Pixar unveils its next movie
Pixar unveils its next movie
And Marvel's new direction
What to know
Pixar going Elemental next summer… The revered animation studio has announced its 27th film: Elemental, which is about—you guessed it—sentient elements. The movie features an unlikely pair (natch), “Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.” Sounds like an allegory for racial differences to me! Check out the first concept art through the link. 🔥
Is Marvel’s new direction no direction?… Adam B. Vary has a smart piece over at Variety about the big question looming over Marvel, “where is all this going?” With phases one, two, and three, fans definitely felt the momentum. Now, several projects into phase four, and we’ve got some common themes (multiversal antics, facing ourselves) but few overarching plot lines. Vary posits that this might be intentional as the studio rebuilds and creates more projects than ever before. I’ll add the financial argument. When the franchise’s standalone pics (Spidey, Strange) can make as much as the mega team ups, who even needs the mega team ups? 💥
Disney+’s new Chip ‘N Dale movie might actually be good… Early reactions are heaping tons of praise on Disney’s new, extremely meta take on Chip ‘N Dale, with many comparing it to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? After seeing the trailer, I thought it was too self aware, but apparently that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. I’m surprised — but let’s see where the RottenTomato score lands. 🐿
Simu Liu joined Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie’s Barbie after his agent called it one of the best scripts ever… How intriguing! Though maybe we shouldn’t be shocked, it is Greta Gerwig at the helm after all. 💄
Disney developing two potential Pirates reboots… Speaking of Margot Robbie, her rumored Pirates of the Caribbean movie isn’t dead yet. Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that the project and another take on the Pirates series are still in the works as options for the Mouse. Johnny Depp is not involved with either. 🏴☠️
David Tennant and Catherine Tate returning to Doctor Who for 60th anniversary special… Man, the 50th anniversary seems like yesterday, but the math tells me it was in fact nearly 10 years ago. Also of interest to early ‘10s Whovians, Heartstopper scene stealer Yasmin Finney will join Who as a character called Rose. 🌹
The first photos from Amazon’s A League of Their Own series are here… Try not to cry. ⚾️
Fox gives Next Level Chef post-Super Bowl slot… Remember when this used to mean something? 🏈
Black Mirror returning for more eps at Netflix… If you simply can’t wait, I highly recommend Love, Death + Robots! 🤖
Edie Falco to play Pete Davidson’s mom in Peacock sitcom… That tracks. 🗽
What’s new
Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers - May 20 | Disney+ family movie | 🍅
Love, Death + Robots s3 - May 20 | Netflix adult animation anthology | 🍅
Men - May 20 | Alex Garland horror film in select theaters | 🍅 86%
Downton Abbey: A New Era - May 20 | Drama film in theaters | 🍅 76%
The New York Times Presents: Elon Musk’s Crash Course - May 20 | FX/Hulu documentary | 🍅
What to watch
Pachinko, whose first season is now available in full on Apple TV+, is for the most part a straightforward family drama. OK, it’s also a sweeping Korean-Japanese epic, that spans a century as it jumps between the twenties and late eighties. OK, it also diverts off path on occasion to deliver devastating gut punches based on real-world events like the brilliant semi-standalone seventh episode. OK OK, it also illuminates and exposes generations of geopolitical strife and trauma between Korean people and the Japanese, showing the world what it was like for Koreans to be subjugated and mistreated for decades. But for the most part it’s an intimate family drama. This is why it works. The scope here might be big and the themes overt and important, but Pachinko is incredible television because it tells the story of one family experiencing history as it happens and how a matriarch’s difficult decisions echo out for generations to come. Creator Soo Hugh (adapting Min Jin Lee’s novel) finds universality through specificity as all the best storytellers do. American audiences might be learning the 20th century history of Korea and Japan for the first time, but they will recognize and connect to Sunja’s journey to make a better life for herself and her family. They’ll empathize with her grandson Solomon, played by a transformed Jin Ha, as he struggles with his own code of ethics in the cutthroat business world. It’s hard to find apt comparisons for Pachinko. The Crown, Titanic, and This Is Us all came to mind, but none of those comps do true justice to this humanistic, eye-opening, epically intimate, and intimately epic family drama.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!