The first thing I did after finishing the Blank Check podcast was to go to Amazon and order the 4K release of Midnight Run. Everything just reminded me how great that movie is and it should be in my physical collection.
I thought The Bear S3 was pretty poor overall - aside from those two episodes which were really great.
I think I found it really pretentious to be honest. And when it wasn't stuck up it's own arse, much of it seemed like a poor simulacrum of "The Bear", if not parody.
Any thoughts on what shows represent Biden's (first?) term?
I'd maybe take a stab at:
Comedy: The Bear. Super stressful, and even when you laugh you also are cringing and about to get sucker punched with some dose of reality.
Drama: Succession. Though the Roys have more in common with the Trumps than the Bidens, they represent untamed capitalism, and I feel like with corporations posting record profits despite inflation, it's a good fit.
And I'm not sure it's a coincidence that both of those are really dramedies!
I know the business side of Hollywood is not a main purview of yours, but it’s depressing Paramount shutting down all the channel websites, especially Comedy Central. I hope The Daily Show & Colbert Report clips get released on YouTube at some point.
There was already a hell of a lot missing from those shows on the CC website. How great would it be if someone curated a YouTube channel for them like Letterman's?
@Alan - has there been any indication that season 4 is the end for The Bear? I don't want it to be, but the filming both back to back, plus the non-ending ending of it all sort of to me evoked Season 5 of The Americans, which was filmed with the idea that Season 6 would be the end, so season 5 was done with more of an "emotional prepwork" tone. I did genuinely enjoy S3 - I think a spinoff on the Faks done as more of a comedy would actually be a good companion piece rather than shoehorning them in here. I don't want The Bear to end. But I fear this was the setup to get to that point.
I stopped in the middle of your Blank Check episode (my first, though I'm probably going to fall down that hole now) because you guys made me want to rewatch the movie again (currently on Amazon Prime). And Alan, I think I can explain your big question about the Duke's charges. I'm not just a movie geek, I'm also a lawyer.
What Mosely calls a "bullshit local charge" is in fact the Duke's embezzlement. That is generally a state crime, though it can be a federal crime (usually involves stealing from the government). I paused on the closeup of the Duke's booking sheet, and before Jack flips it over, you can see that the Duke lives in California - house, license plate, etc. I believe his accounting firm was located in California, not in Nevada.
Obviously we the audience know Serrano is a criminal, but from California's perspective, the Duke stole a lot of money from legitimate businesses. We don't know how he got caught - likely his own company caught him and turned him in. But that's what he was arrested for, in LA, and why he made the papers there. Once Mosely, for example, learned who exactly the Duke had stolen from, he realized the Duke had value as a witness in the federal case he was trying to build against Serrano.
My big question is: how the hell did Jack get Mosely's badge? There are only a few seconds before Mosely puts the badge back in his left pocket before the other feds grab both of Jack's arms and start frisking him. There's a moment in between where you see Jack's right arm move in Mosely's direction, but then immediately he's being manhandled. That's some really impressive close-up magic!
Thanks! So why is Mosley bothered by the idea of Jack bringing Mardukas back to LA on the local charge? Couldn’t he just Bigfoot in on the case once the Duke was in custody?
I think there we're getting into "but then the movie wouldn't happen" territory, especially since Mosely is I think the one character who doesn't express the belief that the Duke will immediately get killed in jail. In real life Mosely would get a material witness warrant, or collaborate with the LA DA on state and federal charges against Serrano, and the Duke would be in protective custody.
At best I guess you could say Mosely has been trying to get Serrano for six years and doesn't want to take any chances and doesn't want to wait.
This makes sense, thank you. They spend time elsewhere in this podcast series discussing how much of a perfectionist Brest was so it seemed unlikely that the director would let the entire plot hinge on some poorly conceived, made-up plot device. But since the film doesn't need to explain it for the plot to work, it instead becomes a bit of a Macguffin.
Let's just get this out: The Bear is still the best show on TV. I concede that the self-congratulatory season finale full of cameos had an ick factor, something I suspect will be addressed in "Part 2." But otherwise, this felt like an amalgamation of the previous two seasons. Storer built the sandbox in Season 1. He populated it with toys in Season 2. Now he gets to play--a much less stressful activity, but one that's still very fun to watch. The subtle references to past scenes, the bite-sized clips to represent the pressure Carmy feels, Jamie. Lee. Curtis. I could go on.
I’ve watched two episodes of the new Bear season and enjoyed what I’ve seen for the most part. What I enjoyed most about episode one was Trent Reznor’s score, it was mesmerizing. If I have one qualm so far, it’s the push to become a Michelin star restaurant. I liked the fact that it was a scrappy team in the beginning working together to build something, but I never expected it to be so bougie.
I really enjoyed this season of The Bear. Not as good as S2, but it had a lot of pretty big highs for me. I feel like the show has figured out how to nail these wordless (or minimal dialogue) montages. If you're like me and you just want to sort of marinate in the world, seeing a character's recollections this way is an interesting glimpse inside their head. I agree that I wanted more closure and a more definitive arc for the season (and maybe for even one of these characters to find a therapist). Less of the Faks, even though their nonsense seemed to have more bearing on the plot than it initially seemed, would be appreciated.
Any time that I feel like I want to shake a character to get them to wake up to how they're ruining things, it makes me think that maybe the writers know what they're doing since they're pushing my buttons so effectively. That's how I felt especially in the finale episode.
As for Doctor Who, absolutely adored Ncuti Gatwa's take on the Doctor and look forward to more. This season definitely could've stood to be longer because I enjoyed spending time with him so much. Just a nonstop charm offensive and I was powerless to resist. It also seems like there are enough nuggets of future plot threads to keep things going nicely. I don't normally go for so much stunt casting (could also apply to The Bear) but they did a really fun job of it this season between the holiday specials and the regular episodes.
Really enjoyed your appearance on Blank Check discussing Midnight Run, and somewhat by accident I discovered the One Heat Minute series on Midnight Run that you also made an appearance on and listened to some of those. I'm fully Midnight Ran now.
You mentioned the absurd police chase, especially after rewatching Beverly Hills Cop, and I noticed the parallel too. It dawned on me this was a trope in Hollywood films for much of a decade with law enforcement depicted as clowns in comedies. Born out of the anti-authority, blue collar-focused 1970s cinema with films like Smokey and the Bandit or Convoy, it grows to absurd levels by the time The Blues Brothers is released in 1980, lasting throughout the 1980s. Midnight Run may be the last good example of this trope though, because Lethal Weapon and Die Hard feel like turning points in Hollywood's attitude (and Lethal Weapon is more action than comedy but it's also very funny). I'm no film historian but I think after those films, this Keystone cops revival finally ended. Cops became lead characters in comedies again as funny yet heroic figures: Red Heat (1988), Turner and Hooch (1989), Tango and Cash (1989), and Kindergarten Cpp (1990).
48 Hours is a notable exception here but Jack Cates isn't exactly a paragon of virtue either and ex-con Reggie Hammon is the star of that movie. This trope only existed in films, TV obviously still had its fair share of procedurals in the 80s, from Hill Street Blues and Cagney and Lacey to Miami Vice and TJ Hooker. The distinct split is interesting, because TV would become so saturated with procedurals heavily inspired by The Silence of the Lambs throughout the 1990s, and of course Law and Order (debuted in 1990).
There were definitely examples of absurd cops on TV - The Dukes of Hazard and BJ and the Bear both come to mind (and both were heavily derived from Smokey and the Bandit.) Deeper in the '80s you had Sledge Hammer and Police Squad! And I think there's even traces of it in Hill Street Blues.
Good point! I also didn't mention the entire Police Academy or Naked Gun film franchises either. But as far as TV goes, I think you can argue those comedies weren't the trend or the most watched, most acclaimed shows on TV, so they're not indicative of the medium (the procedural is still a stalwart to this day). Dukes of Hazard and BJ and the Bear ran at the same time as CHiPs, no less.
I did enjoy this season of Doctor Who, like you said RTD is great at the character and emotional stuff. And on an emotional level I greatly enjoyed that Ruby's mother was no one special, but considering all the things she was able to do this season and how Meastro(sp?) reacted to her - it definitely doesn't make any sense.
I agree that "she was important because we gave her importance" was a nice sentiment, but the explanation of the pointing was silly and there were lots of plot holes.
I also was hoping for a retroactive explanation of what happened in 73 Yards, but there really wasn't. That episode was a great ride but the timey-wimey twist ending made no sense and they never explained, for example, what the woman was telling the people she talked to.
Thanks for considering Doctor Who, it's been a favorite since its regeneration. That said I have leaned into Moffat compared to Russell Davies. At their worst each are watchable (Davies for the character and emotion; Moffatt for the dialogue (or in some cases monologue) and together they seem to be at their best. As usual, my favorites were The Who rule bending "Dot and Bubble" and Moffat's "Boom." Perhaps because of the Moffat lean, Matt Smith is still a favorite (and the old man in me also likes Capaldi), but Gatwa certainly ranks with all of them. (Leaving out Jodie Whitaker because I think she was ill-served by the writing and the Covid-hampered final season, and BTW wouldn't a Moffat written/Davies era Jodie Whitaker Doctor story be something to see?)
The first thing I did after finishing the Blank Check podcast was to go to Amazon and order the 4K release of Midnight Run. Everything just reminded me how great that movie is and it should be in my physical collection.
I thought The Bear S3 was pretty poor overall - aside from those two episodes which were really great.
I think I found it really pretentious to be honest. And when it wasn't stuck up it's own arse, much of it seemed like a poor simulacrum of "The Bear", if not parody.
I love the show, but this season was a mistake.
This is off-topic to today's newsletter, but watching last night's presidential debate made me think of your piece from a few years ago about which TV shows represent each presidential administration's era (if not the literal policies etc... themselves): https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/president-tv-series-defined-era-994869/donald-trump-watchmen-hbo-2019-997453/.
Any thoughts on what shows represent Biden's (first?) term?
I'd maybe take a stab at:
Comedy: The Bear. Super stressful, and even when you laugh you also are cringing and about to get sucker punched with some dose of reality.
Drama: Succession. Though the Roys have more in common with the Trumps than the Bidens, they represent untamed capitalism, and I feel like with corporations posting record profits despite inflation, it's a good fit.
And I'm not sure it's a coincidence that both of those are really dramedies!
I know the business side of Hollywood is not a main purview of yours, but it’s depressing Paramount shutting down all the channel websites, especially Comedy Central. I hope The Daily Show & Colbert Report clips get released on YouTube at some point.
There was already a hell of a lot missing from those shows on the CC website. How great would it be if someone curated a YouTube channel for them like Letterman's?
@Alan - has there been any indication that season 4 is the end for The Bear? I don't want it to be, but the filming both back to back, plus the non-ending ending of it all sort of to me evoked Season 5 of The Americans, which was filmed with the idea that Season 6 would be the end, so season 5 was done with more of an "emotional prepwork" tone. I did genuinely enjoy S3 - I think a spinoff on the Faks done as more of a comedy would actually be a good companion piece rather than shoehorning them in here. I don't want The Bear to end. But I fear this was the setup to get to that point.
One correction - FX clarified recently that only parts of S4 were filmed, not entire season.
I stopped in the middle of your Blank Check episode (my first, though I'm probably going to fall down that hole now) because you guys made me want to rewatch the movie again (currently on Amazon Prime). And Alan, I think I can explain your big question about the Duke's charges. I'm not just a movie geek, I'm also a lawyer.
What Mosely calls a "bullshit local charge" is in fact the Duke's embezzlement. That is generally a state crime, though it can be a federal crime (usually involves stealing from the government). I paused on the closeup of the Duke's booking sheet, and before Jack flips it over, you can see that the Duke lives in California - house, license plate, etc. I believe his accounting firm was located in California, not in Nevada.
Obviously we the audience know Serrano is a criminal, but from California's perspective, the Duke stole a lot of money from legitimate businesses. We don't know how he got caught - likely his own company caught him and turned him in. But that's what he was arrested for, in LA, and why he made the papers there. Once Mosely, for example, learned who exactly the Duke had stolen from, he realized the Duke had value as a witness in the federal case he was trying to build against Serrano.
My big question is: how the hell did Jack get Mosely's badge? There are only a few seconds before Mosely puts the badge back in his left pocket before the other feds grab both of Jack's arms and start frisking him. There's a moment in between where you see Jack's right arm move in Mosely's direction, but then immediately he's being manhandled. That's some really impressive close-up magic!
Thanks! So why is Mosley bothered by the idea of Jack bringing Mardukas back to LA on the local charge? Couldn’t he just Bigfoot in on the case once the Duke was in custody?
I think there we're getting into "but then the movie wouldn't happen" territory, especially since Mosely is I think the one character who doesn't express the belief that the Duke will immediately get killed in jail. In real life Mosely would get a material witness warrant, or collaborate with the LA DA on state and federal charges against Serrano, and the Duke would be in protective custody.
At best I guess you could say Mosely has been trying to get Serrano for six years and doesn't want to take any chances and doesn't want to wait.
Mosley probably can't keep the state of California from trying the Duke that easily, which puts the Duke in jeopardy?
This makes sense, thank you. They spend time elsewhere in this podcast series discussing how much of a perfectionist Brest was so it seemed unlikely that the director would let the entire plot hinge on some poorly conceived, made-up plot device. But since the film doesn't need to explain it for the plot to work, it instead becomes a bit of a Macguffin.
Let's just get this out: The Bear is still the best show on TV. I concede that the self-congratulatory season finale full of cameos had an ick factor, something I suspect will be addressed in "Part 2." But otherwise, this felt like an amalgamation of the previous two seasons. Storer built the sandbox in Season 1. He populated it with toys in Season 2. Now he gets to play--a much less stressful activity, but one that's still very fun to watch. The subtle references to past scenes, the bite-sized clips to represent the pressure Carmy feels, Jamie. Lee. Curtis. I could go on.
I’ve watched two episodes of the new Bear season and enjoyed what I’ve seen for the most part. What I enjoyed most about episode one was Trent Reznor’s score, it was mesmerizing. If I have one qualm so far, it’s the push to become a Michelin star restaurant. I liked the fact that it was a scrappy team in the beginning working together to build something, but I never expected it to be so bougie.
I really enjoyed this season of The Bear. Not as good as S2, but it had a lot of pretty big highs for me. I feel like the show has figured out how to nail these wordless (or minimal dialogue) montages. If you're like me and you just want to sort of marinate in the world, seeing a character's recollections this way is an interesting glimpse inside their head. I agree that I wanted more closure and a more definitive arc for the season (and maybe for even one of these characters to find a therapist). Less of the Faks, even though their nonsense seemed to have more bearing on the plot than it initially seemed, would be appreciated.
Any time that I feel like I want to shake a character to get them to wake up to how they're ruining things, it makes me think that maybe the writers know what they're doing since they're pushing my buttons so effectively. That's how I felt especially in the finale episode.
As for Doctor Who, absolutely adored Ncuti Gatwa's take on the Doctor and look forward to more. This season definitely could've stood to be longer because I enjoyed spending time with him so much. Just a nonstop charm offensive and I was powerless to resist. It also seems like there are enough nuggets of future plot threads to keep things going nicely. I don't normally go for so much stunt casting (could also apply to The Bear) but they did a really fun job of it this season between the holiday specials and the regular episodes.
Actually, The Bear S03 is not yet out in the world. In Europe (Poland) it has a premiere on 17th July on Disney+ :(
We will be late to the party so please mark spoilery paragraphs so we can avoid them till after watching.
Bill Cobbs was quite memorable in the season 6 premiere of "One Tree Hill."
Really enjoyed your appearance on Blank Check discussing Midnight Run, and somewhat by accident I discovered the One Heat Minute series on Midnight Run that you also made an appearance on and listened to some of those. I'm fully Midnight Ran now.
You mentioned the absurd police chase, especially after rewatching Beverly Hills Cop, and I noticed the parallel too. It dawned on me this was a trope in Hollywood films for much of a decade with law enforcement depicted as clowns in comedies. Born out of the anti-authority, blue collar-focused 1970s cinema with films like Smokey and the Bandit or Convoy, it grows to absurd levels by the time The Blues Brothers is released in 1980, lasting throughout the 1980s. Midnight Run may be the last good example of this trope though, because Lethal Weapon and Die Hard feel like turning points in Hollywood's attitude (and Lethal Weapon is more action than comedy but it's also very funny). I'm no film historian but I think after those films, this Keystone cops revival finally ended. Cops became lead characters in comedies again as funny yet heroic figures: Red Heat (1988), Turner and Hooch (1989), Tango and Cash (1989), and Kindergarten Cpp (1990).
48 Hours is a notable exception here but Jack Cates isn't exactly a paragon of virtue either and ex-con Reggie Hammon is the star of that movie. This trope only existed in films, TV obviously still had its fair share of procedurals in the 80s, from Hill Street Blues and Cagney and Lacey to Miami Vice and TJ Hooker. The distinct split is interesting, because TV would become so saturated with procedurals heavily inspired by The Silence of the Lambs throughout the 1990s, and of course Law and Order (debuted in 1990).
There were definitely examples of absurd cops on TV - The Dukes of Hazard and BJ and the Bear both come to mind (and both were heavily derived from Smokey and the Bandit.) Deeper in the '80s you had Sledge Hammer and Police Squad! And I think there's even traces of it in Hill Street Blues.
Good point! I also didn't mention the entire Police Academy or Naked Gun film franchises either. But as far as TV goes, I think you can argue those comedies weren't the trend or the most watched, most acclaimed shows on TV, so they're not indicative of the medium (the procedural is still a stalwart to this day). Dukes of Hazard and BJ and the Bear ran at the same time as CHiPs, no less.
I did enjoy this season of Doctor Who, like you said RTD is great at the character and emotional stuff. And on an emotional level I greatly enjoyed that Ruby's mother was no one special, but considering all the things she was able to do this season and how Meastro(sp?) reacted to her - it definitely doesn't make any sense.
I agree that "she was important because we gave her importance" was a nice sentiment, but the explanation of the pointing was silly and there were lots of plot holes.
I also was hoping for a retroactive explanation of what happened in 73 Yards, but there really wasn't. That episode was a great ride but the timey-wimey twist ending made no sense and they never explained, for example, what the woman was telling the people she talked to.
Thanks for considering Doctor Who, it's been a favorite since its regeneration. That said I have leaned into Moffat compared to Russell Davies. At their worst each are watchable (Davies for the character and emotion; Moffatt for the dialogue (or in some cases monologue) and together they seem to be at their best. As usual, my favorites were The Who rule bending "Dot and Bubble" and Moffat's "Boom." Perhaps because of the Moffat lean, Matt Smith is still a favorite (and the old man in me also likes Capaldi), but Gatwa certainly ranks with all of them. (Leaving out Jodie Whitaker because I think she was ill-served by the writing and the Covid-hampered final season, and BTW wouldn't a Moffat written/Davies era Jodie Whitaker Doctor story be something to see?)