Moonlighting is finally available to stream – it just arrived on Hulu. I loved its original run and I've wanted to rewatch it for years, but I wasn't willing to pay for DVDs. I was so looking forward to it. And then I streamed the pilot.
Was Bruce Willis' character always such a jerk?
I remember David Addison so fondly. Moonlighting made Bruce Willis a star. Was it just the way things were in the eighties? Will he be a real jerk in the rest of the series? Please tell me he gets less jerky.
ChrisB: I can’t comment on David Addison, but I have had similar experiences several times when I have tried to go back to the shows I loved in the 80s.
Hill Street Blues is still good, but in one of the first episodes, the young detective Bobby tells a woman who has just been beaten by her husband to give him a break and not press charges because he is under so much stress being unemployed. I turned it off. Similarly, LA Law. Now that I am a lawyer, the lack of any reality to the cases makes me crazy. I hope David improves. Moonlighting was a show I never really got into because I am not a huge fan of Cybill Shepherd.
Right now, I am wildly into Murder In... Set in small towns all around France, each show has a different cast, but almost all of the cases are exciting and fun to watch.
Adam D. Jones: I just watched The Blob (1988) and it might be perfect.
This movie gets it right. I was skeptical at first, because this movie contains every corny trope associated with horror films. But I quickly realized The Blob is leaning on those tropes and developing them, making a unique story with a lot of style. And a lot of fun. They also make the blob seem like an unstoppable force and not a silly gag. I have a feeling I'll be watching it again.
Mark Greig: I just finished watching the second season of The Wheel of Time. It has been a huge improvement on the first season in almost every way, and I say that as someone who enjoyed that season despite its faults. I'm really looking forward to season three now since we're they're getting into the best books of the entire saga. The standout were Madeleine Madden as Egwene and Natasha O'Keeffe camping it royally as Lanfear. I can't wait for the rest of the Forsaken to show up next season. I just love having a high fantasy show were the main bad guys are all dysfunctional comic book supervillains from a fallen sci-fi utopia.
Also doesn't hurt that they have all the best costumes.
I do wish though that Amazon would give them a couple more episodes, because it's still struggling somewhat to fit all of Robert Jordan's many plots and characters into eight episodes a season. There were some events and arc that needed more room to breathe, especially in the last couple of episodes.
Victoria Grossack: I am in a different market for a month and because of that, I have not been watching anything new. I have been rewatching (mostly falling asleep to episodes of) Seinfeld. So many things are so dated. So much before cell phones (and all before smart phones), Before we had to go through long security lines at airports. Wow, I am old! I still enjoy many of Seinfeld's monologues, though.
And I adored this exchange:
Telemarketer: Hi, would you be interested in switching over to TMI long distance service?
Jerry: Oh, gee, I can't talk right now. Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you later?
Telemarketer: Uh, well I'm sorry, we're not allowed to do that.
Jerry: Oh, I guess you don't want people calling you at home.
Telemarketer: No.
Jerry: Well, now you know how I feel.
Samantha M. Quinn: Adam, it is really interesting to see your take on The Blob (1988), I distinctly remember reactions to the movie at the time being horrified by how it is over the top gory and unlike the original. I have vague memories of watching it myself and being scared, I think I was pretty young and that was before I was into horror.
Speaking of horror, if you like a strong female lead and just enough gore to satisfy a horror movie junkie I would recommend three films I just watched: Becky, Wrath of Becky, and Totally Killer. Becky, played by Lulu Wilson (Star Trek: Picard) is a revenge movie about a teenager that is forced to go on a rampage when a gang of Neo-Nazis threaten her family. The sequel, Wrath of Becky, deals with the events of that movie in a fun campy and over the top violent way. To be clear, they both push reality in the best kind of B-movie way, but are not great films. I just enjoyed them tremendously.
Totally Killer is actually more of a comedy in the vein of Back to the Future (with a similar premise, I might add) combined with the self awareness and horror style of the Scream franchise. It stars Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as a teenager who has a strained relationship with her mother, who has never gotten over the brutal murder of three of her best friends that happened on Halloween thirty years prior.
I'd like to diverge just a bit and talk about something else that I have been obsessed with for months now, a musician named Ren. He is brilliant, and frequently creates videos that are generally shot in one-take and feature some incredibly creative imagery. His lyrics are hard hitting and real, feeling like a strange offspring of John Lennon and Eminem. His intricate lyrics combine Rap, Reggae, and folk music into something he dubbed Bardcore. He has been writing and producing music for over a decade, but just hit last year with the song I would recommend as an entry point into his music: "Hi Ren." The video deals with mental health and is very heavy and has frequent explicit language.
Direct Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_nc1IVoMxc
If you like the video I also recommend the following: The Tale of Jenny and Screech, Murderer, Suic*de, and the Money Game trilogy.
Adam D. Jones: Totally Killer and the Becky cinematic universe sound amazing. I need to look that up.
Since it's spooky season, I'm very happy to be back in the saddle with my Forever Knight reviews, which are the reason I started writing here. And I finally got to make a gif of my favorite moment in the series:
Mikey Heinrich: "Hi Ren" totally blew my mind the first time I saw it.
I just finished Stargirl, which was absolutely delightful. So totally free from cynicism and sweet. Segued to the second season of Yellowjackets, which is... not that.
And now I've just tripped over the news that Max has begun dropping the last six episodes of Doom Patrol with the first two dropping yesterday. With apparently absolutely no advertising or announcements of any kind. That would have been nice to know.
Oh well. Doom Patrol is back!! Briefly.
Shari: I'm late to the party again! I too just finished watching Wheel of Time and you are so right. Madeleine Madden's performance blew me away while Natasha O'Keeffe scenery chew was just delicious. But trying to shoehorn each of Robert Jordan's tomes into an eight episode season is an impossible task. At least they didn't have to deal with a pandemic and losing one of their stars in the middle of this one.
I also finished the final season of A Discovery of Witches. This has to be one of the few times when I felt like the show was better than the books. At times the author seemed to be more concerned with proving her bona fides as a historian than in moving the story along. The show was able to skp that and could use visual flair to keep the slow moving story from feeling bogged down.
Those two series complete, I've turned back to The Expanse. I'm still in season one of the show. Although I'm about to start reading book five. So far, I'm enjoying both.
Mark Greig: I really need to get back and finish off The Expanse books, but I've got a pile of other books I wanted to get through first and barely made a dent. Currently slowly making my way through the Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan and then hope to get started on The Song of Achilles and Circe both by Madeline Miller. Had hoped to reread Lord of the Rings at some point this year, but guess I'll have to push that back again.
Billie Doux: For what it's worth, I liked The Expanse book series more than the TV series, and I liked the TV series a lot.
ChrisB: Just finished the first two episodes of the new Frasier. As a rabid fan of the man (harkening all the way back to Cheers — yes, I am that old), I have been anticipating this show since it was announced.
What both Cheers and Frasier managed to create are superlative ensembles that could work either alone or together. I would argue that the opening moments of "Three Valentines" with Niles and the iron is one of the best examples of farce and hilarity on a screen of any size.
This new Frasier just doesn’t have the ensemble. It tries, it really does. But, it fell short. It’s not a terrible show, but it doesn’t have the flair that both of the originals did.
Adam D. Jones: I've been very curious about Frasier. And, yes, "Three Valentines" is a top tier episode, especially with Niles not even saying a word. Comic genius.
Mikey Heinrich: The best bit Frasier ever did was the fencing duel/argument with Niles and his wife's fencing instructor in which all the dialogue had to be translated from Niles in English to Frasier in Spanish to Marta in German to the instructor and back. Pure comic genius.
I will die on this hill.
Shari: The only thing you’ve convinced me of is that I’m in serious need of a rewatch.
Mikey Heinrich: I'm just going to say what we're all thinking. Agents of Doux weekly Frasier rewatchathon column.
Adam D. Jones: I'm in.
ChrisB: Me, too. It is pouring rain and freezing cold here today so I ignored everything else I was meant to do and have been watching my favorite episodes of Frasier. About to watch Niles and Daphne in the RV. Sigh...
Adam D. Jones: One of my favorite things is that they give Daphne a season to chase after Niles. It's not enough for him to get the girl. It's vastly more satisfying to see her fall for him, once he's moved on, and to see her woo him.
BTW, this is my favorite moment:
Adam D. Jones: Has anyone done a podcast where they watch every episode? That sounds like a good waste of time. Since I'm a frustrated writer, I've even come up with a sketch:
"Welcome to the We're Listening podcast, and we're about to toss your salad."
"You can't say that."
"Right. Well, at least one lucky subscriber can listen while I scramble their egg."
"I don't think that's appropriate, either."
"Oh? Then I guess you've...got me pegged."
"..."
"..."
"I hate you."
Shari: No argument here.
I'm afraid I remember David as always being a jerk. I know Glen Gordon Caron and Bruce Willis complained about Cybil Sheppard. I have read enough about Cybil Sheppard to think she isn't easy to work with, but I absolutely agreed with her assessment that the writing on Moonlighting was sexist and misogynistic and David treated her badly. They had chemistry out the wazoo, but boy did David put Maddie "in her place" at every opportunity.
ReplyDeletepercysowner, sadly, I think you're right. :(
DeleteI don't watch a ton these days, but after years of not watching much of anything, I've returned to catching up on old shows mostly, ever since picking up all of Doctor Who on DVD/Blu-ray up to Jodie's 2nd season, although I may never watch that season.
ReplyDeleteIt being October, and me being a fan of classic horror and Scooby Doo, I watched 2 more episodes of the New Scooby Doo Movies: The Caped Crusader Caper (with Batman, Robin, The Joker, and Penguin), and The Loch Ness Mess (with the Harlem Globetrotters). It's funny that I haven't seen some of these in at least 35 years, and I still remember some bits so well. Part of why I love classic and gothic horror is my early childhood being so heavily influenced by the old Scooby Doo!
I also am slowly trudging my way through my Universal monster collection. It's a mixed bag to be sure as it has gems like the original Dracula and Bride of Frankenstein, but also less than stellar ones like the Mummy's Hand or Werewolf of London. This week it was Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman which isn't great. I loved it as a kid, I mean how could I not? It has Frankenstein's monster AND the Wolfman at the same time! But, while it wasn't as bad as one may assume from it's approval from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (12%), the audience score of 56% is certainly not far off. It felt rushed at times, which is weird for a movie from 1943, where pacing was usually slower, and despite a tense and creepy intro, it never lived up to that again.
Other movies this month so far include Invisible Agent, which was good, although it always feels weird seeing Peter Lorre playing Japanese characters, it also had number one son from Charlie Chan as a Japanese surgeon! House of the Long Shadows wasn't great but it can't be that bad either. No movie with Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and John Carradine can be that bad! It was fun, if flawed and worth it for the cast alone.
And while I watched it last Halloween, I had to watch Corman's House of Usher from 1960 again as Vincent Price is sublime as Roderick Usher. This one is a classic horror favorite as it features such a creepy, claustrophobic setting and a very small cast (barring the ghosts of past Ushers, but they aren't in the movie much). It's slow paced to be sure, but I love slow buildups in horror, as it builds atmosphere and background, and it works brilliantly here.