Monday Media Musings - 12/23/19

[owlmoose]

Well I fell really behind on this one. Turns out Mondays work much better for this project when it's the day I have rehearsal... and I'm done with chorus until next September, plus with my new work schedule it might not even work anymore. So either I need to figure out how to better organize my Mondays or pick a different day. Anyway, attempting to reconstruct what I've seen in the last three weeks...

Arrowverse update: Two weeks of shows on this one. The first week was midseason finales, plus getting everything into place for Crisis on Infinite Earths, and the episodes all did what they had to do, some more effectively than others. I'm a little frustrated that Batwoman clearly did not catch Kate up to where she met the others in the 2018 cross-over -- it makes her timeline much more unworkable. I knew pretty much immediately that Barry had been taken over by Bloodwork, and I'm glad they didn't try to make that plot last longer than an episode. Then last week was the first three Crisis episodes and... well, it's fine. It did my heart a world of good to see Brendan Routh playing Superman again. I adore Tyler Hoechlin in the role, but I will forever have a soft spot for Routh's take on him. And there are other things I'm enjoying, but it's impossible for me to take any of the stakes seriously. It is literally not possible that Earth-38 will not be restored, because Supergirl hasn't been canceled. And vaporizing Earth-1 in the last act of Episode 3 really gives the game away. Do they seriously expect us to believe that any of this is permanent? I know, I know, it's about the journey. I guess the journey, and the breadth of cameos by other DC actors (only about half of whom I recognize), is supposed to be enough, but for me it isn't quite, not yet. I suppose you could argue that the stakes issue is always a problem with these crossovers -- I never really believed that half of the Arrowverse heroes would be permanently stuck in a Nazi AU either -- but Crisis on Earth-X felt like it had more heft to it in other ways: thematically, in terms of character growth, the power of an interesting what-if story. Crisis on Infinite Earths is more like "let's empty all of the toys out of the toybox for the pure joy of mashing them together." Maybe it will come together better in the end.

The Farewell: I probably had my expectations for this movie set all wrong, because I've only ever seen Awkwafina in comedic roles, and I wasn't prepared to see such a serious turn from her. Still, it was a very well done movie, with strong performances and thoughtful commentary on the culture clash between Chinese-Americans and their families still in China. I also thought the cinematography and editing were lovely.

The Kid Who Would Be King: I'm a sucker for retellings of the King Arthur story, and I found this one appealing, if a little draggy in some places and predictable in others. It's by the same writer and director as Attack the Block, which I still really need to see.

The Good Place, Season 4, Part 1: Oh, this is good. Getting really good. I am not at all certain where it's going to end up, and I love that. But that's one of the hallmarks of The Good Place for me: it almost always zigs when I expected it to zag, in a way that always makes perfect sense. I can't wait to go back and rewatch the whole thing once it's finished. Also, Eleanor and Chidi. Heart eyes everywhere

Orphan Black, rewatch: When I was writing up my best of the decade post, it occurred to me that I never did finish the final season of this show. I'd always meant to rewatch anyway, so I decided it was time. The first season is a perfect gem of a twisty, turny, rabbit hole; the second season is almost as good; but the third season is starting to collapse under its own weight. What keeps me watching, always, is the brilliance of Tatiana Maslany. The rest of the cast is quite strong in general, especially Jordan Gavaris as Felix, but how do you even compare it to Maslany's virtuoso performance? I've never seen its equal.