The Suggestion Box #106: Devils, and Kaiju, and Divas, Oh My!

Posted on by Lauren

Wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.

Ben’s Anime Pick: Chainsaw Man – Chainsaw Man definitely isn’t for everyone. The stellar CGI action (huge praise coming from me) is absurdly gory, and the show has zero restraint when it comes to putting its characters through horrifying circumstances. The main protagonist, Denji, is often crude, gross, and would probably unsettle most other anime heroes. That being said, he is 100% a product of the world he was born into: one where devils (the living embodiment of fears) roam throughout, and Chainsaw Man is keen on reminding you how screwed up its universe is by throwing monstrous abominations – both human and inhuman – and devastating deaths at you. That’s what makes each semi-sweet moment the main cast shares so special; in the Devil Hunting profession, compassion is rare, and noble Hunters don’t last very long. That gives each harrowing fight a level of genuine tension that I was not expecting so early into its run. In fact, what appeals to me most with Chainsaw Man is how often it subverts audience expectations. Be it with the way Denji reacts to an enemy encounter, or a sudden, horrifying development regarding a new monster, Chainsaw Man will keep you on your toes throughout its first season.

Ben’s Movie Warning: Babylon – Damien Chazelle’s Babylon has a stacked cast who all deliver great performances, backed by a terrific score, but that’s the end of my praise for the film. The movie itself is a needlessly vulgar, insanely bloated, and utterly confused mess. It’s a mishmash of tried and true storytelling tropes, but not a single one of them feels fleshed out enough because they have to make room for the others. I’m sorry, but bringing out a character’s unwell parent for thirty seconds and then (almost comically) shuffling them off camera for the rest of the picture doesn’t do much to endear me to said character or story. Also, Babylon’s tone is all over the place. Is it an indictment of 1920’s-1930’s Hollywood, a love letter to those who did everything they could to be a part of it, a gross out comedy, or does it have something else to say that never quite comes across? Maybe it’s all of those things, but it doesn’t succeed in conveying any of them in a satisfactory way.

Ben’s Movie Pick: Cloverfield – To this day, Cloverfield is still the only film I know that blends the claustrophobic feel of found-footage features with the scope and awe of giant monster flicks. And not only does it blend the two subgenres together, it does so seamlessly. The movie follows a group of friends attending a going away party for one of their own, only for it to be interrupted by the emergence of a gigantic creature that begins to level New York. The shaky-but-not-too-shaky camerawork keeps you on your toes the entire time, allowing you to see enough of what’s going on to understand the situation, but never offering you a moment to breathe or release any tension. Then there’s the creature itself: despite its enormous stature, we only get glimpses of what fans now call “Clover” until the final act, and oh boy is it a unique beastie. Cloverfield only vaguely hints at the origins of Clover (even if you’re paying attention in the very last shot, I’d argue that it isn’t anything definitive) and the uncertainty does far more than any explanation could in my opinion. While the series has continued on with highly mixed results, I firmly believe that the original is still the best.

Lauren’s TV Pick: Girls5eva – Any fans of 30 Rock and its brilliantly written and performed, randomly tangential / non-sequitur comedy need to do themselves a favor and follow Tina Fey over to Girls5eva (a show she produces). It follows 4 women reuniting decades after producing a handful of hilariously questionable pop songs in an attempt at taking another shot at fame: Wickie “I haven’t gotten that level of applause since I agreed to leave an airplane” Roy (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Dawn “I took 3 pregnancy tests. Nope, they’re thumb drives. I peed on thumb drives in the dark” Solano (Sara Bareilles), Gloria “it’s gonna be no strings. If I was a tampon, I’d be lost forever” McManus (Paula Pell), and Summer “I’m about to be a slutting edge she-e-o” Dutkowsky (Busy Philipps). I’m sure I’m not alone in the “why did no one tell me Sara Bareilles is in this!?” camp in that I never expected I would ever get to hear her sing lines like: “I’m afraid that after I die someone will have sex with my dead body and be like not worth it,” but you know what? She sings it beautifully — no seriously, I can’t stop listening to “I’m Afraid (Dawn’s Songs of Fears)” — and my life is now better for having heard it. Some highlights include a clear piano that moves in and out of visibility / existence, a parody of Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” called “Zoom Zoom Boom Boom (Carma),” Gloria’s belief that the 5th member of the group faked her own death, and Dawn spending a long night writing music and shooting hoops with Dolly Parton (a perfect impression from Fey). If that doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will.

So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!

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