Overrated/Underrated: One is enough for ‘Baby Driver,’ and Netflix’s aptly named ‘Dark’ casts a spell
UNDERRATED
‘Dark’ on Netflix: For all the advances in spooky sci-fi TV made with “Stranger Things,” this German import proves nothing can touch the Old World for an unsettling story. Centered on a missing child in both 1986 and 2019, the story superficially resembles its streaming sibling, but with additional levels of dread courtesy of an ominous nuclear plant, European gloom and unexplained mass deaths among the town’s animals. Given that it takes three episodes to confirm that these are the same characters in different time lines, this is a series prepared to take its time to build mystery and atmosphere, and it’s all the better for it.
Matt Mitchell’s ‘A Pouting Grimace’: The pianist has built a reputation for going beyond the reaches of any given genre in pursuit of expression, and his latest album is an odd-angled, multi-headed monster that shares more in spirit with the swift intricacies of metal than any usual description of jazz. Assisted by equally deft collaborators including Kate Gentile, Dan Weiss and Ches Smith, who contribute inventive percussion work, Mitchell delivers an engrossing, shape-shifting blend of intricate composition and improvisation with recent MacArthur fellow Tyshawn Sorey as the conductor at the loosely gripped controls.
OVERRATED
‘Baby Driver’ sequel: This is somewhat painful to admit, as Edgar Wright’s talents as a writer and director speak for themselves in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and every moment of his Simon Pegg-anchored “Cornetto Trilogy,” but that’s precisely why his time is worth more than crafting a second installment to this empty action movie from summer. Yes, Wright’s musical taste is as impeccable as his facility with directing a balletic car chase, but the movie has serious flaws, with a predictable story and an underwhelming main character, and the law of sequels demands that these things don’t improve the second time around.
MSNBC’s initial response to outrage culture: The former “lean in” network cut ties with commentator and comic Sam Seder, who became the target of a smear campaign last week. Seizing on a sarcastic tweet in 2009 that mocked those who supported Roman Polanski, Seder’s adversaries labeled him as insensitive, and his controversy-shy network acquiesced with his dismissal. Given NBC’s recent track record on alleged harassment, the network had reason to be nervous before finally reversing its decision on Thursday, but how much weight do controversies really have at NBC if invented ones carry as much weight as real ones?
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