Media Captures - November 2021

 

After 15 years, a name-change for my monthly capsules on my viewing.  It's way more than just "Cinema" these days. 

Red Notice – 9

Netflix has a hit adventure movie on its hands with this tale of 3 thieves playing like Cary Grant across Europe.  Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot pretty much play their standard every-movie character, so this ain’t Shakespeare, but it ain’t trying to be, and that’s what makes it so much fun.  Yes, it’s predictable, and yes, it’s ridiculous, but sometimes we just need a nice diversion from the variant of the day. 

 

The Sparks Brothers – 10

The thing I probably enjoy the most about the accessibility we now have with streaming is the music documentaries.  They come one after another.  Some are on artists I grew up with.  Some are about ones I never heard of.  I knew nothing of the Sparks Brothers, nor their 50 year career.   

Edgar Wright is the director and he’s most famous for the movie “Baby Driver” and his love of music comes across in that movie, and he turns his attention to an influential but little know pair of brothers, Ron and Russell Maei (The Sparks).  I felt the same way I felt when I watched Searching for Sugarman a few years back.  How could I have not known?  The movie is more fun that almost any documentary.  If you like music, don’t miss it.

Mr. A & Mr. M – 10

I’ve only seen the first of the two episodes of this little doc series on A&M Records, but does it hit home for me.  Herb Alpert (Mr. A) puts together a record called The Lonely Bull, follows it up with Whipped Cream and Other Delights, and he and Jerry Moss (Mr. M) open a record company with their windfall. They sign artists like Sergio Mendes, Joe Cocker, The Carpenters, The Police, Cat Stevens, Peter Frampton, and Carole King.  Their love of the music and the freedom they give the artist make them unique.  Great stories and the love the artists confess for the company is unique.

And that's Herb's wife Lani Hall in this promo shot.  You've probably never heard of her, but she's in my top 3 favorite female vocalists.  Been listening to her since high school.  

Lani on the left, with a little ear candy

 

Every Little Step – 9

Another documentary about music, this one is a 2008 film you can catch on Netflix and it covers the auditions for a revival of the Broadway Musical “A Chorus Line.”  I’ve never doubted the craftsmanship and commitment it takes to put on a Broadway Musical, but this brings it to full, vibrant life.  This was the first Broadway Musical I ever saw and now I want to see it again. 

 

Condor - 9

One of my favorite movies is Three Days of the Condor.  So, when I heard they did a 10 episode updated version of it I had 2 questions.  "Why?"  And "What Channel?"  The answer was Epix (which is 4 channels you can add on Directv for 99 cents a month).  I then watched all 10 episodes straight through in one day.  I'm crazy.  But, it was good, credible, and I liked it.  It ain't Redford and Dunnaway, but close enough in a pandemic.  

 

Hacks – 9

The year of Jean Smart which started with her pivotal role in Mare of Easttown, concludes with her winning a best comedy actress Emmy in Hacks.  First, let me mention a specific scene in Easttown that was amazingly well executed.  She plays Mare’s mother, and there’s a scene where she falls, as old people do from time to time.  It is so real and heart-wrenching that anyone who has ever seen or done that will be moved.  It was a bravo moment for Jean portraying the embarrassment of that movement. 

Now, for Hacks.  She plays Deborah Vance, a declining Las Vegas comic who is seeing her venues get smaller and dates fewer.  She’s not ready to go quietly, so she hires Ava, a 25 year old writer with no resume to speak of.  You know what happens, at first they don’t trust each other, then over 10 episodes they make progress.  Deborah is just a classic character, and Jean Smart treats it like the role of her lifetime, which it is.  10 quick episodes on HBO.

 

And finally, two fascinating Musical TV moments:

First, here’s a clip from some kind of upcoming show with Jimmy Fallon, featuring some stunning voals:  

Secondly, if you haven’t seen Taylor Swift’s performance on SNL, keep in mind it could be worse.  You could’ve dated her.  Nevertheless, I found this pretty impressive..

At the Cinema - May 2021

 A Quiet Place – Part 2 – 8

After a 14-month pandebreak, we ended our theater fast with this follow-up to the classic 2018 horror film, directed by John Krasinski, who has gone from The Office to The Bank in a few short years.  During our break, we streamed, we rented, we binged, and we had no lack of entertainment, because we do after all, have a dog.  We watched Hamilton three times if you’re keeping score, and I can simulate the sound of the theater experience at home, but not that unique scope of the stage/screen experience because my house can’t accommodate that screen size.  So, it was exciting to get out to the theater again and I found this movie to be worth the trip.

Make no mistake, “Quiet” is a franchise.  Much like TV’s The Walking Dead, the creators have weaved an alternate world that can make for some rich story telling and suspense.   I can see it now.  It’s 2041.  I’m 88 and they wheel me into the TV room of “the home” to settle into A Quiet Place, part 12, starring Justin Bieber in his acting debut as a never-was rock star trying to entertain the troops who have the monsters surrounded and are peppering them with heavy metal rap.

Now about this movie.  It is well done, and I’m pretty sure it will be a big post-pandemic hit, giving the entire movie industry a pick-me-up.  I didn’t care for the editing much.  There are three set pieces going at once, with frantic cutting between them to a simultaneous conclusion, which we pretty much can predict.  Later Krasinski repeats that technique with two pieces at the movie’s climax.  It was a little manipulative to me, but there’s no denying it puts you on the edge of your seat.  We see a lot more of the monsters, which are ugly and use their long legs to scoot very fast across the ground to wreak havoc, although they have the good sense to slow down when approaching a movie star.  The creatures follow sound, and the emerging star/hero of the movie is played exuberantly by the fantastic deaf actress Millicent Simmonds, although her character’s survival defies all logic because she can’t hear herself make noise, nor can she hear the creatures, who everyone else can hear clacking as they approach.  Her survival, much less her heroics, probably require the largest suspension of disbelief in movie history.  Nevertheless, the movie is fun, if not up to the impossible standards set by the first one.  This ain’t the Empire Strikes Back.  But it doesn’t have to be.  And Millicent has a Vin Diesel-like mansion in her future, hopefully in the same neighborhood as the Krasinski’s. 

 

Mare of Easttown – 10

HBO gifted us with this 7-part crime drama that we watched week to week.  We weren’t used to waiting a week for the next episode and found it particularly painful in a series of this quality, which matches the high art of some of HBO’s iconic series.  This is something special.

Kate Winslet plays a troubled detective in a troubled eastern Pennsylvania town.  Mare is famous for the shot she hit as a basketball star, but her life has been a roller coaster since, as lives tend to be.  She is faced with solving a series of horrible crimes involving young women and she must wade through a lot to get to the truth.  I haven’t seen character development like this since “Rectify” and Winslet and Jean Smart, who plays her mother, should clear off their mantels.  You’re lucky.  You can binge it, several episodes at a time.  Drink this one in.  It is a worthy pinnacle of the art of story telling as television just gets better and better.  It’s not just television.  It’s not just HBO.  It’s a masterwork of pacing, detail, and acting.  Bleak, deep, and engrossing. I can't wait to watch it again. .

 

The Crime of the Century – 10

The 4 hour, 2 part HBO documentary is the real life horror story of the opioid epidemic.  Like the pandemic, over half a million lives were lost to the pain-killer addiction, but much more quietly.  This documentary painstakingly builds the case for how much greed can cost us.  I don’t know how Alex Gibney keeps turning out superb documentaries.  This one will make you shake your head til it rattles.  The conspiracy of Big Pharma and the complicitness of some government officials who failed to realize what was going on will horrify you.  It did me.  I have been suffering with sometimes pain (back and knees) for all of 2021, and I can see the dilemma that so many face trying to find anything
that will relieve it.  But, the addictive properties of opioids are just as scary as the pain.

 

Without Remorse – 8

Michael B. Jordan is a bonafide movie star and in this Tom Clancy story he plays a Clancy favorite John Clark.  He is a Navy Seal out to avenge his pregnant wife’s death.  It actually reminded me of Kill Bill, as Clark must recover from the attack that killed his wife.  Turns out there’s quite a conspiracy a foot and Clark must unravel it.  Made for Amazon prime, this was better than I thought it would be and is a worthy action diversion.

Classics Report

The Red Shoes – 10

Number 121 on the Sight and Sound Greatest Movie poll, this a stunning movie that blew me away.  The performance of the Red Shoes Ballet that takes place in the movie is fantastic considering this was released in 1948.   If you’ve ever had the least bit interest in ballet, this is not to be missed.  Worthy of its ranking.

Paths of Glory -10

Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 war classic is a sickening “war is hell” reminder.  World War I isn’t depicted much in movies, but this tells a grim tale of those foxholes.  Set in France, I was astounded by the contrast of the generals dining in luxury and calling the shots for the soldiers in foxholes. 

My Darling Clementine – 9

Number 247 in the S&S poll, this is another western directed by the great John Ford.  It is the 1945 “Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp” telling of the OK Corral Story.  A little more romance than normal, with Earp scooping up on the discarded girlfriend of Doc Holliday (Victor Mature).  Her name is Clementine, and she is played by Linda Darnell.  They wrote a song about her, and no one has named their daughter Clementine since, although it’s a pretty cool name if you think about it.  The movie is fun, although I doubt if belongs in the top 250 of all time.  Next up for us will probably be the 1957 Gunfight at the OK Corral with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, followed by the 1967 Hour of the Gun with James Garner and Jason Robards.  Oddly, both were directed by John Sturges.  There have been at least 9 versions of this story.  Don’t know how they can beat Tombstone and Kurt Russell/Val Kilmer though, huckleberry. 

 

Coming soon, a rare dining column and my New Orleans favorite restaurants.  Stand by.