Yellowjackets, season 2
Showtime's Yellowjackets is one of the most addictive shows I've ever seen, with a cast of top-shelf actresses.
The gritty show takes place on two timelines: in the mid-90s when a high school soccer team's plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness and the survivors of the crash are forced to figure out how to survive in the unforgiving woods; and present-day when the now 40-something survivors must reckon with the trauma of their past and the evil presence that may or may not have followed them out of the woods.
Yellowjackets teases a supernatural entity that drives the girls' behavior in the woods without fully revealing what's really going on. Yes, the show is a lot like Lost (or so I'm told, as I never watched Lost), but hopefully the writers have a clear answer to what is happening and won't fumble the conclusion (which I heard happened with Lost). While season 2 was great and led to a truly devastating finale episode, sadly we may not see season 3 for a while due to the Writer's Strike (totally worth it for Hollywood writers to be paid what they're worth).
Also worth noting that the soundtrack for this show is ON POINT. Ranging from Tori Amos to Seal to Radiohead, the needle drops always manage to hit you right in the feels.
Grade: A
***
Barry, season 4
When season 1 of Barry aired in 2018, I would have never guessed the dark turns it would take. Created by Bill Hader and Alec Berg, Barry is a dark comedy about a hitman who tries to turn his life around by taking an acting class in LA. Probably the first hint that this series is going for something very different is the season 2 episode "ronny/lily", which has a completely different feel to the rest of the series thus far. It signifies a break in Barry where he begins to backslide into the sociopathic tendencies that he suppressed since starting his acting career.
By the end of the series, the audience knows that Barry, and many other characters in the show, cannot be redeemed and the only thing we can hope for is a just ending. Understandably, some viewers were not into the direction Barry went in, and even I (lover of all things dark) was a bit taken aback since the sardonic humor was more what I was looking for. But I think Hader and Berg had a strong, uncompromising vision and they were able to carry that out, which is something very special.
Even in its darkest moments, Barry has some really good humor. And then acting...oh, the acting! *chef's kiss*. Overall, a deeply worthy and deeply disturbing show that pulls no punches and leaves a bittersweet taste in one's mouth.
Grade: A-
***
Missing
Directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson (in their directorial debuts), Missing is a spiritual sequel to 2018's very, very good Searching. Both films take place almost entirely on screens and they both involve, well, missing persons. In Missing, Storm Reid plays 18 year old June Allen, who lives with her single mom, Grace (Nia Long). When Grace and her newish boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung), go on a trip to Colombia, June looks forward to a weekend of very much not-sanctioned by Mom partying. But when she goes to the airport to pick up Grace and Kevin and they don't show up, June starts to worry.
The film becomes an edge-of-your-seat thriller with twists and turns galore. It leans in to the almost soap opera level of ridiculousness, which is really to the movie's benefit. This is not a realistic movie, but it's definitely a fun movie and it managed to keep me off *my* screens for the duration, which is saying something! Highly recommended for a fun, thrilling time.
Grade: B
***
Love and Leashes
This South Korean romantic comedy about a man and woman who work together and develop a BDSM relationship held a lot of promise but sadly wasn't all that. Seohyun (yes, she goes by one name) plays Jung Ji-woo and Lee Jung-young plays Jung Ji-hoo (and yes, a lot of jokes are made about how similar their names are). They two work in the same office and when Ji-woo is accidentally sent a package meant for Ji-hoo and discovers a dog collar inside, it sets off a string of events leading to the experienced submissive Ji-hoo asking the inexperienced Ji-woo to be his Master.
Love and Leashes is a very cute movie, with no nudity and some very questionable BDSM practices. Namely, the two get up to naughtiness *in their office*, which made me really uncomfortable. Also, there are no scenes where Ji-hoo explicitly tells Ji-woo what he actually wants. She literally downloads a Master/slave contract from the Internet for them to fill out. Thank goodness none of the questionable behaviors were violent or involve consent being violated. They just involve ignorance and, frankly, foolish public play (which I guess leans into the "couple being quirky in public" trope that a lot of rom-coms have).
I'll give Love and Leashes a B- because it tried. It really did. There are not a lot of portrayals of Femdom in movies and TV, especially this more gentle, less sexual version of Femdom, so I have to respect that. And I'm guessing there might be some cultural stuff going on here...I've heard that Korea is a little more prudish about non-normative sex in films (please correct me if I'm wrong about that), so perhaps that cultural disconnect is playing a role here.
Grade: C+
***
The Last Exorcism
A thoroughly mediocre found footage movie about a preacher, Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), who has been performing fake exorcisms for years and decides to come clean by having a documentary crew film him performing one last exorcism and then revealing all his secrets. Unfortunately, he made have picked someone actually possessed to perform this final exorcism on.
The premise is actually pretty interesting, but the execution is just...regular ol' found footage. A lot of shaky cams and a teenage girl contorting herself into impossible positions. I think I just don't like found footage that much. I feel like these types of movies rest a little too much on the "inherent" scariness of found footage without also having compelling dialogue and good acting. If found footage is your thing, you might be into The Last Exorcism. Otherwise, feel free to skip this one.
Grade: C
***
From Hell
I am currently reading Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's epic graphic novel From Hell, which is about Jack the Ripper, and I decided to re-watch the movie adaptation (which I have seen before, but it's been a long time). I knew it wasn't going to hold a candle to the book and I was right! The movie, which stars Johnny Depp as Frederick Abberline, who is investigating the Ripper murders, and Heather Graham as Mary Kelly, a sex worker whose friends are being picked off one by one, really couldn't portray the evilness that comes through clear as day in Moore's book. Instead, From Hell the movie is just a spooky semi-true historical drama (both the book and movie present a theory about Jack the Ripper that makes for great fiction but is almost certainly not what really happened).
So, if you want to watch the movie and read the book, watch the movie first so you'll be less disappointed. And if you're only going to do one of those things, then just read the book. It's miles better.
Grade: C+
