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Magnum P.I.: Texas Wedge (2021)
Lighter
A lighter episode, but they have a lot of fun with it. Engaging mystery, and seeing Higgins affect a Texas belle accent is a hoot. The locations are especially beautiful in this one. Highly entertaining.
Last Vegas (2013)
One star for each Oscar winner in the cast
If this movie does nothing else, it validates the worth of an Oscar. Put five winners (Michael Douglas, Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Mary Steenburgen) together and they can give some lift to any material, even something as flatly written and limply directed as this. The four guys are lifelong friends who get together in Vegas for a bachelor party when Douglas gets engaged to a girl less than half his age. (Cue the diaper jokes.) Freeman is recovering from a stroke but finds he's not as frail as his family thinks he is; DeNiro is the recent widower angry because Douglas didn't come to his wife's funeral; Kline is the straight-laced one going through a late-life crisis. Douglas is handed the most inconsistently written character; he's a high-powered L.A. businessman with a fancy Malibu beach house, yet he's mystified by the concept of Vegas bottle service in a club? Steenburgen is the dive lounge singer who catches the guys' eyes. A lot of the movie is a big commercial for the Aria resort, since scenes are set in the lobby, casino, restaurants, clubs and pool. The men carry the thin, predictable story without breaking a sweat, but the only real sparkle comes from Steenburgen. At 60+, she's still a complete stunner and captivating screen presence. Somebody get this lady a starring vehicle, pronto!
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
One of the Great Films About Addiction
Somehow I had managed to make it to this point in my life without having seen this. It certainly deserves its classic status. Though of course it's not as explicit in terms of language as later films, it's as riveting, harrowing, and truthful as any addiction film I've ever seen. Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick give a pair of utterly superb performances--every moment of their plummet into alcoholism is believable and frighteningly realistic. The character arc unfolds like a great play, with every step of the slide building on the previous. Remick's final two scenes in the motel and back in the apartment are as quietly chilling a depiction of a lost soul as you're likely to see. Lemmon's freak-out in the greenhouse may be the stuff of melodrama, but it's an absolutely accurate, wrenching portrayal of a someone at the height of desperation and frustration.
The story covers a long arc and moves forward in big steps, but the story reveals are presented in such a way that they're a series of narrative jolts pulling the audience along down this rabbit hole. I've never been such a huge fan of Blake Edwards as a director, but his work here is exceptionally strong. Just an excellent film.
Funny Face (1957)
Astaire and Hepburn don't disappoint
Ebullient musical about a fashion photographer who plucks a bookstore salesgirl out of obscurity and romances her in Paris during a magazine shoot. Fluffy, to be sure, but also colorful, well-written, and a great showcase for the endless charms of Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. The peerless Gershwin songs are well-chosen and well-spaced. Hepburn isn't much of a singer in a technical sense (no wonder she was dubbed in My Fair Lady), but she can certainly act the heck out of the lyrics. Her wistful version of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a highlight, as is the arrival-in-Paris number, "That's for Me". Hepburn also gives Astaire a run for his dancing money in her "dance of release" in a café. Kay Thompson is a hoot as the sardonic, sandpapery magazine editor. Stanley Donen directs the proceedings with a sure hand--he and Hepburn would work together in Paris again a few years later on Charade.
A delight.
Las Vegas: Everything Old Is You Again (2005)
One of My Favorite Episodes of the Series
I'm going to have to disagree with the other reviewer and say this is one of my favorite episodes of the series. It's a stand-alone, but sometimes it's fun to just do a one-off episode. Danny finds a historic artifact from the Jubilee Hotel which used to stand where the Montecito is today. He fantasizes that he and the gang are taking over a casino in 1962, complete with a stellar mid-century production design that's the equal of any "Mad Men" visuals. We also get a nifty plot that imagines what these characters' lot in life may have been had they actually lived in that era. There's still the silly fun, such as when a revenue-generating scheme results in an idea for doing boob jobs at the hotel. But the episode doesn't ignore the racial divides of the time, either, as Mike suffers a discriminatory episode that Ed deals with in typical Ed fashion. Vanessa Marcil (Sam) as a '60s call girl is particularly hot.