BethR

I guess I'll just note here that the Constantine character (played by the same actor) was brought back on CW's Legends of Tomorrow series, adding a dark supernatural thread to the sci-fi time-travel plotlines.

Premiere date Sept. 26, 2019. Promo summary: "An Ivy League professor [Whitford] becomes director of a rural church choir." You know that's going to be a bucket of laughs. https://youtu.be/Gv2fXZfsqYE

On the question of prequels enhancing the originals: Maybe with books more than movies/TV. The book The Sword in the Stone, as part of The Once and Future King, is lovely and plays a significant role in White's partially reworking Malory as a bildungsroman. Works well as a standalone, too. The cartoon, unfortunately, is a travesty. In terms of GoT-world plot, there's not much in the prehistory of GoT that seems interesting, unless they can create compelling characters. I might not have stuck with GoT either, if I hadn't cared what happened to Arya. Other book prequels that work, IMO: The Magician's Nephew, which I will defend to the death (figuratively) as the 6th Narnia Chronicle, rather than the first, because it refers to earlier books and also expects a level of maturity that LWW perhaps does not. Another is Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series (8 books), a historical novel sequence that is effective on its own, but also a prequel to her earlier Lymond Chronicles (6 books)--that's not really a spoiler, as she says as much in the preface of HN book 1. You don't need to know that before reading, but HN does add significantly to a re-read of LC.

I agree with your review, Ken. For me, Mindy Kaling's performance salvaged the movie, so I ended up on the positive side. Also, having just seen Men in Black: International, I enjoyed comparing/contrasting Emma Thompson's suiting choices. But yes, it could have been better.

I don't know what your timeline is, but the Yesterday trailers look good.

NBooth has accurately summed up my experience with MiB:International. It was diverting, and the theater was nicely air-conditioned

Haven't seen anything of Deadwood, but I wish the late David Lavery were here to see this movie, because he would doubtless have been delighted. He edited this anthology back in 2006 and frequently mentioned the show as one of the all-time greats.

This show was cancelled and wrapped up neatly, but with just enough of an open ending that it could possibly be renewed...and it was, because it was apparently quite successful. Whatever.

My patience is about to be rewarded! Regular old CBS starts broadcasting The Good Fight on June 16 at 9 PM EDT--only season 1, though. AllAccess is up to season 3, and has renewed for a fourth season. This Variety article with backstory on the decision was rather amusing. Or maybe it was just the side-story about somebody's issues with "kerfuffle."

Cathleen Falsani's official review of the GoT finale: "Why the 'Game of Thrones' Ending Was More Henri Nouwen Than George R.R. Martin"

What is the point of this movie?

Official trailer: Bring on September.

Recently some comments in a film thread on The Kid Who Would Be King compared it with a new Nancy Drew movie that's currently available only via streaming services. One comment wished for a series based on that film, which I would like, too. But what we're going to get is a CW series more in the vein of Riverdale. The preview doesn't look quite as "dark and gritty" as Riverdale, but does look an awful lot like Veronica Mars (which is getting a reboot on Hulu, with many of the original cast. That's another thread.)

Excellent review of the finale from Myles McNutt at the AVClub. Spoilers, obviously, but I think this quote is safe:

Once you have (mysteriously, somehow) seen the finale, you may find that Cathleen Falsani and Fr. James Martin generally agree with you, based on their Twitter posts. Are there plotholes? Yes. Was I happy overall? Yes.