Every Friday, I'll post some thoughts and news (and thoughts about news) on the worlds of film and tv. Mostly US, but some UK. Probably no Israeli news. Sorry, local friends. This week is gonna be light on news, as it's the first one and I haven't collected any. Next week, I'll add a proper news segment.
This week and next week, the two biggest things are one that's going up next weekend, and one that's finishing a season. I am talking, of course, about Black Panther and Star Trek: Discovery. By next week's post, I hope to have already watched Black Panther, and I will definitely have watched the season finale of Discovery. Both are likely to get their own posts.
Let's start with Black Panther. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 99% (100% from "top critics"), this film looks like it may be the best reviewed superhero film yet. This is no surprise. Ryan Coogler is an excellent director, and the cast is superb. Will there be more of the shitty racist backlash? Probably, yeah. Racists gonna racist. I am very much looking forward to it.
TV's version of Commander Shepard. Image: CBS
The first season of Star Trek: Discovery has received a decidedly mixed reaction, with some absolutely loving the show, and other finding it hard to connect with its harsher edges, as compared to past Trek shows. I am firmly in the first camp. This is, to my mind, an amazing show, one that explores space and humanity and the principles of the federation with remarkable depth and clarity. I have written this elsewhere, but to me, Michael Burnham is basically a version of Mass Effect's Paragon Commander Shepard, a woman who makes the tough choices, and takes on their consequences. She is an astounding protagonist, and she is surrounded by a terrific cast. In case you're some episodes behind or haven't watched it yet, I won't go in the many possible spoilers of this wild ride of a season, but I'll say I am very much looking forward to the season finale this Sunday.
Wide Release Films Opening This Weekend:
| Film | # of Theaters |
|---|---|
| The 15:17 to Paris | 3,042 |
| Fifty Shades Freed | 3,768 |
| Peter Rabbit | 3,725 |
Source: BoxOfficeMojo
I guess the main thing I have to say about the films opening this weekend is that I'm glad for Dakota Johnson that she's been freed from Fifty Shades. She seems nice, and I hope she has a great career.
TV Show Premieres This Week
| Show | Season | Country | Network or Service | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Cartoon President | 1 | US | Showtime | Sunday | 8PM EST |
| Homeland | 7 | US | Showtime | Sunday | 9PM EST |
| Here and Now | 1 | US | HBO | Sunday | 9PM EST |
| Collateral | 1 | UK | BBC2 | Monday | 9PM GMT |
| Mozart In The Jungle | 4 | Intl | Amazon | Friday | NA |
| Everything Sucks! | 1 | Intl | Netflix | Friday | NA |
I haven't cared about Homeland in years, and don't care about any of the others. Is anyone still watching Homeland? Anyone planning to watch any of the others? The most interesting show here is Collateral, a 4 part British murder drama starring Doctor Who alumni (who never worked together on that show) Carey Mulligan, John Simm, and Billie Piper.
Trailers
It's Superbowl week, so I am not even gonna try to post all the trailers that came out. But I will put in three.
Solo
Few things get me more immediately invested than the line "I'm putting together a crew." Because that usually means heist movie. Han Solo heist movie? I am SO IN.
Untitled Deadpool Sequel (AKA Deadpool 2)
It's not a great trailer, but it's Deadpool 2. You know I'm in.
Venom
I don't care about Venom. Like, at all. Casting Tom Hardy makes me somewhat interested, but I need to see more.
So, what do folks think of this format? Good? Bad? Okay? Any missing segments? Tell me in the comments.