Good morning 🐣

Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?

According to “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” accordion virtuoso Weird Al is dead.

That’s right; Weird Al is no longer with us.

Of course this new biopic on the Roku Channel also claims he battled drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, had his music blatantly stolen by Michael Jackson, outsold The Beatles, had a toxic love affair with Madonna, and absolutely cannot be killed no matter what life throws at him… so I’d take all that with a grain of salt.

Which is a bit reassuring because I consider myself a lifelong Close Personal Friend of Al (as he calls his fans).

Just like his satirical parody music, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is a silly, hilarious sendup of fictionalized biographies, especially those movies about famous bands and singers that seem to keep popping up these days. In fact it’s so fictionalized, it’s just about utter nonsense.

When some kernels of truth do pop up, they make it all the more delightful. A door-to-door accordion salesman did show up at his house when Alfred was a child, and his parody songs did cause a “Yankovic bump” to artists’ sales, which figures as the movie’s defining plot point (if you can call it that).

Daniel Radcliffe (“Playmobil: The Movie,” “Equus”) plays the titular weirdo as he navigates between worldwide mega-fame and his father’s disappointment in him playing “the devil’s squeezebox.” Radcliffe does an amazing job grounding all the absurdity with an emotional center, surrounded by the caliber of Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna and Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento along with a never-ending lineup of celebrity cameos.

It’s a movie I wasn’t expecting to be so good. I had an entire other newsletter ready to go for y’all this week but after watching “Weird,” I knew I had to get this out ASAP. It’s Cinescape’s first Emergency Edition. We’ll be back to our regular programming next week, but check this out for a fun, wholesome, genuinely funny time, something we could all use a little more of these days.

And just to reassure everyone that he’s not truly dead, Weird Al himself makes a cameo as the most boring person in the entire film.

Until next time! 👋