Lockwood & Co.
Rarely do you come across an adaptation that is perfection, which is probably why Netflix abruptly cancelled it. They couldn't see genius right in front of them that they commissioned and instead just made more Bridgerton. Not that I have anything against Bridgerton as a cultural phenomena, I have very highly specific issues which if I was to livestream would be me yelling about the music and sticking closer to the books. I love those books. But this review isn't about Bridgerton. Seriously it isn't. OK it is a little because Ruby Stokes quit playing Francesca on Bridgerton to play Lucy on Lockwood and Co.. But I swear that's the end of it. This is about the genius of Joe Cornish's adaptation of Jonathan Stroud's books. He literally brought the books to life. I know that's a cliched, hackneyed phrase, but do you really realize how rare of an occurrence this is? There are millions of adaptations out there, and many that I like, and a few that I love, but rarely does it happen where the book and the adaptation feel so aligned that the changes made don't annoy me. You could go in the opposite direction and pull a William Goldman, but I honestly think that William Goldman and both of his versions of The Princess Bride are a once in a lifetime event. And to have someone who isn't Andrew Davies pull it off? Well, tip of the hat to you Mr. Cornish. Though I shouldn't have been surprised once I realized so much of the production team were friends and colleagues of Edgar Wright and they did nail his flare for the perfect song at the perfect moment. From the second the opening credits rolled I knew this show was for me. Not only did it give background on The Problem with amazing infographics that I would have killed to have been talented enough to design, but the music has this Unsolved Mysteries meets The X-Files vibe that made me not only not "skip intro" but occasionally I'd watch them more than once. But this isn't a case where a bad show has amazing credits, looking at you final few seasons of Mad Men, the quality of the credits carried through to the show. The casting was perfect, the set, while it wasn't how I had pictured 35 Portland Row it was still 35 Portland Row. And as for how they were able to maintain Lucy's voice through her tape recorder taking the place of her first person narration, genius. I mean, if you want to quibble, some of my friends think that the show could have done a better setup with describing the different levels of ghosts, but seeing as I've read the books I don't think I'm able to speak to that because I've read the accompanying glossary in every volume so these facts are ingrained in me now. I'll say that I wish George had been more body positive, but at least with casting Ali Hadji-Heshmati they were able to still show inclusivity. Also Lucy tends to drop her sword a bit too much. And the pacing was a little too breakneck... But as you can see these are literally nitpicking. Because while Louise Brealey skeeved me out, she was meant to! I just am bereft that there is going to be no more of this show. I mean, it's not as bad as say the fate of Willow, I still have the books so I know how the story ends, but this, THIS was something special. This was it for me.
I don't know if people today realize how ubiquitous Chippendales was. Most people are probably more familiar with the SNL sketch with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley that to this day I have issues with because of it's lack of body positivity and it's blanket statement that overweight people are there to be laughed at not applauded for. Or as Bob Odenkirk succinctly said "fuck that sketch." People who went to Chippendales would flash there keychains to everyone as a mark of pride. It was wholesome naughtiness that was coming to your town with a bus and billboards to match. Because Chippendales was such a big part of the eighties and in turn my growing up there's a nostalgia factor that this series plays into. This is about the excess and the success of the eighties, where a man could go from no one to someone based on a clever idea only to destroy it all because of his own insecurities. Welcome to Chippendales was near perfection with music, murder, true crime, and nostalgia all packed into a rather SWOL Kumail Nanjiani. All of this is captured perfectly at the very end of the opening credits when the music fades out and the video of the dancers is slowed down to a menacing level like they are hunting their prey. It shows how that which is fun can turn dangerous at any second, and that is a lesson that should have been heeded by many of the people involved in this real life story. But to be fair, you are tipped off to the train wreck that is to come when Dan Stevens, yes, Downton Abbey Dead Dan, is involved in a murder suicide at the end of the first episode. It's almost like this show knew what comforts me, and it's not a nice cup of hot cocoa and a fire, it's solving a good murder mystery while simultaneously being nostalgically drawn into my past. I'd get deaths and a slamming dance routine guaranteed! And let's not beat around the bush, Murray Bartlett is having a moment, between The White Lotus, Welcome to Chippendales, and The Last of Us, anything he touches is gold. His performance as Nick De Noia, the choreographer, partner and antagonist to Kumail's Steve Banerjee, the founder of Chippendales, was wonderful. The two of them are like lightning in a bottle, you can see how they each make the other better, not just as actors, but as their characters. They see a vision and they accomplish it and if Banerjee and been a little more humble or if Nick hadn't stolen the spotlight time and time again, who knows how this story could have gone? As it is it ends in murder. And here's the thing that amazes me, what magical and wonderful people did Chippendales have working for them that I had heard nothing about this growing up. There wasn't even a blip on my radar and yet there was so much going on. One could probably argue that in the eighties with the sex, drugs, and dancing, and the occasional arson, anything was possible, and for Steve Banerjee it was. Until it all came crashing down. The music faded out and the dancing stopped for him and Nick. But you can't deny that it's fabulous viewing. Turn the music up and let's dance!
What Waits in the Woods by Terri Parlato
Public Anchovy #1 by Mindy Quigley
Coconut Drop Dead by Olivia Matthews
I grew up during the height of Hulkamania, and yes, I am purposely misapply the name to the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno version of The Incredible Hulk even if it technically preceded the official start date of the Vince McMahon/Hulk Hogan propaganda machine by about a year. So Hulkamania, for me, meant that I was living a terrifying nightmare. The Incredible Hulk started the year before I was born and ended when I was three. Yet somehow I saw it. I have no fond memories of the show, watching a normal human turn into a giant green monster which I totally believed was real and was out to kill everyone was like watching my nightmares become real. In fact all my earliest nightmares involved superheroes who were evil, make of that what you will. Lou Ferrigno painted green with what was that, a wig, or did they just dye his hair green, was too much for me. To this day the opening credits are triggering. This has led to me never really liking the Hulk. I've seen none of the movies where Hulk stared, I've only seen the ones where he's a secondary character. Friends were like Ang Lee has made a Hulk film, you loved Sense and Sensibility so let's go! And that was a hard no from me. So yes, my decision to watch She-Hulk does seem like an odd one, because she's basically just sexy hulk, which to me is a total contradiction of everything I believe in. And also I'm not the biggest fan of Tatiana Maslany. I'm sorry, I just DO NOT get all the love for Orphan Black. I tried. I really did, but like the accents were too much of the comedic stereotype variety, and not in a good way, not that there's any way cultural stereotypes are good. And they're literally rebooting it, I just can not. And then the trailer for She-Hulk dropped. And oh my, the CGI fail was so hard it was ridiculous. Seriously, what was going on with her hair? Was she underwater? All this goes to show that I had no expectations of this show being in any way watchable so I was more than pleasantly surprised. I couldn't believe that She-Hulk became a show I looked forward to every week. She-Hulk!?! It's funny, it's irreverent, she smashes the forth wall and Daredevil! But what really sold me on it from that first night of watching was how Jennifer Walters was able to instantly control her ability to Hulk out because being a woman means you always are holding the rage in. This show was written for all the women out there who were like, nothing in the Marvel universe has spoken to me, it's too dark, it's too depressing, and it's not written for us. Which is why all the manbabies out there are freaking out over it. I'm sorry, but this show wasn't for you, it never was, it was for me, cheesy CGI that somehow fits the show's aesthetic and all. So in answer to the question posed by the finale title, "Whose Show Is This?" It's mine! Which means I get Wongers and Madisynn! Have any objection and I'll smash you!
I was not one of those kids, like Stephen Colbert, who spent their childhood immersed in Tolkien. But I hung out with those kids. And then things turned up a notch when I started college. One of my friends moved into a co-op called Rivendell and I finally read The Hobbit. And blasphemous as it is, I think that is still my favorite story. But it was the community of Rivendell that had the greatest effect on me. Soon four of my best friends lived in the co-op and I was acquaintances with everyone else. I spent more time there than I did at my own home leading to several housemates saying that I should just move in already as I practically lived there. Though I never did. But one thing that Rivendell took really seriously was The Lord of the Rings. Everyone in the house was fanatical about the books, taking it so far as to have a feud with fellow co-op Lothlórien, because down with loose elves? Loth did have a rather libidinous reputation. So when the the Peter Jackson films went into development everyone at Rivendell couldn't wait for the film to come out. I used the time between the announcement and the release to do some cramming, ie, I read the trilogy. Then when it was announced The Fellowship of the Ring was being released in December of 2001, that's when me and the Rivdendwellers started working on our costumes. There were cloaks, there were ears, there was everything you could imagine. Even my precious. And there we were on opening night being sucked into the world Peter Jackson brought to life. We were there the next two years as The Two Towers and The Return of the King were released. When Peter Jackson released his extended cut of The Return of the King we had a movie night at Rivendell in the dungeon-like television room where we watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer every Tuesday night. The Lord of the Rings was so much a part of my life for so long that I wasn't sure how I'd handle The Rings of Power. And it wasn't so much that Peter Jackson wasn't a part of it, I lost faith in him after The Hobbit trilogy, I mean he could have just made The Hobbit and it would have been good, but no, that didn't happen. But the cast was made up of so many British actors I like and from all the pre-release material it looked right. Yet it's best to go in with no expectations and no assumptions. After all, this was having to pull from the same source material as a beloved trilogy, so how could they make it work? The answer is Prince Durin IV. OK, there are other awesome characters, and Galadriel could have carried this whole show on her shoulders, and I was triumphant that I figured out who Sauron was before he was revealed, and I am still scratching my head about the Harfoots who are living contradictions because they never walk alone and yet leave people behind, but it all comes down to Durin. Oh and Elrond. Their friendship and their depth of connection and emotion shows what draws people again and again to The Lord of the Rings, friendship, or, in the words of Tolkien, fellowship. Oh, and can we talk about Durin getting a free table by making up a lie about the stone it was made of? It's how I'm planning on getting all my tables from now on; dwarven guilt. Say it with a nice Scottish burr.
Four Gathered on Christmas Eve by Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Becky Cloonan, and James Harren
Deadly Game by Michael Caine
My awakening to vampires didn't happen until 2001. Of course I knew about vampires, I just didn't seek them out. It took Buffy and William the Bloody for that to happen. But prior to that I wasn't in the dark. I knew who Anne Rice was because of an art class acquaintance who was obsessed with her books. I think she was actually the only Goth at my high school which makes me sad. There should have been more. And then you could not be alive in the nineties without knowing about the Tom Cruise Lestat casting controversy. But again, it was background noise. I didn't even see the Interview with the Vampire movie until it was on basic cable. Then I saw it. A lot. Randomly. It's one of those movies you just kind of watch some of and get drawn inexorably in. Eventually, as in only about ten years ago, I thought it was time for me to finally read Interview with the Vampire and I really didn't like it. Gave the book away didn't like it. What's odd is the only thing I actually remember about the book, other than hating it, is Claudia's death scene. That's very vivid in my mind. Also I kind of what to re-read it to see if it's really as bad as I thought it was, so it just goes to show I should hold on to all my books for ever and ever. Which makes it oddly strange that I was so excited for AMC's new Interview with the Vampire. But I was. And it was magical. It transformed the book into something more. The book became a starting off point and from their it grew to be about sexual identity, racism, family, justice, relationships, trauma, abuse, truth, as Louis says at one point to Daniel, now older, wiser, grumpier, and played perfectly by Eric Bogosian, we are on an odyssey of memory. And memory changes, becomes warped, distorted by love and hate. This adaptation is very insular, an almost claustrophobic little world, where thought and language and words are king. Daylight is never seen, everything happens in these opulent little rooms in New Orleans that look and feel like jewel boxes. You actually feel the suffocation that Louis feels while around Lestat. The words swirl around and around in your head so that after an episode you feel lightheaded, as if somehow they snuck into your house and drained you of blood while you watched. Every change is so much for the better that I can not praise the writers of this series enough. But the biggest improvement is when Louis refuses to talk about Claudia's rape at the hands of another vampire. He says that he will not exploit her pain. And that's when I realized the showrunners really knew what they were doing. Claudia's exploitation almost to the point of child pornography in the book is what alienated me from it and they knew they had to point blank say that this adaptation was going beyond the book, making it more modern, more thoughtful, and yes, even a bit more Grey Gardens. And if this entire adaptation just existed to give me Lestat and Louis as Big and Little Edie, then I say it was a job well done.
I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who remembers the miniseries Cambridge Spies. Starring Toby Stephens, Tom Hollander, Rupert Penry-Jones, and Samuel West as the famous Philby, Bugress, Maclean, and Blunt respectively. This was a whose who of top British talent that followed the infamous spies from their halcyon days at Cambridge up until they were exposed. Needless to say it was kind of a rose tinted view of spying. They had scruples but their idealism, their conviction that they were doing this for the greater good, outweighed the downside. Yes they would touch on issues like Burgess's alcoholism, but I think it was more because Tom Hollander plays a wonderful dipsomaniac than any darker import like guilt. I felt at the time that it was missing a beat. The DVD set I had rented had a documentary on it and I think that did a better job than the entire miniseries in showing how what they did was a betrayal of their country. They might have been idealistic fools but they were also traitors. Which is why I was so excited for A Spy Among Friends. Based on the nonfiction book by Ben Macintyre, this seemed like it would actually give us a version of the truth. Because the truth is that we will probably never know the whole truth. And even here, even in a world of "truth" we are warned that some things aren't as they seem. This miniseries gets to the heart of the old boys network by showing that the education and comradery forged within the upper echelons of British aristocracy was ripe for infiltration because in the world they moved in it was something that simply wasn't done. The question isn't how it was done or why it was done it's a more intimate look at two friends who come to the realization that their shared history isn't what they thought it was. Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliot was sent to Beirut to interview Kim Philby as played by Guy Pearce and Elliot let Philby run. Much like in the Watergate scandal there was some missing minutes on their taped debriefing and that lead to much speculation. A Spy Among Friends spins out what could have happened in that time and who is playing who. It's a cat and mouse game involving Russians, Americans, Britons, and old old friends. But by pulling back the iron curtain and seeing what Philby's life in Russia was actually like gives his crimes a greater weight. Was this the glorious life he was fighting for? And what of those he left behind and those he's reunited with? Through flashbacks and dreams, we see these two men circle each other. We see the same events over and over again through different eyes with new knowledge. The genius of this miniseries is that it relies on two of the greatest actors today, Guy Pearce and Damian Lewis. They bring a weight to this miniseries that makes every betrayal land a punch. You actually feel the dead Philby's legacy is propped up with. I don't know if I have ever seen a better Cold War thriller and the fact that it rests on the shoulders of so few yet talented actors shows that with the right people and the right material you can make magic.
The Final Curtain by Keigo Higashino
Seed on the Wind by Rex Stout
Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan
Cyanide and Sensibility by Katie Oliver
The Stage Kiss by Amelia Jones
Baring A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations is probably Charles Dickens most adapted story. Pip growing up and becoming disillusioned with the world has played out time and time again. And I have never really liked a single one of them. Pip, whether played by actors I love like Ioan Gruffudd or those I respect like Michael York, has always struck me as a prissy prig. He's holier than thou and thinks he has some divine right to the life he's been given. In my opinion the world would have been a lot better off without Pip in it. So how did Steven Knight trick me into watching another adaptation other than being Steven Knight? Matt Berry. That's right folks, I watched this entire adaptation just to see Matt Berry's backside. I didn't know I'd get to see his backside, it was just an amusing bonus. Though even if I hadn't tuned in for Matt Berry I would have been sad to have missed this adaptation because it is the best "adaptation" of Great Expectations ever. The quotes are there because while much was made in the press about Matt Berry's backside being supported by the text, the truth of the matter is Steven Knight kind of threw the text out the window. Of the three "stages" of Pip's life the first one is the only one to actually remain true in this telling, after that it's a free for all. And I for one am here for it! Miss Havisham obviously holding a quartet captive in her house since her wedding day so she can have mood music wherever she wants? While I'm only positing that that is how they're there, I am so here for this that I can't tell you how much I loved it. The fact that Miss Havisham gets to live AND give Pip a parting shot worthy of any eighties action star? Oh yes, more of this, this is the Miss Havisham of Jasper Fforde! Lord Larys leaving the Red Keep to disgustingly sniff snuff? I didn't know Matthew Needham was so comically gifted! But above all what makes this entire adaptation work is that Steven Knight was obviously sick of waiting around on Tom Hardy to make season two of Taboo, AKA the best television series that has ever been created, and decided to make his version of Great Expectations into Taboo 2.0. This is literally Taboo minus Tim Hardy with a veneer of Dickens and Matt Berry. In fact, can someone check to see if Jaggers is wearing Tom Hardy's coat from Taboo? Because I have my suspicions. And specking of Jaggers, he really is the star of this adaptation, and that's saying something because David Suchet has also played this role. Jaggers brings to the fore all the issues that Steven Knight finds the 19th century plagued with that he obsessively explores; slavery, inequality, maritime law, and revenge. This might ostensibly be Pip's story, but Jaggers is the star. But the biggest question at the end of the day is how does Steven Knight make maritime law interesting? Because I assure you he does.
Any fan of Good Omens or it's two authors will know the turbulent history of trying to get an adaptation of it made. Years and years of trouble and strife all for it to finally come together only because of Terry's death. His death hit me hard, it was one of the only times I've cried for an author and not because of something they've written. And Neil promised Terry that Good Omens would happen. Almost two year's after Terry's death it was announced that Neil himself was adapting the book to be a six part miniseries for Amazon that would be released in 2019. Later that year Michael Sheen and David Tennant (listed alphabetically using David's stage name) joined as the two leads. The show is jammed with the cream of the crop of British guest stars, so much so some people didn't notice a few recognizable Americans snuck in there as well. The show, like the book, is uneven. And don't get me started on France McDormand's narration as God. Never has someone so talented phoned in their performance so epicly. The show would be almost 100% better if they just edited her out. A lesson they took to heart in season two. Yet for me, and for most fans, the heart of the show is the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley. Season one's best episode is "Hard Times" and all it is is their relationship through the ages. And it is priceless. Because the friendship and love isn't just between the two characters but between the two actors. Michael and David have become the best of friends, so much so that during lockdown they created and starred in the award winning Staged, which is a fictionalized look at their lives. Therefore the second season of Good Omens had high expectations, because now EVERYONE knew that not only where the leads best friends but they shipped their characters. This show is unapologetically gay and fan service to the max, but that's why there is a second season, because of the fans. Season two works better than season one because it's on a smaller, more intimate scale. The main cast is just a handful of characters and it's all about finding love. Which makes all the Jane Austen references so perfect, even if she was secretly a criminal and to Crowley's shock, an author. But the show still has pacing problems. We spent way too much time with Job, but thankfully Aziraphale having the meat sweats distracted me a bit there, and I could have used even more Jon Hamm. Seriously, I hated his character in season one, but an amnesiac angel let him lean into his comedic abilities which he should seriously do more often. Has everyone seen A Young Doctor's Notebook? Because if not you should get on that right away. And for some reason, no matter how much I do love her, Miranda Richardson just didn't work. But all my problems fell away with the final two episodes. The whole show is about how people in power don't want you to ask questions. They don't want you to think that something they are against is a possibility, so an angel and a demon falling in love? It's the greatest protest you could stage. And stage it they did. So damn beautifully. That HEA was well earned. Sadly it wasn't for Aziraphale and Crowley. Which means if we don't get a season three someone will be hurt. It will probably be me.
The Great British Bump-Off by John Allison, Max Sarin, Sammy Borras, and Jim Campbell
Hop Scot by Catriona McPherson
The Mysterious Mr. Badman by W.F. Harvey
The Engagement Party by Darby Kane
The Night Side by M.M. DeLuca
Here in the Dark by Alexis Soloski
Murder in the Mist by Cora Harrison
The Curse of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong
Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore
The Wonder of It All by Barbara Taylor Bradford
This Spells Love by Kate Robb
Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura
Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor
After World by Debbie Urbanski
You might be wondering, why is she including Wednesday on her list of adaptations, it's not like it was a book...or was it? I'm putting this in under a technicality, because while Charles Addams created the cartoons for The New Yorker for the most part, they were later published in several books from Addams and Evil to Dear Dead Days. In fact I have a whole bookshelf groaning under the weight of all my Charles Addams books. There's even a cookbook which isn't for the faint of heart. I am an Addams Family connoisseur, I don't just have books, I have licensed artwork, Funko Pops, I have the entire Department 56 Addams Family Village, minus Fester with his light bulb and Wednesday and Pugsley with the guillotine, I have all the action figures, minus Wednesday, to the cartoon series, the SNES Addams Family video game is my favorite video game of all time and I can't count the number of times I've beat it, I have an original movie poster from 1991, and I don't know how many copies of the film I've gone through on different media from VHS to the "More Mamushka" Blu-ray release. The Addams Family is the story of my life. I remember a writing assignment in seventh grade that was actually Addams Family fanfic. Therefore Wednesday, well, it had to be something special to actually become a part of my own special Addams Family canon. I mean, Tim Burton was definitely the right choice despite not making a movie I liked since 2005, as was Jenna Ortega who proved her acting chops to me with her turn as Ellie in season two of You and I swear if they don't bring her back for the final season I will revolt. And yet I was hesitant to watch. I did't want to be disappointed. All my friends were texting me how good it was and yet I delayed, I mean the show went viral, that couldn't be good could it? Me, the girl who in 1999 had a Tim Burton film fest and who ranks The Addams Family with Raul Julia as one of her favorite movies ever just couldn't get up the nerve to watch the series. Obviously I wouldn't be writing this if I hadn't watched the show. And I enjoyed it. It wasn't phenomenal, but it was interesting and created it's own lore while at the same time paying homage to all the previous adaptations. The fan service was top notch, especially everything to do with the pilgrims, and if Christine Baranski doesn't get a role in season two I will weep. But here's the thing, the fan service is fun asides, or clever plot points, it never takes away from the whole. And Bridgerton could learn a lesson or two from Wednesday's modern cello covers. But what does take away from the show is the petty backbiting and a love triangle that's just too high school coupled with, but aren't both guys creeps? This makes it feel painfully YA at times and it detracts from the show. Just look to the 1991 version, that was rated PG-13, very close to the TV-14 of the show, and yet you never felt that it was childish. Perhaps with a teenage lead character it was bound to come across as childish occasionally, I just know they can do better, and I think Jenna Ortega agrees with me because next season there is going to be no love interest and more horror. Now that's what I like to hear. That and the sound of a well snapped finger.
