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Monday Media Musings: July 2022
This is, of course, not everything I watched in July, but it is everything I wrote a little about and never got around to posting. Other media from July I could talk about, and possibly will later (especially if anyone is interested): Severance, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Better Call Saul S6.5, Stray, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Upload: I don't think I ever posted here about the first season of Upload, an Amazon Prime series about the digital afterlife, so even though I watched it over a year ago, the occasion of finishing Season 2 is a fine time to talk about the series as a whole. I feel like I haven't heard a lot of buzz in fandom circles about Upload, and it's a shame, because it's a solid sci-fi comedy drama with clever writing and excellent chemistry between the leads. The premise: it's the near future, and we've figured out how to upload full human consciousnesses to the cloud at the time of death. But because we live in a capitalist society, the digital divide carries over into the Great Beyond, with those who can afford it living in posh resorts, while lower-cost solutions feature bare-bones accommodations and strict data limits. Our two protagonists are Nora, who works as a sort of digital assistant in Lakeview, one of the higher end residences, and Nathan, a programmer who was working on a more egalitarian solution when he died unexpectedly in a car accident... or maybe it was murder. Lots of clever skewering of corporate greed, a charming romance, and excellent character interactions. Both the first and second seasons have ended on extreme cliffhangers, and I can't wait to see where it all goes.
Ms. Marvel: I wanted to post about this as we were watching it, and I kind of wish I had, because I probably would have been more enthusiastic. This is a show that started off amazingly strong, then devolved into Marvel's usual third act problem of raising the stakes too high and forcing a CGI-heavy mega-battle to round things off. That said, when it hit, it hit. Iman Vellani was born to play Kamala Khan -- most spot-on casting since Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, and I am not exaggerating, and I loved everything about her interactions with family and friends (even parts of the CGI mega-battle). So excited to see how they work her into the movie universe.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: I mentioned earlier that I watched the first episode of this show; I enjoyed it, but it took a little motivation to continue. Upon reflection, I think my reluctance was caused by Star Trek saturation (watching two seasons of Discovery in a little over a week plus a season of Lower Decks and a few episodes of Picard S2), nothing to do with the show itself. So T and I decided to give up on Picard for now and watch this instead, and it was an excellent decision. While I generally prefer my TV serialized, it's nice to get a break from it, too, with a show that carries character development and motivation across episodes but also tells a self-contained story in each show. I could quibble with some of its decisions, but overall I thought it was great and look forward to the next season.
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They were all so great! And I love how their relationships grew and changed over the course of just a few episodes.
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I am interested in your thoughts on Severance, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Better Call Saul S6.5!
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Severance was brilliant. T is obsessed with it and still diving deep into theories and analysis, almost a month later. I can't wait for the second season. This one deserves a longer entry, and writing one is on the to-do list.
Everything Everywhere was also very good. I wish it had come out in an era when I felt comfortable watching things in movie theaters, because I would have enjoyed being more immersed in its visuals. The mother-daughter story was excellent, and I also have a deep appreciation for Weymond (Pop Culture Detective has a great video on the movie's depiction of masculinity).
Better Call Saul S6 is fascinating, not at all what I was expecting. The end of Episode 9 was very much a "okay, so NOW what?" moment. I imagine I'll get to my fuller thoughts on this after the last episode next week.
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EEAAO is such a loving and generous film .... and it feels like something that will be revived in cinemas when it's safer (I think/hope). I especially appreciate its perspective that, if you're in the worst life possible, then there's no where to go but up.
BCS is such a pleasure to watch as it unfolds -- to quote a MetaFilter commenter on the most recent ep, "Making things seem both surprising and inevitable is a hell of trick." It's such a joy to be able to trust these writers and performers to deliver a compelling and sensical story.
tech glitch, sorry