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I Love That for You shows that very little is as it seems < Back I Love That for You shows that very little is as it seems Annapurna Television, 2022 30 minutes Creator: Vanessa Bayer and Jeremy Beiler Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Showtime I Love That for You Tell Dem (69KYUSWZ9TT2H6U9) 00:00 / 07:04 Jasmine Movies and TV shows with heart, positive vibes, and warm messages Peach Movies and TV shows with a springtime feel or with images of the season Reba Chaisson 2023-05-04 The 1971 hit song, “Whatcha See is Whatcha Get” is about a man convincing his lover that unlike her past loves, he is for real. The medium tempo, soulful song by The Dramatics consists of lyrics penned by songwriter Anthony Hester, and begin something like this: Some people are made of plastic Some people are made of wood Some people have hearts of stone Some people are up to no good But baby, I’m for real. I’m as real, as real can get While this might be a bit dramatic (pun intended), you get the point. Things are not always as they seem, and the storyline and characters in the television series, I Love That for You , are strong evidence of this hard truth. I Love That for You depicts behind-the-scenes drama at the Special Value Network or SVN, a home shopping network enterprise. The business is headed by Patricia, a sharply dressed and dictatorial 60-something who founded the successful company. Typically, controlling bosses unwittingly work against themselves,alienating their employees with clear-cut directives and leaving no room for discussion. But this is not the case in this brightly lit series full of quirky characters. Put another way, Patricia, played by Jenifer Lewis, is a strong hands-on leader with skills at negotiating lucrative deals that keep SVN competitive and viable. Closest to her are Darcy Leeds, her smart and loyal assistant played by Matt Rogers ( Fire Island, Shrill ), and Jackie, Patricia’s 50-something best friend played by Molly Shannon ( Other People , Scary Movie 4 ), who is the most successful seller at the network for the past 30 years. While containing some funny moments, warm friendships, and lightly competitive workplace relationships, the show still holds some serious, thought-provoking moments that seem aimed at demystifying several long-held ideas about who people are and the range of their talents and capabilities. One example of this is the idea that life is over at 60-something. Though very serious and controlling, 60-something year-old Patricia is far from one-dimensional, as she is sexually active and particularly enjoys the company of younger Black men. In her words, “What are you saving your vagina for?” Indeed, Patricia is reminiscent of Lady Eloise, Eartha Kitt’s character in the 1992 film Boomerang , where she regularly pursued and seduced men much younger than herself. Like Lady Eloise, Patricia is wealthy and independent, even giving parting gifts to her lovers after their one-night rendezvouses. Despite Patricia being a big part of the series, I Love That for You centers on Joanna, an early 30-something who survived childhood leukemia and still lives under the protective wings of her parents. This is evidenced by her limited social skills (stale jokes, clothes and pajamas with characters, animals and fruits), lack of intimate experience with a partner, and living at home with her parents – who, frustratingly for her, still view her as “sick” despite being cancer-free for 20 years. Fascinated by SVN and Jackie in particular since she was a child, Joanna, played by Vanessa Bayer of Saturday Night Live fame who is also creator of the series, auditions for an on-air role and gets the job. When Patricia asks her “What story are you selling?”, during her first team meeting, she gives an emotionally immature response. Annoyed and unamused, Patricia asks experienced sellers the same – all of whom humorously articulate keen awareness of their on-air identities. Posing the question again to her new employee, Joanna, desperate to keep her job, belts out “I have cancer.” This sudden schtick conjures sympathy not only from Joanna’s colleagues, but also her shopping audience, making her a highly successful seller at SVN. But to what degree can Joanna keep up the lie about her fictitious cancer diagnosis? Storytelling is at the center of selling and perhaps I am being cynical, but many if not most of them are lies. This one is a big one though. Unseemly. It can even be viewed as making light of and profiting off the pain and suffering of people whose lives have been turned inside out by a word some find difficult to say aloud, so choosing to abbreviate it instead as “the C word.” The thing about telling lies is it warrants keeping up the facade, usually by telling more and bigger lies to do so. Finally, when the lie is told so much, it risks overshadowing the identity of the person who is lying. I Love That for You is largely light and fun, despite containing an element that does not make sense. For example, Joanna never shows signs of experiencing cancer treatments. Her skin color and body size never change, and she even maintains a full head of hair throughout the series. Yet, her colleagues make no mention of this. Each episode, though, does continue to challenge commonsense ideas. Joanna, for example, is presented as naïve and innocent but she is a big liar. Beth Ann, a self-identified Iranian woman played by Ayden Mayeri, is depicted as competitive, spiteful, and full of lust, when Iranian women are typically represented as covered and wholesome. Perry, another on-air talent played by Johnno Wilson who presents as effeminate, enjoys sex with women as well as men because “f***ing is f***ing.” And while confident and successful, Jackie carries some deep secrets that suggest she is not as okay as she seems. Even Patricia does not escape this, as while controlling, she demonstrates that she is also intensely passionate. Suffice it to say that very little is as it seems in this series, which is likely what creators Vanessa Bayer and Jeremy Beiler intended. In addition to entertaining, the show reveals the depth and breadth of people across race, gender, and age categories, as if to implore the audience to avoid judging a book by its cover. There are scenes in I Love That for You that recall the fun of Boomerang and the poignancy of the television series, How to Get Away with Murder . The diversity and quirkiness of the characters add to the series’ entertainment value and broad appeal. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back The Source and Impact of Smith's Actions Two Perspectives on "The Slap" Chris and Reba Chaisson 4/3/22 Reading Time: 10 minutes 📸: Licensed from Shutterstock Chris’s Thoughts To catch the unaware up to speed, Chris Rock took to the Oscars stage to present the Academy Award for Best Documentary. However, being the seasoned comedian that he is, Rock threw in a couple of quips, certainly with the encouragement of the producers, before moving on to the presentation. Among those quips was a punch line at the expense of Jada Pinkett Smith, sitting front and center with husband Will. “Jada, love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it.” As Jada has recently shaved her head in response to an alopecia diagnosis and subsequent hair loss (reportedly unbeknownst to Rock), she was not amused and rolled her eyes. Will Smith, sensing her discomfort, then rose, marched toward Rock, and smacked him across the face before returning to his seat and screaming, “Keep my wife’s name out your f— mouth!” Though it may not seem so on the surface, there is nuance to this exchange. Chris Rock poked fun at both Will and Jada when he hosted the Oscars several years ago. Will and Jada have been transparent about the ongoings of their marriage, making them the butt of many jokes online and even amongst colleagues. Lastly, Will himself has admitted to continuously coping with the feelings of inadequacy he developed as a child from not being able to defend his mother from abuse. Another topic to provide context to the incident is how award shows for entertainers are often produced and the resulting tension. Frequently, the committee chooses someone with a comedic background, if not a standup comic themselves, to host. The objective of this booking is to have a recognizable jester poke fun at the regal atmosphere that the committee generates. Having exceedingly rich people gather in fancy garb to exchange pleasantries and take turns congratulating themselves will draw a larger TV audience if someone is there to poke fun at them (you may have heard about the exploits of one Ricky Gervais, for instance). There is an unspoken divide here, as many actors (whether they say it or not) do not take kindly to being mocked. Regardless of their feelings on roast comedy, they want nothing to do with being the butt of any gags on their special night. Beyond all these details exists an even larger talking point, which is the normalized ostracizing of Black women’s hairstyles. In both comedy and society at large, it has become so commonplace to denigrate how Black women dress, speak, respond to situations, and wear their hair that many people do not even recognize these disparaging remarks when they hear them. Thus, Jada’s decision to shave her head was measured and well thought out, knowing what the aftermath would likely be. Chris Rock, being the critical thinker that he is, still chose to take a jab at her. Contrary to popular belief, few people just snap over one comment. The source of the rage and frustration dates back much further in time for most instances. In this case, Will and Jada are a famous couple whose transparency about their marriage and daily lives comes at a time when the most possible people have access to them. In the 80s, 90s or even early 2000s, Chris Rock’s quip may have been a little easier to brush off. Unfortunately, Jada has likely caught so much flack leading up to this awards show from anonymous people that she has never and will never meet. Though it may seem trivial, these insults cut much deeper than we realize to the point that even loving friends and colleagues ribbing you becomes angering and tiresome. What we saw on Jada’s face was not just pain, but fatigue. Reba’s Thoughts During much of its existence, the Oscars has been a politically contested space. Presenters and awardees often use their time on stage to make statements on a broad range of social issues like the environment, geopolitics, human rights, Guantanamo Bay, LGBTQ rights, women’s issues, and race. And nearly since its inception, it has been wrought with controversy, some more well-known than others. In 2019, the Academy’s announcement that awards for Cinematography, Live Action Short, Film Editing, and Makeup and Hairstyling would be presented during commercial breaks created significant social media backlash. While it reversed this decision due to social pressure, the organization received quite the lashing for the absence of women nominees in the Best Director category that same year. Also in that year, the show went without a single host when Kevin Hart resigned after significant criticism for what were labeled as “homophobic jokes” he made in the nascent stages of his career. Indeed, some issues around the Oscars have been quite repugnant. Woody Allen’s award nominations, after news broke about his relationship with his adult stepdaughter in the late 1970s is one example. And Roman Polanski’s nominations after he pled guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor before fleeing the U.S. to avoid prosecution is probably the most egregious. The industry’s punishment was to expel Polanski from the Academy for life. Like Allen, his work, though, would continue to be recognized, celebrated, and awarded for years to come. Undoubtedly, there is a tension between where the celebration of cultural accomplishments ends and accountability for moral failings and legal troubles begin. Blending the two means canceling people wholesale. In the case of Polanski, I think this is warranted; otherwise, I am simply not down for that. Nonetheless, this seems to be the abyss where Will Smith is headed, given news of his resignation from the Academy and rumblings of various movie deal cancellations. It’s going to be a while before we know the full impact of Smith’s actions at the Oscars on Sunday. Admittedly, on the one hand, I felt some sense of validation as a Black woman – seeing a Black man stand strong for his Black wife. On the other, I felt ashamed and embarrassed even though I personally had no part in it. My feelings stem from the fact that what one Black person does typically gets transferred onto the collective. So, what Smith did affects anyone who looks like me and lives here in the U.S. Whether it was due to pent-up anger from social media comments, or the singular joke made by Chris Rock, Smith’s physical assault of Rock was unwarranted – particularly in plain view. There is simply too much at stake for Black and Brown people still working to gain entry into this space. At a time when we were all but absent at the Oscars, awardees of color and some White presenters showed that they were acutely aware of what was at stake and comported themselves in a manner that recognized this. A proverbial elephant in the room existed at the show in 1939, when Hattie McDaniel was presented with the Best Supporting Actress award. As Fay Bainter, who won the previous year’s award in the same category, makes her presentation speech, the camera pans the audience and homes in on several expectant, White nominees, but never on McDaniel. Bainter stated in part during her presentation, “To me [the award] seems more than just a plaque of gold, it opens the doors of this room, moves back the walls, and enables us to embrace the whole of America.” The White women in the audience seem a bit perplexed. When announced by Bainter as the winner, McDaniel walks to the stage with pride, shoulders back, and gives a brief, pointed speech that concludes “I sincerely hope that I may always be a credit to my race. …” In 1964, Sidney Poitier won the Oscar for Best Actor, where he simply thanked colleagues and the Academy but mentions nothing about race, despite being only the second Black performer to win the award in the Academy’s then 36-year history. Poitier is keenly sensitive to the significance of the win, however, as can be heard in his speech after receiving the Academy’s Honorary Award at the 2002 Oscars. In it, he speaks about the absence of customs for him to follow upon his arrival in Hollywood and how he benefited from a handful of visionaries who made “courageous, unselfish choices.” “Each,” he adds, “with a strong sense of citizenship responsibility to the time in which they lived. …” Eight years later, Sacheen Littlefeather, an Indigenous activist, acknowledged an award on Marlon Brando’s behalf. Dressed in traditional Indigenous garb, Littlefeather rejected Brando’s Best Actor Oscar because of the persistent, dehumanizing depictions and treatment of Indigenous people in Hollywood film. According to the report, John Wayne was offended by the statement and had to be restrained by several men to keep him from going onto the stage and removing Littlefeather during her 60-second, audience-jeered speech. This despite her concluding that “I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity.” Years later, in an interview with The Guardian , Littlefeather said, “I didn’t use my fist [she clenches her fist]. I didn’t use swear words. I didn’t raise my voice. But I prayed that my ancestors would help me. ... I went up there with the grace and the beauty and the courage and the humility of my people.” Smith showed no such grace. On the contrary, his blatant assault of Rock likely embarrassed every Black and Brown person who has been striving to get on a stage for decades. His actions marred the event and detracted from the celebrations of the nominees and their work. Coincidentally, Questlove won his first Oscar that night. His Best Documentary win was the first award announced immediately after the incident, when he and his team had to pretend as if nothing had just happened. It is not unusual for Black folks to have to suppress openly acknowledging what is obvious. For decades, people of color have fought to get their stories told on screen and to loosen their identities from unflattering depictions since the advent of film at the beginning of the 20th century. Arguably, significant gains have been made. But as recent as 2016, the absence of acting nominations for Blacks and Hispanics led to the cultivation and trending of #OscarsSoWhite , indicating we are not there yet. With much work to do still, Smith commits an act on an iconic award show streamed across the globe that reinforces and perpetuates the very associations Black and Brown people have been and are still tirelessly working to disrupt. It is too soon to know if and how much of a setback this will be. What we do know is that Smith’s actions at the Oscars are regrettable and will be difficult to detach him– and ourselves from– for years to come. 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< Back Wind River gives a glimpse of life on “the rez” Acacia Filmed Entertainment, 2017 107 minutes Director/Writer: Taylor Sheridan Reading Time: 5 minutes Wind River Things Gone Wrong (WWEH576CL64WHWCC) 00:00 / 05:52 📷 : Used with permission, Snollygoster Productions https://www.instagram.com/snollygoster.productions/ https://posterspy.com/profile/snollygoster-productions/ Ginger: Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Mint: Movies and TV shows in cold weather and blizzard conditions Reba Chaisson 2021-07-25 Few contemporary stories are set on lands of Indigenous people. This one is guided by Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen who work together to catch the rapist and killer of a young woman. The 18-year-old is found barefoot in the winter wilderness on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. While the film is focused on investigating the crime, the cultural backdrop gives viewers a front seat to the Arapaho Nation’s challenges, cynicism, and humanity. Sadness, sameness, and a sense of lull hang over the film at the outset. Until the audience spends the next hour and 47 minutes on “the rez,” an appreciation for this can never be understood—short of the firsthand experience of living there or somehow becoming a part of the community. Renner ( The Hurt Locker , The Town ) plays Cory Lambert, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife specialist who hunts wild game that prey on the cattle and sheep raised by Wyoming ranchers on federal lands. Recently divorced, he is very close to his ex-wife, her family, and their neighbors who live on Wind River. When he is dispatched to the reservation to track down a lion that recently killed a rancher’s steer, he stumbles upon the body. The discovery deeply affects him because he knows the woman and her family quite well—she is his daughter’s best friend. Graham Green ( Goliath , Molly’s Game ) plays Ben, the sheriff of Wind River. The combination of his cynicism and seriousness strikes a perfect chord in the film, balancing the murder tragedy with the travesty that is life on the reservation. A valley of flat land for miles cradled by mountains so difficult to climb “you have to travel 50 miles to go five,” Wind River appears to be a forgotten place despite being only 140 miles from Jackson Hole, an affluent vacation and resort area. “The rez,” on the other hand, is a desolate and impoverished community with few prospects for young people. The geographic and social isolation of Wind River brings back images streamed of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Then, people in the once-rambunctious city motioned in the warmth to hovering news helicopters for help. On Wind River, cold and silence fill the space as residents seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that help will never arrive and no one with authority cares. When a lone FBI agent is dispatched to help with the murder investigation, no one is surprised; indeed, the scene is almost laughable if the situation were not so tragic. When Agent Jane Banner is flabbergasted that the coroner will not declare the woman’s death a homicide, noting that she will get no additional federal help unless he does so, Ben quips “Don’t look at me; hey, I’m used to no help.” Played by Olsen ( Avengers: Infinity War , Sorry for Your Loss ), Jane is a breath of fresh air in the film. Her naivete about life on “the rez” brings a much-needed outsider’s perspective. Not only is she a federal officer who works collaboratively with Ben and Cory to find the killer, Jane arrives on Wind River with no apparent assumptions about the people who live there or the conditions of the community. She displays the ability to empathize more through emotions than words, which stands out amidst the apathy surrounding her. What she learns about life on “the rez” and what the young woman endured before her death are aptly revealed as overwhelming for her. This is particularly so after an intense, action‑packed climax. In some ways, Jane’s telling emotional scene is reminiscent of the 1996 film, A Time to Kill . In his summation to the jury, Matthew McConaughey’s character described in detail what happened to the little girl who was assaulted. He then asked the jurors to close their eyes, and said, “Can you see her? Now pretend she is White.” Jake Brigance, McConaughey’s character, saw this statement as his last‑ditch effort to humanize the little Black girl for the all-White Mississippi jury. Jane’s character in Wind River functioned much like Jake’s in pushing forth the film as a story about humanity, rather than just a crime saga produced solely for entertainment value. I wonder, though, about the effectiveness of this had Jane and Jake been cast with Black, Hispanic, or Indigenous actors. Unfortunately, this is still something I wonder although the two films are separated by more than 20 years. Filmed mostly during the daylight hours and almost entirely on Wind River, the movie contains some intimate family moments. During these times, we come to understand what underlies the personal and emotional pain of the characters including that of Cory, as well as the factors that contribute to the breakdown of families on “the rez”. While it is a film about a crime, Wind River is also a story about a forgotten segment of the U.S. And ironically, the audience sees this through the empathetic eyes of White lead actors, one of whom depicts a federal agent. Wind River might be for you if you like crime mysteries, suspenseful climaxes, and particularly if the sight of mountains and the use of snow gear and snowmobiles are appealing. Also, if you are a history buff, you get to view the legacy of the U.S.’ century-long movement of Indigenous people onto reservations. 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Bloodline reveals that outcasts/monsters are created – not born < Back Bloodline reveals that outcasts/monsters are created – not born KZK Productions, 2015-17 60 minutes Creator: Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler, and Daniel Zelman Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Bloodline Altered Fate (JADIEIFGX0QKXZJ1) 00:00 / 06:01 Dandelion Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Peach Movies and TV shows with a springtime feel or with images of the season Reba Chaisson 2021-07-25 When I was in graduate school, my professor stated, “Inequality is violent.” I listened attentively to his explanation then, and while I thought he made a solid case I never fully bought into it. Even the most socialist and altruistic countries have inequality, which indicates it is something that is inevitable and occurs naturally. I do agree, however, that the scale of inequality in the U.S. is obscene and must be remedied through policy. What is violent is unequal treatment and unequal access to opportunities because they allow for castigation, marginalization, and even dehumanization of people who do not have the resources valued in the culture—or in the case of Bloodline , the family. Bloodline is a Netflix original series about a traditional family of six in present-day Florida Keys, an untraditional but serene setting. Sam Shepard and Sissy Spacek head the cast as Robert and Sally Rayburn, a set of older Baby Boomers who own Rayburn House, a beautiful resort set on the ocean. As the patriarch of the family, Robert is loved and revered by his four adult children, while Sally is adored and overprotected by them. Skeletons haunt the family, as we learn through flashbacks, old pictures, and of course the dialog between the characters. While the family is highly respected in the community and appears to be close‑knit, it harbors strong anxieties and a general distrust of Danny, the eldest sibling. At the root of these are Robert’s sentiments for his son and the lifelong purgatory he has relegated Danny to because of a pivotal moment of poor judgment he exhibited as a teenager. As the siblings follow Robert’s lead in his ostracism of Danny, we painstakingly realize that outcasts and monsters are not born, rather they are molded and shaped through years of harsh and unequal treatment. The style and setting of Bloodline are reminiscent of the 1960s Elvis Presley movies shot in Hawaii. White sandy beaches, palm trees, and tropical foliage are omnipresent. Boomer hippies sit around in straw hats singing songs backed by the music of Robert’s ever-present ukulele, along with a speckle of teenagers to draw young audiences. The tone and subject matter of the story, however, are serious, making Bloodline a stark contrast from Blue Hawaii , Girls! Girls! Girls! and Paradise, Hawaiian Style . When he is unable to stay an extra day, a guest jokingly says to Sally “I feel like I am being kicked out of paradise!” Far from paradise, the series is particularly disturbing in season 1, where I often found it difficult to sleep after watching an episode. Generation-X is well represented with the 40-something children led by Kyle Chandler ( Friday Night Lights , Early Edition ) as John Rayburn and Ben Mendelsohn as Danny ( The King , Ready Player ). And while Robert and Sally Rayburn present as hippies, Rayburn House offers very little in diversity by way of its employees, guests, or friends of the Rayburn family. Except for the Hispanic workers who have stereotypical roles of carrying the guests’ suitcases, driving the hotel shuttles, and turning down the beds, the resort—indeed the cast—is overwhelmingly White. But according to the U.S. Census Bureau , Key West is 60% Non-Hispanic White. This means 40% of the island consists of other groups, namely, Hispanics who comprise just under a quarter and Blacks who make up about 14%. Their absence in Robert and Sally’s circle after 50 years on the island reinforces the show's ‘60s aesthetics feel. Interestingly though, each of the siblings has a working or personal relationship with a member of one of these groups, as if the writers were positing the message that time has moved on. Finally and annoyingly, Sally is flappable at every unexpected turn of events. Despite establishing the reputation of the Rayburn House with her husband over the last 50 years, she repeatedly asks how, why, and when questions like she’s clueless, and she defers meaningful business and family decisions to her husband and children. They, in turn, consider the degree to which their decisions will please or upset “Mom.” Sally’s relinquishing of her power is another example of the throwback feel of the show. She is the matriarch of the family, but she does not assert her authority by making her wishes known. Instead, she retreats, refusing to deal with the difficult things and expecting the men in her life to “take care of [them].” Unlike her mother, Meg, played by Linda Cardellini ( The Green Book , Daddy’s Home 2 ), is a strong‑willed, tenacious, and competent lawyer who handles the legal aspects of the family business. Throughout the series, she is revealed as fun‑loving and quite the opposite of a traditional wallflower. Her portrayal hammers home the generational difference between her and her mother. Make no mistake about this show. While it is a ‘60s feel story in a contemporary, bright, beach setting, the subject matter is serious and can be quite disturbing. Stories about family dysfunction often are this way, some less scratch-the-chalkboard-surface than others. But our tastes and appetites vary. While I struggled to get past season 1, this series might just work for you. 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The English features a pairing uncommon in its genre < Back The English features a pairing uncommon in its genre Amazon Studios, 2022 51 minutes Creator: Hugo Blick Reading Time: 5 minutes 📷 : Licensed from Shutterstock The English Heist (X2EIFVYLXVNFHFWM) 00:00 / 04:54 Rosemary Movies and TV shows with intense action Barley Movies/shows with a lot of dialogue Chris Chaisson 2022-12-23 If you’re a fan of westerns, you know how often they center around a tough-as-nails protagonist, sometimes forced to fend for themselves. Ninety-nine percent of them tell a story through the perspective of a rugged White cowboy, rescuing a damsel in distress from outlaws or saving an entire town. While there are plenty of tales of vigilante justice, they rarely consist of any other main character than the typical perpetrators of self-righteous violence. Given the rigid characterizations we’re used to, Hugo Blick’s new mini-series The English provides a refreshing change of pace. The English revolves around Cornelia (Emily Blunt), a British aristocrat venturing across the Great Plains in 1890 to avenge her son’s murder. Cornelia comes from privilege but is skilled in both riflery and archery. Along the way, she crosses paths with a Pawnee tribe member, Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), heading to Nebraska to claim land he is owed for his military service according to the Homestead Act. When Cornelia first happens upon Eli, she rescues him from a rancher attempting to kill him. While initially going their separate ways, they reunite and continue westward to complete Cornelia’s mission together. For much of the series, Cornelia seems to be a fish out of water. She carries a large bag of cash with her in a satchel on her horseback carriage. As if that didn’t make her enough of a target, she wears fancy, pristine attire and skillfully applied cosmetics, not hiding her wealth at all. Every character around her carries with them the toll of physical labor or combat on their faces and clothes. This is in stark contrast to Cornelia’s prim and proper appearance that leads everyone to underestimate her, which she frequently uses to her advantage in the face of danger. Even after committing gruesome acts of violence, Cornelia seems troubled and guilt-ridden. In a universe with a desensitizing amount of violence, she serves as a presence right on the threshold of civilized and barbaric behavior. In contrast to the expressive Cornelia, Eli remains a portrait of stoicism for much of the mini-series. Likely a product of his military training, Eli’s even-keeled nature conceals not only the grief he feels from lost loved ones, but the burden of the oppression he experiences as a Native American. Despite his service, he still finds himself as the game being hunted in many scenarios, surviving due to his own cunning and Cornelia’s loyalty. The supporting characters stand much more in line with the typical Western personas. Most of the villains throwing up obstacles for Cornelia and Eli have the typical conniving motivations, out for riches (of which Cornelia has plenty), property or scalps to put on display (gross). Many either operate by the code of “kill or be killed” or have deep-seated bigotry toward Native Americans, to the point of engaging in grand, faux-philosophical discourse with the reluctant protagonists. Unlike your typical vengeance story, the focus of The English turns out to be the bond forming between the two leads. The audience can determine this based not only on where the majority of the series is spent but where it picks up. We are thrust right into the midst of Cornelia’s journey, meaning we neither meet the villain that she is after nor see the inciting incident that spurred her on. Similarly, for Eli, his time with the military ends at the very beginning of the pilot, upon which he is reminded by a fellow service member, “In there, you’ve been one of us, but out here, you’re one of them.” The series’ focus on the friendship rather than the vengeance itself could be construed as a statement on the unfulfilling nature of revenge. Though violence is as second nature to some as it is unthinkable to others, payback rarely satisfies the seeker as much as they expect it to. A hidden message in The English may be that the best way to heal from a painful loss is to foster relationships with those that are still here. Though each belongs to a different broader genre, The English and Kill Bill are similar revenge stories. Cornelia, like The Bride played by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill , lost a child and seeks retribution, killing many other villains in gruesome fashion along the way. Both characters are greatly underestimated by some of their foes. At the end of each of their journeys, the chase and eventual slaughter left both characters less content than the time they shared with their close companions along the way. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Fool Me Once unveils the continuing spiral of interdependence < Back Fool Me Once unveils the continuing spiral of interdependence Quay Street Productions, 2024 50 minutes Creator: Harlan Coben Reading Time: 6 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Fool Me Once Storm Before the Calm (N6J42VARUMKBN5UC) 00:00 / 06:19 Ginseng Suspenseful and intense thrillers Matcha Mysteries or whodunnits Reba Chaisson 2024-02-05 I find a lot of similarities in British television series. For example, each episode tends to end on a crescendo so you’re anxious to come back for the next. The crescendo in Anatomy of a Scandal is in the form of sharp and sudden slow motion special effects that gives us the sense of being hit in the stomach and getting the wind knocked out of us. While weird and over the top, it is effective at sending us into an anticipatory state – impatiently awaiting the next episode. Fool Me Once is similar, but thankfully it executes without such dramatic special effects. I need no reminders of sci-fi. (Sorry folks. With the exception of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back , I am just not feeling the genre. I do love some Yoda though!) Michelle Kegan plays Maya Stern in this 8-episode series about a recently widowed 30-something year-old determined to find out who is behind the murders of her husband, Joe Burkett, and her sister, Claire Walker. Complicating this is a covert effort underfoot to challenge her sanity. Although Joe is shot dead in front of her during a stroll in the park, she sees him playing with her 2-year-old daughter, Lily, on the child’s nanny cam several weeks later. Maya, a former Air Force captain already haunted by events that occurred during her service, suspects her wealthy and powerful mother-in-law, Judith Burkett, who heads the family’s long-established pharmaceutical company in Britain. Feeling her daughter-in-law was never good enough for her son, Judith neither likes nor trusts Maya. Their mutual disdain constitutes the main source of tension in the series. During her investigation, Maya must deal with the intrusions of the 50-something year-old Detective Sami Kierce, played by Adeel Akhtar ( Utopia , Sweet Tooth ). Detective Kierce’s idiosyncrasies bring “Lieutenant Columbo” to mind. Played by Peter Falk, Columbo is a smart, shrewd, yet quirky police detective in the popular 1970s series of the same name that ran for nine seasons. My parents loved this show because Columbo, in his iconic beige trench coat, always got his guy or girl because they dismissed him due to his unpolished appearance and quirky behaviors. Detective Kierce’s quirks and occasional clumsy appearance are like that of Columbo’s. He wears a trench coat in the beginning of the series, and at an upscale gathering, he is told, in a disrespectful manner, that his shoes are untied. Maya underestimates Kierce and often treats him like an annoyance, which, as we learned from the Columbo series more than 50 years ago, is never good practice. Fool Me Once is missing elements we take for granted in a murder mystery/police story. People brought in for questioning are neither harassed nor tricked by the police (yeah, right). In fact, doing so is frowned upon. When Detective Kierce reluctantly partners with the younger and impressionable Detective Marty McGreggor (Dino Fetscher), he confronts McGreggor about a story he told during their “interview” of a suspect. He asks McGreggor about the veracity of his story, and McGreggor laughs and admits it was a lie to get the suspect to talk. “It’s good policing,” he adds proudly. Kierce responds with seriousness, “Lying is never good policing.” McGreggor’s smile slowly fades. The exchange conveys the age divide in the detectives’ ideas of what constitutes good policing: Kierce’s sense of old-school ethics versus the young McGreggor’s belief in doing what is necessary to get information. The twenty or so years between them and their difference in perspectives convey the sense that adherence to traditional police behaviors in Britain is fading with each generation and will likely disintegrate altogether over the next 20 years if the generations before them do not put them in check. In murder mystery/police stories, we usually observe a lot of shooting or other forms of violence, but other than Joe and Claire’s murders, we don’t see this across the eight episodes of Fool Me Once . One reason for this is the absence of guns in Britain, as British police officers carry police batons. I am reminded of this when McGreggor happily gives Kierce a hug because of a compliment he paid him for an action he took. Kierce, clearly not wanting to be hugged, quips, “This is the real reason we don’t carry firearms.” The funny moment is presented as if series creator, Harlan Coben, wants us to know this “guns-free” tradition in the UK, hoping we ponder for ourselves the reasoning behind the superabundance of firearms in the U.S., particularly amid the high incidents of gun violence. Fool Me Once is an aesthetically pleasing production that takes us into Britain’s posh countryside and expansive estates to unravel a murder mystery. Having the threads pulled from an upper-class insider like Claire and an outsider like Detective Kierce gives a sense of balance to the show as she works from the top down and he from the bottom up. It helps us see how people across social classes are not as disconnected as they seem, that there is a strong web of interdependence among them. The degree to which wealthy families rely on their employees to commit wrongdoings for them is one example, and the impossible situations the workers find themselves in and so do what is asked is another. The degree to which people, out of greed, sell their souls for money and favors, or to remain in the good graces of their benefactors, are even more examples of these interdependent relationships. So, unlike the crescendo in Anatomy of a Scandal , we are not shocked or flabbergasted when we get a hint that makes us question, what could this person over here possibly have to do with this matter over there? We are, however, frequently blindsided, which makes each episode so tough to just stop there. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Rez Ball presents Native American teens as just being teens Wise Entertainment, 2024 111 minutes Director/Writer: Sydney Freeland / Sydney Freeland, Sterlin Harjo, and Michael Powell Reading Time: 6 minutes Rez Ball Edge of Victory (ZOGDBQHT38I3VE25) 00:00 / 08:08 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix Masala Chai: Movies and TV shows about toughness and athletic competition Honeybush: Nonfamily dramas with strong adult and/or socioeconomic themes Reba Chaisson 2024-10-24 My husband often says that the thing about basketball is all you have to do is get a basketball, hang a hoop on a pole and you can play. Heck, Naismith first suggested a peach basket! Many great careers have been launched with this low tech, low overhead approach to playing basketball. Lebron James’s career is one of those. Heard of him? In addition to being a future hall-of-fame player, he is one of the producers of Rez Ball , a fictional story of high school basketball on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. Kauchani Bratt (nephew of Benjamin Bratt) plays Jimmy, the promising, contemplative star guard on the Chuska High School Warriors, who along with his best friend and team leader, Nataanii (Kusem Goodwind), make the Warriors the pride of the Chuska community. Like many young and gifted athletes, both kids aspire to play ball in college. But when Nataanii experiences a personal loss, he loses the joy and excitement teen athletes typically have when competing in sports. Still, Jimmy, his teammates, and the rest of the community are gut-punched when Nataanii takes his own life. There is a great deal of literature about the social ills on tribal lands; alcoholism, depression, and suicide are at the top of the list. The literature addresses, ad nauseam, the lack of money and resources in the communities. If this sounds cynical, it is because these problems were borne out of centuries of the dehumanization, colonization, and exploitation of Native Americans. Much of what is observed today are the remnants of what some researchers might describe as “ benign neglect .” Nataanii’s suicide in the film contextualizes the conditions of the rez. So too does Jimmy’s mother, Gloria, played by Julia Jones ( Wind River , Cold Pursuit ), whose primary role seems to be that of fatalist. Rather than comforting Jimmy when he loses his friend, Gloria blithely tells him that people on the rez are destined for disappointment and suicide. She then discourages him from getting his hopes up about attending college to play basketball because “The higher you go the greater the fall. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.” To be fair, Gloria is struggling to cope with disappointments she has experienced in her life. But her words of caution for her young son, rather than comfort and encouragement, ultimately leave him to deal with his anguish (and even hopes) alone, depicting how one generation’s distress can become intergenerational despair without some intervention. Jessica Matten ( Dark Winds , Frontier ) plays Coach Heather Hobbs, a former WNBA player who has her own aspirations of leaving the rez and coaching a professional team. With no bites to her inquiries, she reinvests herself in the Chuska Warriors basketball team, enlisting her reluctant former coach, Benny Begay (Ernest Tsosie III), as an assistant. On Benny’s first day, he performs a traditional Indigenous ritual with the kids, while acknowledging their feelings of uncertainty resulting from Natanii’s death. He adds that they “descend from Warriors” and that “true [Warriors are] are not afraid to grieve.” This, along with Coach Hobbs’s encouragement, brings comfort to the players as she refocuses their energies on their cultural identities as fighters against their all too-familiar adversity. They dedicate the season to Nataanii and commit to win the state championship. The team then turns its attention to their top adversary, the Santa Fe Catholic Coyotes, where the boys are much bigger than they are. With the team having lost Nataanii’s size as well as their confidence in winning, Jimmy seeks ways to gain an advantage. He devises a way to leverage the Navajo language for their in-game communications, much like what the Navajo Code Talkers did in World War II to mask the U.S.’s war strategies. When this puts their opponents on their heels, the Warriors experience success again and believe in themselves. Will it be enough, however, to beat the Coyotes? Regardless, slowly but surely, the quiet, introspective half of the Nataanii-Jimmy duo emerges as the new leader in the locker room. We see Jimmy’s continual growth as a leader when he challenges his teammate, Bryson (Devin Sampson-Craig), for going on a bender the night before a game. Waking Bryson at his home late after the game, Jimmy admonishes him for being irresponsible. When Bryson calls him a “Nataanii-wanna-be,” the intense exchange escalates into a fist-a-cuffs. Bryson’s nonverbal cues later hint not only at his remorse for his role in the team’s poor game performance, but also his acknowledgment of Jimmy as the team’s new leader. The weight of intergenerational oppression is cumulative and heavy. Jimmy’s emergence as the team leader suggests that the resulting despair is something that can be overcome, but not without some intervention. With the support of the coaches, he and his teammates manage to pull their way through a painfully dark period in their young lives to see hope and experience joy once again. The underlying themes of Rez Ball may seem sappy or even weighty as indicated by the Honeybush tea designation. But the Masala Chai tag conveys the sense that the film is infused with intense game competition, meaningful family interaction, and vibrant community dynamics. While Rez Ball necessarily contextualizes the story of the Chuska High School basketball team, it avoids dwelling on the struggles of people who live on Native American reservations. Instead, writer/director Sydney Freeland forces us to live in the lives of the kids on the team. She presents the characters as teenagers playing a game that is accessible to them and dealing with many of the same issues and quandaries of most teens (i.e. drinking, teen romance, work-extracurricular activity conflict). In doing so, Freeland humanizes Native Americans as people who love playing and watching sports as much as anyone else. Rez Ball even presents the Chuska community as one that rallies around their high school team, much like many small towns in rural areas across the country. Rez Ball reminds me of Friday Night Lights , the five-season television series about a high school football team that is the pride of its rural Dillon, Texas community. The show stars Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Taylor Kitsch, Jesse Plemons, and oh yeah, a young Michael B. Jordan! Like Rez Ball , the kids in Friday Night Lights fight with their teammates during and after games because they miss a pass, don’t hustle enough, or fail to properly prioritize because they went on a bender the night before. And like Rez Ball , the best players aspire to play college ball and ultimately go pro. I have to say that it would be nice to continue to have frequent/regular exposure to representations of Native Americans on television like this, just doing what everyone else does, being normal. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Greg Sgammato A Conversation with Film Composer Greg Sgammato Cup of Tea Critiques chats with Greg Sgammato, film composer and member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists Chris Chaisson 2023-06-02 Reading time: 18 minutes Few professions stand at the dividing line of two different industries quite like film composing does. Though many moviegoers love film scores and would readily acknowledge how much they enhance stories, most lack familiarity with the biggest names, faces, and details of the job. Greg Sgammato, film composer and former stand-up comedian, sat down with Cup of Tea Critiques to provide insight into how composers find work, manage around budget limitations, and foster a good working relationship with the film’s director. With so many aspiring musicians having to market themselves, the world of film composing is quite competitive. Greg spoke on how composers clamor for work opportunities. I'll have to do the pitch first. Usually, I'll find a project that's in production or pre-production. And I will usually pitch myself for projects that I find. We have a phrase that has come up in Internet communities called, “Do you need a composer?” We say DYNAC, for short. Anytime you see someone say, “I'm really proud of my short film,” or “I've written a script.” It's very likely you'll see under there, “Do you need a composer?” It's a weird field. Greg also revealed how he and others choose to rub elbows with their colleagues. What I normally find is we all spend time in the same spaces. It's a pretty active scene of networking with composers. But it's also, in my experience, been a little bit segmented. The more high-profile composers stick to themselves because they're doing the job at such a high level, and they want to talk shop, basically. Then you have the [other] composers talking about the feature film they just scored, or what two-hour deadline they had. There's not a lot of crossover. There's always that idea of, “Does this person want something from me?” My networking has been very passive. I just do what I like to do in my free time. I have collaborators now who I met playing soccer. I have collaborators now who came upon a funny thing I did on Instagram when I was into comedy. It's kind of that thing where it's a little bit more organic. Even from the start, I got into this accidentally. I was playing in a modern dance class. I was playing piano and drums to accompany the dancers. And one of my friends knew that I was doing that. He said, “Well, I have a short film I need to film before the final presentation; would you score it?” I'd never done that before. But early on, I just said, “Yeah, of course. I'll do that.” Then from that, I got referrals. And from there I scored more short films, and I decided, “I'll move to Los Angeles.” It wasn't well planned out. It's always these little snowball things. Push a domino over and see if any others fall. Artists are often unsure of how to forge their own career paths. Greg shared his thoughts on the best way to gain exposure for your work. Something that I learned while I was doing stand-up, especially at the open mic scene, was you can't wait for anyone to think that you're the person for them. You can't wait for someone to hire you. You always have to be thinking, “What can I make?” Just like with actors, if you want to get cast, write your own thing. Cast yourself. And for me, if I want to write music, just write music, write songs, write main titles and do podcast music. I did a bunch of that stuff and I just kept busy. Since around that time, I've always had something to do, whether it paid me or whether it was just fulfilling. I've always been busy. That’s been my experience networking, because I haven't done it in a business sense. I definitely think that's because sometimes the practice of networking can come off as inauthentic if you're not meeting in a way that’s [natural]. I found just being around people who enjoy doing what I do: in my acapella group, my soccer teams, my day jobs. If you're not all agreeing to be there for the same reason, it can feel a little bit unnatural. Some creatives choose to take on any project that they are offered while others aim to be known for one specific genre. Greg divulged his philosophy, why it works for him, and what his own preference for projects is. I don't say no to anything, and I haven't since I started doing this. I've written some things that I never thought I could write and some of it came off really well. I listened to a lot of music too. It's weird to try and distill yourself into an elevator pitch, especially in a social setting where you just want to get to know someone. I really want to work in the field of animation. Mostly, in family entertainment. But I also have a lot of friends and connections with comedy that are comedic writers. So that's the path I'm forging. I didn't really figure that out until I worked on an animated short film. And from there, it came so easy. I found that with animation, I was untethered from reality. I felt like there was nothing holding me back from taking chances or making weird things. I need a lot of variety in my writing. So especially with kids’ media being so dynamic, it always has to change, and quickly. You got to catch attention, but you also have to cater to sensibilities as well as if a parent is watching. You're entertaining all of these people, and you got to keep it moving. I've done a feature film, and fortunately, it was asking the same thing that's off the walls. It required me to sit down and write these same four themes in a ton of different ways for weeks. That's really taxing creatively, but it is really great because you get to develop and really think of it academically. I don't do a great job when people say, "Oh, you write music?” What do you do?" It's not quite like, "Oh, you do stand up? Tell me a joke.” But it is very similar in that you have to listen to it. I've also found that I have this great strength in writing super heartbreaking, ambient music, that really pushes and pulls and has this really natural quality. I have a bunch of film scores that I've done that I've been able to feature just because it's what the story needed. And those are my influences, that's what I like listening to, and that's what I like trying to recreate. Since many composers are not household names, Greg shared one of his sources of inspiration. There's a composer named Alex Summers, who writes really brilliant electronic and acoustic music, and I was just trying to emulate his stuff. I ended up writing something that I'm really proud of to this day for a documentary about stand-up comedy [ Laugh Now, Cry Later ] a few years ago. One of my friends made a documentary highlighting some female comedians in L.A. in 2020. I just remember writing it and I didn't ever think that I could write something that sounded this intentional, this beautiful, this reflective. When you think of film scores, you think of epic music or orchestral, giant, bombastic [music]. That's not my thing. It's never appealed to me. And it's something I can’t fake. If it’s satirical, I can absolutely do that. But it's not something that I was ever drawn to. A lot of people get into film music because they love film music. I got into film music because I was available and I said yes. I only knew John Williams and Hans Zimmer. I didn't know there was a whole history of people who had all these different takes on what it is. Now, I usually tell people, “I like to write music and songs for children's media and I work in animation.” That's kind of the shortest thing. Whether it's true or not, we'll see. Art can be all-consuming. Writers and performers find themselves thinking about their art non-stop and even being too “on” in social situations. Greg weighed in on whether his passion for film composing gets in the way of his down time. I’m definitely not thinking about it all the time. What I am thinking about is, “What am I going to do next?” I have to think about what's coming next. Because I feel if I just do this thing, and then call it a day, then it's going to end and I'm not going to be able to sustain this career. Sometimes I'm thinking, “Okay, I have a chance to slow down now and take a methodical approach at film scoring.” It's more logistical, more existential and not so much creative. I record something if I have a cool idea. I'll write something down if I have a song lyric. But it's definitely not something that I'm thinking about all the time, for which I'm very thankful because it's great to have work/life balance in my brain. Many in and outside the film industry are unfamiliar with the collaborative protocol between a film composer and the director who hired them. Greg answered whether or not there is typically a consistent back-and-forth involving several revisions on the soundtrack or if the process is more segmented. The biggest job of a composer, songwriter, or anyone in post-production of TV and film, is to take everything [the director] says, and that is your job. You remove ego and what you think is best. You can have some input, and you can creatively mix that in with their vision. But most importantly, everything is up to them. It depends on the person. Some [directors] want to be very involved. To the point where they're really directing the music, specifically, instead of directing the whole picture. And that can be troubling sometimes if they're thinking of melodic ideas, specifically, or if they're listing instruments, and maybe they don't know what they really want. I don't mind a back-and-forth. I love an in-person conversation, because we can get amped up about stuff. It's important for me to know which questions to ask. Sometimes I'm in a situation in which the director wants to take a lot of charge, and maybe start singing something, and I have to have some level of control over this. If not, they wouldn't have reached out to me in the first place. So, it's striking a balance between [not being] micromanaged, but also knowing that they're in charge. Sometimes people struggle with directors not knowing enough about music. I can't say I prefer it that way. But I think it's easiest, whenever a director or producer is thinking about their projects that they've been spending all this time with and just thinking about it, distilling it into words, distilling it into feelings. I think that's way easier to work with than them citing specific tempo, keys or chords. This is something I find working with some younger people. They don't want to hurt my feelings… it's not about hurting my feelings. I don't take this stuff personally. Let's get the best result for your film. And I always commend people when they say, “Hey, can you change this?” Even if it's a whole overhaul, I got to know. It's got to be your thing. And I'm just here to help you. Give me something I can go away and tweak for you. People will say, “Well, should I limit revisions on anything?” Don't do that. Don't put up walls… I want to get to where [me] and the director are comfortable working together, comfortable enough that I can assert my professionalism as a composer. And they can assert their vision and their leadership as a director. That’s where the ideal would be. Greg confessed his biggest hang-up when being hired to compose for a project. For me, it's nothing artistic. It is strictly business, strictly logistical. My biggest pet peeve is your budget as a filmmaker being some sort of secret. It really bothers me. It bothers me more than me not being paid. I've done so much free work this past year. I understand. I have a good gig. I'm very privileged in that [way]; I have a day job that I work remotely. I also work with a bunch of composers and songwriters. So I'm not worried about money like that. I just want to do good work with good people. I'm not bothered because my first thought is not being paid. I understand that people can't pay professionals. What I don't like is when people who are asking for your rate aren't very upfront about what they have to spend. My actual rate as of right now is $400 for a minute of music. Now that doesn't work well, in some cases, like a feature film, if I'm writing 50 minutes of music. I can't charge you that because I've never accepted a payment that large; I wouldn't know what to do with it. But I think if you want to know my rate, I need to know how much you're willing to spend. I just want to know how much you've spent on everything else so far. The feature film I did last year had an entire budget of $3,000. And they said, “We can offer you nothing.” And I took the gig, because they were very upfront about that. They spent $3,000 on locations. All their actors were doing it for free. And they got some big names. I trusted the vision. The director and I have a great rapport. He's trusted me with a lot of stuff before and he's paid me well before. So I didn't mind because it was very transparent. There wasn't a big demo for it, I didn't have to audition for it, which I do appreciate. Because sometimes you should be paid for that too. That's my biggest thing, tell me how much you have to spend on the film. It doesn't have to be your music budget, it doesn't have to be how much you're willing to pay me. But if you have $1,000, just for music, I'd say, “Okay, for my job, let's make something really cool with the rest of it. Let's get artists to come in and record. Let's get a string orchestra or something. Let's figure this out to make your film the best that it can be.” Be very clear about what you're willing to do and to spend. It will make the whole thing a lot better, because people will understand that they are valued and you have a clear vision. The subject of film composition brings to mind the presence of large orchestras and fancy rehearsal halls where artists do elaborate recordings. But Greg talked about the limitations and modest budget that the majority of film composers work with. I wish I could [routinely] hire a group of musicians. When I do work with live musicians, it's usually live vocalists. I hire a session vocalist if I'm doing a kid’s show demo, or a main title theme song. I'll hire someone and pay them the [Screen Actors Guild] rate. They have a special demo rate too. We have an agreement where if it does get picked up and shown on television, they’ll get X amount of royalties. [Screen Actors Guild] makes it both very clear and very complicated. Complicated in a good way, though, because they're taking care of their people. But clear in a way that I know what to expect if I'm hiring my friend who is a talented session singer. I will have to pay her $350 or whatever the rate is now. I can usually only hire one or two people if I really need it. The last time I hired musicians was last year [when] I worked on a short film, and I hired because it was a really tender, transparent score. There was really no hiding behind anything, and the samples that I was using were fine, but to me they weren't sounding as good as I wanted them to. So I hired two friends I knew from school who were professionals; one’s a professional cellist, and one's a violist. I just paid them and gave them a ‘special thanks’ in the credits. It was totally remote. I just sent them sheet music and gave them a click track. They sent me a couple of takes. And then I just laid it in my project, and it turned out really well. It's so rare. We have to get so good as composers at making a fake orchestra or a fake rock band sound like the real thing. And I've gotten ashamedly good at it, which is wild, but it's such a useful skill. It's also a lot easier to do now than it was to do 10, 20, 30 years ago. Every professional has their own communication style. Greg gave us a sense of the approach that works best for him - both from the director’s side and his own. What actually works best for me is when [the directors] talk about the characters, the color, the vibe. That stuff is really helpful for me. Usually, if I can see a solid logline or synopsis, that kind of stuff is really impressive for me. Because I know how hard it is to take this giant idea you’ve been working on and distill it down. That kind of stuff can be so difficult. So, I think talking about the characters and intention is a lot better. The weirdest thing I've had was a project that my name is not on. But it was one of the earliest things that I did in L.A. Actually, I’m proud of the music I wrote, but it was for an erotic ASMR [Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response]… This is before ASMR was a big thing. But it was a paying gig. And the director just said, I want it to sound like they're in a spa. And so I just wrote some Enya-sounding thing. That stuff that dominated the 90s when Enya was the flagbearer. I wrote something like that. I listen to it now and it was exactly what the director needed. It wasn't super high quality and I definitely could do it better now. And I would still take that gig today if they offered it. It's weird because it was ASMR, so it was audio only. I had to mirror that, how it ebbs and flows. As long as you have that vision as a director and you can say, “This is where this goes, this is how the story transforms. And this is how I want you to complement that or maybe work with it or work against it.” I think a good and experienced director would be able to succinctly say, “This is the story. These are the characters. This is where you fit in.” Greg is a member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) and the Creators Society . You can follow and connect with him at his website, www.gregcanhelp.com . Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

I May Destroy You exists simultaneously as a difficult viewing experience and a necessary step in preventing sexual abuse. < Back I May Destroy You exists simultaneously as a difficult viewing experience and a necessary step in preventing sexual abuse. British Broadcasting Company, 2020 30 minutes Creator: Michaela Coel Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Pixabay I May Destroy You The South Downs (WYVXUC39XFEKF3QY) 00:00 / 05:12 Dandelion Movies and TV shows with heavy subjects Ginger Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Chris Chaisson 2022-05-22 Many television shows surrounding young people, specifically half-hour shows, highlight youthful exuberance. Viewed as the most care-free time of your life, single adults in their teens, 20’s and 30’s party, go on road trips and even goof off at their jobs. The most common issues (breakups, layoffs, roommate discord) resolve themselves hastily or trivially. The general messaging behind these light‑hearted tropes is that at such a young age, actions have minimal consequences and are quick to overcome. Plainly stated, this premise can be easy to scoff at, but it nonetheless influences how we think. Occasionally though, more serious shows illustrate traumatic experiences and the need to work through them. Though heavier in tone, these shows display the same youthful exuberance, as people who have suffered trauma still must live their lives amidst their coping. The fun and games simply take a backseat to the characters working through their suffering. Thus, a series like I May Destroy You exists simultaneously as a difficult viewing experience and a necessary step in preventing sexual abuse. The BBC production depicts the misconceptions that many young people have about sex, what it means, and the price many pay for it. They also show that processing your pain does not preclude living a full and enriched life. Created by the immensely talented Michaela Coel ( Chewing Gum ), I May Destroy You centers around Arabella (Coel), a promising young writer living in London. During a night out with friends, a stranger spikes her drink and assaults her. Throughout the twelve episodes, Arabella comes to grips with what was done to her while attempting to recoup the joy and freedom she previously felt. As she reevaluates her subsequent sexual encounters, the show also examines the dating lives of her two best friends, Kwame (Paapa Essiedu) and Terry (Weruche Opia). They each meet various sexual partners and rehash details of their encounters to one another. What stands out is how vital Arabella, Terry and Kwame’s talks are to their increased understanding of boundaries and etiquette. They all find themselves in the role of the aggressor and the submitter at some point. For instance, Kwame goes home with a straight woman without telling her that he is gay. When she finds out, she is incensed and throws him out. In reconvening with Arabella, she chastises Kwame and in doing so, helps him to see that he should be more forthcoming with his partners. I May Destroy You has about as heavy of a subject matter episode-to-episode as any show could have. It zones in on the mental condition of its main characters, often more sobering than the dynamic goings‑on in the real world. Many sequences depict Arabella and her friends in disoriented states, whether it’s at a party they don’t wish to be at or overindulging in social media engagement. This feeling of unease may speak to young viewers, who experience anxiety from the constant pressure of interacting with others while trying to deal with their own distresses. A consistent theme and important message of the show is the importance of communication. In showing these three young adults cope and lean on one another, as well as minor characters, for comfort, the series seems to be telling young people to keep talking and never believe that they must suffer alone. Additionally, playing different roles in different situations forces the characters to accept that even having been wronged themselves in the past, they still must take responsibility for hurting others. The show represents several different identities but stars a predominantly Black British cast of various sexual orientations. The series closest to this genre may be one of its popular contemporaries, Euphoria , about a group of high school students coping with an atmosphere filled with sex, drugs and violence. Though these programs do not always provide the escapism that many viewers seek out, their displays of sex- and drug-induced trauma may play a role in pushing young people to be more communicative and feel free and empowered to make healthy choices for themselves. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

The After highlights children’s intuition < Back The After highlights children’s intuition Neon Films, 2023 18 minutes Director/Writer: Misan Harriman / John Julius Schwabach and Misan Harriman Reading Time: 4 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, Netflix The After A Dark Past (WYJRMRUKNMDQSZB1) 00:00 / 04:01 Dandelion Movies/shows with heavy subjects Chris Chaisson 2024-02-06 Many of us believe that when we lose one of our senses, the others grow stronger. In the same way, younger children, due to their underdeveloped verbal communication skills, possess stronger nonverbal abilities and even an intuition of how others feel. As adults, we are frequently too distracted with our own problems and responsibilities to recognize a grieving person in front of us. Just the same, we can often be too desensitized or callous to care even when we do. In this sense, adolescents have an advantage over us, still having empathy and observational skills that have not dulled or hardened from life experience. Misan Harriman’s Oscar-nominated short film, The After , hints at this reality over the course of its 18 minutes. David Oyelowo ( Selma ) plays Dayo, a loving husband and father whose world is turned upside down after a stabbing attack that cost him his family. A year later, his career as a businessman is a distant memory, and he works as a rideshare driver while still grieving the sudden, tragic loss he’s endured. Dayo is not without a support system, as many friends call to check up on him, but he has trouble responding and keeping up with his grief counseling appointments. Over the course of a typical day, he provides rides to numerous strangers in London and becomes numb to the conversations occurring in his backseat. Most of his customers are adults who are either conversing with each other, arguing, or on their phones. Though unspoken, it is clear from Dayo’s demeanor that he is repressing a lot of his still unprocessed emotions in order to put on a face for his job. One day, a bickering couple and their silent child pile into his backseat for a ride home. The child sits in the middle, clearly affected by her parents arguing. However, she observes Dayo’s body language and facial expressions as he drives. When they arrive, the parents exit the car and head up their front steps, but the child remains in the car. Dayo asks her if she’d like to get out and go inside, to which she reluctantly obliges. However, before heading up the steps, she turns around and hugs him from behind. The parents, still wrapped up in their own argument, suddenly turn and run down to pry their child off Dayo as he falls to the ground sobbing. They leave him on the sidewalk, where he continues crying before pulling himself together and driving off. The After ’s opening sequence is jarring and tragic enough to make Dayo a sympathetic character for the rest of its duration. However, the interesting aspect of the short film is its display of children’s intuition. Despite all of the adult passengers Dayo has in his car, none seem to acknowledge or read him at all; to them, he is somewhat invisible. The first pair of passengers make this reality evident, as the father brags about his son’s soccer accomplishments while the son tells his dad that Dayo probably does not want to hear it. Being polite, Dayo denies any disinterest, even though deep down the conversation is white noise to him. What eventually cracks him open is the child of the bickering parents, who very clearly resembles his own deceased daughter. Often, films depicting a grieving parent begin after the death has already occurred. Witnessing the sudden and violent nature of his family’s death puts the rest of The After into perspective. In particular, it is easy to become detached from the grieving of other adults, as we not only hear about so much bad in the world but witness it for ourselves. Sometimes, it takes the innocence of a young, attentive soul to recognize another person’s hurt and reach out. The After reminds its audience that although we do not typically think of children as the teachers, sometimes it is good to follow their example. Available on Netflix Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

< Back Biosphere takes a more docile, academic angle in the post-apocalyptic genre Duplass Brothers Productions, 2023 106 minutes Director/Writer: Mel Eslyn Reading Time: 4 minutes Biosphere Strange Science (DHJJSCGX4M4QFF6S) 00:00 / 04:14 📷 : Pixabay Barley: Movies and TV shows with a lot of dialog Ginger: Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Chris Chaisson 2023-08-02 Set in an apocalyptic future, Biosphere stars two lifelong friends, Ray (Sterling K. Brown, Black Panther ) and Billy (Mark Duplass, Safety Not Guaranteed ), who have witnessed the end of civilization and now co-exist in a self-sufficient biosphere. As they are both biologically male, Ray and Billy being the sole survivors would indicate the inevitable extinction of the human race. But is it that simple or is an unforeseen evolutionary change coming? Ray and Billy’s relationship sees its ups and downs as they debate their differing perspectives, reflect on their lives before the incident, and plan for what is to come. As one might expect from a two-character story, Ray and Billy have very glaring differences. Ray is the overachieving intellectual, having built the biosphere they are surviving in himself. Not only is he highly educated in biochemistry, but he served as an adviser to Billy’s presidency. What to some may be the most perplexing element of the story is that Billy was ever the President of anything, let alone the United States. Though charming, he appears to lack any leadership skills or authoritative presence, mostly deferring to Ray’s expertise. His character is most likely a satire of many leaders in real life, if not the entire idea that a leader knows any more than the average person. Billy serves as the voice of the audience, specifically those not well-versed in science or evolution, and reacts just as they would to hearing the volume of information that Ray throws out. Ultimately, Billy becomes a sympathetic character, as having a highly intelligent and accomplished friend could conjure up feelings of insecurity. Biosphere being a post-apocalyptic buddy comedy allows for it to present many interesting questions. One such question is where to turn to after an argument? In many post-apocalyptic films, there is one survivor who speaks to inanimate objects for a sense of socialization. However, Ray and Billy each have someone to talk to, but not anyone to moderate once they have verbal disagreements. One solution is the fish that they are growing (and eventually eating) in the biosphere’s pond. Ray talks to them for a reprieve multiple times after getting into it with his best friend. Though not exactly like Wilson in Cast Away or the mannequins in I Am Legend , we see that even with the presence of a human companion, situations dictate turning to other beings for conflict resolution. The movie’s main question pondered over the course of 106 minutes is “could an organism’s biological makeup change out of necessity in order to continue its species?” On this topic, Ray and Billy both must face changes propelling them to act in ways they never thought they would have to in a civilized society. What pulls the viewer into the story is that due to their lifelong friendship and confinement to a single space, the characters have candid conversations about who they are, how they have been raised, and how both factors act as mental roadblocks to evolution that they must figure out a way around. Writer/director Mel Eslyn’s film differs from many others in its genre. In most films with two friends struggling to survive, they are stranded in the wilderness or space, still with some faint hope of rescue. In many post-apocalyptic movies, there is either a sole survivor still able to traverse the wasteland for resources or many groups of survivors that form their own cliques (i.e. Mad Max ). Having two friends co-existing in a biosphere avoids the violence and tribalism that we often see from movies in this category. Instead, it goes the academic and largely comedic route. Pressed for a comparison, Biosphere bears some resemblance to the Oscar-nominated 2017 film The Shape of Water . In Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed flick, a lonely janitor forms a relationship with an amphibious creature being held captive. Both films raise questions about how human beings adapt in the face of loneliness, desperation and, in the case of Biosphere , possible extinction. Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!

Drone uses lifelike graphics for a funny, yet ominous glimpse into AI < Back Drone uses lifelike graphics for a funny, yet ominous glimpse into AI E.D. Films, 2023 15 minutes Director/Writer: Sean Buckelew Reading Time: 3 minutes 📷 : Used with permission, B&B Pictures Drone Solatium Mysterium (KKCUB6QA8KN9QZSR) 00:00 / 03:09 Ginger Thought-provoking movies and TV shows Saffron Movies and TV shows with great visual effects Reba Chaisson 2023-07-26 Drone is an animated short film by Sean Buckelew about a drone that grows a conscience. With the use of artificial intelligence (AI), a drone, dubbed “Newton,” is presented at a CIA press briefing to announce AI-enhanced drones as new military hardware. Demonstrating its capabilities during a livestream in front of the audience, the press secretary engages in a pleasant conversation with Newton, indicating the drone is ready to show what it can do. Things go awry when the drone fires a missile into an empty building, but then verbally acknowledges it committed a grave error when it detects that a person was killed in the explosion. Feeling guilty, the drone vows to “never inflict pain and suffering on anyone again,” and people around the country embrace him for it. Buckelew does such an exquisite job of presenting the drone as self-aware, that you are likely to find yourself referring to it by its name or pronoun. The drone is presented not as an “it,” but as an object personified with human emotions of happiness, sadness, and even guilt. It makes me wonder to what degree AI will eventually make us feel emotionally close to inanimate objects, beyond the guitars we play or the cars we keep in our garage. Drone is both a funny and important film with astounding graphics that presents racially and ethnically diverse, lifelike characters, who smoke and use social media on their smartphones. It is not only a joy to watch, but it imparts lessons about our social and political realities in the age of livestreaming and government arrogance. The political fallout for the drone’s mishap provides a glimpse into what happens behind the scenes when things do not go as planned, and agencies and leaders are embarrassed by what transpires in full view of the public. Drone also helps us understand how an outcome, even a tragic one, can be twisted into a pretzel to justify staying the course. The rationalizations make it clear that handshakes and signed contracts occur long before Newton and his cousins get their first bolt. We are a long way from the days when robots looked like painted cardboard boxes with eyes, or even when they were made of stiff metal, like “C3PO” and “R2D2” of Star Wars fame. They now resemble objects we have been in awe of, such as cars, mobile phones, and yes, airplanes. This is the first step to feeling a kinship or connection to robots, as they gradually begin to fit into our world. Giving them names and adding AI to put them in conversation with us normalizes them as belonging in our space. And who knows? Maybe, eventually, we will feel as if we need them there. Available on Film Shortage Previous Next Sign-up for new reviews, exclusives, deep dives, and more First name Last name Enter your email here I agree to the terms & conditions Sign-up Thanks for joining us!