San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
December brings a cornucopia of fantasy worlds
The holiday season is always magical, and nothing shows it like some of the premieres on streaming services this month. From epic multiverse adventures to end-times comedies, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are set to transport viewers into the land of make-believe. In addition to “Candy Cane Lane” and “Rebel Moon,” here are some outlandish adventures to check out while snuggling by the fire in December.
‘The Shepherd’
Author Frederick Forsyth penned one of the spookiest and most touching Christmas stories ever in his novella “The Shepherd.” Now producers Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity”) and John Travolta (“Gotti”) are bringing it to life just in time for the holidays. It’s 1957, and a young Royal Air Force pilot (Ben Radcliffe) sets out on a foggy night alone over the North Sea. His instruments fail, leaving him alone in the dark without guidance. Suddenly a legendary specter who supposedly leads the lost home appears to help him. The short film has a gorgeous midcentury look as well as breathtaking shots of vast, cloudy winter skies. Travolta also plays the titular shepherd, appropriate as the actor is himself a pilot.
Watch it: Drama. Streaming now on Disney+.
‘Carol and the End of the World’
Writer Dan Guterman (“Rick and Morty”) has a brand-new adult animated series. A mysterious planet is hurtling toward Earth, dooming everyone. While the world falls into pre-apocalyptic hedonism, one woman who loves routine tries to find peace in end times. Martha Kelly (“Baskets”)
plays Carol, with Beth Grant (“No Country for Old Men”), Lawrence Pressman (“Modern Family”) and Kimberly Hébert Gregory (“Vice Principals) in supporting roles. Guteman has said it’s an “existential comedy” about daily rituals even as those rituals become meaningless. The series is sure to resonate with audiences who feel they’ve lived through a few Armageddons.
Watch it: Animated comedy series. All episodes premiere Dec. 15 on Netflix.
‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’
Second time’s the charm. Rick Riordan’s series of young adult novels featuring the teenage children of the Greek gods is getting rebooted as a series on Disney+. Walker Scobell stars as the titular
Percy, a son of Poseidon, who has to find the missing lightning bolt of Zeus. He’ll team up with Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) and his best friend Grover (Aryan Simhadri) as they travel through Hades’ underworld on their quest. Lance Riddick guest-stars as Zeus, his last role before his death. The trailer looks incredible, with fantastic settings and impressive creature effects for all the mythological inhabitants. Hopefully the series will finally give Percy Jackson the screen hit the literary series deserves.
Watch it: Fantasy. First two episodes premiere Dec. 20. New episodes released weekly through Jan. 13 on Disney+.
‘What If … ?’
Marvel’s animated series of animated multiverse adventures
returns for a second season as an end-of-year gift, with one new episode dropping every day for nine days straight. Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld”) stars again as Uatu the Watcher, an omniscient guide to all the different ways various Marvel stories could have played out. This season involves heroes battling in an alien demolition derby, Shang-Chi fighting Asgardians, a version of Black Widow who became the Winter Soldier and an episode based on Neil Gaiman’s (“Good Omens”) comic book series set in 1602. With 2024 looking devoid of Marvel releases aside from “Deadpool 3,” this could be the last chance audiences have to delve into the superhero world until 2025.
Watch it: Animated superhero. First episode premieres Dec. 22. New episodes daily
through Dec. 30 on Disney+.
‘Pokemon Concierge’
Pokemon has an unbroken track record of excellence when it comes to television and film adaptations, so expectations are high for the new limited series, “Pokemon Concierge.” A young woman named Haru (Rena Nonen) starts work at the Pokemon resort, a place for the battle monsters to take it easy for a while. Caring for the colorful cast of creatures is no easy task, but Haru has the help of the psychic Pokemon Psyduck to bridge some of the gaps. Filmed in gorgeous stop-motion, the series looks light, fluffy and cute as can be.
Watch it: Animated. All episodes premiere Dec. 28 on Netflix.
Hi Mick: If your favorite living actor is Robert Redford, who is your favorite dead actor?
Bob Tarun, Reno Hi Bob: In the 20th century, there are lots of candidates, but it comes down to James Stewart, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, with Stewart having the slight edge.
In the 21st century, there’s less competition, because most of them are alive, but even in a crowded field, it would have to be Philip Seymour Hoffman. Every time I see him in a movie, it reawakens an overwhelming sense of loss. I loved everything about him — his shlubby body, his weird beautiful face, his voice, his humor and his truth, which he brought to every scene he was in. I am seriously not over it.
Dear Mick: Robert Redford always seemed to play himself, but you’re right about how a part of him always remains unknowable. The only question, and it doesn’t really matter, is whether the characteristics you describe are just who he is in real life, or whether it’s great acting by someone who decided he wanted to come across a certain way.
Joe Garrett, Berkeley Dear Joe: It has to be both. He is too smart to not know how he does what he does, but I also think what we’re seeing is his own way of expressing emotion. That’s who he is, whether it’s what he is in real life or just the aspect of himself that makes it to the screen. Either way, it’s him.
But like you say, it doesn’t matter how he gets his effects, just that he gets them.
Dear Mick LaSalle: Quick reaction to your recent review of “Napoleon.” Seeing how this movie failed to capture the essence of Napoleon,
I still believe that the best portrayal of Napoleon in film may be the one in Woody Allen’s “Love and Death.”
MW Vader, Grass Valley Dear MW Vader: You’re talking about veteran actor James Tolkan, and yes, he was good. But my favorite Napoleon is Rod Steiger’s in “Waterloo” (1970). It’s a bizarrely underrated movie, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk who made the Russian “War and Peace” (1966).
Steiger is the right size and temperament, as well as the right age, playing Napoleon at 45 when he was 45.
Dear Mick: Roger Ebert said of Gene Siskel, “When you disagree on a movie, you’re not disagreeing on the movie. You’re disagreeing on who you are. If I don’t like a movie and he does, then I’m not saying that the movie is flawed, I’m saying that he’s flawed.” Do you agree with that quote?
Gary Scholick, San Rafael Dear Gary: I’m too familiar with the randomness of people’s responses to movies, and to art in general, to think that, if I disagree with someone, I must also think that there’s something wrong with them. However, I do recognize that disagreements over movies often seem personal and bigger than the movie itself. It’s possible to find in every movie some vision of life, some philosophy.
People will sometimes see a movie that they recoil from philosophically and immediately start imagining a world ruled by that precise vision of life that offends them. If a critic endorses that same movie, they’ll see the critic as working to bring about this world — so, within seconds, they’ll react as if the critic were threatening them with the destruction of everything they value.
If Roger were still around, I’d ask him if he was exaggerating to make the point that that’s how an aesthetic disagreement feels, or if he meant what he said literally. My guess is the former.
Have a question? Ask Mick LaSalle at mlasalle@sfchronicle.com. Include your name and city for publication, and a phone number for verification. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.