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These days audiences can find true crime programming and its various sub-genres on every network and streaming platform, whether it’s a documentary or a dramatization. Even though the stories are fascinating, participating in the exploitation of tragedies can sometimes leave us feeling icky. Really, it comes down to the creator’s intentions. To tell the true story about a seemingly normal Texas housewife killing her church friend with an axe requires someone behind the camera who intends to explore the people and circumstances rather than the sensationalized murder.
That’s where writer/creator David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Undoing) and director Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland) come in. The Emmy-winning duo took on the story of Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore for the Max Original series Love & Death. If those names sound familiar that’s because they were also at the center of Hulu’s Candy released last May. But Kelley and Glatter have their own take on the wild tale of infidelity, the outdated idea of the American Dream, and as Glatter put it, the ’70s/’80s culture of the “collective inability to express feelings.”
Love & Death begins with glimpses of the grisly crime scene at the Gore residence on Friday, June 13, 1980. We then go back two years earlier to a joyful church choir with Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen) front and center. This small-town Texas community of Methodists is full of (mostly) friendly parishioners including Candy’s nerdy husband Pat (Patrick Fugit), and their friends Allan (Jesse Plemons) and Betty Gore (Lily Rabe), who are noticeably less outgoing.
Both couples are in their early 30s, have traditional marriages, and play into defined gender roles. For the Montgomery’s, there must’ve been some passion in the beginning but life moved fast and, two kids later, Candy is secretly unsatisfied. She only shares her desire for more with her close friend Sherry Cleckler (Krysten Ritter) and friend/pastor Pastor Jackie Ponder (Elizabeth Marvel). Candy keeps herself busy, shuttling the kids all over town, helping out at church, playing volleyball, and even taking a creative writing class. She loves her dorky husband, but she’s bored, and while Pat is appreciative and certainly doesn’t undervalue his wife, he’s clueless when it comes to her emotions.
Candy decides an affair will quench her thirst. After colliding with Allan during a church volleyball game/practice, she becomes instantly attracted to him and later proposes they “go to bed” together. It’s a bizarre story in every sense, especially the objective unsexiness of the situation. Their extensive planning — strategy sessions, notecards, pros, and cons — is comical, down to their pre-romp picnic lunches at cheap motels.
We see that Candy is filled with longing but Allan is just…Allan, like a character you’d see in a Coen Brothers movie. He’s not one to show his emotions and just trying to begin the affair is like pulling teeth, making for several hilariously awkward moments. He’s a frustratingly quiet type of guy, particularly with Betty, who comes off as generally unpleasant. She’s snappy, defensive, judgmental, and described as “universally unliked.” Basically, she’s the complete opposite of Candy, the life of the party. Although, it’s unfair to be critical considering she was struggling with depression, a second pregnancy, and raising their other daughter on her own when Allan travels for work. Glatter explained to Entertainment Weekly, “I didn’t in any way want to make her a villain in this.”
Betty and Candy radiate loneliness in different ways and it’s hard not to empathize with both of them. Neither have what they need to fill whatever emptiness they feel inside, and they externalize it in unhealthy ways. (However, I’d say being anxious and critical is much better than cheating on your spouse, so Betty wins that one.)
Love & Death is about the characters and the tight-knit community rather than the murder itself, which makes the series more of a character study and not the salacious true crime drama people might expect. The tonal shifts had me feeling all the emotions, especially in Elizabeth Olsen’s scenes simply because when Elizabeth cries, I cry. She’s perfectly unhinged whether Candy’s rattling off her convoluted alibi to anyone and everyone or having an emotional breakdown with a psychiatrist (an incredible scene).
The overall tone is noticeably different from last year’s heavy and dramatic Candy, which totally worked for that series. The story itself is darkly funny just because it’s too ridiculous not to be true. I’m not sure anyone could/would write about a highly organized affair between two Methodist Texans that ultimately ended in an axe murder.
Candy’s attorney Don Crowder (Tom Pelphrey) is largely responsible for Love & Death’s darkly comedic tone. He goes to the same church but isn’t uptight like some folks and probably has the most explicit language out of everyone. Don processes the shocking reveals and events like the audience and has similar reactions to Candy’s odd behavior. The court scenes were the most riveting, mostly due to his strong dislike for authority, or maybe just that particular judge.
Music plays a big part in the levity of the series. The songs are upbeat and familiar without being an overload of ’70s/’80s nostalgia. Candy often sings along at varying levels of intensity, like she’s trying to mentally escape whatever emotions she’s feeling at the moment. The opening credits feature a rendition of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” which leans to the dramatic end of the show’s tonal spectrum. After the murder, the score becomes moodier and more atmospheric to convey that everyone’s lives have been drastically altered.
With a stellar performance from Elizabeth Olsen and an incredible ensemble cast, Love & Death examines the absurdity of a real-life tragedy and how the baffling decisions of a few people led to a shockingly brutal murder in an unlikely place. The series balances dark humor with high-stakes dramatic moments and avoids glamorizing or minimizing the severity of the crime, instead digging deep into the complexities of the people involved.
Even though we already know the outcome, the series manages to be intriguing and almost makes you think it could end differently. For anyone skeptical about watching another series about Candy Montgomery, know that there are enough differences between the two that make watching Love & Death worthwhile.
Love & Death debuts its first three episodes April 27 on HBO Max, followed by one episode weekly through May 25. The first episode of the series made its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
These days audiences can find true crime programming and its various sub-genres on every network and streaming platform, whether it’s a documentary or a dramatization. Even though the stories are fascinating, participating in the exploitation of tragedies can sometimes leave us feeling icky. Really, it comes down to the creator’s intentions. To tell the true story about a seemingly normal Texas housewife killing her church friend with an axe requires someone behind the camera who intends to explore the people and circumstances rather than the sensationalized murder.
That’s where writer/creator David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Undoing) and director Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland) come in. The Emmy-winning duo took on the story of Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore for the Max Original series Love & Death. If those names sound familiar that’s because they were also at the center of Hulu’s Candy released last May. But Kelley and Glatter have their own take on the wild tale of infidelity, the outdated idea of the American Dream, and as Glatter put it, the ’70s/’80s culture of the “collective inability to express feelings.”
Love & Death begins with glimpses of the grisly crime scene at the Gore residence on Friday, June 13, 1980. We then go back two years earlier to a joyful church choir with Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen) front and center. This small-town Texas community of Methodists is full of (mostly) friendly parishioners including Candy’s nerdy husband Pat (Patrick Fugit), and their friends Allan (Jesse Plemons) and Betty Gore (Lily Rabe), who are noticeably less outgoing.
Both couples are in their early 30s, have traditional marriages, and play into defined gender roles. For the Montgomery’s, there must’ve been some passion in the beginning but life moved fast and, two kids later, Candy is secretly unsatisfied. She only shares her desire for more with her close friend Sherry Cleckler (Krysten Ritter) and friend/pastor Pastor Jackie Ponder (Elizabeth Marvel). Candy keeps herself busy, shuttling the kids all over town, helping out at church, playing volleyball, and even taking a creative writing class. She loves her dorky husband, but she’s bored, and while Pat is appreciative and certainly doesn’t undervalue his wife, he’s clueless when it comes to her emotions.
Candy decides an affair will quench her thirst. After colliding with Allan during a church volleyball game/practice, she becomes instantly attracted to him and later proposes they “go to bed” together. It’s a bizarre story in every sense, especially the objective unsexiness of the situation. Their extensive planning — strategy sessions, notecards, pros, and cons — is comical, down to their pre-romp picnic lunches at cheap motels.
We see that Candy is filled with longing but Allan is just…Allan, like a character you’d see in a Coen Brothers movie. He’s not one to show his emotions and just trying to begin the affair is like pulling teeth, making for several hilariously awkward moments. He’s a frustratingly quiet type of guy, particularly with Betty, who comes off as generally unpleasant. She’s snappy, defensive, judgmental, and described as “universally unliked.” Basically, she’s the complete opposite of Candy, the life of the party. Although, it’s unfair to be critical considering she was struggling with depression, a second pregnancy, and raising their other daughter on her own when Allan travels for work. Glatter explained to Entertainment Weekly, “I didn’t in any way want to make her a villain in this.”
Betty and Candy radiate loneliness in different ways and it’s hard not to empathize with both of them. Neither have what they need to fill whatever emptiness they feel inside, and they externalize it in unhealthy ways. (However, I’d say being anxious and critical is much better than cheating on your spouse, so Betty wins that one.)
Love & Death is about the characters and the tight-knit community rather than the murder itself, which makes the series more of a character study and not the salacious true crime drama people might expect. The tonal shifts had me feeling all the emotions, especially in Elizabeth Olsen’s scenes simply because when Elizabeth cries, I cry. She’s perfectly unhinged whether Candy’s rattling off her convoluted alibi to anyone and everyone or having an emotional breakdown with a psychiatrist (an incredible scene).
The overall tone is noticeably different from last year’s heavy and dramatic Candy, which totally worked for that series. The story itself is darkly funny just because it’s too ridiculous not to be true. I’m not sure anyone could/would write about a highly organized affair between two Methodist Texans that ultimately ended in an axe murder.
Candy’s attorney Don Crowder (Tom Pelphrey) is largely responsible for Love & Death’s darkly comedic tone. He goes to the same church but isn’t uptight like some folks and probably has the most explicit language out of everyone. Don processes the shocking reveals and events like the audience and has similar reactions to Candy’s odd behavior. The court scenes were the most riveting, mostly due to his strong dislike for authority, or maybe just that particular judge.
Music plays a big part in the levity of the series. The songs are upbeat and familiar without being an overload of ’70s/’80s nostalgia. Candy often sings along at varying levels of intensity, like she’s trying to mentally escape whatever emotions she’s feeling at the moment. The opening credits feature a rendition of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” which leans to the dramatic end of the show’s tonal spectrum. After the murder, the score becomes moodier and more atmospheric to convey that everyone’s lives have been drastically altered.
With a stellar performance from Elizabeth Olsen and an incredible ensemble cast, Love & Death examines the absurdity of a real-life tragedy and how the baffling decisions of a few people led to a shockingly brutal murder in an unlikely place. The series balances dark humor with high-stakes dramatic moments and avoids glamorizing or minimizing the severity of the crime, instead digging deep into the complexities of the people involved.
Even though we already know the outcome, the series manages to be intriguing and almost makes you think it could end differently. For anyone skeptical about watching another series about Candy Montgomery, know that there are enough differences between the two that make watching Love & Death worthwhile.
Love & Death debuts its first three episodes April 27 on HBO Max, followed by one episode weekly through May 25. The first episode of the series made its world premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is officially on the way. And it arrives a cool six years after the second installment. So it’s certainly been a while since their last solo journey and a lot has happened. The Blip was still just a looming threat… remember those pre-Infinity War days? Neither do I. When we reunite with the crew—post Infinity War and Endgame—there will be plenty to unpack. Among the highlights: Gamora’s death, most of the team vanished for five years in the Blip, a younger version of Gamora is now rolling with the crew, and now they’re finally back together. So there’s plenty to speculate about.
For now, we have our first clip from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It brings us right into the world of the Guardians. Everything hits the right note of humor—but below the surface, there’s more than a little pain and drama.
Quill really misses Gamora, but she’s not having… Quinn. Too bad it’s not a private conversation, after all. The Guardians always have to make everything a little complicated, but that’s why we love them. And why we can’t wait for the movie to arrive.
We also get to see Quill and Nebula butt heads spectacularly over a rather annoying door. There’s even a bleep involved.
Here’s everything we know about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Title
The third installment in the beloved series is simply Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Plot
We don’t know much about the film’s plot yet, beyond that it takes place after the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Additionally, James Gunn did confirm that this is the final act for this particular rendition of the Guardians. Gunn told Deadline‘s Hero Nation podcast, “This is the end for us, the last time people will see this team of Guardians.” So we can only imagine this iteration of Guardians will go out with quite a bang.
You can see the latest trailer for the movie below:
One thing we do know, though, is that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to spend a lot of time with Rocket. Recently, James Gunn spoke to EW and shared just how much the grumpy raccoon plays into the third GOTG movie.
According to Gunn, one of the reasons he came back for Vol. 3 included needing to tell Rocket’s story and feeling very connected to the character. He says, “I feel like nobody would be able to tell his full story if it wasn’t me.”
Additionally, Gunn offers:
To me, Rocket has always been the secret protagonist of the Guardians movies… From the beginning, it has been rooted in who he is as a character. I think he exemplifies a lot of the traits of all the Guardians. They’ve had all these traumas, and it brings them together. I just think that his is more extreme than others… He was just fine being an animal, and he was transformed into something else he didn’t want to be. I think that transformation itself was extremely painful, but I also think it made him feel incredibly alienated from everyone else. In Vol. 3, we learn a lot about his past — where he came from, who he is, and what he’s been through. It’s been a difficult road for the little animal.
We can’t wait to get the Rocket backstory we all want and deserve.
Behind the Scenes
After a long, tumultuous road, James Gunn is back in the director’s chair for the final installment. He’s also, once again, writing the script. Frequent Gunn collaborator Fred Raskin is back as editing, alongside Craig Wood. The Suicide Squad‘s composer John Murphy is scoring the film.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Cast
As this is a GOTG film, it sees all our usual suspects returning for more—with a slight caveat. As such, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, and Sean Gunn are back. However, Saldaña’s playing an earlier version of Gamora, as the one we’ve met over the course of the franchise died at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. However, in Avengers: Endgame the younger version of the character traveled to present-day MCU and is now part of the crew. Additionally, Michael Rosenbaum has revealed that he will return as Martinex, the crystal Ravager
New additions include Sylvester Stallone, who will play Stakar Ogord and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. Peacemaker‘s Chukwudi Iwuji is also reuniting with Gunn for the project. San Diego Comic-Con 2022 confirmed Iwuji will play the film’s villain, the High Evolutionary. The Suicide Squad star Daniela Melchior and The Bubble‘s Maria Bakalova will also appear, with Gunn confirming both actors’ appearances. Crazy Rich Asians and Superstore actor Nico Santos has also been cast. Their roles are still under wraps.
Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Release Date
The film is slated for a May 5, 2023 release.
We’ll keep you posted on any new details—and potential mixtape bangers—as we learn them.
The post Here Are Our First Clips From GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 appeared first on Nerdist.
And we used to think they said “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” a lot in Star Wars. Well, that phrase ain’t got nothin’ on The Mandalorian‘s favorite catchphrase, “This is the Way.” For a Mando who follows the creed, saying “This is the Way” happens as often as saying “Amen” for an Earth human in church. But how many times did characters say this over the course of three seasons of The Mandalorian, and one of The Book of Boba Fett? The folks at YouTube channel Auralnauts did the hard work for us to find out, and they put it to funky beat.
First off, we love the ’80s-style synth beats in this video. Everything sounds better with a little musical retro synth action. Secondly, we are shocked to learn that characters have said the phrase a whopping 222 times. Has anyone ever even said “May the Force be with you” that many times in the entirety of the Star Wars franchise? Maybe when you factor in The Clone Wars and Rebels, and not just the live-action films. Granted, The Mandalorian is a TV series with a lot of hours to its name. We were still a bit surprised at how high the number was.
As for who said “This is the Way” the most times? It’s not surprising to learn that it was the Armorer. If the Mandalorian Covert has a high priest, then it’s her. But our lead character Din Djarin only said it 13 times across three and a half seasons. We suppose Din understands that you can wear out a catchphrase on a TV series pretty fast. It’s best to only say it when it matters. The Auralnauts have a ton of other similar fun Star Wars (and Star Trek) videos, so be sure to head on over to their channel and check them out.
The post How Many Times Did They Say ‘This Is the Way’ in THE MANDALORIAN? appeared first on Nerdist.