The Crown (Season 6 on Netflix) * * 1/2

Starring:  Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Elizabeth Debicki, Dominic West, Lesley Manville

The final season of The Crown operates wondrously in the initial episodes leading to the death of Princess Diana.   The Crown and 2006's The Queen, starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, were both written by Peter Morgan, and it is refreshing that although the weeks and months following Diana's passing are covered, they are not simply repeated in the series.  Once Diana leaves the scene, the remaining episodes fail to find consistent footing.  We are left with Prince Charles finally marrying Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince William's troubles in college before meeting Kate Middleton, Prince Harry simmering in his envy of his older brother, and other less interesting subplots which feel more like playing out the string.

The Crown contains not one, but two meddling parents who want to be part of the royal family, even on the outskirts, so desperately that they nudge their reluctant children into pursuing relationships with Princess Diana (Debicki) and Prince William.   Mohamed Al-Fayed relentlessly harasses his son Dodi to go after Diana even though he is engaged to another woman.   Kate Middleton's mother is more subtle, and finds Kate is at least more willing to be pushed into a life with William.  Dodi likes Diana enough and vice versa,  but on the night of their deaths, it is speculated that their relationship was headed straight into the friend zone.  Then, the horrific accident came in Paris. 

As the series and the monarchy headed uneasily into the 21st Century, there is also the popularity of Tony Blair which eclipsed that of the monarchy for a time.   However, as Queen Elizabeth's reign reached record-length, The Crown begins to repeat previous themes, such as the relevance of a sovereign and how the institution can modernize.  The performances are uniformly excellent, even if the pacing is uneven.  

Season six says farewell to Queen Elizabeth and with cameos from previous queens Claire Foy and Olivia Colman.    Previous seasons were more deeply felt or dramatically more efficient, but season six works well enough as a finale.  

Bob Marley: One Love (2024) * 1/2

 

Directed by: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Starring:  Kinglsey Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, Michael Gandolfini, James Norton

Bob Marley: One Love must have been filmed for those already integrally familiar with the reggae legend.  Those who know little or nothing about him won't find many hints of why he was immortalized in music history or his personal life.   The movie is flat, without much energy or passion, two things which Marley had in abundance.   Kingsley Ben-Adir, who convincingly played Malcolm X in One Night in Miami (2020), plays Marley with a wink and a smile and not much else.  The performance, just like the movie in which it appears, drifts along without much direction or payoff, with dialogue delivered in impenetrable Jamaican accents 

The movie, except for brief flashbacks, at least spares us a thirty-minute setup in which Marley's childhood is examined.   The movie covers 1976 to 1978, two pivotal years in Marley's life in which he recorded his most famous album Exodus and became a worldwide phenomenon to match his already larger-than-life status in his native Jamaica.   When the movie opens, Jamaica's two top political parties engage in violent war against each other in a power struggle.  Marley announces a free concert for peace, but before that happens, he, his wife Rita (Lynch), and his manager are shot by home invaders.  Marley and Rita survived, while his manager died.  Marley attempts to perform at the concert, but the risks to his life are too grave and he and Rita separate strategically.   He and his Wailers go to live and work in London.  Rita and Marley's countless kids move to the U.S.  Bob says this will help him find answers, but mostly it allows him to smoke weed, record, and screw any woman he can find. 

One Love follows a recent musical biopic tradition in which the artist's most famous songs are written and recorded after instant flashes of genius.   "Jammin'" is written in about five minutes and performed expertly in one take.  Before you can say "Bob Marley", Bob and the Wailers are traveling Europe to sold-out audiences with Ben-Adir mimicking Marley's singing style.  Then, after a conversation with Rita, he returns to Jamaica to play the concert he only partially played two years prior, or was it just a dream that he played it?  The movie doesn't exactly make it clear.   There isn't an iota of power in this movie.   It just plays on the screen boringly and inertly.

Director Reinaldo Marcus Green's previous movie was King Richard (2021), which netted Will Smith the Best Actor Oscar, and while it is an ok movie at best, it's a masterpiece compared to Bob Marley: One Love, which has mostly evaporated from my memory.   The smoke from the endless amounts of marijuana smoked in the movie hangs around longer.   For a minute, I expected Cheech and Chong to show up, or I was hoping they would.

The Greatest Night in Pop (2024) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Bao Nguyen

Featuring:  Lionel Richie, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis, Dionne Warwick, Sheila E., Bruce Springsteen, Humberto Gatica, Quincy Jones

We Are the World has been both praised and derided as the quintessential 80's song, when pop musicians not only made hit albums, but raised money for causes such as Ethiopian famine.   The UK beat America to the punch with Do They Know It's Christmas in late 1984.  Harry Belafonte brought the idea to powerful show biz giant Ken Kragen to have American artists sing their own song to raise money to provide relief for starving Africans.  As The Greatest Night in Pop opens, Kragen was able to convince Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson to write the song which would become We Are the World and to record it with a group of superstars in one night-long session in January 1985. 

In the days before cell phones were in widespread use, Kragen had to invite numerous superstars to participate in the recording.  While Jackson and Richie wrote the song, Kragen determined that the night of The American Music Awards (which Richie was hosting) on January 28, 1985 would have many of the artists in attendance.  It had to be that night and that night only.  Jackson and Richie, who encountered numerous pets in Jackson's home including a snake, finished the song only one week prior to recording.

The Greatest Night in Pop is a document of a tense, wearying, but ultimately triumphant creation of one of the biggest-selling singles of all time.   The recording didn't start until around 10pm and the race was on to finish the chorus, individual verses, and fills before dawn.   The singers were exhausted, especially Richie and Bruce Springsteen, who flew in from Buffalo one night after completing the first leg of his Born in the U.S.A. tour.  Spurred on by Bob Geldof, whose Do They Know It's Christmas? was the precursor of famine-relief songs and eventually Live Aid, the USA for Africa group of performers fought their way through to deliver a powerful song which raised millions for the cause.  

The night wasn't without issues.  Prince, who was begged to attend by Richie and others, didn't appear after his idea of playing a guitar solo in another room was nixed.   Sheila E. felt for a while that she was only invited in the hopes it would cause Prince to attend.  Waylon Jennings briefly left the studio after Stevie Wonder suggested singing lyrics in Swahili.   Bob Dylan was apparent in his discomfort while singing among all of these other superstars.   Some recording equipment either failed or went on the fritz, causing delays.   These troubles were managed and navigated by Quincy Jones, who produced the single and acted as the glue (along with Richie) to keep things together and moving forward.

I have to admit that I listen to We Are the World after watching The Greatest Night in Pop and understand it differently.   The documentary isn't a glorification of these artists and saying what great people they were,  It was instead a moving and riveting film about a group of different musicians and singers coming together for a purpose which would ultimately save and improve lives.  When Lionel Richie finally made it home after a busy, wearying 24 hours, he was exhausted, but proud and exhilarated.   When the final product was released in late March, we knew why. 

Lisa Frankenstein (2024) * * 1/2

 

Directed by:  Zelda Williams

Starring:  Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Carla Gugino, Liza Soberano, Joe Chrest, Henry Eikenberry

Lisa Frankenstein mashes up several genres with mixed results, as you would almost expect when you combine macabre horror with teen comedy.   Zelda Williams' (daughter of Robin) directorial debut harkens back to 80's comedies with a movie that takes place in the 80's and feels like it was made then.  That's a compliment and one thing about Lisa Frankenstein is it aims to be above-average even if the results are not fully successful.

Lisa Swallows (Newton) is a high-schooler in 1989 whose mother committed suicide a short time ago and her father (Chrest) remarries a verbally cruel stepmother (Gugino) who is trying to have her committed. Lisa hangs out often in an old cemetery where a Victorian-era young man (Sprouse) has been buried for over a century.  Lisa likes the man's image on the headstone bust and one night, when she accidentally ingests LSD at a party, she stumbles her way to the cemetery, wishes that she could be with the man, and that night the reanimated corpse of the young man shows up at Lisa's house.  

This is where things, as they say, get complicated.  The man (who if I recall is never named) is missing body parts like an ear, hands, and even a penis.   Lisa and he then go on a killing spree to recover body parts which Lisa sews onto her new love interest and then places him in a tanning machine to enhance color and meld the parts to his body.   It is here where the movie transforms from offbeat to bloody comedy, but I suppose with a title like Lisa Frankenstein, this would be halfway anticipated.   

Newton has a funny way of moving, talking, and sometimes walking which is off-kilter and inspired.  Even Sprouse finds a method of making the man sympathetic and communicative even if he does little but grunt.  Lisa Frankenstein in some areas defies expectations while in others sinking beneath them.  

The Bear (Season 2-FX on Hulu) * * 1/2

 

Starring:  Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, Edwin Lee Gibson, Jon Bernthal, Oliver Platt

Guest stars:  Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Paulson, John Mulaney, Will Poulter

The first season of The Bear was a relentless exercise in dramatic tension which felt like a coil about to snap.  Its main character Carmen (White) is a reluctant sandwich shop owner who trained and worked as a chef in world-class restaurants until his deceased brother willed him The Beef.   At the end of season one, Carmen unexpectedly comes into beaucoup hidden cash and closes The Beef, promising it to reopen soon as The Bear.  

Troubles mount early.  Carmen takes on Uncle Jimmy "Cicero" (Platt) as his partner, but Jimmy wants his money back in eighteen months.  If not, he will assume control of the restaurant and the land.  And The Bear must open in a tight 12-week window, which considering the work the place needs, would be a miracle.   Carmen has sous chef Sydney (Edebiri) working along side him.  She, however, is much more nervous about failing than even Carmen is.   Carmen sends his workers to schools and other restaurants to learn the art of high-end dining.  This has the most profound effect on Richie (Moss-Bachrach), who finds his niche as a maitre-d for The Bear and a huge boost in his confidence.  He finds his place and Moss-Bachrach gives the most well-rounded performance in the cast and undergoes the most impressive changes.

The first five episodes of season two do not match the strengths of the first season.   With no restaurant open, there is more room for long conversations and confessions which doesn't always translate to a better show.  The sixth episode, a flashback to a dysfunctional, painful Christmas dinner with Carmen's family, is the first of the season to ratchet up conflict and tension to season one levels.  Then the episodes sag until the final episodes with The Bear's opening and a return to the nerve-wracking clusterfuck which is the restaurant business.   However, as a whole, season two is a comedown from season one.  

Argylle (2024) * *

Directed by:  Matthew Vaughn

Starring:  Bryce Dallas Howard, Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Dua Lipa, John Cena, Catherine O'Hara, Samuel L. Jackson

Argylle is not a movie as much as scenes killing time until the next plot twist or reveal.  It's whiplash to the tenth power.  The movie is bloated nonetheless, with whole scenes dedicated to trying to explain the plot, and overchoreographed action scenes.  At the end of it all, do we really care about the outcome?  

The main plot focuses on writer Elly Conway (Howard) who writes a popular series of spy novels featuring Agent Argylle (Cavill) as her protagonist.  Encountering writer's block, Elly boards a train soon to visit her mother (O'Hara) when she encounters a real spy named Aiden (Rockwell), who informs Elly she's in danger because her novels cut to close to reality.  Aiden thrashes a series of thugs while Elly helplessly (with her cat Alfie in tow) looks on.  Can Aiden be trusted?  He says he and his archenemies The Division, led by the ruthless Ritter (Cranston), are after a flash drive containing the names of agents from all over the world.  Wait, haven't roughly three-quarters of spy movies, including Mission: Impossible, already used such a drive as the item the good guys and bad guys are chasing?

Argylle contains modest surprises and an entire scene in which a retired CIA man (Jackson) explains Elly's true nature and why she writes spy novels, all while Ritter relentlessly pursues her and Aiden and dispatching hundreds of nameless, anonymous assassins to kill their quarry and retrieve the flash drive.  One scene creatively shows an agent dispatching these poor souls by ice skating on floor frozen over like an ice rink.  But, Argylle mostly delivers a thud instead of thrills.  This is quite a cast to assemble for what feels like a warmed-over spy adventure we've seen more times than we care to count or remember. 

The Bear (2022-Season One) * * * 1/2

 

Starring:  Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Matty Matheson, Jon Bernthal, Abby Elliott, Oliver Platt, Edwin Lee Gibson, L-Boy

Carmen Berzato (White) is a former chef at a posh, demanding New York restaurant who now finds himself making sandwiches at his late brother's Chicago sandwich shop.  His brother Michael (Bernthal) willed it to Carmen after his suicide, which leaves Carmen and the others to pick up the pieces and try and run a popular dining establishment.  He would love to advance the menu beyond sandwiches in order not to waste his training.   His help include longtime staffers, cousin Richie (Moss-Bachrach), and new hire Sydney (Edebiri), a student who wants a career in management and the culinary arts.  

Carmen wants to rebuild the restaurant, called The Beef, but finds it is a dicey proposition.  Health inspector visits, unpaid invoices, and a visit from Uncle Jimmy (Platt), from whom Michael borrowed $300,000 and no one can account for.  Carmen attends Al-Anon meetings as a way of coping with his brother's death (caused by addiction).  He is a man unable to grasp his feelings and express them.  He can shout out orders to his staff and is in his element at The Beef, but what about when he isn't there?  Carmen has almost no time for a social life.   We see him, and most of the others, in the restaurant environment, which establishes their characters.  

Where The Bear succeeds brilliantly is capturing the sometimes unbearable tension of trying to fill orders, deal with unruly customers, deal with unpaid bills which threaten the shutdown of utilities, and Uncle Jimmy sniffing around asking for his money.  Plus, the longtime employees trying to learn and understand Carmen and Sydney's new system.   They are a makeshift family, but even they have their limits on their sanity and dealing with each other in a pressure cooker like The Beef.  

White, who has won multiple awards for his role, is a quiet center whose body language looks like a man taking on more responsibility than he can handle.  The weight pressing on him is immense, and he looks it.  Edebiri is gives us a fresh-faced newcomer to the restaurant business who believes her system will be a perfect fit for The Beef, until she finds out it isn't.  We hope she isn't worn down by cynicism. Ebon Moss Bachrach's Richard is a special case.  He wants The Beef to stay as is, and fears change, but also supports the crew even if it hurts him.  His face is full of pain.  Bachrach gives us a sympathetic man who acts tough on the outside to hide his pained insides.  

The Bear is listed as a comedy series and recently won Emmys in that category.  To me, it isn't a comedy, but it isn't hard drama either.  Like the characters, we maybe laugh so that we may not cry.