Links and Updates

This is going to be the last Links and Updates of the year, so let’s also make it a brief retrospective of 2021. It sucked quite a lot. Covid-19 is still among us, and unfortunately my prior smugness over how well New Zealand was handling it over the rest of the world went down in smoke once the anti-vaxxers got their hooks in the general populace.

Thankfully there hasn’t been any violence yet, but plenty of protests against lockdowns, vaccines and special passes (those who haven’t been vaxxed don’t get a vaccine passport, and therefore are restricted from certain public buildings) led by various on-line nutters who believe in anything from microchips to communist takeovers to undercover lizard people. I’d feel sorry for them if they weren’t so painfully stupid.

I have to keep reminding myself that they’re the minority. 86% of the population have been vaccinated, and support the safety measures put in place to protect the vulnerable from those that aren’t. They’re the people I have to focus on.

On a personal level, this is the year that I became both a homeowner and an auntie, even though I still can’t afford to actually move into my new house, and my nephew is currently living in England. Ah well, good things take time.

I’ve also been thinking about a lot of films that celebrated their twentieth anniversaries this year, and wow – I didn’t realize at the time just how prolific 2001 was in giving us so many stories that are still significant (in terms of sequels and remakes and cultural relevance) all these years later: The Fellowship of the Ring, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Legally Blonde, Shrek, Spirited Away, A Knight’s Tale, Spy Kids, The Fast and the Furious, Monsters INC, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Moulin Rouge! – not all of them are good by any means, but these franchises – or at least their influence – are all still with us to one extent or another. What a year!

It was also the release of some of my personal favourites, such as The Others starring Nicole Kidman, and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, which very much served as the spiritual precursor to Downton Abbey.

And Zoolander. Can’t forget that one.

It would seem that all the must-watch stuff of 2021 was stuffed into the latter half of the year, which means there’s a ton to watch before New Year’s Eve. I still haven’t seen Squid Game, and films like Dune, The Matrix Resurrections and Encanto are on my must-watch list. The Wheel of Time is getting some good feedback, and on the cartoon front I still have to catch up with the second half of He-Man: Revelations and Arcane (everyone has been reblogging the latter on Tumblr).

Then there’s the second season of The Great and the third season of Dickinson, not to mention The Morning Show and Evil. Then there’s Lost in Space and Star Trek: Discovery and Doctor Who... gah! Why is there so much stuff?

I intend to watch the last two instalments of Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond this month, as well as the original Matrix (haven’t seen it in years!), Gone with the Wind (as a follow-up to having read the novel) and whatever other Robin Hood films I missed earlier in the year. Oh, and of course The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will have to be seen for its twentieth anniversary, and for some reason I’ve been itching to rewatch James Cameron’s Avatar (I think a discussion at work piqued my interest in seeing how well it’s held up).

And in keeping with my chosen theme of year, I want to revisit some of the Christmas classics of my youth – or at least things that remind me of them. In the former category, stuff like The Snowman and The Angel and the Soldier Boy, and in the latter, Robin Robin on Netflix, which looks completely delightful. Oh, and this:

I mean... wow. Maybe I’ll throw in a few Rankin Bass Christmas Specials as well. And given that the Sugar Plum Fairy was the Woman of the Month, surely I can track down a filmed performance of that too, right?

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Julian Fellowes has a couple of projects on the horizon, the second Downton Abbey movie and what I’m pretty sure is a television miniseries called The Gilded Age. Let’s face it, we’re going to watch anything by Fellowes no matter how bad it is, as we know that at the very least we’re gonna get sparkling dialogue, gorgeous production values, and decent roles for women over forty-five.

In regards to the first trailer, I say: 1. so much for the newspaper editor (she wasn’t in the first movie either, but memory-holing her entirely so that Branson can marry someone else is a bit mean!), 2. my how those kids have grown, and 3. nice to see Rosamund again. In regards to the second: 1. pleased to see some Black actresses in there, even if Fellowes is likely to be more well-meaning than relevant on this score (though I’m willing to be proved wrong) and 2. Christine Baranski!!

I dig this new The Matrix Resurrection poster:

All reports and interviews are implying that this film is very much a love story between Neo and Trinity, which I’m excited for, not least because both actors are in their fifties now. The latest trailer is also making clear that they’re not just ignoring the second and third instalments in the franchise, which... okay. I can’t say I’m a massive fan of Reloaded or Revolution, but I’m glad they’re standing by their project in its entirety.

Also interesting to note that Jessica Henwick was torn between a role in either this or Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Methinks she made the right call, not least because she’s already played a part in the MCU (as Colleen in Iron Fist, though that doesn’t necessarily mean an actor can’t double-duty – look at Gemma Chan!) Time will tell.

Season three of Happy Valley has been confirmed. I released a sigh of relief I didn’t even know I was holding in. No report yet on whether Charlie Murphy is returning as Ann Gallagher... I hope so, her role is drastically important on a thematic level.

I was somewhat awestruck to see this preliminary poster/cast list for a pair of upcoming Musketeer movies. Yes, you’re reading that right – one of them is called Milady and will focus on Eva Green (!!!) as the titular Femme Fatale. This is everything I could ever want from a Musketeers film. EVERYTHING.

Something else to get excited about is news that Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge is being adapted into a Netflix show. I was scrolling through her Twitter account and found the announcement... which was made over a year ago. I can’t believe I could have been excited about this for an entire year, and wasn’t. Hardinge writes fantastic YA fantasy, and Cuckoo Song is one of her best: just thinking about what it’s going to look like (think gaslit ragdoll fey-haunted aesthetic) makes me shiver.

If you haven't yet read Cuckoo Song, then please put it at the top of your list... right now. I promise, it's excellent.

They’re making a movie about Rosaline – you know, the girl Romeo was in love with for thirty seconds before he met Juliet (who never appears in-person in the actual play). I mean, sure, I enjoy these sorts of things, in which minor or non-existent characters get their chance to have their stories fleshed out, but it also makes me yearn for the gone-too-soon Still Star-Crossed.

Here’s a surprisingly charming look at the young Willow cast... and Warwick Davis, who is certainly channeling his persona from Life’s Too Short. Is it time for me to start looking forward to this? Because even though there’s no way in hell Val Kilmer or Joanne Whalley will appear, can we at least expect an all-grown-up Elora Danan?

And yes, Legally Blonde 3 is apparently still a go. Elle Woods at forty with children of her own is a solid sell, but will we get Emmett? Paulette? Bruiser? And will Selma Hayek deign to come back even though her character was inexplicably missing from the sequel?

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Remember that Game of Thrones prequel that was meant to explore the first Long Night but which was canned after shooting the pilot episode? Apparently it cost thirty million to film, which makes me desperate to see it. Seriously, I’m fascinated by this sort of thing. RELEASE IT ON DVD! OR YOUTUBE! LET US SEE THE TRAINWRECK!

And on the subject of that other massive franchise that I’ve been assiduously avoiding this year, Patty Jenkins’s proposed Rogue Squadron film has been put on hiatus, at approximately the same time there have been some Resistance-era rumblings. To be honest, I seriously doubt that any of the actors want to return, and the statements that the linked article quote are clearly just the actors being diplomatic and giving vague variations of “never say never.”

The sequel trilogy was such a horrid mess that I’m torn between the studio never touching this particular era again with a six-foot pole and a desperate wish that they right the boat by doing something with the premise post-TROS. They don’t even need the actors involved if it’s animated, so imagine a beautifully-rendered and voice-acted limited series in which Rey trains Finn to be a Jedi.

Together they re-establish the Jedi Order but with a dogma that sensibly toes the line between the selfish passion of the Sith and the cold detachment of the Jedi, in which children can stay with their parents, adherents are permitted to fall in love, and the emphasis is on community and connection.

They get to enjoy the love story with each other that they deserved. Grogu is their first student. An aged Ahsoka provides further training. Rose Tico and Jannah are supporting characters with important subplots, including one that involves finding the remnants of the First Order’s Stormtroopers and de-brainwashing them. Brand new characters begin to form the beginnings of a New New Republic.

Chewbacca, C3-PO, R2-D2 and Lando have cameo appearances. So do Luke and Leia as Force Ghosts. Ditto Ezra and Sabine. Kylo Ren never, ever, ever appears. Characters explore new planets and meet never-before-seen species. There is no “big bad” to be defeated, instead the stories are built around adventures, exploration and rebuilding.

There’s potential there for something truly – and finally! – special, something that the sequel trilogy should have been moving towards this whole time: a fresh understanding of what the Force is, and how the Jedi can be improved by it. (It’s too late for Rey to decide she’s better off as “just Rey” and for the new generation of Jedi/Force-users to rename themselves Skywalkers, but ah well).

It was easy enough for me to wash my hands of Game of Thrones after its inauspicious ending, but the lost potential of Star Wars, after being so damn excited about it in 2015, continues to haunt.

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On that note, Star Wars Is Better With No New Movies Coming Out (and surprisingly, comments worth reading!)

A fascinating meta on one of my favourite games: Gabriel Knight and the Colours of Voodoo; exploring the game’s orange/blue colour palette that I’d never really noticed before. Great stuff.

A ranking of all fifty-six original Nancy Drew mysteries, from worst to best.

Why The Ending of Avatar: The Last Airbender Remains Perfect. AMEN. From following through on its carefully-seeded plot-points to how it refused to pander to the loudest, whiniest fans, this show has SO much to teach EVERYONE about how to tell a story and stick its landing.

Okay, time to get back to all the reading and movie-watching I have to do...