Murdered to Death
Maybe it’s the font choice and the art style of the opening credits, but Hulu’s new comedy/mystery show Only Murders in the Building feels like a comedy piece straight out of The New Yorker. It stars Selena Gomez and comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short as true-crime podcast fans who try to solve a murder that’s occurred in the massive apartment building they all live in. They decide pretty early on to turn the investigation into a true-crime podcast of their own. Aside from their passion for a Serial-style podcast (and their near crippling loneliness) the three of them could not be more different. Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) is a reclusive and sensitive actor who hasn’t gotten work since the 90s and keeps everyone at arms length, Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) is a young mysterious woman with a dark past, and, my favorite, Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) is a larger than life Broadway director who is in severe financial trouble. These three leads have really fun energy as they bounce silly wordplay and blunt observations off of each other.
While the show does have the comedic angle of the mismatched cast, Only Murders also appears to have these characters already fully fleshed out. Six episodes into the ten episode season and it’s already abundantly clear who these people are and what kind of shame, regret, or guilt they have that has driven them into isolating themselves in their big New York apartments. The building, The Arcadia, features a colorful community of tenants that the three leads seem actively avoidant of, preferring their interior lives. Putnam and Savage feel comfort in living in a version of their pasts, Putnam refusing to move out of the unaffordable apartment that he dreamed of having as a young Broadway upstart and Savage recreating a fond breakfast memory daily, a special omelette, only to dispose of it. Mora, while seemingly running away from her past, can’t help but find nostalgia creeping into her life (stylized through Polaroid photos in the second episode “Who is Tim Kono”) when she’s alone in her empty mid-renovation apartment.
The other surprise of Only Murders is how often the show eschews typical comedy television imagery. The interior of characters’ minds are rendered on the screen through illustrations, flights of theatrical fancy, and sometimes a simple use of a Bugs Bunny mascot costume. Even the great winter/autumnal wardrobes in Only Murders are worth note. Savage’s tight, buttoned up, conservative style reflects his organized and reserved nature while contrasting Putnam’s long flowing scarves and billowing coats that make his small stature as big as his personality1. It is Mora’s outfits that remain a mystery, betraying her reserved disposition with patterns and bright colors, as if to throw you off. Appropriately so considering the show’s first episode opens with a scene of what’s, presumably, to come: Mabel Mora covered in blood pleading to Putnam and Savage that “It’s not what it looks like.” What the show consistently looks like is extremely stylish and visually engaging.
The show has only four episodes left and has already been renewed for a second season. I’m apprehensive about whether or not the show’s mystery will reach a satisfying conclusion, but the strength of all three leads (who all serve as executive producers of the show) make me excited to see what becomes of their characters.
Only Murders in the Building is streaming exclusively on Hulu with new episodes every Tuesday.
Stray Observations
There’s been a micro trend (731.4k tags on TikTok at the time of this writing) of celebrating the style and work of Meg Ryan with #megryanfall. TikTok users are uploading clips, creating outfits inspired by her films, and re-enacting movie scenes with her. Naturally, with When Harry Met Sally being my favorite movie ever, I’m all for this. I’m considering maybe doing a whole Meg Ryan issue some week in the future to showcase my favorite work of her’s.
I usually don’t pay too much attention to The Emmys, but this year, what with my favorite talk show host Conan O’Brien ending his talk show, I had to check and see some key results. Unfortunately, Conan did not win anything, but he did make his presence known throughout the night by, as some Twitter users said, “giving zero fucks”. Vulture writer Betty Squires chronicled his antics here.
Big fan of William Shakespeare ever since I read Julius Caesar and Hamlet in high school. Now, one of my Shakespeare blind spots, MacBeth, is being adapted by one of the great American filmmakers (Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers). A teaser trailer dropped the other day showing off the gorgeous black and white cinematography and the all star cast. I am really excited to see The Bard’s words adapted this stylishly.
Denzel stars in The Tragedy of MacBeth, hitting theaters this Christmas.
The ten year anniversary of Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit song “Call Me Maybe” was this past week. I have distinct memories of the following summer (2012) where that song and Gotye’s “Somebody I Used to Know” were inescapable on the radio. It was a game that my friends and I had to have either of those two songs play the entire time we were in a car.
I should also mention that, since then, I have become a big Carly Rae Jepsen fan.
Janus Films just announced that Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s hauntingly bleak opus Cure (1997) has gotten a 4K restoration and will be screening in select theaters October 1st. This and Kurasawa’s tech horror Pulse (2001) are amongst the scariest and tensest movies I’ve ever seen, so I am desperate for the chance to catch Cure on the big screen. Hope it’s playing in Detroit or nearby Detroit. Check out the announcement below:
Gawker did this lovely write up for character actor and I Liked It! favorite, Paul Walter Hauser2, titled, “A Love Letter to Paul Walter Hauser”. Just wanted to share this quote from the article:
“Character actors are a dying commodity, with studio preferences trending toward bland gym rats, steroids, and capped teeth, or sexuality that’s more like a virgin’s description of the act than the act itself. When you’re watching the latest thing on your streaming platform of choice, it’s rare to feel like you’re not watching a dramatic interpretation of a contract. I think this is a good thing about Paul Walter Hauser, even when he is in one of those latest things: he is always someone I feel like I’ve met before, not a product I’ve decided to buy.”
Thanks for reading! I’ll be taking the next weekend off from I Liked It!, but I’ll be back with a vengeance with some great October issues! Remember to like, comment, and subscribe. I love you!
Amusingly enough, Martin Short’s outfits were mostly the first thing I heard about this show and it was because of this tweet comparing him to the cartoony and reality bending Superman character Mr Mxyzptlk.
Feel it is my duty to remind readers that Paul Walter Hauser did dunk on my friend, Nathan Anderson, on Twitter for being a hater. Thank you for spreading positivity Paul ❤️