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Mare of Easttown (2021)
Overrated
I'm not one to nitpick on acting, except in egregious situations, but I think this is one of them worthy of that critique. The first half of the series is poorly acted (the writing doesn't help) and is just wholly uninteresting when it looks like a teen drama. Mare's daughter is full of the most boring and pointless plot line for the full series run.
The latter half of the series is much better as it becomes a more 'adult' criminal investigation but really drags it out when the surprise is not all that shocking for anyone who has seen a lot of this content, so they have to throw in multiple twists on the way to get there. Once again, there is significant overacting in the finale. And I didn't find it to be a very fulfilling conclusion. Really thought this economically depressed small-town setting would have been a great premise for this show, but it lacked execution.
Personally, I thought "Defending Jacob" was a much better produced crime investigation miniseries in 2021, exploring similar concepts while keeping you on edge longer and testing the values of truth, justice, family/friends and loyalty.
Gangs of New York (2002)
Very hard move to rate
I think the 7.5 average is about right. For all that I love about the historical topic, costumes, witty bits in the script (especially all Boss Tweed scenes) and acting from DDL, there were just a few things that felt very off preventing this from being a great film of the 2000s.
The entire Jenny plot feels like a waste. The opening scenes with the father almost feel like Sci-Fi and take the realism out of a critical American history topic. The first half has a tremendous amount of build up for mostly uninteresting characters (and constant detail about gangs irrelevant to the plot) just to fulfill a centuries old trope and could have been sliced by 30 minutes to enhance the final product. The second half was good enough to help it overcome those flaws, but it requires a lot of patience, and I must note that the final showdown requires no great valor from these cowardly characters - ultimately a bit unfulfilling. The action afterward that showdown does do a good job of driving home a message though.
The Program (1993)
Apt title, no message
I'm sure this is a pseudo-realistic look into how our cult-like worship of our favorite schools drives some ethically questionable behind the scenes maneuvers (James Caan is so close to showing he has a conscience), but that just makes it more disappointing given the results. We like to believe that the good guys who do it right eventually pull through and outlast the scandal ridden.
More interesting than most fictional football movies, but the ending was so hard to support/cheer on. I enjoyed watching the scandals unfold, but by the end of it, I don't feel sympathy for any of them and wish they would get what they deserve instead of being rewarded. What's the theme that makes it a film to watch? That life's not fair? That we need to stop this sport in it's tracks? Even the QB who you can sort of defend in the bar fight (and even the DWI in the context of 30-40 years ago, especially given his roots) doesn't seem to have any true leadership that makes him an admirable figure, and he doesn't learn anything. Should've lost the fumble on the final drive. The disappointment of not going bowling and a coach going three years and out after losing control of his program would be a more compelling finish and probably more realistic to the sadness of careers ending as most of them do - losing and churning through coaches.
Raising Arizona (1987)
8.2 stars
Nearly top of the line humor and dialogue and far more than enough iconic 80s film elements for me to be left wondering 'how is this not a staple of 1980s movie folklore!' This should be on any list of comedies when trying to define the standouts of the decade.
The over-the-top nature of the chase scenes and the robbery scenes by John Goodman and William Forsythe were definitely net positives, but each had cringier moments: namely, 1) just how long it took to steal the child without any effort to conceal and 2) having Goodman and Forsythe leave the child in the very middle of the road and come to a screeching halt, which induced more eyerolls than laughter.
Ultimately the biggest points against the film are: 1) the completely sudden shift of the escaped brothers from friends to villains with no serious rationale; and 2) the fact that H.I. gets a completely happy ending with no comeuppance whatsoever in spite of their honesty. Frankly, I would have preferred a successful cover-up. The Coens generally have much worse come to characters with much better intentions.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Satisfyingly Dissatisfying!
I've always come out of movies entertained but a bit dismayed that the films are routinely geared towards tales of the heroic or have some tragedy overcome. That's so often the point of going - to hear a story worth being told, but it's not usually reflected in our world no matter how hard one works.
In reality, one decision or character flaw or - as the Coen Brothers often reference, blind luck - could terminate the entire story is over in the snap of your fingers before you even know anything about the subject. I came away from "No Country for Old Men" thinking the most about the story of the man killed at the traffic stop rather than any of the major players (and similarly in "Fargo" with the roles reversed). If you ever wanted to know more about them and why that wasn't their movie, I felt like I got the answers here.
I think this cutesy project tells us why it's so difficult to have them as the subject of a film, but this was done better than nearly anyone else could have done. I blindly went into this expecting each of the six stories to connect
I'm not sure I would have ordered the chapters in the same way. The first and last could almost be reversed, but there is some art to this. If reversed, you are left with more of a cliffhanger in the first and end on a slightly happier note rather than killing off the title character at the 20 minute mark! But I know that's just another one of their tricks to get their nihilistic message across.
Overall, The Girl Who Got Rattled was easily the best at getting the main message across and was so deeply and perfectly dissatisfying. A half hour on monotony like paying bills and dogs barking too much and the happiness of plotting a spontaneous family homestead thanks to a heroic stranger only for all the plans to mean nothing for no good reason.
Tom Waits also gives a splendid performance in All Gold Canyon, which was a real highlight for me as the only positive outcome. I'm glad there is still a one-in-six chance of a true hero getting what he deserves for all the work he put in, but it would have been easiest to see them write his demise - given the amount of hard work he put in and the karma he built with the owl eggs. All of that really should have no correlation to his success, but for once, I am relieved it did, and I hope he can keep quiet about his loot and keep his vital organs intact!
Meal Ticket rounds out the top half of the stories for me. Even though you can see where that is going from the get-go, it's a great tale to tell, especially with regard to the American West. In this country, you only have value so much as 'what are you doing for me lately', you only get to keep a small amount of the value you create and are prohibited from any excess as that is kept for the ruling class, which disposes of you when you no longer produce. A great microcosm of how we treat people who have harnessed special gifts that have more value than what people are willing to pay for them.
The title sketch was extremely humorous, and I adored the song and the poker scene. The ending was incredibly satisfying for all those with skepticism and 'what-if's about split second shootouts that change the course of a film, and I've come to understand why they start like that. Not everything can end with a (for some reason, beloved) murderer floating up to heaven.
The only one I didn't terribly care for was the last sketch. I guess someone has something to worry about. But they probably deserve whatever is coming. Ends on a bit of a dull note. But this was a very ambitious and difficult project that was done quite successfully like no one else could do it. 8.3 stars