Round-up 15: Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal

My last week of freedom for the summer before I begin a big boy internship. The weather finally peaked a little bit, but we’re still waiting for the true summer colors to emerge. Candidly, I’m pretty excited to have something new to occupy my time during the day. As much as I love sitting around on my ass watching movies and writing all day long, some external stimulation is necessary to keep things steady and diverse. I’ll be sure to keep ya’ll in the loop with my adventures through the real world, as long as you’ll have me.

I started the week off with a revisit of my favorite science fiction epics from the last decade: Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) and Dune: Part II (2024). I sat down and watched them back-to-back, the way I believe they are best enjoyed. I was not let down, despite some mild concerns going into part one that it would come off more like exposition for the latter half of the duo. This is not the case. Dune (part one) stands on its own as a tremendous piece of sci-fi drama, beautifully blending the themes of the source novel with a new age vision of the fictional worlds Herbert created. Villeneuve’s approach is quiet and takes its time, and this is all for the better as it allows the world of Arrakis, specifically, to breathe and exist as its own character. The ensemble cast is incredible, too, despite a large set of characters and subplots. Part II continues on the massive cast of characters but ups the ante on the action and spectacle. Building upon the previous entry, the second installment journeys deeper into the mythology and themes established prior, turning Arrakis into more than a proxy war planet. What I especially appreciated was the pacing of the second. It might have a steeper runtime, but boy, does it fly by. By the time the big battles have begun, the rest of the film disappears behind itself. The scale and scope of what Villeneuve accomplishes with this film truly cements him as one of the greatest living directors. As a mega fan of the book series as well, I’m very hopeful for his vision to be completed with the coming adaptation of Dune: Messiah in a few years or so. Phenomenal science fiction, if not some of the best to be made.

Over the following two evenings, I indulged in a buddy’s favorite from a couple of years ago that I’ve been reluctant to watch; in 2023, Ruben Ostlund won the Palme d’Or for his film Triangle of Sadness, a satirical romp through the modern age of influencers and the high class. The film’s messages and themes are delivered in a rather heavy-handed manner, but it works for the tone and feel of the story. A bunch of rich, snobby assholes get aboard a luxury super yacht for a peaceful cruise only to have the whole thing come apart during a violent storm. The first two-thirds of the film work incredibly well, and it’s tremendously paced considering the vast array of characters being followed. The ideas of class instability, sociological approaches, and differing ideologies on the subject are laid flatly out on the table between two characters during a particularly gross vomit and shitting sequence. Yeah, you read that right. The film falls apart for me in the final act, where it abruptly ends without much resolution to any of the major plot lines. This is one I’ll definitely have to go back to at some point soon.

The rest of the week, I spent binge-watching Nathan Fielder’s new season of his mythically well-structured comedy/documentary show, The Rehearsal. This is single-handedly one of the greatest seasons of television ever produced. Nathan goes above and beyond this season in analyzing the issues behind cockpit communication between pilots and their first officers. He opens the season incredibly honestly, not making jokes or trying even to make something overtly funny at all, instead, establishing the key problems he has been studying from plane crashes around the world. Fielder has perfected the long-form comedy style, and again, not only attempted to make something bigger than comedy, but nailed it in execution. As the season goes on, we become privy to not only the machinations of the cockpit but also the social implications of what happens inside. There is an entire episode, one of the best episodes of television ever made, in which Nathan channels his inner Sully Sullenberger. He rehearses Sully’s entire life from birth to that dreaded day he landed a plane in the Hudson River; he masterfully balances absurdist comedy with a genuine set of ideas about aviation communication. I will never hear Bring Me to Life by Evanescence the same again. By the time the final episode comes around, the audience is blindsided by a major stunt pulled by the auteur. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about Nathan Fielder’s Miracle over the Mojave, but if you haven’t, I can’t encourage the watching of this show enough. His final act asks some genuine questions about how we see and diagnose one another, as well as the implications of our present analysis of neurodivergent individuals. This is meta storytelling at its highest peak. Hilarious, engaging, and enlightening entertainment, some of the best ever made. I stand by this show being one of HBO Max’s brightest efforts, and that’s really saying something considering their extensive catalogue.

A light week, unfortunately. I wasn’t prepared for how much time I’d be spending watching and reading about Nathan Fielder’s recent work. The man is an enigma and should be studied. An interesting post-script to this season of The Rehearsal was an interview he did to promote the central idea of the show on CNN with his season-long companion, NTSB president John Goglia. The conversation perfectly encapsulates the tone and approach of the show while simultaneously opening a new conversation on aviation safety with the FAA. Again, watching a genius at work. Knicks blew the series with the Pacers last night, which majorly bummed me out. I really wanted to see them go all the way. What can you do? Well, as always, I encourage engagement and opinions. What were your thoughts and takeaways from The Rehearsal? Until next week, all the best.