Danny Boyle has grown increasingly gentle. The man who began his feature-film career with the pitch-dark comedy, Shallow Grave and achieved widespread fame for Trainspotting moved onto such films as the uplifting Slumdog Millionaire and the biopic Steve Jobs.
In 2019, he made an SF Rom-Com that also serves as a love letter to the Beatles and so, today, we’re going to review Yesterday.
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume:
–Friar Laurence, Romeo and Juliet II.vi.
Westworld comes to a conclusion that probably should end the series. Many questions remain unanswered, however, our possible extinction is obviously of interest to viewers, and the series has found an audience. Season Four will happen.
And they gave us a post-credit sequence that suggests the directions it might take.
What could be more appropriate now than a horror movie about two guys in isolation who drive each other crazy?
We haven’t had a Weekend Review for awhile, so I’m going to take this opportunity to annoy some of the Bureau and delight others by giving another generally positive review to an A24 production, last autumn’s The Lighthouse. After The Witch‘s success with many critics and niche audiences, Robert Eggers co-wrote and directed this strange little film, in which Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson get stuck together on an isolated island and lose their minds.
HBO released this mini-series in March, an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2003 alt-history novel. Set in 1940-1941, it resonated with many present-day audiences.
Don’t lecture me you f-cking can opener!
–William
Westworld gives us riots, lockdowns, and apocalyptic events looming. Dolores’s opponents may be able to disarm her, but will it matter?
Michigan’s otherworldly Penguicon, a meeting of SF/Fantasy/Techie/Open Source and other interests, has, like other Cons, been cancelled for 2020. However, it lives on this weekend as Virtual Penguicon.
Some events continue as prerecorded videos, while others will be streamed live through various platforms.
I will be participating in two on Saturday, a reading from my forthcoming novel, The Con, and To Boldly Make Discovery in the Expanse AND what would your Space TV Franchise look like?, an examination of current space-faring shows and what we might like to see in the future. The panel features Larry Nemecek, Trek superfan and SF author, actor, editor, archivist, consultant, interviewer, and producer, and Eric Choi, writer, editor, and an aerospace engineer who has worked on several high-profile NASA projects.
It’s free. We hope some of the Bureau42 regulars will turn up online.
Check the site for details. Note that some online elements remain in process and may be incomplete or temporarily unavailable. Here is the Schedule.
Ten incarnations of Doctor Who will participate tonight (Thursday, April 23) in a fundraiser for the National Health Services. The actors will gather (virtually, I assume) to send a message of support.
Update (thanks Lex!):
Enjoy The Big Night if you’re in England, or otherwise able to get access to BBC.
We would be remiss if we made it to the end of April without acknowledging that the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is celebrating a landmark anniversary. Before being remade in multiple media, it aired as a radio series in March and April… Forty-two years ago!
“I have a secret plan to save humanity and it starts in Oklahoma.”
HBO dropped a limited series1, running from October to December of 2019, which gave us a sequel to Watchmen. The influential 1985 graphic novel did not require a sequel, but this one tries to be true to its source material, and it has received numerous accolades.2
We didn’t review it at the time, but we’re examining and, hopefully, discussing the series here. Who watched the Watchmen?
Expect some spoilers.
So, how are you weathering the Great Pandemic of 2020? Keeping your social distances? Working from home? Catching up on things you’ve missed? Dealing with close quarters? Arguing online with Tinfoil Hats who blame Bill Gates? Baking?– these days, toilet paper is easier to come by than yeast.
Let’s hear about your experiences of COVID-19.