Pop forecast
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” 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 Jan. 12: The Commuter; Paddington 2.
Big picture: Liam Neeson has thwarted terrorists, Siths and Greek gods. But this film sees him facing his most vile nemesis yet: The Commuter. “Most of us ride this train every day, but how much do we really know about each other?” Liam Neeson’s gravelly-voiced businessman-turned-action-hero lends the line added melodrama. Neeson’s new flick finds him trapped on a commuter train with an endangered witness, criminals and a hostage situation that rapidly gets … err … derailed. It’s like Murder on the Orient Express meets Speed and Speed 2. Meanwhile, Paddington 2 is the family-friendly sequel that wasn’t deemed good enough to watch at Christmas. This is for everyone who has ever wanted to watch a villainous Hugh Grant try to outwit a talking bear in a blue coat and red hat.
Forecast: I would have preferred Paddington 2: Meet Ted, in which the innocent bear is old schooled by the potty-mouthed, amoral teddy bear. I also predict Neeson’s next project will be an action affair called The Dog Walker: “Most of you poop in this park every day, but how much do we really know about each other.”
TV
Big events: David Bowie: The Last Five Years (Jan. 8, HBO Canada); The Launch (Jan. 10, CTV).
Big picture: This Bowie doc looks at the music legends final, prolific years of life — two new albums (The Next Day and Blackstar) as well as Lazarus, a Broadway musical. Bowie’s brilliant musical mind feels like it gets a second life in the hands of director Francis Whately. The HBO original includes behind-the-scenes footage of Ziggy Stardust himself. As one interviewee puts it,“he offered an alternative to people for generations to come.” How many people can claim that as an epitaph? Meanwhile, The Launch is a new Canadian music-reality TV series promising to “deliver a new platform”for homegrown artists — even as the big music studios march onward towards irrelevance and bankruptcy. Shania Twain mentors in the première. In each episode, five up-and-coming artists compete for the opportunity to record — and perform — a new song written by a big-name producer or songwriter … all, of course, while being mentored by the likes of Twain. In a compelling twist and immediate payoff, the mentors decide each week which version of the song will be released across the country. World-renowned music mogul Scott Borchetta co-created the series, and is the fixture amid a rotating cast of A-list mentors, including Fergie and Alessia Cara.
Forecast: The Launch won’t find us a new Bowie, but it deserves to toot its own horn for trying to reinvent a tired TV genre.
Music
Big releases on Jan. 12: Anderson East (Encore); Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Wrong Creatures).
Big Picture: Anderson East returns with more Alabama-bred rhythm-and-blues. Meanwhile, popular rockers the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (my pick for one of the top 10 pretentious-sounding band names of all time) deliver new tunes with titles likes Spook, King of Bones and Haunt.
Forecast: BRMC will reveal that its lead singer is, in fact, a 15-year-old teenage boy who wears a lot of black. Meanwhile, a money-hungry producer will find unreleased Bowie studio cuts in the near future. We haven’t said our last farewells to the icon.