Welcome to the Deets and Geets Newsletter: He Said, She Said for Mid-April 2021. Check out our quicktakes below on the pop culture happenings that piqued our interests so far this month, broken down by streaming service.

DISNEY+

Soul:

He said: I was hesitant to watch this movie given American animation’s history of racist imagery and because I’m not a huge fan of 3D animation.  That said, I did enjoy Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and realize there aren’t many leading characters of African descent in American animation. Having now seen Soul, I can say I enjoyed the film overall, but would not have finished it if LRK hadn’t watched it with me. Jamie Foxx does a great job in bringing the protagonist, Joe Gardner, to life and the “appreciate life while you can” theme is executed in good measure. I’m not crazy about the exaggerated features of the characters, but the animation and aesthetics of the movie’s universe are very creative. Good for child and adult animation fans.

She Said: I enjoyed this Pixar animation about a jazz musician who finally lands his dream gig, only to have a brush with death and have his soul clamor to get back into his body.  It definitely carries the Pixar touch with creative ways of symbolizing various emotions and philosophical outlooks. Also cool that Pixar made a proper effort to do justice to its first film with an African American protagonist by closely involving consultants including Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and Daveed Diggs.

HBO MAX

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

He said: The “Snyder Cut” you may have heard buzzing about the internet last month is the director’s cut of the 2017 Justice League theatrical release. Bigger and noticeably better than the original, we tackled the four-hour film in two nights. LRK usually falls asleep at least once during superhero movies, but this one held her attention, just not enough for her to comment for the newsletter (ha!). Good for Snyder fans (300, Watchmen, Wonder Woman) and those who like their heroes less whimsical. Those who didn’t like the 2017 iteration will most likely not be swayed, but those who did should find the Snyder cut better in storytelling, visuals, and combat.

She said nothing.

NETFLIX

Awaara:

He said: Good, classic ‘fifties Bollywood. Also known internationally as The Vagabond, Awara is a crime drama that features big production and spectacle in black and white. There is a heavy classism theme throughout the movie played to simplistic effect, I imagine, to show how hard it may be to escape the “fate” of your class. With a runtime of over three hours, viewers may need to decide their own interval point. Noir fans will definitely enjoy.

She said: A Raj Kapoor classic!  I must have seen it as a very young child, and it’s funny to watch it now as an adult who can actually understand it, and realize how totally inappropriate it is for children, but how much of a given it was that a family would watch such a film together.  The movie navigates crime, punishment, and cycles of poverty; and challenges a biological determinist view of human nature; as a pregnant woman is tragically wronged and impoverished by her own husband under Ramayan-throwback circumstances, and her predicament is blamed on the proverbial Raavan of the film. The villain of course has his ulterior motive to take tween Raj under his wing – but not before tween Raj meets a little girl Rita, whose photo will be the only thing adorning the walls of his tiny hut of Raj’s house, and who will grow up to be played by the iconic Nargis. The songs are catchy and plentiful, all the feels are there, and though the movie feels too long by today’s standards and has quite a bit of problematic to unpack, the “classic” tag is also (largely for those very reasons!) very well-deserved.

Concrete Cowboy:

He said: I have to be in the mood to deal with the struggle. As a Afro-Native person living in a predominately white suburb, I have to deal with mico- and macro-aggressions every time I step out of the house. Given that, I don’t want to revisit those feelings when trying to relax. LRK recommended we watch Concrete Cowboys and I agreed just because I heard “cowboys,” not knowing the film was about the urban cowboys that have existed in Philadelphia for over a century. I have to admit I was inspired more than depressed, partly because I grew up in the MidWest around horses and the like. Also, since the story is based on real people and some of the actors are portraying versions of themselves, I felt even more inspired. While the story arc is somewhat predictable, knowing it’s based on obscure history makes it shine a bit brighter. Worth an afternoon watch with some beans, bacon, and cornbread—that’s a good country meal for those who didn’t catch the reference.

She said: Idris Elba plays father to Caleb McLaughlin of Stranger Things fame in this Netflix drama about a young man coming of age through bonding with his father and his community of urban Philadelphia cowboys—in many ways, horses are to him what karate was to Daniel-san, but he also comes to understand them as representative of a culture and community that has gone from being excluded from historical narratives to being threatened by gentrification.  The movie is based on a novel called “Ghetto Cowboy” which is in turn based on the actual Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club. Some actual members of this riding community act in the movie as versions of themselves, which makes it more interesting. 

The Serpent:

He said: I’ve come to enjoy the episodic format of streaming shows because it gives stories time to breathe—I say that with The Serpent in mind because, yes, it could have been a movie, but there would have been many dropped scenes that ultimately help solidify this mostly true story, which takes place in several countries, over several decades. I say mostly true because the dialogue is imagined. Ajay seems to be the only character who didn’t benefit from the expanded runtime—it’s a fictionalized story, yet they couldn’t throw homeboy a backstory? Anyway, the cinematography and stylistic choices kept me emerged in the mid-70s / early-80s atmosphere and the actors seemed totally at home in their roles. Plus, knowing all of this happened (in essence) makes it that much more compelling. While not the crème de la crème of crime drama / biopic, it’s worth the watch for fans of the genre, though it loses some steam near the end of the series.

She said: I never knew about Charles Sobhraj before watching this eight-episode fictionalized series about this sociopathic Indo-Vietnamese French serial killer who hated hippies. Tahar Rahim does a fine job of sinking into this chilling character, and I was kept engaged throughout the series, which was largely told through the eyes of the real-life Dutch diplomat who persevered to get Charles caught. Although I understand the various constraints in being able to develop characters, I think they ripped off Ajay a bit and he deserved a better fleshing out of his back-story. Overall a good series, if a little dizzying in its non-linear storytelling, that will have you Googling your way into more truths.

Sound of Metal:

He said: Roller coaster of emotions with this one. The plot is simple: Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a heavy-metal drummer who starts to lose his hearing. The movie is very effective at bringing the audience into the before- and aftertimes of Ruben’s hearing loss and how it affects his life as a musician and his relationship with girlfriend Lou played by Olivia Cooke. The movie is a definite slow burn, so those expecting high drama or rock performances throughout will be disappointed. Juxtapositions of rough and gentle, loud and quiet, rigid and soft are explored. While I won’t spoil the film, I will say that Riz Ahmed is cast as yet another knucklehead—in all the films I’ve seen him, his characters put themselves in precarious positions and then proceed to double down on bonehead behavior. This includes his roles in Girls and Star Wars!

She said: Riz Ahmed really has a knack for bringing a sympathetic and endearing angle to dudes with self-destructive tendencies and fundamentally shitty outlooks on life.  The acting and writing were solid in this drama about a drummer going through hearing loss, and it was interesting to see the different mindsets and approaches that can be taken under such circumstances.

The Stranger:

He said: Interesting episodic British crime drama. A few good twists, though, the protagonists aren’t exactly likable in the sense that they all have skeletons in their closets and proceed to lie about them until they can’t anymore. I recommend watching at least two episodes to get the essence of the show. The mystery of it all is intriguing and good timepass, but nothing game-changing.

She said: “Ghost” from Marvel Ant-Man fame plays the mysterious “Stranger” who delivers disheartening and sometimes threatening messages to people in this eight-part British drama on Netflix. The show kept me interested in trying to guess what secrets people in this town are keeping and how they are all connected to each other and to this Stranger.

YouTube and Netflix (respectively)

Vir Das Comedy (Ten-on-Ten and Inside Out: A lockdown crowd-work special)

He said: Bottom line is Vir Das is funny. I had seen his stand-up before and thought he was okay, but I had some good chucks with LRK watching these two features. I enjoyed the lockdown special the most out of the two because Das has good comedic timing, allowing him to riff with participants. Ten-on-Ten is only on episode four at the time of this writing, so I’ll reserve judgement until watching the entire series.

She said: I’m kind of wary of cool Indian dude comics, especially after that hideous AIB Roast from a few years ago—but I did enjoy Vir Das’s performances in Delhi Belly and especially in Go Goa Gone, though (lololz)—so I was down to check out Vir’s stand-up upon Super Star Agni’s suggestion. Outside In is Vir Das’s pandemic special on Netflix, where he exchanges banter with his audience over a video call.  I was really impressed with Vir’s ease of making funny conversation on the spot and engaging all his audience. Ten on Ten is apparently still ongoing, comprised of ten separate sets about ten different issues.  I haven’t found any to be profoundly hilarious or anything, but each set is brief and certainly entertaining enough to watch with some chai and brownie.