EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, Vol. 31 - Sept. 2021

Everything Old Is New Again

Vol. 31 - September 2021

By Hunter Bush

Whoo buddy, what a month August has been. I dunno about you, dear reader, but there’s been ...a lot going on. Some of it was actually good but honestly not too much. But that’s alright because we will persevere. We will all push on and not allow ourselves to become bogged down with this negativity; to get stuck in the swamp of sadness.

Welcome to EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN, my monthly column discussing the remakes, adaptations and long-gap sequels coming to screens great and small in the month ahead. I watch the trailers, try to suss out what exactly is going on and give you my impression of the project as well as any history I know about the source material. I’ll let you know whether I’m excited for it as well, but by no means should you let that stop you from checking something out.

As a bonus, there’s also a SPOTLIGHT section where I’ll be drawing your attention to an EOINA-friendly (a remake, an adaptation, or a long-gap sequel) movie or two that may not exactly be new, but are still worth giving a look.

Let us get started, shall we?

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PREMIERS

All the brand new remakes, adaptations & long-gap sequels coming to screens for the first time.

2nd

What We Do in the Shadows (series, season 3)

Where: FX, streaming on HULU next day

I didn’t know what to expect when I first heard they were adapting/expanding on What We Do in the Shadows (the genius 2014 vampire mockumentary from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi) but the FX show has continued to not just do the film justice but actually expand on it in fascinating and hilarious ways. Where we left things at the end of season 2, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) had finally not only come to terms with being a natural vampire hunter but had been outed as one to his chosen family of clueless vampires by slaughtering the Vampiric Council. Guillermo’s vampire family (played by Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Mark Proksch, and Kayvan Novak respectively) are now the default heads of the Council and will have to learn the ropes (from Kristen Schaal!) and figure out which one of them will become the official head vampire! This show has only continued to get funnier as it rolls along, so if you haven’t watched it, get caught up!

3rd

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton)

Where: in theaters, coming to Disney+ after a 45 day exclusivity window

Shang-Chi as a character, began as a cash in on the kung fu/Bruce Lee craze that America was going through in the 1970s. Marvel Comics originally wanted to adapt the Kung Fu TV series but were denied the rights! In a further baffling rights boondoggle that exemplifies how much the comics industry of the era was just the wild west, Shange-Chi was introduced as a heretofore unknown son of the villainous (and heinously racist caricature) Dr. Fu Manchu! Anyway, over the years, various Marvel creative types have taken the reins of the Shang-Chi franchise and tried to reshape him to fit better with the direction the industry was headed: super people! Though (to the best of my knowledge) Shang-Chi has never been classified as a super-person himself, his mastery of chi allows him to perform otherwise impossible feats of strength, speed and agility and even defeat superhumans in combat. This adaptation stars the incredibly charming Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, here seemingly the son of The Mandarin (another comics character, reshaped in the MCU as an international warlord/terrorist) who was previously represented via Ben Kingsley’s masquerading as him in Iron Man 3 (it’s complicated, the hallmark of any discussion of comics). In comics, the Mandarin has ten rings that came from space and are thus powerful nearly-magical artifacts. But to be clear, they’re rings - the jewelry. In Shang-Chi they’re larger, stacking up on Mandarin’s forearms, but they’re still dangerously powerful! This has a lot of potential to be fun and expand the MCU in interesting and important ways while also giving the superhero genre a much needed representation boost. I know some of us are quite exhausted with the Marvel Movie Machine (the sameness of the fight scenes; the perfunctory feeling of many character interactions) but now, when there are finally some Asian actors getting a moment in the spotlight is not the time to take a break. And while fitting someone whose only “power” is being really, really good at fighting into the same universe as these other super weirdos will be a tall order, I’ll be checking this out and hoping for the best!

13th

Y: the Last Man (series)

Where: FX, streaming on HULU

Based on the graphic novel series written by Brian K Vaughan and illustrated by Pia Guerra, Y: the Last Man is the story of Yorick (Ben Schnetzer), the only living boy in New York. Actually, the world. As far as anyone knows. One day, out of the blue, every living creature with a Y chromosome dropped dead pretty much simultaneously and, as you’d expect, the world collapsed into near dystopian chaos as the survivors had to begin to clean up the mess. What happened? How is Yorick still around? Is the human race doomed? The comics took their darn sweet time even hinting at answers to these questions. I wonder if the show will keep that slow build pacing? Well, there are a lot of really great supporting characters to hold everyone’s interest at least: Yorick’s mom (Diane Lane) sends Agent 355 (Ashley Romans) to protect Yorick (and his pet capuchin monkey Ampersand!) and along the way they meet up with/run afoul of many cool factions (including ninjas and pirates!) (yes, really!) Seriously. The comic is a favorite of mine and I really hope the show does it justice.

23rd

Creepshow (series, season 3)

Where: Shudder

Unfortunately, there is no trailer for Creepshow season 3, the Shudder original anthology series based on the 1982 George Romero directed, Stephen King written horror comedy masterpiece. But I’m already onboard. Creepshow has yet to really let me down. Is every segment, every story exactly my jam? No, but they’re all interesting, fun, creative, splattery and stuffed with talent both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. This season (allegedly) features appearances from Ethan Embry, James Remar, Jonathan Schaech, and Michael Rooker among others, with segments directed by Joe Lynch, Rusty Cundeiff, and John Harrison, and a story from Joe Hill! Like I said, I’ll be checking this out.

SPOTLIGHT

Some EOINA-appropriate flicks that deserve a second look.

1st

Romeo + Juliet (1996) (dir. Baz Luhrmann)

Where: Amazon Prime

This movie won’t be everybody’s jam, but it very much is mine. An extremely ‘90s retelling of William Shakespeare’s reading comprehension mainstay, but performed with the original verbiage? Yes. Baz Luhrmann’s visual flair works within this extremely heightened reality and, for those not ancient enough to know this already - the soundtrack is wall-to-wall bangers. The cast, besides Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the titular couple, features John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Pete Postlethwaite, Paul Rudd, Paul Sorvino, Brian Dennehy, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and M. Emmett Walsh, among plenty of others! If none of this sounds like your thing exactly BUT you’re interested in 1990s culture, this is definitely worth a look.

The A-Team (2010) (dir. Joe Carnahan)

Where: Amazon Prime

Based on the TV series (1983 - ‘87) starring George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz as four blacklisted ex-military specialists who used their talents (and customized vehicles) to help people who needed their help/could afford them, this feature-length remake somehow never spawned a sequel despite being perfect for it. Director Joe Carnahan, as well as Liam Neeson, Rampage Jackson, Bradley Cooper, and Sharlto Copley transformed the TV series into a full-on Fast & Furious-level, big dumb action movie (they steer a tank falling through the air by firing the cannon!) that’s a ton of fun! Not a life-changing viewing experience, but if you’re looking for a way to spend an evening, you could do a lot worse.

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There we have it. I’m really hoping that everyone’s Septembers - and not to be selfish but ours as well - are better than the Augusts we’re leaving being us. I really appreciate everybody who’s been helping out this past month (y’all know who you are) and that includes you, reading this, right now. Let me know if any of these flicks/series are on your radar and what you think after you check them out.

If you’d like more from me, you can read MovieJawn’s coverage of Fantasia Fest 2021, with articles from myself and Allison Yakulis, and you can catch both of us on the Hate Watch/Great Watch podcast every other Wednesday! Our latest episode is on Saturday Night Fever, and later in September we’ve got eps on 1988’s Felix the Cat: The Movie and 1991’s The Addams Family!

I’ll be back next month with more EOINA and in the interim, I’m sure I’ll be covering at least a few other movies, so keep an eye on MovieJawn.com for those. While you’re at it, subscribe to the MovieJawn Patreon (lot of fun stuff there already and more to come!) and as always:

Long Live the Movies!