by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.
July is starting to get into the doldrums of summer, and movie releases are starting to become more and more sparse. I was a little surprised that there weren’t as many options for movies to potentially pair up this month. The pandemic really has ruined movie release schedules. Crossing my fingers that this July was just an anomaly and future July releases will be better. There was one movie that stood out to me as something I’d like to pair something with and that’s Nope. Jordan Peele is approaching early M. Night Shyamalan level of must watch movies. Shyamalan’s run of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village will go down as one of the best all time runs in terms of originality, creativity, and quality. Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us are among some of the best movies of the last five years. Before I get hammered for this, yes I did consider watching Key and Peele, but decided against it. However, I wanted to continue to support Peele by watching his take on the iconic series The Twilight Zone.
The 2019 version of The Twilight Zone, created by Simon Kinberg, Marco Ramirez, and Peele, is the fourth iteration of the iconic 1960s version with Rod Serling. Peele plays the narrator who sets the tone of the story, and there is a revolving cast of individuals who star in episodes that vary in tone and message. Everything is on the table with the series from psychological thriller to supernatural horror. The Twilight Zone originally streamed on CBS All Access, now Paramount +, and lasted two seasons before it was ultimately canceled.
The Twilight Zone is known for its social commentary and moral messaging that taught life lessons similar to Aesop’s fables. They’re often cautionary tales that reflect threats on the time. For instance, the first series talked a lot about nuclear weapons and the threats they pose to humanity. It also talked a lot about how fascism and racism are still ever-present no matter where we go. It was powerful messaging that was complimented by a great and original story. That’s the point of science fiction, isn’t it?
Peele’s The Twilight Zone also has these similar themes, but they feel a lot more personal. There’s talk about the police, racism, and the effect of new media on society. These are definitely relevant things to talk about considering what was going on at the time Peele decided to put this out. Of the 20 episodes, there were some great episodes with great commentary. The three best episodes from season one are “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet”, “Replay”, and “Not All Men”.
“Nightmare at 30,000 Feet” feels a lot like an old episode where something is happening, but we don’t really understand what is going on. We follow journalist Justin (Adam Scott) on a flight as he discovers an MP3 player that has a podcast about the disappearance of his flight. The tension in this episode is off the charts, as Scott is trying desperately to figure out what is going on and what he can do to stop it. The supporting characters are great, and it offers a great look at topics like who you can trust and whether your future set in stone. These are classic Twilight Zone themes that transcend all of the series no matter when they come out.
“Replay” and “Not All Men”on the other hand are very much products of the time. “Replay”is about an African American family (Sanaa Lathan and Damson Idris) on their way to drop their son off at college when they get stopped by a cop. There are devastating consequences, but the camcorder that the mom is using to film the experience discovers that she can rewind time back to the beginning of when she started filming. Each time she tries to rewind the situation, she finds that her son’s fate feels inevitable, but eventually comes to terms with the fact that their relationship with the police doesn’t have to be like this. It’s a tough episode to watch, and the themes and message are great.
As for “Not All Men”, a meteor hits a local town and all the men seem to be acting more aggressive. When Annie (Taissa Farmiga) discovers that most of the men she’s encountering are all being more aggressive, she sets out to find the truth as to why this is happening. This is a clear parallel to men in the age of the Me Too movement and the reason why they are acting that way is a gut punch moment that I really liked watching. There’s a line at the end of this episode that, when heard, stops you in your tracks and makes you weep for the future of humanity. That’s the point of The Twilight Zone though, isn’t it? To put a mirror up to all the things about society that we might not be noticing that need our attention.
This series of The Twilight Zone only lasted two seasons because it was wildly uneven and didn’t have the staying power that the original series had. This is one that made me scratch my head a little because this should have been way better than it was. But it wasn’t and, it might go down as Peele’s what-if moment, because had this show continued to be successful, the question about whether or not to go back to movies would have been present. This would have been a great disservice because Peele’s films are original and flush with rich metaphors and storytelling. These are all things that Hollywood is in desperate need of now more than ever.
With Peele’s new movie Nope coming out, I’m hoping for a great story and message along with killer performances. I’ve tried to limit the number of trailers I’ve watched for Nope so as not to spoil it, but it is literally impossible to not watch a preview of this if you’ve been to the movie theaters at all over the last six months. I’m hoping for another Jordan Peele home run, continuing a hot streak of great films.
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