That's not how any of this works! - Friday Video Distractions with Mike Norton

    Another week's buzzed by, and it's been largely lacking in new or new-to-me material worth the time to mention. Chadwick Boseman's untimely death last week prompted me to revisit his first two appearances as T'Challa/Black Panther, in Captain America: Civil War, then Black Panther, so that was a pair of blockbuster cinema items each well exceeding two hours, plus time taken to watch deleted scenes. I've also fallen down a bit of a vintage game show rabbit hole that may eventually find its way into being a blog piece -- but not today. As I'm still working full time, getting some other reading and the occasional bit of writing done, and cooking dinners on alternate days, the time gets away.
    I'm sure I'm forgetting one or two things I've watched that would be worth noting, but I didn't leave myself good and accessible reminders. The pandemic's made a layered clutter of my little home work area, with its shared work and personal space.
  Let's start with something I watched this past Saturday: Biohackers season one (German; 6 episodes; Netflix original series made with a combination of Netflix and German funding; released August 20, 2020).

 Mia, a brilliant, young medical student transfers to the University of Freiberg, very quickly doing everything she can to get close to and become part of the undergraduate team of assistants for Professor Tanja Lorenz. Lorenz is a maverick superstar in the field of genetic engineering. The show quickly becomes one about agendas -- several on open display by some of Mia's circle of flatmates and friends, and several that are cautious, layered, and potentially nefarious.
 I generally enjoyed most of the first five episodes, though irritating behaviors and sloppy plot points suddenly begin to ramp up during the fifth episode, only to run riot in the sixth. This ranges from how some characters behave, to major problems concerning national law enforcement procedures and how a hospital would deal with a ward full of (officially) bioterror-infected patients. I don't know -- they could potentially explain away the enforcement/administration matters in season two with some puppet master snidely offering "You didn't really think all that was official procedure, did you?", letting them know they were being given the space to trap themselves.
 For one or two of the characters, I guess some of the "Hey! Watch out! I know something now and you should probably come stop me!" behaviors are meant to demonstrate the character is lacking in guile, but instead they were for this viewer mostly irritating plot mechanics to prevent matters from (God forbid) being ably handled. (Fer chris'sakes, Jasper!)
 I'd be interested in hearing how other viewers see the main character, Mia, by the end of episode six. I don't want to say more than that for fear of leading the reaction. Here's the trailer.

  Approved for a second season as of August 27th, which is probably handy because this first season ends on a cliffhanger. I mean, sure, if these six episodes were all we got it could have been taken as a dystopic, there's always someone/-thing worse twist, but that would have made it even harder to recommend. Currently they still seem to think we may see the second season sometimes in 2021, but no one I've seen has pinned that down -- nor would I trust them if they did. No one knows when production for much of anything is going to resume.
  All shot in 2019, filming wrapped in September, it was originally scheduled for an April 30th release, but it was decided that too much of the audience would relate the bioterror elements from late in the series to the ongoing pandemic, so they gave the prospective audience most of four months to settle into personal New Normals first.
  Dubbed, with special captions to translate texts, emails, signs, etc. One of those touches that annoys me more than not, the close captioning is based on a separate interpretation than what the dubbed voices offer. So, if you're like me and always have the captions on, your ears will be telling you one thing and your eyes another. If I'm in the right, sharp state for that, it sometimes offers additional insight since the dubbed voices traditionally try to sync to the actors' mouths and gestures, while the captions are more interested meaning. If I'm not, then it's an extra bit of discord.
  Next, jumping 51 years into the past and into a cheap seat...
  I'm not sure what reminded me of it - possibly just a song in my ever-expanding mix - but I checked and saw that a reasonably nice copy of The Magic Christian (1969; M/PG, 92 min.) is currently handy on YouTube, so I thought I'd suggest that as an odd entertainment with many familiar (if you're well over 40, especially) faces.
  Starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, it follows vastly wealthy eccentric Sir Guy Grand (Sellers) and his newly-adopted son, a derelict he happened to meet, now dubbed Youngman Grand (Starr) as they examine the corrupting power of money on people in all walks of life and endeavor. It's an often heavy-handed satire of capitalism, classism, greed and vanity with frequent (and escalating) absurdist touches. It also takes shots at blood sports, sexual norms, and attitudes toward marijuana use. It has aspects of a sketch comedy assortment, all woven together to serve a single plot. John Cleese and Graham Chapman were among the contributors, and one of the sketches they wrote for this that didn't make its way into the final script was done later as part of Monty Python's Flying Circus, where it was run as "The Mouse Problem."
 Based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Terry Southern, the novel was substantially changed
in the transition to screenplay, including relocating it from New York to London, adopting many fashion and cultural references from the late '60s, and the creation of the Youngman Grand character in part for the sake of casting and otherwise to allow them to fold some exploits originally by Guy in younger years into the current circumstances.
  Sellers had been a fan of the novel for many years, and even gave a copy to Stanley Kubrick back when they were starting to work on what would become Dr. Strangelove. The novel influenced Kubrick sufficiently that Strangelove became the black comedy it did, rather than the potential thriller it had started out to be (it was originally to be an adaptation of the same novel that Fail Safe was based on), and Kubrick went so far as to bring Southern in to contribute to the screenplay.
  The film is packed with cameos (many of them uncredited) of both British and U.S. stars and celebrities, ranging from Christopher Lee, Yul Brynner, Laurence Harvey, Spike Milligan, Richard Attenborough, Rachel Welch, Roman Polanski, and pre-Monty Python John Cleese and Graham Chapman. Many are cast against type, one or two completely on type.
 While not for everyone (as if anything is), this film has much more to offer than say another period piece I wrote about back in February: Skiddoo.
 Between the array of familiar faces, the soundtrack, and watching Sellers and Starr in occasionally surreal situations, that may be enough for you if the black comedy doesn't always hit you just right. After all, there is a thread of meanness woven through the film by the premise, as most people can't ignore how much the world runs on money. To a significant degree, we can all be bought -- or at least rented.

  As mentioned last week, today (September 4th) launched the second season of The Boys on Amazon Prime with its first three episodes, thereafter with a new one each Friday. I expect that to be an early stop as I roll into this holiday weekend.
  Similarly, having enjoyed the first season of Cobra Kai (Former YouTube pay exclusive, recently migrated to Neflix) last weekend, then exercising rare restraint in not plunging immediately into season two, I may rolling into that fairly soon, too.
  Be well, continue to keep cool, and enjoy any time off you can manage. - Mike