Media Captures July 2024

 

MOVIES

Furiosa:  A Mad Max Saga – 8

I’m a big fan of the Max Max storyline.  It started in 1979 with Mad Max, which was eclipsed by The Road Warrior, a 1981 masterpiece.  Then in 2015, director George Miller hit the jackpot with Mad Max:  Fury Road which if not the best movie of the 2010’s was certainly the best action movie.  Unfortunately, the 9 year gap between Furiosa movies was not an accension, but a little bit of a drop.  Anya Taylor Young credibly takes over for Charlize Theron, and the story and action are strong, just not quite up to the standards of Fury Road.  It was a big ask. 

Miller chooses to tell this origination story in chapters and it has a little bit of a let’s “fill in the blanks” feeling.  Maybe that was necessary.  Maybe not.  What’s inescapable is that the Australian Miller is now 79, and may have come to the end of the road as far as Mad Max sagas go.  The failure of this movie at the box office is a commentary on the current state of movie theaters, not necessarily the quality of the work.  How much longer will theaters last?  That’s the real saga.

Twisters – 8

The special effects are truly amazing even if the story is as ridiculous as you would expect in this kind-of-a sequel/remake of the Twister of 1996.  The Glen Powell effect continues as he capitalizes on his rising popularity by starring in as many movies as possible.  Maybe he’s got Jake Gyllenhaal in his sites  Meanwhile the charismatic newcomer Daisy Edgar Jones provides the complimentary eye candy of tornado storm chasers perusing the Oklahoma weather during the “storm season.”

Some of the dialogue is ludicrous, as are the details of the plot, but it somehow builds momentum into  a fairly farfetched but riveting conclusion. Turns out riding a tornado can be fun, but not all games.  I’ve got to give them credit for their portrayal of the devastation a storm can cause.  Nice move, and probably what will pass for a hit in the summer of 2024.  Maybe there's hope for theaters.

Knox Goes Away – 8 

Michael Keaton directs and plays Knox in a portrait of a fast-moving form of dementia.  Knox has been diagnosed and told he has just a few weeks to get his affairs in order.  That would have been enough of a storyline right there.  But, you see, Knox is a trained assassin.  Hollywood would have you believe that there are so many trained contract killers in the general population that they are everywhere.

Knox’s deteriorating condition is revealed when he loses his shopping cart.  I’m kidding of course.  A hit goes bad, and then his estranged son kills the predator who impregnated his daughter and shows up, begging for help.  Thus the clock starts running, and an action thriller begins where a character study would have been just fine.  Nevertheless, Keaton sells the whole thing and it’s a good movie where a great one could have been.

Beverly Hills Cop:  Axel F - 7

I have no idea where the brains at Netflix came up with such a ridiculous title for the 4^th installment of the Beverly Hill Cop movies, but there’s no doubt where they came up with the script.  This movie is like going to a class reunion when you’re 70 and going on a car chase for old times’ sake.  The snappy repartee is there because alzheimers hasn’t set in yet, but the body is a tad old and creaky.  So, in keeping with the tradition of BHC, let’s have Axel get arrested a few times, have a couple of ridiculous chase scenes, and befitting the name, end it with a Beverly Hills mansion shoot out, tearing it to shreds.  Seems like old times.  There are some ok action sequences, and Eddie Murphy is still a great comic actor, and the gang is getting off some great one-liners, but the first thing you acknowledge at that reunion is that we just aren’t as spry as we used to be, and maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.

The Beekeeper – 4 

One of those movies that should’ve lasted about 10 minutes, if only somebody would have just shot Jason Statham from about 10 feet away, instead of rushing him so he could beat up 50 Seal Team 6 members at once.  Leaves you ashamed that you enjoyed some of it.  And those opening 10 minutes are actually pretty good, as it starts the story with one of those shameful scams where an old person loses their life savings over the phone.  Mrs. Huxtable is so distraught she does the unthinkable, and this puts the invincible Jason Statham into action.  Justified, but ludicrous.  I have to admit, I wish we could do this in real life, beat up a few thousand scammers. Mindless, blurry action, if that’s your thing.

Brawl on Cell Block 99 – 7

Vince Vaughn is at his most wooden in this preposterous, but mildly entertaining exercise in brutality.  Vaughn plays a bear of a man who apparently has no pain receptors.  When he gets laid off he decides it’s time to live a better life, and the pathway to that for him is through running drugs.  After a few successful years, the law catches up with him and he begins a journey through the prison system that culminates in a face-off for the ages.  It’s great to be a movie guy like Vince, or Jason. No pain no gain.
 

Holidate – 6 

A bonafide Hallmark movie that upgrades the acting talent from C- to C+ with a story you’ve seen over and over.  One of the main characters is usually clueless and here it’s Emma Roberts, who has no redeemable qualities as Sloane, but somehow has a pretty likeable guy (Luke Bracy) falling for her as the make a pact to go to family functions as a couple on holidays so as to not have to put up with the relatives’ “dating” questions.  My suggestion is to watch the trailer, which thoughtlessly has every funny scene in it.  It took us 3 nights to get through this.  A Three-Nighter. 

On Body and Soul – 8 

Of all things Forbes magazine cited a Hungarian movie on Netflix as worthy, so we tried it on.  A unique movie with a neat premise.  Two co-workers in a slaughterhouse find that they are dreaming the same dream every night.  Beautiful dreams.  How’s that for a launch of a relationship?  Well, it’s a rocky launch and this isn’t for everyone. But, as movies go in the 21^st century it’s a love story.  Certainly not a Hallmark one.

STREAMING/BINGING and what’s left of Network Television 

Tehran (Season 2) – 10

So Apple+ has a critically acclaimed drama with an authentic, unrecognizable cast and in an effort to boost profile, they decide to add an American star, Glenn Close.  She’s a great actress, but she’s as out of place here as I would be at a Phish concert.  Despite her unsettling and unnecessary presence, the storytelling is superb, and the momentum from the first season continues.  This is a great demonstration of spycraft, and I look forward to the third season, when I understand they are adding Hugh Laurie, because I guess they need a cranky but brilliant doctor.  Great conclusion to this season.  Didn’t see it coming, and that’s rare. 

The Outsider – 8

This is a 10-episode HBO series from 2022 based on a Stephen King novel.  I’m not a King devotee.  Don’t read his books, but I certainly admire his volume.  Unfortunately my love of the supernatural faded about 30 years ago.  I read that this was one of his best series adaptations, so I thought I would check it out.  The first 3 episodes are stellar, and boom I was hooked.  Then we dragged to the finish line.  The drag should have lasted about 6 episodes, but that’s not the way things work in the world of streaming. 

But, as these things go, pretty good.
 

Presumed Innocent – 7

Jake Gyllenhaal must work more than any other actor, although Glen Powell is nipping at his heels.   He wandered into the streaming wars with the Road House update on Amazon Prime, although in fairness he thought it was good enough to get a theatrical release.  (It wasn’t.)  Now he takes on a mini-series with an unnecessary remake of the Scott Turow popular novel.  In 1990 it was made into a hit movie with the legendary Harrison Ford as Rusty Sabich, (great name, right?) a Chicago prosecutor who investigates, and is later the prime suspect in the murder of fellow prosecutor, and lover Carolym Pohemus (another great name.) 

Jake takes over the lead role in this series, which is just as drawn out as you would expect.  My pet peeve are some minor, but horribly offensive baseball scenes.  The courtroom drama is not that sharp legal wrangling you’d like to see, it’s more personality driven, principally by Peter Skaarsgard, who proves once again that no one can snivel like he can.

Ruth Negga plays Rusty’s wife, who despite the piling up of infidelity revelations is gamely trying to hold the Sabich family together.  I guess the movie is largely forgotten, but there’s a critical casting issue in this version.  In the movie Greta Scacchi plays the ravishing Pohemus and her charisma is evident.  That’s the problem with this series.  I’m sure Renate Reinsve is a fine actress, but as Pohemus she just doesn’t display that “it” that would drive a man to the crazy passion Sabich confesses.  This should be a tour de force for Gyllenhaal, but while he’s intense, he’s too bland for the role, even when compared to Harrison Ford.  But, by now, we know this all too well. 

DOCUMENTARIES

Charlie Hustle and the Matter of Pete Rose – 8

As a Pirate fan, I hated Pete Rose.  He beat you, and it just seemed like he rubbed it in your face.  My personal opinion has always been that yes, he should be in the Hall of Fame (for his play), but no, he should never be allowed anywhere near baseball (for his betting while he was a manager.).  You may not know this, but when they put him on the ineligible list for betting on baseball they changed the rules to make him also ineligible for the Hall of Fame, which was previously just selected by the writers.  Not particularly fair, but not the most important decision ever made either.

Pete, now 83, knows he’s nearing the end and is making one more push to make it into the HOF before he croaks, and he’s found some willing allies at HBO who have produced an nice recap of his life, times, and arrogance.  Nothing has changed.  He’s his own worst enemy.  Unfortunately at 4 episodes of just under an an hour each, the documentary is about 42% too long.  There’s just so much one can take of Rose’s ego, narcissism, denial, selective memory, whining, and cries of “unfair.”  We’ve never seen anything like it!  All the sympathy I had for Rose going in was destroyed by the conclusion.

He still rubs it in people’s faces, and I can promise you that if he ever makes it into the hall, it will be long after he’s gone, and people are just looking at his records, and not having to deal with his attitude.  By the end of this thing, I had no sympathy for him. 

Here I am, a huge baseball fan, and the superstars of my lifetime of enjoyment, Rose, Bonds, ARod, Palmero, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, and many more are not going to see the hallowed hall.  But, last year Scott Rolen was elected.  I can’t remember ever seeing him play.  Where has baseball gone, Joe Dimaggio?

Stevie Van Zandt:  Disciple - 10

This HBO documentary is a revelation.  Little Stevie has had a wondrous career.  From Bruce Springsteen’s main man to Tony Soprano’s confidant – that’s the way most of us him know him.  But there’s much more to his story.  He’s been an influential proponent of keeping rock n roll alive (yes, I’ve added his Underground Garage Sirius channel to my rotation as a result of watching this) and been a prominent producer of other artists, and a leader of his own band.

What most of us don’t know is that he left the E Street Band just when Springsteen’s Born in the USA fame was about to kick in.  He began an epic effort to attack apartheid in South Africa.  This culminated in his We Are the World-like production of “Sun City,” an anthem that had enormous impact.  It is this part of the movie that is the most “documentary” as I had no idea of his efforts and the effect they had. 

I love Rock N Roll Documentaries (and concert films) and with the social changes music has generated in the last century or so, maybe that’s what we should be displaying in classrooms.  I was reflecting on all the great music docs and here are some of my favorites (knowing I’ll leave some out):

There Will be Music
The Last Waltz (still the gold standard)
Monterey Pop
Get Back
WoodstocK
Amy
Stop Making Sense & American Utopia
Eight Days a Week
George Harrison:  Living in a Material World
Searching for Sugarman

I Am Celine Dion – 6

Prior to her epic comeback song at the Olympics I watched this Netflix documentary that will make you cringe at the gruesomeness of the disease Stiff Body Syndrome, that she now suffers with.  It is clearly stated that Celine was dedicated to her career and she misses her abilities. This is as tough to watch as any horror movie or political speech. I was convinced that we would never see her perform again.  I hope the film crew kept rolling as I was stunned to see her sing again. 

CLASSICS

Don’t Look Now – 5

For several years I’ve been trying to work my way through what are considered the classics.  Many of these movies have not aged well and I’ve been disappointed. I’ve come to realize that it is asking a lot for a film to age well.  They can’t all be Casablanca.   Highly regarded foreign movies with subtitles have been the majority of these.  For some reason, I just had never gotten around to the Donald Sutherland/Julie Christie “classic,” but when Southerland recently passed away, it was back on my radar.

There are several reasons the movie is famous.  Most notorious is the stars’ sex scene which had long been alleged to be so realistic, that it was real.  The editing is famous for it’s intercutting, and its examination of the grief of losing a child is at its core.

None of this holds up very well.  There was no moment in the notorious sex scene that appeared at all real, which is what the stars have long said.  The editing, particularly in the critical moments is so distracting as to cut the effectiveness of any tension in pieces.  The story, which veers into the supernatural, unnecessarily, involves a lot of running around the streets of Venice in a disjointed way that makes you feel it’s a filler.  Here’s my guess.  In 1974 this may have worked.  Today, it doesn’t hold the Venice canal water.  A huge disappointment, and now I have no desire to go to Venice. 

Media Captures June 2024

 MOVIES

The Last Stop in Yuma County – 9

Is a gas station.  It’s out of gas.  A cast of characters gather at the local café, awaiting the fuel truck. There’s nothing else for miles.    Two of them have just robbed a bank.  Soon, everyone figures that out, and chaos ensues in a Tarantino kind of way.  Imagine a Pulp Fiction where they never left the diner.

This is one of those movies with the right blend of tension, humor, and violence.  It’s gotten a lot of good press, so I paid for it.  Universally well done, I don’t want to tell you much more because it would spoil the surprises, although by the time it hits the streamers you will have forgotten the following:

Francis Galluppi is the director, and it must be awfully hard for a new director to break in, but this movie signals a lot of promise.  Jim Cummings has the most prominent role as a travelling knife salesman, an attribute that comes in handy.  The actor that steals the show is Richard Blake as the most menancing of bank robbers.  As greed begins to take over the various customers, he realizes that since he’s outnumbered, he has to turn it up a notch.  Good movie, well worth a watch.

Hit Man – 9

New star Glen Powelll jumped from his minor role in Maverick to a couple of higher profile opportunities.  He co-wrote this with renowned director Richard Linklater, and since it’s about a real person who lived in New Orleans, I was prone to watch. 

Gary Johnson is barely noticeable as a teacher, but he contracts out as an undercover hit man for the New Orleans Police Force, which given the history of crime in NOLA is pretty surprising, that NOPD would be that inventive.  But, Gary is quite inventive and gets better and better at entrapping dumbasses until inevitable complications arrive.  I have no idea how much of this story is true, but it’s compelling and fun, and Glen may be headed for stardom.  But, I have a pretty poor track record on such predictions. 

Trigger Warning – 1

There I was, waiting patiently for the reappearance of Jessica Alba in this Netflix vehicle.  I wish I had never seen it.  Painfully implausible, more painfully horrible, Jessica plays a war vet returning for her Dad’s funeral to find out that his death in a mine was mysterious. An inordinate amount of time is spent in the mine, and it all left me in the dark.  I can’t believe I watched this.

 

STREAMING/BINGING and what’s left of Network Television

Tehran – 10

If I would have run for President I would have had a lot of areas where I would have needed guidance, but none more than the middle east.  I don’t understand it. Unfortunately, I’ve learned most of what I know from a sereies called “Homeland.”  I read this article ranking Apple+ series, and it ranked this as their best production, even ahead of Ted Lasso, so I dug in and swallowed season one of “Tehran” and found it not only educational on Israel and Iran, but a thrilling spy story, that grabbed me in the first episode and never let go.

Niv Sultan plays Tamar, a Mossad hacker who is trying to disable the Iran defenses so that Israel can bomb the nuclear sites, because “we can’t let Iran get the bomb.”  Aside from some makeup problems (her wounds from a beating go away rather quickly) she is a most compelling character, who has to constantly improvise and evade detection.  It’s cool stuff.

This Israeli series was the first to win an international emmy for best drama series, and in subsequent seasons it has started to add high profile talent.  Can’t wait.  If you have Apple+, dig in to this spy thriller and thank me later. 

Media Captures - May 2024

 

MOVIES

American Fiction – 10

On the night of the Oscars, as I watched the bloated Oppenheimer (I dissented on its greatness) steam through the awards, I was briefly encouraged when it lost one – Best Adapted Screenplay.  American Fiction surprisingly took the prize and it was one of the few nominees that night that I hadn’t seen, so I filed it away and then took months to get to it.  That was stupid on my part.

American Fiction is a brilliantly written and acted story that despite the accolades, still surprised me.  Jeffrey Wright, who I’ve been a fan of since he played Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records, plays Monk, a very serious black writer who wants to be taken seriously, but can’t.  He toils along writing stuff that doesn’t sell, and in a fit of desperation he writes what his agent tells him everyone wants – a story of the black experience, complete with slang and a backstory of him, using a pseudonym, on the run from police.  It just gets more complicated from there and the movie has a great ending.  Literate and funny thoughout, a high recommendation from me.

The Idea of You – 9

A 40 year old divorced mother art gallery owner falls for a 24 year old singer in an immensely popular boy band.  The most unbelievable part of that sentence to me is the fact that any boy band is immensely popular, because I’ve never really understood said popularity as they gyrate and bounce around a stage with no instruments except their looks, and I could go on and on.  But the reason the first part of the sentence is not that unbelievable is that the 40 year old mother is played by Anne Hathaway, and the young guy is played by I really don’t know who.  You see, yes I’m a fan of hers and with a lesser actress this movie would be a nothing burger, but she is so luminous in the role that it’s like she’s a 100 watt light bulb in a 40-watt world and it's no wonder boy meets girl/woman.

The movie is not great, and it’s the same ole formula for romances, it drags a little at the end, but it’s still satisfying for the romantics.  And did I mention Anne Hathaway?

 

Dreamin’ Wild – 7

A melancholy true story of a couple of teen-age brothers who cut an album and then get on with their lives.  Donnie Emerson (played not very convincingly as an adult by Casey Affleck) manages to eek out a musical career running a small recording studio, his dreams having died a long time ago.  Joe Emerson (Walter Coggins) was the not very good drummer when they were young, and Beau Bridges has been resurrected to play their too-supportive father.  When a record producer, played by the always irritating Chris Messina comes along with a desire to remaster their only long lost record as it becomes popular, dreams and problems are revisited. 

It's a pretty interesting story but told in such a melancholy and dreary way that makes it a struggle to get through.  Having said all that, the ending is quite cool, so I listened to the real Emerson’s music the next day, and it was pleasant.  I’ve always believed there are many talented people out there, and its just about getting a break.  The Emerson brothers never got theirs.

Atlas – 6

I guess when you’re Jennifer Lopez and you want to get out of the house because your latest marriage is on the rocks, a vanity project of your own is ok.  JLo probably thinks this review is about her.  It is.  If you’re going to produce an action thriller with gobs of AI special effects in a story about AI, you might want to include some action where you leave the cockpit of some Godzilla like robot, instead of just sitting there throwing off pithy one liners to a computer while you try to catch the really bad guy.  The story’s not that bad, but JLo and I both had claustrophobia by the end.

DOCUMENTARIES

Stax:  Soulsville USA – 9

This documentary is 4 episodes of approximately an hour each and its educational in parts, thrilling in others.  It starts when white brother and sister Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton decided to open a studio in Memphis to record their beloved country music.  Little did they know they were actually starting what would be become a legendary R&B label.  There are great stories here about the music I grew up with.  How a B side (that’s on a little 45 RPM record folks) called “Groove Me” by Booker T and the MG’s (the house band) unexpectedly launched them.  How Otis Redding became a star, and how his biggest hit was recorded just days before his death in a plane crash.  Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave, and many others are discussed in loving detail.  And then there’s the ill-fated partnership with Atlantic Records.  Business rise and fall stories are always interesting, but when music is involved, it’s even better.

Beach Boys – 7

All these movies about the Beach Boys are fun, fun, fun, but this ground has now been covered so many times in so many different formats, there’s just nothing more to say.  I’ve seen it all by now, even if its still fun to sing along.

Procession – Inc

The latest documentary on the atrocities of the Catholic Church and their priests was so heartbreaking and gruesome, I just couldn’t watch it all.  That’s rare for me.  But I’ve sat through Spotlight, Mea Maxima Culpa, and Deliver Us From Evil, and I’d love to say they should be required viewing, but I just can’t.  Maybe I’ll go back and finish this one day, but I’m not sure I can.  It’s a rough one.

Media Captures - April 2024

MOVIES

Musica – 9

Gosh, I do love things that are original.  In a rough month, this was the thing that enthralled me the most.  Rudy Mancuso stars and directs, and it’s easy to see why.  There was probably no one else who knew what he was talking about.  It’s the story of a young man who hears music in everything, from plates rattling to spoons falling and yet he is tone-deaf in an unsatisfying relationship.  He toils as, of all things, a puppeteer in the subway.  No one else sees or hears what he does, and we’ve all probably been there at one time, when no one around us was on our wavelength. 

Fortunately, he meets (and of course loses) his muse, then starts the chase for her and financial stability.  We know he’ll make it, we’re just not sure how.

Unfrosted – 8

Somewhere between Idiocy and genius is the Jerry Seinfeld obsession with cereal.  He was born 360 days after me and every morning we poured milk over our corn flakes.  Or Cheerios,  Or Frosted Flakes.  He has launched a total domination of all media for the last few weeks to get you to watch his movie about pop tarts, and why they threatened the cereal industry.  I’ve had quite an experience with this movie in that the first 4, yes 4 times trying to watch it, I fell dead asleep within minutes, which may have been circumstance, but is certainly strange. 

There are some incredibly funny scenes in this movie.  Your tolerance for the movie will probably be in direct proportion to your love of breakfast nostalgia.  I can see some people turning off after 30 minutes, and some giggling all the way through.  To each his own.  I woke up this morning to see it has ascended to the top spot on Netflix, certainly a testament to Jerry’s all out promotion.  Here’s the truth:  because of his relentless promotion, a gazillion people will see it on Netflix.  I can’t image one person paying at the box office to go see this movie.  It is the perfect Netflix vehicle, and it gives him the ticket to do another one in about 5 years.  Maybe about his lost socks.  For now, he will go back to stand-up having left one key question unanswered.  What ever happened to Rice Krinkles?  They were the best. 

Anna – 8

Saw this touted as a great spy thriller, and it’s not.  It’s kind of the female version of Bourne or Jackie Chan except she is even better at dispatching a large group of men patiently, patently, politely waiting to take her on one at a time when the obvious play is to shoot her from a distance.  An acceptable way to spend 2 hours if you like this kind of stuff.

Anyone But You – 8

BGG, BLG, BGGA, BLGA, finally BGGFG with two largely unlikeable characters played by two likeable new stars, Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell.  You’ll be seeing a lot of them.  A cool, if totally implausible script which is best ignored.  Just watch the Gable and Colbert in the making.  Well, that may be an exaggeration.  

The Flash – 7

A not that bad Super Hero flop that is weighted down by at least 45 minutes of unnecessary special effects.  Give me the scissors and let me recut this movie and I’d guarantee a hit, because there is some really nice stuff here, but the movie is more bloated than me leaving a Pizza Hut.

The Greatest Hits – 6

It has been said that Lucy Boynton, who is the star of this movie, is the most beautiful woman in the world.  You will probably remember her playing Freddie Mercury’s one-time girlfriend in Bohemian Rhapsody.  Here she is torn between a lover in her past, and one in her present, and what sinks this movie like a stone is that she has zero chemistry with either.  She had way more with Freddie, and he was gay.  The premise here is that when she hears a song she gets transported through time.  Don’t we all?  Isn’t that kind of the point of great music?  Nice idea but executed about as well as a Derek Carr screen pass.

 

STREAMING/BINGING and what’s left of Network Television

Baby Reindeer -9

Ever heard of the phrase “car wreck you can’t take your eyes off of?”  Well, this is the plane crash version.  It’s the allegedly too-true story of a floundering comedian and the pleasant, then unpleasant stalker who drains his life blood.  The truth appears that neither are too stable and we get to watch as the plane goes into an unpredictable tailspin.  This is gross, graphic, and definitely not for everyone.  I could have lived without it, but once on-board, I had to know where it was going to not land.

Ripley – 8

You will never see black and white cinematography like this again.  Mostly set in Italy, I could’ve just watched it with a musical background.

Unfortunately, there’s a story to be told, or re-told, and if you’ve seen the movie, “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” you’ve seen this.  I often watch media and think would this have been better as a movie, or better as a mini-series, and this is a tough call, because I’m not a big fan of either.  In this 8-episode retelling, it is slow and so lowkey as to rival a good nap.  Or a bad nap, if there is such a thing.  I’ve read some high acclaim and some pans, and I’m not in either camp.  The actor that plays Tom Ripley here, Andrew Scott, is properly creepy in his dead pan delivery, but I just never really bought it.  On the other hand, I stayed for Dakota Fanning as Margo, as I didn’t remember the movie that well, and I was hoping she would avoid disposition by the evil Ripley.  She directs a dubious stare at Tom that any married man will recognize.  On the positive side, I loved the ending, but just not sure if it was worth the time. 

Good Behavior – Season 2 – 9

I was expecting a drop-off that never came as we settled into the second season.  See last month’s right up, but this series took a storyline turn that floored me in season one, and season two couldn't possibly match it, but they sure tried.  Worth the search.

DOCUMENTARIES

The Truth vs. Alex Jones – 10

The saddest “truth” of this movie is that those who most need to watch it will refuse to.  I’ve always been very conscious of what I consider the two tenants of human life.  I won’t give them both away, but one of them has been to always be aware of the difference between “belief” and “knowledge.”  As I’ve gained perspective with age, I have realized that I KNOW very little and that as humans we have settled on criteria for when we move something from the belief to the knowledge column, and yet it’s not universally accepted.

There are some devastating scenes in this documentary by Dan Reed.  He had incredible access to the subjects and the court room and it all illustrates that “belief” can be a costly concept.

Image this unspeakable grief of losing a child.  In this case at the hands of a gun man.  And then, the compounding of that grief be taking an incredible amount of degradation at the hands of a for-profit media star that’s found his golden goose. 

It’s unbelievable.  And yet, here we are.

 

STAND-UP

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction – 9

David Letterman just couldn’t stay away, and I’m glad.  Like Howard Stern, he has mellowed.  The outrageousness may be gone, but not the insightfulness.  His interviews, more portraits, are enjoyable.

This month he interviews John Mulaney, and Letterman is obviously a big fan of Mulaney’s work.  This one is noteworthy in that they both spend time in, and crap on, Biloxi, without bothering to ask anybody how to pronounce it.  When you live in the south you’re used to it, but as they both point out, Letterman had a talk show for 30 years and you’d think at some point he’d have to come across the correct pronunciation. 

CLASSICS

Go – 8

Director Doug Liman is a big deal these days (the current Road House), but he was largely unknown when he piloted this movie to cult classic status in 1999.  It was likened to Pulp Fiction, and I’ll give it that there’s a frantic vibe to it, but its main characteristic is that it tells the same story over and over from different characters’ perspectives.  The story is about the buying, selling, and flushing of ecstasy pills, and you can see the Liman potential, if so inclined. 

Media Captures - March 2024

 MOVIES

 Blackberry – 9

This chronicling of the development, deployment, and eventual demise of the Blackberry phone is a blast.

This was before the internet revealed EVERYTHING that was going on, so this story is all new to me. It points out that no matter how creative you are, and how innovative your product is, it’s never enough.  Someone is going to catch up, and you better keep innovating.

In this case, and it’s in Canada, the co-CEO makes so much money so fast, he quickly gets distracted by his efforts to buy an National Hockey League team.  Talk about taking your eye off the puck.  Fun movie, with great portrayals by Glen Howerton, Jay Burchel, and Matthew Johnson as the three very different dudes shoving the Blackberry into the market.

The Man From Earth – 9
The Man From Earth:  Halocene – 7

These movies have budgets so low, they practically never leave one room.  But, the story is interesting.  A college professor has resigned, much to the dismay of his contemporaries, but the reason is rather unusual.  He thinks they are going to notice that he doesn’t age.  In fact, he was once a caveman, and he’s had more than a few brushes with famous people.  Thus, it’s time for him to move on, a constant in his life.  He makes a decision he will probably regret when he chooses to spill the beans to this particular group of friends.  The questions begin, and it was pretty cool to me. 

In the sequel, a group of students at his next university become suspicious at his depth of historical knowledge and begin to figure out who he is.  The sequel isn’t as good, but they never are.

Nefarious – 8

Here’s a 2023 Amazon Prime movie that may give you the creeps.  On the day of his scheduled execution, a serial killer torments the psychiatrist sent to evaluate him and sign off on his sanity.  Hard to do when you’re dealing with a man who claims to be a demon and plays Jekyll and Hyde minute to minute.  Sean Patrick Flannery is properly over the top as the killer and his manipulation of the psychiatrist, played by Jordan Belfi is fun to watch. 

Dream Scenario – 8

I’ve never been a big fan of Nicholas Cage, even in his famous roles, but he seems suddenly perfectly for this one.  He plays Paul Matthews, a college professor who suddenly starts appearing in the dreams of people he has never met.  Now that’s an original idea.  It’s all kind of fun, until the dreams take on, shall we say permutations.  Haven’t seen this story or anything like it before, and while it’s not perfect, it’s fun to watch movies like this. 

Road House – 8

If you are looking for realism, this ain’t the place.  It's a great place to see Abs though.  Don’t know whose idea it was to remake one of those cable “over and over” movies, but Director Doug Lymon, who has done some good movies, said “why not?”

It’s exactly what you would expect in 2024.  Jake Gyllenhall cuts loose with some semi-cute one-liners, a lot of punches, and Conner McGregor, of UFC fame plays his tormentor with such wide eyed gusto he practically steals the movie.  The original Road House is far from a masterpiece, but (spoiler alert) there is a level of depth added when the legendary Wade Garrett (played by heartthrob Sam Elliott) is a victim of the bad guys.  In 2024 you can’t kill off heroes, so none of that here, and I think this should have been called Road House Florida, thereby opening the can for about 48 more movies.  Take a moment to think about what they could do in your state.  And check it out if you want some diversionary mano a mano.

Wishmaster - 8

t’s rare that I get caught up in a B movie, and the reason I watched this was only because I saw a Reels clip that was striking.  It was what I expected and pretty decent for the genre.

STREAMING/BINGING and what’s left of Network Television

Good Behavior:  Season 1 – 10

I was alerted to this series and got into it pretty slowly, as the characters certainly have their challenges. Its 10 episode first season was a TNT production that flew under the radar until it was licensed to MAX where it has gained some traction.  There is a lot of this cross licensing going on.  I wonder when The Wire will come to Disney plus.

This is the story of a con woman/thief named Letty (Michelle Dockery) out on parole, trying to maintain her good behavior.  Soon she meets an assassin-for-hire named Javier (a charismatic Juan Diego Botto) and they meander through the first six episodes, doing mostly bad things.  Interesting, but nothing special so far.  Then, boom!  Nothing prepares you for the bombshell 7th episode, The Ballad of Santini.  It centers on the Javier's reluctant Argentinean family reunion. It's about as good as TV gets and the final 3 episodes pack quite a wallop.  We'll be checking out season 2 soon, but for now I'm just going to savor this sleeper.  Don't miss it, and don't give up too soon.     

DOCUMENTARIES

Turning Point:  The Bomb and the Cold War – 10

This is a devastatingly complete history of the Cold War and the constant threat of Nuclear Armageddon.  It marches us through the leadership of the Soviet Union, the United States, and all the other pertinent nations since World War II.  I firmly believe this will be used in teaching history, and should be a must-see as it explains Putin, his objective of putting the Union back together, and how we got to this point.  If you have any interest in history, like you were prepped to get under your desk during the Cuban Missile Crisis, don’t miss this.

The Dynasty:  New England Patriots – 10

This Apple+ Series covers the 20 years of the Belichick/Brady era.  It’s pretty controversial as many Pats fans and even former players consider it a hit piece on Bill, and a Robert Kraft crafting of what happened.    I didn’t see it that way at all.  I thought it was a microcosm of how hard it is to manage people.  Yes, Belichick’s inflexibility has finally caught up with him, but his defensive teams of those years were stellar, up until the point where he benched Malcolm Butler for a Super Bowl, just 2 years after Butler saved the Super Bowl vs the Seahawks.  That was probably the turning point for Tom Brady’s loyalty to the Coach.

Here’s what I saw.  First Brady’s secret weapon was his passion. I had seen some of the footage before, but there was a lot I hadn’t seen.  You don’t play until that age without an incredible self-motivation, and it’s on showcase here.

Secondly, if this was a Kraft production, he doesn’t do a very good job.  He comes off as whiney to me, especially when the Patriots keep getting caught in their litany of transgressions.

Lastly, there’s Bill.  To me he didn’t progress with the times.  Young people of today are different and Bill didn’t change much.  But, in fairness I don’t think the accusation that he lost the locker room is accurate either.  How can you lose a room where the average player has a 4 year career?  He lost his quarterback.  Then he lost his job.  In the NFL you can’t win without a Quarterback and in some warped thinking Bill kept wanting to move on from the greatest player in NFL history.  My only quibble is that they left some things out that would’ve provided even more context.

I found it all to be fascinating.  Building a winner and keeping it going is an incredible story.

Steve! (martin) a documentary in 2 Pieces – 9

This Apple+ documentary by famed Documentarian Morgan Neville is, in the first half, a gentle recap of Steve Martin’s career.  It brought back memories of the two wildly funny concerts he did at Southern Miss that I attended.  It may have been the hardest I ever laughed.  I couldn’t catch my breath.  Steve went on to what I considered a legendary career making comedy classics like The Jerk, Roxanne, All of Me.  He has been recognized as a one of the great comedians of our time.  

The second half is less of a history lesson.  It’s more about the man and how he has mellowed, and how he remains dedicated in his late 70’s to being funny and to entertaining anyone he can, while enjoying a late marriage, and a late child, which made me hope he lives forever. 

Joan Baez:  I Am a Noise – 6

This is a rather lifeless documentary about the legendary folk singer.  She is an important musical figure to my generation, but this one had me nodding off.  Still love her and fondly remember her overpowering concert.  

STAND-UP

Steve Trevino:  Simple Man – 9

I love it when a guy I’m a fan of moves up to what must be the ultimate prize, the Neflix special.  He continues to grow and the story of he and his wife’s adventures range from amusing to hilarious.

 
PlAYS

Ain’t Too Proud to Beg – 9

This is the Broadway musical road show that I saw at the Sanger in New Orleans.  It’s the story of The Temptations and their many members.  Great music, great performances, although not quite the punch of Jersey Boys, it’s in the same vein, and for those of us who sang Motown like crazy, kind of a thrill.

Media Captures - February 2024

MOVIES

The Whale – 10

At first you will be grossed out by this movie, but as it wears on, you realize that director Darren Aronofsky and Brendan Frasier, who took home a best-acting Oscar for this, have crafted a compelling and heartbreaking portrait of a man who is essentially eating himself to death over the trauma of an ended relationship.  I saw someone say Frasier gives the greatest performance in the history of movies, and while I wouldn’t go that far, or even close to that far, I will say that he total commits to a role that is built on an emotional roller coaster.  I feel like I’m spouting off cliches here, but I don’t know how else to express my admiration. 

It’s a complete movie.  It’s hard to watch.  It’s tough to absorb.  You may not like it.  But, it will be a while before you forget it.

The Fabelmans – 9

Steven Spielberg’s thinly veiled story of his childhood is a nice little story with some interesting scenes that would rate about a 6 without the phenomenal performance of Michelle Williams as the mother.  Her complexity, and her pain as she breaks her family apart elevates this movie to rarified air.  I’m going to confess that I’ve never made it through last year’s Best Picture Oscar Winner and its accompanying Best Actress Michelle Yeoh, but now I’m pissed.  For Michelle Williams to get passed over is criminal.  This is a stunning performance, and she picks up the whole movie and carries it on her shoulders.  This is a master class in acting.

Plus One – 9

After watching a lot of disappointing romcoms this year, this one caught me by surprise.

Attending weddings with those boring speeches, watching the evening deteriorate, the predictable dance play list, it’s all here, and you just want to yell at the screen, “Yes, yes.”  So, what was the main reason I watched?  Well, it’s the lead Maya Erskine, who I saw in the pretty bad new Mr. & Mrs. Smith series.  She holds up her end of the bargain in both, and I’m not going to say we have a new rom-com Meg Ryan, but she’s expressive and winning and I like her.  You either have the gift of comedy timing or you don’t, and it looks like she’s got it.

Most importantly, I laughed a lot.  It swung towards a more serious side, but it never let go of its heart.

Time Trap – 8

Production values couldn’t be any lower, as 90% of the movie takes place in a cave in this 2017 Sci-fi.  There’s a time tunnel and it’s kind of cool the way the calendar jumps around as they go up and down in the cave.  I like time travel movies just enough to like this one.  If you like the hypotheticals of time travel, check this one out.  It’s no “Time After Time” but still a fun trip.

The Abyss – 7

First, let me say that this is one of the great trailers ever.  They cherry picked the best sequence in the movie, which is great as a preview, but not great when you’re watching the movie.  This is one of those hybrid Netflix movies that seems to have been filmed with everyone speaking their native language and the non-English speakers dubbed in.  This is very distracting to me, and I’m not sure why.  This is based in Sweden, and a town build on a mine.  Or maybe they mined under the town.  Either way, it's collapsing in a spectacular fashion.

There is a lot of family drama which telegraphs who is going to survive and who isn’t.  Other than the other pretty compelling action sequences, not much here we haven’t seen before, although I like the fact that the actors are unknown, which makes it seem real.  But in the end, it was just a nice try.
 

Maggie Moore(s) - 6

This is the story of a murder for hire that gives itself away pretty early.  There is some chemistry among the stars, Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, and Nick Mohammed (of Ted Lasso fame), as they try to figure our why two people with the same name would be murdered within a week of each other, but the movie is flat and uninteresting, and the script was so lacking of punch, I couldn’t help but wonder why, if you’ve cast Tina Fey, why wouldn’t you use her to punch up the script.  To me, Tina Fey is an American Icon, and I have no idea why she is in this movie.  Any of a million actresses could have played this role.  I watch movies for entertainment, and I was not entertained.  Not close.  I’m a big fan of Tina and this is a puzzling misstep.

You Hurt My Feelings – 5

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is the other icon that underdelivers in a flat performance in a flat movie.  She plays a female writer who overhears her husband say that he didn’t much care for her last book.  That sends her spiraling toward a divorce.  In my estimation, her husband is so uninspiring, I’m surprised it took her this long.  But fear not, the plot goes exactly where you think it’s going, and nobody was harmed in the making of this movie.  Only in the watching.

Knock at the Cabin – 7

M. Night Shyamalan is down to recapturing the magic about every 5^th movie, and I’ll have to admit he got close here, but no cigar.  This is one of those “cabin” movies where people rent a cabin and things go awry.  Here the awry is a bunch of loonies who break in with the claim that only the 3 renters can prevent the Apocalypse, by executing each other.  I don’t think I’d buy this, but maybe you would, if presented with the evidence the loonies carry, as well as their commitment to the cause. 

I’d rather stay out of cabins.  Give me Motel 6, with the light left on. 

 

STREAMING/BINGING and what’s left of Network Television

Criminal Record – 10

This is one of those British mysteries, purchase by Apple+ that are unusually complex and well done, with a logical and believable payoff.  Sure, we have a lot of hours to fill, and the story drags from time to time. but when the dominos start to fall, they do so with a clatter.  Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife/Fight) is DS June Lenker who thinks she has discovered a wrongful conviction based on a bogus confession.  The officer who pulled this off is DCI Daniel Hegarty played by Peter Capaldi, a capable and believable actor.  They punch and counter punch for 8 episodes as June pushes toward the truth.  Nicely done.

Resident Alien – 10 (so far)

The great Alan Tudyk, who is a no guts, no glory type of performer, anchors this rich and funny take on the “alien crashes on earth” theme.  After his forced landing he assumes the identity of a retired doctor, who is soon called out of retirement.  If you’re not a Tudyk fan since Firefly/Serentiy like I am, you can google his top ten performances.  It will reveal a bunch of his really good performances.  But, it’s what is not listed that is indicative of his fearlessness.  Nobody wants to talk about his cringeworthy epitaphs as a manager opposite Jackie Robinson in "42."  On any list of thankless roles this would be number one, but I can’t see many going for it like Tudyk does. 

That “let it all hang out” is evident here, but what you won’t expect is the heart.  It’s the chemistry of the whole cast as the residents of Patience, Colorado that I love here.  A bunch of the characters, especially 5 or 6 young ladies, grew up in the town.  They love and care for each other, while having a good time, and navigating their lives.  It reminds me of some of my friends from my high school class, who started 1^st grade together and still hanging around together into their 70’s.  You can’t buy that, but somehow this cast captures it.  Perfectly.  I’m only half way through the second season, but it’s the camaraderie that’s got me.  Come for the alien, stay for the affection.

Deadloch – 9 (so far)

Way better than True Detective, and in a wacky Australia kind of way, this is a murder mystery in an absurd town in Tasmania.  Most of the women are lesbian and they bounce around like pinballs as the mystery unfolds.  Believe me, it’s better than I made it sound.

My only beef with this one is that the episodes are so long, and we aren’t even halfway yet, but it’s unfolding like a classic mystery and I hope we will work our way to the end.  My score may go up or down later, but so far, I’m very impressed.

 

The Tourist – 8

After you get past one of the most ridiculous opening scenes in history, you just have to buy that the main character, played by Jamie Dornan, has lost his memory.  Was he a good guy or a bad guy?  Why are people chasing him?  This was an Australian original that Netflix bought, then ordered a second season, which I understand opens today.  Which means it was good enough for Netflix and if its good enough for them, its good enough for me.  This was the precursor to a series I loved last year from down under called Black Snow.  I’m not jumping up and down, but I’ll probably watch the 2^nd season.

True Detective – 4

Nothing has been able to top that first season of True Detective 10 years ago, and this one doesn’t come close.  Again.

There are so many problems and things I disliked about this series, which never found any connective tissue.  It was like slogging through the mud. Or the snow.  It takes place in Alaska during the long night, but nobody ever looks particularly cold, until the last episode.  I don’t get the point of a whodunit where you can’t even guess whodunit because the culprits (spoiler alert) never appear until the last show. 

The fallen icon here is Jodie Foster, whom I’ve loved since her scene stealing appearances in 1975’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and 1976’s Taxi Driver, both early Martin Scorcese works.   Now there’s two classics you should watch!  Here her spin as a promiscuous, heterosexual, police deputy is just out of the bounds of believability for me..  At least she was much better in Nyad for which she got an Oscar Nomination this year.  I just never really bought her character in this one.

For 6 long episodes, Liz Danvers (Foster) and her hesitant again-partner Evangeline Navaro (Kali Reis,) with who she has a complicated history, wander about stabbing at a couple of mysteries, the biggest one being why did a bunch of scientists walk out into the tundra and stay until they froze.  The two aren’t so much looking for clues as they are just bouncing off scenery, other characters, and themselves.  With 5 minutes to go in the next to last episode, there is a gun battle, to which I shouted, “finally, something happened.”  Up to that point I felt I was stuck in a snowmobile that wouldn’t move.  I’m a simple viewer.  Not crazy about symbolism or symbols, nor faint call backs to the first phenomenal season.  The final episode is good, not great, and they try to pay off some of the babble, but it’s too much for me.  Maybe when Fleetwood Mac sang “Over My Head” they were singing about me. 

Mr & Mrs Smith – 2 (so far, and this as far as I’m going)

It’s not the fault of Donald Glover and Maya Erskine who play the title roles, that this is such a dismal call-back to a pretty dismal movie.  The original, which appears to be when Brad Pitt and Angelina fell in love during the filming, is almost all chemistry.  They light up the screen, which was a good thing, as there wasn’t much else to like.  In real life their chemistry went south, and here, it’s just no help.  Maybe the series gets better, but I watched 2 or 3 and I’m not going to pursue the Smith’s.  If you choose to, let me know what you think.  Maybe all the good spy stories have already been written. 

The 100 – no score yet

One of those series that may or may not gain traction after being lifted from the CW to Netflix.  The premise is interesting.  It’s about 100 kids who are airlifted back to a dead earth many years after earth was ravaged.  Will they survive?  Not sure.  Will they dwindle in number?  Very Likely.  I’ve watched 4 and been impressed, but it could take me months to get through 7 years of episodes.  I’ll let you know, but so far the production values are the pleasant surprise.

DOCUMENTARIES

When Cary Grant Introduced Timothy Leary to LSD – 7

This is the strangest of creatures, about a 20 minute docudrama based on the rumor that Grant was an avid experimenter with LSD and he was sought out by Timothy Leary, who tried it, loved it, and told us to turn on, tune in, etc…  Mildly interesting, and not very credible, but what do I know?

STAND-UP

Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & the Pool – 8

Mike Birbiglia is so low key as a stand up comedian that I couldn’t help but think, “I could do this.”  Except of course, I’m not funny.  Mike is, as a gentle story teller in one of those well crafted Netflix comedy specials, that brings you around to where it started. 

CLASSICS

The Terminal – 8

I didn’t think it was possible for a Steven Speilberg effort to fly under my radar, but this 2004 one did, and it stars Tom Hanks no less.  What was I doing?  Oh yea, the restaurant years.  My only entertainment those years was 6 am episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  But, I digress, and I have to admit Speilberg and Hanks (and Catherine Zeta-Jones) won me over, by conveying that compassion that they’ve made their hallmark. 

Hanks plays Viktor Navorsky, from a fictional Russianesque country that goes into a civil war, and when he flies into a US airport, the US won’t let him in, so he takes up residence at JFK.  It’s based, mildly, on the true story of an Iranian refugee who lived 18 years in an airport.  Speilberg is sharp enough to truncate the story, wise enough to cast Hanks, and smart enough to let Hanks’ accent diminish rather quickly.  Nice movie.

From Dusk to Dawn – 8

I’d never seen this Robert Rodriguez cult classic starring George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, who also wrote it.  For example, I never knew Q acted this much.  As frenetically as he directs I might add.  The two leads play brother bank robbers on the run who end up in a famous truck stop/strip club which is also a haven for, Vampires.  It’s rather entertaining, but not enough for me to go to the television series that was later made from it.  It apparently starred Eliza Gonzales, who is a knockout and appears in the opening scene of Mr & Mrs. Smith, I guess as the Angelina Jolie character.  Charisma alert for the month, if nothing else.

Klute – 9

Jane Fonda won her first Oscar in 1971 right about the time she was the least popular person in America for going over to Viet Nam and saying something stupid.   She won her second Oscar in 1978 for “Coming Home” along with Jon Voight (the father of Angelina Jolie – I swear I’m not doing this on purpose,) about, you guessed it, the Viet Nam war.  If I had one wish it would be to put Fonda and Voight in a room together today, let’s say on Bill Maher, and hear them go at it.  Or maybe do the Jane Fonda Workout.  All this is beside the point.  Klute is an excellent, but dated movie and Fonda shows those Fonda acting chops as the hooker who knows somebody, or something like that.  It’s great to see Donald Southerland, who is excellent, investigating and falling in love with Jane.  Glad I finally ticked this one off.

In the Mood for Love – 5

Been reading about this “classic” for 20 years and it put me in the mood for sleep.  It’s about two neighbors who finally figure out their spouses are having an affair and are kind of smitten with each other, and trying to figure out what to do with that attraction.  Today, that wouldn’t be an issue, but I guess in 2001 it was different.  This is a Chinese and French effort, dubbed and while the color pallet is interesting, not much else is.  Sometimes the word “classic” is bandied about a little too loosely.  They should consult me first.

Blow Up - 7

Michaelangelo Antonini’s first English speaking film was this 1966 thriller about a London photographer who may or may not have filmed a murder.  At least this one held my attention even though it seems to take forever to get to whatever its point is.  This is one I’d encourage you to watch, as the artistry and story are at least interesting.  It might catch your fancy, even if it missed mine. 

Media Captures - January 2024

MOVIES

Barbie – 8

It’s crazy that Greta Gerwig was not nominated for Best Director for this big hit, because if there was ever a director’s movie, this is it.  Her stamp is all over it, and that stamp is pink.  The first half is inventive and fun.  Margot Robbie is perfect as Barbie.  The second half bogs down as Barbie leaves Dreamland and ventures into the real world, but I’ll forgive that, as I have no idea how they came up with the script they did.  This movie is strictly a matter of taste, and it was a very nice cream puff to me.  Not too deep, with just a dusting of powdered sugar. 

Killers of the Flower Moon – 8

As I sat through Martin Scorcese’s almost 4 hour (with bathroom breaks) story of the Osage Indians I couldn’t help but feel he was trying to make his Gone with the Wind.  It’s an epic, and I’m going to state the obvious.  It’s way too long, and it seems like a twice stuffed potato, just not nearly as tasty. 

The Osage Indians discovered oil on their Oklahoma land in the 1920’s and for a time were the wealthiest people on earth, per capita.  Unsurprisingly, 100 years later that is no longer true.  This movie shows how, slowly, and with no subtlety at all the evil white men (led by Robert DeNiro, who has now officially been everywhere) started doing whatever was necessary to pilfer it away.  Leonardo DiCaprio, in the thankless role of Ernest Burkhart, who is complicit in several murders, just doesn’t click in this part.  His wife played by Oscar nominee and favorite (although not mine) Lily Gladstone seems to have a little more zest, at least for a while, until it’s time for her to go.

I kind of enjoyed the storytelling, and I did make it through in one night, but for most this is an endurance test of little value.  Well, maybe that’s not true.  It’s gotten critical acclaim from those who give it, and those who are predisposed to sit through it give it high marks.  I think it is destined to finish second to Oppenheimer at the Oscars in awards.  Neither are my favorite.  Give me a sprint, not a marathon. Give me Poor Things.

Land Ho – 9

A movie for seniors, about seniors, from 2014.  A buddy movie about two guys on the edge of geezerdom.  It wouldn’t have been my choice to scamper across Iceland on my last road trip, but there are some great scenes, great humor here.  A very worthwhile trip. On a screen.

Trapped – 7

This is an old movie that disappeared quickly back in 2002 when Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon were young and Courtney Love was acting.  Charlize’s child gets kidnapped by Kevin’s gang and the two of them will be hanging out til the ransom is delivered.  Formulaic and predictable but fun in a Netflix “let’s kill a couple of hours” kind of way.

Maestro – 2

It’s pretty rare I dislike a Best Picture nominee this much, but while there is some artistry here, it’s so unappealing that there was nothing, and I mean nothing that I enjoyed.  This is the story of Leonard Bernstein as seen through the eyes of director and star Bradley Cooper.  The main problem here is that Bernstein was a heavy smoker, and we’ve forgotten how prevalent and overbearing a habit it can be.  Carey Mulligan plays his wife and she died at 56 of lung cancer, still smoking, and all of this makes this the longest anti-smoking advertisement in history.  Sorry, I despise tobacco.  It has taken too many friends too early.  So, yes, my prejudices weighed this movie down for me.  Maybe talk to someone else about this one. 

FYI:  Ranking the Oscar Nominees

Poor Things (the rest aren't close IMO)
Anatomy of A Fall
Past Lives
The Holdovers
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
American Fiction (haven't seen)
The Zone of Interest (haven't seen)
Maestro 

STREAMING/BINGING and what’s left of Network Television

Collateral – 8

Oscar Nominee Carey Mulligan, and 4 one-hour episodes are the draw here, and it’s a complex but worthwhile trip.  Carey plays a stubborn female detective (see below) named Kip Glaspie with a one-of-a-kind backstory of having been a famous pole-vaulter, which turns out to have nothing to do with the story.  She investigates what appears to be a mundane murder of a pizza delivery person, but is actually a very complicated conspiracy, that only she can unravel.  Fortunately.  You can binge this in one evening in about the time it takes to watch Killers of the Flower Moon.  You choose.

Fool Me Once – 6

This lit up Netflix for a few weeks, then the ending sank it like a stone.  It’s a pot boiler written by an author named Harlan Coben who is apparently famous for this kind of stuff.  When I refer to the ending its because I felt it was dishonest and wouldn’t hold water if I rewatched it, which I have no intention of doing.  I’ll pass on future Coben books-to-series as well, as I’m told there are a slew of them coming.  No thanks, although I did like the star of this, Michelle Keegan, who has charisma while playing a stubborn female detective (although a private citizen.)  But, I won’t get fooled again. Binging has to be worth the investment of time, not piss you off.

True Detective: Night Country – (Incomplete)

I’m going to keep watching this because of the legacy and Jodi Foster (as a stubborn female detective), but it ain’t easy.  It’s set in a fictional Alaska town with what appears to be some supernatural slayings going on.  The sun has gone down for months and presumably won't rise until the last episode.  It was filmed in freeze-a-vision which means it comes through the screen and makes you shiver 

Criminal Record – (Incomplete)

So far so good on this Apple import from England.  Cush Jumbo plays stubborn female detective June Lenker who smells a rat in an old conviction.  Peter Capaldi (apparently a big star across the pond) is terrific as the maybe bad guy cop who is standing by his old collar,and beginning to make it difficult for June.  They spar, they spy, they undermine.  If it ends as well as it has begun, I’ll let you know next month.

DOCUMENTARIES

The Greatest Night in Pop – 10

When “We are the World” exploded in 1985, I have to confess I was less than enthralled.  My life changing event in that year was going to be marriage.  I found WATW as Good, yes, great no.  But it has certainly stood the test of time and this documentary of how it was created and recorded is right up my alley.  I love stuff that takes place in a recording studio and there is some real intrigue here, like Quincy Jones trying to keep order, Waylon Jennings walking out, Prince not showing, etc.  Now, I'm enthralled.

Yogi Berra – It Ain’t Over Til it’s Over – 10

What starts as a wonderful baseball story ends as a love story about Yogi and his wife, Carmen, and it’s way more moving than most fiction.  I’ve watched it twice, and both times I was taken with the story of true love.  If you like baseball, don’t miss this.  If you don’t like baseball, don’t miss it.

CLASSICS 

Harlan County USA – 10

Finally got around to watching this 1976 Oscar winning documentary.  How did I miss this?  Well, I don’t think I was watching too many documentaries back then.  This has earned it’s place as a classic and ranks 5^th on this list:  

66 Best Documentaries

Finally, n case you've forgotten:

The Best of 2023

2023 was the Year I rarely wrote a blog.  But I did see a lot of stuff, so I’m ranking it here.
My top two movies were ones I thought were totally unique. 

I am sadly saying goodbye after 29 years to the monthly Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.  He’s retiring, and I can’t believe HBO (and its new owners) are going to just let that franchise die.  It was always terrific.  Brit Marling came back to TV, but unfortunately it wasn’t with The OA, which joins Firefly as the most prematurely cancelled shows of all time. 

Here's my ranking of everything I saw:

MOVIES

1. Reality – 10
2. Poor Things - 10
3. Theater Camp - !0
4. She Said – 10
5. Anatomy of a Fall - 10
6. Asteroid City – 9
7. Marcel the Shell with Shoes on - 9
8. Past Lives – 9
9. Sharper – 9
10. Reptile - 9

Rustin – 9
Leave the World Behind - 9
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial - 9
The Holdovers – 9
Till – 9
Air – 9
Mixed by Erry - 9
Showing Up – 8
The Silencing – 8
New Order – 8
Full Time - 8
A Man Called Otto - 8
Respect - 8
Pain Hustlers – 8
You People – 8
Creed III – 8
The Trip – 8
The Trip to Italy - 8
Nyad - 8
I See You - 8
No One Can Save You – 8
I Wanna Dance with Somebody – 8
The Mauritanian - 8
Memory – 8
Extraction 2 - 8
Palmer – 7
Empire of Light – 7
Women Talking – 7
Causeway – 7
The Burial - 7
Oppenheimer – 7
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 - 7
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - 7
Old Dads – 7
One More Time - 7
House of Gucci – 7
The Mother – 7
To Leslie - 7
Ticket to Paradise – 6
Ghosted - 6
Ambulance – 6
The Road 2 - 4
Heart of Stone - 4
The Killer – 2 

STREAMING/BINGING and What’s left of Network TV

1. Black Snow – 10
2. Chernobyl – 10
3. Fargo – 10 (so far)
4. Cunk on Earth – 10
5. Late Night with Seth Meyers – 10
6. Bad Sisters – 10
7. The Night Agent – 10
8. Suits 10 (so far)
9. Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel – 10
10. Reacher – 10 (so far)

The Last of Us - 9
Hijack – 9
Murder at the End of the World - 9
The Landscapers - 9
Real Time with Bill Maher - 9
Bodies – 9
The Diplomat – 8
The English - 8
Luther:  The Fallen Sun – 8
Pieces of Her - 8
Daisy jones & the Six - 7
Who is Erin Carter? – 7 

STAND UP

Nate Bargatze – 10 (it was his year)
Ray Romano – 7
Ali Wong - 7
Ricky Gervais - 2

DOCUMENTARIES

All that Breathes – 10
The Luckiest Guy in the World - 10
Still:  A Michael J Fox Story – 10
Beckham – 10
Man on Wire – 10
The Insurrectionist Next Door - 10
Stephen Curry:  Underrated - 9
Fats Domino – The Big Beat - 9
Alfred Brooks:  Defending My Life – 9
Call Me Kate – 9
Bob and Don:  A Love Story - 9
Michael Jackson:  Thriller 40 - 9
Music Box – Jason Isbell:  Running with our Eyes Closed - 9
Being Mary Tyler Moore – 9
Quarterback - 9
Pretty Baby:  Brook Shields – 8
The Brothers Warner - 8
Love to Love You:  Donna Summer – 8
Dionne Warwick:  Don’t Make Me Over - 8
Arnold – 8
Wham - 8
If You Are Not in the Obits, Eat Breakfast – 7

CLASSICS

Bone Tomahawk - 10
The Drop – 9
Jeanne Dielman – 9
Elevator to the Gallows – 9
Beau Travail - 8
The Man Who Wasn’t There – 8
Night Train to Munich – 8
Storm Warning - 8
Leave Her to Heaven - 8
One Way Passage - 7
Detour – 7
Storm Fear - 7
Nights of Cabiria – 7
Following - 7
Stormy Monday - 6 

Finally the 2023 Awards

 

The Ozzies

Best Picture:  Reality
Best Actor:  Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Best Actress:  Emma Stone in Poor Things
Best Director:  Wes Anderson for Asteroid City
Best Supporting Actor:  Charles Melton, May/December
Best Supporting Actress: Jodie Foster, Nyad
Best Screenplay:  Asteroid City

The Lizzies:
Best Series:  Black Snow
Best Actor:  Travis Fimmel, Black Snow
Best Actress:  Juno Temple, Fargo
Best Supporting Actor:  Jon Hamm, Fargo
Best Supporting Actress:  Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fargo

Saints Report #1 September 10, 2023

The Saints started their season with a nail-biting 16-15 barn burner that taught us a few things:

• The Defense is good.  Very Good. Marshawn Lattimore is probably the best cornerback we've ever had, and Demario Davis just seems to get better and better.  The defense is solid, and when they held the Titans to a field goal after a fumble of the opening kick-off, (an event that prompted me to utter the immortal words of a friend, "Wait til next year,") I felt we were going to win.  Imagine if Drew had had this defense for about 5 years.  There aren’t any more Derrick Henry’s on the schedule, right?
• The Saints kept the right kicker. We had our doubts, didn’t we?  While Blake Groupe was hammering the ball through poles, Wil Lutz was missing a field goal, an extra point, and flubbing an onside kick in Denver’s 1 point loss, undoubtedly irritating Sean Payton, who may have kept the wrong kicker. 
• Derek Carr looked good.  He’s a good Quarterback.  No one has ever called him a great one, but we don’t need great with this defense.  He has talented wide receivers to work with and he should be fine, if we find a running game to help him out.
• The offensive line was not good enough, but we have to remember that the Titans have a pretty good defense.  Fortunately, the Titans Quarterback looks like a journeyman, which is what he will probably be pretty soon.
• The Saints couldn’t run the ball, which is a must, but they came up with one big run at the end of the game to seal the win in the fourth quarter when first downs that keep the clock running are just as important as kicking field goals.
• Finally, the officials haven’t changed.  They missed an obvious interference call, and a disputed touchdown catch could’ve gone either way.  Those potential 14 points would’ve broken the game open.  As I left the Caesar’s Superdome and walked down the “over/under” ramp and out onto “longshot” road I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the NFL likes to keep the games close.  

I didn't get a chance to write my annual NFL prediction column this year, so here it is:

Patrick Mahomes (unless he gets hurt).