PCP Vol. 2, No. 3: Atlanta, Academia & Aus Bake Off
Hello all,
Welcome to another Pop Culture Picnic! I'm really excited about this edition, as I can finally caught up on Donald Glover's wonderful Atlanta! What an excellent series it is. I cannot wait to start season two in the coming week. Also coming up, it's finale season as many of the shows I'm currently following are wrapping up in the next few weeks. Next week: RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season 3 and How To Get Away With Murder season 4. Both have had less than effective seasons, but I'm of the opinion that a strong finale can really increase my opinion of a show exponentially. Can that happen here? Only time will tell.
Films
Teenage Kicks (2016)
Craig Boreham's queer-themed film belongs to a hallowed of marvellously miserable Aussie dramas like Head-On (1998), Lantana (2001) and Galore (2013). Films like this are realistic and exude sadness from every shot, acting choice and music cue, but are nevertheless memorable because they stir deep emotional responses.
Teenage Kicks is one of the best Australian films I've seen in a while, because it makes you feel every inch of Miklos' painful coming-of-age journey, warts and all. Like the desperate, unending and unbearable horny feeling of a sexually repressed 18 year-old gay man, which springs up at the worst time. Never before have I seen something examine the consequences of a masturbating to the wrong thing so viscerally, as seen clearly in it's unforgettable opening sequence.
Teenage Kicks is also a gorgeous looking film thanks to Bonnie Elliot's cinematography and an attractive young cast (hey Daniel Webber! Haven't seen you since K-9!). But it's the story that makes this linger in the mind, because it feels so uncomfortably real. I wouldn't want (or be able to bear) if every Australian film was this shattering, but on odd occasion, the devastation feels like a breath of fresh air. Rating: B+
I've never been the biggest fan of the Friday franchise, finding it even more cookie-cutter basic and formulaic than Elm Street or Final Destination. Still, they're good for when you just want to turn your brain off for a bit and submit to some terror. Final Chapter is one of the better films, featuring memorably gory kills (most notably Jason's) and a relatively strong cast (Crispin Glover, Corey Feldman), but doesn't have a really kickass final girl (or boy) so it remains nothing more than a diverting slice of horror. Film Rating: B-
While I do have a soft spot for a good Blaxploitation film, especially one starring Pam Grier, this girls-in-chains film is a surprisingly dull and uninteresting affair. Grier and partner-in-crime Margaret Markov, are just so much more interesting than everything else going on, but the film seems intent on introducing weird subplots that detract from the enjoyment. As the film went on, I found myself yearning for even an inch of the passion and anger behind later, better genre standouts like Foxy Brown. Film Rating: C
TV Series (new)
Big Cats (premiered Jan 2018)
Three-part BBC nature doco series is fine, but an uninspiring narrator and a tendency to repeat material ensures this never enters Attenborough-level greatness. Also, it doesn't help that last year's excellent Planet Earth II covered much of the same ground (Leopards in Mumbai, the elusiveness of the Snow Leopard). Still, it's hard to dislike a series that introduced us to the adorably tiny Rusty Spotted Cat and featured a woman moved to tears at the thought of wild tigers going extinct. Series Rating: C+
My family and I finally caught on this wonderful little series and it's just so great to see such a conflict-free series. This show is all about friendliness and baking, so the contestants will often go out of their way to help one another. Their comraderie and complex bakes, the judges' warm, honest critiques and the host's amusing double entendres are the perfect ingredients for a delightful and very sweet alternative to much reality television.
It's another disappointing All Stars episode, one that not only fails to capitalise on last week's big twist (and bring us together in the face of RuPaul's comments this week) but also makes you wonder who's left for us to root for. I really don't know who I want to win and lackluster episodes like this one don't help matters. There's a strange political angle which never ties into the challenge and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it runway. The gimmicky lip sync helped liven things up but next week's season finale has filled me less with anticipation than relief.
TV Series (Classic)
What can I say about Atlanta that hasn't already been dissected by someone far smarter, and more suitable than me? As a young white dude, I feel vastly unqualified to talk about a series as uniquely and individually black as Atlanta, but I loved it so I'm going to talk about it. Cause you really need to watch this show.
Atlanta follows Earn (Donald Glover, also writer) as he tries to support his wife, Van, and be a good manager for his cousin, up-and-coming rapper Alfred. But it's never that simple. It confounds your expectations, throwing your understanding of story and character development into a blender and coming out with something gleefully surreal. It defies easy thematic classification, being about (among many other things) the difficulty of making and keeping money, the challenges of being a black man in America and the consequences of fame. But it's never all of those things at once, because it's too varied.
Anime
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. One of the most popular anime at the moment, My Hero Academia's first season didn't really connect with me. It may be the premise, Deku is the only normal kid in a world of people with powers (or 'quirks'), which reminds me of one of the great guilty pleasures, Sky High and acts as a kind of inverse of The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K. and Mob Psycho 100, two of the best anime I've watched recently. However, I have a feeling it's the short length. At only 13 episodes, there is just too much that needs to happen, too many characters and plotlines that need to be introduced that it feels like we're rushing and skimming past the good stuff. Complain all you like about the over 800 episodes of One Piece, but that extended episode count has allowed for complex character development and constant, detailed plot and world development. My Hero Academia can't help but feel lacking. Still, there are great moments (the Deku vs. Kacchan episode) and interesting characters (don't hurt my Kacchan or Frog Girl babies) have guaranteed that I'll be catching up on the (longer) second season very soon. Season Rating: B
Week-By-Week
This reliably amusing anime centres on Saiki, a ridiculously powerful young man who goes to extreme lengths to ensure his friends don't realise his secret. This week's episode concluded a two-parter about the gang getting shipwrecked. I've always been a fan of this series' attempt at long-form plotting. Each episode is made up of several smaller skits, so if an arc takes place over several episodes it's got to be something special. This was no exception, giving every one of the characters something wonderful to do. While it doesn't top last season's crazy holiday arc, Saiki K. remains a solid and very funny anime.
Coincidentally, the other reliably funny anime comedy I watch also had an episode which saw the cast stranded on a desert island this week. Mr. Osomatsu's humour is grosser and crazier than Saiki K.'s but that's often to it's credit, resulting in some absolute crack-up moments. Again, long-form stories are better with this series as well, and this week saw Osomatsu at it's zany, parodic best, culminating in an increasingly ridiculous final battle over toilet paper. To be honest, the second season hasn't been as strong as the first (which became something of a pop culture icon over in Japan), but episodes like this truly demonstrate what the series has to offer.
What have you been watching? Have you caught up on Atlanta yet? Let me know in the comments, and don't miss next week as I share my thoughts on the season finale's of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars and How To Get Away With Murder!
David Gumball-Watson
Comments
Post a Comment