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Fall means lots of things—sweaters, yellow leaves, and early sunsets. For Street, it also means the ideal season for procrastination: in this brief period before finals, it's nice to distract ourselves by searching for a new show to binge. Check out what's on F&TV's watchlist this month—covering ever genre from horror to comedy.
After the chaos that followed the appearance of Tupac's hologram at a 2012 Coachella performance, it should come as no surprise that the public has strong feelings about "resurrecting" deceased artists. Tupac’s image cost at least $100,000 and was mostly made up of archive footage artfully edited together, and since then the question of giving other deceased people the same computer–generated treatment has been buzzing in the back of people’s minds. This moment with Tupac’s hologram and Snoop Dogg interacting on–stage marked a terrifying advancement of technology: We can’t ensure that the dead actually stay dead.
When Focus Features announced that Cynthia Erivo would star in the titular role of their upcoming biopic on Harriet Tubman Harriet, the casting was met with immediate backlash.
Perhaps following up Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is an impossible task. Kubrick’s 1980 classic is considered one of his best films, if not his magnum opus, and has spawned great discussion since its release. Such detail–focused examination is showcased most famously in the documentary Room 237. The Shining is not just an important aspect of film canon—it is an icon, a constantly referenced piece of work, and a culmination of an amazing director’s talents in one of the best horror movies of all time.
The Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, the second oldest Jewish film fest in the country, kicked off on Nov. 9. The festival was founded to, “educate and engage diverse Philadelphia communities, Jewish and non–Jewish alike, by presenting world–class film premieres, repertory cinema, and associated programs that are inspired by Jewish history, heritage, and values.”It will be taking place through Nov. 23.
Thanksgiving break: the holiday that's all about tense family politics, revisiting awkward stories from your childhood, and endless moments we wish we could avoid. Luckily, there’s a solution—a trip to the movies, otherwise known as two hours of no conversation over freshly buttered popcorn.
The Lighthouse is a hard film to watch and an even harder one to explain. Its premise is that Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are stranded on an island together for four weeks, and clearly they're beginning to go insane. There's a female siren, who shouts in a terrifying half–song, half–scream, a seagull who attempts to make Robert Pattinson’s existence a living hell, and an incessant humming noise from the lighthouse that seems to be driving each character mad. Director Robert Eggers, who previously gained critical acclaim for his breakout film The Witch in 2016, has crafted this film in black–and–white and an oppressive 1.19 by 1 aspect ratio. There's also the glaring, holy light of the lighthouse, omniscient and pseudo–religious. Suffice it to say, The Lighthouse is a very strange film, but certainly an interesting one.
The King, on all accounts, should be a home run—it has Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson, men rolling around in the mud, and it’s released on Netflix, meaning its mass of Twitter fans can watch it right from their bedroom, free of charge. The film initially gained traction when its trailer was released and people drooled over Timothée Chalamet’s dirt–stained face and messy hairstyle. Even within hours of its release, people were already talking about Robert Pattinson and his weird accent. Yet, despite the fact that The King seemed primed for success, it fumbled with a boring plot, peculiar pacing, and some uninspired performances.
It comes as no surprise that the era of female superheroes is upon us. As Marvel has gained mainstream and critical attention with the massive productions of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, it's become clear that this specific genre of superhero movie cannot escape from popular media trends. This year’s Captain Marvel, starring Academy–Award winning Brie Larson, confirmed Marvel’s desire to follow the popular trope of the girlboss: a woman who breaks glass ceilings and stands up for herself.
The first scene you see in Netflix’s new show, Living With Yourself, is Paul Rudd clawing his way out of a grave with nothing but a diaper and a plastic bag on. It’s bizarre, kind of frightening, and vaguely off–putting—but it makes you want to keep watching.
There were petitions calling for the cancellation of Netflix’s Insatiable before the show was even released. After watching the trailer for the first season back in 2018, a number of outraged viewers felt Insatiable was unbelievably problematic. Having attracted criticism for homophobia, fatphobia, and racism, it seemed unlikely that Insatiable would ever survive its initial release. Now, over a year later, the show’s second season made it Netflix’s most binge–watched program on the internet.
I’ve seen Midsommar four times since its release this July. Three times in theaters and once on Amazon Prime. I love the movie—it’s bright, violent, and exhilarating in ways that horror rarely is. I’d even call it my favorite movie of this year. Midsommar is distributed by A24, an entertainment company that’s become well known this decade for its wild, stylish lineup of distributed independent films and devoted fans who’ll pay for a movie ticket (or three) without even watching a trailer, just because of their faith in the studio’s quality.
Philadelphia Eagles fans are definitely known for being passionate. The new film Maybe Next Year—released by Wavelength Productions at the 2019 Philadelphia Film Festival—is about these fans, and it paints a more nuanced picture of these Philadelphians. According to Jenifer Westphal, founder and executive producer at Wavelength, the film is an exploration of what “makes [Eagles fans] tick” during football season—specifically that of the 2018 Super Bowl win. Westphal, an Eagles supporter herself, acknowledges the terrible characterization of the fans—and yet she is staunchly opposed to the image. “Everybody in Philly, you know, bleeds green.” This devotion to not only the Eagles, but to Philadelphia, is something Westphal feels proud of—and it is the very essence of the film.
What is love? That's a tricky question—just look at the millions of songs and movies lamenting it. It’s one many people spend their entire lives seeking to answer. Some say it’s an unexplainable, hit–by–a–truck feeling, while others try to spell it out more scientifically, with numbers and chemicals. Modern Love, Amazon Prime’s new eight–episode anthology series, puts it much more simply: love is whatever it is to you.
When the first Zombieland came out ten years ago, it featured a pre–fame Emma Stone and Jesse Eisenberg, alongside Woody Harrelson and a young Abigail Breslin. The film was a critical and commercial hit, full of dark, irreverent humor and a cast with unexpected chemistry. The backdrop of a gory zombie apocalypse, of course, just added to the entertainment. On Oct. 18, the original cast returns—now all Academy Award nominees or winners—in the horror–comedy sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap. The chemistry is still there, and the gore is turned up to 11, but though the cast (now with a few new additions) still brings a lot of fun, they have very little to work with.
Any respectable Millenial–Gen Z cusper has fond childhood memories of watching American Idol back in its heyday. In the emerging world of reality television, the celebrity judges’ state–wide search to find the next pop star dominated the prime time slot. For nearly twenty years it churned out—to the behest of the American public—a number of impressionable entertainers including Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, and Carrie Underwood. Since the noughties, the show has lost its luster and programs like The Voice and The X Factor have attempted, and mostly failed, to fill its niche. This is where Netflix’s new series, Rhythm + Flow comes in. In a contemporary pop landscape commanded by rap and hip–hop, a refreshing and enticing televised competition has finally emerged.
The Philadelphia Film Festival opened Oct. 17 at the Philadelphia Film Center and will continue through Oct. 27, showing over 120 movies ranging from locally–produced films to bona fide Oscar contenders.
Ryan Murphy just might be the iconoclastic arbiter of taste that television needs. With his keen sense of style, tone, and comedic timing, the showrunner has definitively changed the industry over the past couple of decades. As the creator of series like Glee, American Horror Story, Pose, American Crime Story, Feud, 9–1–1, The New Normal, Scream Queens, and Nip/Tuck, Murphy is a veteran, a veritable powerhouse of pop culture. And though each of the creator’s works are different, they all feel interconnected by Murphy’s singular vision. Looking back, Murphy’s career trajectory reads as exactly that: a career trajectory, in which every work is influenced by the one that came before and will have a part in what comes next. So, in honor of the release of Murphy’s latest series, The Politician, (the first of several projects to be released through his monumental Netflix deal), it’s time for a retrospective.
In 2012, Laika Films released ParaNorman. I remember watching it when it came out—I was eleven years old and nearly missed the throwaway line at the very end confirming that the character Mitch, a stereotypical “dumb jock,” had a boyfriend. Even at that age I recognized how novel it was for any of the characters to be in a same sex relationship. It was the first mainstream animated film featuring a gay main character.
Last November, actor Bryan Cranston sent the Breaking Bad fanbase into a frenzy when he announced that the show’s creators were working on a movie to bookend the franchise. The film, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, was released on Netflix and in select theaters on Oct. 11 and takes viewers on a nostalgic journey through the past and present lives of Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul. So buckle up, because this ride is a crazy one.
Solutions by The State News