Mike Flanagan's series

[Totenkindly]

Mike Flanagan’s ‘Midnight Club’ Canceled by Netflix After One Season

Netflix’s “The Midnight Club” has been canceled after one season, Variety has learned. The cancellation comes on the heels of executive producers Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy exiting their overall deal at Netflix for a new pact with Amazon Studios. “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Midnight...

www.yahoo.com

I was wondering, after news of the Amazon deal. I guess he knew or saw the writing on the wall.

 

[Totenkindly]

This might be true. Not everything works as a binge series.

The Midnight Club Is Dead at Netflix - And the Binge Model Killed It

The Midnight Club has been canceled by Netflix, but its failure to find an audience was made worse by the slow burn series being dumped all at once.

www.cbr.com

 

[Totenkindly]

Mike Flanagan & Trevor Macy Reveal ‘The Dark Tower’ Adaptation In Works At Intrepid, Talk Leaving Netflix For Amazon, ‘Midnight Club’s Cancellation & More

EXCLUSIVE: This is a pivotal moment for Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy’s Intrepid Pictures, which the duo launched in 2004. After six years creating and producing for Netflix, including the la…

deadline.com

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I just saw an article about that^. (Weirdly, I haven't been getting notifications about this thread; I almost certainly accidently turned them off and must live with it, because the hell if I know). I've not read the series (or any Steven King, actually) but I'm stoked at the prospect of Flannagan doing five seasons (and two movies) of anything!!

 

[Totenkindly]

I just saw an article about that^. (Weirdly, I haven't been getting notifications about this thread; I almost certainly accidently turned them off and must live with it, because the hell if I know). I've not read the series (or any Steven King, actually) but I'm stoked at the prospect of Flannagan doing five seasons (and two movies) of anything!!

Anything would run the risk of missing the mark because it's just such a big effort, but Flanagan has a proven track record, including King's works, so his sensibilities are on task to capture the deeper character development necessary to make the story work. I think that's what usually is missing when King's adaptations flop.

you haven't read any King? Wow, I thought you had... So you're just really familiar with Flanagan?

(I read pretty all of King's stuff until around 2000, then it's been kind of hit or miss especially with his editors not seemingly doing much. he's such a big name, whatever he writes will sell even if it's garbage or a few hundred pages of extra junk.) I think his best work was typically in his first twenty years of writing, although he still will put out something interesting nowadays; it's more like you get a real gem every 3-4 books or so, from my guess.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

Anything would run the risk of missing the mark because it's just such a big effort, but Flanagan has a proven track record, including King's works, so his sensibilities are on task to capture the deeper character development necessary to make the story work. I think that's what usually is missing when King's adaptations flop.

you haven't read any King? Wow, I thought you had... So you're just really familiar with Flanagan?

(I read pretty all of King's stuff until around 2000, then it's been kind of hit or miss especially with his editors not seemingly doing much. he's such a big name, whatever he writes will sell even if it's garbage or a few hundred pages of extra junk.) I think his best work was typically in his first twenty years of writing, although he still will put out something interesting nowadays; it's more like you get a real gem every 3-4 books or so, from my guess.

Yeah, I just super love Flanagan. And I've not been a big fan of most King adaptations I've seen. Though many people have told me the adaptations never do his work justice, so I've long intended to read something. I just never got around to it.

There's always an element of something that feels like "forced community" in the adaptations, with the exception of The Shining. So I'd planned on starting with that one. I recently watched Storm Of the Century (TV miniseries) - which actually seemed like maybe a core source of Midnight Mass plot - and rather liked it, so that's another potential starting point. If I ever get around to it.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

Mike Flanagan wants to include Doctor Sleep characters in his Dark Tower adaptation. I guess he specifically mentioned Abra, Danny, and Rose the Hat - all great characters, especially if the same actors are used.

I'd love to see Zahn McClarnon too though. Even if he played a different character. He's one of the few actors I'd say contributes something rich to a Flanagan narrative, rather than merely existing in it - which, honestly, is entertaining enough because Flanagan narratives are that good, but it's especially amazing when the actor has something inherently surreal to add. Annabeth Gish is maybe an example of a "merely existing in" character; she does a good job, it's not like she breaks suspension of disbelief, but she doesn't have the same impact. It's possible characters like that are necessary to highlight others (the laws of diminishing returns, and all that), but I also know that - if it's done really well - filling a narrative with nothing but amazing characters can result in a story that needs to be watched (or read) repeatedly to digest. It's a fine line. If the characters are intoxicating enough to watch repeatedly but the story isn't strong enough to support that repetition, then holes in that narrative surface and become distracting.

I still get chills thinking about Henry Thomas playing a sort of doppelganger conscience haunting his own character in Bly Manor though (that creepy-ass smile). It's contributions like that - and Flanagan is good at finding them - that make his work over-the-top amazing.

 

[Totenkindly]

I have never liked Anabelle Gish. There are few acting folks I really hate, but she is one of them. She's just ... not good, most of the time. Pretty much she has marred shows I liked that were otherwise excellent. Sorry Annie, I feel bad even being so blunt. She just has always felt wooden and stilted, as if she is not really sure why she is there or who she is supposed to be playing.

I forgot briefly who Zahn McClarnon was and then as soon as I saw his picture -- I love that guy. So great as Crow, and he was honestly one of the most awesome parts of Season 2 of Westworld, before the series tanked. yes, I would watch him in anything. And Rebecca Ferguson can be in anything as far as I'm concerned. Her Rose the Hat is one of my favorite film characters ever -- so great. Kyleigh Curran was great as Abra; I think she really sold me when she was able to go toe to toe with Ferguson and almost trap her, she was terrifying.

Revitalizing Henry Thomas' career was another plus, as you rather note. Who would have thought? Flanagan even gave Timothy Hutton some good time.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I thought Gish played her role in Hill House well, kind of like how Hutton was sorta exactly what that character needed to be - but they're both actors I'm not especially impressed with. There's something Jonathan Frakes-like about Hutton (iow: if actors were cheese, then Frakes would be Velveeta, and Hutton would be American cheese). And in Midnight Mass, I thought Gish was okay (leaning towards meh), but if there were more background meh characters I would have found it distracting.


I kinda fell for McClarnon in Fargo (the season with Jean Smart, two maybe?) - first role I thought he was amazing in. He's one of a handful of actors I'd watch paint a room or read a grocery list even. Before that I knew him from Longmire. He was adorable in History of World, part two - it's fun to see him dabble in comedy. Anyway, yeah. Love that guy. Reservation Dogs is another show hes great in. I'm sure I'll be happy with this series even if he doesn't cameo, but it'd be great if he did. The new detective series he's starring in for AMC is okay, but it doesn’t do his acting justice (mediocre writing, imo).

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm still kinda bitter towards Timothy Hutton because Ordinary People won Best Picture for 1980 instead of Raging Bull.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[The Cat]

View attachment 29183

I want to believe this is going to be good. But that perfect girl is gone. I want it to be good. It probably will be. But ive been burned by netflix before

 

[Z Buck McFate]

FINALLY.

 

[Totenkindly]

TFotHoU (maybe just call it FHU?) is currently sitting at 95% on RT with 42 reviews.

sample comments (first five reviews shown, no particular order I guess):

Niv M. Sultan
Slant Magazine
Mike Flanagan’s adaptation reimagines Edgar Allan Poe’s oeuvre as a remarkably nimble, tonally capacious collection of fables.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 9, 2023

Richard Lawson
Vanity Fair
TOP CRITIC
By the end of House of Usher, we feel we have made our way through something dense and rich. This is not flimsy, forgettable TV. Flanagan’s ardent belief in the power of monologue and melodrama, of complex storytelling and florid style, is infectious.
Full Review | Oct 9, 2023

Matthew Jackson
Looper.com
The Fall of the House of Usher is proof that Flanagan still has plenty to say in the horror space, and it's a wonderful sendoff for his Netflix era. Don't miss it this Halloween season.
Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Oct 9, 2023

Kristen Baldwin
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Like Succession reinterpreted by the world's foremost author of Poe fan fiction, Usher is a Gothic-tinged horror lark that's more superficial than Flanagan's previous work but still delivers some creepy chills.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Oct 9, 2023

Alex Maidy
JoBlo's Movie Network
The Fall of the House of Usher is a haunting and beautiful series. While a few characters and subplots do not quite work, the vast majority of them do. This is not as scary as Hill House, but it is every bit the worthy Halloween binge this October.
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 3, 2023

 

[Totenkindly]

FHU has dropped - 8:13 hours or so of Flanagan goodness

 

[Totenkindly]

Horror Master Mike Flanagan Shares The Stupidest Note He Ever Received From Netflix - SlashFilm

'It remains the stupidest scene I've ever filmed.'

www.slashfilm.com

 

[Z Buck McFate]

Horror Master Mike Flanagan Shares The Stupidest Note He Ever Received From Netflix - SlashFilm

'It remains the stupidest scene I've ever filmed.'

www.slashfilm.com

"Netflix insisted that "Midnight Mass" be scarier. It was a horror show, and to Netflix, that meant more monsters and jumpscares; it seems religious and existential dread aren't great selling points."

Gross. Adding cheap monsters and jumpscares can probably make even Flanagan's work not worth watching.

 

[Totenkindly]

Okay, after getting sidetracked into a bunch of other shows and films, I started back up with TFotHoU again.

Finished e3.

This show is nuts. I mean, if Flanagan just wanted to write something where they took out all the stops, this is it.

The characters are all freaking nuts, what happens to each is nuts, the dialogue sometimes is nuts, and Verna is terrifying -- leave it to Carla Gugino to nuke all the other actors out of the water in what little screen-time she has (and the acting is very solid). her speeches are typically riveting.

There was also a great speech about "gratitude" in e3.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I wrote a long post of my thoughts about HOU and it was somehow erased. And then I was too angry to try to write it out again. I'm waiting until I fire up the laptop, for the luxury of a proper keyboard.

One thing I'll say now though, is that I feel like Bruce Greenwood (whom I normally love to see) just isn't lecherous enough for this role. He's an inherently avuncular guy. He's got a face like a puppy. I assume the young woman who had a problem with Loggia is Ruth Cobb, and - with the disclaimer that I obviously do not know the whole story and could be wrong - I can't help but wonder what she was expecting when she took a role of young junkie married to lecherous, elderly tycoon. I might feel differently if I'd not heard about Loggia originally being cast, but I think he would have been a better fit.

Summary of lost post: I loved seeing my favorite Flanagan actors in Edgar Allan Poe stories, but I feel like HOU lacked the deeper Flanagan panache of his other works.

 

[Totenkindly]

I wrote a long post of my thoughts about HOU and it was somehow erased. And then I was too angry to try to write it out again. I'm waiting until I fire up the laptop, for the luxury of a proper keyboard.

One thing I'll say now though, is that I feel like Bruce Greenwood (whom I normally love to see) just isn't lecherous enough for this role. He's an inherently avuncular guy. He's got a face like a puppy.

Yeah, I have to agree, I was kinda bummed when they said he was the replacement. I love that guy so much too, from the time I first ran across him. But... not slimy enough.

I assume the young woman who had a problem with Loggia is Ruth Cobb, and - with the disclaimer that I obviously do not know the whole story and could be wrong - I can't help but wonder what she was expecting when she took a role of young junkie married to lecherous, elderly tycoon. I might feel differently if I'd not heard about Loggia originally being cast, but I think he would have been a better fit.

Frank Langella, I think you got his name confused with Robert Loggia.

Yeah I have no real idea what the details of the accusations were or how quantifiable they were. And that's not me ignoring this stuff happens, I just had no idea what really was going on.

Langella does have a hardness and coldness about him, he can play a pretty nasty character when he wants. I could see him being dour, twisted, bitter, sullen and so forth.

Summary of lost post: I loved seeing my favorite Flanagan actors in Edgar Allan Poe stories, but I feel like HOU lacked the deeper Flanagan panache of his other works.

I feel it's more of a spectacle show honestly. Just people tearing up the scenery and crazy shit going on, just cutting completely loose. I mean I don't think I'm going to be "haunted" by it like I am by Bly Manor, but I'm having a great trip watching it, lol. Holy shit.

Which, hey, can be indicative of Poe including House of Usher -- that whole ending where the narrator has to flee the house when the "dead" sister goes after her brother during a storm, lol. Or the Red Death totally slays an entire house of desperate partiers. A guy ripping up the floorboards to expose the corpse he placed there because he hated the guy's creepy eye and now imagines his thudding heart filling all of his senses. It just kinda is what it is.