Reviews

A bridge inspector, the wife of an Okazu-ya owner, and a lawyer feature in three semi-unrelated stories.

The bridge inspector seeks justice against a declared-insane street killer who killed three people, one of which was his beloved wife.

The wife of the Okazya-ya goes through the motions of life, looking after her mother-in-law and indifferent/hostile husband.

The lawyer is a gay young professional with a live-in lover.

By turns, "Life with all of the boring parts" has the bridge inspector try to get the gay lawyer to seek damages from the killer. The wife happens upon a "special water scam" that starts at the bridge inspector's workplace. The lawyer gets drunk, criticizes and drives away his lover. How will these ordinary people resolve these "bumps in the road"? A Shochiku production that moves as slowly as the river...

Oh wait, that's too highbrow for Fox TV. No this is more like "Voyagers!" for the-short-attention-span-generation. Do we have a character who knows next-to-nothing-about-History-and-just-wants-to-get-it-on? Check. Do we have a character who could go on and on about period minutiae even as a horse deposits road apples on his shoes? Check. Do we have a smart woman with common sense and is another "Ellen Ripley"? Check. Now turn the comedy writers loose on this mess, stand back, and...why isn't anything happening? It will have to do, I guess, since "Timeless" isn't coming back and "History is Bunk." So Junior found out how to build a "duffel bag time machine while going through his father's papers, found Love in 1775 Massachusetts, (supposedly)kept The American Revolution from happening, and dragged in a pedantic History professor to fix the time line. One stays, one comes into the 21st century, and surprise, surprise, History has been changed. Stay tuned for "A Sound of Thunder," network TV-lite version.

A couple in a Yonezaki hotel room come to blows, as the man refuses the woman's request. She takes a steak knife from the room service setting and attempts to stab him. The man dodges her attack and leaves hurriedly. The next morning, the body of the woman is discovered, stabbed through the heart with a steak knife. A couple of lawyers step off an overnight bus, having been hired the night before by the prime suspect, Shimazu Kuniaki. Sakata Sadato, a former Yonezaki public prosecutor, grumbles that his assistant, Kosaka Chihiro kept his up with her snoring. As they stroll into town, they are picked up by a car sent by Shimazu. At the jail, they are scolded by Shimazu for not having taken the Bullet train and arrived before today's first trial session. Sakata confronts Shimazu, and demands that he never lies to the duo. At the first trial, a former colleague of Sakata's, Shoji Mao, is in charge of prosecution and seems to have an airtight murder case against Shimazu. Seemingly irrelevant details in the case surface, which leads Sakata and Kosaka to investigate a prior case which involved the victim, Hamada Mitsuko, her ex-husband, a GP doctor, their son, and Shimazu. Witnesses for the defense are found, and a different picture appears, until the final witness' testimony (and lack of it) reveal that Justice has been subverted.

Freelance surgeon Dr. Daimon Michiko struts into a University hospital, is mistaken by the administrator for a sleazy Roppongi bar hostess, and takes on the most difficult case. Displaying an independent air gained from hard won experience in third world clinics and hospitals, Dr. Daimon refuses to do anything that doesn't require a doctor's license, from secretarial duty to golf games and leaves work promptly at 5 p.m. As she blows past the institution's cliques and hierarchy, the staff becomes infuriated as patients are cured one after the other. Her representative, Dr. Jonouchi Hiromi, who may be the real (failed)"Doctor X," submits an exorbitant bill and a melon to the institution, which usually leads to a senior staff shakeup. In between surgeries, Dr. Daimon rests at Dr. Jonouchi's physician's exchange, losing game after game of Mah Jong.

An elite secret Tokyo Police action squad is on an extended mission in rough terrain when one of it's members goes crazy from stress/exhaustion and begins firing his assault rifle at everyone. He is shot and killed by one of the group, which go on to complete the mission. The unit is broken up, and the shooter is assigned to the created-just-for-him section, "Special Missions." Police higher-ups hope Police Inspector Sugishita Ukyo will tire of having nothing to do and resign. To their dismay, this Anglophile detective looks into closed and current cases and begins to solve them via his "bad habit" of fixing on inconsistencies in the case. One day, disgraced Police Sergeant Kameyama Kaoru is assigned to "Special Missions" by mistake, and "The Partners" duo is born. The cool and collected Sugishita and his action-oriented partner clash with Investigation Section One frequently, though the partners usually hand the solved case over to them for credit. Interesting stories, memorable villains,and sharp banter make this TV worth watching, for 14 seasons!

Senior detective Tatsuo Yoshida muses that families form, quarrel, and stay together or part for definite, but private reasons. In the first scene, Yoshida keeps his eager subordinate, Keita Tachibana, from arresting a suspect before he's had time with his family for his son's birthday. Later that night, he gets a call from his estranged daughter, Miho, but doesn't answer when another case pops up. The body of a young man has been found at the foot of the Vander Senju apartment/Mansion complex. A blood trail from the entrance leads to a deluxe apartment 2025 with three dead bodies. The resident manager, Sano, wonders aloud who these people are, since he he only knows about the previous three member Koito family. The current register lists the Sunagawa family of four, one of whom may be the young guy who's face has been disfigured by the fall from the balcony. However, it becomes clear that this "family" is a bogus group. Further, the building security cameras show two people leaving the apartment, four minutes apart, near the time of the murders. One is a woman carrying a baby, and the other is a rough looking man who has a bandaged hand. Who are these fugitives, what are the identities of the murdered "family"? This case soon involves a number families, illegal acts, and an abandoned puppy. Can the detective Yoshida and Tachibana solve these mysteries? The resolution involves a bowl of Miso soup,a muddy delivery van, and two petty criminals who face problems very differently

I bought this Steampunk Anime movie expecting an alternate time line story. What showed up (when I could see it after turning up the LCD TV's brightness and contrast) was a version of Jules Verne's "Captain Nemo and the Steam Tower That Refused To Die." Inventive? Yes, the world of the Steam family, menaced by different tribes of would-be venture capitalists for a steam ball was different. Family members at war with each other over SCIENCE or COMMERCE made things as murky as the elevator ride to the Steam Tower's control tower level. The action level varied from "Hold on to your hat!" to "Snooze warning: justification lectures and ethics arguments galore!" to "It's time for 'War of the Corporate Scum!" All in all, "Akira" was more coherent, but I'd like to see what Otomo is up to next. By the way, I watched the Japanese language version with English subtitles.

As I watched the movie spool to the end, two names came to mind, one local, the other national. The former was Bill Murata, known after Dec. 7, 1941 as "Chew Gum Long," the Chinese magician/comedian. The latter was Jack Soo, aka Goro Suzuki, according to the IMDb mini biography. The former regained his Hawaii identity after World War II, the latter kept his stage name and went on to an interesting career as a character actor. Identity can be inconvenient, requiring a change as circumstances demand. But doing the right thing can take even more courage, especially when you have no/few cards to play. But it only takes one to change the game. An interesting tale, seen by a child, puzzled by the strange world of adults.

It's a well-crafted film, with an intelligent script, filled with interesting characters. But I didn't laugh once while watching the DVD. WMDs, Guantanamo, The Patriot Act, and "Stay the course" promoters used all of the techniques and arguments found in this film to create the bubbling, flaming, exploding cauldron that is Iraq. I have a similar problem with "Wag The Dog," but, hey, it's a dangerous world out here, and it's better to think for yourself...isn't it? Time has caught up with this film, so I'm viewing "The Great Dictator" or PBS' "The War." There's a reason that "The Greatest Generation" is admired; they didn't spin anything. Faced with an economy that tanked or world war, they didn't hesitate to step up and be counted, even if it led to real estate only sufficient for a grave and headstone. It's a shame that they're leaving this life just when their counsel is most needed.

I happened across Vh-1's Sunday evening music video+musical guest by accident and didn't realize the value of this show soon enough to archive it on VHS soon enough. (I did put it on SuperBeta HiFi, but these tapes can't be played due to the last Sony SLH-360/600 biting the dust 5 years ago.) This series wasn't about Rock & Roll, and the studio performances were quite interesting. All good/interesting things come to an end, once music videos became passé and MTV preferred to reach only the teen audience. I pause once and a while, at MTV and VH-1 to see what non-music subjects are hip, then move on to The Discovery Channel or PBS, to hear/ see original/intelligent TV programming. I wonder if there is the equivalent of "New Visions" out there in the cable TV wasteland, overseen by say, Verve or Down Beat magazine. Naah, that would make too much sense, and confuse the 17-34 market with all this "Old People"/non-Hip Hop/Rap music. All that's left is NPR's All Things Considered PodCast, which is interesting, but visuals+music shouldn't be limited to Rock/Country/Hip Hop/Rap genres only. A dream of mine is to find that MTV decides to squeeze more money out of their vaults and issue at least one season of "New Visions."

I'm not 100% sure if I saw this TV movie when it first appeared on ABC because this was before my family had a VCR. However, I must have, since I recall "Three Little Fishies" and "I'll Get By" playing during the course of the movie. Some years later, I saw it listed on TBS and fired up the non-HiFi Betamax to capture this "aerial cops-and-robbers" movie. (Alas, none of the surviving Betamaxes can play the tape, so it's all a matter of unreliable memory. No, I didn't get a VHS unit until the VCR wars were over.) At first glance, it looked like a routine movie about a helicopter pilot going about an ordinary day, with a traffic jam and sunbathing beauties to liven up his day. The opening sequence referring to his days as a Flying Tiger and the testy relationship with his ex-buddy-turned police captain should have been a tipoff that things were going to get interesting. Then there was the break in at the military weapons depot by fur-faced, sunglass wearing perpetrators who were OK within killing anyone who stood in their way. Unlike the technowizardry found in "Blue Thunder," Harry walker has only the tools at hand to face down a set of not-ready-for-peacetime military veterans. As the only game in town once an ordinary bank heist turned into an aerial pursuit, this movie shows why Tom Brokaw would call such folk "The Greatest Generation." Considering what kinds of special efx were available at that time, this movie shows what a difference between the real thing vs. the green screen DFX-safe world of today. (As with screenplays, Real trumps Imagination or even "Reimagining".) A chance search on Amazon.com for a butchered VHS version yielded an "On Order" notation. Release of "Birds of Prey" is set for July 12, 2005, and I'll be there to fly the spacious skies of Utah once again, even if "Three Little Fishies" or "I'll Get By" aren't in the soundtrack.

As a fan of the Diana Rigg-era "The Avengers," I wondered how Uma Thurman would fit into the cat suit. (She didn't.) Would Ralph Fiennes know what to do with Steed's bowler hat? (Tosh Togo did, Ralph didn't.) With the two principals clueless, what about The Villain? Sean Connery did a version of "A Fine Madness" and...well, it wasn't a pretty sight. Could this production have been saved? Whoopie Ti-Yo, yes, with Alan Rickman at his sneering and catcalling best could have done for Thurman and Fiennes what he did for Bruce Willis as the Uber Villain. I suspect that even John Rhys-Davies or Alfred Molina would have been better choices as the #1 global warmer. (Or is that title owned by a certain George W. Bush?) Actors have mentioned that playing the Hero is tougher than playing the Villain, but a credible Monster helps when the movie is headed for the fish fertilizer factory. Speaking of fish fertilizer and sneering, I wonder if Kurt Russell could be coaxed out of his Hero mode someday with "wife" Goldie Hawn to play The Terrible Duo in the remake of, say, "Plan 9 From Outer Space"? Who's going to direct? How about Francis Ford Coppola or George Lucas(!) doing the honors? Hmm, "Howard the Duck's Plan 9 From Outer Space"? "Plan 9 From The Heart"?

As with "The Postman," I read the book before I saw the movie...and wondered what happened to "the rest of it." Oh well, at least the movie makers captured some of the controversy and interactions in Carl Sagan's "Faith vs. Science Dialogues." Jodie Foster is perfect for the "Dr. Ellie Arroway" role, but you would know that only if you've read the book. Too bad one of the central themes in the book were swept away for Cinema: The sometimes interstellar distance between members of the same family. And a driving force for SETI contact, I might add, for the main character. (It doesn't make Movie sense, because Ellie's mother isn't alive and married to the cold genius that is her real father.) So, "Ellie" is unaccountably scared when the machine is started up? The last time one like it was powered up, it turned a launch gantry into tons of twisted scrap metal. Anyone would approach a similar vehicle with some trepidation, to put it mildly, especially as the countdown clicked down to zero. Too bad the Movie didn't even consider the "repeating pi sequence" of the Book that would pique an alien's attention. But then, I preferred "Gordon Krantz" to "The Stranger" and "Who will be responsible now, for these foolish children?" to the mano-a-mano battle with "The General." Better to have had "George Powhatan" show the example of Cincinnatus/George Washington. Still, it's a great achievement, a popular SF-like film that boosts SETI and dares ask, "What if the Aliens aren't the least bit interested in us unless we have something to show them?" ***/****

The 1944 movie, "Wing and a Prayer" asked "Where is our navy? Why doesn't it fight?" and communicated the fear that enemy invasion of the U.S. west coast was possible unless all the right moves were made. "Midway" has none of this "How do you dig foxholes in the ocean to hold the line?" feeling. Walter Lord's "Incredible Victory" had that "win or else" feel to it, and I hoped that "Midway" would tell this tale. Instead, the U.S. Navy did it all by it's lonesome, since there is scant mention of the Army or the Marine aviators who shook up the enemy armada as it approached. Finding footage of the right kind of aircraft being launched, let alone on the way to battle is a challenge; in "Wing and a Prayer," Hellcats stood in for Wildcats, Helldivers stood in for Dauntless dive bombers, and TBFs stood in for TBDs. So, seeing F4Fs, SBDs, and TBFs in action in "Midway" is one of the few pluses of this soap opera-like war movie. They sure didn't recreate "Tora! Tora! Tora!," but they could have done a better job. So, I'll watch Don Ameche take the TBF pilots to task whenever "Wing and a Prayer" runs on TCM until a better movie comes along.

I wondered why the "reel Zeros, Vals, Kates, and Warhawks" flew mostly

in the late afternoon, since Wheeler was bombed early in the morning.

Yep, the sun is "coming up in the West" to simulate dawn--except that

one can SEE it's SUNSET! (They didn't even bother to flop the

negative??) Sex among the parachutes, stunt flying P-40's without

apparent repercussions, talking about "you can't outrun a Zero," and

having "Doris Miller" use twin AIR-COOLED mcahine guns on attacking

planes. Plus we get a bogus Dolittle Raid segment. (Single engine-rated

fighter pilots jump immediately to twin engine B-25s?) At least "Air

Force" had their P-39 pilot take a little time to learn how to fly B-17s

from Australia. 183 minutes? It could be cut to 93 minutes without

missing the title subject, which is supposed to be "Pearl Harbor." Welch

& Taylor must be ROLTFLMAO at the antics of Affleck and Hartnett. And

Mako gets to deliver the words that "Admiral Yamamoto" never said. Make

mine "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

Natsuo Shinoda, has been head of the household of a "Mom and Pop" bicycle shop ever since the death of the elder Shinodas. One day, he shows a boy how to ride a bike, which strikes passerby Yuki. Harsh words are exchanged, but Natsuo cools off and apologizes to her. They find something to like about each other, and this leads to SCUBA lessons.

However, Natsuo hasn't been attentive to his high-school-age sister, Chika. She's been intimate with classmate Hiroto, and the pregnancy test is Positive! His younger brother, Jun harbors an "impossible ambition," to become a teacher in spite of his hearing/speaking disability. Hiroto, an indifferent student, has been hanging out at Pachinko and video game parlors with a gang of motorcycle-borne purse snatchers who prey upon old bank customers. Yuki has a secret--a heart condition that's kept her from experiencing LIFE. Her father, Shogo Katase, is a Juvenile Crime detective who's been watching Hiroto as a purse-snatching suspect. Seiji, a young doctor, considers Yuki his due to their long association at the hospital where Yuki has been a patient. Will Natsuo keep away from Yuki and let her go to America for a heart transplant with Seiji?

Will Hiroto remain on the straight and narrow path as he promised Chika? Stay tuned as the "underwater snows"

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" on DVD is available in Germany but

not THIS country? (We have a quest worthy of the Holy Grail into the

back alleys and junk shops of Hollywood.) I have a letterboxed Laserdisc

version, so I don't have to suffer from "Accountant's vision" when the

"formatted to fit your TV screen" version shows up on once-quality-conscious AMC. However, it would be nice to have a DVD

version some time before my 1985 vintage Laserdisc player bites the dust

and joins the SuperBeta HiFi in the dead gear bin. Hello eBay, got a

bootleg DVD or a second tier VCD? Pardon me, Indy's about to fall into a

vat of slithering creatures and gain a phobia! And thanks for a great

father & son story set against the Nazi Menace, explosive sewers, "No

Ticket!" and Four Joll

Yes, the Hallmark Hall of Fame people now broadcast "Northern Exposure" at least twice an evening for those wishing a jar of Holling's Special Brew and listening to Chris-in-the-Morning. (Unfortunately, like "WKRP In Cincinnati," these are "edited for syndication" episodes that differ markedly from the originals--I have 5 Laserdiscs and know what I speak of.) So, let's go to The Brick after a hard day dodging flung pianos and The Devil for a Moosehead and a Caribou Dog! ("I see the Minnifields are out for a walk tod

Thanks to AMC, I've finally seen "the entire game," from fans going through the turnstiles to the return of the hometown hero! This almost Disney-like sports movie says BASEBALL like few other films about The Game. Ray Milland outdoes Robert Redford's "Roy Hobbs" rookie by insulting the front office into a tryout that has the infield and outfield taking a break to watch a game of catch between pitcher and catcher as wood never connects with horsehide. (One wonders what Hollywood or even the clueless Mouse would make of an errant baseball and a mysterious white precipitate, in view of the "Flubber" mess.) And it's all done with primitive SFX, projected backgrounds, and a cast of able actors taking us on a "Walter Mitty" ride into a baseball pennant race. It's a movie that never loses sight of the value of education, even commenting on inflated player salaries versus the real world near the end of the movie. (Perspective is another thing missing from current multi-million dollar epics.) So, batter up! Strike one! Strike two! Strike three! Who's the next hitless wonder? (And who wants to sidestep Rogaine for "King Kelly's Miracle Hair Restorer"?)

Just after "Boston Public" wrapped with Kathy Baker held hostage in the basement, I wondered if I'd ever see "Dr. Jill Brock" in action again. A chance scan of TNN's weekday schedule brought a pleasant surprise: Five days of "Picket Fences"! (Time for the VCR and popcorn as the search for "The Serial Bather" starts again.) First one seen: A "Show & Tell" turned into a hunt for "The Green Bay Chopper," with Kenny and Max drawing on two Krycek-like FBI agents.

Judge Bone got a rest in this episode, but Douglas Wambaugh took on the Feds...and won! ("What law school did YOU go to?" "Your Honor, he's down to MY level!") Carter Pike's finest hour with The Hand brought the case to an automatic fire end, where "CSI"-like work tied it all up...though Max did get shaken up at the end.

Caught between the caustic humor of "Titus" and the bitter grumblings of "Becker," I wondered where TV comedy had gone. A chance scan of TNN's weekday programming brought forth a ray of light: Two episodes of "Newhart" from Monday through Friday! (Once again, that immortal greeting: "Hi, my name's Larry, and this is my brother Darryl, and my other brother Darryl.") The understated charm of Dick Loudon, as "Brains" of the Vermont former Youth Gang, the "Hooligals" getting ready to "West Side Story" with their rivals, the "Puffians. The "Gooney Walk" of George Utley, Joanna riding herd on Stephanie as both head into the kitchen to clean a mess of Perch. The "Little Stephanie" Super Material Girl nightmare of Michael Harris (and the Soup Kitchen non-materialist doppelganger.) I won't miss Summer reruns at all!

When this series first came out way back when, it reminded me of my short FM radio stint in college. (KTUH FM back in those days was heard only in Manoa valley, and beamed among the student dormitories. The tales I could tell...but that's another story.) "WKRP" sounded, looked, and felt like the real article, from Censorship to Concert Violence, to Rock Star Excess. But it was about the radio family that saw each other through falling Turkeys, "Golfing with God," boredom & daydreams, terror, and "canned radio of 'Christmas Future." I saw "Picket Fences" listed in the TNN lineup, then discovered "The Carp" near the top of TNN Pop's weekday broadcast lineup. Pastures of Plenty!, two shots of Johnny Fever each day? (I'll never make it to the weekend at this rate. But that's all right my momma!)

Searching for some short-length used videotapes, I found the laserdisc version of "Revolution," which I'd never seen. This non-letterbox, TV format version had the usual "talking to air" problem with 2.35:1 movies. Although a scratch and miscellaneous dirt made the picture skip/repeat/wobble, it was an interesting foxhole-level look at the American Revolution. The scenery, set design, costumes, and varied kinds of people made me think that this was Sergio Leone's take on The War for Independence. Was Al Pacino believable as a backwoods English colonist? No, but like a scratch running through a film, the "speech impediment" is overlooked as the tale unfolds. This film, unlike "The Patriot," shows camp followers, Indians on both sides, fighting women, "Not Worth a Continental" issues, lots of dirt and the conventions and results of 18th century warfare. Valley Forge isn't as grim an encampment as paintings and written records reported, but it's a close miss for the English countryside location. Are the characters believable? Hard to tell, since their histories and motives aren't complete. (Having the action jump place to place with jumps in time make this a "fill-in-the-missing-backstory" exercise found in James Clavell's book "Nobel House" series.) Is it an interesting movie? Definitely, and has that 18th century "fleas, dirt, and grease" look that is missing from "The Patriot." 7/10, for presenting issues and motives that turned English colonists into Americans.