Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 102
March 26, 2021
For All Mankind 2.6: Couplings
A really excellent episode 2.6 of For All Mankind on Apple TV+ today, I'd say the best so far of the second season. The theme was couplings.
First and foremost, in terms of space travel and alternate history, would be the Apollo-Soyez joint mission, or, as of course the Soviets would have it, Soyez-Apollo. This mission is a perfect vehicle for both of the intertwining narratives, humans in space and the alternate history of The Soviets getting to the Moon very shortly before the United States. And as a special treat, it's Aleida who comes up with the final fix to the technological solution of the docking problem, in which both sides want to do the penetrating and neither one the passive receiving.
And there were some good human coupling stories in this episode, too. I'm glad that Gordo told Sam he aimed to get Tracy back. I guess the odds are against him, but, hopeless romantic that I am, I hope he succeeds. And Ellen and Pam was good to see, too. The scene in which Ellen breaks the news to her husband was really moving -- in fact, in many ways, the best scene in this episode, in which about every scene vied for being the best.
Including that ominous last scene, in which our astronauts are now in Russia. The two groups -- the astronauts and the cosmonauts -- learned to work together, in free America. But the Soviet Union was totalitarian, and the question will be whether the humanity we saw in the cosmonauts in America -- including another primo scene in which we learn the truth about Laika the dog -- will survive on the other side of the world.
See also For All Mankind, Season 1 and Episode 2.1: Alternate Space Race Reality ... For All Mankind 2.2: The Peanut Butter Sandwich ... For All Mankind 2.3: "Guns to the Moon" ... For All Mankind 2.4: Close to Reality ... For All Mankind 2.5: Johnny and the Wrath of Kahn
March 24, 2021
Deadly Illusions: Not Quite Deadly
Just saw Deadly Illusions on Netflix. In a nutshell, it's a fairly good thriller about a writer (Mary) who may or may not be imagining scenes in her book which have her hiring a seductive, psychotic nanny who seduces her, kills her friend, and almost kills her husband.
The nub of the narrative, then, is whether or not we're witnessing a lurid imagination, or a terrible mistake in hiring. The few reviews I've read seem to think it's the latter -- that Grace/Margaret is indeed a split personality prude/insane seductress. They cite the final scene, in which Mary visits Grace in a psych ward. But I'm not so sure.
Because, how do we know that the final psych ward scene is not part of Mary's new novel? That's the problem with any kind of story in which the imagination of a character could be the essence of what we're reading or seeing on a screen. And Deadly Illusions, having raised this possibility, does an insufficient job in resolving it in the end.
To be clear, I have nothing at all against unclear endings. I thought the ending of The Sopranos, for example, in which we don't know if Tony lives or dies, was a sheer masterpiece. But that's because the two possibilities, life or death, were brilliantly given almost perfectly equal weight. Obliging viewers to make their own decisions.
Not so the ending of Deadly Illusions. Which is why I said the movie was "fairly good". Look, it takes a lot of work to get an ambiguous ending like this just right. Deadly Illusions, though offering a very enjoyable ride, just didn't do this in the end.
See also The Sopranos End and the Closure Junkies
March 23, 2021
The Gloaming 1.1: Two Detectives and a Cat
All right, so here's what I can say about The Gloaming, which debuted Sunday evening on Starz:
It has a great name. The gloam is that time between sunset and darkness. It's a good word for writers and songwriters to know. It rhymes with home and foam. I may put in a new verse in my song Pictures on the Phone.
The story is pretty good, too. Or, at least, it's starting out that way. A teenage girl (Jenny) was murdered in Tasmania two decades ago. The guy (Alex) standing next to her was not, and he's now a cop on the mainland (Melbourne), sent to the island to help with a new murder. He had a relationship of some sort with the cop (Molly) in Tasmania who is already investigating the new murder, so much so that Alex named his cat after her. There's a school of some sort that involved in some likely nefarious way, and some kind of cult is on the island, that we've just seen a hint of, so far.
So, in addition to the intriguing title, that's a promising set-up. On the other hand, cults have been seen on the screen many times before, so The Gloaming will have pretty steep hill to climb if it seeks to be original. The key to its success will likely be the relationship between Alex and Molly. Why was he spared back in 1999? Did he know the killer, the man (presumably) who pointed the rifle at Jenny and pulled the trigger twice?
Stories with cults can tip into the supernatural. If The Gloaming does this, it will enter into a realm which goes far beyond the detective story, and requires a very different set of conventions. Based on the first episode, I'm thinking The Gloaming can do just well without this. I'm hoping it will stick, as far as possible, to the world as we know it.
Debris 1.4: Suspentia Belief
Well, I know I keep saying this, and that's because it's true. Debris keeps getting better and better, and it did this again this week in episode 1.4
I especially liked the use of extra-terrestrial tech -- "suspentia" -- to cure a different Debris effect, the extra-terrestrial terraforming of our atmosphere into one in which chlorine, deadly to life on Earth, replaces oxygen. This (again, like many an episode of Fringe) is an old and still intriguing science fiction chestnut of terraforming other planets to make them suitable to human life, and vice versa.
Finola plays a major role in applying suspentia to save a group of people who will die on Planet Earth, having been transformed into chlorine-breathing beings: put them into suspended animation, until we humans develop the means to bring them back to life in our oxygenated world. It's a big risk, of course, but far better than the alternative.
Meanwhile, Finola also learns that Bryan knows her father is alive, and didn't tell her. This will put a sizeable schism in their relationship, and in doing so will further separate the CIA and MI6. Missing in action this week, except in one short sentence, is "Influx" -- we need to learn more about them already.
But as long as the episodes get tighter and tighter, as they've been doing, I'm more than happy to wait for the central plot to move along and find a more satisfying pace. There's something about Debris that increasingly has classic --- as in destined to become a classic -- written all over it, and I'm eager to sit back and see that happen.
See also Debris 1.1 Some Probability of Gems Among the Pieces ... Debris 1.2: Clones ... Debris 1.3: Trapped Out of Time
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
Balthazar 3: Pure Gold, Except...
The third season of Balthazar has been up on Acorn via Amazon Prime Video for at least a month. My wife and I saw the first two seasons and loved them. We felt the same and even more about the third season.
Except for the first episode, which was a standalone with Balthazar on an island, and Captain Hélène Bach eventually goes out to retrieve him. That episode was obvious, and all right, at best.
The rest of the season, in contrast, was pure gold. We finally learn who was responsible for Lise's death and [some spoilers ahead, so the usual cautions]
Her relationship to Balthazar, and the impact on Bach, and how Balthazar seeks to resolve this was riveting and top-notch in every way. This fundamental story towered over all the other cases, even in the early episodes in which B & B were absorbed nabbing other villains. And yet these other stories were excellent, too, with all kinds of nice twists and turns.
[super spoilers ahead]
But let's cut to the chase. It was satisfying indeed to see Bach cradling Balthazar in her arms, declaring how much she loved him, after he had maybe been mortally stabbed in the neck by Maya, just as he was about to probably light a match, literally, that might have consumed him and Maya both. But there were two problems in this ending:
1. One, we know that there's going to be a fourth season. Which means we know that Balthazar will survive.
2. And we also know that Hélène de Fougerolles who plays Hélène Bach, and plays her so well, won't be returning to the show (Google that and you'll see). WHAT?! I don't care what the reasons for this are in our off-screen world. The chemistry between Balthazar (also brilliantly played by Tomer Sisley) and Bach was so good, even before that final heart-rending scene, that the fourth season just cries out to see them again. To the producers of the show or whomever: make that happen!
Yeah, I'll watch the fourth season anyway, but I'll miss Captain Bach in every scene she isn't in.
See also Balthazar: Quincy and the Fugitive with Much More
March 20, 2021
Beatles Together Until 2030: Heart Rending, Wonderful Video
Here's a video by Angelo di Carpio that literally speaks -- and sings -- for itself. Masterful "mega-real aging" photography, with an alternate-history intelligently thought-out story of the Beatles performing, writing, recording together and individually through the end of the 2020s. Hard to see without a lump in your threat and a clanging pang in your heart.
time-traveler is determined to save John Lennon's life in this video
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
March 19, 2021
What Happened to Monday: Worth Seeing Any Day
So I'm on a roll tonight -- or maybe a nice fresh package of rolls, considering what I'm about to review for you -- and thought I'd watch a 2017 movie on Netflix, What Happened to Monday? Let me tell you, those rolls were quite good.
The set-up of the movie is something we've seen or read a myriad of times -- the UK about 50 years in the future, struggling to limit an exploding population by decreeing a maximum of one child per family. And a grandfather of septuplets defies the decree (which would require turning over six of the babies to the state for cryogenic suspension of life) and raises the seven girls until they can more or less take care of themselves. We've seen something like that before, too.
But this is where What Happened to Monday really takes off. Monday (each girl is named for a day of the week) has been living and working as Karen Settman out in the world, and suddenly falls off the grid of contact she's maintained with her six sisters. They are holed up, with various individual talents, in an apartment with all kinds resources. The authorities soon come to investigate, armed to the teeth, and a large part of the movie is how the six sisters, each with their own prowess, fend off the attackers. Every scene, every interactions, has a surprising result, including who survives and who not.
More than that, the battles spill over into future London, where more unexpected interludes and life-and-death encounters await. Noomi Rapace does a bang-up job, often literally, playing the seven Settmans. So does Glenn Close as a kind of evil Margaret Thatcher, and William Dafoe as the grandfather who does what is necessary. It's rare that a movie packed with so much action and roller-coaster ridings can deliver so much satisfaction, but What Happened to Monday does just that.
"DNA is the ultimate dossier"
For All Mankind 2.5: Johnny and the Wrath of Kahn
Another good episode of For All Mankind tonight -- 2.5 -- with lots of time in Jamestown on the Moon, which is always one of my favorite places for this series.
And the touches of our reality which made it through to this alternate reality were also enjoyable to see. I especially liked Johnny's interviews with Tracy on the Moon, and Ed's mention of The Wrath of Kahn as a movie option. Good to see the Star Trek franchise thriving in this alternate history.
The scenes and stories back on Earth were, as usual, the least interesting for me. Gordo's condition is getting boring already. Likewise Ed's interactions with his family, and, for that matter, even Molly being tough at NASA. We've seen all of this, in slightly different configurations, many times in this series. It was good to see Ellen with her true love, though. She remains one of the most interesting, i.e., unpredictable, characters in the ensemble.
Back to Jamestown. Tracy's rough time there makes sense and was good to see played out. The scene between her and the commander of the base was fresh, as was the arrival of the military unit. As of now in this season's narrative, at the end of episode 5, the best scenes are the build-up for some big stories ahead. These would be US and Soviet relations -- on space and on Earth -- and the Pathfinder mission to Mars. I'm looking forward to seeing those happen. In the meantime, the best thing about this second season, as I mentioned last week, is the feeling it conveys that what we're seeing on the screen is more than an alternate reality, and in some real sense actually happened, too. Kudos to the series for creating and stirring that excellent impression.
See also For All Mankind, Season 1 and Episode 2.1: Alternate Space Race Reality ... For All Mankind 2.2: The Peanut Butter Sandwich ... For All Mankind 2.3: "Guns to the Moon" ... For All Mankind 2.4: Close to Reality
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music
The One: Excellent Series about Imperfect Matches
I binge-watched The One (based on the 2018 novel of the same name by John Marss) the past two nights on Netflix and very much enjoyed the series. It’s a science fiction/detective hybrid, a genre mix that goes back at least as far as Isaac Asimov’s robot novels, and I’ve tried my hand at myself with the Phil D’Amato forensic detective series. The One does a good job of it.
The premise of The One -- that DNA profiles with sufficient detail and ubiquity can help you find your one true reciprocal love, resulting in irresistible mutual attraction if and when you meet -- is certainly appealing and provocative, and something which Sergio Pistoi who wrote DNA Nation would think is not implausible in the not too distant future. It surely seems not beyond the realm of scientific possibility, which is the sine qua non of science fiction versus fantasy.
But plausibility does mean free from wrenching complications, and therein lies the fun of The One. What happens when someone in a happily married couple finds his DNA “match” is not his wife? If a brother and sister have close genetic predisposition in the right ways, will sometime who is powerfully attracted to one sibling feel the same about the other? (Right, the matches that turn up in The One are not only hetereosexual.)
And there’s not just personal heartbreak but cutthroat corporate intrigue and murder at play in this volatile situation, which is where the police detective, Brit-style, comes in. Kate Saunders, a tough and smart detective who has found a surprising true match herself, is one of the better flawed heroes we’ve seen on the screen of late. She's well-played by Zoe Tapper, as is Rebecca Webb, CEO of the mega-corp that runs the DNA dating app, by Hannah Ware.
There are some weaknesses in the plot, such as why some people are a little better at resisting their perfect matches than are others, which is never quite explained. But if the mix of biological science fiction, high terrain corporate intrigue, and good old murder investigation is your cup of tea, I recommend a nice long sip of The One.
"DNA is the ultimate dossier"
March 16, 2021
Party Hard: And Find Truth and Jest
So, here's a movie I want to tell you about: it debuted at a drive-in in South Carolina this past September, I just screened it on Vimeo, and it's now streaming on Amazon.
Party Hard is actually not about a party per se, but a night of bar hopping and binge drinking by three guys in their twenties in Columbia, South Carolina. At its best, the movie evokes slivers of After Hours, American Graffiti, and Diner, and that's not all because Party Hard is some kind of period piece. It's because the interactions of three guys somewhere between throwing up and discussing Immanuel Kant -- with each other and the world around them -- transcend time. Or at least, most times. By which I mean, Party Hard is very much a narrative situated before COVID-19, and I hope not too far in our future as far as that pandemic is concerned, too.
One of the real standouts of Party Hard is the music, all by generally non-famous local artists. I really enjoyed every song in the movie, but my two favorites are Shadows by Boo Hog and Hey Beautiful by E. Z. Shakes. Hey, I'm in that kind of mood today.
The dialogue ranges from funny to profound, with the inevitable skullduggery and striving for wise-cracking in this sort of story (creds to writers William Nicholas Clay & Stephen T. Canada), and the directing by William Nicholas Clay is effective. The three guys are well played by Hunter Bolton, Brian Forbes, and Ty Rowe, as are the women in their lives (who have much smaller roles, Amy Brower and Elizabeth Jennings are on screen the longest). For what it's worth, I regretted that Chandler (Hunter) couldn't talk Lauren (Giulia Marie Dalbec) into ... well, see the movie.
To return to our off-screen reality: one of the unexpected consequences of the pandemic is the revival of drive-in theaters. But Party Hard will be enjoyed on many more screens than that.
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