Route 66: Goodnight Sweet Blues

Hip listeners never forgot Ethel Waters as a jazz, blues, Broadway, and gospel vocalist. Yet, she also made history on television, several times over. Way back in 1939, she became the first African American to host their own self-titled show, a fifteen-minute one-off variety program, when NBC was still trying to figure out what they could do with the medium. She was also the first African American star of a network sitcom, the super-awkward in retrospect Beulah. However, she was again the first African American to be nominated for a dramatic Emmy, for a guest turn on Route 66—and that episode holds up quite well. In fact, it holds further significance for jazz fans due to the appearances of legendary musicians Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, and Jo Jones. Fittingly, the “Goodnight Sweet Blues” episode airs tomorrow night during Decade’s weekend binge of Route 66.

The ailing Jennie Henderson nearly swerves into rambling Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock (whose names look unfinished). Although initially angry, the compassionate young men look after her, seeing her to her comfortable Pittsburgh home. She knows she is dying, so she recruits her new friends to reunite her old band from the 1930s, the Memphis Naturals.

It turns out Henderson is one of the few performers of the era who managed to secure a stable financial situation for herself, because she is able to dispatch Stiles and Murdock across the country. Most of the band members immediately agree to return with them, including taciturn tenor-player Snooze Mobley, played by the great Hawkins (he was the recognized link between swing and bop, always sounding contemporary until the day he died). Drummer A.C. Green played by trumpeter Roy Eldridge (considered a mentor by Dizzy Gillespie) also quickly agrees, as does trumpeter Lover Brown, played by drummer Jo Jones. However, it will take a little fast-talking to get the latter furloughed from the State Penn.

Alas, Henderson’s banjo player Hank Plummer is long since dead, but he was a terrible person anyway, according his son, who agrees to sub for him. Hank Jr. (portrayed by Bill Nunn of Ganja & Hess fame) considers Henderson his surrogate mother, so their reunion is especially emotional. The tricky part will be getting trombonist King Loomis, who still feels deep shame over his scuffling and past alcoholism.

There really is a lot of real deal jazz in “Goodnight,” including Hawkins blowing a solo, Marni Nixon ghosting the young recorded Henderson on a Dixieland rendition of “I’m Coming Virginia,” and Waters and Jo Jones doing a poignant duet on Will Lorin & Leonard Freeman’s original “Goodnight Sweet Blues.” Plus, there is Nelson Riddle’s popular series theme to close it out.

The Real Hunt for Red October, on Reelz

Tom Clancy wasn't just a #1 bestseller. He changed publishing, making the “technothriller” a legitimate thing and encouraging scores of military veterans to try their hand at fiction. Some of them were pretty good at it too. Maybe he also helped win the Cold War as well. Some commentators suggest as much in The Real Hunt for Red October, which premieres tomorrow night on Reelz.

Everyone thinks they are a writer, yet a lot of the talking heads in Reelz’s “true story” special think it was odd that an insurance salesman from Maryland could sit down a write a publishable first novel. Yet, Anthony Trollope and Wallace Stevens had written extensive bodies of literature, while also maintaining full-time office jobs. Seriously, it was not so outlandish. The question is whether Clancy was fed classified information by intelligence agencies for the sake of scoring a soft power victory. (Clancy himself always claimed he got his information from specialized media, like Jane’s Defense, but why settle for a conventional explanation, when you opt for something more dramatic.)

Much of the Real Hunt focuses on the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Soviet submarine K-129 and the clandestine CIA campaign to salvage it, echoes of which can be found in Red October. This is also the best stuff in the nonfiction program. It was a huge undertaking, masked by a fictional seafloor mining enterprise headed by Howard Hughes, whose legendary eccentricity was an asset to the operation. We even see a promotional video for the enterprise hosted by TV character actor Richard Anderson (from The Six Million Dollar Man and appropriately, Cover-Up). For years, the salvage operation was considered mostly a failure, but several interview subjects suggest it was more successful than the CIA let on.

Boss Level: Frank Grillo Tears It Up

Pretty soon there will be a movie about an actor who gets stuck in a time-loop while making a film about someone stuck in a time-loop, so we can’t be sure whether it is the time-loop or the script repeating itself. That day is not today, but believe it or not, the time-loop gimmick can still feel fresh, if it involves enough action and attitude. That is exactly what happens in Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level, which premieres today on Hulu.

Roy Pulver is a bit confused by the motley crew of assassins that keep killing him, but even more so when he continues waking-up at 7:00 AM, to repeat the experience over and over again. He is former Special Forces, so he pretty formidable himself, but the constant grind of it all is starting to wear him down. Eventually, he realizes his genius scientist ex-wife Jemma Wells (whom he still loves, despite his frat boy behavior) may have put him into the mad science Macguffin  to right some kind of wrong.

Sadly, he cannot ask her about it, since she was just murdered while working late in the lab. However, he can still protect his son Joe, who only knows him as a family friend, at least until the world ends each evening, sending him right back to 7:00 AM again.

Boss Level wears its vintage video game inspiration on its sleeve, but it is much more than a nostalgic tribute to Streetfighter and the like. There is a whole lot of humor, heartfelt family values, and old school action baked in. As Pulver, Frank Grillo looks and acts like grittiness personified and he has really satisfying chemistry with Naomi Watts and Rio Grillo (maybe that one shouldn’t be too surprising) as Wells and young Joe, respectively.

Lost Course: How to Undermine a Revolution

When the people of Wukan in southeast Guangdong threw out their corrupt village council and elected a slate of democratic reformers, outsiders hoped it was the start of something big. Governing is indeed always a trickier proposition than protesting, but the Party and its rigged system did its best to really hamstring the incoming councilors, who were also plagued by their own naivete, vanity, and ambition. Jill Li documents the entire tragedy as it unfolded in Lost Course, which opens virtually this Friday.

Wukan citizens were so incensed when the anonymous “Patriot #1” exposed the entrenched local Communist Party council had sold fertile farm land held by village as a public trust to real estate developers to line their own pockets, they took to the streets. However, they surprised everyone when they stayed there, demonstrating day after day. Their anger only grew after protest leader Xue Jinbo died under “mysterious circumstances,” while in police custody. Eventually, the Guangdong Party authorities intervened, agreeing mistakes had been made and ostensibly granting Wukan greater latitude to reform their own local governance.

Li captures the initial exhilaration of Wukan’s first round real free-and-fair elections, but there is also a nagging sense of foreboding when a key protest leader who initially only seeks a seat on the temporary committee that would oversee the council election, opts at the last minute to run for council office instead. Logically, reclaiming the village’s wrongly sold land is everyone’s top priority, but nobody really has a concrete notion of how to do that within the CCP’s legal and political bureaucracy. As a result, they inevitably disappoint the impatient townspeople.

Watching Lost Course is sort of like water torture (that is not meant in the critical way it might sound like), because we see drip-by-drip how the Wukan democratic coalition fractures, gets distracted, loses confidence, and eventually turns on each other. Not surprisingly, they had help losing their way. In fact, it seems suspiciously plausible several protestors-turned-local politicians were set up on the corruption charges, which they admittedly blundered into.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned for reformist protest movements in Lost Course. You can definitely see parallels between the “9/21 Incident” veterans and Yanukovych’s disappointing post-Orange Revolution Ukrainian government. However, Li’s doc still presents a damning look at the corrosive influence of the CCP on Chinese civil society. In fact, some of the final scenes of the documentary are those of riot police rampaging down Wukan streets yet again in 2016, after arresting dozens of “usual suspects” in the middle of the night.

Dreamcatcher: Another EDM Slasher Movie

Supposedly, DJ Dreamcatcher is part Ojibwe Nation, so he isn’t really engaged in any cultural appropriation. Regardless, Elizabeth Warren-style claims of dubious heritage are the least of the sins committed in his circle. While his handlers try to sweep the drug-induced suicide of a fan under the rug, a psycho-slasher starts knocking off everyone involved in director-screenwriter Jacob Johnston’s Dreamcatcher, which releases this Friday on VOD.

DJ Dreamcatcher is about to lose an obnoxious publicist in the prologue, but nobody seems to notice. He still has his hard-charging manager Josephine, who shifts into full-scale cover-up mode when Pierce kills herself backstage while under the influence of who-knows-what-substance he gave her. The unstable twentynothing’s sister Ivy had bought tickets to the EDM happening for her and her torch-carrying bestie Jake as a peace offering, but it obviously did not work out so well.

Supposedly fearing a career-killing scandal for her client, Josephine bluffs some of the witnesses into accepting a buyout. However, Jake, Ivy, and her platonic support-group pal Breken still hope to bring Team Dreamcatcher to justice. They just don’t have much of a plan for it. Meanwhile, a killer wearing Dreamcatcher’s stage mask has been cutting up the DJ’s duplicitous management and cowardly by-standers alike.

There are two very conspicuous problems with Dreamcatcher. First, it bills itself as a EDM-style horror film, but that has already been done in movies like Party Hard, Die Young. The big festival the characters fatefully attend looks pretty small in scale. There also seems to be practically no variation in the generic beats either.

None of that would be so bad if Johnston’s execution was tighter, but Dreamcatcher is weirdly talky and often sluggishly paced as a result. It is like a group therapy session broke out during a horror movie. Maybe it would be nice that these characters are so in touch with their feelings, if they were not so wafer-thin and annoying.

The Devil Below

If only it were Mole People like in the Superman movie or the 1956 drive-in classic (with Hugh Beaumont) that came up from this abandoned mine. Instead, the miners encountered something much more infernal and nether-regional. They did their best to seal it up to protect the outside world, but outsiders come snooping anyway in Bradley Parker’s The Devil Below, which releases this Friday on VOD.

It must take an awful lot for hardened miners in coal country to walk away from a perfectly good mine. Presumably, it was not merely the combustible minerals Darren, a dodgy academic, claims to be investigating. He drags a rag-tag team deep into Appalachia in search of the Shookum Mine, which literally disappeared off maps in the 1970s. The locals do their best to run Darren’s party off, but Ariana, the guide he hired, is unusually (and unfortunately) resourceful.

Eventually, they breach the old barricaded mine, at which point all heck literally breaks loose. Yep, it turns out the locals had a darned good reason for trying to keep them out. Ariana already felt the need for redemption after he last ill-fated expedition. Now, she will need a double-helping.

Devil Below is a nice twist on horror movie traditions, which usually cast hill-and-holler folk as freaky predatory outsiders. In this case, they are the thin red[neck] line, protecting the world from demons or whatever. It also does not hurt having veteran character actor Will Patton portraying the leader of the guardian militia. He really sells the crazy premise with his grizzled gravitas.

The Resonator: Miskatonic U (Part 2)

Fictional Miskatonic University might be highly selective, but once you are in, it takes a lot to get kicked out. For instance, Crawford Tillinghast stole university resources, including plutonium, to conduct unsanctioned experiments that resulted in the death of one friend and the non-fatal impalement injury of his girlfriend Mara Esteban. However, Prof. Wallace is willing to paper-over the entire business if Tillinghast will give him access to his late father’s breakthrough. Of course, the older mad scientist’s motives are highly suspect in the second concluding installment of William Butler’s The Resonator: Miskatonic U, which premieres this Friday on Full Moon Features.

As was the case in Stuart Gordon’s classic From Beyond, the Resonator stimulates the pineal gland, allowing people in our dimension to see creatures from other dimensions. Unfortunately, if you can see them, they can see you—and that is extraordinarily dangerous. After the horror show of the previous episode’s test-drive, Tillinghast reluctantly agrees to shut down his Resonator experiments, until Prof. Wallace comes along to blackmail his old rival’s son into sharing the secrets of the Resonator with him, much to the alarm of the deceased Dr. Tillinghast’s disembodied spirit.

The Resonator is a pretty satisfying riff on Lovecraft and Gordon’s cult-favorite adaptations, but the first somewhat longer episode is probably better than the second, because it devotes more time to the character development and group dynamics of Tillinghast’s friends, particularly Esteban and the meatheaded Bear Johnson. Frankly, the second episode feels like it hurries to bring the story to a close. For what its worth, the ending does not make much sense, but that is not necessarily inappropriate for what it is.

The Affair, Based on Simon Mawer’s The Glass Room

Villa Tugendhat is like Czechia’s Falling Water House. Designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, it was the happy home of the Tugendhat family, who did not move out voluntarily. However, they managed to leave Czechoslovakia in the nick of time, avoiding the worst of the German occupation. Understandably, the children of the Tugendhats were not entirely thrilled when Simon Mawer used their family home to create a fictional “fantasia” about a much more dysfunctional family. Similarly, they weren’t too crazy with the news of a film adaptation of Mawer’s novel (Mies’ heirs might not be ecstatic either), but here it is regardless. The tragic history of the Czech Republic unfolds alongside Mawer’s made-up melodrama in Julius Sevcik’s English-language Czech-production The Affair, which releases this Friday on VOD.

In this alternate reality, Viktor Landauer built Villa Tugendhat as a wedding gift for his bride Liesel, who is crazy about modernist architecture. However, even he balks at the expenses run up by the renowned architect Von Abt, especially the red marble he installs. Still, Viktor must admit the way it glows when the sun rises really is quite amazing. Liesel’s best friend Hana Hankova is so struck by the villa, she takes Von Abt as a lover, even though he isn’t a very good one. Frankly, she would rather love Liesel, but her married friend is not ready to go there yet.

Sadly, the war will separate them before they can fully workout their issues. Likewise, Viktor Landauer will carry the baggage of his dalliances with the nanny, another possible affair the flawed international title could refer to. Recognizing the writing on the wall, the Jewish Landauers manage to leave on one of the last Casablanca-style flights out. Hanakova and her Jewish husband are not so lucky. To protect him, she becomes the mistress of Stahl, a military contractor, who has requisitioned the villa to serve as a drafting workshop (another affair, but not exactly one freely entering into).

The first half of The Affair really is melodramatic (to the point of cheesiness). However, the second half becomes much more compelling, focusing on Hanakova as she navigates the National Socialist occupation and the subsequent Soviet domination of Czechoslovakia. Through her eyes, we see the decline of the nation, as reflected by the deterioration of the Villa (that eventually becomes host to squatting black marketeer). Frankly, the aspects of the film that work the best really do not require Mawer’s controversial meta-fictionalization of the Tugendhat family. Anyone from the era could relate to the Villa as a symbol of past glory.

Carice van Houten is indeed very strong as Hanakova. She brings strength to the modern Czech woman, even as she endures the indignities of consecutive occupations. She is sort of revisiting her role in Black Book, but Hanakova is arguably more human, being a flawed but protective wife and eventually a fiercely loving mother. She is also critical to the biting scenes that set up the 1968 Soviet invasion.

400 Bullets (Use Them Wisely)

According to legend, it was during the Battle of Bunker Hill that Col. William Prescott gave the celebrated order: “don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” Centuries later, it will still be good advice for two British soldiers out-manned and out-gunned in a remote northern Afghanistan outpost. Rounds are limited, so they must make every shot count in Tom Paton’s 400 Bullets, which releases this Tuesday on DVD and VOD.

British commando Noah Brandt has just recaptured a stolen shipment of cutting-edge missiles and the special guidance chips that activate them. He guards the chips closely, because they are forged from titanium and can’t be quickly crushed under the heel of a boot. Unfortunately, the squad leading his convoy has sold out to the Taliban. Through sheer luck, Brandt escapes with the chips, but the nearest outpost is almost deserted. Most of the men are on an extended mission, leaving Rana Rae (the son of a traditional Gurkha officer) and a comrade you really shouldn’t get too attached to, holding the fort (with its iffy wifi and comms signals).

Obviously, the absent troops took most of the post’s munitions with them. Nevertheless, Rae and Brandt are honor-bound to fight to their last breath. Unfortunately, Brandt was already pretty banged up by the time he gets there, but he still keeps chugging along, whereas Rae’s hand-to-hand prowess makes you wonder why they left him behind.

Paton’s screenplay is pretty simple and straightforward, in a tried-and-true kill-or-be-killed kind of way. Sometimes, keeping-it-simple-stupid is also good advice. Paton keeps things dark, gritty, and super-violent, just the way war is. Paton previously wrote and helmed the military-themed genre films Black Site and Black Ops (which have considerable merit of their own). This time around, he foregoes the fantastical, embracing the boots-on-the-ground action instead.

Superman and the Mole Men/The Unknown People

It was the very first full-length [just barely] Superman theatrical film and it also served as a back-door pilot for The Adventures of Superman TV series. Obviously, there was sufficient interest to proceed. Eventually, Lee “Roll ‘Em” Sholem’s Superman and the Mole Men was edited into the only 2-part episodes of The Adventures of Superman, retitled “Superman and the Unknown People.” In its two formats, it paved the way for the classic Christopher Reeve movies and the popular TV shows, like the recently premiered Superman & Lois. Fans can go back where it all started when the “Unknown People” episodes (which omit mention of the “Mole Men”) air on Heroes & Icons this Sunday morning (whereas this review is based on the Mole Men cut).

It is right there at the beginning and it sounds so refreshing: “truth, justice, and the American way.” From there, we pick-up with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, on assignment in the sticks, to do a piece on the deepest oil well every drilled. However, they awkwardly learn it has been shut down as soon as they arrive. Lane just wants to complain back at the hotel, but Kent suspects there is a bigger story to sleuth out. Honestly, he displays much sharper reporter’s instincts throughout Mole Men.

Kent soon wins over a source, who tells him the well started pumping up glowing phosphorescent material the company fears might be radioactive. That is not all that came up. A pair of slightly shorter-than-average men with big foreheads follow the long narrow shaft that came boring into their subterranean world up to the surface, where they find a rude reception. That’s right, Superman is all in for the hollow Earth theory.

The Mole Men mean no harm, but the townspeople of Silsby freak out anyway, leaving them receptive to the lynch mob demagoguery of thuggish Luke Benson. You would think they would listen to someone invulnerable to bullets, but no, they are too caught up in the group frenzy.

Frankly, Mole Men is surprisingly moody for a 1950s Superman story. Thematically, it is somewhat like the “Monsters are Due on Main Street” episode of the Twilight Zone. However, there is nothing revisionist about George Reeves’ Superman. Weirdly, the old eye glasses disguise works better for him than any of his successors, maybe because his Kent also wears a hat. Weirdly, he also looks more dashing as Kent than he does in the Super jammies, maybe because of shoulder pads.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday: a Late Contender

These days, jazz is probably a little too dependent on the support of elite cultural institutions. It has its own constituent organization within the Lincoln Center and it is taught at many of the finest universities (like Julliard and Berklee). Wouldn’t Harry Anslinger, the notorious jazz-hating Narc, be surprised. He made of point of targeting jazz musicians in his war on drugs, settling on Billie Holiday as his prime focus. That aspect of Holiday’s tragic story comes to the fore in Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday, based on Johan Hari’s nonfiction book (primarily this excerpt here), which premieres today on Hulu.

Holiday had a difficult life that she made even more painful through her own decisions. While most jazz musicians closed ranks around each other, largely stymying Anslinger’s prosecution/persecution attempts as the chief of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (a precursor to the DEA), Holiday perversely kept getting involved with the wrong sort of men, who were only too willing to betray her. Her determination to keep singing the searing anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit” further inspired Anslinger’s wrath. Weirdly, Holiday defiantly performed it much more frequently than Suzan-Lori Parks’ screenplay give her credit for. However, Daniels is quite shrewd to hold off showing her characteristically devastating performances until roughly midway through.

Essentially, the film starts with Holiday well into her post-Basie fame, periodically flashing-back to scenes from her harrowing early years in Baltimore. We understand why she continues to fall into cycles of abuse, choosing the wrong men over and over. Jimmy Fletcher was recruited to be one of them, but the undercover agent will fall in love with Holiday, even while he builds a case against her. At least when he collars Holiday it is a legitimate bust, but he still regrets it.

Daniels and Parks will please real jazz fans because they also give considerable screen time to her great platonic love, tenor legend Lester “Pres” Young. Tyler James Williams is terrific as Pres, playing him in a more forceful and engaged manner than he is often presented (many thanks for that). Yet, it seems like a lost opportunity not to depict their final bittersweet reunion on the classic Sound of Jazz broadcast. Instead, US VS leaves them on bad terms.

Regardless, Andra Day lives up to the awards hype as Lady Day, especially in her scenes opposite Williams and Trevante Rhodes, who fully conveys the depth and extent of Fletcher’s conflicting angst, guilt, regret, and lust. The natural inflections and intonations of Day’s voice are almost an eerie dead ringer for Holiday’s—so much so older jazz fans might assume it is a deliberate imitation. Dramatically, she gives a raw and fearless performance, on both physical and emotional levels.

Unfortunately, Garrett Hedlund is definitely the weak link of the film. Daniels unambiguously places him in the center of a racist government conspiracy, not without justification. Yet, his Anslinger lacks the subtlety to be a realistically compelling character or the flamboyant scenery chewing to be a memorable villain. He is just too bland and boring.

Lazarus, on Tubi

You can't keep a good cop down, not even in death. Ray Lazarus is about to find out how aptly he was named when he is brought back for a little life-after-death law enforcement. He is sort of like Treat Williams in Dead Heat, but less zombie-ish and more super-heroic (and with less humor and no support from the legendary Vincent Price). The tone is distinctly dark and post-industrial urban throughout R.L. Scott’s Lazarus, which premieres tomorrow on Tubi.

Lazarus was an honest cop, who was just crazy enough to think he could clean up crime-ravaged “Paradise City” (there, Guns N’ Roses should now be stuck in your head). He got killed for his efforts, but fortunately that wasn’t the end of the world. Much to Lazarus’s surprise, he is brought back to life and granted Wolverine-like healing powers by an untrustworthy demigod. He says he resurrected Lazarus to restore “balance,” but he clearly has a secret nefarious scheme in the works.

Regardless, Lazarus is perfectly willing to take advantage of his second chance to take down Paradise City’s evil drug cartel. He is also determined to protect Nina Jacobs, a former low-level gun dealer on the outs with the syndicate. Lazarus might be dead, but he is still attracted to her.

The film’s supernatural element is sort of like that seen in Timothy Woodward Jr’s schlocky Checkmate, but the execution is vastly more competent (admittedly, that is a super-low bar to clear). It is still the weakest part of Lazarus. However, there are a number of impressively tough and gritty fight scenes, which is really what you want from a film like this.

The Vigil

Yakov Ronen must spend the night in the most frightening place on earth: Brooklyn. Frankly, he would be better off on the streets than in the Litvaks’ Borough Park home. It is not the Litvaks he has to worry about, especially since Mr. Litvak is dead. Rather ominously, that means the mazzik demon that consumed his life force will be looking for a new victim and he would fit the bill perfectly in director-screenwriter Keith Thomas’s The Vigil, which releases this Friday in theaters and on VOD.

Ronen left the Orthodox community after a harrowing personal tragedy that still haunts him. He found a constructive support group for personal stuff, but he remains completely unprepared for the civilian job market. As a result, he reluctantly accepts a shomer gig from his old rabbi, sitting vigil for the late Mr. Litvak. Rather suspiciously, the previous shomer backed out as soon as he set foot in the Litvak home.

After the tragedy, Ronen essentially turned against religion and spirituality, but he still hears the weird noises throughout the Litvak house. He is also spooked by the apparently disturbed Mrs. Litvak, who seems to think her husband was plagued by an ancient mazzik that latched onto the profound anguish he carried with him from the Holocaust. It gets harder for Ronen to dismiss their fanciful notions when he starts to see a sinister figure in the shadows.

Incorporating the Holocaust as a plot point in a horror movie is a potentially perilous practice, but The Vigil never feels exploitative. It is also scary as heck, while maintaining a humanistic element at its core, which is quite a nifty trick. This is easily one of the most distinctive feature debuts of the year, in any genre.

The Resonator: Miskatonic U (Episode 1)

There is no better fictional school to study mad science than H.P. Lovecraft’s Miskatonic University. It also boasts an amazing occult archive, including a copy of the Necronomicon. It is the perfect place for the son of From Beyond anti-hero Crawford Tillinghast to study. Naturally, the son wants to complete his late father’s extra-dimensional work in William Butler’s The Resonator: Miskatonic U, a loose but still fairly faithful sequel to Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond, which debuts its first installment this Friday on Full Moon Features.

When Tillinghast fils discovered Pere’s notes, he just couldn’t resist constructing his own resonator. Of course, it worked only too well, leaving him with a friend’s body to dispose of. As a result, he had been keeping his bizarrely patient girlfriend Mara Esteban at arm’s length. However, he eventually relents and gives a demonstration of the Resonator to her and their friends, perhaps because of the aphrodisiac effects. Regardless, the entities it reveals from other dimensions remain just as evil and dangerous as they were in Gordon’s film.

Meanwhile, the Dean Wormer-like Prof. Wallace is snooping around Tillinghast’s internet activity, which is pretty damning. The first episode definitely leans into the mad science aspect of Miskatonic, enduringly represented by Dr. Herbert West, whose presence in promised in the later episode. However, the dark spirituality professed by Prof. McMichaels suggests there could very well be some metaphysical elder god business waiting in the wings too.

Wrong Turn Rebooted

Horror movie fans know its bad when you hear: “you’re not from around here, are you?” Yet, to be honest, you probably aren’t being a particularly respectful visitor if you stand out so badly. Scott Shaw’s daughter Jennifer and her obnoxious millennial friends certainly stood out in Appalachia, so consequently Shaw must go off looking for them in Mike P. Nelson’s reboot of Wrong Turn, which releases today on VOD and DVD.

Jen Shaw was hoping to find herself on this trip, so good luck with that. Her boyfriend Darius Clemons is a history buff, so we can appreciate him. Unfortunately, he will also drag the group off the beaten trail in search of a Civil War fort. They have been hiking the Appalachian Trail with their gay couple friends Luis and Gary, so the group automatically assumes all the sidelong glances they get are homophobia (and have nothing to do with their hipster attitude). That is especially true of their pal Adam Lucas, who is openly disrespectful of the locals.

Of course, when they have an off-trail mishap, they find themselves contending with “The Foundation,” a deep-woods communal cult originally founded in 1859, in rejection of both the Northern and Southern factions. If you thought folks in town were standoffish, they really don’t take to outsiders.

The Wrong Turn movies (with their cannibal hillbillies) constitute a not particularly well-loved yet strangely prolific franchise with six films to its credit. It probably didn’t cry out to most horror fans for a re-upping, but on the other hand, Nelson and screenwriter Alan B. McElroy pretty much had a free hand to fiddle with the “mythology” without fear of alienating the faithful. As a result, they actually develop some interesting backstory and add some intriguing ambiguity. Strictly speaking, the hipsters were sort of asking for it—and maybe even get what they deserve.

Superman & Lois (Pilot), on the CW

After years of being super, in just about every way, the DC stalwart is suddenly getting the classic Marvel treatment. In addition to saving the world, Superman (and/or Clark Kent) now must contend with family issues as well as trouble in the office and on the Kent family farm. It might be reassuring to some that not even Superman has super parenting-powers in the special extended pilot of co-creators Greg Berlanti & Todd Helbing’s Superman & Lois, which premieres tomorrow on the CW.

Evidently, the pilot takes place after the big crossover event on CW’s other DC shows, but you can walk into S&L without watching any prior episodes. You know the basics—Superman’s escape capsule landed in Smallville, where he was adopted by the Kents. Eventually, he moved to Metropolis to work for the Daily Planet, where he met and fell in love with Lois Lane.

Unlike the Christopher Reeve movies and George Reeves TV series casual fans might be more familiar with, in this DC universe, Kent revealed his powers and true identity to Lane, who subsequently married him. However, they have kept the Superman business secret from their teenage sons, Jonathan, who happens to be a suspiciously talented athlete and his younger brother Jordan, who has always been a little “troubled.” Lane still has mixed feelings about this decision, but Kent believes it is the best way to protect them.

Lately, he has had a right to feel uneasy. An armored supervillain known only as “The Stranger” has been targeting nuclear reactors, leaving behind messages in the Kryptonite language. Superman has only narrowly avoided disasters several times already. Naturally, The Stranger will strike again right when the Kent family is in crisis.

It is surprisingly compelling to see Clark Kent finally have to live like Peter Parker. We can sympathize we him a lot, as he tries to relate to his two polar-opposite sons. Obviously, Lane does her best to cover, but he is constantly pulled in multiple directions simultaneously. His father-in-law, Gen. Sam Lane does a lot of the pulling, serving as a sort of Commissioner Gordon figure, who often summons Superman whenever national emergencies arise.

Still, there is one thing missing for old school fans. It is probably too much to ask for when there are Chinese rights sales to be made, but wouldn’t you love to hear “truth, justice, and the American way” again?

Slamdance ’21: Black Kung Fu Chick (Episode)

Mastering martial arts involves more than simply learning the moves. The discipline it entails is even more important, especially on a mental level. Tasha will learn that from her new sifu, but going to high school in LA means she can still use plenty of hand-to-hand fighting technique in the mini-episodes of creator-director Rae Shaw’s Black Kung Fu Chick, which screens as part of the 2021 (online) Slamdance Film Festival.

Tasha is a serious student, who also happens to be into comic book culture. Unfortunately, that means she often gets bullied on the streets of her Watts neighborhood. It has gotten so bad, she has even started cutting class, despite her college aspirations. Recognizing her predicament, Tasha’s math teacher, Mr. Jian, offers to serve as her Mr. Miyagi. However, his approach initially confuses Tasha—as do the crane videos he has her watch.

haw deserves a lot of credit for portraying the kind of martial arts discipline that you usually don’t see in kung fu movies. Real masters always prefer to avoid a fight. Likewise, Tasha will extract herself from the big centerpiece fight scene as soon as possible, because she has more important things to do. That is a good message for kids, but the fight scenes (overseen by stunt coordinator Alfred Hsing) are still pretty cool.

The vibe of BKFC is also quite appealing in a nostalgic kind of way, because of Raven Stevenson’s Super8 cinematography, which approximates the retro-look of 1970s “Afterschool Specials.” There is a nice geek element as well, thanks to the use of still comic panels during scene transitions. Ironically, it is easier to imagine it getting picked up by a network during the 1990s than finding a match with today’s compulsively cutting-edge streaming services, but Shaw’s’ characters deserve to find a longer life somewhere.

Slamdance ’21: Code Name: Nagasaki

This happens to be a documentary, but it also proves genre filmmaking can be therapeutic. Fredrik S. Hana and his good pal Marius Lunde made several short films together, with Hana directing and Lunde in front of the camera, but for their first feature, they documented Lunde’s efforts to find his birth mother in Japan. It is an emotional process for Lunde, whose doubts and angst are distinctively represented by mini-genre-vignettes in Hana & Lunde’s Code Name: Nagasaki, which screens during the (online) 2021 Slamdance Film Festival.

Lunde’s memories of his birth mother are hazy at best, because he was only five years-old when she returned to her native Japan without warning, leaving her Norwegian family behind. He still had a reasonably happy childhood, but her absence still left a void. Years later, he hires a Japanese private investigator to track down his mother. With Hana along for moral support and his cameras to record the moment, Lunde prepares for a trip to Japan, even though he is not sure whether he will be welcome when he arrives.

Periodically, Hana and Lunde also go back to their roots, staging film noir, J-horror, and Chanbara samurai interludes that express Lunde’s states of mind. They all look so cool, Code Name: Nagasaki is sure to inspire a surge of interest in their previous shorts among festival patrons.

Tell Me Your Secrets, on Prime Video

There is probably some kind of pop psychology truism that says everybody has the capacity to be both a victim and an aggressor. Maybe there is even a kernel of truth to it, but this series is built on taking that notion to its fullest, most ridiculous extremes. Unfortunately, a lot of legitimate victims of violent crimes get overlooked in writer-creator Harriet Warner’s Tell Me Your Secrets, which premieres today on Prime Video.

Meet “Emma Hall,” as she is now known. She is the former lover of a convicted serial killer, who still loves her old flame. Now, she is trying to start a new life, under a new identity, in Witness Protection. She hasn’t really done anything yet to warrant her fresh start, but whatever. By the way, she is also clearly positioned as the series’ sympathetic rooting interest.

In contrast, also meet Mary Barlow, who is super intense and you know, “privileged.” Barlow still suspects her daughter was abducted and murdered by Hall’s lover, but her body has yet to be found—and neither Hall or her man ever agreed to talk to her. You would expect a grieving mother to get sympathetic treatment, but not here. Instead, the show constantly passes judgement on her reckless single-mindedness, especially when she hires John Tyler to track down Hall. What kind of background would qualify Tyler for such an assignment? He happens to be a convicted serial rapist. Yes, getting involved with a psycho like that is asking for trouble.

There are plenty of other creeps in Secrets, particularly Peter Guillory, the slightly disgraced shrink overseeing Hall’s reintegration and de facto parole. He also has a connection to the local orphanage, which Hall suspects of covering up the murder of a young resident she befriended.

Watching Tell Me Your Secrets makes you feel uncomfortable and gross. Hall’s boyfriend had something like nine confirmed kills and he is suspected of killing several other girls mentioned, but they are just used as mere plot points. Only Barlow’s daughter Theresa gets any kind of character development, at least through the first six and a half episodes (okay, I’ll admit it, I couldn’t see this one through).

Steve Canyon: Operation Zero Launch & Project Heartbeat

Aerospace technology moved so fast in the late 1950s and 1960s, sometimes even Lt. Col. Steve Canyon had trouble keeping up. Early in the Cold War, Zero-length launch experiments were a high priority, but the concept was rendered largely obsolete by the advance of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Nevertheless, Canyon will happily risk his life test-flying a plane literally strapped to a booster rocket in “Operation Zero Launch,” which airs with “Project Heartbeat” as the two episodes of Steve Canyon airing this Saturday morning on Decades.

Once again, Canyon has been dispatched by top brass to be the bearer of bad news. Instead of calling off “Operation Zero Launch,” a project to launch planes directly into the air without prior runway taxiing, he has come to speed it up (or, yes, cancel it outright). Brad Bradshaw, the civilian contractor (and ex-USAF officer) in charge of the development had decent results from the last dummy he hurled into the air, but a manned test will be a big leap. Of course, he is willing to take the risk himself. His sister Rita is not too thrilled about her brother going back into harm’s way. Yet, there is still romantic tension brewing between her and Canyon. Regardless, Canyon will inevitably end up in the cockpit when it really matters.

“Zero Launch” is one of the better early episodes, because the chemistry between star Dean Fredrickson and guest-star Marion Ross (who would eventually become the Happy Days mom) goes a long way humanizing square-jawed Steve Canyon. There is also plenty of cool aviation stuff, involving booster rockets and ejector seats.

“Project Heartbeat” is less successful from both a dramatic and plane-geek standpoint. For his latest mission, Canyon will be flying around the world hooked up to a heart monitor, so the Air Force medical department can analyze the physical effects of long-distance flight. As we would expect, Canyon maintains a heart-rate lower than Brad Pitt’s in Ad Astra, but Major “Pitch” Hammer? Not so much.