His Dark Materials (Season 1)

During the night of the great flood, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) placed an infant girl in the protection of the master of Jordan College (Clarke Peters).  Twelve years later, Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) eagerly awaits a visit from her Uncle Asriel.  During his brief visit, Lyra learns about something called dust, which attached to adults but not children, whatever that meant.  Moreover, the talk of dust is treated as the gravest sin, a topic that should never be discussed.  Though she wanted to travel north with him on his further research, she was left behind.  However, Marissa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) arrived at Jordan College soon after and enlisted Lyra as an assistant.

In this world, humans have an external soul that is called a daemon (pronounced demon).  Though the daemon of a child can change shapes, it settles into one form after puberty.  Lyra's daemon is named Pan.  The religion of the world is an oppressive form of Christianity that is maintained by the Magisterium, a militant order that deploys armed airships and ground troops in the later episodes of the series.  The world also has an underclass of folk called Gyptians, a gypsy-folk whose children have been targeted for abduction for unknown purposes.  The abductors are called Gobblers.  Then there are the armored bears, polar bears who live in the cold north, wear suits of armor, and maintain a kingdom.  They look like normal polar bears who just happen to have the power of speech.  Not particularly dexterous paws and yet they have buildings and skilled craftsmanship items.  Interesting.  Lastly, there are witches.  Witches are long-lived - the only one who appears claims to be 300 years old - can fly without a broom and move like the Flash.

Before Lyra left Jordan College with Miss Coulter, she was given an alethiometer.  It is a peculiar device that can answer any question, but few can deduce the meaning of the answers.  Where most must spend years to learn how to decipher an alethiometer, Lyra has a natural ability.  She is thus an unmatched augur, able to know the unknowable if only she can craft the right question.

The story follows Lyra as she traveled north, having different allies along the way.  Initially, she is with the Gyptians, then she teamed with Iorek Byrnison (Joe Tandberg) the Armored Bear and Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manual Miranda) the Aeronaut.

Meanwhile, in our world, Will Parry (Amir Wilson) is the son of an explorer who went missing 13 years ago.  He is a highschooler who boxes after school.  His mother, Elaine, suffers from anxiety and Will is more her caretaker than vice versa.  As it happens, Carlo Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) of the Magisterium has a doorway between worlds.  He believes that Will's missing father, who was exploring in Alaska, may have found another path between worlds.

With how central dust is to the plot, it is not well explained.  Is it the physical manifestation of sin, thus it sticks to adults but not children?  Is it a byproduct of the clash of worlds, most easily investigated at the northern lights where cities in the sky can be viewed with the right lens?  Why is the Magisterium ramping up to Def Con 1 over a couple of scientists investigating the northern lights?  Even after 8 episodes, it is unclear why there is panic.  Perhaps this adaptation missed something.

Dafne Keen is good as Lyra.  In the previous adaptation, The Golden Compass, I developed an almost instant dislike of Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) because she lied with glee from the moment we met her.  This Lyra likewise proves to be a talented liar, but it is a tool rather than a personality trait.  Lin-Manuel Miranda is a downgrade from Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby.  He's okay, but he doesn't pass as a Texan.  As for the armored bears, there is no matching Ian McKellan and Ian McShane from the 2007 version, but the new actors are adequate.

Overall, pretty good.  The longer format provides for more explanation of some characters and development of the world.  The character development of Lyra, Lord Asriel, and Miss Coulter greatly benefit from a miniseries format.  Good popcorn fun.

In the Heights (2021)

Usnavi is a bodega owner in Washington Heights with dreams of moving back to the Domincan Republic.  He has a crush on Vanessa, a hairstylist from Daniela's Salon, who has dreams of being a fashion designer.  His best friend is Benny, who works for Kevin Rosario's cab company.  Kevin's daughter, Nina, has just returned from her freshman year at Stanford.  She and Benny had a thing that may rekindle.  Claudia, an elderly woman from Cuba, has become the abuela (grandmother) to most of the youth on the block.  Sonny is a teenager who works for Usnavi.  There are other lesser characters, including Lin-Manuel Miranda's cameo as a street vendor.

Much like Hamilton, the majority of the story is told in song.  There is dialogue, but rapping is the driver of most of the action.  It is a singing, dancing extravaganza.  The characters can be charming but their 'problems' are often juvenile.  Usnavi is too shy to ask Vanessa on a date.  Nina doesn't have a Puerto Rican community to support her at Stanford.  Vanessa needs a cosigner to rent a place closer to the fashion district.  It is hard to get invested in the numerous little dreams of the plentiful characters.  It is very busy and, at nearly two and a half hours, quite long.  There are imbedded messages about racism, immigration, and gentrification.  This often came across as whining.  When Sonny turned out to be a Dreamer, it was just par for the course.  America is so unfair.  Nonetheless, every backstory about the 'old country' is always a much worse situation; America offered opportunity and employment, but a lot of focus goes to the negatives.  Wonderful.

Not being a fan of rap, this was mostly boring.  It drags on as every story is a foregone conclusion.  Well, Usnavi's story was a bit of a mystery on account of the framing, but it all turns out as the standard happy endings.  My favorite part of the movie was the revelation of Usnavi's naming; when his father migrated to America, he saw a ship and liked the name: US Navy.

If you are a Lin-Manuel Miranda fan or like rap, this might be for you.  Otherwise, skip.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Finally saw this film and I was most let down.  The movie - set 25 years after the original - opens with a pair of lawyers posting an eviction notice on the door of the Banks' home.  Michael (Ben Whishaw) had taken out a loan after his wife died and has absent-mindedly failed to make payments for the last three months.  Though willing to pay the three month due, it is too late for that.  He must pay off the entire loan.  Not a problem, he has shares in the bank from his father.  But he has misplaced them.  When finally discovered, he had used the share certificate to draw a sketch because he must have been short on paper.  Only by happenstance does his youngest son save the sketch - not to frame or save as a family keepsake - to cut in pieces to patch an old kite.  Michael is a pathetic, incompetent man-child, a hopeless buffoon.  I disliked him from start to finish.  To make matters worse, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) declares that she will stay until the door opens.  Which door is that?  The door that allows Michael to view the world as he did in childhood.  Helpless widower with three children retreats into childhood.

 

Then we have Michael's older sister, Jane (Emily Mortimer).  She is a spinster who spends her time picketing for workers' rights, a throw back to her mother's suffragette marches in the original film.  It is unclear how she earns a living or why, at this late date, she should be romantically attracted to Jack the lamplighter (Lin-Manuel Miranda).  She acts like some teenaged girl with her first crush around Jack.  Jane is in her mid-thirties and should have had much better options than Jack that she clearly skipped.

 

All the dazzling musical numbers, the return of Dick Van Dyke, and talents of Miranda and Blunt  can't overcome these underlying facts.  Michael is a failure and will continue to be a failure.  He escaped his deserved fate this time thanks to Deus ex machina.  He and his children will not be so lucky next time.  Jane's romance with Jack is just a fling; if she was seeking marriage, she would have long since been married.  Clearly, if this is the adults they came to be, Mary Poppins failed them as a nanny.

 

Watch the original instead.