Come From Away – 10
During these two months of rehab from knee surgery, I’ve
enjoyed some nice movies, but none more than this one, featured on Apple+. It is the filming of a Broadway play about a
town in Newfoundland and the role it was drafted into on 9/11. When Air Traffic Control grounded all air
traffic, I guess I never wondered where they all went. Well 38 of them landed at a small airport in
Canada. That’s quite an influx of folks
for a small town to handle. Think of the
pets. Think of the Diapers. Think of everything. This movie does, and it's wonderful.
No Time to Die – 9
This is the only movie that I actually left the house for
since my surgery, although Dune is on the horizon.
There are plot holes you can drive a truck through. There are slow patches. There are a slew of what I call “Bond
Conveniences” like “oh, look, here’s a rope I can swing from,” and “here’s a ladder
close by.” There is a virtually useless villain performance by Rami Malik who
must have been trying to consolidate all the previous Bond villains into one
mumbling, incoherent mess, with a scarred face of course.
So, why did I enjoy this movie so much, maybe more than any
Bond since Goldfinger? I often say you
either buy a movie or you don’t. Well, I
just bought it all. There have been 25
Bond movies now, piloted mostly by the Broccoli family, who got the rights to
the Ian Fleming output and while the quality has fluctuated through numerous
actors playing Bond, they’ve never failed to produce a blockbuster of some
magnitude. I believe, except for the
first two (I was 7 or 8) I’ve seen them all in a theater. I have no allegiance to a particular actor,
although they’ve all been chasing Sean Connery.
Daniel Craig has been tremendous in his 15-year, 5-movie
run. Sure, he was different from previous
bonds, “why so serious?” but he certainly brought some gravity to the
proceedings, and I realized that there are a lot of young people who only know
this Bond, unless they have been concientious about their TBS viewing. What this movie does beautifully is finish
the Daniel Craig arc. Early in the
movie, he captures the old Bond in this incredible fight sequence co-starring
Ana Del Armas (the next big thing, don’t ya know?). Later on, the plot gets a little heavier as
he must deal with what I think is the 3rd love of his life (if
you’re counting) who he has mixed feelings about but is forced to unmix them to
save the world, and other significant people.
Memo to the Broccoli’s:
Good luck replacing Craig, drop the crazy villain trope and just go with
a sane businessman, a Tony Soprano type, and tighten these scripts
already. If Tom Cruise can save the
world in under 2 and a half hours, so can you.
Cry Macho – 7
Only the staunchest of Clint Eastwood fans will jump up and
down over this one. While it is
enjoyable, it takes all the starch out of a story that had the makings of an
interesting adventure. It’s slow, but,
it never bores you. It’s just not what
we expect from Eastwood. But, at 90, what should we expect?
News of the World – 8
Tom Hanks is his reliable self in a western featured on
Apple+. Nothing spectacular here, just a
solid story.
The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin – 10
When a documentary starts with the unexpected death of its
subjects, as filming was being concluded, you know it’s going to be a wild
story, and it is. HBO has never been shy
about Documentaries about religion, and this is another revealing one.
The Remnant Fellowship is based in Brentwood, Tennessee, and
was founded on the magnetism of founder Gwen Shamblin who actually started her
movement, now 150,000 strong nationwide, on a gospel built around weight loss,
what she called “the weigh down.” Accused
of casting aside followers who couldn’t stay trim (I’m not making this up) and
for other reasons, she and her family ruled with an iron fist, on their way to
great wealth. You won’t believe this. Three episodes now, more to come in a year or so after the mysterious plane crash is fully investigated.
Bitchin’: The Sound
of Fury of Rick James - 8
I am totally ignorant when it comes to addiction, so I watch
this kind of stuff to get an education, and there sure is one to be had here. Rick James was a mess. Talented, but a mess. I can still remember when he had a couple of
songs that dominated music, but it could have gone on a lot longer but for his
appetite. This is a top notch
documentary on Showtime.
Miles Davis: Birth of
the Cool – 8 (Netflix)
Another American Masters PBS documentary that is
fascinating. What am I doing watching
this? It stems from that one great Tom
Cruise scene in a jazz club in “Collateral” where they talk about Miles
Davis. What a life this guy had. I’m just starting to learn.
Count Me In. – 8
A Netflix documentary on drumming and drummers. I’ve known very few drummers in my life, but
they all seemed extremely happy. I
always wanted to play the drums. Seems
like fun. These two impressions were
fortified with this nifty little doc.
Anything that tries to quantify the greatness of Keith Moon is going to
be interesting, and they make the case here that he played the drums every
waking hour, even when there was no drum set around.
Untold: Malice in the
Palace – 9 (Netflix)
The Ron Artest Story – 9 (Showtme)
What an oddity. Two
nearly identical documentaries, which main difference seems to be the clothes
the interviewed are wearing. Metta World
Peace indeed.
Only Murders in the Building – 9
This Hulu comedy/murder mystery stars Steve Martin, Martin
Short, and the surprisingly splendid Selena Gomez, who team up to try to solve
a murder mystery in their New York City apartment building, which is also a
star. The great Amy Ryan is on board as
a love interest for Martin, and for star power, charisma, and chemistry, who
could ask for anything more. They are
trying to solve a long running mystery and of course the way you monetize that
is with a podcast. The series starts a
little slowly, but as they get closer to the murderer, the tension ramps up.
Ted Lasso – 9
And finally, season two of the highly acclaimed Apple series
finishes it up. It seems to lurch around
a bit, as it tries to give its due to each character. Including one who appears
to go over to the dark side. In the end
it’s Brett Goldstyn’s portrayal of hardcore Roy Kent that is the most
interesting to me. Make no mistake,
there’s nothing else like this show on TV.
But, not for long. Look for a
slew of imitators. Their Emmy haul for
season 1 insured that.
Gunpowder Milkshake – 7
A female assassin who was abandoned by her mother (an
assassin – go figure) must reunite with mom to protect her daughter. There is a group of female assassins who come
to the rescue and it’s as ridiculous as most action movies. Not to say it doesn’t have its moments, and a
great cast.
In a Lonely Place – 9
I was told this 1950 flick was one of the all-time great
movies, which I thought was interesting since I’d never heard of it. It’s an oldie with Humphrey Bogart as a
screenwriter under suspicion for a murder he didn’t commit, but you’d never
know that by his crazy actions. A good
one for sure, but great? No.
Deadwood – 10
I’m binging Deadwood, the HBO miniseries from the early
2000’s. It is often discussed as the
greatest drama series of all time with The Wire and The Sopranos, so I thought
I would check it out. It’s written like
Shakespeare in the west, as the characters speak in a unique prose that is
sometimes hard to decipher, and that’s before the profanity. Eventually, you can taste the dust of the
mining town, and the disposability of life, as each person is just trying to
get to the next day.
This is some of the most difficult to watch scenes, and
storylines you’ll ever see on TV. If you
can stomach it, you will be rewarded by things like Ian McShane as the most wicked
villain of all time, Al Swearengen. He swears alright. The critics are right, this is epic
television, but not for the faint of ear.
Muhammed Ali – 10 (PBS)
I’ve watched many a fine documentary on the great
boxer. I could not have foreseen that
Ken Burns would take on the task of wading through it all again, but he does, and
his usual quality is evident. Covering
Ali’s religious conversion, every wife, almost every fight, and his illness in
great detail, Burns leaves nothing else to be said. Clocking in around 8 hours, it’s like that
good book that you stay up all night to read.
You can’t look away.
There was a time when the Heavyweight Champion of the World
was the center of the sporting universe.
Ali took up all that oxygen and more.
Boxing peaked with him. It’s that
simple. I know many that loved him and
many that hated him. You couldn’t be
ambivalent when it came to Ali. This
documentary probably won’t change your mind, but it gives you insight into the
methods to his madness.
Dave Chappelle – The Closer - 5
Chris Rock – Total Blackout:
The Tambourine extended cut - 8
Dave Chappelle sold 3 stand up specials to Netflix, and his
third and last really lit the controversy bulb.
Netflix employees walked out over his comments on transgender people,
and I can see why. For me, its just not
that funny as he rambles through his grievances. However, I will give him credit for wrapping
it up in a poignant ending, so if you’re going to watch, stick with it until
the end.
Chris Rock on the other hand continues to give social
commentary that everyone can understand.
He explains the difference between being rich and wealthy way better
than any politician, and bares his soul on his divorce, and why we have to
learn to deal with bullies. This is an
extension of a previous special.
