An open thread where you can share what you’ve recently watched, offer suggestions on movies and TV shows we should check out (or warnings about stuff to avoid), and discover queue-filling goodies from other FSR readers.
The comments section awaits. I’ll get the ball rolling.
With the anticipated announcement of the new Doctor on Sunday night, it was a great weekend to get re-acquainted with Doctor Who via Matt Smith and David Tennant. Although I remember catching the original series on PBS during the insomniac years of my youth, I can’t claim the street cred of being an old school fan. Christopher Eccleston was a manic entry point for me, and it’s been impressive to see that chaos expanded with each new doctor.
Now with Peter Capaldi taking over, I eagerly await him seething, “Fear me. I’m the fucking Doctor. Fuckity bye!”
Obviously this was more about luxuriating in televised comfort food than discovering something new, but re-watching several episodes made me question how the show can pack high stakes into such a tight package. I still don’t have an answer, but whoever figures it out will be able to conquer the entertainment universe (and the kind-of-bubble-but-not-really place just beyond that). [Netflix Streaming]
It’s pretty fascinating that they’re making a movie for “Into the Woods.” Not because the folk and fairytale mash-up seems odd for Hollywood (because it sounds exactly right, right now), but because if you’ve seen the musical, then you realize how non-traditional the structure is.
The production led by Rob Marshall has a strong cast, but they face an existential crisis that not all adaptations face: either stay true to the source and potentially confuse an audience that can handle nothing beyond three-act cat-saving, or stuff the musical into the formula and disrupt the spirit of the source. Plus, by transferring it to the screen they automatically lose at least 4 prop cow jokes.
The play itself is a little cheesy, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s also amazing how the actors can sing so well with their tongues shoved so fiercely into their cheeks. Hopefully the new version comes up with a role for Bernadette Peters, though, because as excellent as Meryl Streep is, the musical really came to life with Peters’ bravado, dry wit and stellar voice. I watched the American Playhouse recording of it (which I had trouble finding a hi-res picture for…), and it was like revisiting childhood through the looking glass of sarcasm. [Netflix Streaming]
What did you watch?
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Related Topics: Doctor Who
