AMBULANCE | WOKE Season 2 | TOKYO VICE | TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF
Pop Culture Weekly Round-Up 08/04/2022
Hello, everyone! It is Friday and I’m back to give you some Pop Culture recommendations for your weekend. In this week’s newsletter, I talk about Michael Bay’s latest flick, AMBULANCE. I share some thoughts on two great shows. The second season of Hulu’s WOKE and the new HBO Max crime thriller TOKYO VICE. I also talk about Tony Hawk's amazing documentary that is available on HBO Max. As always there is a playlist with five songs I enjoyed last week.
Two things that I want to share with you guys before we get into the Newsletter:
The first one is this hilarious sketch that Pete Davidson from SNL has done about the length of movies these days. He was joined by Gunna, actor-comedian Simon Rex (RED ROCKET), and fellow SNL castmate, Chris Redd to create this masterpiece. By now you guys are probably aware that I’m always ranting about long movies in this newsletter. So I felt vindicated when I saw this.
The second thing is that my favorite film of 2022 so far, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE, is having a wide release today, April 8, and I urge you to go check it out. You won’t regret it.
QUICK THOUGHTS
WOKE Season 2 - In the first season of Hulu's WOKE, Keef Knight's (Lamorne Morris) traumatic run-in with the cops not only messed up his career as a cartoonist but also helped fuel his activism instincts. And now that the dramedy, is finally back for its second season, Keef, which is based on real-life cartoonist and show co-creator Keith Knight, has to deal with his rising as an activist, and also with a world in which being "woke" is now a big industry. The protagonist is challenged to establish a compromise between delivering meaningful change and getting the resources required to make change actually happen. It is very entertaining but also very painful at times to watch Keef trying to balance his sudden notoriety with his core values and aspirations. Season 2 also deals with gentrification and the homelessness problem in San Francisco. Which is an interesting thing to do, and, in my opinion, it was very well handled. Blake Anderson (Gunther) and T. Murph (Clovis) continue to provide some very needed comic relief. But giving Sasheer Zamata (Ayana) a bigger role in season 2 was one of the best decisions from the writers. She is a little less assured and is questioning her own practices this time around. Aimee Garcia is another terrific inclusion in season 2. She plays Laura who embodies the business's side of charity and activism. After watching the whole second season of WOKE I can say that it expands and improves on the first one, and also make the claim that the series isn't only for POC, it's for everyone.
TOKYO VICE is an HBO Max’s crime thriller Adapted for TV by J.T. Rogers. It is loosely based on American reporter Jake Adelstein's personal description of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in the late 1990s. It stars Ansel Elgort as Jake Adelstein and Hiroto Katagiri as a detective who leads him into the city's neon-drenched underworld. Michael Mann directed the season pilot, and he once again proved that he has a gift for capturing the dangerous mischievousness of big cities. Mann's hyperactive eager vision captures Tokyo's fascinating flow, from its murky back alleys and elegant drinking places to the tempting neon that fills the night. Setting the vibe for the remaining of the season. I'm not a huge fan of Ansel Elgort's work, but he does a fantastic job in the series. Jake's excitement for his adopted country is palpable, and Elgort has strong chemistry with the Japanese actors. It was also interesting to see how Japanese society deals with foreigners. The Meicho Shimbun, a major Tokyo newspaper, had never employed a foreigner before Jake. And even though he is fluent in Japanese, both written and spoken he had some problems winning the trust of his peers. Overall, Tokyo Vice is quite entertaining to watch. The performances, writing, and production value are all great and match with any of HBO's best series throughout the years.
TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF is a documentary that is both genuine and honest. While I failed miserably as a skateboarder, Tony Hawk and skateboarding culture have had a significant impact on my life. I grew up listening to Punk Rock in the 1990s, and I recall watching skateboarding videos not only to witness incredible skate stunts but also to find new Punk bands. It's incredible to watch Hawk’s notoriety peeled away and to hear his peers, mentors, and family members speak so candidly about his life. Despite his imperfections, I find him to be an amazing person, and this documentary came close to being flawless.
AMBULANCE
AMBULANCE is Michael Bay's 15th film. It has a screenplay by Chris Fedak, who is penning his first feature film. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays an honored soldier, Will Sharp. While Jake Gyllenhaal portrays Yahya's adopted brother Danny. Despite the fact that the two brothers are distant and appear to operate in different realities, Fedak makes a not-so-subtle showcase of Will's problems in the opening scene of the movie to connect them. Basically, Will is broke and in desperate need of cash. But he doesn’t need to worry. Because his brother Danny has a $32 million heist arranged for that exact afternoon. Coincidences like that can only happen in Michael Bay’s movies, am I right?
Everything in AMBULANCE is as extravagant and excessive. After all, this is a Michael Bay joint, so you can expect unnecessary explosions and plenty of shootouts. However, AMBULANCE somehow turns the plot's inherent silliness into actual suspense. Danny and Will end up stealing an ambulance when the heist goes horribly wrong, and the cops got on their heels. And yes, the movie does feel like a mix of SPEED and HEAT but it never quite achieves the levels of awesomeness of the two classic 90s movies.
Despite all of Bay's bad decisions and extravagances, AMBULANCE can be a fun watch at times. And I think that the flick is a good representation of major blockbusters mayhem. And it fits certain moviegoers' burning demand for endless and careless carnage disguised as blissful big-screen entertainment. Though the bar is set incredibly low, AMBULANCE did turn out to be better than most of Bay's movies.
Top 5 Songs
These were the 5 songs on heavy rotation in my house last week. You can listen to them on Spotify and YouTube.
Was that Simon Rex from MTV?! That might be the first time I've seen him in 20 years!