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Blow the Man Down (2019)
So much potential...
This movie had so much potential but fell short in delivering it.
It had an original engaging story but it seemed to end abruptly without any resolution. The midcoast Maine setting was authentic, in contrast to so many attempts to pass off west coast locations as Maine. But the idea of having a police department in such a tiny fishing hamlet wasn't believable. More likely we'd have the Sheriff's Department doing an investigation initially to be replaced by the State Police when murder was determined.
The actors were good but the glaring lack of accent coaching was jarring to anyone with any familiarity with Maine. Nearly as bad as Tom Bosley in Murder She Wrote. It sounded like a cross between Boston and New York. Certainly not coastal Maine.
Still, it's better than expected. I was excited to see it when it first came out but so many Mainers told me not to bother that I didn't watch it until several years after its release.
Tentacoli (1977)
Wow! This was really bad!
It was kind of like a car wreck: You know better, but you can't seem to look away.
I guess it might be a good choice for some kind of drinking game.
This film had huge names, John Huston, Henry Fonda, Shelley Winters ... and many others. How could they have allowed themselves in such a bad movie? Did the director blackmail them?
The music was always off, setting the wrong tone for the action. Editing was choppy and confusing. Why the random freeze frames?
Night Nurse (1931)
Engaging early talkie
So many campy moments! This movie was serious for the times, I'm sure, but now it's kind of funny. The surgeon with the mask well below his nose, the evil doctor with the eye tic. Frequent pre-code gratuitous dressing scenes. Prohibition & bootleggers. The ambulance racing through town to the hospital, sirens blaring, only to arrive at the hospital to tell them, no rush, just a dead body for the morgue. I had to look up dipsomaniac and Murphy drip. Things have changed since 1931!
This film has a great cast: Barbara Stanwyck (before she got her teeth fixed), Joan Blondell and Clark Gable.
Catch it on TCM if you can.
COBRA (2020)
Disappointing
Brit dramas are usually so good, I had high hopes. But this one fell short. The notion that the UK would fall into primal chaos if the power goes out for a few days was somewhat comical. So many of the remedies were flatly absurd. Seriously, what hotel would deal with a power outage by putting candles all over the place, including stairs? Most businesses have backup generators. If something else were needed for light it would more likely be battery operated. That's just one example. Collapse of the prison is another. It would have been nice if the writers had put more time into crafting a plausible story. It could have been so much better.
Kim's Convenience: Friends and Family (2021)
Poor end to a great show
We've loved Kim's Convenience and I'm disappointed that it's come to an end. But I think I'm more disappointed that it was closed out with such a pathetic wrap-up. It probably would have been better just to leave it hanging than have such rushed characters closings as in this episode. This show deserved better.
Blood (2018)
Dark, depressing and slow-moving
Not something to watch for a pick-me-up. This series would have probably been more watchable if it were consolidated into a two-hour movie rather than a series. The twists and turns are good, plot lines interesting, just too slow and plodding in the drama's crafting.
Being the Ricardos (2021)
Dark and depressing
The cinematography was literally dark, and the subject, depressing. The actors did a great job expressing their subjects but the overall feel of the piece, the dialog and attitudes, was oppressive and hostile. No joy or comedy here. If you want to see this as a fan of I Love Lucy, you'll be disappointed. Stream the series instead. If you're interested in pathos, maybe you'll like it.
It was interesting pitting the pro-American Cuban refugee Arnez, whose family and country was destroyed by Communism, with the well-intended but misguided pro-workers' rights Lucy. (It would be nice to have more such honest discussions in the wider community.)
Oddly, with all the discussion of Lucy being "red," the best comment from Desi at the time was left out (Or maybe my brain shut down and I missed it.): "The only thing red about Lucy is her hair, and even that is not legitimate."
8-Bit Christmas (2021)
A Christmas Story updated to 1987
Swap out the Red Ryder BB Gun for the Nintendo and you pretty much have this movie down. Some humorous lines and probably more relatable for the 40-somethings since it takes place in their lifespans. Not a bad Christmas movie but not a classic in the making.
Lady in the Water (2006)
Shyamalan makes me think it would be fun to live in an apartment complex
This is the bizarre tale of an apartment building superintendent who becomes part of an ancient eastern fairytale. Cleveland was once a doctor but when his family was murdered he retreated to obscurity in an apartment complex. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Story, the character central to the fairytale, who needs rescuing.
Director M. Night Shyamalan is an artist at world creation and character development. He makes the apartment complex itself a character. All the diverse tenants play a role and are woven into the fairytale and rescue. Shyamalan makes his appearance as the author of a story who unwittingly conjured up the story. Another writer in the complex, who hasn't written in years, but understands the mechanics of storytelling, guides Cleveland in putting together all the components of the story based on the residents of the complex who all contribute to its resolution ... the bodybuilder who only works one side of his body, the smoking party boys, the sisters, the recluse, the crossword-puzzling dad and his son, who reads his cereal like tarot cards. My favorite is Young-Soon Choi, the high-energy college student (played by Cindy Cheung) who serves as a translator between Cleveland and her traditional Chinese mother (June Kyoto Lu) who knows the tale but doesn't like strangers, which she considers Cleveland to be, and constantly shoos him out of her apartment.
For me, the story is secondary to the characters and artistry of the direction. I enjoyed watching Shyamalan's storytelling style, even if the story itself didn't hook me.
United States of Al: Promises/Wadaha (2021)
Excellent. Perhaps too much so.
This episode captured the horrors of the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan better than one could ever expect from a TV show. It's a "comedy" program but brought me to tears before it was over. Well done!
Waves (2019)
This film stays with you
This film is very well constructed. Initially, I wasn't sure I'd watch it through because the beginning was slow moving. But stick with it. That "slice of life" grounds you in the characters. You care about them.
A compelling aspect for me was that the point of view seamlessly transitions from the brother to the sister and along the way makes stops with the father and step-mother, the girlfriend and boyfriend. Eventually, the title becomes clear. Every action sends waves that roll over others. It's very thought-provoking and, as I said in the title, it stays with you.
On a side note, I wish young people could see this film. It's an excellent illustration how a single impulsive action can destroy so many lives.
Inside the Factory (2015)
Interesting, but ...
It lost any credibility for me when they did the chocolate taste test in episode 2. I get that Brits like their own chocolate. But describing American chocolate as having a vomit taste is a bit much. It's chocolate, for Pete's sake. No one is going to eat something that tastes like vomit, let alone crave it. It's just not as sweet.
Firefly Lane (2021)
Time warp confusion
Firefly Lane is ambitious in taking on so many decades in its time span. Since the central characters are presumably my age and the show is even set it in the Pacific Northwest, where I grew up, I was kind of excited to discover this show. I really wanted to love it. I just wish they had hired someone my age to consult. The fashions and decor are a mishmash of the various decades. While they nail some of the oddball styles, just as many miss the mark and become a bit of a distraction. Still, I must watch. Where else can you see Puget Sound in all its glory?
Radium Girls (2018)
Ruined by PC
Could have been a good period piece but the people behind this movie were a little more focused on being "woke" than learning and understanding history ... life ... as it existed at the time this movie was set. The many inaccuracies were very distracting.
The Upside (2017)
Well done remake that stands on its own.
I too had loved "Intouchables" first and have been disappointed too many times with remakes to look eagerly to a new one based on a movie that was so well done to begin with. I'm pleased to have been wrong on this one! I've never seen Kevin Hart in a serious role but he was great. Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman were excellent, as always, but Aja Naomi King, with whom I was not familiar, was excellent too.
Bottom line: If you loved Intouchables, you'll love The Upside. If you never saw Intouchables, you'll still love The Upside.
Nothing Like a Dame (2018)
I'd love to share a bit of champagne with these dames!
This wasn't a "movie" as such but it was an enjoyable outing. Slow moving, at times, but it was kind of like hanging with four very interesting seniors. I thoroughly enjoying getting to know them, hearing their take on many modern things while seeing bits of their previous works. They are truly treasures and I'm so thankful that the filmmakers captured them.
A United Kingdom (2016)
A great story to tell
I love the story and so appreciate that it was finally brought to the big screen. And David Oyelowo was wonderful as always. But I think it could have been made perfect by better writing. The "falling in love" segment was so rushed that we don't really see it happening or feel it to be true. The British characters were cliche and one-demensional. The Botswana characters could also have been fleshed out more. Still, I absolutely recommend it.
King Charles III (2017)
What the hell did I just watch?
Where did this fantasy "reality" drama come from? It takes real living people and turns them into farcical characters with evil or untoward motivations. Yet, like a train wreck, I couldn't look away. I guess it's interesting to watch but I'm not sure why. We all have our opinions on the royal family and what we think makes them tick. It just seems a bit irresponsible to commit those notions to film, which has the unfortunate effect of being interpreted as having a basis in fact.
Chewin' the Fat (1999)
You don't have to be a Scot to find this funny
I'm surprised to many people think you can only find this funny if you are from Glasgow. I think they are selling this program short. Yes, the accents are thick and, at times, difficult to understand, even with the subtitles on. And, yes, there are a lot of local jokes that we won't get. But we still laugh our butts off! My husband and I have been making a point of watching Chewing the Fat on Netflix and we've really enjoyed it. So much of the humor translates better than the Glaswegians think, ... or wish. Many of the recurring sketch taglines have become part of our own jokes. No one we know watches the show so no one gets us on this, but that's OK. Funny is funny, whatever the language.
Feud (2017)
I so wanted to like this
But I don't. It's got big names and big talent but, in the end, collapses under the weight of bad scripts. Somewhere along the line, the writers decided that each exchange between characters had to explain film history, presumably to the youngsters who don't know or care about Hollywood legends. Newsflash: They aren't watching it. For the rest of us, it makes for boring, ponderous dialogue. Language is unnecessarily course and contributes nothing to the story. What a waste of some very talented actors.
Rufus Jones for President (1933)
Judge the movie in the context of its time, not yours
I turned this on to see the incredible Ethel Waters, whose autobiography I am now reading. I'll admit my jaw dropped when the pork chops and watermelon references started rolling in, but people cannot look at this movie as a stereotypical or racist piece. It's pretty much a short film made by blacks, for blacks at a time when the entertainment industry was quite segregated and the stereotypes to the people involved were the jokes of their time, old trends exaggerated for humor. We see modern black movies do the same thing, but with the new trends (stereotypes), "ho's" and the "hood" and such. I think if you look back in eighty years, you would find today's movies will look just as racist. What viewers should appreciate about this film is the talent of Waters and the pint-sized Sammy Davis Jr., who out taps his contemporary, Shirley Temple, and looks remarkably the same facially as he did as an adult. Everyone involved in this film clearly had a lot of fun making it. Why not enjoy it for what it is, instead of what you think it should have been?