MOVIES
Contratiempo – 10
This is a Spanish movie with the American title of “The Invisible Guest” which is not an enticing title at all. I had to buy the movie, but I saw one of those videos where a reviewer said this was his favorite murder mystery, so I sprung and we watched it. Then we watched it again within the 48 hour ownership period. Yes, it’s that good, and watching it the second time was even more satisfying.
A man greets his new lawyer and they begin to go through what happened to him. He is accused of murder when the police break into his hotel to find his bludgeoned girlfriend and the man claiming someone had been there with him, knocking him out before committing the crime
The lawyer begins to unravel a long, complicated story full of
twists and turns as she tries to figure out how to defend this guy. The movie
is subtitled and the reading is fast and furious as the lawyer and the
defendant go round and round. I enjoyed
this movie so much that it may enter my top 250 by the end of the year.
Strange Darling – 9
We made a rare venture out to something called a “movie theater” and watched a
movie that wasn’t shot on an iphone, but on real film, a fact it is intensely proud
of. It is a small, independent film that
has opened to (mostly) rave reviews.
It’s a horror movie about a serial killer, because that subject matter
is rare in today’s culture. I’m kidding
of course.
The innovative part of this movie is that it’s told in 6 chapters,
but they are mixed up in the re-telling.
It’s a nice touch, but not earth shattering. However the story is pretty riveting, and
it’s a beautifully executed movie, in all its bloody glory.
The story centers on a man pursuing a woman. The performances of the two principals, Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald and both extraordinary, with Willa giving an award-worthy performance, even if it’s in what is essentially a slasher movie.
The reason I don’t give this movie a 10 is because of 2 ridiculous scenes that are just stupid. But don’t let that stop you from seeing this, if you enjoy this kind of movie. It’s a bloody mess, if that’s your thing.
Unthinkable – 8
I came for Samuel J Jackson and I stayed for Carrie-Ann Moss. This is a 2010 thriller that slipped right past me. In a role that must have been written just for him, Samuel L. Jackson is right at home as a torture specialist. He’s Jackson thru and thru. Here’s the premise and you tell me - would you do the unthinkable?
How far would you go to find out a where a captured terrorist had planted 3 Nuclear weapons on US soil. Would you torture? Would you start cutting off fingers? Plucking out eyeballs?
Or even torture the terrorist’s family? Well, don’t try to hold SLJ back. He’s done this before. Others on the case are horrified, until he
starts getting answers. Are they
correct? Are you sure? Lots of tension, lots of action, and lots
of dilemmas..
Land of Bad – 8
At one time Russell Crowe was a Gladiator, in the ring, doing buff things. Now, he has descended into middle age and instead of swords, he uses drones. The is a made for Netflix movie, and apparently, it’s a big hit. Chris Hemsworth is a rookie (callsign Playboy) on a Delta Force mission to rescue a CIA informant held in the Philippines. Here’s a surprise. The mission goes sideways and Playboy is in a 48 hour fight for his life. He’s going to have to do a lot of heroic things. He wasn’t expecting this.
Fortunately, Reaper is on the drone. Just like a great video game, or at least
what I imagine a video game is because I haven’t played one since Mario
Brothers, Reaper has to pick off all kinds of troublesome obstacles. What’s
most interesting about that is the language.
I could be wrong, but this seems like authentic military verbiage, and
it’s rather fascinating. So, I got
caught up in the code words and the action and I’m kind of glad Russell looks
more like me than Maximus these days.
The Instigators – 7
Matt Damon and Casey Affleck crack wise in this light story that Affleck co-wrote. It was directed by Doug Limon. The two buddies are incompetent criminals who
stumble on a potential big pay day when the Mayor of Boston loses his
reelection bid and is driven out of office the next day (rather idiotic)
because he is crooked and has to relocate his cash. In step the two buddies. While the repartee is snappy, the movie is so
lightweight, I barely remember it
About My Father – 7
Sebastian Maniscalco builds off his successful standup act that
often features references to his father.
His act is hilarious. This movie
can’t match the exuberance of his stand-up, but it tries. Unfortunately, the great Robert DeNiro plays
his father, and he works hard, and does fine, but just is the wrong casting
choice here. He’s in everything, and it
would have just been a better movie if the role had been more authentically
cast. It’s not that he’s bad, it’s just
that he is so prolific, and we feel like we’re watching the Godfather, Senior
edition. You can almost see the meetings
where Maniscalco is trying to get the movie greenlit, but is being told he has
to get a bankable star to play his dad.
There’s some great material here, but it just kind of falls flat. Maniscalco is holding himself back. Too bad.
A surprising miss.
Love Lies Bleeding - 7
Let me start by saying there are very few movies that go completely off the
rails in the final third like this one does.
And for no reason. Up until that
point what you have is a fairly decent, nearly pornographic thriller with
Kristen Stewart burning up the screen and Ed Harris taking on his newest
oddball persona, with a jarring bald head and long hair falling from the
sides. He plays Lou Sr, a kingpin of
sorts and father of Lou, Jr (Stewart).
They are kind of estranged, and when Jr falls hard for a homeless female
body-builder, we’re off to the races. There will be sex. There will be blood. There will be murder. There will be clean up. And there will be a ridiculous final few
scenes which someone will have to explain to me.
Everybody gives their all, but using a title of a classic Elton John song was a risk that was going to be hard to live up to, although it doesn’t take much of a leap to guess that it’s all going to end that way.
Shot Caller – 6
A stockbroker (played aggressively by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) goes to prison on a DUI manslaughter conviction and ends up a kingpin. At what law school he picked up the particular set of skills he needs to whip butt on his way to the top of a crime syndicate is what I want to know. Can you say “B” movie? Just because it’s buried deep on the Netflix depth chart, doesn’t mean there is a lack of effort as the body count mounts.
The Bricklayer – 6
Chief of Station - 6
Aaron Eckhart appears to be entering the “Liam Neeson” portion of his career, with some long dormant action skills and in these outings he turns into a spy/diplomat trying to avenge the death of similar character. Another “B” movie for when you want to kill some time with overblown violence.
STREAMING/BINGING
and what’s left of Network Television
The Americans (Season 1, 2) – 10
This FX series, now on Hulu, is a spy thriller that ran from 2013 to 2018. The fact that I’m just now getting around to
it should be an example of how often I’m late to trends and fads, if indeed I ever
know about them. The first 2 seasons are
simply as good as television gets. Kerri
Rusell and Jonathan Rhys play Russian agents in deep cover as an American family. Their ruthlessness and loyalty to the
motherland is jarring. They seem to be
constantly ahead of the FBI, and they are efficient and organized.
Russell and Rhys make a formidable pair as others drop by the wayside. I don't know how realistic this cold war depiction of Reagan's America is. I guess i was too busy repossessing cars to know about all the spying going on. I don’t know how many awards the series won, but it wasn’t enough.
Troppo – 9
Another Australian surprise. I’ve watched a couple of these Australian series, and they are always a strange brew, but this one is pretty terrific. Thomas Jane plays Ted. a detective who is living in a remote part of Australia as he tries to recover from a false accusation. But the centerpiece of the story is an ex-con named Amanda, played by an exhilarating Nicole Chamoun. She murdered a friend as a teenager and after serving her time has come back to her unwelcoming hometown. Inexplicably, she becomes a private investigator who then teams with Ted to try to solve the mystery of a Korean tech pioneer who has disappeared. Naturally, the clues mount up and the mystery widens. You’d never guess that a huge conspiracy was underfoot, and Ted and Amanda are going to have to unravel it. Great characters trying to regain their footing in life. Well worth watching
Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War – 8
A deep dive that I don’t think anybody asked for, but we get anyway, into the tiniest details of the legendary Wyatt Earp. Any fan of Tombstone is going to love this, but it’s almost more than I want to know. It’s a reenactment, and some of us never tire of that shootout.
DOCUMENTARIES
Elizabeth Taylor – The Lost Tapes - 10
I didn’t know Elizabeth Taylor, but after this retrospective, I felt like I did. Which is probably more than I can say for most people living today. She may be forgotten, so here’s a little recall.
First, she may have been the most beautiful woman to ever
grace the screen
Secondly, she dominated the gossip headlines through her 8
marriages like it was as important as the Bay of Pigs. She went from vivacious to a victim of Joan
Rivers’ barbs (funniest stand-up line I’ve ever heard – call me and I’ll tell
you) and her life went from black and white to living color right there in our
living rooms. Today, celebrities come
and go, but she carried a fascination that today’s “influencers” can only dream
about. Jennifer Lopez is only halfway
there on marriages (she’ll need to marry Ben one more time – can you imagine?)
and Taylor Swift will have to do 10 more tours, 10 more relationships, and 10
more breakup songs, well into her 60’s. Elizabeth
Taylor was a terrific actress. A career
of singular beauty, and unsatisfied thirst.
This documentary, comprised of her own voice and extraordinary editing
is fascinating. When Stars were
Stars.
CLASSICS
State of the Union – 10
I’m a sucker for Director Frank Capra and his uniquely patriotic movie
making. I make no bones about “Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington,” as my favorite movie.
I was urged to consider this as mandatory election-year viewing, so since I had pretty
much forgotten it, I had to order the whole box set of Spencer Tracy/Katherine
Hepburn movies from Amazon, and I’m off and running. This is a classic, and I’ll be weighing in on
more of their movies.
In this one Tracy plays a rich guy, estranged from his wife (Hepburn of course)
who decides to run for President and soon is selling his soul to get
elected. Will he see the light? Snappy dialogue and great character actors, including Murder She Wrote's Angela Lansbury when she was a fox, make this fun and relevant.
Mr & Mrs. Smith - 8
Alfred Hitchcock made exactly one comedy, and this is it. He doesn’t appear to have done much directing, because the best course of action in a screwball comedy is to hire Carole Lombard and get out of the way. She plays the wife of Robert Montgomery, until they find out that their 3 year marriage is illegal, and he makes the mistake of saying no, he wouldn’t get married again if given the chance. Never, never say anything like that. So, they break up and it turns out he wants her back, and they play ring around themselves for a short while. It’s funny, not hilarious, and I had to find it on youtube.
Love Crazy – 8
William Powell and Myrna Loy were a great screen pair and in 1941 they made
their 10th movie together. Their
chemistry never waned, which is why I have their box set too. In this screwball comedy, Powell is trying to
get his wife back by feigning that he’s crazy to delay the divorce. Now this isn’t as great as Manhattan Melodrama
(the movie I wish Clooney and Pitt would remake) but it’s a great way to watch
some real acting.
Movie Box Sets I have (or why you should attend the eventual
garage sale)
Powell and Loy
Astaire and Rogers
Tracy and Hepburn
The Marx Brothers
The Ultimate Hitchcock
Woody Allen
The Bourne Trilogy
The Before Trilogy
The Dark Knight Trilogy
The Vacation Movies
That’s Entertainment Movies
The History of Rock N Roll
The Complete Monterey Pop Festival
17 Comedy Classics
100 Movie Classics
50 Horror Classic
50 Mystery Classics\
Maybe I should start my own streaming network.
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