Kill Caesar
The explosive season 3 finale of Succession aired last Sunday and it totally kicked my ass. Spoilers for Succession season three episode nine ahead:
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Cassius and his co-conspirators plotting to kill the Emperor of Rome, Julius Caesar, convince Caesar’s closest friend, Brutus, to aid them and divvy up the power between them. Their argument cite themselves to be better rulers and that Caesar has gotten out of control. It’s a similar set-up in this season finale where Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Kendall (Jeremy Strong) convince and conspire with Roman (Kieran Culkin) to dethrone their media mogul father, Logan (Brian Cox) before he lets someone else purchase the company effectively leaving them in the dust. The tragedy in this unfolds differently, rather than Caesar being stabbed by his brothers (“et tu Brute”), Logan Uno reverses it onto them (“You bust in here, guns in hand, and now you find they’ve turned into fucking sausages.”) and stabs their backs instead. Each of them with a personal blade in their back. For all of them, their own father screwing them out of the company with help from their mom (“We just walked in on Mom and Dad fucking us.”), but Roman got the twist of the knife from Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), his would be mentor and object of his perverted affections. More shocking is the implied reveal of Shiv’s husband Tom (Matthew Macfayden) being an element in orchestrating this treachery.
This feels like a long time coming. Ever since the seeds of Shiv and Tom’s disfunction were planted in the first season, Shiv’s mistreatment of Tom has become even more apparent this third season. It become clear, especially in this season, that the only relationships that matter to Tom are with the company and with Greg. Greg, who is uncharacteristically confident this episode, has transformed from a shrinking wallflower into the same kind of ruthless power-hungry player that Tom is. It is then such a painful twist of the knife in my back to see them like this after I spent this past season watching them suffer and thinking that they may be the heart and souls of the show only to be revealed as craven and opportunistic.
While they’re betrayal may come off as cruel, along with all the other traitors, it is important to remember that the beginning of this season started with calling Kendall a Judas. Instead, this season ends with the Roy siblings connecting in a way never seen before. The three of them show genuine affection for each other when Kendall spills his guts. The kind of affection that they didn’t even show an ounce of during Kendall’s intervention earlier this episode. That’s what makes this episode so powerful, the seemingly optimistic view that the Roys together, for once, can accomplish something when, instead, as Tom seemingly prophesied earlier this season, “I see you get fucked a lot, but I’ve never seen Logan get fucked once.”
All three seasons of Succession are available on HBO Max
Rumble in the West Side
So I indulged in a lot of West Side Story this weekend. As I said in my last issue, I watched the original 1961 film, but I did also catch a screening of the new 2021 adaptation. Afterwards, I read the script in this handy little edition I purchased way back.
As you can plainly see, Romeo and Juliet is the primary inspiration for West Side Story. The plot being that Tony, a white boy and former member of The Jets, falls for Maria, a Puerto Rican immigrant who’s brother is in the rival gang, The Sharks. It plays out almost beat for beat the same as Romeo and Juliet, where they try to run away together to escape this warring, but a violent accident leads to so much death.
The original film is a classic for a reason. Spielberg called it “The Godfather of movie musicals” and, if you trace it’s influence on the likes of directors from David Lynch to Michael Bay, you can see it clearly. It’s got strange and innovative visual effects and instantly iconic performances. Biggest downside is that they put so many actors (including Natalie Wood) in brown face to play Puerto Ricans.
The latest adaptation doesn’t use make-up to turn people Puerto Rican, but instead makes all the original script and film’s subtext into text. That means all the racism is front and center, making it really hard to find any sympathy for the racist gang trying to push out the Puerto Ricans. One may say that making this xenophobia explicit shows just puts a spotlight on how terrible it is, but there are many sympathetic scenes where it’s hard to shake that element off them. Take for instance the trans character, who in the original versions was just a girl who wanted to join their gang, but here they’ve made them explicitly trans. The scene where The Jets finally call him by his correct pronouns would be sweet if not for the fact that you remember that they’re a viciously racist gang who almost rape a Puerto Rican girl in the next scene. The star, Ansel Elgort, has some pretty troubling allegations being thrown his way1 isn’t helpful either.
Where West Side Story really shines, in both versions, is the visual elements. Both are gorgeous and have some of the most incredible dance choreography I’ve seen in a long time. The costuming is instantly iconic in the original and pushes for maximum sex appeal in the latest version. The original has gorgeous technicolor sets while Spielberg’s digital filmmaking has finally produced a beautiful and subtle color palette. While the subtext and text of both versions can be difficult, the romance at the heart of them is very easy to get swept up in. Sure, just like fair Romeo and sweet Juliet, Tony and Maria’s romance is unbelievably short, but to quote The Terminator, they loved a lifetime’s worth.
West Side Story (2021) is in theaters now and the original 1961 film is available for digital rental on most streaming services.
New York Odyssey
The opening of Greg Mottola’s 1996 film The Daytrippers depicts an emotional, social, and physical harmony between married couple Louis (Stanley Tucci) and Eliza D’Amico (Hope Davis) as they drive home from Thanksgiving dinner at Eliza’s parents. This harmony is put into question the following morning when Eliza finds a love letter addressed to Louis after Louis has left for work. Eliza goes to her family for help and it is decided that they’ll drive to New York City, where he works, from their Long Island home to confront him. Her mother Rita (Anne Meara), her father Jim (Pat McNamara), her sister Jo (Parker Posey), and Jo’s intellectual boyfriend Carl (Liev Schreiber) pile into the family car and begin their odyssey.
Like any odyssey, dating back to Homer’s The Odyssey, their goal is often sidetracked by tangents, some unrelated and some that provide more evidence of Louis’s infidelity. Those unrelated tangents, resting in a stranger’s home, listening to a stranger talking about his sex life, and others, do add more thematically. Take for instance the stranger discussing the women he tried to sleep with at a bar, he mistakes a punk woman as a pickpocket while the sweet shy girl he was talking to nipped his cash. Another kind stranger is revealed to have a warrant out for his arrest. This flies in the face of Eliza’s mother’s advice that drives the plot to the city: that you have to confront him in person, it’s harder to lie in person.
This film isn’t saying it is exceedingly easy to lie, as more often than not, the truth comes out, but, instead, speaks to the nuance individuals have. Nearly every character has shades of good and bad in them and those intricacies drive the dysfunction in the world. What makes it a fulfilling odyssey is not that they confront Louis about the woman he’s seeing, but how everyone’s motivations and characters are revealed by the journey. Jo and Carl’s relationship’s strained nature is revealed, but so is Carl’s deep affection and caring nature for Jo. Rita’s overprotectiveness is shown to be a boon and a hazard. While Jim’s silence often comes off as apathy, in a crucial moment it transforms into a skill in patient listening. Additionally, advice given to Eliza midway through the move proves to be more thematic of the film than anything else: that no matter what happens, your family has your back. This proves true in the finale, despite the dysfunction, that family supports each other.
The Daytrippers (1996) is streaming on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel.
Stray Observations
Sein Peaks, an online presence that mashes-up Seinfeld and Twin Peaks, two of my favorite tv shows, just released the first episode of their podcast The Other Side of Darkness. What they’ve done here is developed a Seinfeld plot line in the style of David Lynch and performed it like a radio show, complete with actors doing impressions of the Seinfeld cast (the actor for Jerry is superb). The result is something both funny and twisted. Eagerly awaiting the rest of the series. You can listen to it wherever you find your podcasts.
Those of you not in the know, Kellogg’s has decided to try to replace their 1400 striking workers. While the Kellogg’s CEO made 11.6 million dollars last year, their workers have suffered 80 hour work weeks and 16 hour shifts. Kellogg’s is seeking to reduce pay and cut jobs and benefits, so, obviously, the union tried to sort things out. When they couldn’t come to a consensus (Kellogg’s apparently only offered a 3 cent raise) and Kellogg’s threatened to move their factories to Mexico, the workers began to strike. Since then, Kellogg’s has been desperate to replace their 1400 striking workers with solidarity standing in their way. This twitter meme just about sums it up:
Now, in an effort to support these striking workers, many individuals, myself included, will be boycotting Kellogg’s for the foreseeable future. I eat Eggo Waffles almost every day, so dropping my favorite breakfast item is a big thing for me.
Really into the tracks that sad girl superstar Mitski has released in anticipation for her latest album, Laurel Hell. All three tracks, “Heat Lightning”, “The Only Heartbreaker”, and “Working for the Knife” are fast becoming the only things I listen to while I drive or work or lie in bed.
That’s it for this week! Big issue this week. Thanks for reading. Next week I’ll likely be writing about one of my most anticipated movies of the year, The Matrix: Resurrections, so keep an eye out for it! Like, comment, and subscribe and I’ll see you next week!