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Reviews
Renegades (2017)
Suspend your disdain for a tiny portion, and you've got a winning action / war / heist movie
Okay, so some of the combat scenes are really poorly shot. Then some of the cinematography is actually breathtaking. Just as suddenly we're in the middle of a Ocean's Eleven, to James Bond, and back to Strike Back.
All around, a really great movie.
JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald (2017)
Hunting Hitler meets Russia, Russia, Russia. More History in Baer's 9-11 Comment
This investigation, from the get-go assumes Oswald as the sole assassination of JFK with Baer believing Oswald did the shooting but could not have pulled it off without support. That's a non-starter for me. There's too many questions to assume Oswald had no co-conspirators. Only on episode 1, but it has the feel of Hunting Hitler.
We know the US State Department paid for Oswald's return tickets from Russia to the US after he had defected and lived there for 3 years. Oswald was sheep dipped CIA. The only way he could have been KGB, as is suggested in the show, would have been if he were a double actually reporting back to the CIA. But that would make Oswald some kind of super spy. Very unlikely.
Robert Baer has one thing to answer to for the historic record. And that's an explanation to his on camera remark that he, Baer, knows the guy who on the day before 9-11 went into his broker and told him to sell it all. "His brother works in the Whitehouse." Why he's still making public appearances and we don't have an answer to this remark is mind blowing. Baer needs to be subpoenaed and asked under oath for a clear explanation of this remark. This comment by Baer is available on YouTube if you have not seen it yet.
Anyway, we're expected to believe the Russians NEEDED to be rid of JFK knowing they'd get a waiting Texan to fill the empty seat. That doesn't pass the smell test. Dulles tapping Angleton for an operation they'd run overseas...means, motive and opportunity = the CIA.
There's only one question Robert Baer should be providing answers to and that's his 9-11 comment.
Madam Secretary (2014)
Almost the world we should live in
A feel good show of government players actually out for the best interest of the people. It's a West Wing light, with global problems that can be fixed in one episode. We can use the escape and dream that the US government is actually functioning in selfless service to all.
But this 4th season's constant quips about conspiracy theories and fake news has begun to rub me the wrong way.
I wish they'd leave off on that one part of actual reality seen in today's world. They're going to upset one side or the other by touching on the subject. Lest we forget Madame Secretary herself is replacing Secretary Marsh, a death which involved quite the conspiracy.
You say fake news. I say wmd's. You say conspiracy theory. I say Golf of Tonkin. Or JFK, or Ruby Ridge, or Gladio. It will never end.
If the story sticks to the higher moral plane, I'm all in.
The Cold Light of Day (2012)
Action packed start to finish
Totally underrated at 4.9. Action from start to finish. Story line not dumbed down. And even the acting is okay. Is this in the action genre? I'm not sure what people are looking for anymore. I mean if Speed back in 1994 can have a rating of 7.2, a hijacked bus which keeps speeding around the whole movie coupled with mediocre acting... You get my point. If you want spy drama, and underdog, an action thriller, well worth a watch.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Much better start than TNG. By Episode 3, I'm hooked. So stop dissing DIS!
The first episode started out as a bit of a yawner, gaining interest and picking up in the second episode with a rebirth of the Klingon empire. I wasn't convinced by the ship and her crew. Well that all changed in the 3rd episode when we finally make are way onto the Discovery.
For the purist naysayers, try to remember (or imagine if you're younger), the reception TNG received from die-hard TOS fans. TOS was often social commentary and/or moralizing with proof by Kirk in almost every episode, that it's okay to conquer the female equivalent (he always hoped) of any species. I can't get my kids to sit through 10 minutes of an episode of TOS. My kids have seen and enjoyed all episodes of TNG. But let's take a jump back to Farpoint (S1E1&2). Wil Weaton later said "at the time, Trekkies who were hoping to see the Star Trek that they were used to from the sixties must have been disappointed". That episode had some of worst acting the series ever saw, now sitting at an 8.6 rating on IMDb, above all other series in the franchise. For those who say, in a prequel you can't rehash 'canon' already set in stone, let me point to TNG 'Parallels' (S7E11) or especially 'Yesterday's Enterprise' (S3E15) where we have parallel universes or divergent timelines. Whose to say which parallel universe we've been dropped into to view DIS?
I'm loving the lead, Michael, an all around bad-ass raised by Vulcans without the anguish of battling suppressed emotions as Spock faced. My only concern is the new secret technology would seemingly do away with the need for ships in space. But I'll suspend my probably shortsighted misgivings and judge this new series on its own merit. So far, it's come out of the gate very strong.
So stop dissing DIS!
Blackhat (2015)
Enjoyable and totally underrated
This is more a review of the reviews. When I think Michael Mann, I think Miami Vice. Heat, let's not forget, starred Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, with support from Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore. Any character development would have been highly influenced by that top notch talent, a lack of character development being one of the main complaints of Black Hat when compared to Michael Mann's Heat. And for me, the character development was my main complaint about Heat. I really didn't want to know much about a group of hardcore criminals. When it comes to criminals the only time I'm remotely interested in learning what drives them is if they are forced by outsiders or outside influences cause them to commit crime. Here as in Heat, the motivation for crime is straight money.
Now when it came to the action scenes, you could sense the Michael Mann from Heat here; the sounds, the suddenness, the voracity. Loved it! The lead, while a bit manly for a hacker, is an enjoyable actor to watch. He's obviously picked up a few tricks while doing time in prison, I guess. The female lead interest is totally sexy. I especially like that her accent shows she grew up in mainland China. I get tired of foreign born Chinese actors who are removed totally from that culture. Having said that, her brother in the movie was a favorite. He's the perfect mix of two cultures and played well as the Chinese sent police detective. And who was the lead Chinese in glasses in the surveillance van? He's perfect for TV and should be snapped up immediately.
As to technology, this is a movie about how a black hat would operate and how you would catch them. There wouldn't be a movie if it took months to break into a bank account to trap someone who is about to commit a crime. And the code offered was much more believable than often presented.
It was a fun, not serious watch. If I got some of the nationalities wrong, sorry. I was just trying to sit back and enjoy the movie. Watch it if you don't need to know what childhood drama has caused someone to pick up a gun. Think Michael Mann's Miami Vice, the TV show, but a bit more believable.
Rise (2014)
Prison life of convicted felon waiting for a chance at freedom
This movie had me interested the whole way through. Loved the lead, Nathan Wilson, and the main supporting actor, Martin Sacks. Nathan playing the role of an innocent, but convicted rapist serving his time and Martin a hard core life-long criminal, form an incredibly close relationship.
If you don't want any mention of God in your movies, skip this one. It's not the underlying theme of the movie, but it does play a role in the personalities of some of the characters.
All the girls will love Nathan. But it's Martin I'd like to see more of in the future. Great character actor, I could see him in a variety of roles.
Rise keeps a steady pace throughout. Based on a true story, this drama is definitely worth a look.
Scorpion (2014)
Love it!!! Society Cast Out Geniuses Fight Cyber Attacks
Super smart, exciting pace with lead characters which will be interesting to see developed. Some of the support characters, like the pilot (Patrick St. Esprit - Draft Day, Hunger Games, NCIS, CSI, Hawaii Five-O, The Unit...) or the the Homeland Security lead (Robert Patrick - The Unit, Burn Notice, X-Files...) are played by well recognized actors. Hope they can continue that trend and get some faces we know to drop by for an episode or two.
The core group, made up of geniuses who have quirks, lack normal social skills or outright empathy and have been ostracized or voluntarily withdrawn from polite society, use their tech skills and problem solving abilities to thwart, I'm guessing, threats to society as Homeland Security is involved.
I can't say I recognize any of the geniuses, but they've all previously had TV and movie roles, like the main character, Elyes Gabel, who has been in 7 episodes of Game of Thrones. He looks so different that I never made the connection. All in all, I'd say all of the actors portrayed their, surprisingly well developed for a first episode, characters well.
To the writers, get some super tech savvy software developers or hackers to review the story lines or this could go bad very quickly.
All in all a good ride and I'm already looking forward to the next episode.
The Monuments Men (2014)
Classic in the WWII genre
If you're not used to or don't enjoy WWII slow moving dramas, skip this one. If that's your style, you'll love this flick.
Steady pace throughout, great war time set recreations, I just loved it. The story revolves around a small unit of beyond the normal draft age art experts thrown into the war to salvage the great masterpieces being stolen by the Nazi's.
If you enjoyed the Big Red 1, The Great Escape or even Shining Through, give this film a shot.
There's very little shooting. Right and wrong are clear cut here. No attempt has been made to show another side to the story. It's how all the old classic WWII films were made.
The Americans (2013)
Riveting - Soviet spies in the midst of the US
The AmeriKans with a k would have better. 80's Cold War turned hot view from the world of a Soviet deep cover agent couple living for decades in the US, played by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. They're not sleeper agents but very active; spying, infiltration, recruiting agents, wet work, codes, dead drops. They've got a job to do, and do so with no moralizing.
It's Burn Notice minus the A-Team antics, Homeland with a realistic premise or The Unit with great script and character development. If you love the spy genre, look no further. But you may find yourself rooting for the other side though. (If they had only put in two younger characters for the few flashback scenes, it would be a 10. You need to suspend belief just a tiny bit when you see Keri supposedly years before.)
The couple finds themselves at times trying to find love between themselves, a minor part of the story. But it's interesting because the script doesn't let them down. No, it's the two main characters who are deluded into thinking they can have a normal relationship considering all the outside screwing around involved in their work. They have a deep bond and two children, so who knows where that part of the story will go.
The Truman Show's best buddy plays a convincing FBI lead, with John-Boy as the head of FBI counter intelligence. Great script with great acting from all including the supporting characters.
Best show of 2013 for me so far, by far.