‘Twilight Zone’ review: Uneven homage proves Rod Serling was one of a kind

It’s a good factor, I suppose, that scorching filmmakers akin to Jordan Peele (“Us” and “Get Out”) acknowledge the affect that artists akin to Rod Serling, creator of “The Twilight Zone,” have had on them. However an homage to Serling doesn’t make you Rod Serling. And that’s a good factor. Peele’s reboot of “The Twilight Zone,” which premieres Monday on CBS All Entry, is the third try by Serling admirers to recapture the strikingly eerie high quality of the unique CBS sequence (1959-64), however Peele, who provides off the severity of a funeral residence director in his host capability, solely partially delivers the products. Two episodes air Monday night time: The higher one is the second, “Nightmare at 30,000 Ft,” an homage to the traditional William Shatner outing during which a gremlin seems on the wing of the airplane exterior his window, precipitating a full psychological breakdown. This time, Adam Scott performs the passenger, listening to a podcast that describes the tragic disappearance of the very flight he has simply boarded. Like a recreation of Clue, the podcast provides a listing of troublemakers from the passenger manifest and Scott makes a nuisance of himself making an attempt to forestall catastrophe solely to inadvertently make it occur. Scott, who performed Reese Witherspoon’s hapless husband on “Large Little Lies,” ably conveys the bewilderment of the prophet no one believes with out doing a whole Jack Lemmon-style freakout. A bizarre nod to Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” appears out-of-place however the total impact of the episode is satisfyingly unusual. The “Nightmare” episode’s 36 minutes feels nearly proper. The opposite episode, a bloated “The Comic,” clocks in at 54 minutes, a approach too lengthy parable concerning the empty pursuit of fame. Kumail Nanjiani performs Samir Wassan, a fully unfunny comedian whose starvation for fulfillment will get the higher of him. Tracy Morgan has a cool cameo as a legendary comedian whose recommendation leads Samir to alienate his girlfriend and nephew by promoting them out in his comedian routines. “I wished to make folks snigger, not make them disappear,” Samir whines to a bemused Morgan. This message-oriented episode feels too pat to kick off the sequence as nicely. Maybe, like “Black Mirror” on Netflix, true followers will discover the very best episode (rumor has it that Episode 4, “A Traveler,” is the one to see) of “The Twilight Zone” and obsess about that till the subsequent obsession takes over. In the meanwhile, although, the message we’re taking away is that there’s solely one Rod Serling. Can Hollywood settle for that? [embedded content] Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/03/28/twilight-zone-review-uneven-homage-proves-rod-serling-was-one-of-a-kind/ The post ‘Twilight Zone’ review: Uneven homage proves Rod Serling was one of a kind appeared first on My style by Kartia.