Tag: Ryan Murphy

TV Room: ‘The Shards’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Adaptations, Books, streaming, TelevisionLeave a comment

I reviewed the new Ryan Murphy FX series adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ last novel The Shards for Slant Magazine:

Set in 1981, Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s 2023 novel The Shards is a metafictional, richly stylized gothic horror take on teen melodrama that takes itself just seriously enough. Things start with Bret himself, played by Igby Rigney, narrating seemingly from his present-day adulthood about a “season of horror” when he was a teenager. Some of his friends survived, he says, “but none of us made it out alive” …

Here’s the trailer:

Screening Room: ‘The Prom’

On By chrisbarsantiIn Adaptations, Film - NewLeave a comment

Now that the only way to see Broadway is on TV, it’s a good thing that Netflix is getting in on the theater game. Next week sees the release of the star-heavy adaptation of the 2018 musical The Prom.

My review is at PopMatters:

Turning a high school dance into a crucible for a showdown about acceptance and homophobia via some high-kicking dance numbers and tongue-in-cheek humor feels like a reimagining of Ryan Murphy’s Glee. Now that Murphy has adapted the musical for Netflix, the process has come full circle, though not always in a good way…

Here’s the trailer:

New on DVD: ‘The Normal Heart’ is Heartrending, But Not Enough

On By chrisbarsantiIn DVD - TelevisionLeave a comment

Mark Ruffalo in 'The Normal Heart' (HBO Films)
Mark Ruffalo in ‘The Normal Heart’ (HBO Films)

Thenormalheart-DVD coverLarry Kramer’s 1985 play about the battle for gay equality and visibility in the early years of the AIDS epidemic was finally filmed earlier this year for HBO. It’s less facetious than you might think, given the presence of director Ryan Murphy (Glee and Eat, Pray, Love), but can’t quite replicate the gut-punch experience of the play itself.

The Normal Heart is on DVD and Blu-ray now. My review is at PopMatters:

The facts already seem like a tale out of faraway history. A mysterious plague stalks the land, slaughtering half of those who catch it, while craven officials refuse to acknowledge its existence and a terrified minority population is refused help even as they are dying…. Watching Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of The Normal Heart is to be taken back to a time when prejudice didn’t just cost people their dignity, it robbed some of them of their lives…

Here’s the trailer: