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The Rehearsal Episode 5 (HBOMax): Things took a turn in this episode as Nathan finally confronts Angela about her beliefs and the fact that she teaches a very forward style of Christianity while steamrolling over his own beliefs. The last two episodes have put Nathan himself through his own methodology which has led to some interesting results. It appears that the show is starting to show Nathan his own oddities in an interesting way, even if it is more dramatic than comedic. That said, the comedic take does serve the show better than the dramatic.
Harley Quinn Episode 5 (HBOMax): The appearance of John Constantine (Matt Ryan reprising his role from Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Constantine, and any number of animated ventures), Swamp Thing, and Music Meister should be enough to get DC fans excited, however this episode also moves the overarching plot forward by separating Batman and Catwoman romantically while progressing Ivy’s plan to terraform Gotham City.
A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime): As an expansion of the 1992 film into a complete series, A League of Their Own does a great job of making the characters feel more complete, even in the auxiliary cast. With all the success that movies about sports have had since the inception of motion cinema, it is surprising that more serialized content does not come out about these topics. At the core of a sports story is usually an ensemble human interest plot and the best way to tell these stories is through serialized content.
The Black Phone (Peacock): The Black Phone is an interesting case where the movie does not dive too much deeper than the trailer. It is a story about a kid who gets kidnapped by a killer and has to escape by listening to the voices of past victims that talk to him through a disconnected phone on the wall. Ordinarily, the trailer giving away the entire movie (think Mission Impossible: Fallout or the upcoming horror film The Invitation) it is enough to blame the marketing team and call it a day, however in this case, The Black Phone introduces a bunch of cool concepts but leaves them on the table unexplored. There are times where a short story should just stay short and The Black Phone proves it.
You May Have Missed:
Before Sunrise (Criterion): Originally released in 1995, Before Sunrise is an interesting exploration of love through a movie that is almost entirely defined by the performances by Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. The movie follows the two of them as they have a chance meeting on a train and spend the rest of the night together exploring Vienna and talking. If someone likes Slacker or Clerks or the more modern “mumblecore” (which feels like a very dismissive way to name a genre) movies like Hannah Takes The Stairs or Frances Ha, this is a movie they should definitely check out, especially considering director Richard Linklater is considered to be the inspiration for modern movies in this genre.
A brief PSA for those who are interested, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has moved from Wednesday to Thursday so the premiere will be this coming Thursday, August 18th instead of the previously announced Wednesday, August 17th.
