Undressing murder of Gianni Versace
Ryan Murphy’s crime anthology series gets fashionable
Here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week.
MOVIES
Big releases on Jan. 19: 12 Strong; Den of Thieves
Big Picture: No, 12 Strong is not the latest Ocean’s Eleven sequel. But you’ll get to see Danny Ocean’s sister (Sandra Bullock) soon enough in Ocean’s Eight, coming June 2018.
12 Strong tells the “declassified” untold story of America’s “Horse Soldiers,” an elite Special Forces squad sent into Afghanistan after 9/11. Chris Hemsworth plays the team’s captain, which brings up another bombshell: America sent Thor into Afghanistan as part of the War on Terror? (And, more importantly, does Captain America know about this?) Hemsworth’s soldiers join forces with a Northern Alliance general against the Taliban and al-Qaida. Outnumbered and outgunned, the epic true story can be summed up as “they ride horses against tanks.” Expect classic war movie lines like, “there is no playbook here, we are going to have to write it ourselves.”
Meanwhile, rapper 50 Cent enters a Den of Thieves in this crime drama focused on the interconnected word of L.A.’s top cops and robbers. When the latter plan an unprecedented heist on the Federal Reserve Bank, things get explosive. It’s like Ocean’s Eleven meets Heat meets Fast and Furious. Gerard Butler plays “Big Nick, the original gangsta cop.”
He wants us to know how badass and “against the rulebook” he is, so he constantly tells the heist crew things like, “You’re not the bad guys, we are.”
Forecast: 50 Cent has cleared the path. I predict that, by 2019, Justin Bieber will be a rom-com star with all his movie titles named after his greatest hits: Baby, Sorry, Love Yourself, Never Say Never, Boyfriend, As Long As You Love Me, One Less Lonely Girl. Much like Elvis before him, Bieber will essentially play himself. Long live the new ... err ... king?
TV
Big Events: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (Jan. 17, FX Canada); The Resident (Jan. 21, Fox/City)
Big Picture: Ryan Murphy’s crime anthology series gets fashionable in undressing the 1997 murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace (played by Edgar Ramirez) in Miami. Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin co-star. The story begins with the fashion guru’s death — and then jumps backward to tell the tale of how his death was orchestrated. (I’m hoping for a CGI guest appearance by Peter Falk’s Columbo). This season is based on Maureen Orth’s non-fiction book Vulgar Favors.
Meanwhile, Fox is the latest network trying to pump more life in the procedural medical drama with The Resident, starring Emily VanCamp (Revenge), Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife) and Canuck character actor Bruce Greenwood. Told from the point of view of a resident, the series exposed the morally grey and challenging world behind all those white coats. The series bows after the NFC Championship Game, so it may not start on time, before moving to its normal Monday 9 p.m. timeslot on the Jan 22 (where it will go head-to-head with football if it stats on life support until the 2018-19 season). Expect lines like, “What they don’t teach us in medical school is that there are so many ways to do harm” and marketing taglines like, “they have the ability to save lives, they have the ability to cover up.”
Forecast: You’ll take fashion over formula.
MUSIC
Big releases on Jan. 19: Bahamas (Earthtones); Cadence Weapon (Cadence Weapon)
Big Picture: Canadian indie pop-rock and hip-hop. Two different worlds that produce two of Canada’s top singer-songwriters. Oddly enough, singersongwriter Bahamas – a.k.a. Afie Jurvanen – found himself inspired by hip hop on the latest record ... even if you can’t necessarily hear too much of his musical muse.
He told Billboard that Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West were among his recent inspirations. Already effortlessly blending folk, rock and soul ... why not toss another genre into the mix? In a statement about the new album, Jurvanen said: “I wrote songs about having success, having kids, and having depression. I wrote songs about going on tour, going back in time and going in circles. I wrote songs about my other worldly wife, my jerk dad and my garbage relationship with my brother. Crazy right?!”
No need for explanations, buddy; I could listen to Bahamas write and sing about paint drying or chicken thawing on the counter. Meanwhile, Canadian hip-hop sharpshooter Cadence Weapon has finally reloaded. The acclaimed rapper (two Polaris Prize shortlists) and former Edmonton poet laureate release his first effort since 2012’s Hope in Dirty City.
Forecast: In keeping with the title of his first, new single, Bahamas can Do No Wrong. And Cadence’s voice will finally be heard for a larger commercial breakthrough.