The Underground — Issue #126
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: The worst movie ever made gets a behind the scenes film about it by James Franco, Doctor Who gets its first female Doctor, a wonderful new science fiction novel, and the amazing benefits of Cannabis Sativa.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. The Disaster Artist aims to show what happened behind the scenes of the worst film ever made.
As I mentioned in my article about the best films to hate-watch, The Room is so bad that it’s unintentionally hilarious. Every scene is mind boggling at how bad it is. Every line of dialogue in a non-sequitur, there are incredibly creepy sex scenes, there are green screens for absolutely no reason, and so much more.
A few years ago I heard that James Franco optioned to get the book The Disaster Artist made into a film. I found that to be incredible considering the fact that the films initial run in theaters made less than the cost of a used 1992 Mercury Topaz, but alas, he got it made.
The premise of The Room is something like “Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa. One day, inexplicably, she gets bored with him and decides to seduce his best friend, Mark (writer of the book Greg Sestero). From there, nothing will be the same again.”
If you haven’t yet seen the movie, the trailer shows Franco playing Wiseau in one of the funniest parts in the film. A scene which took Wiseau dozens of takes to say the lines. Lines that he wrote. Enjoy:
2. Doctor Who finally gets its first female Doctor. For decades, the Doctor on Doctor Who has always been a male with a female companion. It was always just the norm, but it’s finally time for a female to take the reigns as the 13th Doctor. The new Doctor will be portrayed by English actress Jodie Whittaker (Venus, Attack The Block, Broadchurch, Black Mirror).
Before I get into the trailer, what do you think happened within days of this announcement. Think about it: a role famously played by men now being played by a woman. Got it? Yeah. Idiots complaining about it. Tabloid trash in the UK even published nude photos of Whittaker in response. This is disgusting. These people are garbage people. Whittaker will crush in the role just as she has in her past roles.
Check out the stuff I posted in the previous paragraph she was in. Broadchurch was really my first experience with her, and she stole the show in some of her first scenes. She’s still doing great in the 3rd season of the show.
Check out the introduction trailer of the new Doctor in Doctor Who: Jodie Whittaker!
3. All Systems Red by Martha Wells is a book is one of the best science fiction books of the year that you must check out.
Do you like robots, space travel, A.I. learning human emotions, plus a thriller and more? Well, you’re going to love All Systems Red. I was recommended this book by a buddy a month ago, bought it, and read it in one sitting. It’s only 160 pages, so you can hang out by a fire, pour a glass of wine, and enter an amazing new world.
Premise: In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid ― a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
Did it run through your mind that this book will probably be made into a film? Me too. I’d see it. But first, you should buy it on Amazon. It’s only around $10, so it won’t devastate your wallet.
4. The amazing benefits of Cannabis Sativa for medical purposes. It’s getting tiring having to explain that marijuana is good for you for many reasons. The opioid crisis — which is only a crisis since it’s now noticeably hitting white communities — can be easily solved be replacing 4 narcos a day with some weed. Your liver will thank you for it, and so will your friends and family.
The infographic below, brought to us by the continuously informative people at Futurism, shows the history of Cannabis Sativa being demonized by the US Government, the benefits medically, how it works chemically, where it’s legal and illegal, and so much more. This is one of the most in-depth infographics I’ve ever seen, and it’s easy to digest — especially if you just smoked — for people who dislike reading paragraphs of medical facts.
Give the infographic a look, and if you’re against marijuana, I hope this may change your opinion.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com