DOPESICK | WHEEL OF TIME | KING RICHARD | TICK, TICK… BOOM!
Pop Culture Weekly Round-Up 19/11/2021
Hello everyone. I hope you’re all well. I’m sitting here after watching the second season of TIGER KING wondering, what the hell have I just watched? How come everyone in this “show” is not in jail? And why they made a second season? The whole thing is pointless and sad. Just a desperate attempt of keeping this IP relevant. My honest advice is, do not watch this crap. Stop making these horrible people famous. And instead of taking part of a “Free Joe Exotic” campaign, we should start one demanding that all these garbage excuses of human beings to be sent to prison.
Sorry for the rant but I had to take that out of my chest. Anyway, in this week’s newsletter I share my thoughts on the amazing show DOPESICK and how the awful Sackler family pushed OxyContin on the American people. I visited the epic fantasy world of THE WHEEL OF TIME but was not impressed with the show writing. And I explain why I liked TICK, TICK… BOOM! and KING RICHARD so much. And as always, there’s a playlist of five songs I listened to last week.
Quick Thoughts
WHEEL OF TIME - There's a lot of new TV shows on the way from now until the end of the year. But one of the most talked-about is Amazon's fantasy series THE WHEEL OF TIME. Created by Rafe Jenkins and starring Rosamund Pike. The show is based on the same-named novel series. The story takes place in a world where magic exists. However, It is prohibited for men to use it. Women, on the other hand, are permitted to channel the One Power and have access to magic. Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) is a member of the Aes Sedai, an extraordinarily powerful all-female organization. She's on a mission to uncover the Dragon Reborn, a legendary being who once devastated the world and was prophesied to reincarnate as a man or woman. I had a chance to watch most of the 8 episodes of the series and I have to say, the visuals of THE WHEEL OF TIME are stunning. The reported $10 million budget per episode was well used in sequences like the Trollocs battle. But there's also far too much bad exposition and poor writing. The show may not be perfect but conjures up wizardry, dramatic twists, and trials by fire and will satisfy fantasy fans.
TICK, TICK… BOOM! This is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directing debut. The film is based on a series of autobiographical monologues written and performed by the late Jonathan Larson. He would go on to create Rent but tragically died at age 35 from an aortic aneurysm the day before the first preview of his breakthrough hit play. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this film. Miranda figured out how to mix musical performances with sequences showing the creative process of writing the songs in a fascinating way. The film is visually and emotionally gratifying, and it captures the dedication and hardship that creative artists endure. The music, narrative, and cinematography were all breathtaking. Jonathan Larson was someone I knew almost nothing about. So this opened my eyes to who he was, his contributions to the world of the theater, and what a tragedy it was that he died so young. Andrew Garfield and Robin De Jesus should both be nominated for an Oscar since their performances were outstanding. TICK, TICK… BOOM! is a wonderful love letter to Jonathan Larson, the art world, New York City, Broadway, friendships, and doing the work no matter how tough it may be.
BRUISED - Halle Berry makes her directorial debut, and also stars as Jackie Justice, a burned-out MMA fighter trying to make a comeback. BRUISED screenplay is weak, and the plot is as predictable as sports dramas can be. But the film has guts and gets points for effort. It also serves as a true reminder of Berry's acting skills and desire to produce gritty emotional films. BRUISED biggest surprise for me was Jackie's trainer Bobbi. She was portrayed with imperious composure and authority by British-Ugandan actress Sheila Atim. I loved how Bobbi and Justice’s initially teacher-pupil relationship grows into something far more loving, complex, and profound. Overall Bruised is a decent film. Nothing groundbreaking. There are a few interesting moments, and it kept me engaged throughout it.
KING RICHARD - This is a biopic about Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, which is played by Will Smith. Few biopics these days dare to have layers like this one has. And Smith's portrayal of Richard Williams may be the most iconic of all of his roles. Richard is a wonderfully complicated character, alternatively adorable and irritating, humorous and terrifying, and well suited to Smith. His breathtaking performance nearly makes you forget about his poor carrier choices in the previous decade. Richard is imperfect; he is neither a villain nor a hero, and he rarely accepts his own advice to be humble. You leave in admiration of his accomplishments but not admiration for the man as a whole. Thanks to his untraditional approache Venus and her younger sister Serena went on to dominate and revolutionize women's tennis, earning a combined total of 30 Grand Slam singles championships. He was determined to lift them out of the ghetto and somehow, against all odds, he did that and much more.
DOPESICK
DOPESICK is a Hulu limited series created by Danny Strong and based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy. And tackled the rise of the opioid epidemic in the United States during its eight episodes.
The miniseries follows the story of America's opioid crisis from a variety of perspectives. Including the patients who became addicted to the drug, the doctors who prescribed it, a low-level sales representative who pushed OxyContin, and Purdue Pharma executives who continued to mislabel the dangerously addictive drugs.
This is a tough watch with challenging and terrible subject matter, and fascinating performances, particularly from Michael Keaton and Rosario Dawson. I lost count of how many times I shook my head in astonishment at what I was seeing. Purdue Pharma's greed, irresponsibility, and selfishness, as well as the pain it has caused to so many individuals, will depress you. My only criticism is that the timeline is a bit confusing. The frequent hopping backward and forwards through numerous eras and different people can be difficult to follow at times. But that didn't stop me from keeping watching the series and trying to understand more about the real drug war.
Despite all the awfulness that is presented to us, DOPESICK finished its run with a hopeful message. It may not have ended with the Sackler family, the founders of Purdue Pharma, in prison (I’m not spoiling anything, this is a real story), but creator Danny Strong managed to find a silver lining in the many heartbreaking stories he and his team of writers were telling.
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.