Overrated/Underrated: ‘Moonlight’s’ Andre Holland, and stop calling 2016 the ‘worst year ever’
UNDERRATED
André Holland in “Moonlight”: Already familiar for his scene-stealing work in Showtime’s “The Knick,” Holland is a standout among the beautifully nuanced performances in Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight.” The film’s Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris have already garnered attention in the run-up to the Oscar nominations, but Holland shouldn’t be forgotten for his third-act turn as Kevin, the longtime friend of the film’s central character, Chiron. Capable of speaking volumes with only a half-smile, Holland is a presence as warm and open as he is magnetic.
DVD box sets: As you clean up the last scraps of torn wrapping paper this Christmas, take a moment to reflect upon this former wish list favorite, which primarily has been set aside amid multiple streaming options. But there’s a reason eyeball-courting websites run down lists of what is coming and going to these services: Our favorites can be taken away at any time. As we head toward an uncertain 2017, let’s save a little shelf space for the media that matter to us and -- to defy the current norms -- pay for them once rather than month by month, forever and ever.
OVERRATED
Hating 2016: By multiple measures — the loss of famous artists, a seemingly bottomless supply of bad news and an increasing capacity for hate-fueled discourse — the outgoing year has not been a good one. But if we look a little further back in our “Auld Lang Syne” this coming week we’ll find precious few (if any) years that added up to 100% rave reviews for all of us. Ultimately, events and human behavior haven’t gotten worse, but our awareness of them has gotten better. It’s what we do to offset an inevitably just as unpleasant 2017 that will matter.
Classic sitcom reboots: Old ideas have long been safer than new ones in Hollywood, and the trend continues on TV, where no decades-old idea isn’t worth revisiting. CBS reportedly has a new version of “The Honeymooners” in the works, and Sony is investigating how to revive Norman Lear’s acclaimed ‘70s portfolio, including “Good Times,” “Maude” and “All in the Family” to join the in-progress “One Day at a Time.” Since racial and sexual politics are back in question for 2017, maybe it makes sense to reconsider the shows that once explored them.
See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour »
Follow me over here @chrisbarton.
ALSO:
Year in review 2016: After a year of hot takes and backlashes, what are we doing here?
Year in review: Overrated/Underrated 2016
Year in review: Jeff Parker, Mary Halvorson among favorite jazz artists of 2016
The complete guide to home viewing
Get Screen Gab for everything about the TV shows and streaming movies everyone’s talking about.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
