Everything Old Is New Again
Vol. 46 - December, 2022
By “Doc” Hunter Bush, Podcast Czar
Season’s greetings readers! Here we are at the end of another exhausting year, searching for entertainment to accompany us during the long nights. That’s where Everything Old Is New Again comes in. In this column which I’ve been running for 5+ years, I strive to bring to your attention some of the upcoming films & occasional series that meet a specific criteria. If it’s based on a previous concept, be it film, television, book, comic, poem, whatever - it’s EOINA material.
The end of a year makes a man feel reflective, and though I’m not your typical dude, I feel like indulging in that same introspection. The landscape of film has changed during the lifetime of this column. Adaptations, while never exactly rare in the industry, have become the dominant force in cinema. In earlier columns, I shone a spotlight on projects that you might not have known were based on something earlier. Now, the fact that it’s an adaptation is almost a selling point. It’s a strange wave and I’m curious to see how long the ripples from it will last.
Regardless, let’s look ahead into December and see what there is to see. I hope you find something that makes your yuletide merry.
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PREMIERES - New projects built upon the bones of older ideas
December 1st
Willow (series)
Where” Disney+
Okay, so this one is technically cheating as it did actually premier its first episode on Nov. 30th, but in all fairness to me (the guy who calls the shots on this column) the majority of the series will air in December (before finishing in January, 2023), and also - I did not know the release date at the time of the last column. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A long gap sequel to Ron Howard’s 1988 fantasy epic (working from a story by George Lucas), in which an unassuming hero rises to save a kingdom with the help of a ragtag group of adventurers that all have amazing names: Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis), Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), etc. The evil witch queen they are butting heads with also has a great name: Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) but her right hand general with a cool skull mask is just named Kael (Pat Roach) so, you win some, ya lose some I guess.
Anyway, the 2022 Willow picks up with the daughter of Sorsha on a quest to rescue her twin brother and (one would guess) butt heads with a resurrected Bavmorda (?) Or perhaps a worse, more powerful, more frightening force? The group which features a bunch of way less interestingly-named adventurers: Kit (Ruby Cruz), Dove (Ellie Bamber), Jade (Erin Kellyman), and Graydon (Tony Revolori) need Willow’s help to journey into some unknown out reaches of their world.
I’ll be honest with you - I’m a simp for Willow. I love that movie. Every janky practical effect, every weird, gross monster, every single line. And while I know that things aren’t made the way they once were, this trailer looks more practical effects and costuming heavy than many similar projects, albeit augmented with some CG visuals. And I’m fine with it. If Nu Willow can capture the feel of Willow Classic, I’ll be pleased. I *am* disappointed in the lameness of the names though.
As far as my speculations on what might be in this series, I have no idea! Willow had a novelization and I believe a sequel novel (?) but I’ve never read them, so all I know of the world of Willow I learned from the first movie. There are trolls, brownies, boar-dogs, and tons of magic. The new trailer contains I think all of those things, plus doorways through magical barriers, enormous (CG) birds, and a trio of figures that look like Cenobites at a Ren Faire. Needless to say, I’m excited to see it. Fingers crossed.
9th
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (dir. Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson)
Where: Netflix
Based on Carlo Collodi’s Italian children’s novel - first published in 1883! - Pinocchio is the story of the titular wooden boy, his quest to become real, and the (mis)adventures he has along the way. This already had a brief theatrical release (so that Netflix can chase Oscar gold) the ninth is the date it will become available to the millions on Netflix subscribers worldwide.
Guillermo del Toro is a treasure and an active benefit to the craft of filmmaking. When he makes something, I care and I’ve never been let down by him. This interpretation of Pinocchio seems to be focused on, in the words of its cricket narrator (Ewan McGregor), “imperfect fathers and imperfect sons”. There has always been the obvious paternal angle to Pinocchio’s origins, but this seems to be more directly focused on it.
The beautifully stop-motion animated trailer features everything you may expect from a Pinocchio tale, but in slightly different presentations. There’s magical trees, a more monstrous seeming version of the blue fairy, and a sinister traveling circus! How fun!
I’m always all in on Guillermo del Toro, so I’ll for sure be watching this.
16th
Avatar 2: The Way of Water (dir. James Cameron)
Where: in theaters
It’s old hat to say that Jim Cameron’s Avatar (2009) has “no cultural impact”, but that’s because there’s some truth to it. It’s an extremely odd case when the biggest film in the world disappears like a fart in the wind. When was the last time you saw some rando on the street wearing an Avatar t-shirt? What time of year do you host your annual Avatar re-watch? Is it never?
I’m not saying Avatar is bad - I saw it in theaters (walked there in the middle of a snowstorm) and I enjoyed it just fine. But aside from the technological advances, and its place on certain cinematic lists (it DID make money), it’s just not anything anyone thought of after a few months. Until, that is, about a year ago when the rumors of there being MORE Avatars coming were actually really confirmed.
The big criticism of Avatar was that the plot was just a rehash of cliché native-peoples-meet-more-”civilized”-invaders culture clash story moments, most notably from Pocahontas. But, I at least, excused that with the idea that a simple, familiar story wouldn’t clash with all the heavy technological moments Cameron was focused on delivering (the argument that the effects should serve the story and not the other way round having long gone out the window).
So, now that audiences are used to watching almost entirely CG character interactions and action sequences, does Avatar 2: The Way of Water have a more in-depth (no pun intended) storyline? Obviously, it’s hard to say from just a 2-minute trailer, but it certainly doesn’t look like it.
It seems like some of the big blue Na’vi (possibly some of the ones from the first film, or their children or who knows) have fled to the ocean and hooked up with a neighboring group who are associated with an entirely different element. Whereas in the original, there was a notable you-have-to-learn-to-fly-this-big-bird rite of passage scene, this time it’s a tendrilly dolphin thing. Instead of the tribe living in the jungle and riding airborne animals, they live on the beach and ride these aquatic ones. And the entire time, the (human) mercenaries working for a space mining company are en route, which will presumably lead to a huge conflict.
So the different tribes associated with different elements thing feels like the other (*cough*better*cough*) Avatar, the animated one whose title ends with “The Last Airbender”. Which, like, if I was Cameron and whomever else brainstormed these Avatar sequels, I’d have stayed as far away from anything that could be compared to the other (*cough*better*cough*) Avatar. There also seems to maybe be a just-learn-to-breath-water aspect to the rite of passage, which of course reminds me of Cameron’s The Abyss.
I dunno. The concept of “the further adventures of the world of Avatar” holds no interest for me. Neither does the prospect of paying money to watch James Cameron show off the latest advances in CGI capabilities. But those both exist outside of the film itself, those are subtext to the viewing experience. Problem is, these trailers aren’t showing me anything that really piques my interest.
James Cameron was once a pretty goddamn creative, clever, inventive filmmaker (story-wise, and concept-wise) but Avatar never felt like that to me. I went to see the original film despite the lack of that spark for me, trusting entirely on Cameron’s reputation and track record with me personally. And while, as I said, I didn’t dislike the finished product, I also didn’t care to ever see more of it and I wish he’d spent the last ten year working on something else, something new.
21st
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (dir. Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado)
Where: in theaters
In 2001, the film Shrek - based on the 1990 book by William Steig - dropped. It was successful and in 2004, the sequel introduced the world to this version of Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). In 2011 Puss got his own spin-off origin story film and then I believe there were some TV series and/or holiday specials and now the sequel The Last Wish.
As the saying goes, Puss has “lived a life”. But, being a cat and an adventurer, he’s actually lived 8 lives, meaning he’s now down to his last one. For some reason, he’s pointed in the direction of Mama Luna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) to be a “lab cat”. The trailer doesn’t expressly show her doing any experiments, or explain how she might be able to restore some of Puss’ lives or anything, so…
What the trailer does show is a lot of action: Seems Puss has run afoul of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears crime family (voiced by Florence Pugh, Ray Winstone, Samson Kayo, and Olivia Colman respectively) and they’ve placed a bounty on his head hefty enough that at least a couple of bounty hunters are also gunning for Puss. The action in the trailers is extremely dynamic and showcases a heightened stylization not present in any of the Shrek films (I’ve not seen the previous Puss in Boots-es, so I can’t speak to any of their stylization). It reminds me of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in the way it leans on different visual styles, frame rates and exaggerated, comic book visuals.
Is this a bad thing? No. But it doesn’t fit here the way it does with Spider-Verse and feels like it’s only being done to draw people in. It feels like fad-chasing and that always turns me off a little bit. BUT. It works, because the imagery was really interesting. I’m not any kind of real fan of Shrek or his expanded universe, despite having watched all four over Thanksgiving last year (on a bet), but Puss is an obvious stand-out character and Antonio Banderas is a favorite actor of mine, so I’ll definitely watch this eventually I suppose. Possibly on a bet.
30th
White Noise (dir. Noah Baumbach)
Where: Netflix
Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel of the same name is emotionally distant, intellectual and soaked in ennui; a story mostly about its main character’s fear of death. The book is also very clever, a perfectly bleak black comedy that takes aim at the atomic family and the increasing dependence on miracle cures (a concept that was even more novel in 1985). The plot is rambling, but covers a number of strange occurrences, notably an airborne toxic event that releases a chemical black cloud that looms over the family’s home town.
The trailer seems to lean most heavily on this airborne toxic event, without ever revealing what it is. It opens with the family (dad Adam Driver, step mom Greta Gerwig, and an assortment of step siblings played by Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, and May Nivola) sitting in their car, using the passengers in the other cars as litmus tests for how frightened they should feel, before quick cutting to an assortment of other locations and moments that feel appropriate for the semi-disjointed events of the novel.
DeLillo’s novel is a favorite of my partner, who introduced me to it, so I’m sure we’ll watch it once it’s available.
SPOTLIGHT - Not new but EOINA material
December 1st
The Secret of N.I.M.H. (1982) (dir. Don Bluth)
Where: Tubi
Tubi is the greatest truly free streaming option anymore and I recommend it to anyone who’ll listen. I was looking for an appropriately holiday-themed film to recommend for this end-of-year EOINA, but what really jumped out at me was Don Bluth’s 1982 adaptation of Robert O’Brien’s 1971 novel Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. While not directly a holiday movie, the change of seasons is a prominent plot driver, and Christmas lights are heavily featured in the rats’ lair. BUT. What made this a perfect bookend for the column is that it reminds me of Willow quite a bit. Not thematically, but in execution. The Secret of NIMH and Willow both have a darkness and seriousness in them that is part of what I really responded to as a kid. They both scratch that specific itch for me.
The Secret of NIMH follows the aforementioned Mrs. Frisby (called Brisby in the film, presumably so that no one would confuse the animated film about rats with a plastic flying disc toy) as she enlists the help of the rats of NIMH to help safely move her and her family, including one very sick child, before the farmer can endanger their home by plowing the field. There’s also an entire Shakespearian power struggle happening within the rats’ organization, with sword fighting, magic, and a tragic, science-based back story.
I love this film and I hope you’ll enjoy it too, if you choose to check it out.
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As we wind down the year, I hope you get to spend it with some folks who make your life better. Could be in person, could be by phone, or a group chat. Organize a watch-along for one of the films listed above (or any damn picture you want) and be a positive force for change in your life, the lives of others, and the world. It’s shockingly easy. Just be there. Be here.
If you’d like to check out the podcast I cohost, it’s called Hate Watch/Great Watch and we have two holiday-themed episodes dropping this month. On the 14th I’m talking about Die Hard (1988) with my regular cohost Allison Yakulis, and right in that liminal space between Christmas and New Years, on the 28th, another as-yet-undecided title which I’ll discuss with guest cohost Tina Dillon.
Thank you as always for reading, and thanks to MovieJawn for hosting and posting. Please consider liking, recommending, and sharing any MJ articles you happen to like (including this one) on any and all social media platforms. And if you’re able, maybe you’d like to support the MJ Patreon for as little as $3 per month.
Have a happy holiday, stay safe, and we’ll see each other in the new year! Until next time - Long Live the Movies!
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