92
8 DAYSBRAVO
to Bryan Cranston on
Curb Your Enthusiasm
(Mon, HBO, StarHub Ch 601; HBO
on Demand, StarHub Ch 602). In
the ‘Running with the Bulls’ ep, the
Breaking Bad star plays the latest
therapist who has to endure Larry David’s incessant
petty complaints and sarcastic put-downs. For
instance, Larry doesn’t like the fact that the good
shrink is sitting in a better chair than he is (“Have
you noticed the disparity in these two chairs?”) and
that he doesn’t have a clock in the room (“Why don’t
you put a clock behind me so you can have a clock,
you know, when the time’s up?”). But the best part of
their brief relationship is a bizarre exchange they have
at a mutual acquaintance’s memorial service.
Larry: You know, I noticed when I said ‘hello’ to
you earlier, I gave you a very hearty ‘hello’ and your
PHOTO: NETFLIXBRAVO
to the return of
Stranger Things
(Netflix). If you like the ’80s
retro-fest’s The Goonies-meets-HP
Lovecraft shenanigans, then Season 2
— set in 1984, a year after the events
in Season 1 — doesn’t disappoint. There are new
characters (played by Sean Astin and Paul Reiser,
actors who have actually made movies in the Reagan-
era), more monsters from the Upside Down, more
backstories (Millie Bobby Brown’s telekinetic girl Eleven
— she’s alive! — is finally reunited with her family),and more bromantic bantering and bickering (Gaten
Matarazzo’s lispy Dustin steals the thunder towards the
end of the show). Of course, for viewers of a certain
age, they’ll have a field day spotting shout-outs to
ET, Gremlins, Aliens and Ghostbusters (OMG, is that a
shot-for-shot recreation of that scene where Bill Murray
first encounters ectoplasm goo in a library?). In lesser
hands, Stranger Things could’ve been a self-referential
bore with no self to refer to. But it isn’t. Think of it as a
cover band that can make an old song sound new again
— different lyrics, same grooves. Next stop, 1985...
The Breakfast Club years? Hit it: Hey, hey, hey, hey...response was kind of grim. Was that a funeral ‘hello’?
Bryan: Well, very observant. It was a downward nod
indicating a solemn ‘hello’ as opposed to an upward
nod where it would be a more joyous occasion.
So, boys and girls, know your hellos.boos &bravos
BYDOUGLAS TSENG