Recap September 1 - 7
Between Two Ferns: The Movie
I can’t believe it, one of my favorite internet series finally sold out…and it’s about time! Listen, I – like most people - have always enjoyed Between Two Ferns, but it’s one of those web series that has always surprised me. I always forget that it exists, then a new video is released and I expect it to be the one where the decade old series finally loses its mojo. To the show’s credit, it never has. Unlike other “senior” web series that have been doing the same gag for eons (I’m looking at you Epic Meal Time) somehow Ferns manages to stay fresh and relevant. Finding out this week that we’re getting a movie based off of the show was actually mind blowing, considering that Zach Galifinakis and company certainly could have moved on to “bigger and better” things. I’m sure glad they didn’t! My first impression after watching this trailer was that it looks like Zach Galifinakis seems to be getting back to his roots, going for very smart stupid comedy a la The Hangover. My only concern as it is tends to be with any comedy movie is that they’re actually showing the best jokes in the trailer, however judging by the series’ success in being so consistently funny, I don’t really think that’s going to be the case. Can’t wait to be watching this one by the end of the month!
Wu Tang: An American Saga: Shut Up And Take My Money
The first three episodes of the new Wu-Tang docu-drama just dropped on Hulu and I gotta say, I’m all in on this. I know 90’s rap music might not seem like something we’d write about, but I’ve been a fan of the Wu from the 1-6-ooh for most of my life, so I’m doing it. I was living in SoCal when the NWA movie came out and while I have respect for them, they were never really my thing. That being said, I was as excited for this as most people out west were for that. I will say, with only three episodes out it’s really hard to get a feel for the overall vibe the series is going for. These early episodes are far less concerned with the music itself than they are with establishing the setting , as well as events that influenced and inspired some of the songs on 36 Chambers. To some a lot of what’s in these early episodes may seem cliche or unimportant, I get that we’ve seen a million shows and movies about the drug game in the black community, but the reason these stories exist in abundance is because they were so commonplace in reality. The characters we see in these episodes are people who have accepted that dealing drugs is likely the only way they can carve out a somewhat decent life for themselves, but by episode 3 you can tell that many of them are getting tired of all the bullshit that comes along with it, they see rap as a way out and finally, as the episode ends, seem to be dedicating themselves to the pursuit. The main thing I find really interesting about the series so far is how a lot of the members of Wu-Tang start out on opposite sides of a gang war. The first episode even starts out with Raekwon shooting up Ghostface Killah’s house. One of the things I’m looking forward to in the upcoming episodes is how they can manage to put that behind them and unite as a group. Since the last episode ends with RZA, GZA, and ODB forming up the All In Together Now Crew (thank god for name changes) I can only assume that going forward the series will begin to place more focus on the music and actual formation of the band. It’s important to note that these episodes are laying a very firm groundwork, so be prepared… They have 10 hours to tell this origin story so they might as well take their time doing it. All in all of you’re a fan of the Wu-Tang Clan, or if you like street-crime dramas with a message, I’d say this one’s for you.
Birds of Prey “Trailer”, if you can really call it that.
I wouldn’t call what received in regards to Birds of Prey a trailer. Hell, I wouldn’t even call it a teaser trailer. What I WOULD call it however, is a very sneaky, thinly veiled yet glossy attempt at generating some cash by WB. I know most of you are yelling at your screen right now, and that’s okay. You’re excited for the movie, and you’ll take any little bit of Harley Quinn you can get. I don’t blame you. What really bugs me here is that this barebones teaser was really posted up to make some YouTube money, and judging by the view count already, a LOT of it. This new trend of creating trailers for a trailer is a bit of a gray area, in my opinion. Everyone does it, and while there’s certainly nothing immoral about it, and nobody’s getting hurt, it is a pretty lazy way to make a buck. What I really truly loathe though, is the aftermath of the non-trailer. Entertainment news sites foaming at the mouth to dig their talons into this piece of substance-less material, so that they in turn can make their money. The days and weeks of speculating on absolutely nothing just to engage a reader base to click on yet another article about nothing. They’re so relentless about reporting on these frivolous tidbits that by the time the movie actually rolls its way into theaters, you’re already sick of it and ready to move on to the next thing. These click-bait mongers inspired our whole Boysfeed series about how these “news” outlets take a whole lot of liberties to report on LITERALLY nothing just to generate some cash. Yes, I do understand the irony in writing about people, who are in turn, writing about nothing to make money, especially when you could argue that means I, in turn, am writing about nothing. You could make that argument, but there’s a difference in that we’re trying to call attention to these practices, which in turn can create value for the reader by helping them to better recognize shitty content that is just trying to eat up their time, so they can focus their attention and energy on the good stuff - things that actually benefit them and contribute to their lives in some way.
On a totally unrelated note, buy my shirts.
It’ll probably take you longer to watch the youtube ad before the trailer, than the actual trailer itself, but if you’re really jonesing for it, here you go:
