MobLand: The Godfather of Streaming Television

Just saw the finale of what will almost certainly be the first season of a tour-de-force series about warring crime families on the other side of the pond, i.e., the UK.  MobLand has everything -- a powerful, unpredictable story bristling with what The Godfather and its sequels did so well in movies.  That would be a potent, explosive blend of violence and family dynamics that can make your head spin.

Here I'll talk about two ingredients that brought this kick-in-the-solar-plexus across: the music and the acting,

First, MobLand has one of the best theme songs I've heard in years:  "Starburster" by Fontaines D.C.  I mean, I'm no expert in hip hop, but I know "Starburster" has powerful elements of it, and the recording suits the story to be told in every episode to a tee, as well as being instantly unforgettable mind candy. 

And that's just for literally starters.  In the finale alone, we get major songs by Johnny Cash (sung twice) and The Rolling Stones.  Like in The Godfather trilogy, Goodfellas, and all immediately classic crime family dramas, the music of MobLand is at once avant garde and classic.  

Now let's get to the acting.  Pierce Brosnan gave an astonishing performance as Conrad Harrington, the anti-hero crime boss whose gang is at the center of the action.  This man played two characters who were suave to the max -- Remington Steele and James Bond -- and in MobLand he trashes those icons and goes vehemently in the opposite direction, cursing and screaming and giving loud and withering vent to his anger and his other moods with the best of 'em.   Meanwhile,  Helen Mirren, a world-class actress, is every bit as vicious and violent in her role as Maeve Harrington, Conrad's wife..  Neither of them are youngsters, but I wouldn't want to meet either of them in a dark alley.  Or a lit one, either, for that matter.

And alongside these veritable criminal forces of nature -- Emmy-worthy spectacular -- we have Tom Hardy's portrayal of Harry, the Harringtons fixer (a lot of "Har"s in that sentence).  He's calm, contemplative but deadly when he needs to be.  Like Brosnan and Mirren, Hardy is a world-class actor, great in just about everything he does, but yet to establish himself in a role as luminary as James Bond, Vito Corleone, or Michael Corleone.  But his performance in MobLand could move Hardy into Al Pacino territory.

The lesser-known actors in MobLand were excellent, too.  Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) as one of Conrad and Maeve's sons, gives a heart-rending performance, as does Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), for different reasons, as Harry's wife.   The truth is, there's not a weak performance in this powerhouse of a series.

Hey, I managed to review MobLand without even a hint of a spoiler.  I'm going to listen to some more Fontaines DC music now.

Black Bag: Pick It Up

Just saw Black Bag, which popped up on Peacock on May 2, after debuting in theaters here in the U. S. on March 14.  It has a lot to commend itself,  including a top-notch cast, with Michael Fassbender (whom I just saw in The Agency, the CIA in London series which I reviewed the first three episodes of here), Cate Blanchett (who starred in lots of great movies and series, including recently Disclaimer, a brilliant literary psychological drama which I reviewed here), and Pierce Brosnan (formerly Remington Steele and James Bond, of course, currently starring in Mobland (giving a tour-de-force performance as a gang boss; I'll be reviewing it after its finale next week, but I can tell you now that it has one of the best theme songs I've heard in many a year).

Black Bag actually has some music running through it, too.  It has some action, but most of the time it's more a chess-piece cosy that Agatha Christie would have appreciated.  It also, like The Agency, flaunts the very best of current and possibly imagined AI and digital media in the spy-craft it details.  But its best feature is Fassbender's George and Blanchette's Kathryn as a loving couple who are likely good guys, and the rest of George's team, evenly matched between men and women who are also romantically involved in one way or another.

If I had a complaint, it probably would be that the narrative resolved itself a little too quickly, and may have played better as a limited series of three or four episodes.  Also, the villain was not as ingenuously concealed as in Agatha Christie's work, and maybe more time for that story to spool out would have been helpful too.

But the mix of espionage and romance worked well, and one advantage of a movie over a TV series is that you're not investing as much time in watching a movie as you would a series, so the movie's lack of perfection is less objectionable.

The Foreigner: Rumble, Bond, and Remington

I reviewed the movie I saw on the plane out to Pasadena for the Mars Society Conference the other day.   Only fair that I review the movie I saw coming back.  Even if that isn't fair, there is at least one very good aspect of the movie.   I'd therefore recommend it, if you'd think you'd find that aspect as appealing as I did.

The two stars of the movie, Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, are no youngsters.   And they play their parts perfectly: oldsters who still have all their smarts and most of their moves from their younger days.

Chan is the devastated father of a daughter killed by terrorists in the U. K.  He's determined to find and punish her killers.  Since he's a lot like an older Bruce Lee, he has the smarts and moves to do this, though he's a little creaky.

Brosnan is a former IRA terrorist now in some pretty high-up government position.  Chan thinks he knows who the killer are, since Brosnan is in charge of the investigation.  In a classic James Bond opening, we first see him in bed with a woman who isn't his wife.  Well, Bond isn't married for most of his exploits but you get what I mean.   And it turns out that the woman is one of the bad guys - bad people - bad because her group has big connection to the terrorists who killed Chan's daughter.

There are good fight and action scenes, and even some surprises in this well-worn kind of story. If anything, Chan is better than he ever was.  And this is best I've seen Brosnan since Bond and  Remington Steele.  So if you like this kind of movie, see it.  You won't be disappointed.

 

Mamma Mia: Cure for The Dark Knight Blues

The Dark Knight was a masterpiece. But it was dark indeed. Mamma Mia, the movie of the Broadway play set to ABBA's songs, is a perfect cure.

My wife and I were talked by our daughter and son into seeing it. Actually, I didn't require too much talking, since I've been a big ABBA fan since the 1970s. In fact, our family used to play ABBA on cassettes as we drove up to Cape Cod in the 1980s and 90s. The group had a winning sincerity in an age that was post Beatles, Stones, and Dylan (though we have never gone too far if at all beyond them). ABBA's songs were innocent, authentic, and unbelievably infectious. I don't think "Dancing Queen" has ever been too far out of my head since I first started hearing it in 1976, and how can anyone resist "Take a Chance on Me" (1978) and, for that matter, just about all of their other songs. Apparently, few people did - ABBA has sold more than 400 million records.

All of the great ABBA songs are in Mamma Mia, in which Sophie, raised by her single mother, invites three men most likely to be her father to her wedding, in order to find out which one is her father. Amanda Seyfried of Big Love plays Sophie, and does it with a wonderful mix of sweetness, comic exaggeration, and serious talent. This movie will put her on the map.

Meryl Streep is the Mamma, and is better than ever, which is saying a lot, since she has been brilliant in every movie she's ever brought to life. Here, it's a pleasure to see a 59-year actress who still has it, shaking it, and singing with the best of them. (Her rendition of ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" - 1980 - will be a classic.)

Pierce Brosnan plays one of the three possible fathers, and how funny and cool is it seeing James Bond singing ABBA's "SOS" (one of their 1975 hits). Brosnan is no great singer, but he carries a tolerable tune, which is just right for this part.

"Dancing Queen," always my favorite, was performed twice, with Benny Andersson - one of the B's in ABBA - playing piano one of those times. His piano and enthusiasm haven't aged a day.

Benny and the other ABBA "B" - Björn Ulvaeus - are among the movie's executive producers. Bjorne and Benny also appear as Greek gods (the movie takes place on a Grecian isle) under the closing credits. ABBA attended Mamma Mia's world premier in Sweden on July 4, 2008. According to Wikipedia, the group "re-emphasized that they intended never to officially reunite ... They wanted to be remembered for who they were in their prime."

Mamma Mia certainly captures that rare spirit, and more.




clip of Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia - with Benny on piano


ABBA performing "Dancing Queen" in the 1970s

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and another story that concerns Grecian isles ...



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