The '70s Music Industry is Explored in Teaser for Martin Scorsese's Vinyl
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You can always count on HBO to churn out an interesting show or two. But if this latest program doesn't get you interested, I don't want to be friends anymore. From the minds of Martin Scorsese, Terrence Winter (The Sopranos), and Mick Jagger, Vinyl is a series set in 1970s New York as record exec Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) is fighting to keep his label in the spotlight now that punk and disco are on the uptake. It's got a hell of a cast all around too: Ray Romano, Olivia Wilde, Juno Temple, Andrew "Dice" Clay, and P.J. Byrne.
Although this teaser trailer is way too brief, it's kind of perfect. It gives us all we need to know about the series (it's going to be an electrically erratic showcase), it visually striking, and I can't wait for Cannavale to show everyone he can hold down a show all his own. The man has put his time in, and I'm confident he's ready for a leading role. If this doesn't become the starring vehicle needed to make him an even bigger star, then it'll at least be worth tuning in to see how it turns out anyway.
Vinyl premieres on HBO sometime next year.
[Review] MTV's Scream: Betrayed
As I noted last week, I'm in full on hate watch mode for Scream at this point. But this week's episode managed to turn that around just a bit. I don't really know what's going on at this point since there are so many poorly written plot points and character motivations, but I think it's lumping together to get to that same apex of entertaining awfulness that made "Wanna Play A Game?" such a fun episode.
"Betrayed" gives us multiple suspects, more of the adorable podcaster Piper Shaw, and sequence that's so badly thrown together it actually circles around to being good again. Am I still watching the same show here?
At the beginning of the episode, Emma has a dream that's laid out like most generic Scream sequences. It's pretty dumb overall since you know Emma's never going to be in actual danger, but her dream actually works for the rest of the show. You get the sense that she blames herself for the killings (as she should because she's terrible), and it sets her on a great path of self destruction. In horror fiction terms, she's going to make a lot of ludicrous decisions going forward, and it's definitely going to be fun watching it go down. Following that, there's this scene between Noah (the horror nerd) and his best friend Audrey (the girl who was outed in the beginning of the show, she really hasn't been important until now hilariously enough) as Noah has such a Scream-esque speech that once again summarizes the show's mystery as the characters he mentions walk through the background behind him. You just can't make this stuff up, folks. It's pretty wonderful. We also have a new detective in town who's doing her job, but terribly. She was introduced a few episodes ago, but hasn't had any bearing on the story until now. Basically she starts bringing in all these kids for questioning without really caring how laws work. It's pretty funny horror fiction logic as she decides to just start questioning everyone about the murders without any of these kids asking for a lawyer. She's far too aggressive for someone who has zero evidence.
But then we figure out Audrey's DNA was on the inside of the killer's Brandon James mask. As Audrey (or is it Aubrey? Really doesn't matter) hastily calls Emma to destroy a memory card, while being detained so it looks double suspicious, we find out Audrey was super angry after first victim Nina leaked a video of her. The whole episode was trying to set up Audrey as the killer, but none of it made any sense. It's all arbitrary plot stuff that's obviously establishing her as a red herring. Speaking of red herrings, there's plenty of them in this episode. The whole "The Mayor killed his wife" plot came to a head as one of the jock bros chickens out and gives him back the footage of the Mayor possibly killing his wife. It's all so stupid. The only reason this sequence is great is because it involves Piper Shaw and she instantly makes all scenes she's in that much better.
But the scene is so badly thrown together it all works. The Mayor saying things like "Be careful, there's a killer on the loose," meeting in a warehouse in the middle of the night, the stuff that led to that where one jock bro threatened the other jock bro in the gym, and finally the killer shows up and stabs somebody. It's a good time, for sure.
Assorted Musings:
- I can't keep accidentally liking this show. It's not good for my heart.
- Despite my wishes, MTV has picked up Scream for a second season. Either that means the story won't actually end at season end, or that we'll get a second season with a mostly new cast and story a la the Scream films. I'm hoping for the latter.
- I'm hoping there's an endgame in sight because there's a huge difference in this episode because it's finally active. Major difference from before.
Community is Probably Not Coming Back
There hasn't been a show with a more tumultuous existence than Community. Creators and cast constantly leaving and returning, seasons where fans outright hated the show, cancellations, and finally moving to the Internet only Yahoo Screen. The sixth season (the first part of the fan pushed hashtag joke #sixseasonsandamovie) came and went, and I absolutely loved it. In fact, the final episode, which should be the series finale, was the best Community had ever produced in the last two seasons and I'd even argue of the series overall. Few shows get a proper ending everyone agrees with, so all this talk about Community's maybe return is a little disheartening.
It all started with Joel McHale speaking to Metro Weekly about the show's unlikely return:
[Yahoo!] wanted to [give us another season]. But all of our contracts were up after six years. All the actors on the show, almost without exception — their stock has risen significantly and it’s out of the pay rate that is affordable to make the show. So you’re not going to be able to get Alison Brie or Gillian Jacobs at a normal television salary anymore. There is just not enough money to be able to pay for the show.
Then Deadline reported that Yahoo is still in talks, and Joel McHale tweeted the show wasn't canceled yet. So what's going to happen? The cast once expressed the desire to return for a Harmon written film, but they really should end it all here. Community lasted far longer than anyone thought it would, and there's no reason it should be dragged through the ground. Besides, everyone's moved on. So Community's probably not coming back, and as of this writing, there's no reason it should.
[via Deadline and Metro Weekly]
Feel the Plight of the Chilean Miners in First Trailer for The 33
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Based on a true story, The 33 follows the story of the 33 Chilean Miners who were trapped inside of a 100 year old mine for 69 long and painful days until a team was able to free them. The film promises to dramatize events recounted by the miners themselves, and it's got quite the cast. Starring Antonio Banderas, Lou Diamond Phillips, Juliette Binoche, and James Brolin, the first trailer gives you pretty much all you need to know.
If you disregard the obviously pointed trailer dialogue (trailers for biopic events like this are usually poorly edited), the fact that the trailer gives away the entire story (it doesn't really matter in this case if you followed along with it in the news), and that one "Say Something" pop song that makes no sense here, there's definitely a good core concept at hand. Either way, any film that explores the lives of Chileans just a little bit is a big win in my book. You don't see those every day. Heck, you don't really see them ever. That's probably why Lou Diamond Phillips is here. He's the guy Hollywood gets when there's a big Latino movie and they want to attract a certain audience. That accent is terrible, Lou.
The 33 releases November 13th.
[Review] MTV's Scream: Exposed
All the things I've been complaining about the last few weeks (the uninteresting and unlikeable characters, the lack of immediacy, reliance on death to further interest) have come to a head. We're at the halfway point of the first (and hopefully only) season, and I'm in full on "hate watch" mode. The further the show distanced itself from the film series, and from its machinations, the further it's gone from actual entertainment. The only reason to watch now is to see how terrible it'll be by season end. I guess it's accomplished one thing: The viewer wants these character deaths.
Rather than care about who lives or who dies, here we are wanting everyone everywhere to stop doing things.
Continuing the trend from last week, this episode also lacked a character death to base an entire episode around so it had to find something else of importance to fill the gap. As part of the two bro dudes' weird hidden camera enterprise, they end up blackmailing Rich Girl Brooke's father, the Mayor as I forgot to mention last time, because he may or may not have killed his wife. This kind of world building is appreciated, but ultimately useless. Thanks to the lack of immediacy since a single slasher film's plot is being stretched out over ten hours, all of this feels like its wasting time. It's an intentional red herring without all of the finesse you'd come to expect from a better written murder mystery. The show wants us to both constantly guess who the slasher is while caring about the little goings on in the town. But it just hasn't earned that yet. Neither mystery is compelling. First of all, everyone in this show is terrible, including the main girl Emma, and capable of killing other characters. Before her sex video leaked, she totally had a hand in some of the other hidden video stuff (as seen in the pilot). So why should we care what happens to her?
Thankfully, Scream is starting to reel that back a bit. While she'll never be Sidney (I should stop comparing her to the main girl from the Scream films, it's just not fair), it's a bit more interesting to watch Emma take on this whole thing by herself. Since the Scream films were built on ensembles as it went on, they were able to bounce off of each character and make each of them interesting (i.e. rootable). But since the show lacks any appealing characters, it's backpedaling to make Emma as interesting as possible. She's taking this lone wolf route to fighting the killer as she refuses to trust anyone around her, and that's pretty neat. If she continues down this path, as shown by her ever increasing annoyance in dealing with the killer's constant contact, then the final episode of the season is bound to be interesting. It'll be a full on fight. That is, assuming the series plans to reveal the killer at season end. If not, I guess I'll never find out who it is because I won't be around for season 2.
Buuuuut, that's not to say I can't hate watch the rest of this season. Nothing's more therapeutic than complaining about bad TV.
Assorted Musings:
- Emma's Mom and Sheriff cop guy make out for some reason. I haven't been paying enough attention to their story to care, so I'm sorry.
- Every make out scene is punctuated by a cheesy single MTV is trying to oush out and it makes everything just a bit more hilarious.
- Skeet Ulrich mustache transfer student returns in this episode, and if he isn't one of the killers I'd be totally surprised. Also he has sex with Emma in a field at like midnight. So creepy.
- As part of all that, he shows Emma how to fire a gun. It breaks so many slasher movie rules; I hate the concept of it. Also, it just reminded me of that one hilarious Futurama quote, "Why need courage when you have...a gun!"
Key & Peele to End After This Season
After Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key started their Key & Peele sketch show on Comedy Central back in 2012, their comedy was finally noticed by the world. The two have been working together for a long time (since their time on MadTV, and long before that too) and now it's time for their work to hit the next level. After five successful seasons, their show is coming to an end. The duo told The Wrap:
This is our final season – and it’s not because of Comedy Central, it’s us. It was just time for us to explore other things, together and apart. I compare it to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. We might make a movie and then do our own thing for three years and then come back and do another movie.
I’m thinking we could do that every three years – take a year, go bang out a movie. That’s the plan right now.
It makes sense given how much they've got on their plate. There's Keanu, the film about two guys posing as gangsters to save a cat, there's a Police Academy reboot, their "Substitute Teacher" sketch is getting a full movie treatment, Key has been popping up in a lot more films, and Jordan has plans to direct a film soon. If the show is any indication of where their career is going, we're in for some great comedy. It's a good thing the show's ending now, too, since a lot of sketches aren't hitting as hard as they used to. There is a sense that the show is losing steam. It's better to go out on top before it runs itself into the ground. Season 5 has already been filmed in full, and it's final episode will air sometime in September. Just for fun, here's my favorite sketch.
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[via The Wrap]
[Review] MTV's Scream: Aftermath
Like most horror television shows, MTV's Scream is what you would call an "event" series. While nothing may be going on in the the day to day narrative, these kinds of shows rely on "events" to keep people hooked and talking. In The Walking Dead, for example, at the end of one of these event episodes would spell out a character death or some kind of grisly action. It's basically the same principle here. Since Scream has been so reliant on character death to anchor each episode, the first episode without one certainly has a lot to make up for.
We're four episodes in now, so it's time for some actual development. How does the show stack up now that it's not killing anyone off? Well...
The TV series has been trying to separate itself from the films for a while now. One major way it's drawing distance is the whole Brandon James thing. As I mentioned before, Brandon James was a previous killer that terrorized the TV series' town and the new killer is modeling himself after him. The new Ghostface mask is based on James' face, and a lot of the story is wrapped up in trying to solve both of those mysteries. This episode, as the title suggests, is dealing with the fallout of Riley's (the nerdy girl who was killed in the last episode as she Facetimed with the nerdy guy) death. As people scramble around trying to cradle up some emotions, Emma (the main girl) is finally a bit interesting. After being forced to choose between friends' lives last episode, she's distrusting everyone and is finally making some proactive choices, which is something Sidney Prescott, the main girl from the Scream films, is known for. But it's just a shame that what she decides to do is just so damn stupid.
Emma, Best Friend Whose Name I Forget, and Noah end up going to the killer's former lair and find all of the stuff the killer wanted them to find. While this scene was meant to play out as tense it's just goofy all around. And unlike the fantastic goofiness the show's been able to enjoy so far, this episode just dragged on and on. As the characters find out the same things the audience is already aware of, the only new bit on info is on the two Bro Guys' hidden camera enterprise. Through this we learn the killer is aware of all of their hidden camera shenanigans, we learn that main girl Emma isn't a horror trope virgin (as she explicitly states the video they have of her is her first time), and we learn that these kids are terrible with technology. A couple of clicks onto a laptop end up sharing a private video across multiple phones and devices. At least we know how the killer was sharing to everyone's phone now.
I know this show's main goal isn't to reveal who the killer is, but why's they're killing, but I need something more to go on. Since we're nearly halfway through the first season, I hope there's a change coming soon.
Assorted Musings:
- Rich Girl Brooke also had a story this week. We learn a little about her absentee mother and father who's wrapped up in some scandal, but any scene that attempts to give her character also has her in a bikini. Really hard to take seriously.
- Also, kids voting on which popular girl should die next is sadly all too true.
- You might wonder why I'm sticking to this show as I grow increasingly tired of it, but like other horror shows, it's the only one of its kind. I really want to see where this experiment goes. Can't say I'd be here for Season 2, however.
Here's the Reason Why The Muppets Are Coming Back to TV
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The Muppets have made quite the comeback over the last few years. After Disney put out two very successful films, it's time to branch out the Muppets to other properties. First being a new show on ABC that riffs on famous mockumentary style shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and ABC's own Modern Family. Thanks to ABC, we finally get a look at something that's never been seen before, the ten minute pilot pitch that convinced them to turn it into a series.
Directed by The Office's Randall Einhorn and written by The Big Bang Theory's Bill Prady and The Simpsons' Bob Kushnell, the clip is full of adult tinged meta humor (like Gonzo pointed out how overused the "mockumentary" format is) and the direction for the overall series. If you pay attention, you'll realize a lot of the jokes here are for an adult audience but with enough silly bits to keep kids' attention. Since it's most likely going to run during ABC's primetime (which includes great shows like The Goldbergs, The Middle, and Fresh Off the Boat), this is exactly the type of show it needs to be. If you're a fan of The Muppets, definitely check this out. It'll be the best ten minutes of your day.
The Muppets premieres on ABC later this fall.