“Brave New World” (on NBC’s otherwise underwhelming new streaming service, Peacock) is the kind of bizarre, futuristic fiction I live for, but maybe it’s just me; I’m not hearing a ton of buzz about this show. Most of the Peacock talk is about what a letdown this service is turning out to be rather than the series, and I’m not impressed with the service’s offerings either but I did like BNW, which is an adaptation of the Aldous Huxley novel. I especially liked seeing Alden Ehrenreich again; he was great as a young Han in “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

Harry Lloyd’s character Bernard is just as smug here as his “Game of Thrones” character Viserys. He’s almost the same cringey snob, but with different hair. Lloyd is a great actor, as he really makes you want to smack him.

While it’s not particularly deep, I like the series’ exploration of relationships and topics like privacy, monogamy, and family, and the social commentary of New London’s citizens popping happy pills every time they feel any level of discomfort. Heaven forbid anyone have a pang of guilt, jealousy, or fear, or concern for others. The self-absorption and silly trends are very timely in our “influencer” culture. 

The second episode is one of the best: The elites travel to the Savage Lands, a theme park that holds up a mirror to our own weirdness and entertains its visitors with re-enactments of shotgun weddings and Black Friday stampedes. Bernard and Lenina can hardly imagine living in a world with these “savages,” a world where they aren’t plugged in and sedated until they feel nothing. (Possibly the most unlikely aspect of the show is the collective sex drive of such heavily medicated people.)  

I think the writers failed to flesh out the characters who are in control in this utopian (dystopian?) society, and that seems kind of important. There were only nine episodes. They could have gone more in depth with Indra and Mustafa and added a couple extra episodes in order to make that part of the story more interesting and comprehensible. It would have made the finale less confusing, but maybe the confusion was meant to be part of the cliffhanger. I guess we’ll see, if the show gets renewed for a second season, which has not yet been announced.

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’

If you hated “Justice League” and wish it had been longer, here is some good news for you: The Snyder cut, coming to HBO Max, is reportedly going to be a four-hour film or a miniseries. Snyder said, “I feel like they’re gonna study this whole thing in film school.”

After the tragic death of his daughter, Snyder stepped down from directorial duties during post-production of the 2017 film, and Joss Whedon took over. To put it mildly, Snyder was not happy with Whedon’s work: “There would be no chance on earth that I would use a shot that was made. … after I left the movie. I’d destroy the movie, I would set it on fire before I would use a single frame that I did not photograph,” Snyder said during a Comic-Con@Home panel.

Wow.

All I know is if you think I’m going to watch four hours of Snyder’s pretentious magnum opus – you are correct.

Bill & Ted

I’m very excited about the third Bill and Ted movie! “Bill & Ted Face the Music” will be released on Sept. 1 on video on demand, and in select theaters.

Top photo: “Brave New World,” NBC Universal Television Distribution.

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