Pop culture stuff
Feb. 21st, 2021 11:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Flora & Ulysses - this is the adaptation of a best selling graphic novel for children. I gave the book to my niece when she was about seven or eight. She has no memory of it of course, now that she is almost seventeen years of age. (I feel old and weirdly it feels like yesterday to me, but feels like a century ago to my niece. I've not read the book.) It stars a bunch of comedic stars, but focuses mainly on Flora and a live action animated squirrel.
Alyson Hannigan stars as the mother, and one of the actors from Community stars as a animal control officer who is attempting to euthanize the squirrel.
After a bought with a rogue robot vacuum called "Ulysses", a squirrel much to the astonishment and glee of an eight year old girl - is imbued with super-powers. He can type on her mother's ancient typewriter, understand humans, fly, and lift heavy objects. But mainly he's concerned with eating, pleasing Flora, and escaping from animal control.
It's a cute movie - I don't think I'm the right demographic for it. But it is cute. Also, nice twist, in that the eight year old girl is interested in comic books and her father is a failed comic book artist, while her mother is the bread-winner with romance novels.
2. WandaVision
Episode 7:Breaking the Fourth Wall - continues WandaVision homage/satiric parody of situation comedies. She's now, kind of up to date, with 00's breaking the fourth wall version of the sitcom or the meta-narrative sitcom. (This is my least favorite version of the sitcom - mainly because I don't like it when people stop and talk to the camera or get interviewed in the middle of a story as if it some sort of warped documentary. I find it jarring, and it irritates me. Which is why I don't like 90% of the sitcoms that have come out in recent years. I'm apparently in the minority - because most people love this sort of thing. I don't. I like there to be a fourth wall firmly in place, thank you very much. Which made me appreciate the satirization of it all the more - the writers poke fun at the conventions. At one point, Vision stops and says, why in the hell am I sitting her talking about this with imaginary people off-screen - this is stupid. And at another Wanda tells the people off-screen they aren't supposed to talk back.]
Also, it gets across the feeling of being trapped in a kind of mundane suburban existance and unable to get out.
Wasn't surprised that Agnes turned out to be Agatha Harkness, who is in the comics regarding Scarlette Witch. I was kind of waiting for it.
In the comics she's a powerful witch, portrayed as a sinister heroine and teacher of Wanda Maximoff, as well as being the mother of Nicholas Scratch.
Here's all her incarnations in the comics.
And that Angatha Harkness is behind what Wanda's doing, and wonkiness.
The series even does a wacky montage - with a song..."It was Angatha all along" - I think they are kind of riffing off of the Crazy-Ex Girlfriend sitcom vibe.
Anyhow, I'm loving Darcy, and whomever is playing Monica Rambeau, I've seen before. The problem is that Monica doesn't realize Agatha is behind it.
3. Miss Scarlet and the Duke - enjoying it for the most part, but the banter between the two of them is beginning to get on my nerves. They sound like squabbling siblings. Other than that - the mysteries are fun and the underlying arc entertaining. It's an innovative costume drama mystery series.
4. Palm Springs - film starring Adam Samberg, Cristina Milloti and JK Skinner. It's basically a ground-hog day concept or the idea of being stick inside an internal loop, and unable to get out. In this version - the only way out is to blow yourself up in the middle of the loop and it kicks you out of the box. It's a quantum physics solution apparently. Good deeds don't work, nothing else does. And there's really no root message except to make the best of things.
It felt a bit like a metaphor for the wealthy's tedium of a pandemic. For a majority of the film we watch Sarah and Miles hang out at a wedding neither wish to be at, attempting to deal with the tedium and the prospect of not finding a way out of it. Sarah eventually does, since unlike Miles, the eternal time-loop is impossible for her to deal with.
I was bored. To date the only time loop series or film that's entertained me outside of Ground Hog day is Russian Doll.
Alyson Hannigan stars as the mother, and one of the actors from Community stars as a animal control officer who is attempting to euthanize the squirrel.
After a bought with a rogue robot vacuum called "Ulysses", a squirrel much to the astonishment and glee of an eight year old girl - is imbued with super-powers. He can type on her mother's ancient typewriter, understand humans, fly, and lift heavy objects. But mainly he's concerned with eating, pleasing Flora, and escaping from animal control.
It's a cute movie - I don't think I'm the right demographic for it. But it is cute. Also, nice twist, in that the eight year old girl is interested in comic books and her father is a failed comic book artist, while her mother is the bread-winner with romance novels.
2. WandaVision
Episode 7:Breaking the Fourth Wall - continues WandaVision homage/satiric parody of situation comedies. She's now, kind of up to date, with 00's breaking the fourth wall version of the sitcom or the meta-narrative sitcom. (This is my least favorite version of the sitcom - mainly because I don't like it when people stop and talk to the camera or get interviewed in the middle of a story as if it some sort of warped documentary. I find it jarring, and it irritates me. Which is why I don't like 90% of the sitcoms that have come out in recent years. I'm apparently in the minority - because most people love this sort of thing. I don't. I like there to be a fourth wall firmly in place, thank you very much. Which made me appreciate the satirization of it all the more - the writers poke fun at the conventions. At one point, Vision stops and says, why in the hell am I sitting her talking about this with imaginary people off-screen - this is stupid. And at another Wanda tells the people off-screen they aren't supposed to talk back.]
Also, it gets across the feeling of being trapped in a kind of mundane suburban existance and unable to get out.
Wasn't surprised that Agnes turned out to be Agatha Harkness, who is in the comics regarding Scarlette Witch. I was kind of waiting for it.
In the comics she's a powerful witch, portrayed as a sinister heroine and teacher of Wanda Maximoff, as well as being the mother of Nicholas Scratch.
Here's all her incarnations in the comics.
And that Angatha Harkness is behind what Wanda's doing, and wonkiness.
The series even does a wacky montage - with a song..."It was Angatha all along" - I think they are kind of riffing off of the Crazy-Ex Girlfriend sitcom vibe.
Anyhow, I'm loving Darcy, and whomever is playing Monica Rambeau, I've seen before. The problem is that Monica doesn't realize Agatha is behind it.
3. Miss Scarlet and the Duke - enjoying it for the most part, but the banter between the two of them is beginning to get on my nerves. They sound like squabbling siblings. Other than that - the mysteries are fun and the underlying arc entertaining. It's an innovative costume drama mystery series.
4. Palm Springs - film starring Adam Samberg, Cristina Milloti and JK Skinner. It's basically a ground-hog day concept or the idea of being stick inside an internal loop, and unable to get out. In this version - the only way out is to blow yourself up in the middle of the loop and it kicks you out of the box. It's a quantum physics solution apparently. Good deeds don't work, nothing else does. And there's really no root message except to make the best of things.
It felt a bit like a metaphor for the wealthy's tedium of a pandemic. For a majority of the film we watch Sarah and Miles hang out at a wedding neither wish to be at, attempting to deal with the tedium and the prospect of not finding a way out of it. Sarah eventually does, since unlike Miles, the eternal time-loop is impossible for her to deal with.
I was bored. To date the only time loop series or film that's entertained me outside of Ground Hog day is Russian Doll.