Film & TV Friday
Every Friday, I'll post some thoughts and news (and thoughts about news) on the worlds of film and tv. Mostly US, but some UK. Probably no Israeli news. Sorry, local friends. This week is gonna be light on news, as it's the first one and I haven't collected any. Next week, I'll add a proper news segment.
This week and next week, the two biggest things are one that's going up next weekend, and one that's finishing a season. I am talking, of course, about Black Panther and Star Trek: Discovery. By next week's post, I hope to have already watched Black Panther, and I will definitely have watched the season finale of Discovery. Both are likely to get their own posts.
Let's start with Black Panther. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 99% (100% from "top critics"), this film looks like it may be the best reviewed superhero film yet. This is no surprise. Ryan Coogler is an excellent director, and the cast is superb. Will there be more of the shitty racist backlash? Probably, yeah. Racists gonna racist. I am very much looking forward to it.
TV's version of Commander Shepard. Image: CBS
The first season of Star Trek: Discovery has received a decidedly mixed reaction, with some absolutely loving the show, and other finding it hard to connect with its harsher edges, as compared to past Trek shows. I am firmly in the first camp. This is, to my mind, an amazing show, one that explores space and humanity and the principles of the federation with remarkable depth and clarity. I have written this elsewhere, but to me, Michael Burnham is basically a version of Mass Effect's Paragon Commander Shepard, a woman who makes the tough choices, and takes on their consequences. She is an astounding protagonist, and she is surrounded by a terrific cast. In case you're some episodes behind or haven't watched it yet, I won't go in the many possible spoilers of this wild ride of a season, but I'll say I am very much looking forward to the season finale this Sunday.
Wide Release Films Opening This Weekend:
| Film | # of Theaters |
|---|---|
| The 15:17 to Paris | 3,042 |
| Fifty Shades Freed | 3,768 |
| Peter Rabbit | 3,725 |
Source: BoxOfficeMojo
I guess the main thing I have to say about the films opening this weekend is that I'm glad for Dakota Johnson that she's been freed from Fifty Shades. She seems nice, and I hope she has a great career.
TV Show Premieres This Week
| Show | Season | Country | Network or Service | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Cartoon President | 1 | US | Showtime | Sunday | 8PM EST |
| Homeland | 7 | US | Showtime | Sunday | 9PM EST |
| Here and Now | 1 | US | HBO | Sunday | 9PM EST |
| Collateral | 1 | UK | BBC2 | Monday | 9PM GMT |
| Mozart In The Jungle | 4 | Intl | Amazon | Friday | NA |
| Everything Sucks! | 1 | Intl | Netflix | Friday | NA |
I haven't cared about Homeland in years, and don't care about any of the others. Is anyone still watching Homeland? Anyone planning to watch any of the others? The most interesting show here is Collateral, a 4 part British murder drama starring Doctor Who alumni (who never worked together on that show) Carey Mulligan, John Simm, and Billie Piper.
Trailers
It's Superbowl week, so I am not even gonna try to post all the trailers that came out. But I will put in three.
Solo
Few things get me more immediately invested than the line "I'm putting together a crew." Because that usually means heist movie. Han Solo heist movie? I am SO IN.
Untitled Deadpool Sequel (AKA Deadpool 2)
It's not a great trailer, but it's Deadpool 2. You know I'm in.
Venom
I don't care about Venom. Like, at all. Casting Tom Hardy makes me somewhat interested, but I need to see more.
So, what do folks think of this format? Good? Bad? Okay? Any missing segments? Tell me in the comments.
I'm definitely interested to see Black Panther but 100% is a bit over the top, if they're gonna pay critics for positive reviews at least be subtle about it Lol.
"Top critics" in Rotten Tomatoes are the critics of major media outlets. I'm not gonna say any single one of them is incorruptible, but as a group? As a former journalist myself, the notion that an entire cadre of journalists for the biggest media outlets dealing with entertainment have been paid off is silly. The risk of exposure is too damn high for all parties. "Disney tried to buy my review" would be a major story, and there's nothing journalists love more than a major story.
I would posit the possibility that it's just a great movie.
Annabelle: Creation had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes too, that was before it was released and being pre-screened to your ''Top Critics'', now it has 69%. Trust me, watch that 100% go down further and further the longer it's out, looks like it came out today, let's see how long that 100% lasts. You believe what you want mate, seem to be taking it personally... You actually believe Black Panther, the 217th Marvel film is going to be on par with Citizen Kane and technically be among the best and most important films ever made? Come on....
I'd love to see more of Deadpool's queerness this time!
I feel the same about Venom and Deadpool.
Thanks for the heads up on black panther, might head to the cinema to watch it.
And this will be a weekly post I'm going to look forward to, keep it up!
Will do! Thank you!
thanks for keeping me in the loop @didic I'm looking forward to seeing Black Panther; also enjoyed Star Trek Discovery (love the lead character) and Homeland is definitely on my "watch" list. The others I'll have to take a look...
People who don't love Michael Burnham, and those include some of my best friends, are just wrong.