Every couple of years, a new film or TV show rehashes the themes most famously laid out in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: the idea that when people are taken out of the rigid expectations of civilization, well, shit quickly hits the fan. Because human beings are pretty much assholes. That's essentially the starting point for writer-director Scott Frank's new Western miniseries, Godless, a sultry look into one small New Mexico town amid the great 19th-century pursuit westward. But the town of La Belle isn't altogether lawless – it's just that circumstance have made these pioneers a little rough around the edges. Town outsider Alice (Michelle Dockery) might point a rifle at every unexpected visitor, but after she's decided you're harmless, she'll certainly invite you in for coffee. Things have been tough for the ladies of La Belle – and they are mostly ladies, as a mining accident swallowed the town's male population in one tumultuous crash. But instead of falling into despair in New Mexico's relentless heat, the ladies, led by the former mayor's wife Mary Agnes (Merrit Wever), a no-nonsense, pants-wearing heroine, rally to take control of the town. They may not be taking full advantage of the coal mine's potential, but, hey, they're hanging in there. That's until the town gets caught up in the regional drama – gangster Frank Griffin (a delightful Jeff Daniels) and his motley crew are scouring the western frontier for deserter Roy Goode (Jack O'Connell), a handsome sharpshooter he had once considered a son. Frank is not terribly unlike another psychopath we know, the recently departed Charles Manson. Frank finds his followers in society's castaways. As a result, their bond is thick as blood. When someone leaves the clan … well, no one's going to be leaving the clan. And rumor has it Roy is hiding in La Belle. What makes Godless different from its thematic forefathers (Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now) or the typical tropes associated with the Western is the Netflix effort has a firmly 21st-century take on the Wild West. The premise that La Belle is a 19th-century town run by women is edgy enough, but then we have Mary Agnes not-so-secretly sleeping with the town prostitute (Callie Dunn), because you know what? Fuck it. People have needs. Another former prostitute is now the town school teacher. Slightly northwest from La Belle, a group of former slaves-turned-Union veterans have set up a modest attempt at the free life, making them just close enough for a good interracial side romance. Ironically, the only place where the script feels cookie cutter is in the show's primary plot: the feud between Frank and Roy. And disappointedly, although perhaps not surprisingly, this is where the show loses most of its steam. Godless, with its cinematic longshots of unfettered Western plains, a moody and effective soundtrack, and a phenomenal cast, seemed destined for greatness. But unfortunately, the town of La Belle isn't just lawless - it's also a bit aimless. The first few episodes set up this intriguing plotline: a 19th-century pioneering town led predominately by women. The tension rises when representatives from the Quicksilver Mining Company arrive and offer to buy out the mine - a proposition that Mary Agnes adamantly protests, but the other ladies, looking for some quick relief, are quick to accept. The expectations are set: These greedy men are going to run the town into the ground. The women are going to discover their true strength. We're all going to feel empowered by sunset. But Godless does something worse than offer a predictable plot: It completely abandons one. We never get to know what happens with the town's economy because the middle episodes take an entirely different route, focusing instead on Roy's troubled childhood via flashbacks. But since adult Roy has said very little up until this point-perhaps not his fault (Spoiler: Alice Fletcher shoots him in the throat in the first episode)-he's not exactly the character we're dying for four episodes of backstory on. But the real problem is Roy's flashbacks aren't particularly interesting. It's a tale we've heard before: orphaned boy finds a father figure, and the boy, in return, gives an unshakeable loyalty. Perhaps the twist here is the bond does break. However, we never quite learn why. Maybe we're supposed to just assume that Roy Goode found God-if not an actual cerebral figure, then at least the belief that he can do better, that he can be better. What confuses this explanation is that Frank doesn't always come across as the stone-cold psychopath the local paper (which may exaggerate just a bit here and there) would have you believe. Sure, when you betray him, he'll kill every man you've ever spoken to, but before provoked, he's slow to pull a pistol. In a later episode, Daniels gives a richly complicated performance, crying at the side of one of the African American men bleeding to death as he says, “I had no quarrel with you.” He seems to have a certain set of ethics, however skewed they may be. And it's hard to know if he doesn't, in fact, feel true love for his band of misfits. I have a rule for slow burners: If you eschew action for characters, those characters better be pretty damn good. Sometimes the acting rises above, but for the most part, Godless relies more on the white hat/black hat archetype than in fully letting us into the troubled minds of Frank and Roy. The few teases we get are oh-so-good, but they're just that: teases. And more frustratingly, the show abandons a perfectly intriguing premise (women running the business end of a small town) to focus on this tired plot of a cat-and-mouse chase spawned from hurt egos. For a show that seemed to go to some lengths to include undertold stories (along race, gender, and sexuality lines), it's a bit tragic that the more interesting stories still get hidden by a couple of dudes that are quick with a pistol. As fun as it was to see some recognizable faces (particularly Sam Waterston as a U.S. Marshal), his storyline, like many others, turns out to be not altogether necessary. A few more cuts at the editing board would have helped pare down some of the tertiary storylines in favor of realizing one of the primary ones. Maybe it's the gamble you take with a Netflix show. The network is notorious for allowing its developers an unusual degree of freedom, but Godless never quite settles on where to throw the lasso.
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What makes this album, and what makes the band special, is their obvious love for the original music of the Jam.
Lena Dunham has apologized for her statement defending Girls writer Murray Miller, whom actress Aurora Periineau alleged sexually assaulted her in 2012 when she was just 17-years-old. After the initial allegations were made, Dunham and fellow Girls co-creator Jenni Konner released a statement expressing their support for Miller and accusing Periineau of “misreporting” the incident. “While our first instinct is to listen to every woman's story, our insider knowledge of Murray's situation makes us confident that sadly this accusation is one of the 3% of assault cases that are misreported every year,” the pair said in the statement. “It is a true shame to add to that number, as outside of Hollywood women still struggle to be believed. We stand by Murray and this is all we'll be saying about this issue.” Dunham was not done however, and went to Twitter to continue her defense, saying, “I believe in a lot of things but the first tenet of my politics is to hold up the people who have held me up, who have filled my world with love.” This, of course, was not well received on social media, where backlash was swift and fierce. Specifically, several people pointed out a past tweet from Dunham which reads, “Things women do lie about: what they ate for lunch. Things women don't lie about: rape.” The New York rapper, who discussed drug use in his music, posted a video online hours before his death Lil Peep, a fast-rising rapper whose emotional tracks charted depression and drug use, has died aged 21 while on tour in Arizona. His UK representative confirmed the news to the Guardian. Gustav Åhr, who grew up in Long Beach, New York, was found unresponsive by his manager on his tour bus. In a video Åhr posted online hours before his death, he said he had taken prescription drugs and other substances, saying: “I'm good, I'm not sick”. Continue reading...Puerto Rican rapper, writer and film-maker Residente is one of the most successful Latino artists of his generation, winning 24 Latin Grammys as one half of internationally renowned group Calle 13. No other Latin artist has matched that record – and he's nominated in a further nine categories this year following the release of his solo album, Residente. He speaks with Iman Amrani about the influence of politics in his music, his family and Donald Trump Continue reading...The US producer is taking legal action following allegations that he drugged and raped two women Music producer the Gaslamp Killer is suing two women who have accused him of sexual assault. In October, the musician, born William Benjamin Bensussen, was accused of drugging and assaulting the women via a Twitter post. Bensussen denied the claims, issuing a statement in which he said: “I would never drug a woman, and I would never put anyone in a situation where they were not in control, or take anything that they weren't offering.” The alleged assault took place in Los Angeles in 2013. Continue reading...Last night, Taylor Swift joined the cast of Saturday Night Live as the show's musical guest. Swift performed "…Ready For It" and "Call It What You Want" from her new album Reputation, the later of which can be watched in full below. In her stripped-down acoustic version, Swift brings out the country charm of her…
Dates in London, Glasgow and Dublin have been scrapped in light of accusations against frontman Jesse Lacey US rock band Brand New have cancelled their upcoming UK tour following sexual misconduct allegations against frontman Jesse Lacey. On Sunday, Lacey issued a statement responding to the accusations, in which he apologised for his actions. Lacey had been accused of soliciting naked pictures from an underage girl and asking her to watch him masturbate over Skype in 2002. In a Facebook post, the woman claimed Lacey “manipulated the hell out of me, demanded specific poses/settings/clothing, demeaned me, and made it clear that my sexuality was the only thing I had to offer”. She said the requests for pictures began when she was 15 and Lacey was 24. Several other women later came forward with similar allegations. Continue reading...Elton John reveals which iconic hit he DIDN'T want to release 'Everybody said I was crazy'11/13/2017 Comedian Louis C.K. has been accused of sexual misconduct by five women, according to a new report from The New York Times. All five of his accusers were aspiring comedians. Two women, Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, said C.K. masturbated in front of them follow a show in Aspen, Colorado in 2002. Another woman, Abby Schachner, said she could hear C.K. masturbating as they spoke on the phone in 2003. C.K. later acknowledged the incident in a message he sent to her on Facebook. âLast time I talked to you ended in a sordid fashion,â he wrote. âThat was a bad time in my life and I'm sorry.â A fourth woman, Rebecca Corry, said C.K. asked if he could masturbate in front of her while on the set for the TV pilot in 2005. Courteney Cox and David Arquette, who were executive producers on the pilot, confirmed the incident to The New York Times. âWhat happened to Rebecca on that set was awful,â Cox said in an email, adding that she felt âoutrage and shock.â âMy concern was to create an environment where Rebecca felt safe, protected and heard,â she added. They discussed curtailing the production, but Corry decided to continue with the show. Years later, Corry was also contacted by C.K., but he apologized for the wrong incident. He said was sorry for shoving her into a bathroom; when Corry told him he had actually asked to masturbate in front of her, C.K. responded, âI used to misread people back then.â A fifth woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also accused C.K. of sexual misconduct. In the late 1990s, she was working on The Chris Rock Show when Louis C.K., a writer and producer there, repeatedly asked her to watch him masturbate. She was in her early 20s and went along with his request, but later questioned his behavior. This is a developing story⦠|
Maureen Lave
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