by Emily Nagle
After a long summer, “Abbott Elementary” is back in session. The sophomore season of ABC’s mockumentary-style workplace comedy following an underfunded public school in Philadelphia premiered tonight at 9PM EST, and was watched by thousands of excited Twitter users who live-tweeted the episode under the hashtag #AbbottElementary. The show’s official Twitter account interacted with many of viewers’ tweets, is continuing to do so as the episode makes its premiere on the west coast a few hours later.
On the heels of a breakup with longtime boyfriend Tariq (Zack Fox), optimistic second-grade teacher Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) is returning to Abbott for development week, where she and her fellow teachers will prepare for the students’ return.
Stakes are high less than halfway through the episode as we watch Janine struggle to heal her broken heart; with her infectious positive attitude, Janine is always looking out for others (especially her students), but because of this she tends to forget to take care of herself as well. Instead of focusing on picking herself back up after the split, she’s irritated over incompetent principal Ava (Janelle James) hosting a tailgate in the school parking lot.
In only 18 minutes, Janine gets multiple parking tickets, faces a possible eviction due to Tariq barely paying rent, and accidentally books the wrong day for popular Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty to show up and welcome students back to school. It feels like the end of the world for Janine, until her coworkers – most notably her mentor Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and fellow second-grade teacher Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) – remind her that it’s okay to grieve.
Janine’s situation is depicted in a realistic way that’s sure to hit home for many viewers; overbooking is a common response to avoid coping with complicated feelings. Not to mention this is Janine’s first breakup (she started dating Tariq in eighth grade!), so she’s not quite sure how to deal with all these new emotions.
Now that Janine is single, one can only wonder what will happen between her and first-grade teacher Gregory (Tyler James Williams), who’s had eyes for Janine since the day they met. There’s 21 episodes left in this season, so only time will tell!
Episodes of the upcoming season of “Abbott Elementary” are set to premiere on ABC on Wednesdays at 9PM EST.
by Emily Nagle
While the past couple of weeks were relatively quiet for movie theaters across the United States, this past weekend saw plenty of new releases across lots of different genres. From creative documentaries to comedic murder mysteries, this weekend offered up something for viewers with lots of different tastes.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for September 16-18, 2022
5. Bullet Train ($2.6 million)
4. See How They Run ($3 million)
3. Pearl ($3.1 million)
2. Barbarian ($6.5 million)
1. The Woman King ($19 million)
The best-selling movie for this weekend was new historical epic “The Woman King”, which has been met with positive reviews from critics ever since its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Viola Davis as General Nanisca, leader of the all-female Agojie warrior tribe in West Africa, “The Woman King” follows her and her team as they protect the kingdom of Dahomey during the 1820s. Audiences particularly praised the film’s casting and action choreography.
Another new arrival in theaters this weekend was A24’s “Pearl”, which became the third highest-grossing film for the weekend. This indie slasher film serves as a prequel for “X”, having been simultaneously shot in secret earlier this year. It tells the origin story of Pearl (Mia Goth), the villain from the film, by taking viewers back in time nearly six decades before the original film. Set in 1918, “Pearl” introduces viewers to the murderer as a 16-year-old, showing how she ended up as the murderous housewife we saw last spring in “X”. It’s been met with generally positive reviews from critics, who loved Goth’s performance as well as its tributes to classic films.
Trailing slightly behind “Pearl” was “See How They Run”. This whodunit starring Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, and Adrien Brody is set in 1950s London, and tells the story of a film crew who recruit an inspector and a constable to solve who murdered one of the main team members.
by Emily Nagle
“Fakes” is just one of the new Netflix originals that rolled out this month. This Canadian teen drama follows Becca and Zoe, two best friends who accidentally build one of the biggest fake ID empires in North America. After anxious, studious Zoe (Emilija Baranac) prints a fake student card so she can go to the library, rich party girl Becca (Jennifer Tong) convinces Zoe to print a fake ID for her. When the teens expand their services to their classmates, Zoe and Becca find themselves in more danger than they could have ever imagined.
This show has a unique narrative style, with each episode being from a different character’s point of view. It’s almost always from Becca’s or Zoe’s perspective, but it does focus on the girls’ Jesse Pinkman-like boss, shady drug dealer Tryst (Richard Harmon) in one episode. They break the fourth wall often, turning to the camera to provide commentary on what’s happening. The story is also told starting from the end – in the present-day cutaways in which the girls comment on the past events, Zoe is sitting in a jail cell sporting an orange jumpsuit, while Becca is still living her lavish life like nothing ever happened.
The best part about “Fakes” is that it’s not just a criminal origin story. As tensions rise and Becca and Zoe realize that what they’re doing is very much illegal, the girls’ friendship gets rocky. Printing fake IDs is all fun and games at first: they move their business into a ritzy penthouse, where their biggest problem is deciding which fast-food place they want to order from for dinner. But when orders increase and they recruit more girls to run the business, including quirky Sally (Matreya Scarrwener), keeping their operation discrete proves to be tricky.
Vibrant visuals, zippy pacing, and a peppy soundtrack add to the youthful feel of this show. The way the girls explain things to the viewer is fun and reminiscent of other teen shows; for example, when Zoe runs us through the process of creating a fake ID, explaining how printing one that even a computer-savvy 5-year-old could do it. They spend a lot of time texting, and instead of just showing us their phone screen, the creative team decided to superimpose the message bubbles into the environment, making them pop.
Zoe and Becca’s adventures are set to high-energy hip-hop and house beats. Which is super fitting, considering their escapades bring them immense fortune (the girls can make as much as $30,000 in one order!), escalating them to a high-profile life complete with designer clothing, vodka, and wild, Euphoria-esque parties. It’s the stuff dreams are made of for 17-year-olds itching to leave home for college.
With only 10 episodes that are all less than half an hour in length, “Fakes” is on the shorter side, making it an ideal binge! If you’re a fan of crime shows like “Better Call Saul”, but also enjoy teen dramas like “Never Have I Ever”, you’ll love “Fakes”. Here’s to hoping it gets renewed for a second season – I can’t wait to see where the story goes!
by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for September 9-11, 2022
5. The Invitation ($2.7 million)
4. Top Gun: Maverick ($3.2 million)
3. Bullet Train ($3.3 million)
2. Brahmastra Part One: Shiva ($4.5 million)
1. Barbarian ($10.5 million)
Although this past weekend was the lowest grossing one for the box office for this entire year, it saw 2 new releases breaking into the top 5. Horror film “Barbarian” was the top release, exceeding box office predictions of $8 million for its opening weekend. It stars Georgina Campbell as Tess, a young woman renting a Detroit home that turns out to be occupied. When she stays the night, she discovers dark secrets in the house.
“Brahmastra Part One: Shiva” had a limited release to less than 1,000 theaters, but made it to number two after grossing an average of $5,609 per theater. This Hindi film was distributed by Disney in the United States, and has been met with mixed reviews from critics.
by Emily Nagle
Happy National Video Games Day from Don’t Tell Netflix! This day celebrates all things video games, from the history of it and how far they’ve come to celebrating video games as an activity, and how they can be relaxing and fun as well as bringing people together.
Gaming is one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world, raking in hundreds of billions of dollars each year (and with the ongoing pandemic, these numbers have only been going up!). The video game industry has flourished, branching out to include not just games, but also related media such as movies, television shows, and comics.
Last week, I talked a bit about the first-ever television adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog for its broadcast anniversary. Today, in honor of this special day (which I think should be a national holiday!), I’m going to rattle off my top 3 favorite television adaptations of video games.
Donkey Kong Country
Based on Nintendo’s iconic gorilla character that originated in 1981 with the Donkey Kong arcade game, “Donkey Kong Country” is a late 90s animated musical series that travels to a new setting to expand on the character. Set on Kongo Bongo Island, it follows Donkey Kong as he protects the Crystal Coconut from the evil King K. Rool and his minions.
As one of the first television shows to be animated entirely via motion-capture technology, “Donkey Kong Country” was a pioneer in the field of animation. In fact, when its producers submitted it for consideration in the 1999 Emmys, it was turned down because the TV academy ruled that the motion capture disqualified it from counting as animation (times have since changed, as two of the nominees for Best Animated Feature at the 2006 Emmys were motion-capture).
My favorite part of the series is its soundtrack. Each episode features two original songs, and some of them are actually pretty catchy!
Sonic X
“Sonic X” was the fourth television series based on Sonic; outside of the games, it served as a popular introduction to Sonic for many kids around the world. It zaps Sonic and friends to a parallel universe filled with humans, where Sonic teams up with 12-year-old Chris Thorndyke to find their way back home and stop Dr. Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds.
The visual style for “Sonic X” is definitely my favorite part. It’s very much reminiscent of the early 2000s, and just by looking at it you can tell Sonic and his pals are about to get into some pretty intense action. It definitely served as a gateway anime for youths around the world.
Pokémon
After taking fans to 8 regions (soon to be 9!), the franchise that’s been around since 1995 has had several different iterations of its long-running television series, in addition to spin-off shows. Even if we’ve spent more than two decades following Ash’s journey to be the very best like no one ever was, the “Pokémon” television series constantly keeps things fresh with new friends, places, and creatures to battle and catch.
“Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl” came out around the time I started getting into the games, so the story arc for that generation in particular has a special place in my heart. As a young kid, it was super fun to watch the show and see the Pokémon I was encountering in the games!
Currently, “Pokémon” is up to its 25th season, which is titled “Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series” and available exclusively on Netflix. It’s a little bit different than the earlier seasons, because instead of just focusing on one region, it’s part of a fairly new arc featuring Ash and his new friend Goh as they travel across every region of the franchise for a research mission.
What are your favorite video game-inspired shows? Let us know in the comments!
by Emily Nagle
As of last night, Disney’s latest live-action remake, “Pinocchio”, is out now on Disney+. Considering the company has pumped out more than 10 live-action/CGI adaptations of their classic animated films in the past five years, it wasn’t surprising. It was also unsurprising that most of the reviews for it weren’t very positive, because “Pinocchio” is a hot mess.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with remaking a movie. Sometimes remakes put a new, creative spin on a franchise, which is pretty amazing. “Pinocchio”, however, contributes absolutely nothing to the story Disney brought to life 80 years ago. In fact, it ruins the whole message of the original. Instead of being heartwarming and full of magic, it’s lackluster and forgettable.
The only thing “Pinocchio” has going for it is its A-list cast, but that can’t save it. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth does a spectacular performance as the excitable wooden puppet, really giving us the idea that Pinocchio is this innocent, wide-eyed kid experiencing the world for the first time ever. Despite this, Tom Hanks isn’t the best choice for Geppetto. The character is supposed to have a heavy Italian accent, but Hanks half-asses some kind of European accent.
Not only did Disney decide it was a great idea to recreate the Pinocchio characters in a terrible visual style, but they also decided to throw in some modern humor. Y’know, in case we forget what year this movie came out (kinda like the first episode of Resident Evil). Zemeckis may have thought he was being witty by including Jiminy Cricket criticizing YouTubers and Chris Pine references, but instead it just undermined the whole story and dragged things out.
At times, I wondered if the movie was trying to be bad to make fun of itself (I mean, all the clocks Geppetto had were references to past Disney films). But no, they really thought they were doing something with those jabs at 2020s pop culture.
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