Army Of The Dead is here with Dave Bautista, a heist, and a zombie tiger
TV Lists Lil Nas X. Dennis PerkinsHere’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Army Of The Dead (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “In a way, this B-movie on an A budget gets closer to the values of George Romero, the godfather of zombie cinema, than Zack Snyder’s actual, hyper-adrenalized remake of Romero’s masterpiece… And if these aren’t the deepest heroes, they’re still starring in a Netflix zombie flick about veterans left to rot by their country and with scenes set within an abusive internment camp in the desert. That the film doesn’t belabor or over-stress its political conscience is vintage Romero, in the best sense.” Read the rest of A.A. Dowd’s review of Army Of The Dead. The cast includes Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Tig Notaro, Omari Hardwick, Garret Dillahunt, Nora Arnezeder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Hiroyuki Sanada.
Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. (Hulu, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): “If anything, M.O.D.O.K. is more in line with the absurdist character-based humor of something like American Dad! or Rick And Morty, where instead of being a bunch of nonsense where nothing matters, it’s a bunch of nonsense that takes itself seriously. Some of the Marvel stuff is used to set up jokes that comic fans will appreciate more than others (famously annoying villain Arcade shows up and shouts, ‘I hope you like being confused!’ while laying out his needlessly complicated evil scheme, which is perfect), but that comes more from the show emphasizing a playful take on what these iconic characters are like more than just trying to score points with the nerds.” Read Sam Barsanti’s review of this animated stop-motion comedy here. The star-studded voice cast includes Patton Oswalt, Aimee Garcia, Melissa Fumero, Ben Schwartz, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Jon Daly.
Regular coverage
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.)
Saturday Night Live (NBC, 11:29 p.m.): SNL wraps up its 46th season with first-time host Anya Taylor-Joy and musical guest Lil Nas X. Dennis Perkins will recap the episode.
Wild cards
1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Fans of music, history, or just the human condition in general are advised to check out Apple+’s new engrossing docuseries 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything. Director Asif Kapadia (Amy) eschews the usual talking heads interviews for aural content laid over a multitude of fascinating footage, outlining the painful end of the optimistic flower power era and rise of rock music as both a welcome escape and a vital protest for a new generation. If anything, Kapadia almost tries to cram too much into the series’ eight episodes, leading to a pinball-like sensation of jarring topical shifts. In episode one, for example, we start out by learning that Chrissie Hynde was a student at Kent State during the 1970 shootings, move to the making of Marvin Gaye’s landmark album What’s Going On, view unsettling sights from Vietnam, and are reminded that John Lennon was under investigation by the FBI as a radical (the footage of Lennon in the studio making Imagine is vault-worthy). It’s a lot to process, but 1971 is still well-worth the effort, documenting the single calendar year that saw David Bowie morph into Ziggy Stardust, the Rolling Stones create their epic Exile On Main Street, Aretha Franklin release Live At Fillmore West, and Jesus Christ Superstar reach the top of the charts, to name just a few milestones. [Gwen Ihnat]
Solos (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): David Weil returns to Prime Video after Hunters with this sci-fi drama anthology that explores the depths of human connection through the lens of eight characters. Season one’s cast lineup includes Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, Uzo Aduba, Constance Wu, Anthony Mackie, Dan Stevens, and Nicole Beharie. Keep an eye out for Danette Chavez’s review on the site today.
P!nk: All I Know So Far (Amazon Prime Video, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): Michael Gracey’s documentary follows singer P!nk on her 2018-2019 Beautiful Trauma World Tour. It features a mix of footage from the road, exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews, and other personal material as she balances being a performer with her role as a mother, wife, and leader. Our own review from Alex McLevy says the film is “somehow both a little messy and entirely formulaic, taking a paint-by-numbers approach that never delivers anything that wouldn’t be included in a promotional video.” But hey, P!nk!
The Me You Can’t See (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m.): It’s the Prince Harry x Oprah Winfrey collab we’ve been waiting for. The docuseries features Winfrey and the Duke of Sussex discussing their mental health journeys and talking to high-profile celebrity guests like Glenn Close, Lady Gaga, and the NBA’s DeMar DeRozan.
Trying (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season premiere): The second season of this British comedy arrives and continues to follow Jason (Rafe Spall) and Nikki’s (Esther Smith) adventures as they try to become parents. The show also stars Imelda Staunton, Cush Jumbo, Ophelia Lovibond, and Sian Brooke.
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Devo also came out of Kent State at the time.
Devo’s creation was inspired and catalyzed by the trauma of the May 4,
1970, shooting of student protesters by the National Guard, for which
both Casale and Mothersbaugh, (along with fellow former KSU art
student/rock luminary Chrissie Hynde) were present. Two of the victims
of the violence (Jeffrey Miller and Allison Krause) had been friends of
Casale’shttps://www.kent.edu/art/news/remembering-may-4-interview-devos-jerry-casale
About 20-25 minutes into Army of the Dead and wondering if was Dowd drunk when he wrote that review for it where he places it on a pillar with Romero. I don’t recall any of the “vintage Romero” he compares this mess to starting with car BJs, heavy-duty trucks being taken out by crappy old cars, gratuitous T&A, and half a dozen cliches before the ending of the opening credits. Instead that was the stuff of “past his prime Romero” like Land of the Dead and those dodgy straight to video films.Even the opening montage is a mess of “filmmaker heard about social issue x but doesn’t really understand it” with cop shooting drunk black man assuming he’s a zombie almost immediately followed by scenes of ‘Murica as soldiers commit patriotic self-sacrifice in airstrikes and then you have discussions of internment camps followed by Sean Spicer (yes, former Trump Press guy) cameo.I don’t mind a dumb zombie action film but comparing this to Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead, or frankly even Snyder’s own remake of Dawn in terms of characterisation or satire of “having something to say” feels like a desperate reach…
Also what is up with the shitty focus in this film. It’s so appalling that you can never see anything more than 6-7 feet in front of the camera and at times even the person it’s focusing on is blurry. I guess it was so the still extremely obvious CGI Tig wouldn’t stand out so much but they failed on that.It’s genuinely hurting my eyes to look at on a 4k panel.
Was the fucking blowjob car filled with as well as built entirely of TNT?! How the fuck did it cook off in a fireball that fucking large?AND HOW DID THE SOLDIERS NOT NOTICE THE ONCOMING LIGHTS?! There was one fucking car on a straight road!Fuck this movie, that was all the dumbfuckery I will willingly accept in my day. I think I made it four minutes.
I’m just keeping it on because “I’ve come this far” but an hour and three quarters in I can say this is genuinely one of the worst fucking things I’ve seen in a long time. I couldn’t tell you who any of the characters are or why most of them are there and for much of the film they’ve just sat around doing nothing. The only fun bit has been when they used a zombie to set off vault security traps but that lasted maybe four minutes…Edit: And it turns out it takes one of its character deaths straight from that crappy Resident Evil film where a door they’re waiting for opens and immediately zombies kill the unaware idiot standing next to it…
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t get better.
Even the opening montage is a mess of “filmmaker heard about social issue x but doesn’t really understand it” with cop shooting drunk black man assuming he’s a zombieHaven’t seen AOtD yet, but could this be a reference to the ending of the original?
Definitely curious to read the review of Solos as the only two people I know who watched it both hated it but it looked like something I would love.
I’m going to assume that this is actually a stealth sequel to Bruce/Evan Almighty and Morgan Freeman is still playing God.