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redanman
Reviews
Under the Dome (2013)
Vote withheld for now
The concept is intriguing, but there are a lot of scientific holes in the composition/interact-ability of the dome. The show has after 3-4 episodes started to be very predictable and drags frequently. I cannot at this point see how there can be more than 5-6 episodes, but for now I'll watch with trepidation. I fear that I will never see the conclusion unless they throw us a bone or two of believable science; there are not enough characters to care about as everyone so far is made of cardboard at best and new information comes slower than a dripping faucet. The pace really needs to pick up, so far it is fading rather fast, we'll see soon. I don't so far care at all what happens to these people.
The X Files: The Truth (2002)
i & d
Inaccuracies and disappointments. Not Incision and drainage (a surgical term) as hoped for. (Just off topic for a sec.: In one of the last episodes Scully's "Well-nourished male" amused some writers of posts here, but as a physician starting in the 1980's we wrote "w d w n w m in capitals, no spaces" to start almost all written Physical exams or autopsies. Well-developed (no congenital deformities) well-nourished (meaning the absence of both anorexia and (gosh, IMDb would not allow me to use the medical term for cancer related weight loss or wasting) and not "O" or Obese). w d m o w m in capitals, no spaces (morbidly obese) - would be used to describe a John Candy type).
The concept of the Military Tribunal is abused badly, used even worse and the cuddle finish was embarrassingly bad. No real questions were answered for any fan with any basic science knowledge base and the drama was either cardboard or absent altogether. This was perhaps the most appallingly bad end to a great series imaginable. An utter waste of time.
Somehow I never watched this mostly excellent series on original airing, I just didn't have the time back then and the few episodes I watched were some of the not so good one-offs for the most part. Netflix access has allowed me to see and experience the overall brilliance of high-quality television that comprised the majority of this series. Much of the non-storyline, one off episodes of season 9 were surprisingly quite good, raising expectations for the finale. 1:26 of direct play v. the usual :43-:46 of a single episode, gee whiz, I thought there must be some real meat on that bone. Not to be.
The trial was a huge time-waster, adding nothing other than a vehicle for sales of on-air commercials for FOX and catch-up for casual fans. I found it very hard to watch much of the flimsy dialog, gratuitous action (Attack helicopters destroying Anasazi ruins?) and lastly no real comment on the marvelous character of baby William. One can only hope that that might lead to a series of mini-series later on. A wasted opportunity or to use the golf metaphor - a whiff of a well-teed ball.
Hollywood at its pathetic worst.
In Search of Gregory (1969)
Odd Little Movie
08.02.2010 was on TCM today as it was Julie Christie Day
Interesting vehicle for a snapshot of the transitional time set in the very short time of the late 1960's to early '70's when the world fundamentally changed forever. Long before airport security, political correctness and at the start of sex without feeling and/or consequences our characters soldier on in a time capsule.
It is a lovely little look at curious characters and a character who perhaps does not exist. It is a rare period piece of the period that garnered much more attention at the "New Extreme" rather than this hold on of the "Old Guard", an extension of former moralities with a creeping in of the new modern world, almost unaware that it exists.
John Hurt plays a curious little man-boy who is very socially awkward whose role does not become clear until the last 20 minutes. Julie Christie is a divine little character living in a world that may or may not really exist and Michael Sarrrazin, well, he is an idealized character that Adrian Grenier's calls to mind or vice versa.
In the end it was far too long a run for the very short hop. The snapshot of a very small part of that time is indeed captured well, but there really is no story and no metaphor, just a fantasy and not a drug-fueled one. Recommended only for Movie Nutcases.
Kidnapped (2006)
Too intelligent for on-air TV?
The obvious comparison is to 24 which runs a continuous story over weekly episodes. I came across Kidnapped on UHD this season and the final (#13) episode just aired for the first time.
It's been a while since the first season of 24 so I cannot say for certain, but Kidnapped was much more compelling, interesting and believable than 24 has ever been and it also was much easier to keep the suspense. 24 episodes just doesn't work and certainly not with a single heroico-tragic-(comic?) character such as Bauer.
Kidnapped apparently just made a few weeks before it was killed off, a victim of poor scheduling, then again, it was probably too sophisticated for the average American.
Nice job, NBC and "Nice Job" NBC. Sheeesh. :(
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Disappointing
I heard so much, expected half of it and got <5%.
Sad that this passes for comedy. I was not offended at all, laughed hardest at the two naked gentleman (not to make a spoiler), but the movie overall was a poor rip-off of Dumb and Dumber in several direct and oblique ways.
More of a yawn than anything else. I kept waiting, but it never came.
The humor has all been done before, making "Jew Jokes" even by a Jew is old hat.
It was not shocking. It was not original. It was not a new method of presentation.
Casino Royale (2006)
Best Bond?
Played completely straight, pulling even the punning, this Bond is as satisfying as a a meal in your favorite Parisian restaurant, a great steak, the freshest sushi - choose your simile.
Daniel Craig kept reminding me of a strange but satisfying combo of Sting and Steve McQueen; that devilish smile in his eyes and that killer ready to go on a moment's notice. Compared to the abysmally horrid Roger Moore tired farces of the 1970's we have another apex to contrast to the abyss.
This will go down as either the best or the best of the rest depending on your loyalty to Sir Sean Connery. (I haven't decided yet.) This is a very satisfying escapist movie-making blockbuster. Something Bond fans have waited decades for.
Some will not care for it because the genre does not appeal to all types, but few with interest in spectacular and varied settings, action escapism and fantasizing "the stories behind the news" will have two hours of first-class "as you ordered".
Isn't that what we go to the movies for anyway?
Does it look like I give a damn? I'm going again. Soon.
Cheers. I'm a happy mate with this one.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Incredibly, laughably disappointing, stupendously awful -other than that, just OK
Stephen Spielberg has gone nothing but downhill since Jaws. A.I. had hope until Dr Know showed up, but after 20 minutes of good special effects to start this movie (War of the Worlds) it became so bad I literally laughed out loud - repeatedly.
Bad scare tactics, re-hashed monsters, ridiculous characters and product placements (One example - A brand-new $4000 Omega chronograph watch on a ruff-tuff NYC crane operator as he lives in squalor?) The improbable logistics of travel by the characters, the incongruous implausibility of the ending and the complete and utter devastation of the world being ignored because now that mummy and pop and the kiddies are at cleaned and polished granny and grand-dad's who are on a devastated street, but emerge looking as if they've come from an upstairs downstairs episode makeup session? The complete ignorance of the laws of physics and water mechanics? All the cars on the freeways were perfectly out of the way for Ray to zoom through in the only operating vehicle in the tri-state area? When is Hollywood going to create another original script? Awful, awful, awful, awful,awful, awful, awful.
Funny, it still seems just as awful as before.
Hannibal (2001)
What an unexpected surprize (No spoilers)
I had waited some time to see this film, not being a big fan of The Silence of The Lambs, which I found unentertaining, not scary, not suspenseful, and especially poorly acted by Jodie Foster. The awards reaped by that film completely baffled me. What a bore.
What tipped me into finally seeing Hannibal was completing the oeuvre of Julianne Moore who was so stunning in 2002 in her two oscar-nominated roles. I had always thought of seeing Hannibal for completeness sake regarding Ridley Scott who in my opinion has not yet even reached the level of acclaim that he truly deserves. At any rate I was pleased to see that the movie did not degenerate into a slasher film but caught me off guard as to the romanticlly-inspired thematic approach. Suffice it to say that I was shocked in an unusual way as I personally found that this was a somewhat calmly enjoyable film of a completely different dimension and character than I had expected. Anthony Hopkins played this role not a a sequel but as a separate, evolved character and Moore although far superior to Jodie Foster's Clarice was still a bit uninteresting.
The scoring and photography of this film are on par with anything that has come out of Hollywood in the past decade. A must-see for fans of well-crafted films and superior filmmaking.