Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain are here to take over your Sunday nights in Scenes From A Marriage
Plus, Billions, The Walking Dead, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the premiere of Showtime’s American Rust
TV Lists Scenes from a Marriage
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Sunday, September 12. All times are Eastern.
Top pick
Scenes From A Marriage (HBO, 9 p.m.): The Affair creator Hagai Levi adapts Ingmar Bergman’s influential 1973 miniseries (which became a Golden Globe-winning film) of the same name. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain star as the couple whose marriage crumbles over the course of the series. Playwright Amy Herzog executive produces with Levi. Here’s the trailer:
Oh, sorry, here’s the trailer:
The original Swedish miniseries the show is based on is streaming on Criterion Channel, if you can’t wait. Here’s a clip. You’ll also find the feature-length version on Criterion Channel and HBO Max. Chris Feil will recap.
Regular coverage
The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 p.m.)
Billions (Showtime, 9 p.m.)
Programming note: Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q is moving to Mondays.
Wild cards
American Rust (Showtime, 10 p.m.): Zack Handlen writes in his review: “Of all the bad choices made in American Rust’s first episode, the worst is also the least surprising.” (Damn, Zack doesn’t hold back.) “There’s a lot not to like about Rust, a dreary, well-acted, badly written chunk of misery porn, but it’s hard to get over just how wrongheaded the decision to spend almost an hour at the start of the series on an unnecessary flashback is… It’s a baffling structural choice whose only real justification is that, well, this is intended as prestige TV, and you can’t make prestige TV without talented performers looking depressed, mournful acoustic guitar picking over every other scene, and, oh yes, the completely unnecessary in medias res opening. An adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Philipp Meyer, American Rust tells the story of a young man with problems, and another young man with problems; the horrible crime they may or may not have committed; and the several people around them who also have problems which will inevitably be compounded when they come into contact with the aforementioned crime.”
2021 MTV Video Music Awards (8 p.m. ET, simulcast on MTV, MTV2, BET, BET Her, Logo, VH1, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Paramount, CMT, Comedy Central. Whew): As Shannon Miller said last year of this particular award show, “Yeah, we can absolutely detail the ways that MTV Video Music Awards has lost its luster over the years. (In fact, we have)… [But] it’s still managing to deliver some of the more outrageous musical performances in the industry, so we can’t exactly judge anyone for tuning into the 36-year-old.” This year’s VMAs will feature performances from favorite artists like Lil Nas X, Megan Thee Stallion, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. Catch them live, or watch for the clips tomorrow. Anyway, here’s Wonderwall “Industry Baby” to start out your Sunday right.
17 Comments
TUAYPCWI’m delighted that Legends Of Tomorrow stuck the landing this year, unlike some other Beeboverse series this year. It even motivated me to customize my Hawkgirl.https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2021/09/06/lot-remains-legendary-in-season-six/
The marketing for Malignant wants you to think it’s the horror version of Drop Dead Fred when it’s really an extended episode of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace minus the self-awareness.
How was your Pop Culture Weekend?Finally saw Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings after a colleague whose opinion on the Marvel movies told me he hated it. I found it pleasant, though I hoped for some small subversion because [character redacted] was very fun to watch fight.We watched the first episode of What Wd Do in the Shadows season three, because my wife watched parts of the Vampire Diaries and Twilight while I was working Saturday, and we needed an intentionally funny capstone. I continue to love Guillermo.I’m listening to Book 7 (A Crown of Swords) this week during my wheel of time re-listen. I still haven’t watched the trailer for the show, though I’ve seen that Rafe (the showrunner) went mostly practical effects for the monsters. Book 7 has some very cool monsters I can’t imagine doing as practical effects.
I feel like at this point I’ve seen way too many depictions of marriages falling apart. It’s the kind of stuff I thought all grownup movies were when I was a kid. Sad and serious and boring, that is.
I feel like a movie with a Disney Wars himbo arguing with his hot wife came out already
Holy cow, you’re right. Every part of that sentence is true. And then there’s also the movie where he writes poems and nobody gets divorced, but his wife is really annoying. I feel like that’s also in a similar vein (in that it is so, so boring).What’s the point? All these types of movies do is exhaust and depress me. I’m not entertained and I’m not learning anything new. Guess I’m not mature enough.
Heh, I was just telling someone yesterday the very first movie I ever saw after we bought our first VCR was “Kramer vs Kramer”. The consolation prizes were “Meatballs” and “Wrath of Khan”. Which is where I first discovered the delight of the “rewind” button.
Explain the significance of the rewind button in this story!
The first battle scene from Wrath was rewound many times. And any movie with naked boobs.
Gotcha. That sounds epic!
I mean, Wraith of Khan is fantastic and makes it worth it, IMO.Meatballs… i can’t imagine has aged well, but I don’t recall it being very good to start with.
I watched The Kid Detective quite fun, but also done in a very traditional film noire type way, but in the suburbs. A washed up slacker previously Hardy Boys esque kid detective is now an underemployed PI. When he was young the town was tv sitcom perfect, many flashbacks, now the town is fairly economically depressed. Potentially due to a case he never solved in his younger years or just time. The ending twist is lives up to the film noire genre it’s invoking despite being fairly tongue in cheek the whole time. I’d recommend it (and I still find Adam Brody quite attractive).
I had not heard of this. Curse you, hulu, for teasing me that it was available
Loved this. One of my favorite recent releases.
I watched Kate and it was largely awesome, thought it, like Kate herself, kinda petered out at the end. But seriously, just make the tagline of your film start with “Mary Elizabeth Winstead kicks ass as . . . “ and I’ll watch it and probably enjoy it. The fights were a blast, there’s a really fun car chase, and a killer Japanese music soundtrack. You could have swapped in pretty much any character actor for Woody Harrelson and lost nothing, so I hope he came cheaply!I listened to Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz probably 3 or 4 more times this weekend and it’s still worlds better than Donda and Certified Lover Boy so I don’t know why the general public’s music barometer is so wonky as to make those more popular than SIMBI to such a large degree. There’s also a live set and interview on KEXP’s Youtube channel that’s worth checking out: I played a game that I think was a mobile game port on Switch called Agent A: A Puzzle In Disguise. It was kind of a room escape game with a secret agent story and a fun art style and some good but not overly challenging puzzles. If you like those kinds of games, I definitely recommend it!
Ugh I hate hate hate in medias res openings. It’s a writing “trick” i’ve noticed become more and more common over the last decade. “I bet you’re wondering how I got here, well…”. *one week earlier*
Anyway, I caught up on AP Bio and am currently going through Central Park, which took me a few episodes to get into but I’m fairly invested now. It’s nowhere near as good as Bobs Burgers, but the serialized plots are keeping me interested. And the music, while a bit too frequent for my taste (seriously, like half of each episode is in song) but they’re actually very well done.I’m sick, so haven’t had the energy to play any games or the like.
Yeah, when I hear “Bergman remake” I think “Jessica Chastain”.
I have to say that I am greatly enjoying the new Fantasy Island. LaMonica Garrett doesn’t get to destroy universes, just relationships, but the character work is fun, and even when things go off the rails, Roselyn Sanchez has been given room to play that other hosts have never had.