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 Movie Pick: Who Framed Roger Rabbit – It’s honestly tragic that I hadn’t seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit in over twenty years because the movie is absurdly great. It’s a technical achievement that less than a handful of films can come even close to matching in sheer brilliance or scope. The seamless blend of animation and live-action used to loosely adapt a novel that meshes Looney Tunes-style shenanigans and 1940’s murder mysteries feels like something that just shouldn’t work on paper. But thanks to Robert Zemeckis, some of the greatest animators in the history of the medium, and a pitch perfect cast — rest in peace Bob Hoskins, you absolute legend — it does. In fact, it succeeds in such a fashion that one could almost forget how mind-breakingly difficult putting it all together must have been. That shot of Dumbo behind the blinds alone must have been an absolute nightmare to animate.
Ben’s TV Pick: Common Side Effects – This Adult Swim animated series far exceeded my expectations. It’s not that I wasn’t initially excited about Common Side Effects thanks to its trailers that highlighted its comedic elements, I just didn’t realize how fleshed out its characters were going to be, or how invested I’d find myself in its story. The story starts when environmentalist Marshall shares a secret with an old classmate of his: he’s found a miraculous mushroom that can cure almost any illness or injury and wants to share it with the world. “Why is that a secret” you might ask? Because big pharma and the folks who profit off of people being sick would do everything they can to destroy the phenomenal fungi, like enlist an all-timer buddy cop duo to chase Marshall down. It’s a comedy, a thriller, and even has a little drama, making it the most well-rounded Adult Swim series I’ve seen in years.
Lauren’s TV Pick: The Studio – This comedic examination of the movie making business won’t be for everyone; and though I don’t think the satire is too inside baseball for the average viewer who doesn’t keep apprised of Hollywood drama and trends, what will make or break the show for people is how well you handle characters that can be a bit obnoxious. Seth Rogen’s lead character is a lot as he (and those who work for the studio head) always manages to escalate any and all genre-hoping situations (from hard to work with directors, to execs getting in the way of artistry, to whether or not an all black cast voicing a movie about the Kool-Aid Man is racist), but the writing and clear love of filmmaking helps push through the sheer magnitude of the secondhand embarrassment he frequently inspires. Take the second episode: I have never cringed so hard as I did while watching Matt completely derail a film production’s attempts at capturing a magic hour oner, but the metaness of filming a one-shot within a one-shot episode was just, chef’s kiss — I see you, take-splicing whip pans. It was a perfect episode among a slew of some of the best television I’ve seen in a while. Shoutout to all the big name directors and actors who swung by, from the “surely that name drop won’t actua—omg hi Charlize Theron” cameos to my absolute favorite Dave Franco performance of a tripping Dave Franco yet.
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!
Middle of the Row 