For Those Not of the Clan of the Superb Owl - Friday Video Distractions with Mike Norton

 

     ... or are otherwise looking for non-football-related things.
     As we head into Superbowl Sunday weekend - especially if, like me, you have zero interest in The Big Game no matter who's playing (I only pay attention, largely after the fact, to some of the commercials launched then) - I hope something mentioned here helps as an alternative screen-filler.

     In the hopes that a quick Contents up top will help, here are this week's unconnected selection of shows and movies I've recently looked at. What I've written about each will give you the shadings of whether or not I'm recommending them:
                         Resident Alien (Syfy)
                         Walker (CW)
                         Painting with John (HBO)
                         The Dig (Netflix)
                         The Little Things (HBO Max and theaters)
                         Fatso (1980 film)
     Anything else will be at the level of mentions. Let me know if starting off with that info helps.

     Here along the East coast we had a snowstorm screw around with the first few days of the week. In a fashion not worth trying to explain here, it left me neither in nor out, like some cat in a doorway, for at least Monday and Tuesday. Still, there were screens to watch for things other than work emails.
     An extraterrestrial, stranded on Earth, hiding, disguised as a human, hiding out near a small, rural town, trying to find items from his crashed ship so he can complete his (not initially-disclosed to us) mission. As his mission initially didn't involve contact, he's had to improvise, bringing himself up to speed on the local language and customs -- only to be tapped by the nearby town because the person he's impersonating is a doctor, and there's been a homicide. The victim? The town doctor, hence the local police needing someone else to step in and provide some expertise.
     Since this unintended visitor has taught himself English largely by watching Law & Order reruns in the four months since he arrived, the circumstances have some appeal for him. That's Resident Alien (Syfy, new episodes Wednesday 10PM Eastern) which launched January 27th - so just two episodes out as of this week.
     It stars Alan Tudyk.

     This sci-fi comedy-drama series has been well-received so far, and I'm interested to see how they decide to play it out. The weakness for me in a comedy/drama blend is that weak writers can dodge plot holes by trying to make a joke of them. A joke generally requires immediate suspensions of disbelief - few are going to derail the set-up by demanding the provenance of the talking duck or horse that walked into a bar - and some writers/directors will use that as a shield. Then, in social media, there are never a shortage of people lurking, waiting for opportunities to pounce on those who "take it too seriously."
     There's some wear on the expected story arc pathway such that it wouldn't surprise me to find that he ultimately becomes sympathetic to humans just in time for them to find out what he really is, what he's done, and why he came in the first place. That, at least, would be the "this stuff writes itself" path; we'll see if they manage to rise above those expectations. This doesn't mean in absolute terms that surprising the viewer takes precedence over all other concerns, but rolling out in too predictable a fashion is likely to be boring. There's a limit to how much peripheral "funny" can dress up boilerplate entertainment. They're going for some mileage with Tudyk's "faking human" contortions, and much of that's funny in its way. How much other intrigue may be lurking beneath the small town setting is another issue, as there's still some questions surrounding the death of the town's doctor.
     The other area of interest is the general "outsiders" theme, operating on different scales for different characters, with the titular character, presumably, being the most extreme case.
     I'm guessing it's doing well so far, as I've yet to see anyone give it a bad review -- but that might only mean that it's so far only attracting a core audience. How many people are paying attention to what's on Syfy anyway? We'll see.

     As a big fan of the recently-ended Supernatural, I felt I owed it to one of the main series actors to take a look at his new gig -- the first tv series Jared Padalecki's done since ending his 15-season run as demon-hunting Sam Winchester. His new series is a reboot of the '93-2001 series Walker, Texas Ranger.
     While I can, more often than not, separate the performer's real life persona from the work, one of those I haven't been able to do that with is Chuck Norris. That's a combination of too little acting talent and appeal trying to balance out repugnant political and religious positions - particularly as he's a self-identified Christian who clings to the false notions that those religious elements were key to the nation's founding. The setting, and the cultural trappings of the series only made it less appealing to me, so I have zero nostalgia for that series.
     Still, as a reboot it would be its own animal, and the setting and cowboy styles aren't necessarily kisses of death for me, as I'm a huge fan of Justified.
     So, launched January 21st on the CW, it's the simply-named Walker (8PM Eastern)

     Unfortunately, two episodes in (I haven't looked at this week's yet) and the series is not working for me.
     The opening sequence of the first episode, where we see the tragedy that sent Cordell Walker down a

dark path struck me as unintentionally hilarious - possibly mostly the result of them trimming it down to be more of a quick summary as they knew they'd be revisiting aspects of it again and again. Add to that the shit-kicker styles, trappings, country music elements, and a toxic masculinity vibe that even infects some of the women, and the baked-in military worship that also carries over into law enforcement, and I can't easily see much prospect that the series will grow on me. Sorry, Jared. As ever, viewer mileage will vary.
     Side note: I hope it's just a diet (a monitored one), but I can't recall seeing Jared as rail thin as he is in these opening episodes.
     I'm leaving the book open on this series, as there's certainly potential for it to tighten up, but the setting and cultural trappings alone may be enough to keep me from ever becoming a fan. I'm not sure what it would take to be an effective hook for me.

     On a very different track, we have the recently-launched... documentary series, I suppose, Painting with John (HBO, Fridays 11 PM Eastern, started January 22nd; the show is also available on HBO Max), created and narrated by musician and artist John Lurie -- who also writes and produces these segments, along with having composed some of the music.

     I don't know enough about Lurie to know how much of his current behavior has always or long been

in play. A quick look at his imdb listings as an actor shows me the only thing he was in that I've watched was 13 episodes of Oz, which I watched as they came out... so even the last of those was eighteen years ago.
     He's dealt with various debilitations from extremely long-term, undiagnosed Lyme disease, and then went through chemotherapy for cancer - the latter of which he talks about briefly in at least one of the first two episodes. Either way, his behavior can be misleading and off-putting. It's definitely a mistake to think he's simply foggy or blurred, and likely a bigger one to challenge him on it.
     The first episode of this series is titled "Bob Ross Was Wrong", referring to the late artist's supposition that anyone can paint. Lurie's view is that while we probably all could as young children, that's beaten out of most of us before long, or

"Our Wolf Lady of the Wolf Flowers"

maybe it's simply pushed out by the process of becoming an adult, a notion that he even briefly notes may be a good or necessary thing.
     In each episode part of the time is spent watching Lurie paint, often applying a new, watery inlay of a different color on areas that appear to have already dried. A stippling, dabbing application, the effect so far has repeatedly reminded me of lichens.
     In another Bob Ross referential moment, Lurie notes that none of the trees in his paintings are happy. "They're all miserable."
     There will be six episodes in this first season of this series. There's been no mention so far of renewal for a second season, and my expectation is that it's going to come down to whether or not the artist has enjoyed the process of producing the show, and felt sufficiently comfortable with the end product, to want to do more of them. It's also possible that the process necessary to bring it to the screen may be more that what HBO will want to deal with in a longer term; that's pure, blue sky speculation on my part. Enjoyable, and a very small investment of time (21 to 26 minutes each, based on the first two) I look forward to watching what he comes up with.

     Released in theaters in mid-January, and on Netflix January 29, next up is the British historical drama The Dig (2021, 112 minutes.)  Starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes and Lily James, it deals with an archeological dig arranged by a Suffolk landowner in 1939, with the nation on the eve of war.

    An engaging story, interesting characters, and solid performances make for an enjoyable film. I suggest that you primarily take it in as its own thing - as an entertainment set convincingly against the backdrop of a perilous point in history.
     Because I know this sort of detail is extremely important for some (I at least like to be aware of it) it's best to keep in mind that this is layers of selective processes away from reality. It's an adaptation of a novel, that itself is a re-imagining of the 1939 events concerning the Sutton-Hoo excavation. The time, the setting, and the specifics of the archeological find itself are all fairly spot-on. The storytellers' indulgences are generally at the expense of several of the historical figures involved. Should you want to start to winnow fact from fiction, I suggest that after watching the film you start with this article from Forbes, which will in turn point you to a couple editions of a podcast for a deeper dive.

     Specifically on HBO Max, Warner Bros.' decision to simultaneously release major films each in theaters and (for 31 days) on their streaming platform through 2021 continued with the January 29th release of The Little Things.

     Set in 1990, this noirish crime thriller stars Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto. Washington plays an older cop, Joe "Deke" Deacon, once a star LA detective, who is for some reason now a deputy sheriff in Kern County. He's tapped to go back to his old stomping grounds for the first time in five years, to pick up evidence there for a case. This drops him in proximity to an ongoing investigation being led by rising star LA detective Jim Baxter (Malek.) Deacon is invited by Baxter to observe at the scene of a new homicide, where the older detective notes similarities to a serial murder case he was unable to solve back in the day. This sets up the dynamics for the rest of the film, as Baxter continues to accept Deacon's unofficial help on the case, even after having been warned off by his captain that Deacon sacrificed his career as a detective, his marriage and his health (heart attack) to his obsession with an earlier case.

    If you just accept from the start that the "present" in the film stays as late 1990 you'll be be better off

than I was, as I initially took that as a flashback and rode far too long in the film unsure about when "now" was supposed to be. Likely all my own fault for not paying attention, but it made for distracted viewing. The flashbacks to a mere five years earlier (1985) for Deacon's time as a detective muddied this a little more for me at the time, though in retrospect (heh) they help demonstrate the grave toll Deke's obsession and the details of his case took on him over such a relatively short time.
     It's not a happy film with an upbeat resolution, something I thought significant to mention here in the depths of winter, but it's an interesting time with a good cast and performances. I might have put it off for another day, but knowing that there's this 31-day window for it on HBO Max I wanted to see it early enough to potentially give myself a chance at a second watch, weeks later, before it disappears from the service.

     Noting that this past Monday, February 1st, was the 41st anniversary of its release, and realizing that it's a film I don't believe I've revisited in the years since seeing it on a date -- along with a string of other realizations concerning who I was then and now, and various experiences arising from those changes -- I started to look around for a copy of Fatso (1980) to watch.
     Starring Dom DeLuise, Anne Bancroft (also her screenwriting and directorial debut), Ron Carey and Candice Azzara. This was the first film produced by Mel Brooks' Brooksfilms company, which really got to be a player later that same year with the release of The Elephant Man. (Bancroft and Brooks were married in 1964, and remained so until her death in 2005.)
     The film leans heavily on the Italian-American urban culture, and even used the family name DiNapoli, which was Bancroft's mother's maiden name.
     Looking around, I saw that it wasn't available on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime -- in the latter case it was marked as having been there, but unavailable. I found a copy of it on YouTube - shared below - and watched that.
     It isn't the sharpest image, and has a few spots where for a second or two the flow of time distorts a little, but they're minor, and the price is right.

     The film has taken critical heat over the years largely because it didn't commit strongly in any one direction. I expect it had some impact on Bancroft, as it ended up being her only outing as a director; I'd

be interested to find out if writing & directing was a one-time itch for her, or if this film's fortunes effectively walled that off.
     There's comedy, with family & mildly romantic drama, and a human story bereft of a simple, tidy arc, much as in life. Even now, it's not the type of film I can strongly recommend -- it's a nice, again, human story, ultimately in the arc of a romantic comedy, about generally well-intentioned people. It deals with an aspect of the human condition in a comedic but, ultimately, realistic fashion. This despite the fact that the world is generally a shaming, "by thine own bootstraps" bully on the subject of obesity, and most of us have been imprinted deeply with that message even if we don't realize it.

     The Expanse (Amazon Prime) wrapped season five this week with yet more game-changers, as a hard-won reunion is balanced by a loss, the balance of power shifts at least once, if not twice, as a new player shows its hand. I'm not sure when we'll see it, but there's a sixth, final season in the works.

     WandaVision (Disney+) suddenly stepped up the game with last week's episode -- not that I wasn't enjoying the odd build-up, but it was fun to have more direct plug-ins to the larger MCU again. We also got to see more of the trauma that came from "The Blip", the in-universe colloquialism for the five year gap between Thanos' snap removed half the universe's population, and Bruce/Hulk's brought them all back to a world that had left them behind five years earlier. This week's episode (#5) will be building on last week's reveal, and by the closing scene upps the ante and opens a door.
     The Stand (CBS All Access, transitioning to be "Paramount+" by this time next month) hit its penultimate episode this week, with the titular "Stand" , the final conflict in Las Vegas. Next week will be the new coda to the tale, contributed by Stephen King, reportedly with more of a focus on Frannie.

     Here's to us all making it smoothly to the weekend or whenever your next island of peace is. Take care. - Mike