"The Handmaid's Tale"

"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood is one of my top ten books of all time.  Because of this, I was eager to watch the Hulu series but am essentially too cheap to pay for every streaming service out there.  Fortunately, as a member of SAG-Aftra I am given the opportunity to preview films and series where actors have been nominated for an award.  In retrospect, the cost of a Hulu membership would have been worth it.  This series is truly brilliant and will be getting my vote for best female actor and possibly for best ensemble.  Season one (borrowed from my public library -- thank you!) echoes the book both in tone and style.  The novel was written in the early 1980s however, so there are some updates.  There are also changes in plot which were discussed between the creator of the series and Ms. Atwood.  Great respect is given to her vision and the changes made are those which represent the difference between pages of a book and a story told on a screen.  Readers of the book will not be disappointed and those who haven't read it will find real substance in the series.  Elisabeth Moss gets a special shout-out as the series is not dialogue heavy.  Much must be communicated through a look, a posture, a small gesture.  Ms. Moss surpasses expectations by showing her tremendously complex emotional world through the tiniest actions.  I did worry about season two.  The first season ends as the book ends.  How do the producers move on without the brilliant prose provided by Margaret Atwood?  They do, although it took until episode four in the second season to fully win me over (prepare for emotional turbulence after that episode).  There is a good deal of going deeper, exploring the various Handmaids, Wives and history leading up to the current timeline.  What I particularly like about this series is how female centered it is.  Yes, there are male characters who drive some of the action but the focus is on the women and nothing about their roles is simple.  The complexity, the struggle with who they are, what they are asked to do and how they interact with each other is the essence of this story.  It is a powerful manifesto which is sadly ironic in our current climate.  I'm not saying it is easy viewing.  It's not.  There were times that I had to step away, the tale haunting me.  But it should.  It should haunt, it should challenge, it should make us think.  The producer has said they could go "for another ten seasons."  I hope not.  This show is amazing.  It is also palpably painful.  I want an end, and a happy one at that.  I'm not likely to get it but if this tale has taught me anything it is that hope and resilience not only can survive, but that they must.

"A Star Is Born" (2018)

If my calculations are correct, this is the fourth version of this tale to make it to film.  This one, starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, continues the high bar set by its predecessors.  The acting, writing and directing are all superior and the film has an ambience, a watchable quality which makes it hard to turn away from, even in the hard (very very hard) parts to watch.  Lady Gaga has received a good deal of praise for her first film role and she is commendable for being very open, very vulnerable, very real.  Her work, however, overshadows the fact that Bradley Cooper not only acts in the film but directed and produced it.  As an actor he blends into the role far more completely than I have ever seen him.  His Jackson Mayne is a walking disaster with a gravelly voice who is constantly high.  He is a man who is clearly falling off a cliff in slow motion.  I mean, I knew it was Bradley Cooper but I have never seen him like this and had to look twice in the early scenes.  The romance guy he often portrays, even as a broken character in "Silver Linings Playbook", is entirely absent here.  His love for Abby is not that of a smooth player but an act of a starving man finding water.  The love aspect is played well by both actors throughout and is the strong core which holds this destructive path together.  While one might ask why rising star Abby sticks around it becomes so undefinable, yet so obvious, in their scenes with one another.  Near the end, Jackson's final scene is wordless yet immensely powerful and gripping.  I stopped breathing, then I cried for the rest of the film.  Shot with the eye of a painter of the everyday, the film somehow strips away the glamour of fame to find the humans beneath.  Really compelling and worth an afternoon sob.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

With the sequel coming out it was convenient that I was able to catch up on the latest franchise from Lady Rowling on a plane ride from the west coast.  The film was sufficiently well-paced to keep me going and the very talented talented Eddie Redmayne does a great job playing the kooky, off-beat animal lover, Newt.  Katherine Waterston won  the coveted role of Tina and pulls off a somewhat dour, lost soul who (spoiler alert) gets woke before the film ends.  In one of the better supporting acting duos I have seen in a while Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol are scene stealers with their portrayals of a hopeless dreamer and his true love, a telepathic bombshell witch.  Ezra Miller and Faith Wood-Blagrove make for compelling troubled children but most of the other characters, including the talented Colin Farrell and Carmen Ejogo come off as two-dimensional.  It was a little difficult to keep up with the stream of information at the top of the film (which could have also been the anti-motion pills I took on the plane) but try to stay tuned, as one major plot point unfolds at the end (and is the beginning of the current sequel.)  There are enough threads and interesting characters that the tale is not predictable and there is a rich visual quality which definitely kept me watching (even on a teeny tiny back-of-seat screen.)  If not for the Johnny Depp drama, I would be running to see the new film.  Worth it for the set-up if you want to see the one out now.

Mulan I & II

Mulan was a big hit with pre-teen girl crowd when this came out and it is easy to see why.  As voiced by Ming-Na Wen this is a young girl with spunk.  She has a strong spirit and an engaging personality.  It is interesting, however, that this came out some seven years after "Beauty and the Beast" with animation and songs which were somewhat less impressive than those in Beast.  The music can be forgiven.  After the tragic loss of Howard Ashman Disney struggled a bit to fill the void.  It's very evident here where the songs are mostly forgettable repeats of the same chorus, over and over.  The flatness of the images, though, is perplexing.  The only depth one sees is in an avalanche which takes place about half-way through the film.  Effort is made from the opening credits through to the end to honor Chinese culture and history but the cast is nearly fifty-percent white, something which would never happen today.  The sequel, made in 2004, worked to correct this a bit by casting more of the major roles with Asian actors, including more Chinese.  One surprise in the original film was Eddie Murphy playing a very "Donkey-like" character some three years before he did the first Shrek film.  It was an unnecessary character, in my opinion, and a less irritating sidekick could have been created.  The major difference between the two films is that the first is about a search for self, the second is about the search for love.  Something to think about that the search for self is more compelling and interesting than the search for love.  In film, anyway.  Perfectly good fare for younger kids without the nice depth which parents might enjoy.  A live-action version comes out in 2020.  I'm hoping for something with a few more layers.

Suicide Squad

As is my custom, I caught this one a good long while after it had exited theatres.  I can see why it was a hit but not a critic's darling.  There is enough action and skin for the average comic book fan but depth was sorely lacking for 90% of the film.  The one scene with some dialog meat took place late in the film, at a bar just before the big finale.  Margot Robbie was talked about a good deal and I'll give her props for fully committing to the crazy but I have to think that the buzz was as much about her lack of a clothing as about her acting.  Clearly, this thing was written and directed by a man and came off as a bit of a throwback in an era of kick-ass female power-houses.  The biggest sadness was that the attention on Margot Robbie took away from Will Smith, whose subtle, sad, angry Deadshot was understated and brilliant.  Mr. Smith was so immersed in the character that it took a couple of scenes before I realized it was him.  Jay Hernandez, as Diablo, gets a great monologue near the end of the film and does it with skill and grace.  Other than that the rest of the squad, and every other character, comes off as fairly flat and unmotivated.  This is even true of the luminaries Viola Davis and Jared Leto (seriously, Gotham's Cameron Monaghan is a better Joker).  I have to blame it on the writing and directing.  The film is dark, of course, but as the recent Deadpool films have shown, one can have dark without being bleak.  In this case, I didn't mind watching it on the small screen.  While there is talk of a sequel I won't be running out to see it.

Humana Festival, The Complete Plays

When looking for new monologues there really is nothing greater than short plays.  You can find a wide range of styles and characters in plays which aren't hugely well-known, so you don't have to worry about doing the same piece as everyone else on the block.  The Humana collections (I have several) are great for this.  Recently finishing the 2004 version, I was able to find half a dozen monologues.  The plays ranged from a epic poem lasting a few pages to lengthy multiple acts.  Most are not realistic and range from absurdism to modernist.  On a personal level this worked for me and not.  There were plays I loved (one, in particular which I would love to direct) and plays I couldn't make heads or tails of.  This was particularly true of the final "play" which was four plays by different authors interwoven.  It was too many characters, too many threads.  I found myself reading and re-reading whole pages to capture the storyline.  That being said, collections like these are a boon to actors.  I'm definitely looking to update my holdings to some of the more recent options.

New Season

Well, it's been three to four weeks, so time to review the current TV season.  If nothing else, the new shows have distracted from the endless drone of our infant-in-chief as the midterms warm up.

Best goes to ... "Sorry for Your Loss" streaming on Facebook and "Doctor Who" season 13.  "Sorry for Your Loss" can be difficult to watch at times but is so clean, direct and real that it kept drawing me back.  Elizabeth Olsen is a winner.  Expect kudos in award season.  "Doctor Who" finally got a female doctor.  A diverse cast which looks like the real world and Jodie Whittaker.  Need I say more?

Lots of frothy adventure fare worthy of DVR time.  None of these will tax your intellect but all are decent:  "Chicago Fire", "9-1-1" (credit to Angela Bassett for knocking it out of the park at 60!  you go, girl), "Station 19" and "The Rookie" (great premiere with Nathan Fillion being more Malcolm Reynolds than Richard Castle.  Needs to lose the 17 year gap physical relationship, however, with the 47 year old Fillion and much younger Melissa O'Neil.) 

Grab the kleenex:  "This is Us" and "A Million Little Things".  Quality friends/family dramas.

Hospital drama with emphasis on the drama:  "Grey's Anatomy" (continues to balance the medical with the personal, the main reason it is still raking in viewers while other Shonda Rhimes' shows aren't) and "New Amsterdam" which will have liberals in ecstasy.  Ryan Eggold ain't bad, either.

The CW:  Yup, I still watch nearly all the superhero shows and very much enjoy them.  The new "Charmed" appears decent, if not somewhat darker than its predecessor.  Like many shows, the post-911 version is a tad bleaker and more violent.  Bailed on "Legacies" as I am done with the whole vampire stuff for now.

Sitcoms:  Newcomers "Single Parents" and "The Kids are Alright" do well.  The first one is a smart show which requires actual listening to the dialog, the second is more touching than ha-ha.  Both have nice family relationships.  "Modern Family" continues although it is aging.  Rumor has it there will be a death soon?  "The Good Place" remains nicely arch and the CBS Thursday night lineup continues to be a great staple, with one exception.  Leaving the DVR?  Wanted-to-love because of the casts but can't because of the scripts -- "Murphy Brown" and "I Feel Bad".   One is gone already and the other is dropping to the bottom of the list.  Don't forget to tune in for the upcoming season of "The Guest House" next week, now set in a beach town.

Sci-Fi Anyone?  I didn't want to like "Manifest" given NBC's struggle with great sci-fi shows at 10pm on Monday or Tuesday nights.  I fell in serious like for the last four or five shows and didn't want my heart broken again.  Oddly enough, "Manifest" is getting truly great ratings, so maybe it will hang in there.  I've enjoyed watching and continue to hope.  It is as much family drama as sci-fi, so maybe some non-sci-fi types will tune in.

This, of course, is the fall season.  Stay tuned for the Spring season, including the final episodes of "Gotham" and "Jane the Virgin".  Still trying to decide if it is worth joining Netflix to watch my much-beloved "Lucifer".

Crazy Rich Asians

An absolutely delightful summer flick which has significantly more depth than the average Rom Com.  Enough layers to have you laughing, crying, thinking and going "aww" a lot.  Three of us, with distinctly different tastes in storytelling, saw it and all three absolutely loved it.  Terrific actors, writing, direction, cinematography.  Really nothing more to say.  Great film.  Would be glad to see again.  Catch it while you can still see the excess of Singapore on a large screen.

Summer TV

This being summer, there are a variety of offerings.  While I am enjoying The Outpost (on the CW) and am finally binge-watching Leverage, two shows really stood out.

Pose on FX.  Grab the kleenex as this is the "This is Us" for the LGBTQ community.  Set in the late 1980s underground drag queen scene, the glitter doesn't begin to cover up the struggles, not only from AIDS but from society in general.  Tossed away by their families, the core story is how these people ache find a sense of belonging.  Trapped in the sex trade and unwelcomed by the rest of the gay community, they find solace with the families they create.  Production quality is top-notch with major kudos for two stars, MJ Rodriguez and Indya Moore, who captivate with their sensitive, layered performances.  They illuminate the screen in every scene.  Producers have assembled the largest LGBTQ cast ever in this profound, touching drama.  The only piece of advice is to dump or downsize the B line story of mainstream Wall Street types using these women.  Not really necessary, IMHO.  One look from Ms. Rodriguez and you can feel all the triumph and the pain.  Brava, Bravo.  Has already been given a second season so binge season one now.

Dietland on AMC.  Imagine if #MeToo morphed into a femanista terrorist organization.  This complex show is drama, black humor and political satire.  It's difficult to watch.  Even with the outlandish plot lines (Julianna Margolies plays a women's magazine editor who has a lot in common with a certain Scottish drama royal) there is a very real thread in terms of how women view themselves, societal and personal issues of weight and the reasons we don't always report sexual assaults.  The show makes my list of "must watch" because it challenged me in every episode to take what I believe and examine it.  Joy Nash, as lead Plum Kettle, is the standout star and addictive to watch as she peels away the emotional layers to find her center.  Perfect for the end of August, it will leave you feeling "schooled."

A Wrinkle in Time

So bad.  So very, very bad.  A true travesty.  Take a deeply loved children's book and mix it with a director more familiar with music videos than literature and you get two hours of visuals and special effects scored with pop music favorites that not only doesn't bear any resemblance to the original plot of the book but doesn't seem to have a plot of its own.  The plot could be taken as:  Oprah changes dresses a lot, diversity is only possible in families if you adopt the children (and Asian kids are always brains), and "Tessering" is a fun psychedelic experience which includes music by Sade and Sia.  Given the great cast and impetus to update the story a bit this could have been much better.  I spent the entire film wanting it to be better.  Next time, Hollywood, get an experienced director.  For those still looking for a decent film version of this book, try the 2003 made-for-TV version.  It's plodding but so much better than this.  But then, anything could be.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

Finally splurged to get the Castle DVD set.  Ironically, this summer also saw a whole series of Castle rip-offs.  Seriously?  Cable TV seems to be caught in the same morass of Hollywood and Broadway, struggling to come up with something new.  That being said ...

Castle -- the semi-original.  Oddball cop pairings are nothing new but ABC did it well with Castle, which bounced between kind of funny and kind of dark without going too far in either direction.  The chemistry between Castle and Beckett always seemed a tad forced, IMHO.  I was nearly laughed out of the room when I once made the mistake of saying this out loud.  I was vindicated when the series wrapped and it was revealed that Fillion and Stanic were definitely not on each other's Friends and Family plan.  It doesn't matter.  Flying quips and good pacing, along with predictable but interesting twists, made this worth the hour.

Take Two -- Unlike Castle, where a writer shadows a cop who flings subtle insults at him backed by a quirky cast, this one is a troubled actress who shadows a private eye/former cop who has little respect for her.  They are backed up by a quirky cast.  Seeing a pattern?  This one is almost too hard to watch.  Plots are utterly forgettable and the solution to the mystery easily reached in the first five minutes.  Rachel Bilson is bubbly to the point of being in a sitcom, while Eddie Cibrian is just moody.  Makes the chemistry on Castle look good.  While it has aged better than the premiere promised, I don't see this one staying on my DVR.

Private Eyes -- this Canadian import on Ion is about a former hockey player shadowing a private eye who was a cop's daughter.  They are backed up by a quirky cast, which includes a blind daughter for the hockey player.  This takes a page from the Castle playbook as Castle's interactions with his mother and daughter were some of the best scenes of the show.  In Private Eyes, it is a father and daughter but doesn't stray much from the formula.  The mysteries are a tad more complex, the characters somewhat more real and overall show less fluffy than Take Two.  If I had a choice between the two shows, Private Eyes wins hands down.

Carter -- another Canadian import (on Bravo) which features a troubled actor shadowing his female cop friend.  Frankly, by the time this one debuted, I was done.  Didn't even bother.

Who wore it best?  Castle.  Private Eyes is a contender, though, and worth a summer play.

Deadpool

Hands down one of the more conflicted reviews of my life.  I LOVED the humor, which begins with opening credits and was smart and sharp.  I laughed through the entire film, which had an interesting plot -- and that's not easy to say in the glut of super-hero films out right now.  This one manages to avoid the cookie-cutter storyline in almost every action movie of the summer.  They do it by allowing Deadpool to be the complex anti-hero that he is.  But.  This isn't just R Rated, it is the closest I have seen to an "M" rating in a long, long time.  Every song used in the film is a rap thing with the F word throughout.  The violence is visceral, with digitized blood spatter on the camera lens, a beheading in the first three minutes and brain matter spewing out repeatedly in head shot after head shot.  There are a lot of head shots.  And chest shots.  And yes, more beheadings.  Not to mention the sex -- although I'm never going to complain about seeing Morena Baccarin in hooker-wear.  All of that being said I'm giving it a thumbs-up.  Prepared for the gory violence, lewd conduct and obscene language I could tolerate, even enjoy the sequel.  This is tongue-in-cheek (and other places ...)  If I know that and don't take it seriously, there are serious hee-haws to be had.  But don't take the kids.

This is Spinal Tap

Nope, never saw this.  Feeling a burning need to understand the pop culture references to this 1984 film, I finally carved out time to check it out.  HILARIOUS, in a very dry sherry way.  From the opening DVD slide (don't push Play too fast) through the credits this is one subtle but ridiculous film.  I'm not sure it was the first mockumentary but it is definitely one of the best.  Coming across so legitimate that the uninitiated might mistake it for reality you really have to pay attention to the dialog (and exploding drummers).  I was laughing days later and still thinking about it.  Yes, this could have been the Beatles had they made it to the 1980s.  Bravo to the very clever writers/producers:  Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner.

Oceans 13

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, etc.  Cons, thieves, Vegas, twists.  No better or worse than the other two, just a fun, airy way to spend a couple of hours.  I was going to say, "Yay, I finally finished the Oceans franchise" but now there is Oceans 8.  Definitely looking forward to exploring the X chromosome version.

The Giver

Somehow this 2014 film slipped by me.  (To be honest, a lot of things have slipped by me in the past few years).  Since it got very iffy reviews I didn't put it high on the list.  That was a mistake.  In my humble opinion, it is great.  Strong cast and well directed, there is little to pick on.  The struggle, I think, is a typical one.  When you have an award-winning, classic book, people who love the book will never like the film version because a two hour movie just can't capture all the subtleties of a book.  And for those who haven't read the book (yeah, you should really read the book) you might feel a little lost.  In this shorter film there isn't a lot of time given to exposition, so the viewers have to jump right in.  It's an amazing book and there is a reason it is still being read all these years later.  The issues it deals with are complex and film isn't always the best medium for complexity.  That being said, the director (Phillip Noyce) does a good job of finding the right balance.  He incorporates modern news footage into the "memory" sequences which gives context to the messages the Giver is trying to share with Jonas but he also keeps the pace up.  For me, the film works because it honors the ideas and concepts of the book but allows the film to be a different entity and that, I think, is the best you can do when taking a book to film.  As long as you can appreciate the difference between a movie and a book, this is totally worth the time.  (PS, on a very similar note, check out the Wonder film).

Coco

In addition to reading a little and writing a lot, I am using the summer to explore the treasures that are APL DVDs.  Coco, winner of last year's animated film Oscar, was the most recent delight.  And a delight it is.  Visually stunning, fresh and layered, this one is a film which can really be appreciated by the entire family.  Demystifying death by exploring the Dios de la Muerte celebrations of Mexico, the movie touches on deep topics with a sensitive brush.  The hugely engaging and fully dimensional lead character, Miguel, feels so real he could step off the screen and be one of any of the kids who play ball in the street on my block.  With enough twists to keep me engaged (I didn't see most of them coming) and a well-thought out script I fully enjoyed this contemporary, clever tale.

"Snuff" by Terry Pratchett

I got this book through a series of happenstances.  I found out at the last minute that Sir Terry Pratchett was doing his "final book tour" and would be in DC at the end of the week.  Days later I was at the booktalk and had dug up the funds to get a signed copy of the book from, and picture with, the author.  I treasure that photo, when Mr. Pratchett said I must be a librarian, as I had the Orangutan hair!  Unfortunately life intervened and the book sat on a shelf for nearly a decade.  I finally had time to read it this summer but I have struggled with it.  I have read none of the "Men At Arms" series of the Discworld novels and haven't, in fact, read any Discworld novels in nearly 20 years.  Jumping in at the middle as it were, I tried to catch up with the many characters and histories, including a version of Ankh-Morpork which seemed to be more Steam Punk than the mythical world I remember.  That being said, the character of Sam Vines was perfect for me in this place and time.  Sam Vines is a strong but flawed leader who is forced to take a vacation with his much smarter wife and inquisitive son.  I literally picked this book up on the first day of retirement when I was feeling a little lost.  Vimes' struggles matched my own.  Sir Terry's prose also remains excellent.  Take this line:  "Vimes also indulged in a rare cigar because, well, what good is a snooker room without smoke twisting among the lights and turning the air a desolate blue, the color of dead  hopes and lost chances?"  It is that prose, and his biting social commentary (this book features a group of creatures considered to be somehow "lesser" in the society, a perfect lesson for America in 2018) which made Sir Terry Pratchett a brilliant literary addition to the modern canon of fiction.  Bravo and RIP.  You are missed.

"A Skinful of Shadows" by Frances Hardinge

Honest to goodness if my life was a little different I would have sat down in a big comfy chair to read this and not gotten up until it was done.  At 415 pages it isn't short but it is very, very good.  Ms. Hardinge takes the troubled times of Charles I in England and interweaves them with a gothic tale of soul-eaters.  The result is a tale which is unexpected and engages.  The story unfolds around central character Makepeace, a Puritan by birth and heretic by nature.  Contrary and strong-willed, it is her unshakeable core which allows her to survive the unthinkable.  The world-building here is without flaw and the story weaves in such a way as to pull the reader in.  A page-turner with complex language and imagery I was surprised that this was a Middle School pick but an advanced reader will appreciate the richness of the narrative.  Makepeace is committed to survival -- a trait I love in a heroine.  Brava to Ms. Hardinge for taking a mystical creature in a strange time and making her feel dimensional and real.  A worthy, delicious read.

"The Seventh Most Important Thing" by Shelley Pearsall

Another quiet book about a young boy coping with loss, this one had a surprise for me -- it is based on a true story!  Kind of.  The main character, the inciting incident, etc. are all fictional.  The subject, however, James Hampton, and his artistic creation, are real.  In the novel, a boy named Arthur Owens takes a violent action against a man he perceives to be homeless.  The complexities of the action, of Arthur, and of James Hampton, however, make for a revealing, healing tale.  Arthur escapes prison for his crime and is allowed a chance to make up for his actions.  The assignments he is given are mysterious to him and the lessons are subtle, more allusions than pedantic.  The thread of the book is one of discovery.  Along with Arthur, the reader goes on an internal journey to learn what redemption can mean.  Sweet, touching and unexpected.  Worth the read.  For more on James Hampton and his work, see:  https://americanart.si.edu/artist/james-hampton-2052

"The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore

Mix Jason Reynolds' "The Boy in the Black Suit" with a healthy dose of Jacqueline Woodson's lyric style and you get a sense of the gentle novel about a boy struggling with the violent death of his older brother in Harlem's rougher neighborhoods.  Wallace, aka "Lolly", is thoughtful and sweet.  Most of the tale is told through his internal reflections as he uses the construction of Lego buildings to salve the wound of emptiness left by his brother, Jermaine.  Mr. Moore does a great job portraying the cycles of grief -- the anger, guilt and more.  Add in a host of interesting and unexpected characters and you have a story which meanders more than moves but it will touch your heart.  This winner of the Coretta Scott King Steptoe Award for New Talent is promising.  There are some questionable jumps in the narrative but this is a minor complaint.  The story isn't about A to Z, it is about feelings and those feelings take Lolly where they take him -- physically and emotionally.  The voices of each character are well-rounded and compelling.  I look forward to more works by Mr. Moore.