Overrated/Underrated: Resonance Records keeps delivering buried treasures and Carrie Coon in ‘Fargo’
UNDERRATED
Carrie Coon in “Fargo”: Already earning accolades for her nuanced portrayal of a grieving widow in HBO’s “The Leftovers,” Coon is walking away with the third installment of Noah Hawley’s Coen Brothers-adjacent anthology series. Shining with an understated authority amid costars such as Ewan McGregor and David Thewlis, Coon portrays Gloria Burgle, a Minnesota police chief who won’t let being displaced from her job, an ambivalence toward technology or an inability to coax automatic faucets and doors into action get in the way of her investigation. Marge Gunderson would be proud.
Resonance Records: The L.A.-based label continues to be on a tear with its run of sumptuously packaged, previously unheard releases from the jazz archives, and two of its recent finds are well worth tracking down. “Truth, Liberty & Soul,” a live recording led by Jaco Pastorius, places the late bassist’s acrobatic thump in a high-octane large ensemble that includes steel drums and trumpeter Randy Brecker, and “Smokin’ in Seattle: Live at the Penthouse,” which finds pianist Wynton Kelly joined by guitarist Wes Montgomery in a hard-swinging 1966 summit meeting between pair of legends in peak form.
OVERRATED
“Chef’s Table” on Netflix: A patiently drawn, lavishly shot tribute to the many outside-the-box thinkers in the world of high-priced, higher-end cuisine, this series needs to become the final word on pop culture’s obsession with museum-level dining and its obsessive cooks. Yes, it is surely wonderful to venture to, say, the Arctic Circle or even the other side of town to eat a labored-over dinner at a cost just above that of a monthly car payment. But there’s an element of decadence in every episode that amounts to turning what is ultimately just a basic human need — eating — into a luxury theme park.
“I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore” on Netflix: An indie film that wears each layer of its quirkiness like a badge of honor, “I Don’t Feel at Home,” written and directed by “Blue Ruin” star Macon Blair, ultimately undercuts its impact with an inability to decide on a tone. Though Melanie Lynskey is typically solid as a woman in a small town struggling against depression and an increasing coarseness in the world, whatever low-key charms that could be found in her or a developing relationship with Elijah Wood’s oddball throwing star enthusiast gets lost in an unnecessarily bloody revenge story.
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