buzzbomb-3 Reviews

Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light (1974) Season 4, Episode 3

A great way to remember Patrick McGoohan

[10/10 · 19 January 2009]

I totally agree with another post which suggests this episode and the episode "Any Old Port In A Storm" are two of the best Colombo shows made.

The great thing about the Colombo character is that he is very human and as such he understands humanity. He doesn't seem to judge or moralise unless the killer hurts a woman. The best Colombo stories focus on the relationship that grows between the detective and the killer and this is one of those episodes.

Just as in "Any Old Port In A Storm" the killer's way of life is about to be taken away from him, everything he holds dear is is in the hands of someone who just doesn't care. I suspect Col Rumsford (McGoohan) doesn't murder the victim just for his own sake but for the sake of the academy and the boys who attend there.

Patrick McGoohan's performance in this show is exceptional, on the surface Col Rumsford is an un-sympathetic character, he is rigid, he reveals little of himself and he is very strict. But this isn't a two dimensional bad guy, we somehow sense that he is torn between blaming a cadet for the murder and succumbing to his instinct to protect the boy. McGoohan achieves this inner conflict with amazing subtlety and nuance. To be honest I didn't think he was capable of this level of acting, but I was quite moved by his performance.

This episode is a great way to remember Patrick McGoohan, highly recommended.

Be seeing you

Man on Fire (2004)

A snuff movie

[1/10 · 14 January 2007]

I looked up this film on IMDb before I started watching it tonight, the grade seemed pretty reasonable and the first reviews I saw seemed to say this was a great film and possibly one of the best things Denzel Washington has ever been in. Well I thought it was a bad film , Not because it was amateurishly made or badly acted, I just felt it was nasty.

The structure is typical of American revenge fantasies. First you spend some time bonding the hero to the character who will later become a victim of some crime. The more innocent the victim is or the more horrible their demise , the more the director can crank up the sadism later on in the movie.

The problem for me with this film is the hero seemed to be a lot sicker than the bad guys. He tortures his victims before killing them , cutting fingers off here , inserting explosives into rectums there, it's really nasty stuff.and yet there seems to be no sense that what he's doing is wrong, the camera seems to treat him as if he's a bit of a cool dude.

As well as this kind of cockeyed morality the construction of film it self seems to linger on the scenes of torture, I couldn't help feeling that this was a movie made by a sadist for other sadists , a snuff movie made for titillation.

The whole idea of setting up a situation in a film which allows the viewer to enjoy scenes of torture really creeps me out.

Envy (2004)

A lot better than I was led to believe it would be

[7/10 · 14 October 2006]

I liked this movie , it was funny and quirky.

I couldn't see anything wrong with the direction, the editing was good, the script moved without lagging, the main characters developed well and there were some nice touches like how the butler would greet Ben Stiller's character throughout the movie.

I wonder if there is a bit of an Ishtar syndrome happening with this movie. For some reason, be it Hollywood politics or whatever, the critics savaged the movie and the masses have joined in without question. It's a bit like the emperors new cloths but in reverse.

I don't really understand why people hate it, I don't think it's original or ground breaking enough to be a misunderstood classic but I'm pretty sure that in time it will find it's own audience who can appreciate it for what it is.

Give it a try and make up your own mind

Boston Legal (2004–2008)

A good American program

[11 April 2006]

Some of reviewers are putting this show down because it has taken a political turn , a liberal turn.

Let's put things in perspective, Most of the media is either controlled by the right or too scared of the right to express an alternative point of view. So what harm can one little TV show really do? What's so wrong with having just one program that questions the Bush administration ?

I live in New Zealand and it's heartening to see a program like Boston Legal. It makes me feel that not all Americans are afraid of a bit of debate.

I would like to have thought the news media would have had the guts and independence this program has , but since it doesn't Boston Legal will have to do.

On a less political note I enjoy the shows characters. William Shatner and James Spader are giving us genuinely interesting character studies, not just with their own portrayals but also within their quirky relationship.

I get the feeling that the legal side of the show wouldn't really stand up to much scrutiny, but I'm sure that's not the point of the show, original characters and relationships are the point of the show.

A good American program

Three Amigos! (1986)

Well crafted gags

[24 October 2004]

I looked up this movie on IMDb fully expecting to find a lot of comments that reflected my opinion, that this is a great little film. I was quite surprised at how many people don't feel the same way I do.

Some of the movies detractors seem to suggest the movie is a bit slow and that it misses opportunities for packing in lots of jokes. I can't agree, I think the pace is just right and that the movie's direction is more deftly handled than you might think. Some of the set ups in this film are developed meticulously over time allowing plenty of humorous moments along the way to the pay-off. And when they pay-off, they pay-off beautifully.

For example I love the scene in which a German mercenary enters a really dangerous looking Mexican bar. The room is full of thugs and cut-throats who laugh at the German's prim appearance and so he kills a few of them. He then instructs the rest of the patrons to be more respectful of strangers and to expect some friends of his to drop in later. The mercenary leaves and soon the Three Amigos arrive wearing camp looking Mexican costumes. It's not long before they start to sing an extremely girly song to the patrons of the bar called "My Little Buttercup".

The song is accompanied by the most effeminate dance routine committed to film. The mystified bandits all assume the Three Amigos are the German mercenary's friends and go along with the song and dance routine which after a while becomes so cute it makes you feel physically sick.

And here is the pay off, the Amigos leave as the real mercenaries arrive, one of the bandits notices the pearl handled revolvers one of the strangers is wearing and yells "Look at the sissy guns". Carnage ensues, the German sharp shooters finish off the rest of the patrons in a bloody gun fight, the confused looks on the bandit's faces throughout this whole routine is hilarious.

This film isn't desperate to pack gags into every available space, and because of this it feels more controlled and less try-hard, to me most of the jokes are of a high enough quality they don't need a lot of superfluous back up gags. I also enjoy the overall up beat tone of the film, even the bad guys are actually really nice to each other ( the sweater Scene is touching ). I think it's the warmth between the characters that really makes this film for me, I think if the gags kept coming at a breakneck speed we wouldn't have a chance to warm to the characters, the Mexican atmosphere and music the way that we do.

I give this a ten out of ten even though it's not a perfect film, it makes me feel as good as a perfect film would.