Sense8 Series Finale Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

The second season of “Sense8” left its central characters — a “cluster” of eight “sensates,” or a slightly altered species of human with psychic powers — on the offensive. BPO, the evil corporate entity that’s been after the group from day one, has captured Wolfgang (Max Riemelt), and is experimenting on him. But the rest of the cluster took its own prisoner, BPO’s leader, Whispers (Terrence Mann).

And then some idiot at Netflix cancelled “Sense8.”

Luckily, the show’s fanbase rose up as one an demanded an injustice be in undone. Netflix heard the fans, and greenlit a movie length series finale. And I’m glad Netflix did this, because nothing could beat seeing the cluster join together to save one of their own, battle the evil BPO, and dance to a Depeche Mode song while traveling on a train.

The “Sense8” finale was one hell of a ride, and epic way to the end one of Netflix’s best shows. Almost every character we met over the course of the series returned for the finale. We saw familiar faces, and friends join the cluster as they tried to rescue Wolfgang.

Even more friends showed up to help take down the BPO, which we learn is planning to turn other telepathically linked people into an army of zombie-drone assassins thanks to Whispers (Terrence Mann), the Chairman of BPO, and Lila (Valeria Bilello).

The complicated plot of the finale was interesting, kept you guessing, and led to some amazing action sequences. My personal favorite was a gun battle as the cluster tries to take down Lila’s army. But “Sense8” was always at its best when it focused on the emotional part of things, and the finale is no exception.

Above anything else though, the series finale was a story about love. Not just love between characters like Nomi (Jamie Clayton) and Amanita “Neets” Caplan (Freema Agyeman), but love between all eight members of the cluster, and all their friends.

One of my favorite things about this show was how they never once judge one an other, and how their friends and loved ones never think they’re crazy. Even Nomi’s family make a return appearance int he finale, and it was great to see them all hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

“Amor Vincit Omnia,” was the perfect ending to one of the most creative, unique, and entertaining series I’ve ever seen. Maybe one or two of the character could have done more, but this episode still has everything I could have asked for, and in true “Sense8” fashion, there’s an orgy.

While I’m said to see this show go, I’m very happy it got a chance to wrap things up in such a wonderful way.

“Sense8” finale score: A

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Cloak & Dagger Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

Marvel’s “Cloak & Dagger” series on Freeform begins when its lead characters, Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen were children. The opening minutes of the premiers episode goes back and forth showing the viewer the tragic events the characters experience on the day their lives would be inextricably linked forever. On this fateful night, Tyrone and Tandy each lose someone important in their lives. The events build to an impressive climax where we witness the first connection between the two characters.

The series then turns to present day New Orleans, where Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph) is a star athlete at a private high school who has never really come to grips with the events of that tragic night years ago. The same can be said for Tandy (Olivia Holt), who has gone from a life of wealth to a life of crime with her boyfriend.

However, Tyrone and Tandy’s lives are forever changed when the two encounter each other at a high school party. This brief meeting unlocks powers neither Tandy or Tyrone knew they possessed.

I had really low expectations going into “Cloak & Dagger.” Not because I don’t like the characters, but because Marvel’s tv output has been rather Meh for the last couple of years. However, I am pleased to say “Cloak & Dagger” won me over with its solid acting, and impressive cinematography and use of music.

Shocking, right?

“Cloak & Dagger” just looks and feels different from other Marvel shows. None of it looks like it was shot in a studio, and to me that added a lot to the world building in the first couple of episodes. Even the drama of the first few minutes is realistic, and it had me from the start. This is not a CW teen drama, it’s a lot better than that.

The first two episodes of “Cloak & Dagger” focuses on its characters’ domestic situations rather than the powers Tyrone and Tandy are exhibiting. Some fans might find this boring and slow, but I enjoyed it. Not only does it ground the story in the real world, but by spending so much time in their lives, we also become attached to Tyrone and Tandy.

It was also interesting to see how the lives of both leads changed so dramatically over the course of a few years. Today, Tyrone attends a Catholic high school where he plays on the basketball team, while Tandy is a petty thief who spends her nights in an abandoned church and occasionally visits her deadbeat, drug-addled mother who steals money from Tandy to fuel her binges.

Easily the highlight of the show for me were Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph. Both actors are appealing young talents with a ton of potential. It’s hard to say what their chemistry is like, since they’ve only been onscreen together for about 4 minutes. Despite this, their acting is what draws you in the most, and I like what each has brought to their character.

I think one of the surprising strengths of the show is the restraint the show runners used. This easily could have gone down the typical superhero show trap, but allowing things to unfold slowly and naturally, it enhances what the main characters are all about.

That said, “Cloak and Dagger” isn’t a joyful series. If anything, this is actually a rather somber coming-of-age story of two teenagers deeply traumatized since childhood. Both are trying to heal in different ways, and its clear this show will take us through their journey.

“Cloak and Dagger” score: B+

 

Fall TV Trailer Park: Manifest

 

“Manifest” looks like it could be a very good show. The question now is, will NBC be patient enough to let this series play out as it builds an audience?

Lost in Space Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

Netflix’s “Lost in Space” is based on the classic 1960s family sci-fi series created by Irwin Allen. The series saw a family of castaways thrown into deep space along with a manipulative old doctor, a young hot-shot pilot, and an overprotective robot. The premise was the same for a 1998 film version, but the execution was flawed to say the least. The new “Lost In Space” on the other hand, is rather good.

The series premiere and follow-up episodes deliver an exciting, fun, and surprisingly dramatic, re-imagining of the original series. In the new “Lost in Space,” Toby Stephens stars as John Robinson. He’s a Marine and absentee father trying to re-connect with his wife and kids after spending years away from home.

His estranged wife Maureen is played by the always great Molly Parker. Maureen is a genius-level engineer and with John gone most of the time, she became the primary caregiver to their three children: Penny Robinson (Mina Sundwall) is the wild child, Judy (Taylor Russell) is only 18 but already a doctor, and finally there is Will (Maxwell Jenkins), the youngest member of the family, and the center of most of the action.

I wasn’t sure how the whole estranged family angle would work, but I found it to be quite effective and one of the show’s best plotlines. Having a divided family gave the Robinson kids the opportunity to develop rather quickly. By episode two we know plenty about each of the Robinson kids, including their strengths and weaknesses and their individual personalities. We also see how their parents fractured relationship is affectiong each kid.

In this “Lost in Space, the Robinson family find themselves on a distant planet, however, they are not alone. Along for the adventure are, Parker Posey as the new Dr. Smith (with a nice little twist), and Ignacio Serricchio as Don West. Unlike previous versions, this Don West is not a hotshot pilot, but a mechanic with a fondness for smuggling and a chicken named Debbie. Watch the show, I promise the chicken thing will all make sense.

But that’s not everyone stranded on the planet. The new series sees the family as one of many survivors of a colonization effort set for Alpha Centauri. When their space station is attacked, many families escape in their Jupiter lifeboats. Many survive the crash landing, but have no way to contact the space station.

This is a big change from the old tv show and the 1998 movie. I don’t know how long time fans will feel about this, but for me, the change works. It works in large part because it gives the Robinsons other people to interact with. Therefore, new relationships are formed; Doctor Smith can play more mind games; and new adventures are launched.

In the acting department, Toby Stephens is very good as John Robinson. Stephens has really improved as an actor since his dreadful work in “Die Another Day.” His character here is a complex one, but the actor delivers a solid performance as a never-say-die soldier. John is also well aware of his failures as a father, and is trying to make amends.

Meanwhile, Molly Parker’s Maureen is fiercely independent and easily the smartest person in the family. Quite often, we see Maureen working out a problem while at the same team teaching her children how she’s doing something. It becomes clear from early on that the kids have much more in common with her, than with John. However, Maureen is also willing to break the rules, if it can ensure a better future for her children.

I should also mention that Parker and Stephens have great chemistry even when their characters are bickering with one another. But the two were at their best when they find themselves stuck in one of the Chariots.

The same can be said of the Robinson children, especially in later episodes when situations force each of them to carry the weight of an episode. The standouts for me were Penny Robinson (Mina Sundwall), and Judy (Taylor Russell). Will on the other hand, got annoying. However, I don’t blame Maxwell Jenkins for this. I think the blame goes to the script which made Will extremely naive and borderline stupid. But I will say that the character improved in the last couple of episodes.

The cast is solid for the most part, even the other survivors were surprisingly strong in supporting roles. But when it’s all said and done, Parker Posey steals the show in “Lost in Space.” She is awesome as Doctor Smith, and she’s scary too. Posey had this look in her eyes that makes you believe she would kill anyone to achieve her goals.

For the most part, “Lost In Space” impressed me with its unique take on a classic. The character development was strong, as was the world building, not just on the planet, but for the space station too. With this show, Netflix has delivered a fun sci-fi family adventure that had plenty of twists and turns that left me wanting more.

“Lost in Space” score: A-

The Crossing Review

Possible spoilers ahead!

I have been a fan of Steve Zahn since I saw him in 1996’s “That Thing You Do.” But I have to admit I had a hard time picturing him as the leading man on the new ABC show “The Crossing.” In the drama, Zahn plays a small town sheriff named Jude Ellis. He’s only been on the job for a few weeks, but he suddenly finds himself dealing with an unusual crisis when hundreds of bodies wash up on a local beach. 47 of them however, survive, and that’s where the mystery starts.

The local authorities don’t find any signs of a crashed airliner or of a sunken ship that would explain where all these people came from. But soon enough the mysterious arrivals inform the sheriff that they are refugees not from some other place but some other time. They have come from an America 180 years from now, hoping to escape a great war and the “genetic overlords” that caused it.

However, before Zahn can get more answers from the survivors, his involvement om the case is curtailed by a higher authority in the form of Sandrine Holt’s Homeland Security agent Emma Ren.They don’t see eye to eye on much, but it’s clear from the start that both of them want to help the survivors however they can. But neither knows that the mystery of the 47 goes deeper than either of them could have imagined.

As I mentioned at the start, I’m a Steve Zahn fan, but I wasn’t sure he could pull off the role of the sheriff. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. Zahn was terrific in the part, and he looks better than ever. This isn’t the pudgy guy from “Saving Silverman” or the goofball from “Happy, Texas.” This Steve Zahn is in shape, and he’s a much better dramatic actor than I would have thought.

Also good in the series is Sandrine Holt as Homeland Security agent Emma Ren. Instead of going the usual route of a tough as nails agent that always goes by the books, “The Crossing” gives agent Ren a nice amount of heart. Yeah, she has bosses she needs to answer to. But it was nice to see that she does want to help these people. Holt and Zahn play well off each other, so I suspect the rest of the season may explore that relationship.

The rest of the cast included Rick Gomez as Ellis’ deputy, and Simone Kessell as a time traveler out on her own looking for her daughter. All the characters are appealing enough that I wanted to know more about them, especially Simone Kessell. The actors all do a good job selling the dialogue as the show’s main plot is explained from various angles.

All in all, I thought the pilot to “The Crossing” was well acted, well paced, and full of surprises. I like he premise of the show, and everything looked really good for a network show. Hopefully, ABC will give the series time to build and audience as the events unfold and build towards something big.

“The Crossing” score: B+

Baseball 101

As I’ve mentioned countless times on this here blog, I am a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan ever since I can remember. I was fan even when the Sox found new and mysterious ways to break my heart each fall during the post season.

But ever since they won three World Series, things are a bit different. I actually go into every new season with some hope that maybe this is the year that the Red Sox do it again. This season is not different, and I’m excited the Sox have a nice little winning streak going on.

But just when I thought nothing else in baseball could shock me anymore, this happened yesterday afternoon during the Sox home opener…

Wifey: Dinner’s here!

Me: I can’t right now. The Sox are down by one in the bottom of the ninth.

15 or so minutes later…

Wifey: Is the game over yet?

Me: No, but the Sox tied it and they’re going to extra innings.

Wifey: So who’s winning?

Me: They’re about to start extra innings

Wifey: That doesn’t tell me who’s winning.

Now I know how the pizza guy in Ferris Bueller felt.

 

 

 

 

Worth a Look: Housesitter

The summer of 1992 was a big one. Summer ’92 saw the presidential race heat up, and Barcelona hosting the Olympic games. This was also the summer Whoopi Goldberg became a nun, where there was no crying in baseball, and when Batman returned to the big screen.

But there’s also a little romantic comedy from this time that always gets forgotten:  “Housesitter.”

“Housesitter” was directed by Frank Oz, and starred Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. Martin plays Newton Davis, a Boston architect who has designed his dream house and in the opening credits asks his childhood sweetheart Becky (Dana Delaney) to marry him. She says no, and monthes later the heartbroken Newt tells everything to a waitress named Gwen (Goldie Hawn).

Learning that the house Newton designed is sitting empty in a quaint little New England town, Gwen goes there and introduces herself around town as Newt’s wife. She also moves into the house and furnishes the place, on credit and in Newton’s name. Weeks go by before Newt returns to the town and discover Gwen’s deception. But by then, Gwen has succeeded in making friends of Newt’s parents and his former love, Becky.

However, Newton immediately goes with the flow to get what he wants: a promotion at work, and to win back the love of Dana Delaney’s Becky. Gwen agrees to help him, an in exchange she gets to stay in the house. The two pretend they are married, then stage a phony divorce in front of the entire town. But of course, things don’t go quite as planned.

A movie like this shouldn’t work because both of these characters are lying most of the time. It’s hard to root for characters who are deceiving so many other people deliberately. But watching “Housesitter” in the theater, I got it. Newt and Gwen both want something, and working together might be the only way the each achieve their goals.

But what made the film work, was the great work of Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The two actors have great chemistry together and their one on one scenes are some of the film’s best. There are some great verbal fights between the two. Martin and Hawn also have one of the funniest scenes with the a reverend Newt’s parents bring by to help with their relationship “troubles.”

Goldie Hawn also delivers with some epic facial expressions throughout the film. Wheter its at the Budapest restaurant, or when she finds her fake parents, or when she tells Becky the story of how her and Newton “met.” Hawn’s meeting Newtons parents for the first time was also pretty epic, and sweet at the same time.

Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn are helped by an excellent supporting cast. Dana Delaney, Donald Moffat and Julie Harris as Newt’s parents, and by Richard B. Shull and Laurel Cronin (a homeless couple who are pressed into service as Gwen’s parents), all deliver wonderful performances.

what I also liked about the cast, was that each supporting character had something to do. By the time the film ends, each of them has played a part in some way shape or form in the main plot.

The final reason I enjoy “Housesitter” is because it was shot in my home state. The town scenes were shot in Cohasset and Concord, Massachusetts, two places I’ve been too mutltiple times over the years. Each summer I would go to multiple concerts and shows at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset.

The scenes in downtown Boston were shot near where I would eventually go to art school, including the scenes featuring the Budapest restaurant. The restaurant you see in the film, was an actual restaurant near the Prudential Center area. Although I don’t remember if the restaurant was named the Budapest or not, it was still there while as I going to school. I remember when it was announced it was closing, it was a big story because the restaurant had been around for quite some time.

“Housesitter” is just a sweet and funny movie, with a rather innovative premise. I wish more people would give this movie a shot because it really is a wonderful little comedy. The setting, and the town people, and the performances from Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn, all combine to make this one of the few romantic comedies I can honestly say I love.