We’ve expanded our coverage of sources to bring you more of your favorite sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and genre entertainment stories in today’s DAILY TRANSMISSION.
What should you watch this week? It’s not a mystery … not really.
by Mike Bawden
It was a dark and stormy night … just the way we like it!
Today’s What to Watch feature kicks off with a list of six films that define the “film noir” genre (h/t to Far Out Magazine) …
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he’s seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love.
OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses and duplicitous dames.
KISS ME DEADLY (1955)
A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious “great whatsit”.
TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)
A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in a Mexican border town.
Have some other favorite “film noir” classics? We’d love to know. Send us a letter and will share your recommendation. If you’d like to submit a review for any of these classics, send it in. We’ll be happy to publish it on the website.
The ten best shows of 2022 (as of now) …
According to this article from the BBC, anyway …
STRANGER THINGS 4
In the new season of Stranger Things, the show goes full horror: its kid protagonists are growing up, and the show is maturing with them, with some absolutely frightening results.
STATION ELEVEN
On paper, this HBO adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel’s acclaimed novel (which began in the US at the end of 2021, but finished up this year, so sneaks in) sounds like the worst viewing possible for this moment in time: telling the story of a world decimated by a pandemic.
DERRY GIRLS
The third and final series of Lisa McGee’s beloved comedy about a gang of four girls and the “wee English fella” living in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 90s has more than lived up to expectations.
INVENTING ANNA
If the 2022 TV year will go down as anything, it might be as the year of the scammer: from The Dropout to The Tinder Swindler. One of the first out of the blocks was this series based on the juicy tale of “fake heiress” Anna Delvey, aka Anna Sorokin, the wily twentysomething who conned New York society into believing she was a super-rich German trust-fund baby.
PACHINKO
Spanning most of the 20th Century, it tells the story of Sunja, a young Korean émigré to Japan who has to deal with prejudice and hardship as she fights to make a life for herself and her child. And that’s only half the story.
SEARCH PARTY
What initially started out as a kind of Girls-meets-Raymond-Chandler alt-detective drama, with a New York hipster, Dory, on the hunt for a missing acquaintance, cycled through various genres, including courtroom drama and Misery-style toxic fan thriller – before in this year’s final series, centering on a cult and finally veering into post-apocalyptic zombie horror.
SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE
This new vehicle for the US stand-up Bridget Everett occupies an increasingly popular sub-genre: the comedian-authored semi-autobiographical comedy-drama.
SEVERANCE
In Severance, the main characters work for a mysterious company called Lumon, who have enormous, sparse headquarters with retro tech and creepy art. But that’s not the worst of it.
TOP BOY
Now in its second Netflix series, or fourth series overall, it tells an at-once densely detailed yet narratively propulsive story of East London life, which deftly covers everything from gang crime and drug deals to gentrification, coercive relationships and immigration policy, and has only got better and better.
THIS IS GOING TO HURT
This is Going to Hurt is based on the memoir of the same name by former doctor Adam Kay. Having been a junior doctor in a busy London hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology ward, Kay paints a nuanced portrait of the working conditions he and many others endured, and the serious toll that long hours and intense pressure takes on your life.
How many of these have you seen? What did you think? Share your reviews with us and we’ll post them to the website.
Marvel-ous Updates from the MCU …
Ms. Marvel debuts on Disney+ tonight and here’s info you need to know …
Clutchpoints.com shares four awesome facts you need to know about Ms. Marvel to fully appreciate the story and how her adventure ties into DR. STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS.
As it turns out, the actress playing Ms. Marvel, Iman Vellani, is a total comic book geek and Imagination Connoisuer! Check out this story that explains how she called on her own life experiences as a socially-awkward teen growing up in Canada to bring the Ms. Marvel character to life. (h/t CBC.ca)
Showing their ability to be the little shaft of sunlight and optimism they’re known for, the Independent (in the UK) asks if Ms. Marvel will be another of the MCU’s “disappointments” when it comes to their streaming series on Disney+.
That’s it for today.
Be sure to check our online TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE POST-GEEK SINGULARITY magazine which I update throughout the day (most days) with cool stuff I find online and receive via email. Of course, you can also send me tips or links, too, just click here to send me a message.
Have a better day – I’ll be seeing you tomorrow!
Mike
Does “stunt casting” work?
Imagination Connoisseur, ROBB, shares his thoughts on how Star Trek: Discovery handled its casting of Democratic politician, Stacey Abrams, as the president of a united Earth in the show’s finale. Personal politics aside, ROBB seems to feel Star Trek’s producers missed an opportunity to send a message about unity at a time when we could all use it.
Will Superman be returning in 4K someday?
Long-time PGS Member, Kenny Kraly Jr., writes in to the LET’S GET PHYSICAL MEDIA show to ask for their predictions on the possibility of getting more Superman movies out on 4k Blu-Ray.
On the topic of “Gatekeeping” …
Imagination Connoisseur, Jason Miller, writes a letter of support for ROBSERVATIONS host, Robert Meyer Burnett, who has recently proclaimed himself the Gatekeeper of Geekdom. Jason shares his experience defending RMB’s joke (made on Twitter) and arrives at an inescapable conclusion that everyone should probably take to heart.
Attention Star Command, there seems to be a problem with Buzz Lightyear
ROADTRIPPIN’ co-hosts Robert Meyer Burnett and Mike Bawden respond to letters from listeners proposing a variety of reasons as to why Pixar’s latest animated feature, LIGHTYEAR, didn’t meet expectations during its opening weekend. Was it a result of bad casting, a strained relationship between studios, convoluted marketing or stronger-than-expected competition? No one is sure – but it’s possible the problem runs much deeper than an origin story for an action figure might let on.
How to accept Star Trek now so you don’t go insane!
Imagination Connoisseur, Adam Talley, writes in to explain how he now views the Star Trek franchise – a way that acknowledges the “good old days” so many OG fans pine for and the new innovations we’re seeing in stores, online, and in theaters.
Why is Obi-Wan the most boring thing about the Obi-Wan Kenobi streaming series on Disney+?
ROADTRIPPIN’ co-hosts Robert Meyer Burnett and Mike Bawden discuss the broader implications of a question posed by an Imagination Connoisseur who asks why Obi-Wan Kenobi is such a boring character in his own series. In fact, one could ask why so many Star Wars series seem to be “running in place” and not really going anywhere with characters who don’t seem to be doing all that much. Is there a larger force at work here that no one seems to acknowledge? And where have we heard THAT before?
Does it make sense to remake good movies?
ROADTRIPPIN’ co-hosts Robert Meyer Burnett and Mike Bawden respond to a letter from an Imagination Connoisseur who asks why Hollywood seems content remaking and re-booting successful movies rather than making movies with “great potential” that might have not met expectations when they were first released to the public. As Rob and Mike point out, there’s a lot more involved in a successful remake than one might imagine.
Rob comes out and admits he’s THE Gatekeeper of Fandom
Co-hosts Robert Meyer Burnett and Mike Bawden discuss Rob’s recent revelation that he is, in fact, THE GATEKEEPER OF ALL FANDOM and what Imagination Connoisseurs can now expect of him serving as the judge, jury and adjudicator of all things geeky. Plus interesting letters from fans.
Lots of Star Trek-y goodness on the Interwebs lately
In less time than it takes for a tribble to become a grandparent, here’s a list of the eight most interesting, Trek-related things we’ve found worth sharing with our fellow Imagination Connoisseurs …
Making a case for LIFE after ALIEN
Imagination Connoisseur, S’wak Props, thinks Ridley Scott could have done much better when it came to making a sequel to his 1979 sci-fi/horror classic, ALIEN. Instead of Scott’s ALIEN COVENANT, S’wak recommends you check out Daniel Espinosa’s LIFE which includes Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds among others in the cast.
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