In THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT (2022), veteran actor Nicholas Cage scores the role of a lifetime, playing himself in a comedy offering plenty of gonzo red meat for Cage fans and meta laughs for anyone even remotely familiar with his filmography. I thought it was a ton of fun.

The film begins with Nicholas Cage going through a divorce, unable to connect with his daughter, suffering financial ruin, and feeling creatively unfulfilled. When a rich superfan offers $1 million to attend a birthday party in Spain, he turns it down, only to be forced to take it. This puts him into a strange friendship with the fan (Pedro Pascal), at odds with his ego Nicky (a younger version of him played by himself), and recruitment by the CIA as the superfan is suspected of being a drug kingpin.

What follows is light fare but with plenty of meat, much of it meta but plenty coming from the great performances, particularly the great chemistry between Cage and Pascal, and something of a character arc in which Cage must live up to the legend and channel many of his old roles to save the day in order to take a step back and enjoy life and be a more loving and giving person. In short, the film has a lot of charm, it’s funny in the right places, the meta aspect is played at the right balance, and the plot moves where it’s supposed to go.

I don’t know if I’d call myself a Cage fan, but I’m loving this current phase in his career as he reaches for weird roles and leans into the gonzo persona he’s accrued over the years. THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT is the culmination of this. I’m looking forward to what he’s going to do next.

Based on a play, KING CHARLES III (aired in 2017 on BBC Two and PBS Masterpiece) is about Charles, Prince of Wales, taking the throne after Queen Elizabeth’s death and subsequently using his powers to make a name for himself, nearly breaking the country. The result is a highly compelling modern Shakespearean tragedy.

It’s a fictionalized 2017, and Queen Elizabeth has died. Charles assumes the throne as King of the United Kingdom. We see familiar faces from the royal family: Camilla, William, Kate, and Harry. When Charles meets the prime minister for the first time, he objects to a bill that would regulate the free press and refuses to provide royal assent. When parliament retaliates by threatening to strip the throne of any remaining powers, Charles uses one of those powers in an extraordinary political step that threatens to break the country and his family apart.

The script is written in blank verse. That and other conventions give the whole thing the air and feel of a Shakespearean tragedy, notably KING LEAR and RICHARD III. Charles is motivated by wanting to take a real role in power and serving his country, thereby serving his own vanity in wanting to be known as a great king. This puts him on a collision course not only with parliament but with his own children, who see their own future and the future of their children threatened as part of the monarchy. The fictionalized versions of the royal family are brilliant, feeling both familiar and accessible and in these current days even prescient to a degree.

The result is a highly compelling political thriller. It took a lot of flak from the British press and some viewers, but I loved it.

Back in 2014-17, BBC Four aired DECTORISTS, a comedy about two men living in a fictional British town who share a love for metal detecting as a hobby. I just watched the first season and fell in love with it. From the lovable characters to the beautiful British countryside to the odd mix of peace and tension behind the ample scenes of metal detecting, every single thing about the show is completely saturated with cozy English charm.

The series was written and directed by Mackenzie Crook (THE OFFICE UK version, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, GAME OF THRONES), who stars as Andy alongside Toby Jones (INFAMOUS, W, THE MIST) as Lance. Andy lives with his girlfriend Becky, while Lance pines for his ex-wife Maggie. Together, they explore fields around the town looking for interesting archaeological finds, though usually they turn up beer can tabs. When they secure permission to detect at Bishop’s farm, they believe they’re on the trail of a buried Saxon king, unless a rival organization gets it first.

The show is surprisingly charming in an even and understated manner, with every major and minor character standing out in some way as memorable, all played perfectly by the actors, particularly Crook and Jones. When they’re out detecting, it’s just fun to watch their gentle male bonding “talking bollocks” until one of them gets a hit, and they make it look fun enough to pick up a detector yourself and give it a go. While it’s easy to get caught up in the treasure hunting (the guys always asking each other “What you got?”), really the show is about the simple pleasure in doing something you love, while finding meaning in it. As for the comedy, it comes across as a constant tickle because you feel like you know these characters so well.

Overall, I’d recommend DETECTORISTS. There are three seasons and a 2017 special. Apparently, there is a feature-length Christmas special coming out shortly on BBC Two, so I’ll be keeping my eye out for that as well.

In Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s latest, SOMETHING IN THE DIRT (2022), two men become unlikely friends and then documentary collaborators after they discover a strange phenomenon occurring in one of their crummy apartments in Los Angeles. It’s fun, but the payoff doesn’t quite match the tease on this one.

I’m a fan of Benson and Moorhead’s work at XYZ Films (THE ENDLESS, SYNCHRONIC, etc.). They have a terrific way of taking a titillating horror concept and making it feel local and lived in with characters who feel like everyday people, regardless of film budget. SOMETHING IN THE DIRT is no exception. Made during the quarantine, it feels even grittier and more DIY than their previous works.

In this film, John (Moorhead) and Levi (Benson) live in the same crummy Los Angeles building. John is a photographer and member of an apocalyptic evangelical church; Levi is a heavy-drinking slacker with a sketchy past. Bumping into each other, the two men hang out until they discover a strange phenomenon occurring in Levi’s apartment. Deciding to document it together, the men discover far more among the building’s odd history and additional phenomena. Along the way, they discuss various theories about what’s happening based on pop culture conspiracy theories and science, which makes for a lot of little interesting diversions.

The story reminded me of Peter Clines’s 14, a novel about the tenants of an old apartment building that band together to discover it is in fact a giant machine. While that novel built step by step toward a big payoff, SOMETHING IN THE DIRT only gets more muddled until by the end we’re not sure what happened and we know even less than the characters. As a result, it kind of went splat for me at the end, and while the film made its point about how weirdly credulous humans are, the premise had the potential for something far bigger and potentially mind blowing.

So in the end, this one was good, it was fun, and I love these guys, but it wasn’t their strongest work for me as a viewer, as the landing didn’t quite stick and, more, could have been incredible.

Netflix’s WEDNESDAY imagines a teenage Wednesday Addams attending a special school for kids with paranormal abilities. It does YA the right way while doing justice to the Addams Family, resulting in a very entertaining show that is easy to binge. I liked it, with a few reservations.

The Addams Family is still gothically weird, and now Wednesday is a teenager about to turn sixteen. Kicked out of public school, she is finally sent where she belongs–Nevermore Academy, a special school for “outcasts,” or kids with paranormal abilities–werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires, sirens, and the like. An outcast among outcasts, Wednesday battles with her principal and the local sheriff, makes friends, and gains the romantic interest of two young men while trying to solve a series of murders that threatens the existence of the entire school.

When I’d heard Tim Burton was involved, I was happy and a little nervous, as while I love Burton’s twisty aesthetic, I haven’t enjoyed a single movie of his since EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. [ducks tomatoes] It turns out he directs eight of the episodes, and the best of him is on display in the sets, costumes, and overall aesthetic of the show. Danny Elfman brought his usual excellence to the score, and the soundtrack otherwise has some cool tunes.

The casting is absolutely terrific across the board, with excellent performances in particular by Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, Gwendoline Christie as the principal, Christina Ricci as a teacher, Emma Myers as Wednesday’s roommate, Luis Guzmán and Catherine Zeta Jones as Gomez and Morticia, and more. Ortega in particular is practically magnetic as Wednesday, almost never blinking or smiling and doing all the emotional lifting with her eyes and body instead of her face.

As to the overall show, I liked it because of Wednesday and also despite her. Most of the characters are more or less likeable, Thing is used in a terrific way, and the pacing sings while the plot keeps you guessing. It’s a fun show for pretty much all ages, and it builds on the Addams Family legend in way that is respectful while feeling original.

That being said, I have to point out a downside is that Wednesday is, well, not super likeable. She’s smart, singular, doesn’t care what people think, was raised with all sorts of talents and skills, and has a penchant for protecting the weak, but she’s by her own admission a psychopath, and she often comes across not as cool but just, well, mean, not exactly someone one would look up to or emotionally trust. I wouldn’t mind this so much if everyone weren’t always assuming she’s actually lovable and loving only to be bitterly disappointed that she’s exactly what she presents. She makes up for it at the end, but it’s a long, dark journey to get there.

Despite that, I liked this one a lot for its overall chemistry and high fun factor, a true “turn off your brain and enjoy it” type of show. Sometimes, I watch stuff and it’s easy to pick out one thing that put it over the top for me. With WEDNESDAY, it’s really the whole, the way it all came together so nicely and poured into my brain without any fuss.