Based pretty faithfully on the excellent epistolary novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, DAISY JONES AND THE SIX (Amazon Prime) is about a fictional 1970s rock super band that rocketed to stardom and then suddenly called it quits at their last concert, with the band years later finally telling the inside story. The adaptation was done with obvious love and it grew on me, though it veered into TV tropes when it shouldn’t have.

The story focuses on Billy Dunne, the front man of a hardworking rock band that is starting to go somewhere when Billy takes some time off to go to rehab to clean up his act, coming out of it an artist afraid to take risks. Seeing big potential, an enterprising producer convinces him to join forces with Daisy Jones, a young woman with arresting charisma and brimming with raw, unbridled creativity. Their personalities clash until the two discover they perfectly complement each other to make great music, resulting in tension both within the band and in Billy’s marriage.

The show leans on the unrealized romance angle of the book to the point of trying to convince viewers to get behind it, but I found their relationship utterly toxic. Daisy’s kind of a spoiled and nasty person in pretty big ways, while Billy’s flaws are out there while appearing more tempered. Honestly, the subplot of the romance between the guitarist and the keyboardist struck me as far more compelling and fun to watch. Otherwise, the show writers veered off the book–at least how I remember it now–to make a few of the characters do some really over the top stuff, like a wife suspecting her husband might be cheating going out and cheating on him, and this is presented as empowering for her. Uh, good job?

The acting and direction are terrific, with energetic performances by Riley Keogh (channeling Steve Nix as Daisy), Sam Claflin (Billy), and the rest. The concert scenes are packed with energy but not overdone. The only drawback on this side of things is the original music produced for the show is fine if not good, though hardly super band material. (You just have to run with it.)

Overall, I was impressed with the adaptation, which was pretty faithful, had a terrific energy, portrayed the 1970s as a real time real people lived in, and overall showed a lot of heart.

In THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (2022), a lonely academic who studies story encounters a djinn, who wants to be freed by granting three wishes. The academic, however, knows all the stories of wishes going wrong, setting up a contest of wits and wills. This is a charming movie, though its last act appears grafted on to bring the film into a meh finish.

Alithea (Tilda Swinton) is an academic who lives a life of reason and studies story for a living. While attending a conference in Istanbul, she is struck by visions, which suggest some destiny, though this is never explained. She encounters a bottle and releases a djinn (Idris Elba, born for this role), who offers to grant three wishes in return for his freedom. The only problem is as a woman who has studied story her entire life, she knows all the cautionary tales about making wishes. She also feels complete, and so has no heart’s desire from which to make a wish.

The first two acts of the film take place largely in Alithea’s hotel room, where she negotiates with the djinn while he tells her stories about his doomed interactions with humans in the past. The backstories are heavily CGI’d along with the initial appearance of the djinn. That and the playful narrative make the whole thing feel like a Disney movie for adults, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you just run with it. Like I said, the whole thing is charming, and the stories themselves are fanciful and interesting, building an overall narrative.

Swinton plays her part with crisp efficiency; Elba fully inhabits his role and as usual chews the scenery. The only problem is this is supposed to be a love story of sorts, and they don’t really have any chemistry. Which brings me to the third act, where we get to the love story, which would be fine only besides a lack of chemistry feels utterly grafted on, along with a subplot involving bigotry. A lot of happens in the third act, but it feels rushed and out of character for Alithea. This is a story we need to be shown instead of told for emotional impact, but it feels like telling.

All that being said, though, overall I liked THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING enough for its positive qualities. Despite the strange pacing and meh conclusion, it had its charms, I was entertained, I enjoyed Elba’s performance a lot, and for these things, I was happy enough.