Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 2.4 – “She Knows”

Previously: Episode 1 (Nathaniel) Episode 2 (Spencer) Episode 3 (Lynn)

Let's face it. This fucking lie has had quite a shelf life.

by Nathaniel R

I can't be the only person to have made this observation but occasionally Big Little Lies is rather like a high-end version of Desperate Housewives. There are the core group of women who maybe wouldn't be friends in real life but whose distinctive personalities make a juicy combustible mix as a cast (within the alloted tight geographically region: cul de sac in one case, beachfront in the other) Didn't Housewives also have a crime or murder mystery each season to mix in with the soap opera theatrics? At any rate, it's worth mentioning because the writing on Big Little Lies this season is... questionable. It's not a patch on the first season cumulatively, alas, but scene by scene it's still great evening entertainment in the old tradition of the "watercooler" show; it certainly gives us a lot to talk about!

In this episode, Mary Louise (Meryl Streep) makes her big move -- suing Celeste (Nicole Kidman) for custody of "her boys". That's the huge story beat that will undoubtedly take us through to the finale (episode 7) but it's more like a prologue this time around as the bulk of the episode deals with 1) Amabella's birthday party 2) Madeleine and Ed's flailing marriage, and 3) the bizarre 'are they really going there?' subplot of Bonnie's mom having a stroke while also possibly being psychic and predicting that Bonnie will drown. We suspect everyone in the writer's room of Big Little Lies wore matching Regina George"A Little Bit Dramatic" t-shirts while they wrote "She Knows"

Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies, Episode 2.4: “She Knows”

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Doc Corner: 'The Edge of Democracy' on Netflix

By Glenn Dunks

There is a moment towards the start of The Edge of Democracy where director Petra Costa suggests that she thought both she and the political democracy of her homeland, Brazil, “would be standing on solid ground” now that both are in their 30s. It’s a noble idea not to mention a bit cute and certainly a little naïve because anybody with the benefit of hindsight knows that one’s youthful ideals often rarely bear such fruit.

It’s also an appropriate introduction to this, her third feature. That blending of the two narratives is just one small part in how Costa, whose 2012 earlier feature Elena was an even more intimate debut, makes her homeland’s troubling descent into authoritarianism all the more painful. It’s personal. For her and the audience of her gripping and devastatingly relevant documentary.

The Edge of Democracy is easily one of the great works of documentary this year.

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Stranger Links

• Backstage casting notice for Asian actors. As @AnnieW pointed out on twitter this can't be anything other than the live-action remake of Akira
• Cinematic Corner ten best scenes in the Stranger Things series before the new season premieres
• Coming Soon how many times does Anna Karenina need to be remade? Apparently that's still tbd since there's another one coming

More after the jump including Carice van Houten, Darth Maul, Quentin Tarantion, and news of a new Clint Eastwood film...

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Halfway Mark: Best of 2019 (Thus Far)

by Nathaniel R

 
Let's wrap up the midyear review now with a general overview and behind the scenes beauty. Please don't consider this list 'official' awards since the back half of the year is usually more impressive than the first half due to annoying Oscar-focused distribution patterns. The point, nevertheless, is an important one: we should always be appreciating art and keeping lists so we don't forget delights that opened in non-awards season months like most awards voters do. 

TEN BEST MOVIES

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Soundtracking: Nashville

by Chris Feil

We don’t really think of Robert Altman’s Nashville as a musical. To be fair, it both is and it isn’t. As is trademark for the director, the film is focused on character first to reveal its themes, exposing a distinctly American disposition both in its specific social strata and in the grander national sense. But Nashville isn’t always interested in doing so through song. Even taking place in the country music world, music feels like an equal contributor to Altman’s portraiture as any of the ensemble members.

Viewers wanting Altman to languor in the thematic sway of a musical’s tunes will always have A Prairie Home Companion. Instead here he upends genre traditions much as he does general narrative ones. Musicals are a genre that even at its best can still feel the least spontaneous, and spontaneity is a definitive Altman trait...

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