The premise of “Cult” feels like a new age serial version of John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.” Wherein the former title examined the rabid fandom of literary fans with author Sutter Cane who was an amalgamation of HP Lovecraft and Stephen King, the new “Cult” examines the sheer lunacy that can arise from the fandom of television shows. The series so far isn’t an indictment on the dangers of fandom, but it does explore how passionate fans can be, and how they can often breed a cult-like following that’ll do anything to honor the spirit of their favorite series.
What’s interesting is that much of the pilot of “Cult” is constructed like the aforementioned Carpenter horror film, where the episode is so absolutely meta and self-contained, that we can never be sure what is reality, nor can we be certain what is a clue for our audience, or what is merely a red herring. What we think is the prologue of the show is something else entirely, the dialogue is often cryptic in delivery, and there are many subtle subliminal clues peppered throughout the episode that could lead the fictional and actual audience to decode the mystery of “Cult.”
Sadly, I’ve never been to the iconic musical of “Les Miserables,” nor have I ever seen any of the previous adaptations of the Victor Hugo novel. I’ve also never read the novel. In actuality the most I’ve ever seen or known about “Les Miserables” is through an episode of “Animaniacs” where a condensed version of the musical was adapted through animated cats and dogs. When you’re through laughing at me, I like to think that not being knowledgeable about the material gives me somewhat of a different perspective. I’ve seen fans of the musical bash the film for missing the point, and vice versa. As for my thoughts on Tom Hooper’s 2012 adaptation, director Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel is an often breathtaking and compelling bit of epic musical that kept me considerably compelled and entertained from the moment it began.
I don’t subscribe to the Hollywood notion that all you need to cure a crippling illness that affects the lives of your loved ones is a good girlfriend or boyfriend. In actuality, it takes almost a decade or two to cure a crippling mental illness. In that regard, “Silver Linings Playbook” fails. But as a film that seeks to be a unique and unusual romance comedy about two people that are anything but normal, director David O. Russell’s dramedy is pure excellence, and one that’s teeming with talent from minute one. “Silver Linings Playbook” doesn’t seem to rely on a strict formula per se, and that’s why it’s such an oddity in the realm of romance dramedies. Sure, in the end it’s about two people falling in love, but O. Russell spends time on focusing on their inadequacies and their malfunctions that make it impossible for the pair to function in reality, and then draw them closer and closer as the narrative unfolds.
