where faith and film are intertwined
Based on Liane Moriarty’s book of the same name, Big Little Lies explores the darkest secrets of a circle of otherwise ‘normal’ moms. You can win a digital code by entering below – otherwise, you’ll be waiting to buy the Blu-ray/DVD copy in August!
Right now, enter the name of your favorite TV drama to be considered for a chance to win!
Big Little Lies is available now on Digital Download!
now, if you’ve
Netflix, you’ve
noticed a
number of
new stand-up specials
nestling about the
new releases
i do and have,
and dig the comedy,
and so recently dug
Chappelle, Louis C.K.,
Jo Koy, Amy Schumer;
got eyes on others
i also dig on
Pete Holmes,
and so dug
season one
of Crashing on HBO,
which is
Judd Apatow produced,
and stars comic
Pete Holmes
as himself –
a person,
not incidentally
to the show,
who happens to have
some semblance
of oh-so-quaint
Christian faith
and this is
just
it:
the confluence of
Holmes’ perspective
and a certain “typical”
comedic perspective –
generally hilarious,
of course,
but also
sardonic, cynical,
melancholic and
world-worn and weary,
endlessly observational
when it comes to
finding problems,
but seldom (apparently)
when it comes to
actually addressing them,
actually living with them
in the day-to-day
(other than offering
its own oddly biblical
and plenty true
pseudo-spiritual
prescription of
“just laugh through it”) –
just *struck* me
now it strikes me:
“confluence” isn’t even
the right word;
something like
“incongruence”
is better;
something like
“juxtaposition”
it’s the dissimilarity
that struck me
between, e.g.,
a Louis C.K. –
who, no matter how
much i love him,
comes off, sadly, like a
man miserable
because he’s
smart enough
to see the world
as it is, but
faithless to the
point of having
no recourse
but misery –
and a Holmes,
with all his
boy-in-the-big-city
optimism, his
bright-eyed hopefulness,
his faith that
may not be perfect
or make everything perfect,
and which will
probably understandably
evolve over the series, as it
apparently understandably
has over his actual life,
but which nevertheless
addresses the day-to-day,
affects it, affects him,
affects those around him,
rousing responses of
“D’awww, you’re a
‘God person!'”
as Sarah Silverman quips
in a stand-out episode
and now it strikes me:
“struck me” isn’t even
the right way to say it
it doesn’t just “strike me,”
this incongruence,
it makes me long for
the world –
that of stand-up comics
and the rest of us –
to also see and notice
this incongruence
and conclude:
faith is still a live option
it is an option
that real people
still actually choose,
and when they do,
it actually affects things
when they do,
they still may
laugh through tears
with the comics,
as we all unfortunately
must in this world,
but as they do,
they do so with
the ultimate end to tears
in mind –
the ultimate end
which those without faith
do not,
unfortunately
cannot see
[SPOILER]
at the end of
season one of Crashing,
comedian Artie Lange
dives into a baptismal pool
(it’s a whole thing
you’d have to watch to get)
all i’m saying is:
there are still
baptismal pools
there are still
baptismal pools,
and entering them
is still a thing that happens,
and when it does,
other things –
brighter things –
can also happen
ScreenFish is excited to be giving away a digital copy of Quarry: Season One!
Quarry is the story of Mac Conway, a Marine who returns home to Memphis from Vietnam in 1972 and finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River.
To enter, simply like or share the Facebook post and answer this question in the comments area:
What is your favorite HBO show?
To qualify, you must be a resident of the US and all entries must be received by 11:59 on Sunday, November 27th, 2016.
Good luck!
What happens in the sixth season of HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones? We could tell you or you could win this free copy. Just respond below with your favorite moment from one of the previous seasons and we’ll pick a lucky winner for ScreenFish’s drawing! Reply by November 15. One entry per person. You must be eighteen or over to win and live in the continental U.S.
When the principal (Bill Murray) of North Jackson High retires to take care of his ailing wife, his two vice principals attempt to fill the power vacuum. But for the students of NJHS, this could be an absolute disaster because these two men are train wrecks.
On one side, the rule-oriented Neil Gamby (Danny McBride) dictates behavior with his loud, profane barking at students, faculty, and staff; on the other, Lee Russell (Walton Goggins) shallowly covers his ambitious scheming with schmoozing. These two foul-mouthed administrators each believe that they will be the next principal – until the School Board sends in college professor (and actual educator) Dr. Belinda Brown (Kimberly Herbert Gregory) into the the school. Suddenly, rather than vying for different elements of the school to like them better than the other, they are united against this common threat.
While the show has its funny moments, the overall trajectory is a downward spiral of self-destruction and brokenness. Vice Principals is like a school-based sitcom with Married with Children mixed in: we watch this kind of comedy to feel better about ourselves. Frankly, McBride and Goggins are spot-on as absolutely ridiculous and over-the-top creeps, even when they’re not burning down Brown’s house. Their inability to appropriately interact with other people is even worse.
One of the saddest (and sometimes funny) side stories is Gamby’s ‘family’ life. He has no friends at school and can’t seem to connect with Amanda Snodgrass (Georgia King), the new English teacher he has his eyes on. But he tries to stay involved in the life of his daughter, which draws him into the circle of his ex-wife, Gale (Busy Philippe), and her new husband, Ray (Shea Whigham). The thing is that Ray might be the most wholesome person on the show, and Gamby can’t see it because his whole vibe is so messed up!
HBO’s new comedy hits on dysfunction, and thrives on brokenness. I doubt it’ll be used in an educational snippets in schools, but some educators may find that the uncensored take on school is really what their inner monologue wants to say. Vice Principals proves that sometimes, what we don’t say could be as important as what we do say.
Let’s get this out of the way early: there aren’t many returning shows that actually have me excited about the return of television shows and streaming episodes. Sure, I’ll be watching the fourteenth season of NCIS and the third season of Scorpion because they’re like a good pair of old slippers: I know just what I’m getting. Absolutely, I’ll dive back into Longmire which Netflix saved from the A&E dumpster. Yes, it’ll be funny to watch Michael Rosenbaum fumble his way through church and pastoral care in Impastor, and Life in Pieces is the funniest ensemble comedy no one is raving about. [And just because Supes shows up along with the ‘real’ Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter, I’ll tune in for Supergirl.]
It’s the new shows that still hold hope for something truly good. But we have to clear some air first.
With apologies to movies-turned-television, my hope is not in Lethal Weapon, Frequency, or Van Helsing.
It’s not in a female baseball player pitching for the San Diego Padres in Pitch, although I do still think Mark-Paul Gosselaar is saved by the bell.
No, here are my half-dozen shows – weeded out of the nearly 150 shows debuting in the next two months – that my full focus is on.
The Good Place (NBC) stars Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and the kind architect Michael (Ted Danson) who designed the place Eleanor wakes up in. But she can’t curse – or have any fun the way she expects to. Is this heaven? I’m not sure yet. But it looks funny, and it’s bound to provide me with some sermon talking points about what the writer thinks about the life eternal.
Timeless (NBC): A history professor, Lucy (Abigail Spencer), a soldier, Wyatt (Matt Lanter), and a scientist, Rufus (Malcolm Barrett), chase Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic), a criminal aimed on changing history… through time. Butterfly Effect? Let’s go crazy, in a show that sounds like it’s Doctor Who-meets-Quantum Leap only we don’t have to deal with Scott Bakula or Max’s cigars. I’m in. I bet it only makes it a season… if that… but I’m intrigued.
Conviction (ABC): Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) plays Hayes Morrison, a former First Daughter who now leads the Conviction Integrity Unit investigating wrongfully accused innocents who have been sentenced to prison. This seems political – and timely – given the number of people who are wrongly convicted. I’m always game for a social justice television show, even though this seems to be a storyline that cycles through periodically (see the 2006 Stephanie March series starring Alexandra Cabot in her Law & Order role). Given Atwell’s ‘stage presence’ and growing issues with wrongly incarcerated innocents, this show could challenge us to get involved.
Bull (CBS): Michael Weatherly playing a character based on Phil “Dr. Phil” McGraw? Tony DiNozzo would be proud. There’s bound to be some clever banter there – and Weatherly wouldn’t have bailed on his NCIS paycheck if this didn’t carry the goods. While I appreciate Weatherly’s panache, I’m curious to learn more about Dr. Phil before he was Oprah’s first TV offspring.
Westworld (HBO): No Yul Brynner or Sean Connery, but Anthony Hopkins? The story of a glitching fantasy amusement park has some interesting sci-fi elements that will have me intrigued – when it finally comes out on Blu-ray. Once again, like The Running Man, it seems our love for reality TV may be getting a fictional critique.
Luke Cage (Netflix): The Marvel shows are better than the Marvel movies. Daredevil, Jessica Jones. Just saying. But with impenetrable Luke Cage, we have an African American hero who has some issues – including the death of his wife. Not as cerebrally tormented as Jones, those with a comic background know that Jones and Cage end up as a couple. Having seen their mutual falling out, once has to question how that will happen. What will it take to get these two to be a power couple?
I’m sure someone will have a bone to pick. Bring it on. I’ll be fiddling with my DVR.
The latest hit from HBO isn’t an ensemble power play. Yes, it’s an ensemble show, but the power of this show is Bobby Cannavale’s American Century record executive Richie Finestra. Finestra is a force of nature who cares about his company – and music – in a way that he is begging his team of executives and those around him to care.
In ten episodes of season one, we’re treated to the way that Finestra struggles for recognition and respect, pursuing deals and artists in a way that speaks to his desperation. With wife Devon (Olivia Wilde) in tow, Finestra blows his way through an arc that encounters the ups, downs, and problems of being in the music business.
Music fans will dig the vibes here, and historical collisions and crossed paths with luminaries like Andy Warhol and Robert Plant. There are mobbed up moments, and cop elements, which show the influence of Terence Winter and Martin Scorsese, to balance the musical influence of Mick Jagger, who also co-produces. But audiences will see a mashup of music and style that is unrivaled this side of MTV… twenty years ago.
In the end, we hope Cannavale’s Finestra is left standing, but there’s no guarantee that will happen. The music scene is just too unpredictable.
The first season of HBO’s Vinyl is coming to home media and you can win a free copy on DVD!
Post your favorite song below and you’ll be entered to win a copy of the show.
The films nominated for Best Short Documentary may be the ones most people are likely to see because they often find their way to PBS, or (as is the case with three of this year’s nominees) are HBO documentaries and will be playing there. The short documentaries often are very personal stories that allow us to see important issues. The nominees this year introduce us to people who have serious struggles yet have managed to move beyond the struggles to find some meaning or happiness.
A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (Pakistan, 40 minutes, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy). Every year more than a thousand women are victims of “honor killings”. After 18 year old Saba eloped with her boyfriend, her father and uncle found her, shot her, and dumped her in a river. She managed to survive with serious injuries. After the father and uncle were arrested, the pressure put upon her to publicly forgive them (so they could be released) was tremendous. While we generally consider forgiveness to be something of value, the way it is portrayed in this film makes us consider if perhaps justice should carry more importance in some situations—especially when forgiveness is used as a way to avoid justice. A Girl in the River will premiere on HBO in March.
Body Team 12 (Liberia, 13 minutes, directed by David Darg and Bryn Mooser). Garmai Sumo is a Liberian woman who is part of a team that went through Monrovia, the national capital, collecting the bodies of those who died of Ebola. It was dangerous work, because of the way the disease spreads and because of the reaction of relatives who want to bury their loved ones. We see the terrible epidemic through Garmai’s eyes and heart. She does this work because she loves her country and wants to make it safe. While this is a film that has a great deal of death, it is worth noting that the opening lines we hear Garmai speak are about Resurrection. Even in the face of such tragedy, we get a glimpse of faith that is part of what drives her. Body Team 12 will premiere on HBO in March.
Chau, Beyond the Lines (US/Vietnam, 34 minutes, directed by Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck). In the 1960s and 1970s, the US poured millions of gallons of defoliant on Vietnam, including one designated Agent Orange. The results of that are still being felt there in birth defects caused by the still present chemical. Fifteen year old Chau is one of those who has been so affected. He has lived most of his life in a facility for those with Agent Orange caused birth defects. He dreams of being an artist, but his disabilities will make that a challenge. He longs to have a useful and independent life, but can he find a way to fulfill his dreams?
Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (Canada/US/UK, 40 minutes, directed by Adam Benzine). The massive documentary Shoah was twelve years in the making and ended up with a ten hour running time. It is the definitive documentary on the Holocaust. Claude Lanzmann is the director behind that epic film. He reflects about some of what drove him to make such a film and the trials involved. We see only small pieces of the final work, but Lanzmann’s commentary gives a new perspective on Shoah. Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah will premiere on HBO in May.
Last Day of Freedom (US, 32 minutes, directed by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman). When Bill Babbitt discovered evidence that his brother Manny committed a crime, he turned him into the police, even though it might mean the death penalty. It was an agonizing decision, but for Bill it was the right things to do. Last Day of Freedom is an interview with Bill Babbitt (converted to line-drawing animation) about his brother, his decision, and the consequences. This is a powerful and heart wrenching narrative about love, justice, forgiveness, and about the ways that we may have failed to live up to the higher calls of compassion in the cases of those who fallen through the cracks of society.
For me, there is a very clear choice to the top of this category. Last Day of Freedom held me spellbound as I heard Bill tell the story of his brother Manny and of his own sorrow over so many things along the way that lead to the events. All short docs make us care about the people at the center of the films, but Last Day of Freedom pulls us into the bond between brothers in a way that may be surprising. I think the intimacy we feel with Bill is enhanced by the choice to use animation as the visual medium. It is an exemplary piece of work.