REVIEW: "Les Miserables" (2019)

The new BBC production of Les Miserables is back to basics- this is a non-musical, straightforward telling of the classic Victor Hugo novel in miniseries form, but for all that it doesn’t do what is required to justify revisiting this story for the umpteenth time, and that’s bring something new to the table. To be fair, at this point Les Mis is sort of like A Christmas Carol- we all know the plot, we know the characters, we know what has to happen to all of them and in what order. Aside from the choice to sing or not to sing, there’s only so much you can do with it.

Dominic West stars as Jean Valjean in this one, a good choice who brings a gruff physicality to the role along with a sincerity of struggle that goes into his existential crisis as he tries to transform himself into a good man. His charisma and presence carries you through the six episodes, as the other actors don’t bring a whole lot of life into their archetypal roles. Lily Collins is a fine Fantine, as we get a much slower, more drawn out process in her suffering and death this time around, but the role remains as melodramatic as ever, and David Oyelowo lacks spark as Javert, who hankers down on one note (re: angry) for the entire series and his scenes get tedious. Worst of all though, is Ellie Bamber and Josh O’Connor as the older Cosette and Marius. These characters are thankless enough, and I don’t know that there’s anything any actor can do to make these two interesting, but if there is, they didn’t find it with these bland performances. It’s a slog to get through the last couple of episodes while the two most irritating teenagers act like ignorant fools so that “love can conquer all.” Right. 

Newly minted Oscar winner Olivia Colman shows up to steal some scenes in this

One exception in the casting is Olivia Colman and Adeel Akhtar as Monsieur and Madame Thenardier, who bring a delicious Dickensian villainy to their relatively small parts, but it isn’t enough to recommend sitting through all six episodes of this show. You might get something out of it if you’ve never seen any other version of Les Mis before, but there are loads better ones than this. The most I can say is that it’s a faithful, meticulous and handsomely wrought production, but it gets very boring once Valjean and Cosette escape to the convent. The early scenes of his escape from prison and quest to do right by Fantine and rescue the little girl are as effective as ever (the story is timeless for a reason after all), and West really does do well at carrying this whole series on his shoulders, but there isn’t much reason for this one to exist. One thing they did do differently was color bind casting in many of the supporting roles (Oyelowo, Akhtar and Erin Kellyman as Eponine), so that’s nice to see, but it doesn’t change the framework of the story, and I think if you’re going to keep doing this you really have to spice it up to make it feel like something you haven’t seen before. Then again, how many versions of A Christmas Carol are there? Perhaps Jean Valjean’s redemption really is a story that can be retold over and over again.

Grade: C

A mostly flavorless retelling

REVIEW: "You're the Worst" Season 5

Coming off its worst season, it was up to You’re the Worst to re-right the ship and bring it in for a solid landing in its fifth and final year. I’m happy to say they did that, with minimal ups and downs, for the most part, as Jimmy and Gretchen’s unconventional romance came to a sensible (for them) non-conclusion in the series finale.

After getting engaged in the fourth season finale, Jimmy and Gretchen spent most of the fifth season planning a wedding, an action which doesn’t make much sense for either of them as we’ve come to know them over the years. They make fun of the very idea of marriage, and most of all weddings, concocting elaborate lies of their “fairy tale romance” to the wedding planner in the season premiere, which plays out as a fantasy spoof of a 90’s rom-com, a genre that the show itself was created to subvert the tropes of. 

So inevitably, Gretchen begins to fall apart as she always does, being promoted at work just so that she can sabotage herself, stealing Edgar’s various meds and attempting to see if Jimmy will abandon her the more she spirals, as is her greatest fear. Jimmy doesn’t do it, remaining committed to Gretchen through his own cheating slip with the wedding florist, and committed to overlooking and ignoring the increasing warning signs of her deterioration and self-destruction. The show was always about whether two supremely screwed up people can actually find happiness with another person, but I couldn’t help but think Jimmy is a lot more stable than Gretchen, who probably has one moment of clarity this entire season, when she dresses down Edgar for warning Jimmy against marrying her the night before the wedding.

Gretchen’s illness rears its head again this season

Edgar is right of course, as his pathetic puppy-dog loyalty to Jimmy finally reaches a breaking point when he makes the fateful decision to do that, leading Jimmy and Gretchen to finally reach a resolution about marriage and their relationship as a whole in the final episode. It wouldn’t have made sense for them to walk happily down the aisle, but breaking them up for good also seems the wrong way to go in a series finale for a show that still worked as a romantic comedy, even if was about subverting its tropes and mocking their happy endings. So they heed Edgar’s advice, somewhat, and don’t go through with the ceremony, instead choosing to stay together, unmarried, for as long as they can happily remain so (though I have questions about the montage that shows them having a kid in the future, as a baby is a much bigger commitment than marriage, and with Gretchen’s mental illness, that seems bound to end in bigger tragedy, especially if they want their relationship to remain about each other).

In supporting character news, Edgar finally breaks apart from Jimmy, even though he must kill their friendship to do so (bittersweet, but the two are reconciled in the flash forward reveals, which originally teased a Gretchen-Jimmy break up only to fake you out- nicely done), and Lindsay winds up maturing just enough to realize she was better off with Paul all along (I could have told her that much back in the first season). The season isn’t quite as funny as past ones have been, but what you miss in laughs is made up for in poignancy. Stephan Falk brings it back around in a way that mostly makes sense for all the characters (Paul, Vernon and Becca included, though I don’t think an entire mid-season episode revolving around them was necessary), and gives you the unconventional semi-happy ending that stays in line with the nature of Jimmy and Gretchen’s relationship as we observed it. It’s as satisfying as you could have wanted it.

Grade: B+

Is marriage right for these two?

REVIEW: "Catastrophe" Season 4

One of my favorite TV couples of all time is back for the fourth and last season of Catastrophe, with a superb final outing of six hilarious episodes, just as sharp and mean and biting as ever. Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney are still Sharon and Rob, struggling just to make it together while raising their kids and trying to maintain a relationship.

If you don’t watch this show, it’s hard to explain why it’s so good. Everyone has their own sense of humor, and mine is fairly dark, which is why the meaner both Sharon and Rob are, the more I love them. But their harshness and verbal jabs at each other and at everyone else might not be to your taste- if so, that’s too bad. You’re missing out. As abrasive as these two people are, they are still, believe it or not, one of the most romantic TV couples ever, simply shaped to fit each other in their style, taste and personalities.

After going darker in the third season with the death of Sharon’s dad and Rob falling off the wagon, it’s back to lighter fare this time, with Sharon watching Rob like a hawk and spewing venom at him for it, as he fulfills his court mandated community service in a neck brace that she can’t stop laughing at. Each episode is an adorably funny setup that makes Rob and Sharon yell, laugh and exchange their typical, only them banter, in perfectly written scenes by Delaney and Horgan, which so realistically run the emotional gamut from annoyance to affection and back again. You can imagine what it’s like to live with these two, as they both alternately irritate and amuse each other from moment to moment.

A satisfying ending for Ashley Jensen and Mark Bonnar’s supporting pals Fran and Chris too

This UK/Channel 4 commissioned show makes for short and sweet seasons, but I could so easily take many more episodes from them. The show tackles workplace harassment as Rob enjoys the bromance started by his sexist boss who brushes aside his female supervisor, and Sharon freaks out at the too comfortable moves made by her own new boss towards her, but the topical issues never sacrifice an ounce of laughs for cheap sentimentality. The always great supporting characters like Fergil, Fran, Chris and Dave take their final bow, while Rob’s sister Sidney (a perfectly cast Michaela Watkins) comes on for a couple of appearances as a kind of replacement for the late Carrie Fisher, who played their mother Mia in the first three seasons. 

The show does right by Fisher’s death, writing in a finale that acknowledges Mia’s own offscreen demise and sees Rob and Sharon in Boston for a family vacation that becomes a funeral, an event which turns darkly comedic, as a poignant tribute to Rob’s mom feels just as much like one to Fisher’s sardonic self. It all ends with another of Rob and Sharon’s epic fights, but this one leads to another familial surprise and a note perfect ending that feels like the quintessential summation of all that Catastrophe represented in terms of maintaining the craziness of a relationship. The constant ups and downs never make any sense, and the whole idea of trying to force these things might be nuts in itself, but if you can laugh at the beginning, middle and end of every fight, or death or car accident or relapse, you’re probably meant for each other in some crazy, shape shifting way. I’ll miss these guys. I could watch them live life forever.

Grade: A

Facing the messy unknown

Summertime is Here in 'Stranger Things' Season 3

This show has always been good at putting out intriguing trailers, and this one’s no exception. Its full Summer of ‘85 vibe looks fun and thankfully this time Eleven is with the rest of the group, not siphoned off on her own. Looking forward to it.

Sabrina Walks a Dark Path in Season 2 Trailer

As we head into spring, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is one of the first shows to step up with its second season. Looks like Sabrina will be experimenting in dark magic this season, but I’m sure she’ll come back around by the end of it.

REVIEW: "Leaving Neverland"

Michael Jackson was one of the most famous men who ever lived, a star who burned out of the stratosphere in terms of his reach, his impact, and the length of his time in the spotlight. It’s hard to describe to those who aren’t familiar with that kind of thing, because they never will be. Stars like that don’t really exist anymore, and it’s too hard to imagine the kind of power they had over not just ordinary people, but society as a whole. His lifetime of celebrity and scandal is not new information. We were familiar with the allegations of child molestation which surfaced in 1993 (a case that he settled out of court) and again in 2003, resulting in a trial where he was acquitted of all charges. His unsettling relationships with young boys played out in the public eye and was late night fodder for years before his death led to the burying of those negative stories, when everyone decided they just wanted to remember the music again.

But we never reached a reckoning with the truth that was (barely) hiding in plain sight, and that was because during his life, whatever charges were filed or accusations made, the magnitude of his own bizarre image made everything about him- the spectacle, the gossip, the rumors, whatever made him the alien-like creature from another world that every facet of him seemed to be. There was no real face to the victims, no humanization of these children, these boys who actually went through this nightmare, as the circus surrounding the tabloid megawatt celebrity tends to hog all the media attention, both in life and death. Until now. Dan Reed has made a four hour documentary called Leaving Neverland that asks us to bear witness to two men, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who were friends of Michael Jackson and claim to have been sexually abused by him as children for years in the late 1980’s and early 1990s. We are asked to listen as they tell their stories and put their lives on display, as we find out the methodical steps of how a child’s innocence are taken from them by a man who becomes their entire universe and convinces them that they are safe and loved by him, as he proceeds to indulge in the behavior that will ruin their lives, as well as those of their families.

This is not a normal talking heads documentary, as simply listening to these men recall every detail of their relationship with Jackson is a strikingly personal, effective and brutally devastating way of conveying this truth. They speak and we listen. James was a 10-year-old when he met him, a child actor in commercials who starred in Jackson’s 1987 Pepsi commercial. Soon MJ was calling him, giving him presents, coming over to his house and befriending his parents in equal measure. James’s mother Stephanie, also interviewed, recalls how starstruck she was, how welcoming and kind and childlike Michael seemed, how caught up she was in this life of luxury he was wiling to extend to her and James as he offered them trips, took them on tour and methodically groomed them into trusting him, loving him, accepting him as a member of the family. And then when that trust was complete, how he exploited Jimmy’s love to begin abusing him, convincing him that it was normal, that it was their way of “showing their love for each other.” Jimmy wasn’t scared because he loved him by that time, but he also believed Jackson’s warning that it had to be a secret, because if anyone found out they would both go to jail and their lives would be over.

A grown Wade Robson tells us what really happened

Wade Robson was a five-year-old Australian boy who won a dance contest as a Michael Jackson impersonator. His mother was a stage mom who was desperate to help her son meet his idol, which happened after a concert while Jackson was on tour in the country. He offered to meet them if they ever came to Los Angeles, which two years later, they did. By that time he’d bought his notorious Neverland Ranch and invited the whole family to come visit, showering them with attention and gifts, and quickly started molesting Wade, whose mother was convinced that it was safe for him to spend the night alone with this man. The two boys separately recount eerily similar patterns of abuse, which started with mutual masturbation and progressed to kissing and oral sex, and the film does not skimp on the details, which are incredibly uncomfortable to watch and hear as Wade and James go over every part of it. Jackson operated in the guise of forming a romantic relationship with these boys, making them think they were in love (even holding a mock wedding ceremony for himself and James, who still has and shows the ring that was used) and forming separate relationships with their mothers to retain their trust and allow him to be alone with their sons. 

After a certain point, he’d prepare them for separation as they grew closer to teenagehood, collecting another new boy as a replacement (Macaulay Culkin is named), making them both feel jealous, angry and hurt as they were slowly discarded in favor of a younger child. This horrifying reality was played out more or less in public, as the news images of Jackson traipsing around the world, holding hands with one boy after another for years remind us just how much the collective planet turned a blind eye to what was so glaringly obvious. There are endless messages from him to the boys played, faxes, letters, pictures and videotapes produced, testimony to his constant attention and efforts to cultivate these friendships and these families. 

As testimony, it’s hard to understate the importance of this film, which takes so much time explaining how child sexual abuse plays out and the devastating psychological effects it leaves on kids, as they grow into adults and slowly begin to process what happened to them. The second half of the movie describes this process, as Wade and James both begin to experience anxiety, depression, insomnia and panic attacks as they grow into their twenties and thirties, only able to divulge their long buried secret in the wake of Jackson’s 2009 death. It explores the impact of confessing the abuse to their wives and family members, and mothers, who rightfully bear the brunt of the blame for not protecting their children. That Jackson was a monster is undeniable- a serial pedophile who used his power to indulge his sickness in the kind of way that inspired his victims to show loyalty even after the abuse was over. Both describe how they defended him against the charges in 1993, saying the kind of hold he had over them inspired them to want to “save” him (he bought the Safechucks a house at the time). Even though by 2005 James was disillusioned with it all, as Michael had disappeared from his life, only to re-emerge when he needed him to testify, (which he refused to do a second time, telling his mother that Michael was a “bad man”), Wade was still under his spell, agreeing to defend him in court once again. 

Oprah comes back to interview Safechuck and Robson in an intense special that aired after the film

The devastating impact of the abuse revelations on the families is heartbreaking, as it’s hard, nearly impossible (as Wade’s brother admits) to forgive the mothers for allowing this to happen. The structure of this film in allowing four hours of solid testimony from the victims themselves, puts a face and a voice to these men whose lives were destroyed in a manner that’s harrowing to experience. It’s a difficult and necessary watch, a revelation on the lingering effects of child sexual abuse throughout a person’s life, and also a lesson on how it works in general. Most people still do not understand that child molestation might not feel like abuse to a child, that it might take place in the context of a loving relationship with a trusted friend or family member (as the boys’ mothers say Michael felt like) who then manipulates them with months and years of effort into burying the shame or guilt that will resurface later in life. A skilled manipulator and a seemingly gentle soul, Michael Jackson played on that illusion to create a world that he could hide in, and the world looked away because they didn’t want to believe it was real. Because what do you do with him if it is? He’s been dead for years, but his victims are not. Who knows how many there are, how many still hide in shame, how many still believe that they loved him, that he loved them, the way he said he did. And what do you do with his music now? Can you ever hear Bille Jean or Man in the Mirror the same way? How can you separate the art from the artist when the art is so ubiquitous, so embedded in our culture, so long-lasting in its influence on a generation of pop stars and performers and entertainers to this day? 

I can’t answer how you reconcile that, but I do know that we cannot look away from the truth. Not this time. He can’t face justice anymore. But his victims are out there, and they deserve to be heard, and supported, and believed. We owe them that.

Grade: A

Jackson with 7-year-old Wade in the early 90s

Dragons and Fur Coats Abound in Final Season of 'Game of Thrones'

I know people are pretty psyched, but I’m mostly happy that this is finally the end. I’m ready for this show to be over. All I can say about this new trailer is that it definitely looks like Game of Thrones. Lots of dragons, readying for battle, probably a lot more talking than they’re showing here. Each of the last six episodes will be at least 70 minutes or longer, so prepare yourself for that.

Luke Perry 1966-2019

This is so sad. After suffering a massive stroke last week, former 90210 star Luke Perry has died at the age of 52. One of the biggest teen heartthrobs of the 1990’s, he was most known for playing Dylan McKay, the brooding bad boy of Beverly Hills 90210 and the most iconic character of the landmark teen drama. During the show’s ten year run from 1990-2000, he also starred in 1992’s cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and later appeared in the HBO prison drama Oz, where he had a significant run from 2001-02. Most recently he’d starred on the CW’s Riverdale since 2017 as Archie Andrews’ dad Fred, symbolically passing the torch from his own teen idol days to the new generation. Knowing he’d always be associated with his character from 90210, he was quoted as saying “I'm going to be linked with him until I die, but that's actually just fine. I created Dylan McKay. He's mine." 

REVIEW: "One Day at a Time" Season 3

In its third season, Netflix’s One Day at a Time remains as openhearted and optimistic as ever, a cheery throwback to the “issue” sitcoms of the 70’s, like its predecessor in name and spirit, with producer Norman Lear still attached at the age of 96. I said before that if you can get used to its sitcom rhythms you can quite easily fall for these characters and the female led Alvarez family, with the fiery Justina Machado at the helm. 

In Season 3 the show continues to reinvent the “very special episode,” by confronting issues of sexual harassment and MeToo, alcoholism and drug use. But it’s not as heavy-handed as you’d think. When Alex (Marcel Ruiz) is caught smoking marijuana, there’s no guarantee that he won’t continue to do so and an acknowledgment on Penelope’s part that she can’t force it, though she warns him that in his case he’s risking more than the average white kid. And when Elena decides to have sex with girlfriend Sid, not only does she go through with it (surprising enough on a sitcom episode about a teenager contemplating sex), but the show actually portrays it as a positive experience and lets Penelope wonder how she’s even supposed to feel about it, given that Elena faces no physical risk as a lesbian. 

Talking it out with the kids

Even with the familiar structure of topical episodes, these spins on them are refreshing enough to help the show feel new in its approach. It helps that the series is dominated by the strong performances of actresses Machado, Rita Moreno (irreplaceable as Lydia) and Isabella Gomez, all well defined, opinionated, fiercely expressive women who share the screen in equal measure and occasionally leave poor Alex out in the cold (although there is an attempt to give him more to do this season besides listen and react to the women in his family). Machado is a treasure though, as Penelope remains the heart and soul of the family, a woman who deals with the demands on her by her kids, mother, job, neighbors, and battles with anxiety and depression (not forgotten about as a one-off episode from last season), with the compassion, strength and resolute toughness that make her a force to be reckoned with. Even her season long romance with a guy she’s not that into makes perfect sense for her character, the rare single mother on TV who’s allowed to have an unapologetically healthy sexual appetite. 

A new storyline this season sees some depth for supporting player Todd Grinnell’s Schneider, who falls off the wagon and does a really nice job actually showing what looks like for a guy we’ve only ever seen as an immature goofball- he’s so good that even Penelope’s forgiving attitude had me questioning her judgment, given the risky nature of his problem. The fact that I found myself worrying for the safety of fictional sitcom children is a testament to how much this show makes you care about its characters. The raising of real world issues, politics and struggles of working class people of color balanced out with such a cheerful, sunny outlook is a unique combination that makes me wish the series got more attention and wasn’t continually on the bubble of cancellation every year. I’d like the Alvarez family to stick around for as long as possible.

Grade: B+

Justina Machado is criminally underrated and deserves Emmy attention for this role

'Arrested Development' is Back on March 15

The first half of Season 5 was pretty underwhelming, and after all the bad publicity that happened on the disastrous press tour with the actors, and the Jeffrey Tambor thing, and Portia de Rossi only showing up on green screen, I’m kinda hoping this will be the end of the show, for good this time. I’ll still watch this last part, but I hope it’s a lot better than the first.