Chris Lackner
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” Bob Dylan sang. But these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
MOVIES
Big Releases on June 3: Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Big Picture: In an age where Donald Trump has mutated into a legitimate presidential candidate, the TMNT are the heroes we need (and probably deserve). Turtles that mutated into ninja warriors named after Italian Renaissance painters? Why not? Director Michael Bay’s lone non-CGI muse, Megan Fox, returns as reporter April O’Neil, the green team’s intrepid sidekick. She has my sympathy, given the turtles’ voices sound like an uncanny, unsettling cross between Rocky Balboa and Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In this sequel, a stormy, vortex cloud appears over Manhattan — which typically means an invasion of aliens, or a demigod named Zuul in sore need of ghostbusting. Bay certainly knows his audience. What follows are explosions, car chases, punches, tanks, mutant warthogs and rhinos, mutant rhinos riding tanks, and Fox gamely tying her shirt off to reveal midriff. Meanwhile, the mockumentary Popstar finds Andy Samberg as Conner4Real, a clueless singer-rapper and international superstar. Never Stop Never Stopping clearly takes aim at the likes of Justin Bieber’s “behind-the-scenes” film Never Say Never. Watch Conner4Real perform with Adam Levine’s hologram and discuss his album “Thriller, also,” or meet his bloated personal staff that includes a bag piper and wolf trainer. The music biz hasn’t taken this much satirical heat since Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
Forecast: Popstar should be a howl; the industry’s ripe for the comedy pickings. Those with a fetish talking animal superheroes should wait it out until Rocket Racoon returns in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy sequel.
Honourable Mention: Me Before You. Emilia Clark (Game of Thrones) plays Louise Clark, a whimsical young woman who becomes unlikely caregiver to Will (Sam Claflin): rich, grumpy, cynical, and recently paralyzed. Cue the violins, Coldplay ballads, life-affirming moments and lines like “I have become a whole new person because of you.” (I almost prefer Michelangelo’s chronic overuse of the word “cowabunga.”) I’d be a lot more interested in this movie if the happy couple explored the world via Clark’s dragon co-stars from Thrones.
Maya Rudolph, left, and Martin Short star in the new variety show Maya & Marty. [NBC ]
TV
Big Events: Maya & Marty (NBC, May 31); Feed the Beast (June 5, AMC)
Big Picture: Martin Short and Maya Rudolph, together at last? I guess. This “all-star” prime-time variety show unites Saturday Night Live forces from different eras, and includes another in Kenan Thompson (apparently only those with an M in their names get title billing). Expect shameless celebrity cameos interspersed with shameless musical comedy numbers. But SNL mastermind Lorne Michaels may be on to something with his cast comedy team ups. Up next: I predict a Bill Murray and Will Ferrell morning show: Bill and Will. Meanwhile, David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess star in Feed the Beast as best friends entering their own private version of Hell’s kitchen. As they struggle to open a restaurant, can they take the heat? Especially when they become beholden to criminal elements and their own addictions? Of course not! Bring on the adultery, drugs, arson, murder and other shenanigans. Gordon Ramsay would not be impressed. This new dramedy is adapted from the Danish series Bankerot, which sounds like some kind of rare disease that only afflicts bankers.
Forecast: Let’s hope this one lasts longer than 2014’s The Maya Rudolph show. But Maya & Marty’s musical segment from the SNL 40th anniversary special gives it promise. Meanwhile, Schwimmer may have finally paid the piper and left Ross Geller behind for good in Feed the Beast.
Honourable Mention: So You Think You Can Dance (May 30, Fox; June 1, CTV). You thought child beauty pageants were scary? Wait until you see “the next generation” strike a pose and bust a move to compete in an all-new kiddie season of SYTYCD.
Paul Simon [Kim Stallknecht/PNG]
MUSIC
Big Releases on June 3: Paul Simon (Stranger to Stranger); Train (Led Zeppelin II)
Big Picture: Paul Simon’s album title could double as an ode to this year’s American presidential race — or the recent “elbowgate” in Ottawa. Instead, it marks an experimental album — a musical cocktail that blends eclectic sounds, including African woodwinds, Peruvian drums, Indian rhythms, brass, electronic dance music, rock and synthesizers. Intriguing track titles include The Werewolf, Papa Bell and In the Garden Of Edie. Meanwhile, Train risks the unforgiving wrath of the rock ’n’ roll gods by covering Led Zeppelin’s iconic album.
Forecast: Paul is no stranger. Thankfully, no Garfunkels in sight. Meanwhile, I predict Train will start an unfortunate trend. Get ready for Drake’s take on Nirvana’s Nevermind, Taylor Swift’s do-over of The Clash’s London Calling, Justin Bieber’s reinvention of Springsteen’s Nebraska, and New Direction’s … err… new direction for The Beatles’ Abbey Road.
Honourable Mention: Tegan and Sarah (Love You To Death); Joshua Winstead (MMXX). Canada’s sisterly sirens, and twin indie rockers, rarely miss a beat. Meanwhile, Metric’s bassist, Winstead, measures his worth with a solo project.