Welcome again to We Have Always Live the Kraken, a pop culture blog transmitted directly to you from the belly of the beast. Here in the Notes we’ll show you this month’s posting schedule, but first here are some thoughts.
You may know where this is going, but the Kraken has never been a big fan of April, because fuck April: it is the worst. So we are all just moving along…
…
…
Fine, you can have this gif, but that is all.
Flip away from your April troubles.
Fuck April.
David
From the depths of the Kraken, here is what we are bringing you this month.
Matt continues with another edition of Hidden Levels. This time he is looking at Avernum: Escape from the Pit.
Kyu makes a return with The Screening Room. This time with a special look at My Dinner with Andre.
New contributor Henrik M. offers the first in a new series of posts about Criminally Underrated Cartoons. First up he will discuss the hidden gem Mission Hill.
Catch of the Week Month:
Each and every week the residents here in the Kraken will offer one recommendation for the week that we think you all would enjoy. It might be a movie. It might be a book. Who knows? This is your… Catch of the Week Month.
David: This month I want to draw your attention to the film Thoroughbreds. A festival film from last year that finally got a wider release in March, this film is a refreshing tale about the friendship between two girls who are, well, likely a psychopath and a sociopath. Anchored by two strong lead performances from Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke, as well as a strong supporting performance from the late Anton Yelchin (in his last film role before his death), this film is a messy tale that doesn’t offer easy answers. A strong directorial debut from writer-director Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds offers an exquisite score and masterful cinematography that adds flair to what could have been a rather dull and standard production. The dark comedy can be unsettling at times, but it is worth the discomfort for a chance to see a unique story featuring two rising stars in the acting world.
Kyu: Season 2 of Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is significantly better than Season 1, mostly because that’s when the book series starts breaking its strict pattern repetitions and characters begin to take control of the narrative. Count Olaf is smarter and scarier, the Baudelaires have more to fight for and more willingness to compromise morally to survive, and ongoing backstory is starting to get clearer. I’m very excited for the third and final season of this show, now that I feel it may have a chance to capture the beautiful way the novels deepen and darken from simplistic children’s fare into a more mature, unsettling anticlimactic understanding of the nature of a cruel and inexplicable world. If you haven’t jumped in yet, now’s the time to catch up.
That’s it for this month. May this horrifying time known as April pass with as few irrevocable changes to the fabric of reality as possible.