CILLIAN MURPHY
a&e | film & TV
STranger ThingS Netflix Series a Cure for the Summertime Blues
T
team up with the town’s scrupulous police chief (David Harbour) and connect the dots for some old-fashioned, spine-chilling sleuthing with some Hughes-style teen romance to boot. While Ryder’s presence adds an extra burst of throwback to the nostalgia factor, her shrill histrionics bring an unwelcome cringe to an otherwise adequate performance, one that has been excessively praised by critics. The real stars, of course, are the kids, who, with their nuanced quirks, contradict the notion that youth is wasted on the young.
here’s been a lot of buzz about the Netflix summer thriller Stranger Things, and for good reason: nostalgia. From the score and the titles to the production design, the photography, and the direction, the series’ unabashed homage to the 1980s and the era’s great filmmakers is the perfect escape from an election season that’s more terrifying than even John Carpenter could imagine. The early 1980s was a curious and wonderful time to be alive. The middle class was robust, there was no 24-hour news, and nerds were still, well, nerds. Homes were messy, food wasn’t “clean,” and, as we’ve all seen through relentless social media memes, kids ran loose all day with no adult supervision — and usually survived. Setting their series in a middle-American suburb circa 1983, creators Ross and Matt Duffer (Wayward Pines) assemble a pastiche of the period’s most iconic storytelling through their careful channeling of Steven Spielberg, WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE: Set in the 1980s, netflix’s Stranger Things Stephen King, and John Hughes. And with its features an ace cast and a nail-biting sci-fi story line that’s totally rad. near-perfect ratio of government conspiracy and scary monster to tract-home décor and awkward youth, Stranger Things has shown summer For those already mourning the end of a show that television who’s boss. could realistically be binge-watched in a few days, NetThe story begins in familiar territory: a basement flix has announced a sequential second season. And playroom where four dweeby boys sit around a table, if you thought there were no loose ends, think again. engrossed in the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons (Spoilers ahead.) Remember when Mike excused him& Dragons. This is when we get our first glimpse of self from the dinner table to pull a slug out of his throat? casting director Carmen Cuba’s genius, especially What about Eleven’s mom and Eleven for that matter? where Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and his adorable, We didn’t actually see her die. Same goes for Barb. semi-toothless smile are concerned. There’s still much to sort through, and the Duffer brothIt’s all fun and games until one of the boys disappears ers have promised an even more sinister follow-up. while riding his bike home after dark. This happens in There may be a gazillion TV channels to choose the first episode and sets the pace for the brisk eight- from today, but the best stuff is coming from aggregates episode series. Soon we are introduced to a disturbed such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, not traditional netyoung girl with telekinetic superpowers, the MKUltra- works. Whether or not you lived through the late ’70s to esque research laboratory she’s escaped from, and an early ’80s, Stranger Things will make you nostalgic for a inter-dimensional plant/alien hybrid that is terrorizing time when bad taste and terrible hair were okay, and the scariest stories were listed as fiction in the local library’s the town. It doesn’t take long for the missing boy’s science- card catalog rather than fact in the daily news. geek friends and hysterical mother (Winona Ryder) to —Michel Miller
JAMIE DORNAN
THE ONLY THING MORE TERRIFYING THAN THE LEADER OF THE WAS THE OPERATION TO TAKE HIM OUT
A FILM BY SEAN ELLIS
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Florence Foster Jenkins (110 mins., PG-13) Real-life New York heiress and socialite Florence Foster Jenkins (1868-1944) dreamed of being an opera star — despite the fact that she couldn’t carry a tune or sustain a note. Audiences turned up to be amused by the unwitting Jenkins singing. Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant star. Fairview/Paseo Nuevo
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Anthropoid (120 mins., R) Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy star in this historical thriller based on the real-life mission — called Operation Anthropoid — to assassinate the Third Reich’s Final Solution architect SS General Reinhard Heydrich. Paseo Nuevo Ben-Hur (123 mins., PG-13) This is a modern retelling of the classic about a Jewish prince (Jack Huston) who attempts to break free from Roman enslavement and reclaim his place through spiritual redemption. Camino Real (2D) (Opens Thu., Aug. 18)
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Gleason (110 mins., R) In 2011, former NFL safety Steve Gleason was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease and was given one to five years to live. Despite doctors’ predictions, Gleason is still alive today. This documentary was filmed during a five-year period while Gleason was living with the disease. Paseo Nuevo Hell or High Water (102 mins., R) Two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) plan a series of heists against the bank that’s soon to foreclose on their family ranch. They run up against opposition from Marcus (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger with designs to stop them. Paseo Nuevo (Opens Thu., Aug. 18)
Kubo and the Two Strings (101 mins., PG) The stop-motion-animated feature follows a young villager named Kubo (Art Parkinson), who is thrown into an adventure when he accidentally summons an
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AUGUST 11, 2016
THE INDEPENDENT
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