Minority Mindset

People familiar with the Broadway show Wicked often notice a big difference in tone between its two acts. The first act is bright, cheerful, and lighthearted, while the second act, which focuses on the song For Good, is much more serious and somber. It almost feels like working on two separate films, which presented a unique challenge. In a recent interview with TopMob’s Rachel Rosenfeld, the film’s editor, Myron Kerstein, discussed the difficulties this presented, explaining that…

For years, Matt Murdock has lived a double life: by day he’s a lawyer, but at night he becomes the vigilante Daredevil. He’s worn several different black costumes throughout the years, and each one has been an improvement on the last.

Karolina Wydra faced a unique challenge for her role in the sci-fi series Pluribus: how to portray someone interacting with billions of people simultaneously. The show, created by Vince Gilligan, focuses on Carol (played by Rhea Seehorn), one of only thirteen survivors of an alien virus that transforms humanity into smiling, worker-bee-like beings known as “the Others.” Equally important is Zosia, Carol’s connection to the Others, who was specifically chosen because she physically resembles the hero from the popular fantasy-romance novels that made Carol a star.

A year after the first Wicked film, I saw Wicked: For Good and unfortunately, my concerns were mostly confirmed. The movie felt disjointed and slow, with confusing special effects during action scenes, uninteresting political plots, and songs that constantly interrupted the flow. It seemed counterintuitive, but I thought the only way to make a good Wicked movie would have been to split it into two parts, removing the second act to save the first. Those were my initial, harsh thoughts, until the last 20 minutes or so. The film finally focuses on Glinda and Elphaba’s final reunion and goodbye, and while the journey there is a bit rough, it ultimately delivers a truly perfect ending – one that feels completely right. It’s the only image the movie could have left us with: a recreation of the famous Broadway poster!

With the war over, Aatami is determined to start a fresh life. He takes apart his house, loads everything onto a truck, and begins a journey across Finland, hoping to find a quiet place to remember his family. But the KGB, wanting to stop the rumors about “the man who refuses to die,” unleashes Draganov with unlimited resources to track Aatami down, leading to a dangerous chase across the country.

Brendan Fraser, Takehiro Hira, and Mari Yamamoto, the stars of Rental Family, recently joined Grae Drake to share hilarious and touching stories from their first jobs. They reminisced about everything from kitchen mishaps and performing in silly plays to the time someone threw food at Takehiro while he was working as a street performer. Before … Read more

The movie Wicked: For Good is now in theaters, marking the end of a press tour that was often both puzzling and delightful, but always moving. Director Jon M. Chu expanded the second act of the stage musical into a full film, starting with Elphaba leaving the Emerald City. The movie also includes two new songs: a sad ballad for Glinda called “The Girl in the Bubble,” and an inspiring song for Elphaba, “No Place Like Home.” I spoke with theater critic Jackson McHenry and writer Rebecca Alter, Vulture’s senior bucket critic, to discuss the music of For Good. —Jasmine Vojdani, senior newsletter editor