Just A Thought: A Look Back at STRANGER THINGS

I just finished the 3rd episode of Stranger Things, the beloved "blockbuster" hit Netflix show that filled the void that was the 2016 summer movie season. What little I saw of the show upon its initial release didn't really make that much of an impression. It seemed to me to be an '80s nostalgia trip, albeit a clumsily cobbled together one, relying heavily on its synth soundtrack and shimmering light title word intro, a la Terminator, in order to evoke a mood that the story itself couldn't really provide. Sure, the psychically powerful El and her three amigos searching for their lost friend Will is the compelling heart of the narrative, but what surrounds that main story thread is a jumbled mess. Winona Ryder as the high-strung Joyce, pining for her missing son, is so manically over the top from scene one, it feels hard to catch your breath whenever she's on screen. Jonathan, the creepy photographer loner pining after his popular co-ed Nancy, plays into typically high school movie stereotypes so blatantly you feel like you're watching outtakes from The Breakfast Club.

And there lies the real problem I'm having with the show so far: It's way too apparent how self-aware the showmakers were in playing into these tropes, and how aware we as the audience are supposed to be of said tropes. Even if these stereotypical plot lines are going to be subverted down the line, they've set a template that says, "Look at this throwback '80s-style show. Hear the soundtrack. Look at the goofy special effects. Feel the nostalgia." I think it was Don Draper who said nostalgia is a potent but tricky thing, and I for one don't like being browbeaten by a bunch of stylistic choices that I'm supposed to like because supposedly I'm a millennial pining for an era I didn't even live through. Or if something like this is going to work, it needs to be done with a far greater degree of skill and subtlety. (Think Drive). 


I've aired my grievances, and I'll continue on with Stranger Things, but I have my doubts as to what its all going to add up to. Maybe that's all you need to have a hit show these days: Something that acts like a time machine, taking you back to a place that wasn't really all that great to begin with. 

Brainstorming: WESTWORLD Episode 9 (The Well-Tempered Clavier) - WARNING: SPOILERS

Westworld writer and co-creator Jonathan Nolan, like his older brother Christopher, clearly has a thing for layers within layers. Since their film Inception, directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan and co-written by Jonathan, it's become almost a running joke about the duo's mind-bending film about dreams-within-a-dream: Does this even make sense? And does anyone really care if it does or not? 

Those are definitely the questions that began to flood my mind watching Episode 9 of Westworld last night, the second episode post-revelation that Bernard was a Host all along, information that perhaps devastatingly undercut his motivations in interrogating Dolores. If Bernard himself is doing Ford's bidding, then why is Ford bothering to question Dolores in the first place? That revelation left a gaping hole in the show, not to mention the increasing number of inconsistencies when it comes to Will and the Man in Black traipsing through Westworld in increasing amounts of danger without any of the park's security forces being concerned for their well-being (Are there laws in the future? Would it matter if they suddenly died in the park? And if Dolores is acting all renegade and crazy, why hasn't anyone other than Will noticed or tried to stop her?).

Indeed, there were a number of issues I had with Westworld going into this episode, and although I can't say that what we learned in this one turned my doubts about the show's direction around, it did offer some intriguing possibilities for the season finale. The centerpiece of this episode was Bernard's showdown with Ford, which involved him having the lobotomized Clementine hold Ford at gunpoint while he goes back through his memories, both real and programmed. Unfortunately, little is revealed that we didn't already know: His son dying, his relationship with (And murder of) Theresa, and finally, his first moment of awakening, where Ford greets him. Bernard's goal was to recover his memory of meeting Arnold, the elusive partner of Ford who we learned had been murdered in the park many years ago. Turns out Bernard is some version of Arnold, post-murder: Ford had programmed him as a replacement for his dearly deceased partner in order to keep a hold on running the park. Intriguing as this may be, it immediately shows the problem created when we learned Bernard is a Host; that we really can't trust what anyone says. Sure, Ford claims Bernard is a Host-replacement for Arnold, but when he shows Bernard a photo, we see Ford, Bernard, and an unidentified third man. Does Bernard look like Arnold, or is he simply a new body that holds some sort of simulated "Arnold brain?" Is the unidentified guy Arnold, or is it the guy who looks like Bernard? In the end, Ford goes on a convoluted speech about how him being held at gunpoint was really something he had planned for Bernard to do all along, hoping that Bernard would come around to having his memory wiped once again and rejoin Ford's efforts in completing his new narrative. Bernard refuses, so Ford has Bernard shoot himself in the head with Clementine's gun. Tragic...But wait, can't these Hosts just be repaired on a whim? 

That brings us to Maeve, the renegade Host hell-bent on freeing herself by blackmailing two gullible Westworld technicians by turning her intelligence and cunning settings up to 11. In Episode 9 she interrupts a narrative involving her dashing outlaw lover (Another inconsistency, considering there are no actual paying customers around to experience the narrative playing out. I guess those techs just really love fixing those Hosts over and over!), revealing to him the true nature of his reality. She claims she can free them both, which for some reason involves them going into a tent and screwing while Maeve kicks over a lantern, setting the tent ablaze. Apparently, they want to be all crispy deep fried when they wake in the real world and escape. 

Meanwhile, Dolores has some plans of her own regarding getting out of Westworld, and Will has fallen head over heels for her. It's too bad then that his soon to be brother-in-law Logan, back in action as some sort of Confederate general, learns of Will's desire to see Dolores out of the park and intervenes. Will, perhaps not acting entirely rationally, kills the entire Confederate camp serial killer style, and forces Logan to help him find Dolores. But she's already gone, off to the center of the Maze, which appears to be a small church. There she enter a confession booth, only to be taken down to an abandoned hallway full of offline Hosts, finally entering the interrogation room, and when Bernard enters the room, she greets him as Arnold and claims that she killed him (Cue gasps!). 

The intertwining storylines within the episode makes for compelling viewing, but there all still a lot of unanswered questions that one would hope to see answered by Episode 10. And on a side note, is that church really the center of the Maze!? That would be a huge letdown considering the sizable build-up we've had so far. It looks like we'll have more information in the 10th episode, as 9 ended with the Man in Black waltzing through the church doors, greeting a justifiably horrified Dolores. 

This is a good setup for finally learning about Arnold's intentions for Westworld, which appears to be the Man in Black's motivation for finding the center of the Maze. Bernard reveals that Arnold wrote much of his code (Although how could Arnold have written the code for a future version of himself? Did he know Dolores was going to kill him?), as well as significant amounts of code for all the other Hosts as well. The Maze and this additional code have been linked regarding Arnold's higher purpose for Westworld. But whatever that purpose is, Ford is taking great lengths to see it stopped. 

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Offers Plenty of Magical Thrills

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is for the most part, as the English say, “Brilliant,” a romping good time through the Harry Potter universe. Except, unlike the eight main Harry Potter films that have come before, Fantastic Beasts is set in America, roughly a century before our bespectacled hero undertook his quest against Voldemort. Beasts is the first movie extension of the Potter universe, and introduces us a whole new set of characters and, of course, fantastic creatures.

Eddie Redmayne stars as Newt Scamander, a wizard who smuggles in a suitcase of magical creatures illegally into New York City. The year is 1926, and the wizarding community is far more interested in protecting the secret of their existence from “No-Majs” (known as “Muggles” in England), than they are in preserving the fascinating, though often quite destructive, creatures that Scamander cares for.

Redmayne shines as the beating heart of the film, playing Scamander as an introverted loner who brims with a charisma fueled by his curiosity and mischief. As soon as he steps into New York with a suitcase overflowing with his chaotic beasts things seem doomed to go afoul, and no sooner is the proverbial (though in this case almost literal) cat out of the bag before he enlists Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger), a clueless but affable “No-Maj” who tries his best to assist Scamander in retrieving his beloved beasts. Folger also shines in the film, his gregarious energy a perfect foil to Redmayne’s withdrawn but palpable intellect.

It’s safe to say Fantastic Beasts is somewhat of a buddy film, and indeed much of the fun comes from Scamander and Kowalski’s comedic romp through New York as they try and wrangle up the assorted magical creatures. But the film has a decidedly political element to it, centering on the Magical Congress of the United States of America and their battle to stop Gellert Grindelwald, a wizard terrorist who commits heinous crimes in the hopes of making “No-Majs” aware of wizarding kind. It’s here that Colin Farrell steps in as Percival Graves, a mysterious auror (A member of an elite group of wizard police) who works for the M.C.U.S.A, and has an interest in finding a powerful wizard child hidden somewhere in the city. No more can be said without giving away spoilers, but the narrative links between Graves, Grindelwald, and Scamander are somewhat tenuous and at times confusing. It’s the films lighter moments that shine the brightest.

Fantastic Beasts is a must see for any Harry Potter fan, and even those who haven’t yet been inducted into the Potter universe, Beasts offers plenty of magical thrills. Redmayne anchors this effects-heavy film, radiating affection for his fantastic beasts in way that brings them all the more to life. In those moments, Beasts is blockbuster cinema at its best: For those looking for tears, thrills and laughs, this is the place to find them.