She’s Our Friend And She’s Crazy

Last summer, Netflix released a series that transported viewers back to the 1980’s as part of a sci-fi drama set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. The series, Stranger Things, was an immediate hit and rightfully so. The attention to cinematic detail and inspired story line is an ode to 80’s horror and science fiction films. Today Netflix released the second season of the Emmy-winning series.

The setting of Stranger Things begins when a young boy, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp), disappears through supernatural means to another dimension, “The Upside Down”, and follows the journey of the Will’s friends’ and mother Joyce’s (Winona Ryder) quest to find him again. Will’s friends, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), also receive help in finding him from a mysterious girl they encounter with psychokinetic abilities who goes by the name, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). The cast also includes David Harbour as police chief Jim Hopper, Cara Buono as Mike’s mother Karen Wheeler, Natalia Dyer as Mike’s sister Nancy Wheeler, Charlie Heaton as Will’s brother Jonathan Byers, Joe Keery as Nancy’s boyfriend Steve Harrington, Shannon Purser as Nancy’s best friend Barbara “Barb” Holland, and Matthew Modine as scientist Martin Brenner. The series was created by twin brothers, Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as “The Duffer Brothers”.

When creating the series, The Duffers used influences from other science fiction and horror films as well as from Stephen King novels. In fact the name “Stranger Things” was similar to the name of King’s novel “Needful Things”. The brothers also used influence from King’s novel “Firestarter” for the name as well. While filming the series, it was the Duffers’ intention to pay homage to as many 1980’s films as they could by creating similarities to the films like using every day objects and turning them into supernatural means of communication (the Christmas lights), using similar film shots, and using a Leica lens and 6K Red Scarlet Dragon (80’s film equipment) to shoot. The head of props also used eBay, flea markets, and estate sales to find as many 1980’s artifacts as possible to use for props for the series. Almost all of the props were authentic, aside from some pieces, like the Dungeons & Dragons books, that needed to be replicated for the show.

I began hearing about the show some time in late August-September of 2016, but I didn’t watch it for another 3 months. I started watching it in mid-December. I wasn’t sure if I’d be into it, but I decided to give it a chance because there was a lot of hype surrounding the series. It definitely hooked me, although I wouldn’t claim to be a super fan. I still don’t understand the hype over, “Barb” (to be honest, not even The Duffer Brothers anticipated that). The series is entertaining though and highly reminiscent of 80’s films. Honestly, it really isn’t something I’d normally watch, but I like the fact that the kids in the series play leading roles. I think that’s what attracted me to it, if anything. I like a good coming of age story. This definitely isn’t coming of age, but I attributed the kids as leads to that.

As I mentioned, the second season of Stranger Things, titled Stranger Things 2, released today on Netflix. The second season begins close to a year after the first season began as it approaches the anniversary of Will’s disappearance. The characters are still dealing with the aftermath of what went down a year ago. The new season also sees some new faces join the cast with Sadie Sink as new girl Max, Dacre Montgomery as Max’s older stepbrother Billy, Sean Astin as Joyce’s new boyfriend Bob Newby, and Paul Reiser as Department of Energy executive Owens. I began watching it this morning. I’ve already watched the first two episodes. I love a good binge, but I’m going to try to savor these 9 episodes as much as I can, which is why I took a break to write this blog post. If you’re reading this, I guess you’re probably taking a break too, but if you’re not and you’re now interested in the series, log on to your Netflix account and give the acclaimed series Stranger Things a chance, mouth-breather.

Sometimes I Doubt Your Commitment to Sparkle Motion

Warning: R-rated movie = R-rated blog post for some strong language.

Sometimes movies make us laugh. Sometimes they make us cry. Sometimes they make us feel like a total badass. And sometimes they give us an insane mind fuck and make us think about them for a while after. That’s exactly how I felt after I saw the movie Donnie Darko in the late summer right before my junior year of college.

I had this intense feeling of confusion after I watched it. I wasn’t even sure if I liked the movie or not. I sort of felt numb to the world too. It was so strange. After watching a movie that involves time travel though, maybe it wasn’t. A few hours and days later, I realized I did indeed like and then love the movie.

Donnie Darko was first released in 2001. It had limited box office success which may be attributed to the fact that it was released shortly after the 9/11 attacks. It gained popularity through a series of midnight showings that began in New York City and caused other theaters to follow suit. Once the DVD was released, you could say sales surpassed expectations.  A director’s cut of the film was also released 3 years later. If you look back on it from a 2014 perspective, the cast was pretty stellar as it included Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead character Donnie Darko, his sister Maggie Gyllenhaal who also played his sister in the film, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Seth Rogen, and countless others who I’m sure you’d recognize from other film and television productions you’ve seen.

Believe me when I say this though, you will either love or hate this film. I really don’t think there’s an in between unless of course you’re a supernatural apocalyptic drama connoisseur. It’s an odd movie and if you do end up liking it, you’ll probably watch it a few more times trying to figure it out (I remember reading something after that compared Donnie to Jesus so see if you can make that connection). Hate it or love it, either way, if you haven’t seen it, I recommend watching it at some point in your life. Maybe you’ll end up like me, love it, decide to dress up as Donnie for Halloween (the skeleton suit, gray hoodie combo…I was awesome), and learn a few things from the movie along the way, such as:

1. Cellar Door is the most beautiful phrase in the English language.

2. Following and listening to a giant, scary talking bunny named Frank could lead to your demise.

3. The world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.

4. It’s impossible to suck a fuck.

5. Smurfs are asexual.

6. You may not always get caught if you flood your school and commit an arson.

7. It’s worth telling people off who are full of shit because they are probably in the child porn business. (Jim Cunningham was “the fucking anti-Christ” and we all know it.)

8. The giant, scary talking bunny might just be a man in a costume with a bloody missing eye who is trying to help you save the world or face your fate, whichever perspective you want to take.

9. Gary Jules does a much better version of “Mad World” than Tears for Fears even if it was their song.

10. The more committed you are to Sparkle Motion the more likely you are to die in a plane crash. (Unless time travel somehow comes into play)

As you can tell, these are important life lessons. But on a serious note, if you’re looking for a movie to watch this Halloween season that isn’t necessarily scary and still relates to this time of year (the movie is set entirely in October up until Halloween), I recommend Donnie Darko. I mean you can probably combine it with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and truly have a science fiction double feature. It’s one of those movies that has different meaning for everyone and can spark a philosophical discussion. It’s worth it for the occasional comedic relief and even for being able to see some early work of these great actors. Most of all, it’s worth all the confusion and thoughts that you won’t be able to wrap your head around the first time you see it.  So I hope that when you do see Donnie Darko, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.