Disappearance of Alice Creed director J. Blakeson, starring Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez and more.

Starting with American Utopia, I wasn’t sure if this Broadway musical would be for me, despite being a life-long Heads fan. It seemed like it could be the definition of a jukebox musical with Byrne just playing his greatest hits and maybe talking in between. That’s exactly what it is, in fact, but it turns out that Byrne is quite a storyteller on stage as he is in music and books. The way that some of the Heads’ oldest tunes have been repurposed for the stage leads to a lively show where everyone on stage is playing an instrument while also singing and dancing. No, there’s no actual narrative or story tying all of the songs together as might normally be the case but the music and stage show more than makes up for it, and Spike Lee (as always) does a grand job capturing it. This will be on HBO on October 18.

Herzog’s latest doc is an interesting one, and a weird one, and one that’s chock-full of eccentric nerds speaking on the topic of meteorites, as Herzog fills the role of narrator and allows Oppenheimer to take center stage in front of the camera, as the duo travels around the world talking to experts on meteors and meteorites, accompanied by gorgeous cinematography and a beautiful score. I’m not sure this may be as immediate as some of Herzog’s Antarctica docs, but it’s another bonafide experience you’ll be able to see on Apple TV+ from November 13.

And that brings me to Blakeson’s I CARE A LOT, a dark crime comedy with an impressive ensemble cast but most of the focus put on Rosamund Pike’s Marla Grayson, a professional guardian and caregiver who has made a fortune preying on the elderly and putting them into retirement homes before cleaning them out of money. Her partner in crime, Fran, is played by Eiza Gonzalez, and things are looking good for them as they are given a “cherry,” in Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), an old woman with no known connections who just happens to have a fortune in diamonds in a safe deposit boss in the bank. Oh, those also might belong to her estranged son, a crime-boss played by Peter Dinklage, who is outraged by what’s been done to his mother and swears revenge. Listen, these kinds of dark comedies aren’t always for everyone, because it’s really hard to root for Pike’s character, who is about as close to a “hero” as this movie comes. Either way, Blakeson has found a way to milk a rather untapped source in terms of a unique environment for this crime-comedy that ends up working far better than last year’s The Laundromat by Steven Soderbergh, maybe because it’s more about creating interesting characters rather than trying to give audiences a learning moment. (Also, Chris Messina is fantastic in this movie as Dinklage’s lawyer who first confronts Marla, and I’m really starting to see him in a better light as an actor. No idea what’s planned for this one, although it’s distributed by Elevation Pictures in Canada, and they seem to be making a foray into U.S. distribution. (See below)

Also, the New York Film Festival starts this week both virtually and in local drive-ins with opening night being one of three new Steve McQueen films that act as part of his “Small Axe” anthology with Lovers Rock being available to rent for just $25 via the Virtual Cinema starting Thursday. I still haven’t watched anything, as of this writing, but I hope to rectify that soon, so look for some reviews soon.

Before I get to this week’s movies, I do want to say that every once in a while (or maybe twice), I miss a movie or two. Very seldom do I have a chance to write about said movie while it’s still available to watch in theaters (or in this case, digitally), but not this time!

MR. SOUL! is a doc by Melissa Haizlip (co-directed by veteran Spike Lee editor and doc director Sam Pollard, who directed the excellent Two Trains Runnin’) about her uncle Ellis Haizlip, who produced and hosted the semi-long-running PBS show “Soul!” from 1968 to 1973. It was a touchstone for black communities throughout the country for those years, helping to break so many musical artists and poets and other personalities. I found the movie to be quite amazing, mainly since I had never heard of it. I didn’t move to the tri-state region until well after it was off the air, and honestly, I had never even heard of the show or of Ellis Haizlip, so watching his story being told in such a compelling way with so much archival footage, I was pretty blown away. I feel like what Ms. Haizlip and Mr. Pollard did with this movie is as groundbreaking and as important as the James Baldwin doc, I Am Not Your Negro, from a few years back in terms of helping modern-day people, both black and white, understand the black experience of he ‘60s and ‘70s. Mr. Soul! Is now available through Virtual Cinema across the country, and I hope those who enjoy learning new things will give it a look.

Let’s get to all of the new releases… because there’s a TON!

First, I’m gonna start with this week’s “Featured Flick” and yes, that might be considered Mr. Soul!, but the reason I write this column is to call attention to movies you might not have seen otherwise. That’s why I want to draw equal attention to a movie called THE GRIZZLIES (Elevation Pictures), which played at Toronto two years ago and is just now finally being released.

The directorial feature debut by producer Miranda de Pencier, The Grizzlies stars Ben Schnetzer as Russ Shepard, a recent graduate of McGill, who is sent to Kugluktuk at the very Northern ridge of Canada to teach a bunch of Inuit kids, as part of a program to pay back his college tuition. There, he learns that few teens even bother to show up for school, either kept away by their families’ traditions or just their desire to drink and do drugs. This kind of lifestyle inevitably ends to many suicides. Shepard has a hard time getting through to the kids until he realizes that maybe they just need a hobby, so he puts together a group of boys (and one girl) to play lacrosse.

My first year at the Oxford Film Festival (where I saw Sam Pollard’s Two Trains Runnin’), I also saw another excellent doc called Children of the Arctic about the teens from Barrow, Alaska, which is on a similar Northernmost part of the continent where this based-on-a-true-story takes place. Because I’d seen that doc, I was already interested in the setting for what might have otherwise been a typical teacher helps troubled students, not too unlike last week’s John Leguizamo film, Critical Thinking. What differentiates this from many previous movies like this (besides having lacrosse as its white savior sport, rather than chess) is that the setting is so unique, and it allows director Miranda De Pencier to work with a lot of really talented young indigenous actors, many who probably have never acted before. One exception is Boo Boo Stewart as Kyle, one of the kids dealing with domestic abuse from his drunken father.

I also liked Ben Schnetzer, who I wasn’t even remotely familiar with before seeing this, maybe because he had been doing mainly supporting roles; he proves himself to be perfectly capable of being the type of everyman lead we’ve seen other actors to portray. (Ben Affleck in The Way Back from earlier this year comes to mind.) More importantly, Schnetzer is just great with the talented younger cast. Sure, there are a lot of the normal cliches that come with this type of movie including the rousing coach speech to get the team motivated, but there’s no denying that this is one of the better iterations of a what has been a sadly overused movie genre.

I was kind of surprised to learn that this premiered at the Toronto Film Festival two years ago, and it’s just been sitting dormant waiting for someone to pick it up and release it. Actually, I found it quite shocking, because this is an absolutely wonderful and inspirational story that offers some hope in a world that’s gotten so dreary and depressing over the past few months. If you want to see a movie that can get you out of the doldrums, this is definitely one I’d recommend highly. If you can imagine a cross between The Bad News Bears (or even Slapshot) with Whale Rider, then that’s what The Grizzlies delivers.

Another wonderful and equally inspirational film to seek out is Lillian LaSalle’s doc MY NAME IS PEDRO (Sweet 180), which looks at the life and career of South Bronx resident Pedro Santana. The young Latino came from his own troubles going to school in the Bronx to becoming a beloved educator trying to help others using his unique personality and skill set. There’s no denyhing that Santana’s enthusiasm is quite infectious, so he’s quite beloved by everyone he encounters. Unfortunately, he runs into problems, including being systematically booted from his position at the Ramapo school district due to his lack of credentials. He then spends some time teaching in Haiti and gets a job in Dubai but then gets diagnosed with Stage 4 Kidney Cancer. I won’t say more because it’s a movie that, while not particularly ground-breaking in terms of technical aspects, it is indeed quite an inspirational and heartwarming film in the way it tells Pedro’s amazing story. My Name is Pedro will open at the Maysles Center’s Virtual Cinema in New York on Thursday, and then the Laemmle in L.A. on October 2, and then more cities on October 9.

There aren’t a ton of other prominent docs this week, although one of the more high-profile ones is Dawn Hudson’s doc THE WAY I SEE IT (Focus Features), which unfortunately, I received too late to watch and review. (Partially my own fault, to be honest.) It takes a look at two Presidents, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan as seen through the eyes and lens of renowned photojournalist Pete Souza, who was the official White House photographer and had an unprecedent access to the country’s leaders. The movie will open in select theaters but then will be on MSNBC on Oct. 10 at 10pm Eastern.

Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz’s thriller ANTEBELLUM (Lionsgate) is a movie that’s being released this weekend via VOD after being delayed since April. Honestly, I’m not sure what I can say about it, because it relies so much on its rather ludicrous twist that anyone who watches the trailer can probably figure it out in 15 minutes or less. But I’ll play along. Janelle Monáe plays best-selling author Veronica Henley, who has been having dreams about being back in the Confederate South, working and being abused as a slave by racist soldiers.

We probably should get out of the way that Bush & Renz’s movie actually opens in the Antebellum South on a plantation where we watch a number of slaves being tortured and killed, including Monáe’s Eden and a fellow slave played by the always wonderful Kiersey Clemons from Dope. Jack Huston plays the particularly loathsome Confederate captain who is so awful to them.  About 40 minutes into the movie, we meet Monáe’s Veronica Henley as she wakes from a dream of going through that ordeal we just watched. Got it? So it was all a dream, right? And I bet you really believe that. Again, I promised not to give away the “big twist” but after watching Veronica and her friends (including Gabourey Sidibe from Precious) attending a book conference and Veronica dealing with all sorts of weird people (including Jena Malone in a deliciously evil role) and other strange things, the movie quickly gets tiring. It just takes so long to get to how and why Monáe and the others are on the plantation, and there had to be a better way of making that happen in a more interesting way.

At least the film’s last act turns into a bonafide revenge-filled action thriller, and by then, you’ll be ready to see anything that gets your pulse above a 5. The last 20 minutes are so good you wonder why the filmmakers didn’t seem to care that they were likely to lose people from walking out of theaters – or I guess their homes -- long before the movie gets anywhere worthwhile.

I didn’t watch the trailer for Antebellum until after seeing the movie, but it’s a particularly deceptive piece of work because it says it’s from the “Producer of Get Out and Us,” so you assume (as I did) that this is a movie produced by Jordan Peele or Jason Blum, but neither is involved with it. The trailer also inserts a number of scenes that do not appear in the movie to try to make it seem eerier, and frankly, this being sold as a “horror movie” is probably its biggest infraction. Instead, Antebellum is a weak “Twilight Zone” episode that’s handled so poorly you’re not sure whether to be offended by figuring out the twist almost immediately or offended that these two filmmakers thought they might have you fooled for longer than that. Again, Antebellum is skipping a theatrical release entirely and being released straight to VOD, which is probably for the better.

Antonio Campos, director of Simon Killer and Christine, returns with his adaptation of Donald Ray Pollock’s THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME, which will be streaming on Netflix actually right now! Set in 1957, it stars Tom Holland as Arvin Russell, the son of a religious father (played by Bill Skarsgård) who has come home after seeing all sorts of horrors in World War II. The expansive story follows both father and son but also the residents of a small town called Knockemstiff in Southern Ohio and how they’re all connected through a series of incidents.

Narrated by Pollock himself, Campos has created a brilliant Southern Gothic thriller that’s far more of an ensemble piece than some may expect because the biggest name stars, Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, don’t appear in the movie for a good 40 minutes! Instead, we follow the story from Arvin’s father Willard and the incidents that lead to Arvin becoming an orphan, living with his half-sister Lenora (Eliza Scanlen). Years later, Arvin finds himself having to protect Lenora from the lecherous young preacher, Preston Teagarden (played by Pattinson), who is preying on the town’s young women. The movie also stars Jason Clarke and Riley Keough, as a couple who pick up hitchhikers for evil intentions, and Sebastian Stan as the latter’s sheriff brother who gets dragged into all the evil-doings in town. It also has Mia Wasikowska and Haley Bennett in smaller roles as two of the beleaguered women caught up in the story.

I went into The Devil All the Time knowing full well that I’m rarely a fan of most Southern-based dramas with a few exceptions, like Dee Rees’ Mudbound. There have been just as many that just didn’t connect with me like Hounddog. Either way, this is a similarly complex tale for Campos to tell because there are so many characters, and it spends quite a bit of time in the past before we finally meet Holland and Pattinson’s characters. This will most definitely annoy some people, but I was intrigued enough by how everyone was being slowly introduced that it didn’t bother me so much.

I’ve always been quite aware how talented a filmmaker Campos is but like with Rebecca and Michael C. Hall in Christine, he also benefits from having one of the strongest ensemble casts put together, as well as great craftspeople -- like cinematographer Lol Crawley -- helping to realize his vision.

It takes its sweet time getting to the point where things start to get interesting, which for many will probably be when Pattinson shows up as Preston Teargarden. At first, I didn’t like Pattinson’s character or performance much, but it certainly grew on me and it’s not the only solid performance of note. Campos has created a movie that gains so much from a second viewing once you know the true nature of the characters. Make no mistake that Campos has kept all the complexities of Pollock’s book for a movie that kept my attention in ways that few other movies have this year with a number of scenes that really shook me up. Besides streaming on Netflix today, The Devil All the Time will actually be opening theatrically in a few cities so check your listings! I interviewed Campos over at Below the Line, and you can read my interview with Cinematographer Lol Crowley over there later today.

As excited as I was to watch a new film from Campos, even MORE exciting, in some ways, is that we’re getting a new movie from his (former?) Borderline Productions partner Sean Durkin, whose Martha Marcy May Marlene was one of the breakouts from Sundance the year it premiered all the way back in 2011. Durkin has returned with THE NEST (IFC Films), a movie starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon as Rory O’Hara and his wife Allison, a married couple with two kids who move back to England for his job, taking up residence in an opulent mansion before things start to fall apart.

I went into The Nest (i.e. I hit play on the screener on my computer) thinking that it was going to be one of those old school British thrillers from the ‘60s and ‘70s, especially once it gets to the giant eerie mansion that reminds you of something from The Omen (one of my favorite horror movies, incidentally). In fact, the movie is more of an intense family drama where we watch Law, Coon and their kids pushed to the edge by circumstances, which one might assume is something being caused by some toxic aspect of their new house, but actually, nope, it’s just everyday life stuff.

For Law’s Rory, it’s a huge deal that falls through as he tries to bullshit his way through it, yet he keeps turning to his wife for money. She has her own problems to deal with including her rebellious stepdaughter Samantha (Oona Roche) and younger son Benjamin (Charlie Shotwell), neither of whom are adjusting well to the move. Her hobby is riding horses, and just bad things keep happening to all of them that all collides on one fateful night that includes Samantha having a crazy house party.

Although The Nest wasn’t nearly as much of a genre movie as I hoped it might be, one thing that really jumps out and makes it worthwhile is Carrie Coon’s performance. There’s no denying she’s just one great role or movie away from being in the Oscar game. Sadly, this one is is not it.

Like the film by Durkin’s producing partner, The Nest takes its own sweet time getting anywhere as Durkin goes for a slow roll approach, but that also allows him to embellish the images with a great score that includes quite a bit of ‘80s music. (I wasn’t sure if the movie actually was taking place in the ‘80s or not.) Although the influence of Stanley Kubrick seems fairly present in Durkin’s The Nest, it’s really more Eyes Wide Shut Kubrick than The Shining, and that might dismay those who are seeking the film’s horror potential. But if you like Eyes Wide Shut and go in expecting that, you won’t be as disappointed.

Another really solid thriller worth seeking out is director John Hyams’ ALONE (Magnet Releasing), which actually played as part of the Fantasia Film Festival a few weeks back. It’s true that there have been way too many movies with that title, but this is a fairly compelling thriller that starts as something that might seem fairly obvious and then goes into so many amazing and unexpected directions. The movie stars Jules Willcox as Jessica, a widow who is moving to a new place when she encounters a creepy guy on the road (played by Marc Menchaca), who seems to be following her. Pretty soon, it’s obvious that he is following her and has bad intentions for her by trapping her in his basement.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Alone, because it starts out so much like The Hitcher or even the recent Unhinged with a woman being plagued by a creepy guy, and it’s hard to watch at times because it gets pretty violent.  I was definitely uncomfortable watching this, since it felt like there was a voyeuristic aspect akin to torture porn that made me not to watch any more of this poor woman's torture and abuse. Fortunately, she does escape only to have to survive while trapped in the woods surrounding the cabin.

I wasn’t familiar with Jules Willcox before seeing this movie, but her performance and all the places it takes her in terms of fear and desperation is fairly impressive, as is Marc Menchaca, who does a great job playing one of those psychopaths who somehow can behave normal whenever it calls for it. (Think more Ted Bundy than Jeffrey Dahmer.) You combine these two amazing performers with a cat-and-mouse situation that combines their acting with some brilliant sound design work and cinematography, and you have a movie that goes far beyond what I expected from the premise.

Even so, Alone successfully explores the real fear women must face every day when they’re alone and feeling defenseless, and it shows Hyams to be an incredibly skilled filmmaker when dealing with a lot of elements. The last act where all of these skills come together, including some amazing stuntwork, is what takes what’s a thriller with an overly used premise and makes it something that’s far more unique and memorable. It will be available to watch in some theaters as well as On Demand.

Speaking of movies with unfortunate title choices, I’m guessing that director Kurtis David Harder was well into making his movie SPIRAL, on Shudder beginning Thursday, when it was announced that the next “Jigsaw” movie from Lionsgate would be called that. Fortunately, this Spiral has nothing to do with that one, the only thing in common is that they’re both horror. (This Spiral actually played at least year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and a few others, in case you weren’t convinced.) In fact, this one is probably more in the vein of Get Out or even Hereditary, as it follows a same-sex couple, Malik and Aaron (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, Ari Cohen), who move to the suburbs with Aaron’s teen daughter Kayla (Jennifer Laporte) and begin to experience weird occurrences and behavior from their new neighbors. Of course, Malik thinks it’s homophobia, something he’s experienced in his past when he was put through a horrific experience during his early years exploring his sexuality.

I was pretty impressed with what Harder did with this premise, but just as much due to the performance by Bowyer-Chapman than I was of the director’s ability to build the tension as we learn more and more about the couple’s new suburban neighbors. Spiral is just a really well-done thriller in every regard, because it keeps things rather enigmatic, so you’re never quite sure if Malik’s paranoia is justified or not. Combine that solid premise with a terrific score – definitely one of the themes of this week’s movies – and Spiral is another fantastic offering from the horror streaming network that keeps blowing me away with the movies they pick up that you really can’t see anywhere else.

As luck would have it Harder also produced and co-directed (with Noah Kentis, directing under the pseudonym “Lankyboy”) Summerland, a coming-of-age comedy which I didn’t have a chance to see. (Actually, I did, but from the trailer, it didn’t seem like I’d like it, plus I’ve seen WAY too many coming-of-age movies the last few weeks and I’m getting burnt.) Anyway, this queer coming-of-age indie stars Maddie Phillips (Teenage Bounty Hunters), and it’s a road trip comedy that involves social media (if you remember my review of Spree and read one of my reviews below, that’s another warning sight for me), and it’s available on Demand on iTunes, Vudu, GooglePlay and Amazon right now!

And here’s the trailer!

Noomi Rapace and Joel Kinnaman star in Yuval Adler’s THE SECRETS WE KEEP (Bleecker Street), a thriller set in the late ‘50s with Rapace playing Maya, a Romanian woman living in the suburbs with her doctor husband Lewis (Chris Messina), who thinks that their new neighbor (Joel Kinnaman) may be the Nazi soldier that assaulted and killed her sister during the war, so of course, she kidnaps him.

There’s something very familiar about this dramatic thriller, partially because it takes a similar approach as Bryan Singer’s Apt Pupil, but I feel there were other movies like this that I’m forgetting. The title basically comes from the fact that Maya has kept her past a secret from her husband, who gets involved in the grilling of Kinnaman’s character, who has kept his own past a secret from his wife, played by Amy Seimetz. Even while Kinnaman is tied up in her basement, Maya tries to befriend his wife to see if she can get some information that will prove that her captor is who she thinks.

I’m a pretty big Noomi Rapace fan, and I’m always excited to see her in movies because she tends to be give very dramatic performances, and that’s certainly the case although sometimes, the emotions go a bit overboard. The good thing is that here’s another movie where Chris Messina has really surprised me, just like he did all the way at the top of this column in J. Blakeson’s I Care A Lot. I always found him to be a rather bland and very vanilla actor, but he seems to be doing something to change that, and I fully approve.

There were certainly aspects and moments of The Secrets We Keep I liked because Adler is not a bad director, but there are also aspects that made me feel this would have worked fine or even better as a stage play. As a movie, it’s just kind of drab and predictable as the characters spend almost the entire film yelling and hitting each other. When you compare this to some of the movies above, there just isn’t enough mystery about where it might go, so more like Antebellum than Spiral or Alone despite being a more grounded and less genre-based thriller. Ultimately, it just fails, but it will be in theaters and on VOD starting today.

I knew I was in trouble with Will Wernick’s NO ESCAPE (Vertical)  -- not to be confused with the Owen Wilson-Pierce Brosnan thriller – when I realized that the film’s main character Cole (Keegan Allen) was another one of those social media wannabe stars like the kid in Spree. Surprise, surprise, he is JUST as annoying. The concept for this one is that Cole does all sorts of crazy stunts on his feed to prove he’s not scared of anything, but then he and a group of friends (including his girlfriend Erin, played by Holland Roden) are invited to Russia to take part in the “scariest escape room ever” by a guy named Alexei (Ronan Rubinstein). Bad stuff happens.

There are a few rare times when I watch a movie and wonder how on earth a filmmaker was able to put together what seems like a pretty hefty budget for a movie as bad as this one turned out to be, and stuff like that just leaves me shaking my head. The premise itself isn’t so bad, even if it isn’t particularly original. (Imagine my surprise when I looked at Wernick’s IMDB page and his previous movie from 2017 was called “Escape Room” and not the Sony one either. It makes it pretty clear that this guy is the definition of a one-trick pony. Oddly, he ALSO has a movie called Alone.)

The problem is that Keegan Allen and most of his friends – including his best friend Thomas, played by Denzel Whitaker, who seems to have been doing so well in his career up until this movie – are so effin’ annoying, you never care one bit what happens to them, whether they get beat up in fight with Russian mobsters or end up in a series of death traps, many that are swiped directly from the Saw movies. In fact, that’s basically what this movie turns into once the friends are locked into a Russian prison and Cole has to try to save them. It basically becomes a cross between Saw and Hostel, but with Cole so flippant with his jokes and asides to his watchers, it completely takes away from any tension or scares. By the time the movie starts to get serious, it’s just far too late, because just when you don’t think the movie can possibly get stupider, it gets stupider.  (And seriously, if I have to watch ONE MORE MOVIE that has people commenting or clicking on hearts in a way that’s so unbelievable and unrealistic, I’m gonna be even MEANER to that movie.)

The title of this movie may be No Escape, but there is a perfectly reasonable way to escape this time-waster, and that’s just not to watch it. It’s just another exploitative and predictable movie that lacks anything even remotely approaching originality.

There are a few other movies out this week that I either didn’t get to watch or I watched and just didn’t have enough to say to write a review. Listen, you have nearly 13 reviews above, so is that not enough for you?

Susan Sarandon leads an amazing ensemble cast that includes Kate Winslet, Sam Neill, Mia Wasikowska and more in Roger Michell’s BLACKBIRD (Screen Media), which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year and is finally being released. After a Fathom Events release over the last couple days, it will be released in more theaters this Friday. Sarandon plays Lily, a woman who has been battling ALS who has decided to end her life on her own terms, so she and her husband (Neill) summon their daughters (Winslet, Wasikowska) and extended family for one last goodbye to celebrate Lily’s life before she’s gone.

Kieron J. Walsh’s THE RACER (Gravitas Ventures) was supposed to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, but that didn’t happen. It’s set during the summer of 1998 during the early stages of the Tour De France where Belgian rider Dominique Chabol, played by Louis Talpe, has been one of the team’s better support riders on the tour for the past 20 years, his job being merely to set a pace and never to win. When Dom is dropped from the team (for doping), he has to see if he can accept a civilian life after meeting a pretty Irish doctor, played by Tara Lee.

Next up is Steve Collins’ absurdist comedy, I’VE GOT ISSUES (Gravitas Ventures), which includes an amazing cast that includes Macon Blair, Claire Titelman, John Merriman and Byron Brown, with Jim Gaffigan narrating. I knew almost immediately while watching that this movie wasn’t going to be for me, and that’s all I’ll say.

A few of the movies I wasn’t able to get to include Last Call (available through the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema), The Last Laugh (High Octane), Film Movement’s God of the Piano and from Kenya, Sam Soko’s doc Softie about photojournalist Boniface “Softie” Mwangi, which won a Sundance Special Jury prize for its editing. There’s a thing called Google if you wanna know more about them.

My beloved and sadly shuttered local theater, the Metrograph, are continuing their digital live screening series with their Ulrike Ottinger retrospective that will debut her film Joan of Arc of Mongolia  (1989) tonight at 8pm. Friday, they’ll be screening Eric Rohmer’s The Aviator’s Wife (1981) and then continuing the “Nan Goldin Selects” series on Saturday and then Ottinger’s Exile Shanghai (1997)  son Sunday.

Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema will add Jan Oxenberg’s Thank You and Good Night (1991) today and then Jan Swankmaier’s Faust (1994) this Friday.

Next, we’ll look at some streaming stuff. The latest from Ava Duvernay’s Array deal with Netflix is Merawi Gerima’s Residue, which follows Obinna Nwachukwu as aspiring filmmaker Jay, who returns to his home in Washington, DC, to find his neighborhood being gentrified and finds himself being alienated by his old friends. It will debut on Netflix Thursday as well as be available in select virtual theaters. A number of series are starting up on Netflix his week, including Ryan Murphy’s Ratched, starring Sarah Paulson as the Nurse Mildred Ratched character from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this series being a prequel to that Oscar-winning film. Netflix is also launching the four-episode docuseries Challenger: The Final Flight, which features interviews with the engineers and crew’s family members from the 1986 shuttle disaster. Lastly, there’s Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, an all-ages animated series based in the world of the beloved movie franchise.

Over on Hulu, I’m super-psyched for the second season of Pen 15, starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konlkle, which I discovered well after the hilarious first season debuted.

No idea what’s going on next week, but Gerard Butler’s Greenland certainly isn’t! I guess you’ll just have to come back and find out.

[hatimtanger]

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e.tv is the fifth terrestrial television channel in South Africa, following three channels operated by the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC 1, SABC 2 and SABC 3) and the privately owned subscription-funded M-Net, operated by Multichoice. It is the first privately owned but free-to-air television station in the country.

Its news reports are sometimes critical of the SABC for its alleged "close ties" to the ruling African National Congress, and have launched print and outdoor campaigns that imply an inherent bias in the SABC's news coverage. More recently, they have joined a coalition of media outlets in a lawsuit to force the courts to allow live audio and/or video feeds to be broadcast from trials involving government officials and other prominent figures.

The channel broadcasts from both Cape Town and Johannesburg, with its prime time evening news bulletin at 6.30pm, called eNews Direct. Initial news broadcasts were criticised for being too Cape Town-centric and news from other regions was not given enough prominence. The late-night 10pm bulletin is still broadcast from Cape Town, and the channel's Master control still runs from its Kloof Street production centre in the city.

Because of its liberal policies regarding adult content and continual reinforcement of being free-to-air while broadcasting blockbuster movies, e.tv has seemingly won the ratings war against the SABC stations, especially over the weekends.

StatSat TV (formerly known as TopTV) has now announced the arrival of eMovies+, eKasi+ and e Africa+ in its R99 bouquet in December 2013.

The provider later apologized that the channels will only arrive in January 2014.

In May 2017 information was leaked about eToonz+, eMovies+, eMovies Extra & eExtra on Multichoice's DStv and later launched from 17 May 2017.

Midi TV was the consortium that won the broadcasting licence in 1998 to operate the channel. It is currently owned by black empowerment group Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) and Remgro, a part of the Rupert business empire.

The consortium has had many changes in ownership, however the dominant player has always been HCI: it had bought out minority black shareholders who had failed to repay loans they used to purchase the Midi TV stake. Warner Bros. sold their 25% shareholding of the channel in 2001, concerned that they would never be able to exercise full ownership: South African media ownership law restricts foreign entities to owning no more than 25% of a television channel.

Marcel Golding, a former trade unionist, was controversially forced to resign as the station's CEO in late October 2014 following the controversial purchase of shares he made in South African electronics equipment maker Ellies.[1] HCI had insisted in court documents that the purchase of the R24 million stake in the electronics maker, which also produces digital set-top boxes, was without authorisation. Golding had in court documents, challenging his removal as CEO, stated that attempts to get rid of him was due to the ANC government wanting to control the station's news output through direct interference.

In January 2001, e.tv showed floor plans and other blueprints for renovations of Genadedal, the official residence of President Thabo Mbeki, on air. The government responded by threatening legal action, citing that the station contravened The Protection of Information Act.[3] In August, it was reported to be the fastest-growing channel in South Africa.[4] After the September 11, 2001 attacks, e.tv joined other South African broadcasters in agreeing to continue broadcasting statements by Osama bin Laden.[5] It was also the site of an anthrax scare in October.[6]

In 2002, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa exonerated e.tv from overstepping its code of conduct after complaints were received following its screening of series from the Emmanuelle soft-core porn series.[7] In June, it failed in its attempt to stop M-Net from acquiring a new broadcast licence.[8]

In 2003, it was awarded a contract from Uthingo to broadcast the National Lottery results live.[9]

In 2004, e.tv was reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority after launching a series of newspaper advertisement in which the SABC was purported to be a "state broadcaster" and "lacking editorial independence."[10] In October, it failed in its bid to force the court to allow a live broadcast of the proceedings of the Schabir Shaik trial.[11] In November, it was reported that Midi TV owed ICASA R7 million in licence fees.[12]

In 2005, it was fined R55 000 for two offences of broadcasting 18-rated movies before 9pm.[13] It was also prevented by court ruling preventing it from airing a documentary concerning a prominent baby murder, but upon appeal was ordered to show the documentary to the case's prosecutors for review.[14][15] The station also fired prominent personality Soli Philander after a year's involvement.[16][17][18] It also garnered controversy from conservative and religious groups after it decided to broadcast softcore pornography late at night over weekends. It was also to be subpoenaed to appear before the Parliament's home affairs portfolio committee after failing to attend a hearing on pornography; e.tv subsequently claimed that they were given too short notice.[19][20]

In 2006, it refused to air a controversial interview with P.W. Botha before his 90th birthday, which both the SABC and M-Net refused as well.[21] They also received 14 complaints after a contestant was injured in an episode of the local Fear Factor; the station retorted, saying they "gave fair warning" to participants prior to the show, which was upheld by the BCCSA.[22][23]

Starting in April 2013, the channel launched e on Demand, a catch-up service that allows registered etv.co.za viewers to watch past episodes of their favorite TV shows as well as watch exclusive content.[24] Many of e.tv's own productions are available to view including its popular weekday soap  opera Rhythm City 

Another point of criticism of the station has been the perceived lack of involvement in producing South African content. e.tv has commissioned soap operas which are broadcast in prime time, and commissioned the occasional documentary[citation needed].

Backstage, set in an arts college in Cape Town, started off on a high note when it first aired in 2000, but things soured when e.tv had a dispute with the production company, and several popular cast members left the show. Because of low ratings to other shows in its time slot, Backstage was cancelled as of the end of June 2007.[25] Backstage has since been replaced by a new series called Rhythm City which is set in the South African music industry.

Scandal, set at a tabloid newspaper, experienced increased ratings after its timeslot was changed from 8pm to 7.30pm. In its previous timeslot, the soapie clashed with SABC 1's established soapie Generations. In 2015 the channel introduced new dramas such as Ashes to Ashes, Matatiele, Gold Diggers and new seasons of Traffic and eKasi: Our Stories. It also introduced new South African reality shows such as Coke Studio. Ashes to Ashes was renewed for a second season.

In South Africa, e.tv hosted some HBO shows like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Curb Your Enthusiasm. It has also secured broadcast rights of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) various shows;[26] which airs on weekdays and weekends, these receive the highest ratings in their timeslots. e.tv broadcasts WWE programming everyday and has come to brand itself as "the home of WWE". As of 2009, WWE pay-per-views are now e.tv-exclusive and they air only 7 days after the US premiere. The rights to broadcast were previously held by satellite provider DStv's SuperSports channel. e.tv currently airs WWE programming on a one-week tape delay with WWE Raw airing just 6 days after the US premiere and Editing Out 2 Hours Of Raw While Editing Out 1 Hour of Smackdown. e.tv also airs SmackDown and Main Event while its sister channel eKasi+ shows new episodes of NXT, Superstars, Vintage and Experience.

From January 2016, e.tv is the first free-to-air channel in South Africa to air the hit show Empire. The channel also broadcasts Lip Sync Battle from USA and the South African versions.

From July 2017, The Young and the Restless will no longer in South Africa. From September 2017, Days of Our Lives will move the channel from SABC 3 to the channel, and WWE will move from the channel to SuperSport (DStv).

To fit in with their new 24-hour news channel eNCA, e.tv changed their look in January 2008, giving it a simplistic look and modern design.[citation needed]

The channel once again went through a redesign of its graphics package, with a more 3D appearance in January 2013.[citation needed]

.

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One Mom’s Guide to Visiting The Franklin Institute

If you have kids who love to play, create and explore and live or are visiting the Philly area, then you must stop by The Franklin Institute! Set in heart of historic Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute has been entertaining and delighting children by encouraging them to dive into the world of science. The museum was founded in honor of America’s first scientist, Benjamin Franklin and is one of the oldest and premier centers of science education and development in the country. Today, the Institute continues its dedication to public education and creating a passion for science by offering new and exciting access to science and technology in ways that would dazzle and delight its namesake. This is one mom’s guide to visiting The Franklin Institute, so you can get the most out of your trip next time you are in the area.

The Franklin Institute is one of my kid’s most favorite places to visit and for good reason. It is FULL of amazing exhibits all dedicated to leaving about science, technology, energy and nature. It is the most frequented museum visited in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and helps to inspire kids (and parents!) to get hands on and up close to the amazing world of science and technology.

Before you go

The Franklin Institute is great for any aged kid, but I believed it is more suited for slightly older kids, since it is more science based. It has been open since the 1930’s and is in the heart of Philly, surrounded by parks and near the Philadelphia Art Museum with the “Rocky Steps”. There is a pay as you go parking garage so parking isn’t and issue and two places to eat lunch in the building, so you don’t have to go far for lunch! Admission is what you’d expect for this type of museum and memberships for families are available. There is also two IMAX theaters and additional rotating special exhibits that can be purchased for a few additional dollars per person. Currently they have the Mirror Maze exhibit, which encourages patrons to learn how math is used to unlock the mysteries and majesty of the patterns of our world through a series of engaging interactive elements and immersive experiences, and at the center is a HUGE mirror maze! This was one of our primary reasons of going this last visit because it just looked so fun! I’ll share more about the Mirror Maze exhibit below.

What to bring

The Franklin Institute has everything you could need for a fun filled day, so you don’t have to bring anything but yourselves! There are plenty of quiet spaces with tables so you could bring some water and healthy snacks if your kids need a break form the action- and don’t forget your camera too!

What we did

The Museum has many exhibits for all kid’s interests. It is home to three floors of interactive exhibit zones designed to encourage learning through science and technology. I encourage you to let your child be your guide as you explore their unique environment. We visited every exhibit and had lots of fun in each!

Must-do’s

The Franklin Institute is three floors of fun, it doesn’t matter where you start or where you finish, just be sure you check out everything because it’s all super fun! You enter in on floor 2 which has the most exhibits on it. Here are some of our most favorite exhibits from the whole museum:

Your Brain

Your brain is always changing, find out how and why when you explore Your Brain, The Franklin Institute’s newest—and biggest—exhibition. My kids loved all of the interactive sections in this exhibit, especially the two-story tall neural network climbing structure! It’s lined with a with dynamic lighting system and has sound effects that are triggered by your footsteps.

The Giant Heart

For more than half a century, walking through the Giant Heart has been a rite of passage for children in Philadelphia. No visit to The Franklin Institute is complete without visiting the icon that generations love with all their hearts! The Giant Heart tells you all about how to keep your body and heart in tip top shape and you can learn more about the anatomy and physiology of our own bodies.

The best part, is literally the giant heart that you can climb through to learn all about how the heart works. It’s fun to climb though again and again!

The Franklin Air Show

In this awesome exhibit you can put your piloting skills to the test that introduces you to the history, majesty, science, and technology of powered flight! You can hear the roar of planes overhead as you explore the basic principles of aeronautics and explore life stories and artifacts from the earliest aviation pioneers.

My kids LOVED pretending to fly, learning how to make the perfect paper airplane and getting to sit in a real retired Air Force jet! It was great for all of my kids.

Changing Earth

Love our planet and don’t mind getting your hands wet? Then your kids will love this exhibit! In Changing Earth, you can learn all about the science behind our weather, natural disasters, and how these powerful forces shape our air, land, water, and weather—and constantly transform our planet.

Sports Zone and Sir Isaac’s Loft

These two exhibits are always my sporty kid’s favorites. They’d spend all day in there if I let them! They are both upstairs and have tons of hands-on activities perfect for kids with lots of energy. You can explore how sport connects the science of the human body, laws of motion, and technical innovation and also about physical fitness, nutrition, equipment, and safety as you prepare to play.

Learn about the science behind your kid’s favorite sports, from running, to baseball, basketball and surfing! Kids and adults can race their favorite athletes in a 40-foot long race challenge and high speed cameras track and analyze your run. You can test your jump in the basketball area and see how high your lift is. Also, you can learn how to pitch like the pros!

Learn about pulleys, prisms, and pendulums in Sir Isaac’s loft. When you enter this “playground of experimentation,” you’ll be fascinated with falling objects, chain reactions, and optical illusions that bring Newton’s laws to life in whimsical and artful ways!

The Train Factory

Downstairs on the first floor, explore all about trains in the train factory! This exhibit has a REAL 350-ton Baldwin steam locomotive the center that you can climb in and imagine it’s taking you anywhere! You can learn how steam and coal powered the first locomotives and discover how diesel, electricity, and magnetic levitation are used to power modern day locomotives to travel longer distances at greater speeds.

Explore Virtual Reality in Space Command

VR and space meet downstairs in the Space Command exhibit. There are multiple VR stations (which my kids just couldn’t get enough of!) where you can imagine you are traveling inside the body or deep under the ocean and then travel deep into space and learn about the planets and stars in the rest of the exhibit.

Mirror Maze

Now through early September, come be one of the first to explore the traveling Mirror Maze exhibit, that focuses on how math presents itself in nature, in our bodies and how we apply it in the designs we use every day. You can learn how patterns appear everywhere, from the nested spirals of a sunflower’s seeds, to the ridges of a mountain range, to the layout of the Universe, and how math plays a role in these patterns.

Mirror Maze teaches us how math is used to unlock the mysteries and majesty of the patterns of our world through a series of engaging interactive elements and immersive experiences. You can get hands on learning about music and how the repeating patterns make sounds, you can learn about your body by taking an “epic selfie” and, of course, travel through the 1700 square foot massive mirror maze!

As you and your kids navigate your way through a seemingly infinite repeating pattern of floor-to-ceiling mirrors, challenge yourself to discover how geometry, tessellations, and repetitions are the building blocks of the world around you—and how they may reveal the world’s most hidden secrets.

The Mirror Maze is as easy to get lost in as it is fun, and great for all aged kids. Mine had a blast searching though each and every corner, trying to find their way through the massive maze.

Be sure to check out this amazing exhibit before it’s gone! It’s only visiting in Philly until the end of September.

Where we ate

The Franklin Institute boasts a beautiful cafe that serves all sorts of healthy lunch options for families so you don’t even have to leave to eat! We were just visiting for the day so we ate at the caferieria before we played. Sometimes we are heading into the city after and eat someplace else, but it’s nice to know there are plenty of food choices inside the building too! There were all sorts of healthy and family friendly options that my kids and I loved! You cannot bring food in to the main museum so be sure to stop by and take a break and eat while you are there!

You can learn more about the Franklin Institute and it’s newest exhibit, Mirror Maze, by visiting them online, on Facebook, twitter and Instagram! If you live near by, consider becoming a member! Members and their families visit for free and receive discounts at the cafe and shop. They have many different membership options. Check out their options here. Also, use the promo code MMYBLOG* to receive $3.00 off up to 4 adult, daytime tickets to A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature! To redeem the code, contact the FI at 215-448-1200 or visit fi.edu.

Have you even been to the Franklin Institute? What did you think of it?

Disclosure: Thank you to the Franklin Institute for providing us tickets to experience the museum! As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

*$3 off Daytime Adult Admission tickets to A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature. Limit 4 tickets per person. Includes General Admission to The Franklin Institute. Cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. Upgrades available on-site for IMAX and 3D Theater. Redeemable online or over the phone. Processing fees apply when ordering tickets in advance. Excludes holidays. Valid through 8/20/17.

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