Monday Media on Tuesday: 11/16/21

[owlmoose]

Free Guy: It seems to me that video game movies work best when they explicitly acknowledge they are a video game movie. Has there yet been an attempt to translate the story of a video game to a feature film version that really worked? I've heard good things about The Witcher on Netflix, but a TV series seems more likely to give an epic game story room to grow than a single movie. But I prefer movies like this one and Wreck It Ralph, which use the settings and conventions of a video game to tell a story in movie format, rather than forcing a story designed to be told via a game into the conventions of a two-hour movie. Anyway, this movie was fun, Ryan Reynolds is charming and hilarious as always, Jodie Comer continues to amaze me, and it contained interesting commentary both on the world of gaming and on the personhood of AI, which some readers will recall are both topics of great interest to me. Plus, a cameo that was guaranteed to make my day, which I will not spoil here. If you've seen it, or are curious, ask me about it in the comments. This is also a movie stuffed so full of easter eggs that T watched it again the next day to try and catch more of them.

Leverage: Redemption, Season 1, Part 2: Did I ever miss this show. How happy am I that it came back? How much do I hope that more seasons are coming our way? If there are, I hope that Harry comes back, because he adds a lot to the team. I called right away that he was going undercover at R.I.Z., as soon as we saw him "interviewing", and I'm really happy I was right. Also happy: Hardison's return in the final episode. I didn't realize quite how much I was missing him until he came back. I also loved Andrea Navarro (aka Xo Villanueva from Jane the Virgin) was excellent as Eliot's U.S. Marshal girlfriend -- this team needs a Bonanno-type figure, and she was a great one; I especially enjoyed the episode where she was part of the team.

Reservation Dogs: T has been wanting to watch this one, and I'd heard it was excellent, so we started it this week and have now seen the first four episodes. It is, as promised, very good, with a strong ensemble cast and good writing. One thing T commented on is the strong sense of place and community it evokes. For example, the second episode takes place almost entirely inside and around the Indian Health Services clinic, and the story is as much about the clinic as it is about any of the characters. I gather there are also some connections to the movie Reservoir Dogs, especially in gang violence aspects, but I've never seen it but I can't comment on that. Looking forward to watching the rest.

Arcane: League of Legends: A Netflix animated series based on the mobile game, which I have never played and know basically nothing about. I know I just said above that video game media rarely works, but since I'm not familiar with the source material, it's easy for me to take the show on its own terms. Another one selected by T, who was intrigued by the trailer and the 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. We've only seen the first two episodes of I think nine total, and clearly it's all set up since so far it's totally different from what I was led to expect by the trailer. That's a lot of time to spend on setup for a nine-episode season. Still, it's promising, if fairly standard -- wealthy city, oppressed lower class lives in the undertown beneath featuring scrappy kids fighting the system and world-weary adults not ready to face the consequences of fighting back, plus people messing with magic in ways that seem likely to turn out badly. The voice cast is mostly actors I don't know, but Hailee Stanfeld is the lead. She's everywhere right now, and I approve. Curious to see if it lives up to the trailer and the reviews. Is anyone else watching this one?