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The Tourist (2010)
Anthony Zimmer must be spinning in his grave
I'm getting STARZ as a freebie from the exalted DISH Network. I was pretty surprised when I stumbled across The Tourist a day or two after happening to watch Anthony Zimmer. It made me think about the wisdom of the phrase that "there is no such thing as coincidence", that seems to pop up all the time in the murder mysteries. Someone at STARZ must know that, too.
I had watched Anthony Zimmer about 2 nights before and noted that IMDb reviews pretty much described it a North By Northwest with a French flair. Even with subtitles and with watching in bed, I watched the whole thing. This is not usual for me and in bed viewing, especially French movies. I think I saw the ending twist coming, but it was pleasant when it arrived, and ooo la la.
The Tourist was Anthony Zimmer with a decidedly American flair, and that result was more like Pearl Harbor vs. Tora! Tora! Tora! In The Tourist, every plot-punch seems telegraphed from a thousand yards away, and every nuance was deftly played to lose its subtlety. Should I blame direction or script? Calling The Tourist a heavy-handed Anthony Zimmer remake is a bit of an understatement and calling The Tourist a dumbed-down Anthony Zimmer is just too severe. Depp was made I suppose, to look dweeby and Jolie looked totally hot and they looked nice, but: Glad I saw Anthony Zimmer first.
The Subject Was Roses (1968)
Viet Nam (Whoops!) WWII Vet Comes Home
I never watched (much) of this movie when it was on TCM. I thought it was a Viet Nam Movie. Today the channel was on and I let it go. Patricia Neal's birthday, I think. It seemed like it was a play, and for me most plays are kind of boring. I guess I'm just a '50's action kid and that's from where our current 15 second attention spans were spawned.
Well, this one was cool. For one, my mind was muddled as I have repeatedly misread the DISH synopsis's blurb as about a Viet Nam veteran's return home to "bickering parents". Today it read "WWII Veteran" and I saw the difference.
But it was made in 1968. Seeing this flick in that light, as I remember Viet Nam and the Draft I could watch it as both a relic of the time and surprisingly, as a well written study of the timeliness of the characters we are - then, as well as today. Timothy (Sheen) had returned in remarkably good shape. His parents had little to worry about, and didn't, about how he had survived the war, "I never volunteered for anything, Dad", was one singular thing his character said. I knew guys like this that were draftees from 1968. Life for a U.S.Army draftee could be mild or hot - assignments were random. One could get drafted back then or beat the game and enlist. For me, the envied "Student Deferment" was not an option. I myself had a marginally unique skill and as the Young Moderns say, "leveraged" that to enlist in the Navy. Or maybe they don't say anymore.
If a good play could be made into a good movie, the director (Ulu Grosbard according to IMDb and I've never seen any of his other movies) should get a lot of credit. And play writer Frank D. Gilroy hit one out of the park with this one.
Ghost Hunters Academy (2009)
Whoa! Did You See That?
If there's a spoiler here, you find it. Consider yourself warned.
I've been a Ghost Hunters fan since the "Me and Grant" days. There was always something mesmerizing about the "investigations", the "findings" and the stew of personalities that kept me coming back week after week. I've worked for and with plenty of personalities that echo Jason and the crew and it was nice to see all that angst directed towards someone else besides me for a change. I still mourn the passing of the much door-matted Brian from the show; it was always worth tuning in to see the "big guys" putting him down as for all the "What was that?" stuff that was always missed by the camera.
Enter the hapless "Ghost Hunters Academy" trainees to what must be for them another world. Steve Gonzalves and Dave Tango are rubbing their hands and salivating over putting some newbies through the hoops that they themselves had to jump through at the hands of Jason and Grant. Brian, Steve, and Tango all had to go through the initiation. How they handled it was kind of a plot point of each episode. Brian was eventually driven out but, with all flags flying to a spin off I think was called "Ghost Hunters Siberia". Steve not only made it to the team, but was promoted, even though (or maybe because) in one episode during a stake-out scene I heard him proudly confess to Brian that "he had never read a book all the way through". Steve Tango - well, he kept so innocuous but faithful to the philosophy that he was not only welcomed to the team, but was permitted to wear all the caps-that-make-me-look-gay that he wants. GHA is a perfect example of the saying, "the s**t rolls downhill". So far, after the third episode, the newbies are still required to set up cameras, audio equipment, and the sites you stake-out with no training on the equipment, and no apparent clue as to the "Ghost Hunters" method of "investigation". On those terms, they are to pass or fail, and endure the pent-up vitriolic put-downs of former "recruits", as ignorance is generally treated as stupidity on this show. I wonder if any of these new kids have ever watched Ghost Hunters, as they act clueless throughout. One even repeatedly boasts of his "leadership qualities" before the two "sergeants" come down and squash him. If you missed the first episode, Jason sets the tone that the two recently promoted NCO's gleefully hand down to the new sad-sacks. I myself would hate to be one of Jason's Roto-Rooter apprentices, especially with a pipe-wrench in my hand. That in itself might cause some issues further down the pike.
Eventually, someone gets told, "You're going to be Fired" or, "You're Fired!", in such a staged manner that reveals the money shot of the show. The premise of all that is simple: give everybody some rope. Eventually one will demonstrate that they have the shortest piece and will hang themselves first. Then, "Move on to the next", as Grant and Jason like to butt fists over.
If I occasionally miss one of these, I won't lose any sleep over it or go out of my way to watch a repeat. But shoot, I just hate to miss a train-wreck when I don't even have to leave my living room.
Riders to the Stars (1954)
A Rocket 88
Put aside a Dr. House repeat that I had missed, and a Desperate Housewives (new) to watch this one. I don't know exactly what plagued this movie. I never thought I'd say this, but I want my 15 minutes of fame back.
Script, Direction, I can't say. I recognized the stable of actors (the usual suspects), but thought Herbert Marshall was a class addition and sat myself down for a good cheesy flick. Boy, was I wrong. Dullsville.
My favorite parts: where the "office girl" makes with the 029 keypunch and puts the cards into a 087 sorter. LOL @ "the computer". I'd like someone identify the next device - a 477 ? It's before even this dinosaur's time.
And we dinosaurs don't have that much time to waste.
The Secret Life of Machines (1988)
Tell your friends - or win bar bets
I wholeheartedly agree with Simon's comments on this program. It was on regularly on my former cable system about 15 years ago, and I taped about 10+ just to have. They ended up getting passed around and around, the interest and enjoyment level was just too interesting to keep to one's self, don't you know. I think the episode "The Secret Life of the Fax Machine" was the one I've personally used the most to people who for some reason ponder in front of me about how they work. That's when I whip out of my memory the description of how Tim and Rex, using signal flags at a distance are able to communicate letters from the alphabet onto a large piece of paper. This helped me understand how rotogravure and wire-photos are done. Thanks Simon for the p2p tip on finding other favorite missing episodes from my little library. I shall CIO (Check It Out) that source. Tim Hunkin appeared at some sort of science fair at the Palace of Fine Arts in S.F. some time in the 1990's and demonstrated his thoroughly manual copier technique. I had always thought that it was one of the most effective explanations in the series, and I gathered from that Tim did too.
House M.D.: Son of Coma Guy (2006)
Father's Famous Last Words
Dying father Gabe (John Larroquette) wants to leave a last message with House for his son and asks House, "what would you want to most hear from your father?" House replies, "That you were right." This answer puzzles the father and did me too, until House explains. I awoke yesterday morning and the first thing I realized while regaining consciousness was that these were the last words Darth Vader spoke to his son, Luke. Probably a leftover from the Star Wars marathon I had been watching on Cinemax. The context of both quotes weren't exactly parallel, but it gave me pause to wonder if David Shore wasn't having a little joke.