IT’S A FALL FRIGHT FEST
It and American Horror Story: Cult lead the charge, Chris Lackner writes.
MOVIES Big releases on Sept. 8: Home Again; It.
Big picture: Home Again is a dramedy about the newly separated, neurotic (but obviously endearing) Alice (Reese Witherspoon), who starts a new life in L.A. with her two young daughters by allowing three male strangers — of varying ages and charm — to live in their new house. Most of said men proceed to promptly fall in love with Alice, sleep with her … or wish that they had. When her ex-husband (Michael Sheen) re-enters the picture, the foundations of her new world get rocky. This is the kind of movie for people who want to watch Alice say annoying (but obviously endearing) things like, “I always act out on my birthday. It’s like my own personal New Year’s Eve.”
I predict the twist will be that her husband is secretly a grownup Kevin from the Home Alone franchise, and he wins her back by setting up elaborate booby traps for the filmmakers residing under his ex’s roof.
Meanwhile, the film It is Goonies meets Stand by Me meets … the funhouse ride from hell. From the mind of author Stephen King, it crosses that fine line where childhood wonder meets childhood terror. When children begin to vanish in the town of Derry, Maine, a rag-tag group of young misfits faceoff against a villainous, ancient clown named Pennywise who can literally bring their fears to life. Of course, the ancient evil lives in a lair deep underneath the town. (As if you needed another reason not to take up spelunking.) Forecast: After The Dark Tower proved structurally flawed, It gets a King adaptation right. You’ll never look at a red balloon the same way again.
TV
Big events: American Horror Story: Cult (Sept. 5, FX Canada); The Deuce (Sept. 10, HBO). Big picture: It’s not a good week for those with coulrophobia. Clowns are everywhere (and I’m not even counting the White House).
The new season of American Horror Story has political themes and takes its jumping off point from the election of Donald Trump. As one character intones, “If you get people scared enough, they will set the world on fire.” Hmmm.
That could double as the epitaph for the 2016 presidential election.
Returning cast members in the anthology horror-drama include Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters (as a dangerous cult leader) and Frances Conroy.
An evil clown — and all matter of nut jobs — pop up throughout Cult to convey an America that has become unhinged (the series is akin to someone filming David Lynch’s subconscious).
Meanwhile, The Deuce is the latest HBO drama from David Simon (The Wire, Treme) — this time focused on New York’s porn industry in the late 1970s and early ’80s. James Franco (playing twins) and Maggie Gyllenhaal are among the ensemble cast.
It’s Motown meets Boogie Nights. Forecast: This cult is worth following.
MUSIC
Big releases on Sept. 8: Jack Johnson (All The Light Above It Too); The National (Sleep Well Beast).
Big picture: Trump is not only haunting TV writers, he’s haunting our treasured songwriters, too.
The National has always been like rock ’n’ roll therapy, and frontman Matt Berninger is a master rock ’n’ roll therapist. The band’s seventh album focuses on a relationship — and world view — hanging in the balance. The instrumentation is a touch more electronic, but the lyrics are no less sad, melancholy and oddly cathartic. Berninger is the thinking man’s rocker.
Largely contemplative with occasional, memorable outbursts, his deep voice permeates the band’s work as its own unique instrument. The single, The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness, references alienating politics in the U.S., but it’s catchy guitar rift is as radio-friendly as the National gets.
Meanwhile, Johnson unveils his first album since 2013, so you can double down on your mellow. The singer-guitarist also sheds a lyrical light on political failings and environmental issues.
Forecast: You may not sleep well, but The National’s new album is a beast worth hunting.