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Reviews
Justified: City Primeval (2023)
nope
Full disclosure, i've got the original Justified fresh in my mind and was sort of looking forward to this, however, much as I would have enjoyed the further adventures of the inimitable deputy marshal Givens, I fear this will not come to pass.
Actually, I made it to the butt shot of the villain looking out his big window in the first episode and decided I would rather spend my time attempting to gnaw off my own elbow than to continue this travesty of a sequel.
Although it has been said the character of Willa is miscast, having raised 3 teenagers, I must demur. She is perfect. Not her fault who her dad is.
Madam Secretary (2014)
Binge-worthy
People ask me what I did this summer.
I binged. I also sang in a choir and made some forays into Buddhism.
Oddly enough this particular show was a good fit; a light touch on the religious aspects (kudos for that given our present atmosphere).
By the time I had reached season 6 it was pretty clear that the overall reach is borrowing from West Wing (remember when that tall drink of water Jimmy Smits ended up POTUS?) going into various fantasies of how our poor world could be. Finally passing the ERA? Booyah!
I was clearly invested in the characters (I almost cried when Dmitri was killed off) or I would not have completed 6 seasons. They continued to grow and surprise, even when put in some pretty torturously concocted situations. Even if it seemed at times contrived, the message was always the same: what would happen if we actually achieved some of our lofty international goals? Came together amidst intractable differences? Didn't throw religion out with the bathwater, rather treated it as a subject of vast nuance worthy of sophisticated examination, not a club to beat others with.
And of course full props for weirdly seeing into the future. Ugh.
So yeah. I think the cast and crew deserve credit for planning an interesting journey. Glad I went along for the ride.
The Stranger (1946)
A Welles Artifact
One of the problems these days with the availability of streaming is that it's possible to go down a rabbit hole of old films. Today for me it was a pre-code vehicle for some pretty big names at the beginning of their careers. Pretty cool and great costumes. That led me to this film only because I signed up for a free 7 days and don't want to waste it.
So. On to Orson Welles. In this post WWII propaganda-ish piece of Americana, he both plays the villain and he directs. He's also pretty skinny. Loretta Young is at her prettiest and most clueless. Edward G. Robinson is actually not overacting! The script is...well, I'll say this in the kindest possible way...unbelievable, clunky and overtly sentimental. The store owner gets in some snappy bits, but they almost feel like they belong in another movie.
My main gripe besides the script is that Welles the director does a bang up job, but he can't make the story work as the villain because it makes. No. Sense. This is a guy who has managed to erase his past, including his fingerprints, gotten to the US from presumably Brazil via Nazi Germany, married the daughter of a Supreme Court Justice, teaches at the local college and yet has got GUILT coming out of his pores from the get-go. It's not that Welles can't act, it's that the plot isn't giving him any help. First, he kills his old Nazi buddy and actually goes from his wedding back into the woods to dig a perfunctory grave. Then the next day he kills his new wife's doggie who can't help finding the silly corpse which is about fifty yards from town give or take. It just gets more and more implausible as it goes along.
The only reason I give it a mid-range rating is that it is always fascinating to watch Welles' use of light, camera angles and my personal favorite, the way he diverts attention away. There's a two shot in which his character is getting close to capture and where a lesser filmmaker would do the obvious thing we've all gotten used to seeing, which is why crews have someone called a "focus puller". One actor in the background, another in the foreground. But what Welles does when attention should be on his character in the foreground, he's out of focus. Almost all you can see is light bouncing off his eyes as he starting to panic. Great moment.
Now that's worth all the cheese.
New Amsterdam (2018)
How Can I Help This Unique Show?
Well, first off as a veteran of Days of Our Lives, I am fully inoculated. I can watch pretty much anything, however if I'm not drawn into the characters I'll probably wander off. I know, the writing's not that great and some of the actors drive me batty--especially what's-her-face with the adderall addiction--but this show intrigued me by its premise. As to the complaints about season 3, c'mon. You had to know it was gonna go that way, you just weren't paying close attention. It's obvious that, like Babylon 5, there's a story arc which will involve the hero being pretty nuts, and the series will end on a bittersweet note. As far as the unrealistic depictions of how far out Max will go and what he will attempt, I just have three words: suspension of disbelief! Just go along for the ride! And ignore the annoying bits. (That's what I did when Marlena was possessed by the devil.) Extra points for trying!!
King Richard (2021)
Tiger Dad
I don't have any daughters so I can't speak to the damage done by fathers. I do know about sons though. It would seem as though Richard Williams' dad is the culprit here: this form of emotional battering your kids into submission? He appears to have chosen his female offspring to focus on because...who knows. They are more pliable? I love me some strong women, but the movie simply shows that the girls' mother had the stronger moral force and they succeeded in spite of their father, not because of him.
Do a quick search of the family--what a train wreck! Hey, Dad, what kind of human beings did you raise?
So, no. I did not think much of the film. It ventured into some interesting territory with the usual sports business flimflammery by injecting race and while it is based on a true story, I was not convinced for single microt that this was unique. It was just backstory to (apparent) success, forgetting the rest of the population trying their best and getting pretty much nowhere.
I would have loved to delve into the details of tennis training. Oh well.
West Side Story (2021)
An Intimate Musical
Who knew? Spielberg is not always subtle; he gives in to his emotional side a bit more than I care for, but this version had me going. I cried through most of it.
I'm of an age to have seen the original version as a teen. Me & my bestie got dropped off by her mom at the theater and the time was wrong so we went in around the end of Tony doing "Maria". Very confusing. But since we were supposed to call for a ride home, we just stayed put and watched it from the beginning. I promptly went out and bought the LP (Stereo!) to play on my miserable little record player. Damn near wore it out. Suffice to say, I know the score top to bottom. By heart.
What I want to say about this version is that it seemed to me to be *so* specific--all the details, the nuances, the motivations, the little gestures--that it was like seeing it the first time. And it made the original look a bit plastic. Like Legos. "See Tony look at Maria", "See Maria simper"...
Anyway, the addition of so many relevant cultural touch points--reminders to speak English, the fabulous retooling of Officer Krupke, the mindblowing rape scene at Doc's with Graciela added in (!) Wow. And I have to mention the guys: Riff, Bernardo, and especially Chino COMPLETELY transformed.
O, and just an observation: did anyone notice how vulnerable Tony is? He is just a child himself and has already been in prison, when he gets gobsmacked by love. To me that totally goes back to R & J and the tragedy of youth.
So why do I not give it a 10? Because nobody gets a 10. Just a little humility there guys.
Romeo & Juliet (2013)
Yack
I just have to think back on my freshman English teacher tearing up at times as she lead us through this play, slowly, thoughtfully and yes, had us read bits out loud as well, to realize how much I appreciate her intro to Shakespeare.
This version? Waal, they lost me when Juliet didn't appear to know that "wherefore" = "why" and Romeo was basically a stalker.
9/11: One Day in America (2021)
devastating
When this documentary popped up on my Hulu account I gotta say, I recoiled. But I got on my big boy pants and said to myself: "if these folks could go through all this personally, you sure as heck can stand just watching a screen and honoring their stories". Yes, it's painful, so buckle up, understand that this was real and needs to be faced in all its harshness for us to heal.
Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)
Not a complete waste of time but close
At age 72 I have long since stopped auditioning; parts for women excuse the pun dry up. But enough about me. I started watching this on my tablet upstairs, got bored, then went down to have some lunch and started it up again on a laptop in the kitchen. Since I have bluetooth earbuds, I am free to walk around, get a glass of water, whatever, but here's what's interesting. I discovered that this film is SO much more palatable as audio only. I mean, it could totally work as a radio show. Crazy, right? But yes, it doesn't require visuals to tell the story at all. They're actually a distraction, plus I could knit and listen, too.
Now for my main criticism: you cannot make a documentary about the subject and not include my all time favorite nudity film THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE & HER LOVER. Helen Mirren for cryin' out loud. Brilliant use of bodies, and I won't spoil it entirely, but I will caution you that if you are a guy...well, just be prepared. Maybe they couldn't get the rights to use footage, but really, having a discussion on this subject and not use this as an example? Unforgivable.
Queen Sugar (2016)
More Sap Than a Sequoia
Haven't read the book and from reading some of the reviews I guess it's a good thing. No, what excited me was Ava DuVernay being attached to this. I just finished season 4 and for reasons that I don't need to go into, binge watched the whole season. I'm going to say I just wanted to see what happens but then I find there's a season 5 getting ready to drop. Oh well. Anyway I did not graduate from Days of Our Lives University not to recognize soap opera when I see it. With the possible exception of maybe half a dozen scenes out of hundreds there is no authenticity. Sorry. Why is the bar set so low? Major props to the young actor who plays Blue. He earned all four of my stars. As my late husband used to say "well, at least there's work for some actors"...
Rake (2010)
Jumped the Shark :-(
We sort of binge-watched Rake, coming off of some other series' triumphs, and initially it was terrific. Memorable characters, laugh out loud situations...it was worth watching.
Then they absolutely trashed it. We couldn't watch the last season and it's not like we didn't try, but ohmyeverlovin'god, it was PAINFUL. So we just skipped to the last episode, skimmed through and yeah. Opinion confirmed. Horrible. Left a bad taste in your mouth.
Unpacking the whys: it seems obvious that killing off Scarlet was a plot device or maybe the actress wanted out of her contract..who knows? But that was the beginning of the end. Barnyard gone, Cleaver's son MIA (with a baby no less), the ever-loyal admin lady crying non-stop. I could go on, but it was pretty clear that no one wanted to be on this toboggan ride off the cliff.
Too bad. It was great while it lasted and shame on whoever wrote the last season.
The Rose (1979)
Not Mellow Yellow
Well first off, of COURSE this is a loose life of Janis--all you have to do is look at the crazy clothes & the booze & the screech. It doesn't have to match exactly. Don't make me have to tell you again.
Second, sometimes a person just disappears into a role: that's what our Bette did on this one. There's no reason to quibble about details, anymore than there would be to go to the stadium to see the Rose in concert without bringing yer favorite choice of um *cough* recreation drug. Sex, drugs & rock n roll. Peace out, dude.
I feel as though many attempts, such as Gwyneth Paltrow's recent country western voyage, sort of co-opt the experience of the road. Whereas, if you really get into it, you almost OD on the music, such as when trying to watch Neil Young's bio a few years back. OMG, so much extended riffing as to be almost a...raga! Unable to meditate, though. One cannot, or at least I cannot, let go enough to last through a 20 minute guitar solo. This does not make a good movie.
As to The Rose not having a plot. It starts, it moves towards a more or less inevitable conclusion and then it ends. What the movie goer expects might be more conventional, but this is not a conventional character, ya know.
Rajio no jikan (1997)
A must see for would-be foley artists!
Ever thought it must be great to direct or write or be a crew member on a show? Think it's a snap? Think again...Everything that can go wrong, does: it's NOISES OFF on the radio in Japanese. Watch for the least likely rescuer to save the day!