Around the Tubes: October 7, 2023

 

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs Only Murders in the Building, Black Cake, The Artful Dodger, The Circus, INXS, Nelly Furtado, Noah Kahan, and Claire Rosinkranz.

- Check out Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd performing “For the Sake of a Child” and Martin Short performing "Creatures of the Night" - songs from the in-world musical, Death Rattle Dazzle. "For the Sake of a Child" was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, composer, and lyricist Michael R. Jackson ("A Strange Loop") and Oscar®, Grammy®, Tony®, and Olivier Award-winning songwriters/producers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul ("La La Land," "Dear Evan Hansen," and "The Greatest Showman"), who also wrote "Creatures of the Night."  All episodes of “Only Murders in the Building” season three are streaming now on Hulu.  FOR THE SAKE OF A CHILD: HERE; CREATURES OF THE NIGHT: HERE 

- Hulu has debuted the trailer for the upcoming Original drama series "Black Cake,"based on The New York Times best-selling novel by Charmaine Wilkerson. The series premieres with three episodes on November 1, and new episodes stream Wednesdays on Hulu.  Based on The New York Times-bestselling book by Charmaine Wilkerson, “Black Cake” is a family drama wrapped in a murder mystery with a diverse cast of characters and a global setting. The story takes place in Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, England and Southern California.  In the late 1960s, a runaway bride named Covey disappears into the surf off the coast of Jamaica and is feared drowned or a fugitive on the run for her husband’s murder. In present day California, a widow named Eleanor Bennett, loses her battle with cancer, leaving her two estranged children, Byron and Benny, a flash drive that holds previously untold stories of her journey from the Caribbean to America. These stories, narrated by Eleanor, shock her children and challenge everything they thought they knew about their family’s origin.

- Hulu has revealed the teaser and key art for the upcoming Australian Original series "The Artful Dodger," exploring the adult double life of Charles Dicken's famous prince of thieves, aka The Artful Dodger. The series, starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis and Maia Mitchell, premieres on Hulu Wednesday, November 29.  "The Artful Dodger" explores the adult double life of Charles Dickens’ famous prince of thieves, Jack Dawkins aka The Artful Dodger, whose fast pickpocketing fingers have turned into the skilled hands of a surgeon.

- The four-time Emmy^® nominated docuseries THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH kicks off the second half of its eighth season with the historic vote to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a revolt instigated by members of his own party. THE CIRCUS returns this Sunday, October 8 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME^® and on streaming and on demand for all SHOWTIME and Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan.  Hosts John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, and Jennifer Palmieri are on Capitol Hill capturing the inside story of the takedown of the speaker of the House, a first in American history. The program also heads out on the campaign trail in Iowa and to New York City, where former president and current GOP front-runner Donald Trump created a courthouse spectacle while attending the civil fraud trial of his company.  For a preview, click HERE.

- Petrol Records, UMe, and uDiscover Music, in partnership with This Day In Music Books, release the first ever book on INXS, written by their fans, Calling All Nations – A Fan History Of INXS.   The book embodies a living history of the legendary global rock band in hardback form, as told through the stories, memories, and life-changing moments of INXS’s most passionate fans and strongest supporters.    The impetus for Calling All Nations was to allow the band’s fans to share what INXS has meant to them throughout their lives in their own words, in turn helping tell the story of one of the greatest bands of all time.  Kirk Pengilly of INXS commented, “We are thrilled to have our fans come together to tell the story of INXS in their own words.   Their support and passion have been instrumental in our success, and we are honored to have their contributions be a part of this book.   Calling All Nations is a testament to the enduring legacy of INXS, and we hope it will continue to inspire and connect fans for generations to come.”  Calling All Nations – A Fan History Of INXS is available now HERE.

- On December 1, IGA/UMe will release Nelly Furtado’s masterful dance-pop third album, June 2006’s Loose, on vinyl. Catapulted by a trio of No. 1 hits — the suggestive serve-and-volley relationship conversation “Promiscuous (Feat. Timbaland),” the percussive drive of the pleading “Say It Right,” and the sultry declarations of “Maneater” — Loose became an international sensation, having sold 12M copies globally to date.  Loose will be released in two vinyl options. The standard 2LP version comes in a gatefold sleeve and is available on standard black vinyl, while the Limited-Edition version comes in an exclusive red and white color vinyl. Engineer Dennis “Roc” Jones recently used the original master files to create a truly special 2LP edition of Loose. Preorder or Listen to Loose HERE

- Noah Kahan shares a brand new version of his fan favorite track “She Calls Me Back” now featuring multiple GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and superstar Kacey Musgraves. Listen to “She Calls Me Back” with Kacey Musgraves HERE!  Adding a new verse and perspective to the song, Kacey sings a conversational back-and-forth with the breakout Vermont singer and songwriter over a buoyant guitar riff and head-nodding beat. She sings, “You love me, and I don’t know why. I only call you once a week,” as he counters on the hook, “Everything’s alright when she calls me back.” The track unites two of music’s most authentic and vivid storytellers on one undeniable anthem.

- Inviting audiences into her world, 19-year-old Southern California singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Claire Rosinkranz proudly presents her highly anticipated debut album Just Because out now via slowplay/Republic Records—listen HERE!  Claire wrote and recorded the album with producers Afterhrs, Paul Phamous, Stint, Elie Rizk, and her most frequent collaborator and executive producer Ragnar Rosinkranz.  Just Because etches together a coming-of-age story documented in real-time from the frontlines of growing up. On the focus track “Swinging At The Stars,” glassy harmonies give way to a bouncy beat as Claire recounts a series of memories depicting a short-lived romance. On the song, she says, “‘Swinging at the Stars’ is about wanting to experience the fullness of living, and about experiencing beautiful things with someone else. I love to feel everything. I’m obsessed with the abundance that comes with being alive. The fact that I’m capable of feeling all these things and all these emotions - and so if I can touch all the corners of that, that’s what this song feels like.” Stay tuned for the arrival of the official music video, which features a very special guest!

Previewing The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

 

At the bottom of the press release for The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, they made sure to let us know that, “The film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, was completed prior to William Friedkin’s passing on August 7, 2023.”  Friedkin was the director of such fabled seventies movies such as The French Connection and The Exorcist, though people of my generation will most likely remember him more for directing Blue Chips.  Friedkin was not the only person associated with the film that passed since the competition of the film, Lance Reddick, who plays the head judge in the film, left us back in March.

 

People of my generation will also likely watch the military courtroom drama and have a hard time not thinking of A Few Good Men.  Though to be fair, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is based on a book released three and a half decades before Aaron Sorkin wrote the play that was later turned into the acclaimed movie.  Since that play was written for a visual and audio medium, it has the advantage as books are written difference and there are no “You can’t handle the truth” moments in the new film no matter how the defense attorney tries to get a witness to break to help his client.

 

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is about Executive Officer (Jack Lacy) who removes the commanding (Kiefer Sutherland) during a cyclone claiming he was not mentally stable and was charged with mutiny and now stands trial.  Monica Raymund plays the lead prosecutor while Jason Clarke tries to paint the mutiny as a courageous act as the defense.  The film moves the time and location of The Caine from the Pacific during World War II to modern day in the Persian Gulf where the ship is sweeping for mines.

 

The film takes place almost entirely in the courtroom with only a couple hallway scenes and a quick epilogue.  It is pretty bold to not show any scenes on the boat, even retroactively.  Instead we get a very clinical look at the trail which sometimes comes across as an old Court TV case with very few cinematic flourishes.  Instead we have to rely on the testimony of the people on board The Caine to paint the picture.

 

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial airs Sunday at 9:00 on Showtime.  The film will be available to stream Friday on Paramount+ with Showtime.

57 Channel and Only This Is On: October 1, 2023

  

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon:  It did not occur to me that we could see the boyfriend again.  But it was pretty wild of him to think that he would think his former flame would know he was forking her sister.  I know I did not get that during their flashback.

 

Billions:  Wags has some weird kinks, but the new one is just gross.  But another episode without Bobby.  Is Chuck is really going to wait until the last episode or two to call in his favor?  Is Prince’s wife going to join the resistance?

 

Only Murders in the Building:  So it looks like I was right that the creepy mother poisoned Ben to sink the plane.  Now we have to wait and see if my other prediction of a second killer will be right.  But it was just nice to have the Three Amigos back together.

 

Ashoka:  So Thrawn’s plan was just to waste time?  That just made it seem like this was a waste of an episode because of it.

 

The Challenge: USA:  Oh Michele, why are you siding with the Vet’s?  Getting out Tori would have really helped your game.  But more oil wrestling challenges please.  Just do not cut to Josh during it next time.