Seasons in the Sun.
Pop Culture Ephemera
- Longlegs (2024) (Directed by Oz Perkins): “Oh! There she is! The almost-birthday girl!” – Longlegs. Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs (1991) is the most obvious comparison for a quirky detective investigating a serial killer in a small town. This doesn’t hold up to comparison much beyond the surface setup. It’s much more of a comfortable comparison to the HBO series True Detective in the mixture of detective work, intuition, and the supernatural. It might have worked better as an eight to ten episode series. Maika Monroe is strong as Agent Harker (not an insignificant reference to the Dracula character). The filmmaking skills are on par with some of the best medium-budget directors in the genre. The drawback is an oddly mainstream twist of trying to connect all of the disparate supernatural tentacles that were built in the first 90 minutes. A film can’t survive on just a great vibe or even a quirky, fun role by Nicolas Cage (as Longlegs). The goodwill that was developed as I sat full of anxiety in the theater for the first 75% of the film was lost by the time I left, leaving this as another “what coulda been.”
- Sunny – “He’s in Refrigerators” (2024) (S.1 E.1) (Apple): “I’m Sunny. I so happy to finally meet you.” – Sunny. Rashida Jones, starring as Suzie Sakamoto, is great in just about anything I’ve seen her in. She’s got that dry humor timing that is reserved for the greats like Julia Louis-Dreyfus. This looks like it’s going to be a quirky comedy thriller that straddles genres in a similar vein as Beef (Netflix). The plot sounds terrible, an American woman in Japan is given a companion robot after her husband and son’s apparent death in a plane crash. From the very first scene, we sense that not everything is as it seems. This isn’t a “cute robot turns the life of widow upside down” type of story. There are enough cookie-cutter shows that appear on the streaming services; I appreciate these thoughtful shows that just take their time to unfold.
- The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981) (from Beauty and the Beat): “They talk about us / Telling lies / Well, that’s no surprise.” There’s a moment in your young life that marks the point when you go from liking established music artists to finding your generation’s sound in pop music. One those earliest points for me was this debut single from the Go-Go’s in the summer of 1981. I was 13 and primed for something new. Written by Jane Wiedlin (guitarist) and Terry Hall (lead sing of the Specials), it’s about as perfect a Rock song that came out of 1981. This group managed to sound pop/rock with the best groups and have a punk edge. What’s a better message for today than “the best answer to people talking about you is silence.”
- Problemista (2024) (Directed by Julio Torres): “You won’t get anything in life if you’re hoping for answers from an entity.” – Elizabeth. Julio Torres writes, directs, and stars as Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer who has moved to New York from El Salvador. Through a series of events, he becomes an assistant to Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton) who is trying to show and sell her cryogenically frozen husband’s (RZA) paintings of eggs. What plays out is a quirky, surrealistic comedy about figuring out who you are and overcoming obstacles to get what you want in life. Alejandro might design toys that are about the anxieties and disappointments in life, but he is always the dreamer. Tilda Swinton’s character is always in chaos mode and might be hard for some people to stomach for 90 minutes. The surreal moments, like the maze of trying to become a citizen or navigating Craigslist, feel out of an old French film, but patience pays off at the end of the film.
- Love Lies Bleeding (2024) (Directed by Rose Glass): “Anyone can feel strong hiding behind a piece of metal. I prefer to know my own strength.” – Jackie. The film starts with a stranger, bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian), arriving in a small New Mexico town and dropping into the middle of the complicated family of Lou (gym owner, love interest), Lou Sr. (gun range owner), Beth (abused sister) and JJ (the brother-in-law abuser). The first third of the film sets up like a mix of a Coen Bros and John Dahl noir film. Like a good noir, there’s always the threat of things going completely awry. That comes in the form of a murder that sets the whole film on fire. It’s a fire that threatens to burn down every thing that’s felt “normal” about the start of the film. It’s also the point that starts a few surreal twists that feel out of place. Kristen Stewart as Lou, tries to control the wildfire of the last half of the film. She’s so good that it starts to overwhelm the other excellent performance by Katy O’Brian. The film doesn’t stray far from the noir promise of the start of the film. That’s a positive. When it starts to feel like it’s losing focus, the lead characters, especially Lou, brings it back to what matters in the end: love and loyalty.
Best of the Rest
- Co-writer of “Our Lips Are Sealed”, Terry Hall was with the Specials when the song was written about his illicit relationship with Jane Wiedlin. By 1983, he had formed Fun Boy Three and their cover of his “Our Lips Are Sealed” would be one of their biggest hits. The ska influence is muted a bit more here and the percussion is featured over the rock guitar of the Go-Go’s version. I like it quite a bit, and I remember thinking at the time that this would have benefited from a cover by the Talking Heads.
- With the Box Office success (maybe not the same critical success) of Longlegs (2024), now comes the rest of 2024 with every indie horror film being an “if you like Longlegs . . . ” This film from Shudder/IFC Films is opening to slightly less acclaim. That isn’t stopping Oddity (2024) from trying to piggyback on the trend. The telling thing is when your major claim is your Rotten Tomatoes score on the day you open when only people who worked on the film and diehard fans have had a chance to make a rating. I’m not saying that you won’t see this reviewed here before Halloween.
- This ad for the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games by Channel Four from the UK hits hard (like gravity). When people say the athletes are good “for someone like them,” the ad slaps back in a cold and confident way with “None of them give a flying toss who you are or what your backstory is.” Hell yeah.
Sunday Morning Tuneage Flashback
- On the Sunday Morning Tuneage from 1/25/2009, I was coming off a super busy first week of classes at North Texas with lots of steps. The Saturday day off wasn’t one as I had to coach four basketball games for my boys. You know I’d give anything to have a Saturday like that again now. My #51 Favorite Film of All-Time was Rocky (1976). It’s a great film, and it holds up well today. It just isn’t a #51 type of film. Three Oscars might argue with me, but I put this right about in the #100 range without thinking twice. The week was slow but Life on Mars (ABC) was becoming one of my favorite dramas and Biggest Loser: Couples (NBC) was as addictive as television could be in 2009. I ranked the Best Music Videos of the MTV Era (#3 – The Clash “This Is a Radio Clash”, #2 – Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” and #1 – Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message”). I could re-rank them, but I don’t think it would change much. Instead there was a documentary that I should have paid better attention to, and it would have paid off in 2023.
- The Trials of J. Robert Oppeneheimer (2008) (Directed by David Grubin): “A risk to National Security.” – narrator Campbell Scott. This is the companion piece that we all needed to Oppenheimer (2023). There are conventions to a documentary that aren’t available to a director of a film to give us background and context. Campbell Scott makes a great narrator, and it’s no surprise that Ken Burns likes to use him still today. This gives the backstory to the people who surrounded Robert at Los Alamos and afterward. It concentrates less on the meaning of the bomb, as in the film, and it gets to Edward Teller and the accusations of Communist ties for Oppenheimer. Actor David Strathairn gives voice to Oppenheimer’s actual words from testimony. I like how it steps outside the other interviews and gives it a more first-person feel. This is well worth your time.
1974 in Review
- July – Walt Disney: The Beagle Boys #21 (Gold Key): The Scrooge McDuck adjacent set of characters are mostly bumbling crime stories. Cover and Art by Kay Wright. Written by Vic Lockman. The comic book would continue through 1979.
- July 29 – Cass “Mama Cass” Elliot died at age 32 from a heart attack. Mama Cass was a singer for the Mamas & the Papas.
- July 27 – Apple’s Way (1974-1975) was CBS developing another Earl Hamner Jr. series to try to replicate the success of The Waltons (CBS). The Apple family leaves Los Angeles to move to Appleton, Iowa. The first season didn’t find much traction as they concentrated on more rural-life stories. The next season was better received as they switched to more current dramatic subjects the way dramas like Family (ABC).
What the Hell Did I Put in My Mouth?
Planters Nut Duos: Peppercorn Pistachios & Parmesan Cashews
The pistachio and the cashew are two of my favorite snack nuts. I’m usually putting them together myself in a bowl, but Planters has done it for me. The peppercorn pistachios are the stars of the mix. The parmesan on the cashews is thankfully not a finger duster. It doesn’t have a ton of cheesy flavor anyways. These are keepers even if though the price makes them a temporary snack.
Pringles: Carnitas Taco
These are so cilantro heavy that I wonder if they are just soap flavored to some people. The flavor is not too removed from any of the various versions of street taco chips that have been out for the past few years. I just noticed the lime on the cover, and I’m not sure that I tasted any of that in the chip. Either way, it’s a decent chip.
Mountain Dew: Liberty Chill
This flavor was called Liberty Brew in the Summer of 2019 as part of the DEWnited States promotion. It’s described as 50 flavors on the can, but what I really get is a blue raspberry citrus taste. The concept of 50 flavors is a little overkill, but that fits the Mtn Dew brand. This works well as a limited release. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. There’s a little too much sweet to it. It would do well with a Zero Sugar option. I’ll pair these with a BLT, and I think we’ll be good.
“Hush, my darling
Don’t you cry
Quiet angel
Forget their lies” – The Go-Go’s
Stay Hard
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