Glenn Walker is a writer who knows pop culture. He loves, hates, and lives pop culture. He knows too freaking much about pop culture, and here's where he talks about it all: movies, music, comics, television, and the rest... Welcome to Hell.
The newest of the loosely based comic book shows debuted last week on the CW. One might say, don't they have enough of those over there already? And while DCTV mastermind Greg Berlanti is one of the executive producers, this isn't a DC Comics show, it's Archie Comics.
Now Archie and the gang have been translated to the small screen many many times, but only animation seems to stick, the live action attempts have flailed in the ratings and vanished. This time the showrunners have the characters and concepts solidly into the adult 21st century. Behind this is specifically Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa - the award winning writer from "Glee," "Big Love," the remakes of Carrie and The Town that Dreaded Sundown, dozens of comics, and one of the current heads of Archie Comics.
From the opening moments the first episode is very Lynch-ian, as if the intent was to do "Twin Peaks" rather than the Archies. Most of the characters are here, and well cast, but mood is very Blue Velvet and Shadow of a Doubt, a small town where innocence only hides darkness. The high school vibe borrows much from a "Beverly Hills 90210" feel, which is painful for us old folks as Luke Perry plays Archie's dad. Ooof. I'm old, but so is he.
Feeling old isn't the worst this show has to offer though. Before the opening credits even roll, we learn that Archie had a torrid summer sex encounter with Ms. Grundy. Yeah, they go there, but before you gouge your eyes out, this Grundy teacher is young and hot. Future episodes tempt us with Betty and Veronica kissing and Josie and the Pussycats doing a modern remake of "Sugar Sugar," I'm not sure which is the bigger outrage… I have to say I also kinda dug Jughead as the creepy loner/writer with the Silent Bob vibe.
All that said, the show is compelling and worth watching, especially for viewers out there cold turkeying for the new "Twin Peaks" and the lesser "Wayward Pines." However, other than a couple cool Easter eggs, and characters with the same names, there's not much here for Archie fans. I'll give a few more episodes. What did y'all think?
Almost as if the showrunners knew I had given up on the show, they open this episode with something to grab my attention. As they've been doing for most of the series, they dangle Patsy Walker in front of us as bait. I doubt we're going to get Hellcat, at least not yet (I still hold out hope for "The Defenders"), but they have given us Patsy.
The flashback begins with young Jessica waking up in the hospital after the accident that killed her family. Patsy is there in her red wig and her mother. We even get a bit of the "It's Patsy" TV theme song. It actually has a bit of the Josie and the Pussycats movie vibe to it. Any chance of that showing up on iTunes? No? Too bad, I know I'd buy it. It's only a it though, and then it's back to the same old dreary "Jessica Jones" business.
Searching through morgues looking for Kilgrave's father, Jessica discovers something else - Clemons, murdered by Simpson. Not only has Nuke gone rogue from Kozlov and 'the program,' he's on his drugs and looking for both Jessica and Kilgrave. He's gonna hit them like a, well, like a nuke.
Along the way, Jessica, working on no sleep, gets hit by a truck. There are good moments with Malcolm and Trish. Like Flashback Island on "Arrow," we get short but intriguing vignettes of Patsy and Jess as kids, informing the relationship. It's like watching an alliance be formed, explaining the strength of the current friendship.
Then Nuke attacks. He's powered by his combat enhancers and Jess is battered by her accident, so they are almost a match. He believes that she's lying, and that she's been protecting Kilgrave from the start. The fight is no hallway fight like in "Daredevil," but it's probably the best we've seen so far in this series.
But it gets even better when Trish shows up to 'save the day.' As ridiculous as that sounds, she does. Trish takes one of Will's reds and evens the odds. Between her fighting like a 'hellcat,' and Jess helping, they take down Nuke. Trish nearly loses her life by -I kid you not- forgetting to breathe, it works out and is one of the highlights of the episode.
The end of this one is a bit puzzling. Kozlov and other 'boys from the program' retrieve Simpson, so he's not out of play yet. And Jessica gets a text from 'unknown' saying they ran into her boyfriend. Jess immediately rushed to the bar in time to see it blow up and Luke Cage, aflame, stagger out. Cue credits.
Kilgrave is on everyone's minds and lips this episode but he does not appear, which is refreshing. I liked all the young Jess and young Patsy bits. And of course I loved my sadly non-costumed Hellcat moments. This was better than previous episodes, let's see if they're on a streak...
This past weekend we lost Casey Kasem, at the age of 82. He was an actor, announcer, voice artist, disc jockey, and television personality, and always seemed t be part of my life.
As a kid I knew his voice from Saturday morning cartoons - Casey was Robin, Alexander, and Shaggy, just to name the biggies. When I got older, and was obsessed with music and charts, I was a hardcore fan of "America's Top 40."
Let's not remember the shame of his last few years and his family who seem even crazier by the minute, but let's remember the man who told us to 'keep our feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.' Casey Kasem will be missed.
While there are a lot of good things about this film I left the theatre with a bad taste in my mouth. It was chock full of black folks/white folks humor and racial stereotypes that might have worked in the 1970s but feel distinctly out of place in the 21st century. I think it was best said by Steve Buscemi in Ghost World – that racism now and racism then are exactly the same it was just more out in the open then which I guess really means we’re better at hiding it now.
It’s wonderful to see Steve Martin doing physical comedy again. It seems like it’s been forever and a million bad movies since the days of the original "Saturday Night Live" and The Jerk. Great to have him back, age and numerous bad scripts haven’t diluted his comedic talent.
Queen Latifah is as good as ever although it must be said this is the worst I’ve seen her. Watching her tap and shuffle for a joke is disturbing at times almost as bad as Eugene Levy ("Second City TV") and Steve Martin playin’ homies. A hilarious yet racially motivated bathroom catfight between Latifah and Missi Pyle (who I absolutely loved in Josie and the Pussycats) early on in the film should have been a sign of things to come.
Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor of "Smallville") also does a nice turn as a back-stabbing ass-kissing lawyer (is there any of kind?). Check out his rug. Betty White is also a delight. I hated her on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Golden Girls" but here and Lake Placid she shines. I guess she ages well. And when the story turns decidedly dark and serious toward the end Eugene Levy’s witty presence is all that saves it.
Quite a bit of the plot however made me think I was watching an old episode of "Bewitched." We had Betty White as the snooping and disapproving neighbor as well as Steve Martin constantly on the run to keep a client on the run from his not-so-normal home life. Come to think of it Latifah did perform some miracles that nose-twitching might have been required.
Disturbing racism aside it’s a pretty predictable Disney family film in the spirit of The Kid and The Princess Diaries. Yep, Disney. I think of things like Priest and Powder (let’s not even mention Kids, oops, already did) and lighter fare like this and I get the feeling sometimes that old Walt is in a perpetual spin in his cryogenic chamber. I laughed a few times but I wished I hadn’t afterwards.
From the opening moments the first episode is very Lynch-ian, as if the intent was to do "Twin Peaks" rather than the Archies. Most of the characters are here, and well cast, but mood is very Blue Velvet and Shadow of a Doubt, a small town where innocence only hides darkness. The high school vibe borrows much from a "Beverly Hills 90210" feel, which is painful for us old folks as Luke Perry plays Archie's dad. Ooof. I'm old, but so is he.
