Media Merger Creates More of Same - But Here Are MY Hidden Gems
The press is all atwitter about the announced merger between Discovery and AT&T’s WarnerMedia division. Discovery’s Daniel Zaslav is up! WarnerMedia’s Jason Kilar is down! And who knew that wily old John “Cable Cowboy” Malone was still pulling the media industry’s strings from Colorado? In fact, who knew that he was still alive? Despite the media’s frenzy about the latest media shift, the proper response to all this sound and fury is a big yawn. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Like a lot of you, I’ve been watching too much cable network product during the pandemic lockdown. As I began tuning in more, I assumed that all the new streaming services had not only added volume to our entertainment menu, but elevated the quality of movies and TV shows. Wrong. My overall impression of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max and all the rest is how utterly formulaic that entertainment programming has become. If anything, the age of streaming has made creativity even MORE cookie-cutter. There are precious few shows and films that challenge viewers intellectually, artistically or politically. It seems that entertainment executives are all consulting the same apps to determine potential audience and market size. The seat-of-the-pants instincts and quirks that characterized some Old Hollywood barons have been replaced by stats-driven analysis. The result is a predictable stream of programming that hits the same shock-fear-desire nerve buttons in the audience.
As my regular readers know, to avoid boredom, I go spelunking deep and wide in the entertainment vaults to find the gems from yesterday, today and tomorrow that dazzle me. Here are a few of the shining artifacts that I’ve enjoyed recently.
The Talk of the Town. This 1942 movie directed by George Stevens and written by the great Irwin Shaw whipsaws you back and forth between comedy, romance and drama. It stars Cary Grant as an anarchist on the run from the law (yes, you read that right) and Ronald Coleman as the stuffy law professor with whom he forms an unusual bond. Caught between the two argumentative but increasingly close male buddies is the wonderful Jean Arthur. And you don’t know which man she’s going to pick until the final scene of this pleasingly long, weird movie (a scene which takes place in the dignified lobby of the Supreme Court building of all places).
That Damn Michael Che. Who knew that the co-anchor of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update feature was capable of producing a show of vignettes and commentary so bitingly funny that it puts you in mind of other great black comedies that Che himself references (to mock his own efforts) — like In Living Color and The Chapelle Show. Yes, the six episodes of Che’s show are on HBO Max — but they’re the only fresh, laugh-out-loud pleasures I’ve had during the Covid era. And yes, Che is a lot funnier here than he is on SNL. In fact, the six episodes of That Damn Michael Che are a lot funnier than any SNL show during the past season.
Mr. Wilder and Me. This new novel by British author Jonathan Coe (Middle England) is not easily available yet in the U.S. But it’s worth the extra effort to get your hands on it. I can’t imagine a better summer read. Told from the perspective of a young Greek woman on her first tour of America in the mid-’70s, the novel dips you into the bittersweet final filmmaking days of Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond. Once the king of Hollywood, Wilder is now fighting to keep making movies — and in the process he and Diamond inspire young Calista Frangopoulou to pursue her own creative ambitions. As light and breezy as a day at the beach, but with a wistful and melancholy feeling as well. Utterly delightful — and it will make you go scrambling for Wilder movies you might have missed. For instance, I discovered Ace in the Hole, a scathing 1951 movie about the depravity of the media (and American culture) starring Kirk Douglas.
That’s all, folks!
