Change Your Image
mikehdtv
Reviews
BBC Play of the Month: The Critic (1982)
Great Restoration Comedy
If you like restoration comedy you'll love this behind-the-scenes look at the restoration theater. This BBC production has a stellar cast but is not commercially available. During the early 80's when this was made the BBC would routinely reuse video tapes or just lose them. Not sure if the master for this still exists. There is a full domestic VCR transcription on YouTube that's well worth a watch. As well as consummate performers like Alan Badel (Sir Fretful Plagiary) this production also features Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music plus some of the finest baroque vocalists of the era.
The Critic: or, a Tragedy Rehearsed is a satire by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first staged at Drury Lane Theater in 1779. It is a burlesque on stage acting and play production conventions, and Sheridan considered the first act to be his finest piece of writing. One of its major roles, Sir Fretful Plagiary, is a comment on the vanity of authors, and in particular a caricature of the dramatist Richard Cumberland who was a contemporary of Sheridan.
Based on George Villiers' The Rehearsal, it concerns misadventures that arise when an author, Mr Puff, invites Sir Fretful Plagiary and the theater critics Dangle and Sneer to a rehearsal of his play The Spanish Armada, Sheridan's parody of the then-fashionable tragic drama. This BBC production omits Sir Fretful from the rehearsal group but includes him in a breakfast scene.
Highly recommended!
House of Cards (2013)
Series Three Sucks
What happened to series three? Even though the personnel on the masthead were the same, it looks like they turned the writing over to the interns without any kind of editorial or thematic direction. The principal characters have fallen apart. This Frank Underwood appears to be more virtuous and caring than recent presidents Clinton, Bush, or Jarrett. In fact almost any period from their White House tenures would be more eventful, devious, and exciting than the crap we saw in this series. This was a massive disappointment. I get the sense that the actors were as impressed by the writing as I was because it looked like they were phoning in their performances. I'd be amazed if they go for a serious four after this fiasco.
The Interview (2014)
This movie totally stinks
Saw this yesterday (Xmas day) - totally embarrassing stinker. How improbable is it that the whole evil hacking plot meme was engineered just to push this Xmas turkey? According to The Hill 'Sony Pictures initially pulled 'The Interview' from its scheduled Christmas Day release after hackers threatened to stage September 11- style attacks at theaters that showed it. Major movie theater chains then said they would not carry the film, which North Korea had declared an act of war given its plot.' - Then suddenly - 'Sony reversed itself this week, announcing it would not only screen the movie in select theaters, but that it had worked out deals with several companies to show the movie online and on-demand.' - Totally unbelievable. It's a pity that all the imagination & talent involved in allegedly killing 'The Interview' wasn't involved in writing, directing, or acting in it. BTW Randall Park, (Kim Jung-un) came over as the smartest guy in the movie - wow.