Lovecraft Country 1.2: Malleable Dreams

I decided to watch Lovecraft Country 1.2 tonight - though it was on last night - instead of the first night of the Republican National Convention because, come on, you know which one was the greater horror.

But Lovecraft Country nonetheless had horror a plenty, which I'll talk about in a minute or two, after I go over two of my favorite ingredients.

The music in this series is brilliantly chosen.  I have to give a shout-out to "The End," because the one and only Jimmy Krondes wrote the music all those decades ago.  And, I actually wrote some songs with Jimmy, too, a few years after he wrote "The End".  Here's a YouTube video of one of them - Snow Flurries (#s 38, 59, 86 on this list were also written by Jimmy Krondes and me.)

The other stand-out ingredient is the acting.  I mentioned Jonathan Majors as Atticus, and Jurnee Smollett and Courtney B. Vance in other lead roles in my review of the first episode last week.  The second episode gives us a good  couple of scenes with Michael Kenneth Williams as Montrose, who is Atticus's father.  I've never seen an actor (includes actress) from The Wire in another role who wasn't excellent - I often think that series was the best ever on television - and it was great to see Williams aka Omar Little doing what he does again in Lovecraft Country.  My only regret is that I hope Vance's character (Atticus's Uncle) didn't die.

I don't know the story (haven't read the novel), so I don't know that he did.  But (and here we get to the plot) there's apparently a pretty good chance that anyone who is killed in Lovecraft Country can be brought back to life, if they were even dead in the first place, as long Atticus does what the powers that be want of him.  It worked with Leti (Jurnee Smollett) in this episode.  I'm still not clear exactly what's going on, but apparently a lot of what happens to people are dreams, illusion, or being under spells, which are more amenable to alteration and improvement than real life.

See you back here, I hope, next week.

See also Lovecraft Country 1.1: Racist Police Get Horror Comeuppance

 

 

Motherless Brooklyn: Go Down Moses and Black Lives Matter

The wife and I just saw Motherless Brooklyn on HBO.  It's billed as an Edward Norton movie - he also starred in it - based on the Jonathan Lethem novel.  I didn't read the novel (I was busy writing the sequel to The Silk Code when Lethem's novel was first published in 1999).  But it's just as well.  As readers of my reviews in this blog may know, I like reviewing movies and TV series on their own terms, not on how they compare with the novels or short stories on which they may have been based.  I will say that my wife mentioned that she saw that the Norton movie departed from the Lethem novel in many major ways.

The story in the movie is about Robert Moses, the controversial, legendary builder, responsible for any number of highways in and around New York City (including the Long Island Expressway), bridges, and even Jones Beach. Moses was controversial because it was claimed he ran roughshod over and failed to provide for the poor communities near or over which he erected his great structures.  This accords with the focus and expansion of Black Lives Matter now, at long last happening, though Lethem's novel and even Norton's movie were created long before this happened.

In the movie, Robert Moses is renamed Moses Randolph, and unsurprisingly very well played by Alec Baldwin.  His antagonist is Lionel (nicknamed Brooklyn and long without a mother, hence the title).  Lionel is a detective whose boss is killed, likely because he crossed Randolph in some big way.  Also, Lionel has Tourettes, which makes for an especially memorable character, and gives Norton the opportunity to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance, which he does.  Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Laura Rose, a pivotal character to Lionel and the movie, and she puts in a winning performance, too.

I also liked the less leading characters.  My favorite was The Wire's Michael Kenneth Williams, who plays a Mile Davis-type character (identified only as "The Trumpet Man") who uses his trumpet in more ways than one. Also, The Trumpet Man and Brooklyn have a conversation about the shared basis of extreme musical talent and Tourettes that is itself worth price of admission.

I should mention that The Wire is in my view sometimes the best series ever on television, and always in contention for that position, and one of the reasons is that its cast was so stellar.   But back to Motherless Brooklyn, it's a satisfying and altogether excellent movie, and I highly recommend it.

 

The Night of #3: The Schlepp vs. the Star

An excellent third episode of The Night Of on HBO last night, in which Jack Stone gets some competition in his representation of Naz - from superstar attorney Alison Crowe.

Crowe is willing to serve as Naz's lawyer for nothing, an offer that of course appeals to Naz's parents and Jack can't beat.  Why is Crowe willing to do this?   Presumably for publicity, and in bringing her into the story in this way, The Night Of takes a shot at Gloria Allred.

Though it's more complicated than that.  In real life, although Allred likes publicity, she also does a lot of good for her clients and the world.   We haven't yet seen Crowe in action, but there's no reason to suppose that she won't be able to do the same.

But not if Jack has anything to do about that, even though his course from now on is unclear.  He still doesn't know for sure if Naz is guilty or innocent - just as we the audience don't yet know - but he increasingly wants to devote his all to doing the best that can be done for Naz.   He's not about to take Crowe taking over with a deferential bow, and it will be fun to see how he strikes back.

Meanwhile, speaking of celebrity, is that what's motivating Freddy to take Naz under his wing inside prison? Hard to say, but it's always good to Michael Kenneth Williams in any role on television.

We have five more episodes to go in this mini-series, and so far, as far as we know, we haven't met any other suspects.   If the killer is not Naz - which I can't believe it is - will the real killer be (a) revealed in the final episode, (b) sometime sooner, or (c) never at all?

Your guess is as good as mine, and I'll keep watching for a hint of an answer in this fine little series.

See also The Day After The Night Of on HBO

 

The Cast of The Wire at the Paley Center

Here is a video of a panel that took place the other day at the Paley Center for Media in New York City.  The panel featured prominent cast members from The Wire.  At a little over an hour, this is the best panel I've ever seen - in this case, online - but also in person.



Watching this also cemented my view that The Wire is the single best show ever to have been on television.   I don't say that lightly - in their own ways, The Sopranos, 24, Breaking Bad, other shows including and even Lost in its good moments were superb.   But none quite compare to The Wire, for reasons that become clear, I think, in this panel discussion.  The only proviso is that the panel is replete with spoilers.  So, if you haven't seen The Wire - all five seasons - don't look at this panel video until after you do.

Part of the pleasure of watching this panel is thinking about how all of these stars first became known to me on The Wire, and have gone on to the other memorable roles.  But every time I see one of them, I say to my wife, hey, that guy was on The Wire ... Wendell Pierce in Treme and Ray Donovan, Michael Kenneth Williams in Boardwalk Empire, Lance Reddick (who wasn't on the panel, alas) on Fringe, Dominic West (also not on the panel) in The Affair, Chad Coleman (also not on the panel) in The Walking Dead, and Idris Elba in Luther and great movies such as Long Walk to Freedom, for which he deserved an Oscar but wasn't even nominated.   The list goes on and on - making The Wire a veritable directory of great actors in dozens of shows since then.  The Wire has seeded television with superb acting for almost a decade now.

My reviews of last season of The Wire, usually written shortly after the episodes were aired for the first time, follow ...

The Wire's Back! Review of Season 5 Episode 1 and Episode 2: The Great, Dangling Conversation ... 3. McNulty and Marlo ... 4. One Down ...5. Media Chasing Their Own Tales and Tails ... 6. Superman Omar and Tall Stories ... 7. King of Diamonds ... 8. Two Down ... 9. Cold, Killer Sweetheart ... The Wire Bows Out Gracefully: Kudos to the Cast and David Simon, the Charles Dickens of Television

See also this earlier Looking Back at the Wire

Two podcast episodes about The Wire -


    The Wire without Stringer        |   The Wire Season 4

Boardwalk Empire 2.2: Woman Behind the Throne

Fine Boardwalk Empire Sunday night, which had at least three winning stories going -

1. Nucky's office is searched by the Feds while he's detained.  Margaret comes to the rescue.  Feigning pregnancy, she comes bundled up to Nucky's office, asks to use the lady's room, and leaves with Nucky's ledger and money tucked in.   She gives these to Nucky at the end of episode, back in their home, and advises Nucky to burn the ledger lest it fall in Fed hands some time in the future.  Nucky agrees.  Talk about the woman saving the bacon and the day!

2. In New York, Jimmy gets a cool reception from Rothstein.  But Lucky and Lansky, along with Bugsy, are more game - and history tells us they are in the early phases of setting up their own legendary mob operation.  Great to see Michael Zegen (who played Damien on Rescue Me) as a suitably bugsy Bugsy, by the way.

3. Chalky's in jail, and suitably schools a cellmate who too takes much of an interest in Chalky's wife and dislikes Chalky's literacy in the bargain.  Chalky - played by Michael Kenneth Williams from The Wire - is one of my favorite characters on Boardwalk Empire.  Come to think of it, Williams' character one of my favorites on The Wire, too.

So the pot is boiling, the music's playing, and the booze is flowing as the second season of this great period drama moves along.

See also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube


And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ... Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist  ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire

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The Plot to Save Socrates


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The Wire Season 5 Episode 6: Superman Omar and Tall Stories

Omar lives!

-After leaping out of a window a lot of stories high ... Omar survives with just a badly hurt leg ... and then after wincing in pain even becomes fairly mobile again, and metes out some more damage to his enemies.

That's a pretty tall story - leaping from a many-storied window and walking away from it. Marlo looks up at that window, and can't believe it.

I've got to say I'm with Marlo. But maybe there's more to this story yet to be revealed, more to the story of surviving a jump from so many stories than meets the eye... (Not that I mind seeing more of Michael K. Williams' fine performance as Omar.)

I gotta say, too, that I'm liking Marlo more, even though I wasn't thrilled to see what he did to Prop Joe. But it's good to see him stand up to the combine, and entirely consistent that he has no patience with sitting around a table and talking. And if some of those people have figured out what Marlo did to Prop Joe - well ... the stakes are getting more dangerous for Marlo all around. He now has Omar as well as possibly some of Prop Joe's combine people against him. Not to mention McNulty and Freamon...

But, I don't know, I think Marlo will make it (unless Chris turns against him).

Meanwhile, there are limits to how far even McNulty is willing to go to buttress his serial killer creation. He relocates a derelict to further his plan, but he's not happy about it. But Freamon may be starting to put it all together...

The stakes are getting higher on all sides...

See also The Wire's Back! Review of Season 5 Episode 1 and Episode 2: The Great, Dangling Conversation ... 3. McNulty and Marlo ... 4. One Down ... 5. Media Chasing Their Own Tales and Tails ... 7. King of Diamonds ... 8. Two Down ... 9. Cold, Killer Sweetheart ... 10. The Wire Bows out Gracefully

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The Plot to Save Socrates

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"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

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