{"id":95905,"date":"2015-05-15T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T06:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?p=95905"},"modified":"2015-05-15T00:00:35","modified_gmt":"2015-05-15T06:00:35","slug":"looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Looking Closer Intern Joe Allen here, counting down the days until I get to see Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em><\/strong>, which has all of the buzz and momentum of a summer action-movie classic.<\/p>\n

Overstreet is off to Vancouver B.C. to check out the opening weekend of U2\u2019s Innocence + Experience tour<\/strong>, so we can assume we\u2019ll get a report about that at some point. In the meantime, here\u2019s what he wanted me to share with you \u2014 a few highlights from his lunch-break browsing\u2026<\/p>\n

Music<\/strong><\/h2>\n

NPR First Listen<\/strong> is featuring a short-term stream<\/a> of Monterey<\/em><\/strong>, the new album from\u00a0The Milk Carton Kids<\/strong>. (I really hoped they\u2019d called the record \u201cHave You Seen\u2026?\u201d I mean, considering their band name, it just makes sense.)<\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

Screen<\/h2>\n

\"what<\/a>On Facebook post yesterday morning, Overstreet posted this: <\/span><\/p>\n

Anne and I enjoyed our first date-night movie in over a month last night, and we chose wisely: What We Do in the Shadows<\/em><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine Christopher Guest and Jim Jarmusch collaborating on a mockumentary about contemporary vampires, and you\u2019ve got a good idea of what you\u2019re in for. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the link to his first-impression notes<\/a>\u00a0at Lettberboxd. And if you\u2019re interested, good news: The movie is available for rent on various video-on-demand services already. If you\u2019re in Seattle, go see it for $4 at the Crest while it\u2019s still there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

I\u2019m more inclined than Overstreet to celebrate\u00a0ABC\u2019s announcement that The Muppets<\/strong> are returning with a new weekly TV series. Henson is one of his heroes, but he\u2019s feeling anxious because ABC says this series is going to be \u201cmore adult.\u201d Wasn\u2019t the original Muppet Show for adults? How much more \u201cadult\u201d does it really need to be? What exactly do they mean by \u201cmore adult\u201d?<\/p>\n

But personally, I think this trailer looks fantastic.<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pfJkusicBa4<\/a>\n

\u2022<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come the end of Jackson\u2019s Middle-earth, which hopefully means we\u2019ll soon be done hearing Overstreet complain about how awful those movies were. Are there any promising fantasy films on the horizon? Here\u2019s one:\u00a0The Tale of Tales<\/strong>,<\/em> from Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone<\/strong>. Check this out<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Monty Python by way of Tim Burton and \u201cThe Princess Bride,\u201d Italian director Matteo Garrone\u2019s first English language feature \u201cTale of Tales\u201d is a nutty compendium of outrageous fairy tales unfolding within the constraints of a single unseemly kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Garrone\u2019s bizarre narrative incorporates four overlapping stories in a kingdom filled with the usual ensemble of mythological beasts, magical powers and royal schemes. While every sequence goes to certain outrageous extremes \u2014 plot twists include the consumption of a giant sea monster\u2019s heart and the nurturing of a dog-sized flea \u2014 Garrone cuts between them with a fluid approach that successfully conveys the perception of a self-defined world. Eschewing narration or title cards, the filmmaker plunges into a series of mysterious events while developing the sense that they all feed into one big, twisted universe.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

With some of the best practical effects this side of \u201cPan\u2019s Labyrinth,\u201d as well as castle scenery and surrounding forestry that may as well stem from remnants of the \u201cInto the Woods\u201d set, Garrone\u2019s movie is blatantly derivative while refashioning its material into his own satisfying playground. Despite the discombobulated structure, the filmmaker manages to create a fully involving world. He\u2019s aided to that end by both veteran cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (\u201cThe Empire Strikes Back,\u201d \u201cMars Attacks\u201d), whose complex color scheme fleshes out the storybook feel, as well as yet another awe-inspiring Alexandre Desplat score. The craftsmanship sustains the story through a series of kooky twists, none more surprising than a finale that expertly pulls all the pieces together at once.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year’s funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":95911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2865,2936,1373,2935],"class_list":["post-95905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-looking-elsewhere","tag-the-milk-carton-kids","tag-the-muppets","tag-what-we-do-in-the-shadows"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year's funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year's funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-15T06:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/226\/2015\/05\/what-we-do-in-the-shadows.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1003\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-15T06:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-15T06:00:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year's funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales","description":"New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year's funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales","og_description":"New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year's funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/","og_site_name":"Looking Closer","article_published_time":"2015-05-15T06:00:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1003,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/226\/2015\/05\/what-we-do-in-the-shadows.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeffrey Overstreet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Overstreet","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/","name":"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-05-15T06:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-15T06:00:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e"},"description":"New music from The Milk Carton Kids is streaming. The year's funniest comedy so far is now available for rent. The Muppets have a new TV-series trailer. And more...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/05\/looking-elsewhere-of-milk-carton-kids-muppets-vampires-and-gothic-fairy-tales\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Looking Elsewhere: Of Milk Carton Kids, Muppets, Vampires, and Gothic Fairy Tales"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/","name":"Looking Closer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e","name":"Jeffrey Overstreet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Jeffrey Overstreet"},"description":"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}