“I just want to fast forward 
to the part of my life when 
everything is okay,” Issa says 
to her reflection in the mirror. 
It’s a statement that we can all 
get behind.
Life has its trials and tribu-
lations. Oftentimes, it feels 
like there’s no possible way to 
get through the storm. But the 
series finale of HBO’s “Inse-
cure” is proof that things do 
eventually work out in the end; 
we just have to stop standing 
in our own way.
Created and written by Issa 
Rae (“The Lovebirds”), “Inse-
cure” is a dramedy television 
series partially based on her 
web series “Awkward Black 
Girl.” After blessing the screen 
with five amazing seasons, the 
show is a monument of signifi-
cant representation of modern 
Black women within friend-
ships, relationships and every-
thing else in between.
The finale seals the deal and 
confirms the legacies of the 
main cast in their exit from the 
show. It fast forwards to all 
the big moments that will hap-
pen between Issa (Issa Rae, “A 
Black Lady Sketch Show), Kelli 
(Natasha 
Rothwell, 
“Baby 
Shark’s Big Show!”), Molly 
(Yvonne Orji, “A Black Lady 
Sketch Show”) and Tiffany 
(Amanda Seales, “The Story of 
Our Times”), such as the girls 
getting together for Molly 
and 
Issa’s 
birthday 
party, 
Kelli starting a new chapter 
in her life and the girls visit-
ing Tiffany after her move to 
Denver. However, the episode 
also illustrates struggles, such 
as Issa’s having to make the 
decision between being with 
Nathan (Kendrick Sampson, 
“How to Make Love to a Black 
Woman”) or Lawrence (Jay 
Ellis, “Escape Room: Tourna-
ment of Champions”) and Mol-
ly’s overcoming a sudden death 
in the family. At the end of it 
all, the episode tells the audi-
ence that everything will be 

okay for the group of friends.
While the series embraces 
interpersonal 
relationships 
between Black women, what 
stands out the most is the epi-
sode’s ability to show what it 
takes to make decisions con-
fidently. When Issa invites 
Lawrence over for a tour of her 
new office space, she reflects 
on what it took to get to where 
she is now, realizing it was her 
own anxious thoughts that 
kept her from her true wishes 
and hindered her potential. 
Issa is now consciously aware 
that she has full control over 
her life and that when she lets 
doubt stand in the way of mak-
ing decisions, she has no one to 
blame but herself.
The finale also portrays the 
true meaning of friendship. 
At moments, we see Molly 
grieving over a sudden death 
in her family. Fast forward 
to the night of her wedding, 
when Molly shows gratitude 
for her friendship with Issa. 
This dynamic shows that their 
friendship is what keeps Molly 
strong. With Issa in her cor-
ner, she believes that she can 
get through anything.
“Insecure” does a fantas-
tic job of making sure the 
viewers have an insight into 
some of the real-life dynam-
ics between Black women. The 
finale inspires the viewers to 
have empathy for all the char-
acters, not just Issa.
By the end of the series, the 
women learn how to go through 
the motions of life and expect 
the unexpected. Sure enough, 
life throws a few curveballs, 
but choosing to stay firm with 
the decisions you make in 
those tumultuous times and 
relying on healthy friendships 
will see you through. Eventu-
ally, everything will be okay.
Daily Arts Writer Jessica 
Curney can be reached at jcur-
ney@umich.edu” s

Arts

“Don’t Look Up” is a film that plays 
things safe but thinks it is doing something 
brave. The film, co-written and directed 
by Adam McKay (“The Big Short”), is an 
allegory for climate change, providing 
audiences with the ambivalent reactions of 
the media and government leaders to the 
impending doom of the planet presented by 
a comet heading towards the earth. In this 
story, the comet is discovered by Randall 
Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon 
a Time in Hollywood”) and Kate Dibiasky 
(Jennifer Lawrence, “X-Men: Dark Phoe-
nix”), who continually try and fail to get 
people to realize the apocalypse is coming.
The film delivers its story and overall 
message with a sense of self-importance 
that is unwarranted. Yes, it is important to 
sound the alarms and take action against 
the developing climate disaster, but any-
one who is aware of the effects of climate 
change is likely already trying to do some-
thing about it. Not only that, but the major-
ity of the people that will see this movie 
are already in that camp, meaning McKay 
and co-writer David Sirota (a journalist 
and former Bernie Sanders campaign advi-
sor) spend two hours preaching to an echo 
chamber that already believes in the mes-
sage.
By the time Randall Mindy gives his 
Howard Beale-esque “I’m mad as hell” rant 
on live television towards the end of the 
film, he’s essentially just explicitly re-stat-
ing what the message of the film is to the 
few members of the audience that didn’t 
understand what took place in the previous 
two hours. The lack of subtle commentary 
isn’t necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can 
be quite provocative and effective at times 
— see the ending of Spike Lee’s “BlacK-
kKlansman.” However, “Don’t Look Up”’s 
ideas are not elusive, bold or provocative in 
the slightest.
Because the film’s climate change mes-
sage has no weight behind it (given the 
audience’s preexisting understanding of its 

drastic effects), it becomes nothing more 
than a perfectly adequate drama. It rarely 
feels boring, seeming more focused than 
the rest of McKay’s filmography. His previ-
ous two films, “The Big Short” and “Vice,” 
were very messy in their execution (for 
good and bad). Both tried to go for a hybrid 
drama-sketch comedy tone that only kind 
of works in “The Big Short” and doesn’t 
work at all in “Vice.” McKay has ditched 
that for the most part and “Don’t Look 
Up” then works as a fairly straightforward 
drama with some heightened, cartoonish 
characters.
Docu-drama handheld cinematography 
and frantic editing, McKay’s trademark, 
are still here but feel more toned down 
than usual. Neither works particularly 
well (apart from the wild cutting taking 
place when Dr. Mindy is having anxiety 
attacks) and when the film’s cinematog-
raphy doesn’t look downright ugly, it just 
looks fairly bland. It makes sense that this 
film was released on Netflix because it isn’t 
particularly cinematic; it looks like an epi-
sode of “Succession” with a bigger budget.
“Don’t Look Up” so desperately wants 
to be this generation’s “<a href=”https://
www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-mov-
ie-dr-strangelove-1964”>Dr. Strangelove</
a>,” that it not only tries to capture its tone 
but also references similar key details like 
its use of a World War II-era love song as a 
sign of the apocalypse.
I appreciate what McKay tries to do in 
his films because his ideas in terms of con-
tent and form are quite unique compared to 
mainstream Hollywood filmmaking. They 
don’t always work — “Vice” really struggles 
and it took me three viewings to finally 
come around on “The Big Short” — but the 
attempts are never complete failures. His 
projects, including this one, always have 
potential, but he never finds the right bal-
ance in his execution, which leads to either 
wildly messy projects or an uninteresting 
final product. “Don’t Look Up” is unfortu-
nately the latter.
Daily Arts Writer Mitchel Green can be 
reached at mitchgr@umich.edu

‘Don’t Look Up’ is Adam 
McKay’s most focused and 
least interesting film

MITCHEL GREEN
Daily Arts Writer

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Craig Stowe
©2022 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
01/12/22

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

01/12/22

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2022

ACROSS
1 Gauchos’ gear
6 Postpone
11 Shakespearean 
possessive
14 Pass a test with 
flying colors
15 __ Lodge
16 Tint
17 1994 Best New 
Artist Grammy 
winner’s winged 
pet?
19 Noteworthy time
20 Drives up the 
wall
21 Word with filter 
or field
22 Google __
24 Retirement 
fund
26 Causing the 
heebie-jeebies
28 “La La Land” 
actor’s winged 
pet?
32 “1984” 
antagonist
35 Got the pot
36 Also
37 Backing-up 
warnings
38 Auntie, to mom
39 Sheepish?
41 “__ say!”
42 Quagmire
43 Sees, and then 
some
44 “Shake It Off” 
singer’s winged 
pet?
48 Arctic abode
49 Biblical shout of 
praise
53 Lost strength
55 It may be called
56 Defensive ditch
57 “I need a __”
58 “Network” Oscar 
winner’s winged 
pet?
62 Kerfuffle
63 “Superman” 
actor
64 Start of el año
65 Bronze 
component
66 Gives the green 
light
67 Sees

DOWN
1 Tidal low area
2 Yellowish shade
3 Onion relatives
4 Landing site
5 Farm structure
6 Pattern
7 Bk. after 
Proverbs
8 In favor of
9 Music producer 
Brian
10 Coxswain’s 
charges
11 Pointer’s 
proclamation
12 Damage
13 “Uh-huh”
18 Easternmost 
major U.S. 
airport
23 Plague
25 Seers?
26 Big heads?
27 Dog’s age, so to 
speak
29 Gulps
30 Squat
31 Leaves
32 Last bio
33 Horror film first 
name

34 Putting one’s 
faith in
38 Middling
39 Big galoots
40 Nutrient 
abundant in liver
42 Dude
43 Rolling-in-the-
aisles causes
45 Tee size: Abbr.
46 Seasoned expert
47 Waldo 
forerunner?

50 Large chamber 
ensemble
51 Mother-of-pearl
52 Oldest Musketeer
53 “__ now?”
54 Volkswagen 
subsidiary
55 Bunch of 
beauties
59 Comics shriek
60 Green or black 
beverage
61 Sustained

SUDOKU

WHISPER

“Quarantine 
housing?”

By Ed Beckert
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/08/21

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

12/08/21

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2021

ACROSS
1 Midday tide-me-
over
6 Landlocked 
African land
10 Acrimony
14 Common wrist 
measurement
15 Tatting fabric
16 Geometry 
calculation
17 Execs who only 
look the part
19 Pics for docs
20 Stephen Colbert’s 
network
21 Jury makeup
22 Beyond heavy
23 Burden
24 Screwdriver, e.g.
25 Ostentatiously 
nice sort
31 MLB game-
ending 
accomplishments
32 Tomatoes used 
to make paste
33 Guest beyond a 
velvet rope
35 Pac-12 squad
36 Shrink in fear
37 Spreadsheet input
38 Debussy’s sea
39 Expert
40 More delicate
41 Pompous types
44 High-flying mil. 
group
45 __ museum
46 Land divisions
48 Hard stuff
51 Pollution 
watchdog org.
54 Designated 
money
55 Pretentiously 
elegant one
57 Help in a bad way
58 Puckish
59 Type of coffee or 
whiskey
60 Start from scratch
61 Simple tops
62 Tot’s tea party 
guest

DOWN
1 Project detail
2 Without feeling
3 European range
4 Wisconsin winter 
hrs.
5 Security system 
components

6 Game with 
rooms
7 Rapunzel’s 
“ladder”
8 Play divisions
9 __ Moines
10 Panda’s diet
11 Of no 
consequence
12 Parts of Hawaiian 
greetings
13 Get (into) 
carefully
18 Attention-getting, 
in a way
22 Reactions to 
fireworks
23 Little piggies
24 Winter Palace 
monarch
25 Starting spots for 
some races
26 Reversed on 
appeal
27 Treasure __
28 Blew away
29 Dark clouds, 
maybe
30 Internet 
destinations
31 What a 
capital sigma 
symbolizes, in 
math

34 Course standard
36 Informal London 
eatery
37 Gossip
39 Degs. for 
choreographers
40 Campsite 
staple
42 Familiar with
43 Unclear
46 Off in the 
distance
47 Rubik creation

48 Reveal
49 Almost never
50 Protest singer 
Phil
51 Children’s author 
Blyton
52 Returning GI’s 
diagnosis
53 Pallid
55 Considerable, as 
a bonus
56 “Where __ you 
now?”

WHISPER

“I don’t know 
how I feel 
about school”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
6 — Wednesday, January 12, 2022

JESSICA CURNEY 
Daily Arts Writer

‘Insecure’ finale tells 
us that everything will 
be okay, eventually 

Before watching “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” I was 
extremely worried it would be bloated and not make 
sense. I am a big fan of everything Spider-Man, and I was 
afraid the movie would try to ride off of its MCU status 
instead of being good on its own. I was happy to discover 
that it did not do this, instead actually taking some major 
risks with its characters that ultimately pay off in a very 
emotional movie.
The movie starts off right where “Spider-Man: Far 
From Home” left off, with Peter’s (Tom Holland, “Chaos 
Walking”) identity revealed to the world. I am going to 
try to avoid spoilers as much as possible and just stick to 
what was shown in the trailers, and just a fair warning, 
watching this movie with as few spoilers as possible is 
the best way to watch it. The film is full of remarkable 
dramatic reveals — all of which are best left unsaid to 
those who want to watch it unspoiled.
Willam Dafoe (“The Lighthouse”) is a national trea-
sure. He plays one of many returning villains in the 
movie, but his Green Goblin is the ultimate villain out of 
them all. Willam Dafoe elevates the role in everything he 
does, fully immersing himself in the character in a way 
that I just loved. The Green Goblin is not just a crazy 
killer; he actually challenges Peter Parker ethically. 
Throughout the movie, Peter struggles to get everything 
he wants, attempting to return to a normal teenage life 
while still being Spider-Man. The Green Goblin wants 
to convince Peter that he is unable to use his powers to 
save everyone; he can’t live a normal life and will have to 
sacrifice his morals in order to win.
Tom Holland’s Peter Parker stood out amongst other 
superhero movies for its lack of a true origin story. Audi-
ences generally already know how Peter Parker becomes 
Spider-Man; they did not need to see it again. “Spider-
Man: No Way Home” is the origin movie that the MCU 
never gave him. In this movie, we see Peter mature and 
make difficult decisions, fully coming into his role as 
Spider-Man and living up to the classic words of “with 
great power comes great responsibility.” 
This movie makes many bold choices with the char-
acter of Peter Parker, forcing him to choose between his 
personal life and saving as many people as possible, with 
Holland giving an extremely compelling performance 
that adds to the complexity of Peter’s decisions. The film 
rises above the heightened action scenes, giving some 
incredibly emotional interactions and confirming my 
personal undying love of Spider-Man as a character.
That all being said, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” does 
have all of the usual MCU-specific problems: A lot of the 

humor is very quippy (passable, but with occasionally 
cringey lines), the fights are full of quick cuts between 
CGI-ed characters and it still solidly fits within the MCU 
format of the first act being set-up, the second act being 
the hero struggling to beat the villain and the third act 
being a big action set-piece. Many people are getting 
tired of the repetitiveness of Marvel movies, and this 
movie definitely didn’t get rid of the highly over-pro-
duced aspects of the MCU.
This movie is not perfect. I know some people com-
plained about plot holes it created in the MCU canon, 
but I found the explanations to make enough sense that 
I could just go with the flow. The ending itself has con-
fusing bits, but it seems like that is done on purpose to 
create anticipation for future movies.
In all, “No Way Home” is still an engaging movie, 
which makes it that much more impressive. It drew me in 
despite the formulaic nature of most MCU movies, with 
the ties into the rest of the films never really distract-
ing from the heart of the movie. It has actual emotional 
depth that will definitely make it stand out in the coming 
years of constant MCU content. I think overall the movie 
is one of the best representations of superheroes on the 
big screen, showing how they can really address moral 
questions, while still giving a blockbuster experience.
be expected when they created this universe a decade 
ago. The sheer gravity of a decade, ten years, is in itself 
an ode to the passion of fandoms that really love what 
they create. Superwholock was a god. Today it is a house 
of memories built with love and care, its doors open to 
generations to come for several more decades. 
Daily Arts Writer Zach Loveall can be reached at 
zloveall@umich.edu.

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is the 
MCU’s most daring movie yet

ZACH LOVEALL
Daily Arts Writer

