What I'm Watching: Andor, Pachinko, 1883, and More

Andy Serkis, Andor, Lucasfilm/Disney+

Here’s what I watched this week, and what I thought about it.

The shows:

• I’m in the home stretch for year-in-review TV consideration (this time next week at least two of my four big lists will be filed!) and Andor was at the top of my “get your ass in gear and watch this” list. I’m by no means a Star Wars person, but the people who have been clamoring about how this is in many ways not a Star Wars series are right. It’s stylish and spare, stripped of any showy in-universe Easter Eggs and callbacks, and most of all, it’s goddamn angry. This is not only not your typical space adventure, but it turns out it’s a primal scream about the steady encroach of fascism writ large.
• I’ve also been eager to finally check out Apple TV+’s Pachinko, the Korean-Japanese family epic based on Min Jin Lee’s beloved book. I’m only halfway through it, but so far I really admire it, especially Kogonada’s tranquil direction, Youn Yuh-jung’s performance, and the joyful theme song. I haven’t read the copy of the book that’s been on my shelf for years, so I have no idea where this story is going, but based on the amount of heartache its multiple, decades-spanning plotlines been able to telegraph in the first half of the season alone, I know it’ll be someplace emotional.
• I’m also catching up on Taylor Sheridan’s wagon train Western 1883, which I’m less sold on so far. I love some of Sheridan’s stuff, but the ample, overwritten voiceover narration in this show is instantly tiring, and some of its characters so far dance too close to familiar trope territory for me to feel invested. I’ve heard great things about it, though, so like the pioneers at its center, I’ll keep on trucking through.
• My friend who visited last week is working on a project about religion and monsters, so of course, I had to show her Mike Flanagan’s Catholic horror series Midnight Mass. I was more mixed on this series than some critics upon its release (those churchy monologues…), but in the months since I’ve started to consider it the filmmaker’s masterpiece, and a rewatch confirmed as much. The show is stunning in a lot of ways, but this time around, I was especially impressed by its pacing and the confidence all involved have in its own fantastic and horrific vision.

The movies:

• It’s been a really weird week. I got sick, got better, had a weird mental health day or two, got better, and all the while was frantic about the amount of end-of-year work and trip planning I should have been doing. All of this is to say that the only movie I watched this week somehow turned out to be 1931’s Dracula. It was pretty great! Everyone rightfully talks about Bela Lugosi as the classic vampire blueprint, but I was even more into Dwight Frye’s maniacal performance as his deranged, fly-eating sidekick Renfield. Love that weirdo!

Odds and ends:

• My year of earning tremendous opportunities that leave me speechless (and would’ve left teenage Val even more speechless) continues: the Critics Choice Award TV nominations are out now, and for the first time, I was on the nominating committee that helped pick this ballot. It was extremely exciting to be a part of the group voting on this year’s comedy and variety nominees, and I was shocked to realize I felt very prepared and qualified to do so. I love a ton of our nominees this year, but I’m especially excited to have been able to help get the kids from Reservation Dogs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Ayo Edebiri (among many others) on the ballot.
• In more work news, I recently wrote a primer on The Leftovers for The Daily Stream at /Film. This is meant specifically as a quick elevator pitch for anyone who hasn’t seen the life-changing, fantastic metaphysical drama. I’ve written more in-depth about the show, which is among my all-time favorites, in the past. Spoilers in that link, though, so beware.
• Yesterday I inexplicably waded into the Blonde discourse months after it ended. I liked some parts of Andrew Dominik’s film “about” “Marilyn Monroe” and hated others, but I don’t like anything about the way he talks about the real woman or the way the cast and crew posit that the film reaches some deep truth about Marilyn while also constantly re-stating that it’s fiction. I explain what I mean here.
• Finally, I finished the Seinfeldia audiobook and wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves Seinfeld. I was amazed by some of the behind-the-scenes stories and by the uniqueness of the series. I was especially struck by how Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld didn’t seem to be trying to build on existing sitcoms at all, and never once referenced any that came before them in the writers’ room anecdotes. They blazed a comedic trail with no road map and all of us are lucky to have seen it happen. Also, side note: Christina Delaine is one of the best audiobook narrators I’ve heard and I’m looking for excuses to listen to more of her work.

There you have it. It’s been a weird one, and next week will be too — aside from work on work on work, I’m headed to my hometown for my birthday and Christmas for the first time in years. I’ll be back next weekend, but in the meantime, let me know: what have you been watching, reading, or listening to lately?