Movies
A funny—often very funny—comedy that's entirely hogtied once it realizes that it has to figure out an ending. But hey, if we judged the success of comedies on the rubric of plot, we'd be awful short on good comedies (I mean, even shorter than we are now). What's important here is this: I laughed. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (but especially Tina Fey, who plays gloriously against type) are being their typical charming selves and having a great time doing it. It's not sophisticated or even all that internally consistent, but it's fun. Grade: B
I like Miyazaki in swashbuckling mode, which is a mode I didn't realize he had. I'd like to see more of Swashbuckling Miyazaki. He needs more movies where people are inexplicably pigs (he's got at least two). Still, I won't lie: the best bits of the movie are the ones that are in regular-old Miyazaki mode, tender and wistful and slightly mysterious. Grade: A-
Without a doubt the most upsetting 2016 movie I've seen so far and also possibly the first great 2016 movie I've seen (give or take Hail, Caesar!), Eye in the Sky is both not to be missed and not for the faint of heart. I'm really serious here: the bulk of the movie's plot revolves around the prospect of a little girl being blown up, so if you have any aversion whatsoever to seeing children in peril in movies, think long and hard about this one. I'm making it sound unpleasant because it is, but only in that way that any grim thriller is unpleasant—that is, in an absolutely necessary, profound way. It's a film about drone warfare, after all, which means that dives deep into the utter moral quagmire that is the War on Terror and the possibility that there truly is no such thing as "right and wrong" when it comes to that War. Postmodernism, it turns out, was not predicting society as a whole but specifically our modern military operations. Grade: A
I don't hear a lot of people talking about it, but surely this Portuguese drama is one of the best films of the 2010s. Seriously, I'm blown away. It's stylish, moving, literary (it has all the hallmarks of a novel adaptation, but it's not, which is kind of charming), and at once classicist and modern. It's that combined old-fashionedness and cutting edge that makes this movie such a delight: in many ways, it's a revival of silent film and '40s melodrama, but with thoroughly modern technical twists. For example, especially in the film's jaw-dropping second half, the movie cuts out the dialogue audio altogether but keeps the ambient, environmental noise, to sublime effect: it appears as though we are in a silent movie but without the surrealism inherent in draining the world of sound completely—the actors seem merely lost in time, which is keeping right with the themes of memory and history in the plot itself. Beautiful. Grade: A
It's a fun little action movie but not a great one: the fantasy feels a little thin and (though far be it from me to speak for a culture but still) possibly culturally insensitive. But Kurt Russell is a treasure in general, and specifically here, he's far an away the best part of the movie. The central gag of having him look and sound like an '80s action hero but giving him the grace and intelligence of one of the Three Stooges is hysterical. The rest of the movie isn't half so entertaining, but it's nothing game-breaking. Grade: B
Television
Fox's cop comedy continues to be one of the most consistent traditional sitcoms on TV. The inclusion of more cop-drama-esque storylines in the quarter of the season via ex-undercover-cop Adrian Pimento (Jason Mantzoukas, aka Parks and Rec's Dennis Feinstein) does a great job of shaking up what is, most weeks, a classic workplace comedy in spirit, and the final stretch of episodes is some of the best work the show has done. Elsewhere, the series consistency means that there's the occasional predictability and lull to the rhythms of the show, but when that's anchored by one of the funniest casts on TV right now, it's still lots of fun. Grade: B+
The only thing better than a fantastic rookie season is the proof that the sophomore season is every bit capable of keeping pace. There's a lot of 30 Rock here, which is good, but it took 30 Rock at least twice as long (and several missteps more) to hit the glorious levels of absurdity that Kimmy achieves on an episode-by-episode basis. Perhaps even more impressive, though, is that in the thick of all the jokes about Cate Blanchette (is she talented, or just tall??) and roller coasters, the show manages to preserve the human core that makes it all so endearing. If anything, the series manages to plumb even greater emotional depths than before with its portrayal of the psychological fallout of Kimmy's trauma. It's hilarious, bizarre, and sweet, which is just the way I like it. Grade: A-
Books (Plays?)
Sorry for all the parentheses and question marks. I'm frankly confused about Ted Hughes's involvement with my particular version of García Lorca's modernist play. The cover says, "in a version by Ted Hughes," which seems different from a simple translation, but the notes inside don't indicate what exactly makes it Ted Hughes's "version." Anyway, it's good, minimalist, politically charged drama with sharply human stakes. I enjoyed it, Ted Hughes or no. Grade: B+
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