Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 120

Lovecraft Country 1.2: Malleable Dreams

I decided to watch Lovecraft Country 1.2 tonight - though it was on last night - instead of the first night of the Republican National Convention because, come on, you know which one was the greater horror.

But Lovecraft Country nonetheless had horror a plenty, which I'll talk about in a minute or two, after I go over two of my favorite ingredients.

The music in this series is brilliantly chosen.  I have to give a shout-out to "The End," because the one and only Jimmy Krondes wrote the music all those decades ago.  And, I actually wrote some songs with Jimmy, too, a few years after he wrote "The End".  Here's a YouTube video of one of them - Snow Flurries (#s 38, 59, 86 on this list were also written by Jimmy Krondes and me.)

The other stand-out ingredient is the acting.  I mentioned Jonathan Majors as Atticus, and Jurnee Smollett and Courtney B. Vance in other lead roles in my review of the first episode last week.  The second episode gives us a good  couple of scenes with Michael Kenneth Williams as Montrose, who is Atticus's father.  I've never seen an actor (includes actress) from The Wire in another role who wasn't excellent - I often think that series was the best ever on television - and it was great to see Williams aka Omar Little doing what he does again in Lovecraft Country.  My only regret is that I hope Vance's character (Atticus's Uncle) didn't die.

I don't know the story (haven't read the novel), so I don't know that he did.  But (and here we get to the plot) there's apparently a pretty good chance that anyone who is killed in Lovecraft Country can be brought back to life, if they were even dead in the first place, as long Atticus does what the powers that be want of him.  It worked with Leti (Jurnee Smollett) in this episode.  I'm still not clear exactly what's going on, but apparently a lot of what happens to people are dreams, illusion, or being under spells, which are more amenable to alteration and improvement than real life.

See you back here, I hope, next week.

See also Lovecraft Country 1.1: Racist Police Get Horror Comeuppance

 

 

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

We Hunt Together 1.3: Fine Tuning

We learned a lot about our major quarter of characters in We Hunt Together 1.3 on Showtime last night.

Baba doesn't like to kill.  In fact, he wants to recapture some of the small boy that he was in Africa, before being a child soldier claimed his body and a lot of his soul, and turned in him into a killer.  Freddie says she wants to help him in that quest, but of course she lies about just about everything.

Indeed, she wants Baba to do her killing.   Significantly, she doesn't follow through on her threat to kill the captive, leaving him instead for Baba to dispatch.  But she isn't angry about Baba when she discovers he let the captive go, because he wound up dead, anyway, the result of jumping out of nowhere onto a highway in the path of a speeding vehicle.  Does that tell her that God is on their side?  Possibly, though I doubt that Freddy much believes in any deity other than her own rapacious sense of self.

Meanwhile, Jackson is coming forth as a very likeable character.   His easy smile and laugh and overall manner are an excellent invitation to take his razor-sharp logic to heart.  Further, though he talks a good case for boundaries, he's on the clock almost 24 hours a day on this case, more than Lola, whose intensity and appetite for hard work is muted into unconsciousness brought on by the drug she takes at night.

Jackson's wife, though, sees how much he enjoys working with Lola, and would like to meet her.  Jackson so far seems like a straight arrow, but it strikes me that anything is possible in this unfolding story.  Jackson's ethics would almost no doubt enable him to resist of any of Freddie's flirtations, but what if he found himself alone with Lola on a long night, and she was in need of some sort of comforting.

At this point, she remains the most difficult character to categorize.  Flawed for sure, but not in a way that seems to compromise her reasoning powers as detective.  She's a fine match for Freddy, who isn't flawed at all - unless you consider being a psycho killer, along the lines Villanelle in Killing Eve, who also combines nonchalant humor and murder to a tee, to be a flaw.

See you back here next week.  I do wish We Hunt Together was streaming rather than being doled out on a weekly basis.  But I'll take it.

 
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Great New Review of Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time

 thank you Jon Pruett and Ugly Things Magazine

Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time  - digital, CD, vinyl

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

We Hunt Together 1.2: Upping the Game

A belated review of We Hunt Together 1.2, which really upped its game.

First, the killing team of Freddy and Baba got another two murders under their belts - or, in at least one case, up hanging from a tree - which is a lot more than the usual one you'd expect from serial killers in a single episode.  And our detective team of Jackson and Lola seem even smarter than in the first episode, or at least Jackson did.  Lola is revealed as a druggie, which may compromise her work (or maybe not, if we believe what Freud said about at least one drug in his Cocaine Papers).

But the point is that these two teams are pretty evenly matched in terms of wits, verve, and how they support and energize each other.  Which means we should be in for a good chess match in this series.

Significantly, the good guys at this point are pretty far along in realizing who the bad guys are.  The question, then, is what Freddy and Baba will do to evade being put out of business by the police.  Their formula, developed tonight, of killing someone to make him look the suspect won't able to last much longer - Lola's already on to them.

So what will they do?   Both killers think pretty well on their feet, and Freddy in her own way is a master strategist.  I predict that the narrative will soon take a dangerous turn, as either Jackson or Lola or both become hunted by Freddy and Baba.   I'll be back here tomorrow night, when the third episode is on, to tell you how this hunter and prey switching roles works out, assuming that's what happens.

 

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Lovecraft Country 1.1: Racist Police Get Horror Comeuppance

Finally had a chance to watch the debut of Lovecraft Country on HBO.   I was pulled away this past week by the Democratic National Convention, televised and virtual and truly inspiring.  And it was oddly appropriate that I did not look at Lovecraft Country until just a few nights before the upcoming Republican convention, which begins on Monday.  Creepily appropriate, because Lovecraft Country is a tableau of racism and horror, and that's pretty much what I expect to find in the Republican National Convention.  Would be nice if that meant I didn't need to watch any of those four blustering nights.

I know, it may not be good style to mix real politics and popular culture, but times have changed.  H. P. Lovecraft was a real author of horror, and a real racist.  Since I'm no fan of horror, I've never read much of Stephen King, whose progressivism is in an accord with mine.  So I certainly didn't bother with Lovecraft, and always found mentions of his Cthulhu at science fiction conventions mildly annoying.  

To make matters worse -- worse for my being anything like a knowledgeable reviewer of Lovecraft Country -- I haven't read Matt Ruff's 2016 novel by the same name, which explores the mix of horror and racism in a narrative whose hero Atticus Turner is an African-American devotee of pulp science fiction that flourished along with racism in the first half or so of the 20th century.  But I've always held that reviews of television and cinema by people who haven't read the novels are a necessary part of the critical process, because they can evaluate the movie or TV show on its own terms, rather than in comparison to the novel or short story.

So what did I think of the first episode of Lovecraft Country?  I liked it a lot.  It was fun seeing the racist murderous police get their comeuppance by another H. P. Lovecraft monster, the Shoggoth.   That was a fine metaphoric fulfillment of Atticus's appreciation of bug-eyed monster science fiction.   The genre is intrinsically a celebration of the unlikely hero, and it's a cool twist to make the genre itself a component of the heroism in this story.

I was asked a few weeks ago by Elizabeth Yuko, writing an article for Reader's Digest,  to offer an example of a science fiction novel that accurately predicted the future.  I offered Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy (to see why, here's the Reader's Digest article).  If Reader's Digest ever asks me to choose a horror novel that got the future right, I might well choose Ruff's Lovecraft Country, as a strong metaphoric example of racist police getting just what they deserve.

But I'll try to watch the rest of the HBO series first, which by the way has good acting by Jonathan Majors as Atticus, and Jurnee Smollett and Courtney B. Vance in other lead roles.

 

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Podcast Report on Day Four of 2020 Democratic National Convention

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 141, in which I offer my assessment of the fourth and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day One Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day Two Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day Three

Further reading (my blog):

Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 1 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 2 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 3 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 4

 

Check out this episode!

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Report on Day Four of 2020 Democratic National Convention

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 141, in which I offer my assessment of the fourth and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day One Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day Two Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day Three

Further reading (my blog):

Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 1 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 2 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 3 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 4

 

Check out this episode!

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Written Report on Fourth Day of 2020 Democratic National Convention

And the 2020 Democratic National Convention concluded tonight, very likely the most important political convention in our American history, because it nominated candidates for President and Vice President for what in many ways is the most important election in our history, upcoming in November.  Why so important?  Because it's the last and only chance to vote out of office a President who is the biggest threat to our democracy in history, Donald Trump.

This convention, as you know, was conducted virtually.   The reason, as you also know, was safety, with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging across America.  This would have been a very necessary compromise.  But I thought it came off so well, the virtual convention was in many ways so much better than the in-person convention,  that it thus was not only no compromise, but something, or parts of which, that should be done again, and become part of the basic structure of how conventions to nominate Presidents of our country are conducted and presented to our nation.

The virtual convention was better, I thought, in at least two ways.  First, the sequences of people across America, in the nomination roll call, in the endorsements and nominations, in the people talking about their struggles with racism, the pandemic, and their businesses, were the best way I've seen of putting substance to the "We, the people," the first words of our Constitution that were  adopted as the motto of this 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Second, I think talking into a camera in a quiet hall or room made for better speeches by the major speakers.  Part of the reason why I thought everyone from Bernie  to Obama and Joe Biden gave the best speeches of their careers was the clarity and intensity that the camera rather than a huge crowd affords the speaker.  I'm not sure this kind of speech making will continue when COVID subsides.  I hope it does.

The Democrats, at least in my lifetime, have always been the Party of the future, so it's only fitting that they trail-blazed a new way of conducting conventions in this age of COVID-19.

Now as to the content of this final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, it had many splendid, memorable moments, many of them bringing tears to the eyes and hope to the soul.  I thought the rivals segment was especially effective.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus as host of the entire evening was not only emotionally satisfying but laugh-out-out funny.  And the teenage boy in New Hampshire who stutters, and who explained how Joe Biden, who also stutters but has largely gotten on top of it, gave him some helpful advice was ... well, courageous and inspiring only do it partial justice.

And Joe Biden ... well, yes, he too indeed delivered the speech of his life.  Summoning all of America to join him in the battle ahead to reclaim America, and then set it on a better path. The great speeches earlier in the convention were delivered by people like Barack Obama who had delivered many an inspirational and eloquent speech before.   But I've never heard Joe Biden deliver anything like what he said tonight, masterfully written and masterfully delivered, in equal measure.

I can barely imagine, and don't particularly want to imagine, what the Republicans will do next week at their convention.  I can imagine the America that Joe Biden so powerfully described, and I'll do all in my power in the months ahead to help make that happen.

See also Written Report on 1st Night the 2020 Democratic National Convention ... Written Report on 2nd Night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention ... Written Report on 3rd Night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Report on Fourth Day of 2020 Democratic National Convention

And the 2020 Democratic National Convention concluded tonight, very likely the most important political convention in our American history, because it nominated candidates for President and Vice President for what in many ways is the most important election in our history, upcoming in November.  Why so important?  Because it's the last and only chance to vote out of office a President who is the biggest threat to our democracy in history, Donald Trump.

This convention, as you know, was conducted virtually.   The reason, as you also know, was safety, with COVID-19 pandemic still raging across America.  This would have been a very necessary compromise.  But I thought it came off so well, the virtual convention was in many ways so much better than the in-person convention,  that it thus was not only no compromise, but something, or parts of which, that should be done again, and become part of the basic structure of how conventions to nominate Presidents of our country are conducted and presented to our nation.

The virtual convention was better, I thought, in at least two ways.  First, the sequences of people across America, in the nomination roll call, in the endorsements and nominations, in the people talking about their struggles with racism, the pandemic, and their businesses, were the best way I've seen of putting substance to the "We, the people," the first words of our Constitution that were  adopted as the motto of this 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Second, I think talking into a camera in a quiet hall or room made for better speeches by the major speakers.  Part of the reason why I thought everyone from Bernie  to Obama and Joe Biden gave the best speeches of their careers was the clarity and intensity that the camera rather than a huge crowd affords the speaker.  I'm not sure this kind of speech making will continue when COVID subsides.  I hope it does.

The Democrats, at least in my lifetime, have always been the Party of the future, so it's only fitting that they trail-blazed a new way of conducting conventions in this age of COVID-19.

Now as to the content of this final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, it had many splendid, memorable moments, many of them bringing tears to the eyes and hope to the soul.  I thought the rivals segment was especially effective.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus as host of the entire evening was not only emotionally satisfying but laugh-out-out funny.  And the teenage boy in New Hampshire who stutters, and who explained how Joe Biden, who also stutters but has largely gotten on top of it, gave him some helpful advice was ... well, courageous and inspiring only do it partial justice.

And Joe Biden ... well, yes, he too indeed delivered the speech of his life.  Summoning all of America to join him in the battle ahead to reclaim America, and then set it on a better path. The great speeches earlier in the convention were delivered by people like Barack Obama who had delivered many an inspirational and eloquent speech before.   But I've never heard Joe Biden deliver anything like what he said tonight, masterfully written and masterfully delivered, in equal measure.

I can barely imagine, and don't particularly want to imagine, what the Republicans will do next week at their convention.  I can imagine the America that Joe Biden so powerfully described, and I'll do all in my power in the months ahead to help make that happen.

See also Written Report on 1st Night the 2020 Democratic National Convention ... Written Report on 2nd Night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention ... Written Report on 3rd Night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Podcast Report on Third Day of 2020 Democratic National Convention

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 140, in which I offer my assessment of the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day One Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day Two

Further reading (my blog):

Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 1 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 2 Report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Day 3

 

Check out this episode!

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music