Another week into summer, and Peter Quill and co. appear to be blowing the doors off the joint. Yes, it looks as if everyone and their cousin went to see Guardians of the Galaxy this past week, leaving us all with one question: what now? Well, lucky for you, dear reader, we’re here with your weekly buzz. We’ll give you some flicks to catch, shows to watch, some Blu-Rays to add to your collection, and a new short film review. So get on up and take that hundred foot journey to this week’s buzz.
Movies: James Brown is undeniably one of the greatest and most influential musicians in modern history. His moves on the T.A.M.I. Show intimidated Mick Jagger into inventing his trademark strut. His Live at the Apollois the gold standard for live recordings. He crossed a color-barrier like no artist before him, but was never afraid to say it loud “I’m Black and I’m Proud”. And lest we forget, twas it not his patriotic anthem about life in America which inspired Rocky to finally defeat Ivan Drago?
Finally, the story of the Godfather of Soul has been brought to the screen by Tate Taylor,who has last brought us the pandering and insipid The Help. Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer return to Taylor’s casts Susie Brown and Aunt Honey, respectively, and their performances are typical of their skill. Tate Taylor does a serviceable job directing the film, and the rest of the cast (including Nelsan Ellis and Dan Aykroyd) all do their jobs respectively. However, what prevents the otherwise average film from teetering into the gutter of bland biopics is an electric, career-making performance fro Chadwick Boseman. It is his energy and skill which transforms the role from mere mimicry to the kind of whole-bodied, heart and soul commitment last seen in another lead actor driven biopic, Ray. While Boseman isn’t likely to see the same Oscar gold Jamie Foxx did (especially in a year where Birdman is happening), his performance alone is worth the price of admission.
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Looking for something a little more simple and heartwarming? The Hundred Foot Journey promises to be a delightful distraction, following in the footsteps of such light film fare as Million Dollar Arm and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The story of two clashing families whose restaurants are the titular distance apart promises to yield the exact amount of tension and fish-out-of-water humor such films typically have, and Helen Mirren is infinitely watchable. Is the Hundred Foot Journey an Oscar contender? Hardly. Odds are you’ll have forgotten you saw it in a few months time. But every once and a while, you just need a film to take your mother (or mother-in law) to, one bereft of sex or violence without being painful to watch, and The Hundred Foot Journey is there to fill that role.
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It’s been 50 years since that infamous opening chord no one could replicate first played in London cinemas, and The Criterion Collection chose to commemorate the occasion with a brand new 4K transfer of the classic Beatles film from the original negative (supervised and approved by director Richard Lester). A Hard Day’s Night was a revolutionary film, essentially inventing the music video, bringing The Beatles to the world in a way no music group had before. The fictionalized persona of the Fab Four became iconic, and the famous opening sequence of the Beatles chased by crazed fans was as honest a depiction of Beatle-mania as there has ever been. Beneath the cultural significance, however, there’s the film itself, rich with typical British humor and pre-psychedelic camera tricks with perfectly fit the madcap mood of the story. A Hard Day’s Nightholds up brilliantly today, aging like the classic Ealing comedies as something both classic and fresh, and the Criterion Blu-Ray comes packed with extras that make it a must own for Beatles fans, and really any fan of music or film. Four documentaries about both the band and Richard Lester will provide new information for even the most knowledgeable fan, and the inclusion of Running Jumping & Standing Still, an Oscar-nominated short by Lester, gives the viewer a new-found appreciation for just how much Lester brought to the classic Beatles romp. With its rich humor, iconic imagery, and unbeatable soundtrack, anyone who doesn’t fall in love with this new addition to the Criterion Collection is as stubborn an old coot as Paul’s grandfather. Pick it up today at your local brick and mortar movie store.
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TV: A lot has been said about the so-called “Golden Age of Television” in which we live, and credit is almost always given to The Sopranos for having “single handedly” kicked off this revolution of TV as art. Yet, those who give it that credit were likely too young or too pretentious to have seen the truly groundbreaking show that proved TV could transcend the role of weekly distraction and be truly profound and unique. Thankfully, a new expansive Blu-Ray box set will allow those who feel lost was the first strange, unsolved mystery in TV to visits a town called Twin Peaks.
Brought to the air by auteur David Lynch, and founded on the idea of creating a series long arc surrounding one murder (as opposed to the standard procedural format of a weekly mystery), Twin Peaks quickly enthralled viewers with its self-consciously soapy (but never satirical) stories of betrayal, deception and intrigue, all wrapped up in Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) trying to track down the killer of young Laura Palmer, using clues both physical and supernatural.
Admittedly, the show derailed when Lynch left (both to work on the Palme D’Or winning Wild at Heart and out of frustration that the network demanded Laura’s murder be solved midway through Season 2, an answer Lynch never wanted to give at all), but this new box set allows viewers to, for the first time on Blu-Ray, watch Lynch’s prequel film Fire Walk With Me, which functions as both an apology to fans and a reignition of the mysteries of the town. Full of rich extras like deleted scenes and new featurettes, Twin Peaks has proved itself worth revisiting, and well worth educating those who believe art can’t be done on network TV.
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Emmy Catch-Up
Every week, we here at Man of the Hour will catch you up on one show in each of the major Emmy categories: Drama, Comedy, Miniseries, Movie, Variety and Animation (find our first part here). We’ll tell you what it’s about, what it’s up for, where to catch up and even pick a highlight from the season (which is of course fairly spoilerific, so perhaps avoid clicking play if you haven’t seen the show).
Drama: Game of Thrones
What is it: Based on the epic (and as of yet unfinished) fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, the blockbuster fantasy show of swords, sex and sorcery is in its 4th season on HBO. What began as Ned Stark’s simple search for an answer (essentially a medieval procedural) has expanded into a tale spanning continents and planes of existence, following countless characters (at times to its own detriment) and spell-binding the world, becoming the most watched program in the history of the network.
What else is it up for: Game of Thrones is up for a total of 19 Emmys this year, including Best Writing, Best Directing, and acting nods for Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey and Diana Rigg. It’s interactive premiere on Facebook is also nominated for an Emmy.
Where to catch up: Every season is available on HBO Go.
Best scene: Game of Thrones is a highly enthralling series that thrives on twists and surprise, and even with spoiler warnings above, it doesn’t feel quite right to disclose the contents of The Purple Wedding to the as-yet uninitiated. Needless to say, it proved the most satisfying moment of the season, and one fans had been waiting and hoping for for years.
Comedy: Modern Family
What is it: Back in its fifth season (after 4 straight Emmy wins, admittedly one too many), Modern Familycomes back better than before, but not quite up to its original run highs. Setting out to be a realistic depiction of modern family living (admittedly exaggerated a bit to make its point), the show is marred with too many “event episodes” and unrealistic location shoots (What “modern family” can afford to go to Disney, Vegas, Australia and Hawaii?), and while its enjoyable watching the characters grow, its frustrating to see the kind of disingenuous moments that happen to fill the unnecessarily large 24 episode order.
What else is it up for: Modern Family is up for a total of 10 Emmys this year, including Best Writing, best Directing, and acting nods for Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Nathan Lane
Where to catch up: The full 5th season is available for streaming on Hulu Plus. Previous seasons are unavailable beyond DVD and Blu-Ray.
Best scene: This season finally brought us the wedding of Mitch and Cam, America’s favorite fictional gay couple. It was a long time coming, but the show has to be commended for waiting until such a thing was actually legal in their state, and the episode was a plea for acceptance as well as a touching moment for two fan-favorite characters.
Mini-Series: American Horror Story: Coven
What is it: The third installment in Ryan Murhpy’s anthology horror series, American Horror Story: Covenfollowed a group of young witches with a promising premiere that suffered from a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” writing style. Frankenstein boyfriend? Sure. Hollywood starlet turned evil witch determined to be the “Supreme”? Why not? Immortal Kathy Bates torturing slaves? Sure. Fans of the feminine macabre may be titillated by a girl who literally screws men to death, and it may very well win the mini-series category, but there ain’t much horror in American Horror Story, and far too little cohesion in its story.
What else is it up for: American Horror Story: Coven is up for a total of 17 Emmys including Best Writing, Best Directing, and acting nods for Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Frances Conroy, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett.
Where to catch up: The previous two unrelated installments are streaming on Netflix, while the third season is only available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Best scene: The true highlight of AHS: C was the introduction of Emma Roberts. Well, the introduction of Emma Roberts the actual actress. Never before has she had a chance to shine, and she proved truly captivating every time she was on screen, best exemplified by her monologue about “millennials” intended to tap into the show’s core audience.
Movie: The Normal Heart
What is it: Based on Larry Kramer’s Tony-award winning play, The Normal Heart tackles the AIDs crisis from a different perspective than film or theatre really has before: from an insider. The protagonist, Ned Weeks, is based on the author, who fought tirelessly to bring attention to the plague that was wiping out gay Americans while the world did nothing.
What else is it up for: The Normal Heart is up for 16 Emmys, including Best Writing, Best Directing, and acting nods for Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Jim Parsons, Joe Mantello, Alfred Molina, and Matt Bomer
Where to catch up: The film is available on HBO Go.
Best scene: Despite tour de force performances from Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer, the most powerful moment in the film is what stands as its most real and most relatable: Joe Mantello’s panic when he realizes he knows nothing. That there is no information, that no one knows what causes AIDs, and almost no one wants to know. It’s paranoia, its fear, and its the honest emotion of a time most other authors want to make into some Greek tragedy of love and loss.
Variety: Jimmy Kimmel Live!
What is it: ABC’s foray into late night TV had a rocky start, and admittedly in certain ways hasn’t improved (Jimmy Kimmel is easily the worst interviewer in the late night game), but the show found its niche in viral stunts and celebrity silliness, a tactic aped but former Late Night and current Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. Currently the only major late night show poised to remain in L.A. (as the Late Show is confirmed as staying in New York, and the future of the Late Late Show is uncertain after Craig Ferguson’s departure), Kimmel’s show is more confident than ever, and its affiliation with Disney (and therefor all its properties, including Marvel) has allowed Kimmel the kind of access and exclusives most other hosts can only dream of.
What else is it up for: Jimmy Kimmel Live! is up for 3 Emmys this year: Best Multi- Camera Picture Editing, Best Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control and of course Best Variety Series
Where to catch up: The 8 most recent episodes of the series are available on Hulu.
Best scene: By far, the most popular segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live! this side of Sarah Silverman f***ing Matt Damon is Celebrities Read Mean Tweets, a segment involving…well…just what the title says.
Animated: South Park
What is it: Now in its 17th season, South Park has hit an upswing in quality now that its creators are back from conquering Broadway with The Book of Mormon. This season of the brilliantly satirical cartoon tackled the NSA, George Zimmerman, photoshop and a three-part arc tackling the impending console wars through an epic Game of Thrones homage (which tied into their equally brilliant Skyrim-skewering The Stick of Truth).
What else is it up for: South Park is only up for Best Animated Program this year.
Where to catch up: For now, you can watch every single episode on Southparkstudios.com for free, but a recent agreement with Hulu will strip the site of all past seasons at the end of the month, making them available instead only on Hulu Plus.
Best scene: After Kenny chooses to be dubbed Lady McCormick for the boys’ Game of Thrones pretend play, the CEO of Sony offers him the chance to be a real Japanese princess. What ensues is one of the most riotous moments of the season.
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News: Reports of Totoro’s death have been greatly exaggerated! Early reports had suggested (through rough translation and misinformation) that Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki had appeared on the Japanese television show Jounetsu Tairiku to announce the dissolution of the beloved animation studio, it appears they’re merely taking a break. Ghibli will be taking stock after the departure of their founder, renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki, in order to restructure the company, replacing a great deal of salaried animators in favor of freelancers, as is more common for traditional animation studios today. That said, due to the lack of success the non-Miyazaki Ghibli releases have had as of late, it is worrisome that it seemed all too believable Ghibli would shutter its doors permanently. We hope not, though it won’t be the same without Miyazaki, who capped off his career last year with the extraordinary and deeply personal The Wind Rises. As Studio Ghibli seems safe for now but uncertain for the future, take a moment to look at the prolific and profound career on which it was founded.
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Short Film: It’s hard to watch a CG short and not think of Pixar. After all, the famous animation studio has been doing brief, quirky takes on aspects of human existence for a long time, and with rare exception nobody comes close. Yet, while Pixar concerns itself with more abstract, innocent ideas, Josiah Haworth, Joon Shik Song and Joon Soo Song have chosen to tackle an issue far more relatable to the men in the audience: dating. More specifically, a first date, and the internal conflict of how to come across.
Animating the inside of the protagonist’s head, Brain Divided brilliantly illustrates the fluctuating amount of “cool” we’ve all exerted on a night out, and the humor doesn’t feel tame or patronizing without going blue. Admittedly, the sound mix at times leaves something to be desired, and at times the movement is a bit poorly animated, but an independent production can be forgiven these small errors. It’s not a perfect short, nor an Oscar contender like the typical Pixar fare. That said, it packs some good moments, some impressive animation, and a very relatable story, and is well worth your five minutes.
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