The Joys of Parenting

 

Some of the greatest moments as a parent come when you get to share something you love with your child. Recently, I've been watching my favorite anime series, Cardcaptor Sakura with my daughter and she loves it. 

Of course I had the Clow Card book, sitting on a shelf in my office for years, that I took out. She has spent days studying the cards, reading the names, and making me act them out so that she can use her wand (she uses a stuffed giraffe) to capture them. I even had a stuffed Kero who now spends most nights in my daughter's bed alongside well-loved bunnies.

Sakura is such great character. It's important to me that my daughter sees strong girl characters in shows and books, characters that aren't simply made more masculine to make them powerful, but who strong because they are who they are. I'm so proud of the strong girl my daughter is and will continue to become.

Fargo the Third

The Great Pandemic Viewing Stream seems to flow in a never ending current, kind of like the pandemic itself. For the latest binge, we turned to season three of Fargo. We had been big fans of the first two seasons, but this one slipped through the cracks as we were dealing with a two year old at the time it aired in 2017.

I'm not prepared to say this was the best season, but I'm prepared to say this was my favorite season. Ewen McGregor is brilliant in his dual role as brothers, and David Thewlis is spectacular as the shadowy villain. As with previous seasons, the show is incredibly cinematic and feels very much like a feature film. It also blends suspense, mystery, black comedy, and drama in a pitch perfect way, just like the film that inspired it.

If you're not caught up, don't worry. Each season of this show is set up as their own thing and are not directly connected, kind of like True Detective. If you missed this one, as I had, it's time to catch up. I'm now super excited for the upcoming season 4.

 

I Know This Much is True

While so much remains unknown about COVID-19, I think it definitely be said that it has been good for binge watching...as least for a lot of us. Having finished True Detective and waiting for the new season of Dark, we dove into HBO's adaptation of Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True. This was a project that most people around here knew about, seeing as it was shot in my town and neighboring towns, despite being set in western Connecticut.

This is not an uplifting story, but it's a powerful one. Mark Ruffalo plays twin brothers, one who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and another who suffers from a savior complex. These identical twins are both tortured souls, but whose pain is far from identical. It's a story about how the mistakes of the past are often connected with the struggles of the present. It's about forgiveness, not only of others, but of your own failings.

I admit to having never read the book, though it has always been one of those books that I've looked at, so I cannot compare it to the book. But as a mini-series, it was very moving. One of the biggest surprises for me was Rosie O'Donnell, an actress whose work I rarely care for. She was absolutely brilliant in this, and I've gained a completely new respect for her.

Midwestern Chaos

As the world continues to stay closed, I've recently moved onto to my next streaming obsession, the Netflix original series Ozark. Having been unfamiliar with this show before, I started hearing a lot of people talking about it, and I love Jason Bateman, so...why not. 

The premise revolves around Marty Byrde, a Chicago investor who has been smoothly laundering lots of money for a drug cartel for a decade, when suddenly the whole operation is thrown into chaos. On the run, desperate, and forced to start over in the worst of circumstances, Marty uproots his family and moves them the Ozarks for a life or death gamble. 

I think the obvious comparison is with Breaking Bad. This show is just as intense, features similarly likable anti-heroes, and a near perfect level of anxiousness. The best part about finding a show that has been on for awhile is not having to wait between seasons. I'm hooked.

Now it's Dark...

My latest streaming obsession is Dark, the German language Netflix original series which aired it's first season in the winter of '17/'18 and the second season last year. This is one of those shows with clear influences, namely Stranger Things, and Lost. But like all good storytelling, it is more than a collection of influences and develops something new.

It should be known that I'm a sucker for anything involving time travel, and this is a virtual time loop mind twisting adventure. It's very carefully paced, very well acted, and visually stunning. It's certainly a story that keeps you thinking, engaged and guessing at what might happen next. I'm looking forward to discovering how it resolves.

Mandalorian

It's hard to imagine a television show with more pressure on it to be brilliant than Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television show and one of the first original shows to air on Disney's new streaming service. Wisely, they decided to stay away from established characters.

Set in the time after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens, this show follows a Mandalorian bounty hunter as he gets caught up in Imperial intrigue as remnants of the fallen Empire eye a mysterious prize. The show benefits from having a tight plot that runs throughout, rather than simply using a frame tale to showcase a bunch of loosely related stories. It also benefits from the fact that the main character is pretty badass. 

I admit that it was a few episodes before I really got caught up in this show, but I certainly did. I liked how they dealt with stories that departed from the central Star Wars tale. Definitely a great start to what I hope becomes the next best saga.

The Get Down

Like most people in the civilized world, those of us lucky enough to pass this lockdown in the relative comfort of a home equipped with high speed internet, I've been catching up on some television these past few weeks. One show that I completely missed when it aired a few years back was the Netflix original, The Get Down.

Set in the summer of 1977 in the Bronx, this show is documents that dramatic time in NYC through the eyes of a Bronx teen as he navigates his crumbling borough, searching for a ticket out. While the Bronx literally burns, from the ashes, a new genre of music is being born. 

This show chronicles the birth of hip hop, the emergence of graffiti art, the decadence of disco, and rise of capitalist greed that would dominate the city in the coming decade. Sure, it's quite fictionalized and heavily stylized, but somehow it works. It never veers into parody and manages to stay above being corny. I think this is mostly do to the tightrope the actors seem to walk, convincing us that these could be real people, even if they are tv versions of real people.

I'm Totally Okay With This

My newest television obsession is I'm Not Okay with This on Netflix. The seven-episode first season began streaming on Netflix last week and I'm already fiending for the next one. Similar to the networks other quirky graphic novel adaptation, The End of the F#*KING World, this show is delightful in every way, and once again proves Netflix, along with HBO, is a leader in adapting books and graphic novels into spectacular television.

Sydney is an average teenage girl who discovers she is far more than average when extraordinary things begin to happen to her. When the story opens, Sydney is stuck in a rut. Her father has committed suicide, and though a year has passed, she still hasn't dealt with. Home life is troubled, school life is an awkward mess, and the only bright spot is her best friend who is suddenly dating the star of the football team. Sydney is definitely NOT okay with any of this.

I don't want to spoil anything, but her emotions soon grow uncontrollable...like X-Men uncontrollable. But this is the kind of show that blends the paranormal and the real so perfectly that it appeals to fans of both, similar to Stranger Things in that way.

Definitely do yourself a favor and dive into this. You won't be disappointed.

Succession

I recently began watching HBO's Succession and have found myself completely enthralled. I feel like it's been quite some time since a drama has captivated me to this extent. It's been mostly sci-fi or fantasy shows that have dominated my interest. This show gets everything right, starting with the excellent cast and terrific acting. They really make the intricate dynamics of family life feel real, while also entertaining.

The show follows the Roy family, a fictional combination of every powerful family in America. The family empire is a part Rupert Murdoch's FOX, part Disney. Logan, the patriarch and builder of the empire, is right bastard who finds himself at odds with his grown children who are poised to take his place.

While the show incorporates the intrigue of wealth and business, at the core it's about generational gaps, sibling competition, and dealing with parents when you are no longer a child. 

I absolutely love every flawed character on this show, and that quite a rare thing. None of the characters get short changed when it comes to their plotlines, and none of the actors shortchange the viewer with their delivery.

Given that I'd heard very little about this show, I felt the need to share my thoughts.

Stealing Trinkets...

I first heard about this Netflix original series over the summer through a YA book blog service that I belong to through work. Based on a YA novel, I thought it would definitely be worth a look. After all, Netflix has positioned itself as one of the leaders in translating kid and teen lit into quality television.

The story follows Elodie as she moves to Portland from New Mexico after her mother tragically died in a car crash, a car driven by Elodie. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, and in YA it rarely is, Elodie also has a bit of a shoplifting problem. 

It turns, there are two other girls in her new school with a similar problem, two girls who Elodie would probably never be friends with if they hadn't found comfort in this shared problem.

The show starts off pretty slow, and pretty catty. It feels a little too formulaic in the beginning, but once the story brings these three characters together, it really begins to click. The story of their friendship is stronger than the story of their problems, which is the way it should be. 

A solid show that got better over time. A second season is already in the works.

His Dark Materials

When Game of Thrones ended last year, like most, I was wondering what HBO would come up with to replace their epic series. To my surprise, they came up with two brilliant ideas that peaked my interest. The first being Watchmen and the second being a full adaptation of Phillip Pullman's fantastic Middle Grade fantasy series, His Dark Materials.

The first season of the show follows the plot of the first book, The Golden Compass. It's been more than 20 years since I read that book, but from my recollection, it follows the plot pretty faithfully. 

My expectations for this show were sky-high, as opposed to lower expectations for Watchmen. This is probably due to the movies of each that came out several years ago. I disliked the Watchmen film, but enjoyed The Golden Compass. That meant, this had more to live up to. 

I'll admit that the first two episodes were a little slow. And for anyone unfamiliar with the books, they were a little confusing (as my Missus can attest to). But come the third episode, things started to pick up and the show found its footing. The results are a stunningly visual fantasy with pretty great acting.

I really like how this show captures the darker aspects of the books. Unlike the film, which rarely made you feel Lyra was in danger, this constantly makes you believe that she faces threats far greater than she truly understands. And the casting of Lyra, surely the hardest role to cast, turned out to be great. She feels real. So many adaptations of children's books make the character feel like a movie version of a kid, while the books do not. They got this right, and thereby got the series right in my opinion.

Can I Get a Wu..Tang!

This past weekend, I finished watching the first season of Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu. Being a Wu fan, I was a little skeptical of this show when it came out in the Fall. At the time, I didn't know that RZA not only produced the show, but also wrote the first few episodes. It was also co-produced by the members of Wu-Tang Clan. Knowing that it had not only the blessing but the input of the Clan was a game changer for me.

While this is biographical, it is a fictionalized history about the life of Clan members before they came together to be the monumental figures they would become. And while their story is totally fascinating, it's also very much a portrait of NYC in the mid-to-early 90s, the time when I moved to the city. Its portrayal of the city is dead on accurate. These were the last days of the NYC as the gritty town that it once was, but thankfully the show doesn't sensationalize it. As with everything Wu, it keeps it real.

The acting in this show is phenomenal. I can't think of another drama that has every featured a cast of young African-American actors, most of them unknowns in their first lead roles. It would've been so easy for this show to fall into parody, to fall flat on its face. It doesn't. It soars above the hype and the concept and delivers a show about characters the viewer cares about, sharing their hopes and dreams and feeling their struggle.

Watching the Watchmen

From the first trailers which aired before Game of Thrones last season, I've been pretty excited about HBO's attempt at making a Watchmen television series. Like most fans of the original comic, I was hugely disappointed in the movie several years back, partially because there is no way to tell that story in a two hour movie.

I started watching this show a few weeks ago, but wanted to wait until I'd seen at least three episodes before writing about it, and I'm glad I did, because episode 3 really pulled together what had been going on and gave glimpses of the direction the show is going. 

One thing I'm thrilled about is how they decided not to simply redo the movie, or bring the comic to life, but to expand on the universe and simply use it as a springboard for telling a new story, one that feels incredibly relevant to our society today.

So far, this show is incredibly compelling. The acting is top notch, the sets and costumes are amazing, and most importantly, the story is engrossing. 

Something big here is happening...more to come.

Lost in Space

Back in September, I discovered that Netflix had remade the classic Sci-Fi series "Lost in Space" and was very intrigued. Typically, I'm not a fan of remakes, but when the source material is pretty weak but had a strong premise, then it's prime material for this sort of thing. The original series was cheesy, but the idea of a family being lost in space is genius.

This series was rather impressive. Visually, it was stunning. The characters were strong. The over arching plot is exciting. And Parker Posey is mesmerizing. The one place it falters is the repetitive nature of each episode putting them in predicaments that need to be solved in one episode. The serial nature of it seems unnecessary in a streaming show and feels more befitting for Network television. However, it didn't stop me from pushing through. It's really the first few episodes that suffer from this, before the bigger plot is revealed. 

While the family dynamic is detailed, it's not formulaic, but somehow it works here. Perhaps it's because the actors are very good at staying in their characters and making somewhat formula characters still feel very real and still make you care for them. And by the end of the season, the show really found itself. The last four or five episodes were great and I'm really excited for Season 2 which is supposed to premiere next month.

Not Quite The End of the FxxxING World...

Last week, the second season of the British show, "The End of the Fxxxing World" started streaming on Netflix. With eight episodes averaging about 19 minutes each, this was easy to digest in two evenings. The ending of the first season made it surprising that a second season would be likely, but giving credit to the creators, they pulled it off brilliantly.

This season picks up some time after the first, and James and Alyssa estranged, but still very much haunted by each other. Their reunion is complicated by the fact that Alyssa is engaged...oh, and there is a new character, the emotionally unbalanced felon Bonnie, who is hell bent on killing both James and Alyssa to punish them for the murder they committed in the first season.

While the first season dealt primarily with the existential angst that teenagers can succumb to, this season is about the healing process and explores whether or not it is even possible to heal. The dialog is spot-on and despite the darkness of the plot, this show always manages to leave me laughing. 

I've read some reviews that lament the fact that Alyssa and James are not the rebellious teens they were in the first season, but I actually like the growing they've done. I don't relive the first season, I'd rather explore where they've gone since then. Excellent stuff.

Under My Umbrella

I finished watching Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix the other day. I'll admit that I haven't read Gerard Way's graphic novels on which the show is based, despite having wanted to read them, being a fan of his. So I came into this show blind, and cannot compare it to the books, just throwing that out there.

The show is definitely entertaining. The story is big, and gradually gets bigger as the season goes on. It's a little derivative of some other things, Heros definitely comes to mind, but it was original enough that it didn't bother me. It also hints at a much bigger story that hopefully will be touched on in the second season. The time travel aspect was enough to set it apart, and given that I'm a sucker for time travel, it was definitely enough for me. 

The characters are all intriguing, though the acting is sometimes uneven. There were episodes when the acting definitely brought it down a little, but I liked that there were characters that you could gravitate to. Ellen Page was fantastic, but some of the other characters fell too much into cliche. Thankfully, it was never enough to dampen interest in watching the next episode.

Wilfred

A reboot of an imported comedy from Australia about a guy who sees his neighbor's dog as a man in a cheap dog costume, starring Elijah Wood? Um, yes please! Those were my thoughts when this FX show first aired eight years ago. I watched the first two seasons in real time, and for reasons, some beyond my control involving the cutting of cable cords and umbilical cords, it has taken me until recently to finally conclude the entire series.

To be clear, this is not a show for everyone. Its quirky humor eventually turns darker and darker as the show goes on, and what started out as a comedy with a slight mystery, turns into more of a thrilling mystery with slight comedy. The transition between these two is carefully orchestrated over the four seasons that document Ryan's (Elijah Wood's character) tormented life and struggle with sanity.

The mystery, as one might expect, surrounds exactly who or what Wilfred is and why Ryan is the only one who can see him. The unfolding of this mystery is fraught with the kind of false leads, dead ends, and crazy theories of a stoner with a fragile grip on the workings of personal interactions.

It is also delightfully absurd and funny.

This is certainly a show that never truly made its mark on mainstream pop culture, but is certainly one that should acquire a cult following as the years pass by since it ended five years ago. A rare breed of show that is satisfying from beginning to end. 

Familiarily Strange

In the beginning of the summer, I posted about how I finally plunged into Stranger Things and then neglected to report that I finished all three seasons in a few short weeks. There's been a lot of mixed responses to Season 3, and I can see why. The freshness of the concept has waned, expectations were through the roof, and the characters have changed (ie. grown). For my part however, while I thought the first two seasons to be brilliant, I also thoroughly enjoyed the third one. 

The strength of this show is how it masterfully borrows from classics of the 80's, and therefore my childhood, but doesn't simply rehash them. It reshapes elements into a new story with new characters that feed off iconic characters, making them familiar and entertaining. The inclusion of Max in the second season, and her role in the third season, definitely made the stories stronger. The growth of Steve Harrington was also a positive for the show. 

Yes, the whole Russian thing in the third season was a little far-fetched, but being a kid from the 80s, it was nostalgic to see our old foes the Soviets again. I will say that I think the show probably can only squeeze out another season or two before it devolves, but I'm definitely still game for more.

Hello, Stranger

So, I'm super late on this train, but I recently began watching Stranger Things the past week. After finishing Series of Unfortunate Events, I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. For years, people have been telling me to watch this show, that I'd love it, and I avoided it partially for that reason. I'm not sure why, but I really hate when people tell me that I'm going to love something. Subconsciously, I take that as a reason to avoid something. It's a disease, I know.

Now nearly through the first season, I can admit that I was wrong and I do actually love it. Everyone was right about that. I guess I should start trusting people more. What I love about it is what everyone loves about it. It's a perfect combination of 80's blockbusters. Strange things going on, smart kids being the only true believers. It's part Goonies, part E.T., part brat pack, part Aliens...and all fascinating.

Series of Unfortunate Events (The End)

There's a bitter sweet feeling that comes over me whenever I reach the end of something that I've thoroughly enjoyed, be it a book or a movie or a television series. That is the case with the Netflix adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. I even waited a few days before hitting play on the adaptation of thirteenth novel, aptly titled "The End," because I didn't really want it to end, yet I desperately wanted to know what happened. And that folks, is how great storytelling works.

While we had been told over and over not to expect happy endings by the "author/narrator", we discover that he doesn't actually know the ending, because knowledge ended before the actual end. 

As I've mentioned in previous posts, one of the amazing things about this epic is that despite what we know as spectators, we can't help but hope for better things to happen even as every chapter ends in tragedy. This is because we learn to trust and believe in the resourcefulness of the three doomed orphans and as refuse to believe that good won't triumph over evil.

Naturally, the saga does not have a traditionally happy ending, but it certainly isn't tragic. We do see some redemption for the arch villain who we loved to hate, and that was rewarding. As for the orphans, much of what happens to them is wisely left up to our imagination...allowing us all to give them our own happy ending depending on our imaginations. 

Truly one of the most rewarding television shows I've ever seen.