Screen Stuff Podcast

Logan Lucky, plus quicker takes on the latest season of Game of Thrones; Atypical; Huang’s World; VICE News Tonight’s special report, “Charlottesville: Race and Terror;” and Younger.

Elgin and Paul review #LoganLucky:

Logan Lucky (32:10), directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Rebecca Blunt, and starring Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, and Riley Keough. What led Soderbergh back to making features after he famously retired four years ago? Is his comeback movie both fun and innovative, like so much of his past work? Or is this just a deglammed heist flick set below the Mason–Dixon line? And, lastly, how do the stars handle a Southern accent? Paul critiques the plotting, while Elgin comments on the shallow depth of field shots and welcomes some faces we haven’t seen in a while on the big screen (e.g., Katie Holmes and Hilary Swank).

Friends from College.

Paul and Elgin review #FriendsFromCollege:

A new comedy from Netflix, Friends from College, by creators Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller and starring Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage, Nat Faxon, Annie Parisse, Jae Suh Park, and Cobie Smulders.

Is this the streaming heir to network classics such as Friends, Seinfeld, or How I Met Your Mother? We discuss its tonal challenges, especially as they pertain to Keegan-Michael Key’s performance.

The Defiant Ones.

Elgin and Paul review #TheDefiantOnes:

The Defiant Ones, an HBO documentary about music icons (and Beats Electronics founders) Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, directed by Allen Hughes and masterfully edited by Lasse Järvi and Doug Pray.

Not your standard documentary, this four-part series walks us through the rise of both subjects as their lives intersect with musical luminaries from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and the new millennium. We discuss the series’ coverage of the wider controversies of gangsta rap, Interscope Records’ shock rockers, and Napster. And Elgin wonders aloud about what, if anything, the filmmakers are saying by virtually book-ending the work with the $3 billion Beats acquisition by Apple.

Dunkirk, plus quicker takes on Spider-Man: Homecoming, Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, The Big Sick, Okja, and episode 8 of Twin Peaks: The Return.

Paul and Elgin review #Dunkirk:

Dunkirk (28:10), written and directed by Christopher Nolan and and starring Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, and Fionn Whitehead, among others, including Harry Styles. What is the effect of the unconventional structure of this film? How about Hans Zimmer’s score? And the IMAX cinematography? We talk about whether all of these facets of the film come together to form a masterpiece or a disappointment.

Claws.

Elgin and Paul review #Claws:

A new summer thriller from TNT, Claws produced by Eliot Laurence and starring Niecy Nash, Carrie Preston, Judy Reyes, Karrueche Tran, and Jenn Lyon, plus Dean Norris (of Breaking Bad).

This show about nail salon workers laundering drug money in South Florida features a diverse cast, strong female characters (who certainly pass the Bechdel test), and a propulsive plot line involving the Dixie mafia. It’s reminiscent of a lot of prestige dramas on basic and premier cable, but definitely has a distinctive spin (as evidenced by the strippers at a Southern funeral in episode 2). So given its panache, is this hour-long show worth your time?