‘Flora and Son,’ a deep dive on the Astros scandal and more to watch this week
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who enjoys an Irish ballad. Or rap.
As Ashley Lee writes in this week’s Break Down, “Flora and Son” — in which the latter’s rhymes become the crux of the story — is the latest incarnation of director John Carney’s movie-musical mastery; read on to learn how the new film fits in with his past work, which has included buskers, pop stars and 1980s rockers, among others.
Also in Screen Gab No. 101, Lakers boss Jeanie Buss drops in to discuss her women’s wrestling venture, plus a documentary about a baseball scandal and a novel take on the real estate show to add to your watch list.
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Must-read stories you might have missed
Funny, sad, smart and human: ‘Reservation Dogs’ was an ode to individualism and communal life: As “Reservation Dogs” comes to an end, television critics Robert Lloyd and Lorraine Ali mull the meaning of the show and why they loved it.
Now that writers can work again, here’s when daytime and late-night talk shows will return: The first shows to walk at the start of the Writers Guild of America will be the first to return, with staffs cranking out gags as soon as next week.
‘The Golden Bachelor’ is finally here. Our writers discuss the premiere and charismatic Gerry Turner: ABC’s new dating show premiered on Thursday, introducing America to the retired 72-year-old on a quest for love. We discuss the emotional first episode.
‘It was a trauma’: Now that the strike has ended, showrunners wonder how they begin moving forward: Several TV showrunners speak to The Times about the end of the writers’ strike and how sadness and frustration over the negotiations temper their joy.
Turn on
Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
“The Astros Edge: Triumph and Scandal in Major League Baseball” (PBS, Oct. 3)
This week the PBS current-affairs documentary series “Frontline” looks unusually, and slightly less currently, at America’s pastime. Developed from Sports Illustrated reporter Ben Reiter‘s 2020 podcast, “The Astros Edge: Triumph and Scandal in Major League Baseball” exhumes the 2017 scandal (which broke in 2019) in which the Houston Astros’ post-moneyball data- and tech-driven reorganization helped propel them from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the heap, and their search for a competitive “bleeding edge” led finally to cheating. It isn’t necessary to know or even care anything about baseball to fall under the documentary’s narrative spell, as an odd combination of the digital and the analog — video cameras and banging on trash cans — allows the Astros to steal opposing catchers’ signals and signal them to their batters. Every little bit helps! Additionally, the film has a few things to say about what matters to the people who run the sport, and you will possibly not be shocked to learn that it spells “money.” — Robert Lloyd
“The Parisian Agency: Exclusive Properties (L’Agence)” (Netflix)
An elegant French twist on “Selling Sunset” and “Selling the OC,” its trashier, cattier counterparts in the ultra-luxe real estate space, “L’Agence” follows the Kretz family as they fan out from their Boulogne homestead into the Haussman apartment buildings, Anglo-Norman hideaways and modern lofts of the City of Light — and beyond. Where the series’ first two seasons firmly established the tale of demanding patriarch Olivier, easygoing matriarch Sandrine and their sons Martin, Valentin, Louis and Raphaël as a refreshing alternative to American unscripted’s more cutthroat atmosphere, Season 3, which premiered earlier this year, considerably ups the ante: As the Kretzes gallivant around eye-popping estates in London, Marseilles, Corsica and Brazil, success intrudes upon the family idyll, with cheeky grandmother Majo, feeling abandoned amid the whirlwind of constant work, as the conflict’s most touching emblem. This is reality TV, not social realism, so I don’t think it’s a spoiler to acknowledge that no families appear to have been harmed in the course of filming — and yet, from engagements and fertility treatments to the prospect of Olivier and Sandrine’s retirement, “L’Agence” is the rare series of its kind to confront head on what it really means for your life when you finally make it at work. — Matt Brennan
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
She’s better known in these parts for her association with a little basketball team called the Los Angeles Lakers, but Jeanie Buss — daughter of that team’s former owner Jerry Buss and the franchise’s current president — has had plenty of experience with other sports: tennis, roller hockey and now wrestling among them. In partnership with Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) founder David McLane, Buss owns WOW — Women of Wrestling, whose “Superheroes” appear in their muscular, made-up, Lycra-clad best on a nationally syndicated TV show. (It airs on KCAL 9 in L.A.) With Season 2 newly underway, Buss stopped by Screen Gab to discuss her love of HBO’s recently canceled Lakers drama “Winning Time,” which Superhero she identifies with and more. —Matt Brennan
What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?
Everyone knows I am a huge “Big Brother” [CBS, Paramount+] fan, and this season has delivered on drama. But for those who missed “Yellowstone” [Peacock], this is the perfect opportunity to watch it from the very first episode, as it’s now airing on CBS as well.
What is your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?
I’ve seen “The Blues Brothers” [AMC+] movie at least 200 times — not only is it funny but the music is fantastic, with appearances by Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway and Ray Charles. It’s an action movie, musical and comedy all rolled into one. A MUST-SEE!
Which of the “WOW” Superheroes has the most Jeanie Buss energy and why?
I really relate to Big Rig Betty of the Mother Truckers tag team. She started in the family trucking business started by her father and has now created her own family legacy in wrestling by joining forces with her daughter, Holly Swag. Keeping it in the family!
As president of the L.A. Lakers, you’re immersed in the real world of sports every day. Which fictional sports movie/TV series that you’ve seen is the most true to life and why?
“Winning Time” [HBO, Max], based on the life and legacy of my father, Dr. Jerry Buss, and how he built the Lakers into one of the most iconic sports brands in the world. John C. Reilly as Dr. Buss is truly phenomenal — the commitment and research he did to portray my father blows me away. Some of the stories and timeline were not completely accurate but the parts they nailed are worth the watch, especially the relationship between Dr. Buss and Magic Johnson. They were each other’s basketball soulmates and created something very special that the sports world may never see again — player and owner so closely aligned they were almost impossible to beat.
Break down
Times staffers chew on the pop culture of the moment — love it, hate it or somewhere in between
Because it’s been too long since a new John Carney release, I was delighted when it was announced earlier this year that his latest life-affirming, music-driven movie would premiere at Sundance. In “Flora and Son” (Apple TV+), a single mother (Eve Hewson) pulls a broken guitar out of a dumpster and gives it to her troubled son (Orén Kinlan); when he rejects the gesture, she takes up the instrument herself, with the help of virtual lessons from an L.A.-based teacher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
That “Flora and Son” is very much “another John Carney music movie” is, in my opinion, a good thing. He has managed to carve out a niche expectation for his films — earnest, heartfelt, coming-of-age-centric creations in which playing an instrument and writing songs leads to profound self-discovery — without repeating any of his narrative setups or musical genres. Struggling folk musicians connect (to the tune of an Oscar winner) in 2007’s “Once.” A pop music producer and a singer-songwriter (Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley, respectively) collaborate in 2013’s “Begin Again.” Inner-city teens form an ’80s rock band in 2016’s “Sing Street.” This time, “Flora and Son” features what might seem like a genre clash: As Flora learns to play acoustic guitar, son Max stays glued to his drum pad and laptop.
But their initial dissonance, grounded in their characters’ relative distance, merges in a joint effort satisfying in both plot and in sound: his digital toolbox with her analog instrument; his grime rap over her introductory chords. (Carney and Scottish musician Gary Clark co-wrote the movie’s original tunes.) The resulting final song very loosely resembles the aesthetic of Ed Sheeran, who pulls off this kind of “acoustic rap” in tracks like “Take It Back” and “Eraser.”
In comparison to other music movies, I found “Flora and Son” inspiring because its inciting incident is so accessible — it doesn’t get any more humble than pulling a broken guitar out of a dumpster — and its characters’ goals aren’t fame and fortune. Carney told The Times that he wrote against that trope, even if he propagated it in the past: “All you’ve got to do is believe and dream, and then you’ll have a hit record. … Music is so much more interesting than just trying to have a hit record or make it.”
It’s a reminder of the power of opening yourself up to learning a new skill, writing a song, or playing an instrument for your own pleasure. Time to dust off my old electronic keyboard, neglected in my closet for the better part of a decade. Though maybe, in my case, without the rap. —Ashley Lee
The complete guide to home viewing
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