Thoughts on Season 1 of "Stranger Things"

One of Netflix's latest series that everyone is talking about and binge-watching is "Stranger Things", a sci-fi, mystery, horror, adventure opus that takes the early 80's suburbia as its setting and does so, through the use of a retro-sounding soundtrack, sets, costuming and art direction, quite effectively.

Aside from some questionable acting performances, the series is enjoyable and often riveting.  Created by, often directed and written by newcomers the Duffer Brothers, the show has an obvious love and nostalgia for the time period of 1981, right around the time when "The Empire Strikes Back" was released and The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" was repeatedly played on many a teenager's tape deck. 

From the beginning we are thrust into mystery and fear-invoking atmosphere:  a youngster disappears one night on his bicycle ride home.   There is an ominous research facility on the outskirts of town that may be responsible.  Or maybe its something otherworldly: an extraterrestrial creature existing in an alternate dimension is spotted at times.  The missing kid has a bunch of pals who take it into their own hands to discover their buddy's whereabouts.  Meanwhile, the boy's mother (Winona Rider) is visited by inexplicable occurrences that may or may not be the result of her deteriorating grip on reality. 

There are countless references to period popular culture that film fans and generation X-ers will devour.  "The Goonies", "E.T.", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", and "Stand By Me" are just a few of the references that may be spotted throughout "Stranger Things".

Perhaps its all a bit hokey and a few loose ends are not tied up in the end.  But the period detail and sense of adventure is phenomenal and fun.  The Duffer Brothers have come up with a gem and viewers should look forward to their future work.

Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue (2015, dir. Amy Berg)

Few musician documentaries have delved into the personalities of its subjects as succinctly and effortlessly as Amy Berg's "Janis Joplin: Little Girl Blue."  Through the use of narrated personal letters written to family, friends, and lovers as well as interviews, Berg weaves a tapestry of glimpses into the inner workings of Joplin's head and mindset at various stages of her career and life.

I was not ever a huge, die-hard fan of Joplin's music, nor did I exist during her own existence on this planet.  However, this film gave me new insight, understanding and appreciation for this gifted but tortured artist.

Joplin's early years in small-town Texas are enlightening as to the inspirations and seeds that would soon flower into her momentous career in San Francisco and worldwide.   The bittersweet aspects of her relationships and circumstances are truly heart-wrenching at times.

The film does a masterful job of portraying the ravages of addiction in Joplin's years-long taste for heroin and just how profound a change it was that would transform Joplin's personality at times and affect every aspect of her life.

The music throughout the film is powerful and enjoyable enough to convert any uncertain or undecided musical explorer onto Janis's oeuvre.  Her onstage performances were truly earth-shattering and tremendously powerful.  She had a voice so strong and at the same time she would often scream her music out in a way that some would find hard to listen to.  Given a little exposure to it, you really warm up to it and are transfixed by the live performances.

In the end we are left to wonder what could have been.  Had things turned out a little differently and Janis survived, got clean, ventured on perhaps we would have been graced with even more inspiring music and stories.  Like many musicians who died young, these questions will constantly come up for generations to come.  

You can see Janis Joplin's charisma shine through in all the footage of her in interviews, performances, photos, and home movies.  For this reason she will be eternally missed.

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016, dir. Travis Knight)

For those wanting a jolt of visual-electricity to adhere to their summertime thirst for adventure,
beauty, and emotion, look no further than Kubo and the Two Strings.  Its simple yet intricate animated style will appeal to audiences of all ages and its tale of a quest for reunion with what is lost will strike to the heart, bones and soul of anyone.

Some of the intended humor in the dialogue falls a little flat but there is an elegance to the animation in its combination of traditional Japanese art and Disney-style visuals that make up for that slight downside.  The story-line is simple and will appeal to children.  Adults, too will like it for its universal themes of the unbreakable ties of family, redemption, and the transcendental quality of music. 

In a summer where the filmic landscape is particularly desolate, Kubo and the Two Strings is a welcome addition to any person's viewing experience.

David Ayer's Suicide Squad is a Mess

Instantly forgettable, devoid of any depth or surprise, David Ayer's Suicide Squad, based on a DC comic, is a total waste of time.  The plot is stupid, the acting is bad and the characters are one-dimensional.  The worst has to be Margot Robbie, who in the guise of her character, Harley Quinn, never is able to make the viewer invest in her trajectory, frequently espousing vapid one-liners and other cliched dialogue. 

This lack of investment in character is one of the chief flaws of the film:  we do get an initial rundown on the characters in a totally unoriginal, flashback/role-call of each one, but there is not an iota of major character development and backstory which would add intrigue and freshness to the overall picture.

Perhaps I'm not an avid comic-into-film, die-hard.  Maybe those more versed in the world of the Suicide Squad comic and comics in general would mine more pleasure out of this film.  Then again, maybe the opposite is true.  There have been far better films based on graphic novels and comics.  Suicide Squad stands as one of the worst I've seen.

It has been the norm in recent years for this genre to frequently bend the line between good vs. evil.  Suicide Squad's band of quasi-humans does this in a way but never in a manner that makes the viewer question his or her own notions of the theme and the struggle in the hearts of all humanity.  The whole process seems mechanical and wooden:  there is no soul to the story, characters, or film as a unified entity.