News Satire Roundup: March 27th-March 30th

No John Oliver this week – under the current administration, it seems like any time one of these shows takes a week off, there’s a mountain of news that passes it by, and as a once-a-week show to begin with, Last Week Tonight, doesn’t even try to go in-depth in keeping up with all the Trump craziness.  Instead, John has taken to mostly doing his “this week in Trump…” catch-all during the opening segment.  In these pieces, I like that he’s introduced a new running gag based on the idea that “President Trump” are two words that will never sound natural together.  His examples of similarly-incongruous word pairings are consistently great, from the unsettling (“Walrus Porn,” “Baby Pubes,”) to the shade-throwing (“Dr. Oz,” “Wolf Blitzer,”) to the outright non sequitur (my personal favorite, “Horse Pope.”)  It starts out each Trump story with a reminder not to let any of this seem like business as usual.

Monday, March 27 – Nice point in the story about two girls in leggings needing to change before boarding a United flight – since the healthcare bill didn’t go to a vote, we can afford to be “outraged” by “leggings sexism.”  Speaking of the healthcare bill… Loved Trevor’s mirth at Trump trying to blame Democrats for the bill’s failure, and Trump’s “subtle” back-and-forth on Paul Ryan’s culpability was ridiculous.  Another blurb on Trump golfing, this time looking at the rather silly attempts at subterfuge to suggest that he’s not golfing.  The Fox News “news alert” covering for him was crazy.  Trevor’s right – “the President is spending the weekend working” shouldn’t be news.  John Singleton was the guest.  After the obligatory geek-out over Boyz n the Hood, Trevor talked to him about his new series Rebel, which explores the tightrope walked by Black police officers who tend to be viewed as traitors by both groups they belong to.

Tuesday, March 28 – Good jokes on Trump’s executive order on climate; I loved the crack about Trump destroying the world in order to get out of being president.  The show touched on the proposed budget, with Jordan using stacks of cans to compare US defense spending with other nations.  Taking from the EPA and the State and Justice Departments (to stay abreast of “3-can Mexico”) was a ludicrous visual, especially when Jordan added the dust specks representing PBS and Meals on Wheels.  For the latter, Roy had a goofy field piece on militarizing Meals on Wheels to trick Trump into thinking it’s defense.  Quick story on how Trump has “shone a blacklight” on American politics, things that we’ve always believed were secure but, it turns out, aren’t actually guaranteed.  The guest, author Helene Cooper, discussed her book on Africa’s first female president and what Liberian women undertook to see a woman in power.

Wednesday, March 29 – We opened with a few jokes about Trump not throwing the first pitch on Opening Day, including comparing his pitching to his healthcare plan.  After the executive order rolling back climate regulations, Trevor looked at Trump’s campaign promises to bring back coal jobs, despite the fact that those jobs aren’t coming back for numerous reasons.  I liked the point about how finding a way to shift these workers toward renewable energy industries is both more feasible (there are way more jobs there) and innovative (planning for a cleaner future;) the analogy with JFK cracked me up.  Roy and Hasan hawked Third Month Mania a little more.  Even though I think the Trump-tweet focus is better than last year’s, I still feel it eats up time I’d rather spend on news stories.  I’d never heard of the guest, rapper Residente, but I thought he was great.  His new album musically examining his cultural roots sounds super interesting.

Thursday, March 30 – Paul Ryan lamely trying to laugh off the whole Trump/Judge Jeanine thing was as painful as it was hilarious.  Another Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That, this time featuring Ivana Trump’s now-official White House position, the impeachment and arrest of South Korea’s corrupt president (and fond fantasy about what that would be like,) Trump declaring war on hard-liners within his own party, and the not-exactly-a-victory of of North Carolina overturning their bathroom bill.  With Rachel Dolezal back in the news, Trevor asked Michelle about being a white person who’s frequently assumed to be Black and how, wonder of wonders, she’s never felt tempted to pass herself off as such.  Excellent interview with Chris Hayes about his new book on policing and the Black community, positing that the Black experience of police is similar to how a colonized country is treated by its occupying force.

Logan (2017, R)

I haven’t seen either of the other Wolverine films, but from the chatter I hear online, Logan is the one that finally did the character justice.  While the intensity of the violence and frequency of the swearing feels a little weird to me, just because I’m used to seeing Wolverine and Charles in the PG-13 films of the larger franchise, this movie is as well-made as it is brutal.  I don’t quite know what it means for the future of the franchise outside the newer X-Men films set in the past, but if we don’t see him again, this is an excellent swan song for the character (premise spoilers.)

Set a number of years after the events of the most chronologically-recent X-Men movie, the age of mutants would seem to be over.  Many have been rounded up and killed by shadowy government types, no new mutants have manifested in the last 20+ years, and the few remaining old guard are living in hiding.  Logan, whose mortality, it seems, is finally starting to catch up to him, is dealing with decreased healing, gradual aging, and the long-delayed ill effects of the adamantium in his body.  He’d like nothing more than to keep his head down and look after Charles, whose incredible mental powers have been made unstable by a degenerative brain disease, but he’s dragged rather unwillingly back into the game when a woman comes to him begging for an escort/bodyguard to sanctuary in Canada.  She has a little girl in tow, a young, lab-grown mutant who shares Logan’s regenerative powers and adamantium-fused skeleton.  With the scientists who created (and subsequently wanted to destroy) her on their tail, Logan, Charles, and the child, Laura, set off on a desperate race north so Laura can take refuge.

As I said, the violence here is insane.  We’re talking limbs being sliced off and claws sinking deep into people’s skulls.  This is arterial-blood-spraying, bone-crunching, agonizing violence, more in line with what you’d see in Deadpool or Kick-Ass than X-Men.  Now, the fights are super cool, especially when Laura is involved.  Newcomer Dafne Keen plays Laura as part traumatized child and part feral animal, a frightened but deadly creature backed into a corner who refuses to let herself be taken.  I love the vicious savagery of her fighting, punctuated by primal screams and an intensely-coiled survival instinct that takes her over.  But again, it is a little jarring to see from Wolverine – not that he isn’t capable of this sort of thing, certainly not, but I’m so used to the PG-13 version of him that it took my brain a while to settle into the fact that he’s the guy leaving this trail of maimed corpses in his wake.  Weirdly enough, though, the R-level swearing is even harder to get used to – hearing Charles drop F-bombs made my ears rings the first few times.

The story to go along with the high-octane action is grim but well-crafted.  I was reminded of neo-Westerns like No Country for Old Men.  There’s just this sense of a dying era, of aging men fighting against a callous world that’s long since finished with them and their ilk.  Even as Laura represents a possible future for mutants, it’s a twisted one that’s already been stained by so much horror and bloodshed, making you question if it could ever be like it once was, imperfect as it was then.  Deeply nihilistic with tiny scraps of hope fluttering around the edges, it’s a pretty unsettling film that stays with you long after watching.

Warnings

Lots of graphic violence, swearing, drug references and brief nudity.

Favorite Characters: Melinda May (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

At times, May can give off the impression of being a bit of a one-trick pony – stoic super-spy badass (which, don’t get me wrong, is a pretty great one trick) – but at her best, she’s a lot more than that.  She was the first Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. character to hook me, and even now that the field has grown more crowded, I still love it whenever she’s featured on the show (May-related spoilers, though I won’t hit on what’s going down this season.)

Seeing May now, as Coulson’s hyper-capable number two and the devoted-yet-reserved quasi-mama-bear of the team, it was strange to go back and watch her story from the beginning.  Granted, when she and Coulson are both so serious about “I’m just here to fly the plane!  No field work!” and make cryptic references to the life-altering mission in Bahrain, you know there’s something to uncover.  In fact, the pilot isn’t over before we see evidence of the skills that earned her the nickname The Cavalry.  But thinking how involved she is now in both the missions and the critical decisions, it’s wild to remember that she originally wants nothing to do with any of it.  She agrees to join Coulson’s team strictly as a pilot, nothing else (of course, she has a bigger motivation than just flying the plane, but Coulson doesn’t know that.)

But it’s only a matter of time before May finds the field calling to her and she’s in the thick of it.  I love watching May work.  Needless to say, her combat skills are amazing, she’s great undercover (so much so that she can scare the rest of the team, who are only used to seeing her as her quiet, serious self,) she has good instincts/attention to detail, she’s unflappable in a crisis, and when she follows orders, she follows them absolutely.  It’s understandable why she left the field after Bahrain, but I’m glad she found her way back to it, because it’s clear how perfect this work is for her.  (I love the moment at the end of season 2 when she’s packing for a vacation and, after a bit of deliberating, decides to bring a gun with her.  That little smile as she slips it into her bag is May through and through.)

May has been an agent a long time and she’s seen some of the worst it has to offer.  As a result, her walls are pretty high.  Her all-business attitude intimidates some of her team members, and because she often processes her emotions in private, she can be perceived as being cold.  Some of the others on the team, especially at first, characterize her as less feeling, less bothered by the more disturbing things they encounter and the tough calls they’re asked to make.  In truth, though, May isn’t unfeeling.  There have been times in her life when she probably thinks she’s felt too much, and she knows the scars that can leave.  And so, she’s guarded; she frequently acts unmoved by things, but that’s because she’s intentionally holding her feelings at arm’s length.  She never wants to feel the hurt of Bahrain again, and what’s more, she wants to keep everyone safe in the field, so she endeavors to keep a clear head and ride out whatever storms she faces.

And for those like season-1 Skye who still need proof that May has a heart, that strategy doesn’t always work for her.  She breaks.  She tries to push her feelings down, or channel them through exercise or combat, but there are moments when she can’t hold it back anymore.  Over the seasons, she’s gotten a little better about dealing with things or confiding in one of her friends before she gets to that point.  However, it’s still one of the few skills she has yet to master.

Top Five Songs: Newsies (Stage Version)

One more Newsies post.  The songs have been rattling around in my head since seeing the filmed recording of the stage show, so I thought I might as well figure out which ones I like best.

“Carrying the Banner” – To a point, I understand the reasoning behind opening the show on a prelude to “Santa Fe” from a storytelling perspective.  But for music, scope, and entertainment value, “Carrying the Banner” is a real opener.  Bursting with exuberance, Jack and the ensemble command our attention from start to finish, and the infectious melody is a formidable earworm.

Best lyric:  “It’s a crooked game we’re playin’, / One we’ll never lose, / Long as suckers don’t mind payin’ / Just to get bad news.”

“Watch What Happens” – I love this song written for the stage show.  The verses paint an amusing picture of Kate, who’s fierce, determined, and socially conscious but also overwhelmed and insecure.  Throughout the song, these two sides of her jockey for control, and she ends vowing to keep the former in the driver’s seat.  The melody on the chorus is soaring and beautiful, with uplifting lyrics that make this song yet another of the show’s many great anthems.

Best lyric:  “All I know is nothing happens if you just give in. / It can’t be any worse than how it’s been. / And it just so happens that we just might win, / So whatever happens, let’s begin!”

“Seize the Day” – I debated between this one and “The World Will Know.”  I loved both in the movie, and the added lyrics for the stage show have made them even better.  In the end, I went with this one.  While it’s led by Davey and, to a lesser extent, Jack, it’s also a really nice full number for the ensemble, an anthem of solidarity and action in the face of opportunistic injustice.  (And I’m not gonna lie, the dancing in the filmed recording doesn’t hurt one bit!)

Best lyric:  “Once we’ve begun, / If we stand as one, / Someday becomes somehow / And a prayer becomes a vow.”

“Santa Fe” – As I’ve said, the filmed recording brought me around to this version of the song, a desperate number where Jack is at the end of his rope and clinging to escape, but I do still the love the more standard “I want” song from the movie.  Either way, the melody is lovely and I like the wistful lyrics, that longing for someplace else because it isn’t where you are.

Best lyric:  “If the life don’t seem to suit you, how about a change of scene? / Far from the lousy headlines and the deadlines in between…”

“Brooklyn’s Here” – Such a fun number!  Brimming with energy and swagger, the Brooklyn newsies roll onto the scene with aplomb in this insanely-catchy song.  The ensemble harmonizes fantastically, and more than anything, the song creates the perfect mood – as soon as they start to sing, you get a burst of how the newsies feel, like things will finally start looking up.

Best lyric:  “That’s our cue, boys, it’s time to go slummin’. / Hey, Manhattan, the cavalry’s comin’!”

Life with Buster Keaton: Unknown Episode Title 1 (1951)

As it happens, the next Buster TV episode I watched is also sports/fight-related, drawing a little on both Battling Butler and, to a greater extent, Palooka from Paducah (since this is wrestling instead of boxing.)  For what it’s worth, this episode was labeled part of Life with Buster Keaton, not The Buster Keaton Show, and it isn’t the same story as was used in the previous Buster Keaton Show episode, but the similarities do make it feel a bit repetitive.

Buster’s working at the same sporting goods store from The Buster Keaton Show, although he now has a similarly-bumbling coworker who’s obsessed with boxing and “switches” on and off into a fighting machine at the sound of the bell (I have yet to rewatch any of the other Life with Buster Keaton episodes available online, but I’m assuming this guy either only appears in this episode or is only obsessed with fighting here.)  Anyway, a disastrous incident at work – ‘cause this is Buster we’re talking about, there’s always a disastrous incident at work – leads two professional wrestlers to challenge Buster and his coworker buddy to a fight.  Lured by the promise of a $100 payout, win or lose, Buster plans to accept and then go down quickly in the first round, but the wrestlers have something else in mind.

I don’t mind Buster reusing ideas from his older films in his later stuff, but there’s not as much to interest me here (although, that’s at least in part because of how recently I watched the Buster Keaton Show episode that climaxed with a fight in the ring, which isn’t this episode’s fault.)  While there are some funny bits here – Buster and his pal showing up to the fight in Roman centurion costumes is silly, and Buster’s confusion with wrestling’s more staged aspects is funny – the humor feels less inspired, more slapped together.

The best part for me is probably the opening sequence at the sporting goods store.  That really was an excellent choice for a major locale on a Buster TV comedy, because it offers an endless supply of props that Buster can use for comedic purposes.  Here, we get some fun gags from Buster trying to wrap up a fishing pole, utterly failing to put up a “cinch-to-erect” tent, and being attacked by a canoe suspended on ropes from the ceiling.  The humor still gets a bit sloppy in places, but for the most part, the scenes in the store feel the most Buster-ish to me.  With the comedy in Buster’s later projects, it seems like it works best when Buster has a lot of room/resources to play around with and an ostensible reason to be messing with them, and Buster haplessly trying to pitch outdoorsy equipment to customers provides a good excuse for that.

Top Five Big Damn Hero Moments: Susan Foreman (Doctor Who)

Getting started on my classic-companion Big Damn Hero moments.  Susan is first up, and I’ll admit that she was kind of a tough one.  But despite her reputation for only crying and twisting her ankle, I managed to find some valuable contributions from her.

The Flaming Skull (“An Unearthly Child:  The Forest of Fear” – Series 1, Episode 3)

Technically, it’s Ian who applies the idea toward a plan (frightening the cavemen so they can escape,) but it’s Susan who hits on the notion of how to scare them:  putting a skull on top of a torch so it looks like flames are emanating from the bones.  Pretty clever and highly effective!

Going Through the Forest (“The Daleks:  The Survivors” – Series 1, Episode 6)

Now, I’m not arguing that Susan is terrified throughout this adventure – in fact, that’s part of the point.  She’s a nervous, freaked-out girl making her way through the creepy-ass Skaro jungle alone at night, all while suffering under the effects of radiation poisoning, to get the medicine she and the others need to counteract the effects.  No small task, but Susan gets the job done.

Crossing the Stalactite Bridge (“The Keys of Marinus:  The Snows of Terror” – Series 1, Episode 24)

While searching for one of the keys, Susan and her friends wind up in a tight spot in a frozen cave with Ian fending off the key’s guardian.  If one of them can get across a deep chasm, they can reattach a rope bridge so the others can get across.  They’ve bridged the gap with what looks like stalactites, reasoning that, given time, they’ll freeze together and someone can cross on them, but there’s no time to wait.  What I like about this moment is how determined Susan is throughout.  She’s completely focused on the task at hand, and even when one of the stalactites breaks off and she nearly falls, she doesn’t falter.  It’s not often we get to see her being so steady.

Protecting John (“The Sensorites:  The Unwilling Warriors” – Series 1, Episode 32)

“The Sensorites” is probably Susan’s best story.  I like how her latent telepathic energy is heightened by the Sensesphere and how receptive she is to mediating between the humans/Doctor and the Sensorites.  Here, seeing how the Sensorites are weaponizing their telepathy against John, Susan gets the idea to do the same thing to them, with her and Barbara amplifying the same thought – “We defy you” – to drown out their own message.

Guiding Barbara through the Aqueduct (“The Sensorites:  A Desperate Venture” – Series 1, Episode 36)

And more telepathy for the win!  Susan mentally guides Barbara through the aqueduct in the hopes of recovering the Doctor and Ian, with Barbara using one of the Sensorites’ mental devices and Susan kicking it old school.  This is a neat plan; Susan has a model of the aqueduct and some Sensorites (who know the aqueduct but are ill-equipped to enter it themselves) to help her out, and she serves as a go-between giving Barbara the instructions she needs to get through.

Beauty and the Beast (2017, PG)

For my money, the most important thing to do with the new live-action Beauty and the Beast is to acknowledge that it’s not the original and then move on.  Even without getting into the merits of the singing between the two casts (and the original remains the champ, I’m not disputing that,) it’s always hard to hear a new rendition of songs you’ve heard countless times.  Heck, it took several listens for me to get used to the cast recording version of Hamilton’s opening number having listened to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s solo of it at the White House copious times over the last seven years.  How much more indelible is the original soundtrack for Beauty and the Beast?  No matter what, if you keep the new film in the context of the original, it’s going to come up short, but if you take a step back and allow it to be its own thing, you might like it quite a bit.

As in the original story, “most peculiar mademoiselle” Belle trades places with her father as the prisoner of a gruff, entitled prince under a curse that turned him into a beast.  Unbeknownst to Belle, the curse can only be broken by true love, and the Beast’s servants (transformed by the curse into household objects) believe that Belle is their last hope for the spell finally being broken.  After their fraught beginning, Belle and the Beast gradually start understanding one another better, both realizing there may be more to the other than they had previously thought.

While, again, it’s hard to fiddle with such iconic songs and scenes, I think the new cast acquits itself pretty well.  Emma Watson’s Belle has a less powerful voice, more contemplative, but she brings a nice air to her numbers.  And though she’s not one of the stronger links for me musically, her acting is superb.  Her Belle is sharply observant, independent, forceful, and gently compassionate.  The other half of the equation, Dan Stevens (Jane Austen alum and formerly of Downton Abbey,) makes an excellent Beast.  The CGI might be iffy, but his performance isn’t.  I really enjoy his prideful, snappish Beast who is still slightly immature and uses his monstrosity to hide his pain and loneliness.  Stevens is also my singing MVP, at least for the actors that I’d not heard sing before (he’s obviously not gonna compete with Audra McDonald.)  His solo “Evermore,” one of several new numbers Alan Menken composed for the film, is the standout of the whole film for me – just gorgeous.  For both characters, I think the tweaks to the story make them even richer and more engaging.  The screenplay also helps build a bit more slowly to the romance, showing how Belle and the Beast are forming a friendship that could turn to love.

Luke Evans as Gaston brings the buffoonery, swagger, and genuine menace in equal turn, I like the minor arc given to Josh Gad (a.k.a. Olaf the snowman) as his toady LeFou, and Kevin Kline is sweetly earnest as Belle’s father.  As for the servants, Ewan McGregor’s exuberant Lumiere, Sir Ian McKellen’s stuffy Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson’s motherly Mrs. Potts are the most noteworthy, but the aforementioned Audra McDonald is also featured, along with Stanley Tucci and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.  Everyone’s singing here is quite respectable.  I think the staging can get a bit too busy on some numbers – the titular “Beauty and the Beast” is lovely, but I feel like there’s too much going on onscreen.  However, when the film finds the right balance between musical and movie, as in “Gaston,” “Be Our Guest,” and “The Mob Song,” it can be pretty great.

Warnings

Some scary scenes and Disney violence.

News Satire Roundup: March 19th-March 23rd

Sunday, March 19 – I love John’s gobsmacked frustration at Trump refusing to shake Angela Merkel’s hand.  So petty, so bizarre.  More on the wire-tapping claims, including Trump blaming a British agency and arguing that he was just repeating what a conspiracy-touting “legal mind” said on Fox.  Good main story on the proposed federal budget.  John looked at the inhumane list of programs whose funding Trump wants to reduce or eliminate, mostly in the name of added defense spending (his answer to “coal miners and single moms shouldn’t have to pay for PBS” was impeccable,) but he focused more on its haphazard insanity and how cutting from programs that make up .2% of the budget is less business savvy and more dick move.  Finally, in search of a happy story, John gave us Bolivia’s “traffic zebra” mascots who promote road safety, his joy at their existence, and a traffic zebra in front of a green screen, whereby to improve any video.

Monday, March 20 – Some good jokes on North Korea’s latest missile launch test, which is a strange sentence to write.  We got updated predictions on “who’s the real president,” with Fox News claiming the top slot this time.  The evidence for this is depressingly convincing, and the clip of Trump telling the press ask Fox about the whole wire-tapping thing (since he was just repeating what they said) was the perfect cap.  I loved Trevor’s impression:  “Talk to Fox, don’t ask me – I just work here.”  The show also covered the hearing with FBI Director Comey, specifically the part where a congressman asked him to comment on Trump’s (fallacious) livetweeting of the hearing.  Remind me again what world we’re living in?  I enjoyed the guest, Egyptian political satirist Bassem Youssef.  The montage he shared of Egyptians fawning over Trump was crazy, and I was interested in his experience doing satire during a revolution.

Tuesday, March 21 – We opened on Republicans who dragged Obama for golfing now insisting that Trump’s golf weekends are all about political work on behalf of the American people.  The montage of campaign Trump waxing about how he’ll probably never see a golf course again because he’ll be working so hard was great.  Trevor then hit a whirlwind of headlines that scarcely have time to get any focus due to nonstop news:  a TSA electronics ban from certain Middle East countries, Neil Gorsuch’s hearing, Tomi Lahren’s not-a-suspension from The Blaze, and Ivanka Trump security clearance despite not having an actual government job.  Jordan did yet another Trump rally field piece, trying to work out why a president is campaigning barely two months into his presidency (the supporters he interviewed were not a fount of knowledge.)  Journalist Dahlia Lithwick was the guest, talking Neil Gorsuch and (more) partisan hypocrisy.

Wednesday, March 22 – Amusing opening blurb on a South African soccer player who mistakenly thanked both his wife and his girlfriend in an interview – whoops!  Glad the show touched on the African summit, wherein every African participant had their visa denied by the US.  Trevor’s “business as usual” assessment of Africa’s relations with the West felt very apt.  The clips of Republican Senators palling around with Neil Gorsuch at his confirmation hearing was gross.  The other points of the story felt kind of slapdash, but that part definitely hit home for me.  Roy and Hasan gave a “Third Month Mania” update, highlighting a few of the Trump tweets in the “Sad 16” bracket.  And while CHIPS doesn’t tempt me in the slightest, the interview with Michael Peña was great.  I loved his anecdote about learning to ride a motorcycle for the film, and his remarks about immigration and his family were heartfelt and on point.

Thursday, March 23 – Another lightning round of headlines.  I loved Trevor’s observation that he feels drunk after reading extended Trump quotes (re: his TIME interview,) and he touched on the possibility of Gorsuch’s confirmation being filibustered and Paul Manafort’s Russian ties.  He slowed down for the (non-)vote on the healthcare bill, again taking the GOP to task for not having its ducks in a row after seven years of gnashing its teeth over the Affordable Care Act.  I like that Trevor keeps coming back to this point.  There’s plenty to examine overall, but it’s also worth noting how shoddy it is just from that professional standpoint.  Ronny had a hilarious desk piece on an Australian guy who jumped into crocodile-infested waters to impress a woman – his disdain for the guy’s stupidity was beautiful.  Swedish musician Zara Larsson was the guest.  I didn’t go in expecting a conversation about condoms, but it turned out to be pretty amusing.