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Stargate SG-1: Enigma (1998)
One of my favourite episodes of the series
One of the best things about 'Stargate SG-1', for me, is the triality of the series - the combination of war, science, and politics, rippled into one drama. "Enigma" is one of those episodes that is less about the war aspect, but more about the science, and especially the politics.
The core of the episode's plot involves the sudden and unexpected meeting of the SGC and the Tollans. The latter are more technologically advanced, and have developed an ethos of pacifism and xenophobia, stemming from their ability to make use of disguise and retreat rather than conflict, and their experience of trading technology with worlds who destroyed themselves from irresponsible use of that technology.
Whereas many of the cultures the SGC interacts with seem to be led by what amount to warrior-kings, the leader of the Tollan group, Omoc, is more of a professor-president. He appears to possess unshakeable confidence in both the Tollan way of life and in the inferiority of non-Tollans. The fact that he is one of only two Tollans who interact in-depth with the SGC staff (the other being Narim, who appears to be an adjutant of Omoc's of some sort) seems to demonstrate Tollan culture as very hierarchical.
As the story unfolds, it is gradually revealed that Omoc's attitude stems not from arrogance, but rather from ingrained dismay at how other worlds have misused Tollan-developed technology for destruction. As a result, although he appears to be disdainful of his SGC hosts, in reality he sees it as his responsibility to protect them and to maintain the isolationism of the Tollan way of life. He is, for me, probably the most underrated antihero of the entire series, one of the most relatable characters, and one whose message is more relevant today than when the episode was written.
Battle of the Bogside (2004)
A gripping, well-paced primer on the beginning of The Troubles
I first watched this in 02015, one cloudy, rainy day - not in Northern Ireland, in Saskatchewan. But it matched what I imagined to be stereotypical Northern Irish weather. I had been fascinated by the socio-politics & the guerrilla warfare of The Troubles for years, & I came across this documentary on YouTube.
The format is typical of a history documentary, in combining first-hand accounts from figures involved in the events, interspersed with photo & video from the events, with a calm narration keeping the story flowing in approximate chronological order.
The documentary generally tries to be impartial about what was, as most of the events in The Troubles, a very polarising and emotional event. A variety of people, both retired high-ranking government figures, as well as working-class protesters who had literally thrown debris as the police, were interviewed. This gives the perspective from multiple angles that allows the viewer the freedom to make up their own mind if they choose.
My favourite person in the documentary is Nell McCafferty. She told her story in a lighthearted, entertaining, & informative manner, like the intelligent, sweet grandmother we all need. My least favourite was Martin McGuinness, who reminded me of a psychopathic version of Radar O'Reilly.
Some of the "Free Derry" protesters who were interviewed became more involved in politics after the Battle of the Bogside, but the documentary lacks context as to how they formed their later beliefs that shaped how they responded to the interviews. In particular, Bernadette Devlin, one of the unofficial street leaders of the "Free Derry" movement, and Eamonn McCann, had become literal communist activists, and their alignment/affiliation with the Official (Marxist) IRA has never fully come to light. This is something the documentary omits to mention, which for me is a rather important detail, & for this reason alone I do not give it 10/10.
Otherwise, it is a very watcheable, informative documentary for people who are not completely familiar with why Northern Ireland was for decades one of the most militarised places in Europe.
Eaten Alive (1976)
A (slightly) underrated & misunderstood movie
I watched this on a whim one hot July night, unable to find a clean enough upload of the original 'Texas Chain Saw', & decided to look for other work by Tobe Hooper. I found it on my favourite website in the world, the Internet Archive, uploaded as 'Death Trap'.
Unlike 'Chain Saw', in which the story begins with the protagonists & the antagonists are gradually worked into the story, in 'Eaten Alive', the unfolding of the story is completely different, & not nearly as simple.
The casting was done by Edward R. Morse, & I believe that he did the best job of all the cast & crew. Despite its low budget, the people he picked for each character & the very specific flavour they each added to the story, was outstanding.
We are introduced first to Clara, the reluctant & anxious concubine. Roberta Collins played Clara excellently: she portrayed the type of delicately beautiful sister that she is just too precious for something as filthy & debasing as working in a brothel.
We are a short time later introduced to the madame, Miss Hattie, played by Carolyn Jones. Her makeup was poorly done, although her voice was so different from her earlier role as Morticia in The Addams Family (1964), I actually had to go back & look at her again when I realised midway through the movie who it was! (I've got to say, I much prefer her melodious Transatlantic accent over her rock-coarse Texan accent.)
Later, we are introduced to Judd, the aloof & eccentric innkeeper. It is made evident early on that he is tormented by the sexuality of women and possibly by other things, & his pet crocodile seems to be his therapeutic means of trying to throw away his external tormenters. But no matter how much he feeds the crocodile, his internal torment continues, as it is made more evident as the story unfolds that he is an outsider & has been scarred by some unknown event(s) of the past. Most of the people he interacts with are unsympathetic characters, and the focus always returns to Judd's suffering, giving comparatively little attention to the hellish horrors that the minor characters experience.
Kyle Richards, better known for her role as Lindsey in the 'Halloween' franchise (and nowadays, the dark-haired woman trying to console the blonde woman in the Woman Yelling at a Cat meme) plays a minor but yet significant role as Angie, who experiences a rather horrific loss of a family member before checking into Judd's hotel. Angie continues to be an object of terrorising throughout the story, & if Tobe Hooper had thought of it, could have made a sequel in the 80s of Angie being a traumatised & delusional paranoic who murders men resembling Judd when she's older.
At the very beginning of the movie, & repeatedly throughout, Buck - played by Robert Englund before he was known as Freddy Krueger - has interactions with both Judd & with other characters. Although his run-ins with the law would not land him with the same level of legal trouble that Judd might have faced, Buck is an absolutely unsympathetic character, & is in my opinion the story's main (human) antagonist. I hated him.
Crystin Sinclaire as Libby, Clara's sister who's come looking for her, was my favourite character. Her polite but firm nobility, and her dedication to her sister's wellbeing, combined with Crystin's remarkable appearance - something of a cross between a girl-next-door & an angelic perfume model - was immediately compelling and respectable (an ideal wife, if you ask me). Crystin reminded me something of a latter-day Rachel McAdams, & I am truly sad that she did not play other similar roles in future productions
I generally liked the movie, but I rate it only a 6/10 because of the amount of expenses spared. The red lighting & heavy fog in the vicinity of the hotel was unconvincing, & the environs definitely seemed more like an indoor studio than a derelict inn in rural Texas. The crocodile, when shown, had rather floppy motion at times, although its scales looked real enough. The audio quality sounded easily ten years out-of-date, although I give honourable mention to the synthesiser soundtrack, which was in that era still quite experimental.
Had the abovementioned negatives been remedied, I would have probably upped it another star.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show: Honey, We're Stuck in the 70's (1997)
Unoriginal but sweet
The title gives away the some of the plot. Without spoiling how it ends, it involves going back in time & trying to return to the present later while wondering how their actions will affect the future a.k.a. The actual present. I've seen this gimmick in [title=tt0709028] and in [title=tt0304141] - but then again, those were released after "We're Stuck in the 70s", so maybe it's not so unoriginal!
This was really the breakout episode for Amy, who heretofore had been a rather sarcastic, even unsympathetic background character, while the series was establishing the other three family members. This story shows her more compassionate & sweet side, whereas before the viewer only saw her salty & sour. I felt proud to witness her growth as a person in the sacrifice she had to make near the end of the episode.
Also interesting for me, as an Albertan, was the choice of location for the shooting. I can't prove it, but I am convinced that the amusement park scene was recorded at Calaway Park, west of Calgary - a place I visited a couple of times back then.
I found Diane's role in this episode to be thoroughly gratifying. When her younger self approaches Wayne at the roller disco to return his wallet, I almost bit through my lower lip. She was so freaking beautiful in the French class scene too.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show: Honey, the House Is Trying to Kill Us (1997)
A very prescient episode
Over a quarter-century after this episode was written, it is remarkable how much of the content in this episode has come reality, or, has shown potential to.
"Smart homes", the colloquial term for homes in which the electricity and various appliances are connected to artificial intelligence software, to manage them, have become affordable on the consumer market, operating lighting, security cameras, ovens, and so on. Some of these appliances have been found to "spy" on their owners through live microphones, in order to study "customers' needs". Multiple studies have found that AIs designed to replicate the conversational capabilities essentially behave as psychopaths. As written about AI in The Conversation in 02018, "It simply cannot provide the humour, warmth and the ability to build coherent and personal rapport that is crucial in human conversations."
These descriptions all fit F. R. A. N., the ally-turned-antagonist of this episode - who even admits that she lacks much of a sense of humour. F. R. A. N.'s ability to anticipate the actions of the characters correctly predicts the "machine-learning" ability of AI today. Amy's description of F. R. A. N.'s remote monitoring of them as being "like being in prison" was an unsettling reminder of the modern term "digital prison".
I noticed that F. R. A. N.'s hovercraft through which she surveils the house does seem very similar to Weebo off of 'Flubber' (which too featured a bespectacled genius in love with a short-haired hottie). However, this episode was released exactly one month before 'Flubber', so obviously it was a coincidence.
This episode is an early warning radar of the value of being able to disconnect from the digital world.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
27 years later, I finally watched this
So I saw the sneak-peek of this movie on my VHS of 'The Pagemaster' as a kid. Never got around to seeing it as a kid, but I found it today uploaded to the Internet Archive & I decided to catch up on old times.
I don't know why IMDb collectively rates this movie, at the time of writing, only a 5.3/10. Sure, the CGI is dated now. But that's about the only criticism I have. The action is fast-paced. The soundtrack is good. The set locations are impressive. Tommy is a cool bro. Kimberley alone is worth at least a couple of stars! The humour keeps things nicely lubed. What more do you want? It's a kids' movie from the 90s!
It was bittersweet to finally have watched this. Bitter, only in the sense that I feel a little sad that I've never been a valued member of such a cool team of friends as the Power Rangers. But sweet that I've gotten to experience such a great blast from the past.
Stargate SG-1: Point of View (1999)
An emotionally gripping adventure across multiple universes
This is for me one of the most fascinating and gut-wrenching episodes of the series.
IMDb asks if this review contains spoilers - and I am not sure it is possible to fill the required character limit for a review without spoiling something, in the case of this particular episode. I will leave out how it ends, in order to justify me selecting "No". The most basic of any kind of useful summary one can make is that in an alternate universe, Carter and Kawalsky under fire from Goa'uld invaders who have all but conquered Earth, make a desperate escape into "our" reality. The SGC in "our" universe now has to deal with the presence of alternate variations of individuals involved with the Stargate program, one of whom still is alive.
In the alternate universe, Sam is a civilian doctor of science, who was also married to O'Neill. The O'Neill in her universe had recently been KIA in the war against the Goa'uld, and she has to come to grips with the fact that the man she sees in the new universe and thinks she knows does not see her the same way. Only Amanda Tapping could know, but I imagine this was one of the most challenging episodes to record for her, given the emotional maelstrom the Carter from the alternative reality is caught in. It is one of the few episodes of the series in which I found myself choking back tears on.
It's not all tragedy though, or else it wouldn't be 'Stargate SG-1' - there is comedy too, of course. Seeing how Dr. Carter and Maj. Carter interact is something like observing estranged identical twins forced back into the mix again. In addition, the viewer is treated to seeing Teal'c impersonate himself while on an interuniversal mission.
So Weird: Siren (1999)
Why is this episode rated 8.6?
I liked the message in the storyline about management's misuse of talent in the entertainment business for self-enrichment. But that's about the only good thing about this episode.
The guest character with paranormal aspects is supposed to elicit sympathy from the audience.
That did not happen with me here.
Callie is such an unpleasant character that she made James in 'Tulpa' seem like a decent guy. Her hostile personality, uninterest in affection, and lack of visible gratitude toward's Fi's attempts to help her make the audience just want to walk away - at best.
I don't understand why so many people like this episode. 8.6 out of 52 ratings. I want to literally never watch this one again.
Gojira vs. Mosura (1992)
Mothra: live at Tokyo!
The focus of the story is neither Godzilla nor Battra, but rather the benevolence of Mothra to Earth. This is a relatively fast-paced movie, with a fair amount of backstory of several characters hinted at but not elucidated on. Not that it was all important for the plot. Miki Saegusa is shown in this episode, but her relevance to the series is not easily recognisable, unless a viewer has watched the previous movies & remembered her. There isn't much in the way of character development, as in some of the other Toho kaiju movies. Rather, the human characters are almost part of the audience, especially in the latter half of the story, bearing witness to the interactions of tremendous, nigh unstoppable beings.
The Cosmos faeries are, as always, delightful ambassadors for their patron. The most special part of the movie for me is at 1:13, where the two of them slowly press their alternate hand against the other's while they sing Mothra's prayer.
I give some deductions for some of the early scenes, which seem to be almost directly swiped from the screenplays of the first two 'Indiana Jones' movies.
Mosura 2: Kaitei no daikessen (1997)
Not the best of the Mothra movies...
I started watching this on a whim, since it was uploaded as Japanese dub with English subtitles, which is how I prefer to watch the kaiju movies. I hadn't seen the first 'Rebirth of Mothra' before this one, so I may have been missing some context for it.
It definitely seemed more of a kids' movie than some of the kaijus I've seen.
I give it major deductions, particularly for its heavy reliance on greenscreens & early-gen CGI, which made for a lot of unbelievable scenes. I was surprised at the amount of blood shown on the shirts of the two human antagonists in one of the later scenes - & even more surprised to see them in the scene immediately following to be wearing perfectly clean shirts!
I give it one star for the studio of the ancient city, which was surprisingly ornate, one star for the explosions & such which they look to have put a lot of work into, & three stars for Moll & Lora. Those two cuties were the stars of the show for me. I wouldn't mind wifing that Sayaka Yamaguchi, to be honest.
M*A*S*H: A Smattering of Intelligence (1974)
A humourous insight in the reality of our world
I grew up on 'M*A*S*H*' as a child. As I got older, this one stuck in my mind and I would have to say is one of the best-written episodes of the series, and one of my favourites.
Unlike episodes in the later seasons, many of which failed to be compelling even with two timesharing storylines, this episode focussed on one, attention-holding story throughout. Bill Fletcher and Edward Winter joined together to outshine all of the regular cast in this story. As is the tendency with mystery stories, the flavour is much more complex than the usual 'M*A*S*H*' episode in which there is the clear but usually lighthearted antagonist (in the earlier seasons Frank, and sometimes Margaret), and Hawkeye and Trapper perform the trickery. The unfolding of this story places Frank in a rare situation to garner sympathy from the audience. The audience is left pondering what is going on almost right to the end, when Pratt and Flagg reveal privately to the audience after the regular cast leaves the scene that they were working together the whole time.
I call this food for thought because it makes one wonder how many of the "conflicts" we are presented by government figures and media figures really are genuine. What is presented as a conflict between nations by politicians is oftentimes just a conflict between rival politicians amongst themselves. How many of our supposed allies really care about us, and how many of them are just creators of clever presentations designed to elicit our help - help that they would never in turn give to us in our time of need? How much of what we see is really kayfabe, designed to elicit a reaction of the population, in order to create the conditions power-players desire to take actions they might not otherwise get away with?
The world is more complex than it seems, now more than ever.
Mr. Mister: Is It Love (1985)
Deep by 80s standards
Given that it came out fifteen to twenty years before the Information Revolution, this music video and the song in general is food for thought.
The term "selfies" hadn't been coined yet. But it is what we would now call what the main woman character is taking of herself at the beginning of the video.
The silent story of the video paired with the lyrics asks women the question that has become far more pertinent with the rise of the Internet and especially social media: are you looking for love from your fellow human beings - or are you really looking for slavish adoration? Why don't you tell me - do you want my companionship, or do you want to play games?
I also want to add, that I think that if people dressed like the characters in this video did, we just might not be in this cultural dark age we're in.
To conclude, I must ask the question that if you're reading this, you're probably also wondering: who is this anonymous, absolute gold-plated doll in this video?
1:20 Oh my Lord...
P. S. - For women's reference: if you are considering getting lip injections, this woman's lips are about as plump as you can get without looking ridiculous. If a man can use your face as an airbag in his vehicle, you're too inflated.
El laberinto del fauno (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth: a faerie tale for everyone and for no one
I bought 'Pan's Labyrinth' on DVD at a now torn-down Wal-Mart in 02006. I had seen the trailer for it
on TV & for some reason was intrigued enough to want to see it. I don't remember if it screened much here in Canada, being a Spanish film.
I watched it a few times, & I couldn't even really say if I liked it then.
Although it may have been better to have sold it or donated it to a library, I ended up dropping the disc
in the garbage a few years later.
Why would I do that?
As my title says, I think 'Pan's Labyrinth' is a movie for everybody & yet for nobody.
I'm actually astounded that IMDb users have collectively rated it as highly as it is.
A consistent atmosphere of death, sadness, and general dread hangs through almost every scene. It is supposed to be a fantasy story, but the magic element of the adventure Ophelia was set on by Pan is mostly outweighed by the viewer's dread of Captain Vidal. I believe that his role as antagonist ought to have developed more gradually throughout the film. The way he was portrayed made the movie like an overly spicy dish that could have been more enjoyable if the diner's tastebuds weren't made numb by the seasoning. Overall, the story features almost no character development, giving the audience nothing to celebrate.
The magical tasks given to Ophelia by Pan are nonsensical, even by faerie tale standards, and have no
clear value from the audience's perspective, leaving them in the position of a clueless observer rather
than a participant in the adventure. The dining table monster Ophelia encounters, although unsettling, appears to be channelling an ersatz version of the Alien (1979) Xenomorph, but not anywhere near as formidable.
I also didn't care for the black-and-white dichotomy in how the movie portrays the two sides in the Spanish Civil War, with the callousness and explosiveness of Vidal representing the Nationalist side, and the kindness and patience of Mercedes and the doctor representing the communist - uh, I mean, Republican - side. As simplistic as it sounds, wars are made possible by people who show up to support it. The Spanish Civil War was made possible by the Axis, Western Allies, and the Soviet Union; the war literally would not have happened if each side wasn't goading its proxy fighters on. Plus, as in every violent conflict around the world, there is no one absolutely good or absolutely evil side. I understand that this movie isn't a war movie or a political movie and it takes place entirely within a relatively confined area. But I still didn't care for the story's lack of appreciation for the bigger picture. Maybe I'm just not cut out for movies in which the main character is a young girl without any understanding of these nuances.
Although it may be just more a cultural thing than anything to do with the filmmaking, I was also annoyed by the seeming inability of the characters to speak above a whisper. Why do they almost always speak as though they're in a nursery trying to avoid waking a baby? It's not that I'm a yeller or hard-of-hearing, but perhaps in Spain they don't value projecting one's voice as a sign of strong character.
The reason why I generously give 'Pan's Labyrinth' even a 5/10 is because I still think amidst its
many flaws, there is a good moral to the story about the delicateness and preciousness of life.
Not to mention, the female characters are all played by pretty ladies, and they make this movie almost
worth watching.
Stalin (1992)
An abbreviated biopic of the world's greatest moustache
It's impractical to create a biographic movie of a universally misunderstood political figure who could not be interviewed, whose surviving associates all had their views of him tainted by blind loyalty and/or terror, spread over four decades, without some artistic license and a great deal of abbreviation. It is no surprise that Robert Duvall considered this the most challenging role in his acting career.
Before one takes the dive into a movie that is nearly three hours in length, one ought to know beforehand (so as to avoid disappointment) that this is not a war movie, and it is not particularly graphic - nor is it a Disneyfied, Hollywoodised story that happens to make use of Josef Stalin's name. It is more a political movie (a genre that I think is all too often neglected) that is leans heavily on character acting & the screenplay - as opposed to 21st century movies that rest heavily on CGI, explosions, and sex. Not that it neglects to make use of excellent sets, but it is very much a movie for those who prefer theatre over film.
It is a bold choice of any screenwriter to write a script about a figure who was indisputably in the top five most brutal dictators in history. It is an equally bold choice for a director to volunteer to give such a screenplay life. For an actor to take on such a role risks career suicide! Yet, perhaps for many was an irresistible temptation - uber-masculine figures like Josef Stalin have a compelling, enduring appeal, regardless of the publication and universal awareness of their crimes. Even with the disclaimer at the end of the movie about the destructiveness of his administration, the viewer still desires to look through his eyes. My only conclusion is that he really was just a man - a "man of steel", in the right (wrong) place at the right (wrong) time; a latter-day warrior-king composed more of wickedness than of benevolence. I am not convinced that he was a psychopath or a narcissist; I don't believe he would have been able to to climb as high as he did if he was hampered by such psychological constitutions. I don't believe he was, as is hinted at by the tsar's recruiting officer around the beginning of the movie, possessed by "the Devil". It is obvious to the astute, politically-fluent viewer by the end of the movie that Stalin was not exactly a principled communist - or any "-ist" really - with the possible exception of a solipsist.
What Stalin was definitely, was a skilled politician. He was aware that in politics, fealty is shallow, loyalty expects to be rewarded, ambitions can turn allies into rivals, and that every gift is a curse. Although the viewer is not expected to go into the movie already being a buff of Soviet history, one quote of Stalin's (that is not spoken by Duvall) adequately describes his political worldview: "Gratitude is a disease suffered by dogs." His Machiavellianism, even what Nietzsche might have called principled amoralism, enabled him to look further ahead, motivate his associates, and eliminate his (perceived) rivals, particularly those dogmatic communists from the "Old Bolshevik" wing. Too many of these figures realised too late (sometimes by years... if they ever realised it at all) that the idealism of the Revolution had been swallowed by the ambitions of one man. My favourite scene relates to this - when Kamenev and Zinoviev are being led to the execution chamber. Kamenev, the sweet, Jewish uncle figure exclaims "They lied to us! They told us we would not be killed...", while Zinoviev is hauled screaming from his cell. The incongruity of Kamenev's incredulity with Zinoviev's hysteria is almost comedic.
On the topic of incongruities, the people Stalin chose to surround himself with - and there can be no doubt that as he accumulated power, everybody who surrounded him was there by his choice primarily - are fascinating. We have Nadya: the ideal young revolutionary who was initially inspired by Stalin and was later driven to despair by the same. On the other side of the coin, we have Beria: the inhumanly calm, soulless, yet relentless confidante who was the real force behind Stalin's terrorism. These two characters represent the brackets, in between which all the other characters, besides Stalin himself, fall between.
The film does make use of pauses at strategic moments to pique the viewer's interest to try to look into Stalin's soul - we want to try to uncover how he's really feeling. This is always a curiosity aroused most by men whose feelings and motivations are masked by opacity.
Another one of my favourite scenes is where Stalin is surprised to encounter his first son, whom he has never spoken of to Nadya. The audience is in Yakov's shoes and feels the warmth of Nadya as she states to Stalin that she has given him the guest bedroom. The emphasis, in my view, then shifted back to Stalin, as he coarsely tosses an apple from the fruit bowl to Yakov and storms off, as if to silently, dryly say, "Avail yourself of my generosity."
Overall, this biopic tries to portray key moments in Stalin's life as they (probably) were. The viewer is given the choice as to their own conclusions. Whether Stalin is a protagonist or an antagonist is left up to the viewer. It's perhaps ironic how a story that a viewer expects to be about communism transforms into a story about not even individualism (which implies a plural), but an individual: how one man could hold most of Eurasia in the grips of fear for decades.
King of the Hill: Peggy Makes the Big Leagues (2000)
The real heroes are not the football "stars", but the fighters of corruption
'King of the Hill', being probably the most mundane and realistic of all sitcoms (including live-action sitcoms!), typically makes for very sedate watching.
But unlike most of the episodes I've seen, this one struck a chord with me. I haven't studied education and I am not a teacher, but corruption repulses me. So for me, Peggy is doubtless the heroine in this one. Unlike a scoop reporter or an anti-corruption investigator, Peggy had no tangible benefit waiting for her at the end of the gauntlet she had to run. It takes both principle and courage to stand alone against a corrupt system at the potential cost of one's career.
The moral of the episode is rather disappointing: the viewer realising that people they once viewed as trustworthy can easily be pressured into going along with a racket. People without principles are always adrift and can't really be trusted any further once this tendency has been exposed.
Strategic Air Command (1955)
"We're not in a war!"
Or are we?
Although this is one of my favourite military genre movies, I am not sure I can accurately call this a war movie. On one hand, it takes place during the Cold War and heavily features the equipment and personnel of the United States Air Force (which was only about eight years divorced from the United States Army when this film was released). On the other hand, no bombing, shooting, or death takes place whatsoever - plus, multiple characters emphatically state that there isn't a war on (formally-speaking).
As Dutch Holland explains to his wife Sally: "But there is a 'kind' of war." The Second World War was still in relatively fresh memory, and the "Cold War" was still a a novel concept. In 01955, the Doomsday Clock was at 2 Minutes To Midnight - but most of the technology that would come to define a potential WWIII was only in its infancy at that time. Nuclear weapons in the 50s were gravity bombs personally delivered to their targets by manned crews who would spend many vulnerable hours airborne. At the time of filming, the bulk of the Soviet nuke delivery vehicles were Tupolev Tu-4s -reverse-engineered B-29s, essentially. The parity of nuclear deterrent technology and the emergence of mutually-assured destruction was yet to come.
On that note, another interesting fact about this movie is how the words "Soviets", "Russians", "commies", and so on are never uttered. The enemies are considered hypothetical by all the characters - "the other guy". I strongly believe this is deliberate - not merely for the purpose of trying to avoid antagonising anybody, but also to keep the story focussed on the professional and personal journey of Dutch Holland.
James Stewart (Dutch) is a unique actor in his ability to confidently act unconfident. He seems to represent the layman in the audience: always the last to know when something is happening, constantly in one pickle or another, and constantly learning. This on-screen personality helps keep the audience on-edge, never quite reassured that everything is under control - which is in part why this movie is so exciting.
June Allyson plays the most sympathetic character, Sally Holland. A significant source of tension in the story is her developing dissatisfaction with Dutch's increasing involvement in SAC. Contemporaneous with the growth in her dissatisfaction is the decline in the audience's ability to sympathise with Dutch, as he becomes more consumed with the Air Force and forgets his previous aspirations of being a husband, father, and professional baseball player.
For me, the most underrated character is Frank Lovejoy's General Hawkes. He enters the story in an ambush, and is not an immediately sympathetic character, but immediately respected. He spends most of the movie as neither exactly a protagonist nor an antagonist, but leaves the viewer hoping for a small breakthrough of likeability, which doesn't occur until the very end.
The B-36 took a crew of fifteen. As Dutch begins his training, one crewman in particular stands out to him. Ike Knowland is a navigator, bitter about being recalled into active duty and having to leave his small business behind. Like General Hawkes, Ike does not immediately endear himself to the audience. However, his character develops more rapidly than Hawkes. Dutch is given captaincy of a B-36 and offers the navigator position to Ike, on account of understanding his situation. "Not particular, huh?" Ike snaps at him - obviously to be a wiseguy, but I found the line charming, for some odd reason. Ike harbours a secret gratitude to Dutch, maintaining a facade of being miserable, although the audience can sometimes see past it.
The movie has overall beautiful videography and an excellent soundtrack. The takeoff and scenes from Dutch's first flight in the B-36 is magnificent. The blue yonder and the symphony combine like a fresh breeze in your lungs. Excellent too is the symphony turning on the sense of danger at the right moments!
I also like the theme song: "BOMBERS HIGHHHHHHH, RIDING THE AIIRRRRRRR!!"... nothing like a good military march to heat up your blood!
Although it's a great story with great characters, combining a great soundtrack with great cinematography, for me the most essential factor in this movie is the Convair B-36; that thing was an absolute beast. Along with other such beasts as the Myasishchev M-50, the Mil V-12, the Tupolev Tu-144, & the North American XB-70, the B-36 is an aircraft I am genuinely disappointed that I will (probably) never see fly.
Gloria Estefan: Get on Your Feet (1989)
Positivity & encouragement
A message of positivity, the lyrics of this song are words of encouragement that people nowadays need more than ever. Negativity can take on a dangerous downward spiral of its own, and we don't need any more of that. Finding motivation too is also a struggle for some of us, and the song encourages us to tackle what it is we're seeking rather than waiting to see if it comes to us.
I give it only an 8/10 because I thought some of the cuts were rather rapid, and don't give the audience enough time to take in what's happening. That's compensated for though by how splendidly recorded the audio was.
I think most of us have something we're feeling discouraged or unmotivated about, and making believe that Gloria is in our corner rooting for us. I've never met Gloria and probably never will (unfortunately?). I am also aware that she is not the songwriter of this song, nor the director of the music video. However, I think it would be very challenging for most people who watch this video to not believe that she is a person of genuine warmth with a great love of life and of people. I know I was smitten by the bit where she holds the clapperboard below her chin and smiles into the camera!
The Howling (1981)
Imperfect but underrated
I first watched 'The Howling' one February night atop a mountain in Cranbrook. I had been meaning to get around to watching it for several years, and finally bought most of the 'Howling' series on DVD.
I really liked the unique combination of sound and visual aspects in the intro sequence. It definitely helps whet one's appetite for the story instead of immediately launching into the movie with typical filmed sequences alongside intro credits.
The sensation of risk is well-communicated to the audience in the opening scene. It was short enough though that it doesn't over-emphasise its importance to the movie - the key setting comes later.
I liked the friends dynamic between Karen, Bill, Chris, and Terry. Terry is actually the most underrated character for me; unlike Karen, who is more of a passive character, Terry plays a more active role in developing the story. I also have to admit that I particularly like the part where she springs out of bed and we get a brief but delightful shot of her thighs - and, as a character says of her, "She's got a sexy voice".
I liked how Patrick Macnee brought his classical British theatre experience to the movie in the role of Dr. Waggner. He is my favourite character in the movie; he seems the kind of man you'd work for faithfully and take a bullet for if necessary. Without him, or perhaps another of his cut of cloth (Donald Pleasence would have been another good choice, maybe even better!), I would give the movie probably one less star.
The Drago residents for the most part helped settle the audience into a better sense of safety. Actors like Slim Pickens and Noble Willingham appear to have been cast to help suspend the disbelief in the audience that these people living up in the woods are innocent. Margie Impert particularly conveyed a sense of silly, puppy-like innocence that gets the audience comfortable. After all, a horror movie is less effective if the audience is constantly braced for anything.
There were three exceptions to that sense of trust the Drago residents give to the audience. The first exception was Erle. The first sense that I had that anything was off with Drago the first time watching was the part where the camera slowly comes to John Carradine's face shown in high relief from the campfire light as he chews, and you wonder if he is suddenly going to transform into something then and there.
The second exception was T. C. It's made fairly obvious to the audience that he is was born off. The part where he leers at Karen during the barbeque was disconcerting, although it's compensated for a short time later by T. C.'s sudden expression of concern for Erle.
The third exception was Marsha. The first time watching, Marsha was the most thrilling of all the characters. Elisabeth Brooks was outstanding in her ability to project a character who was simultaneously steaming in sexual allure and radiating an unknown danger. This, combined with her gradual seduction of Bill makes her really the archetypical Nietzschean woman: "The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything." (said Nietzsche, not a character in the movie) She looked outstanding in the fireside love-making scene between her and Bill (which apparently was filmed from an angle she didn't agree to) - a scene which I am a little surprised Dee Wallace-Stone consented to Christopher Stone doing, given that she and Christopher were married in real life.
The first werewolf transformation scene was outstanding then and still stands the test of time in terms of revolting realism (as opposed to such disappointments as Professor Lupin in 'The Prisoner of Azkaban' being an obvious CGI addition). But the movie didn't rest its laurels on special effects - the unfolding of the story and the revealing of the truth behind Drago added to the interest. Being a political science geek, I was fascinated by the small-c cold war dynamic in the colony between the reformists led by Waggner, and the reactionaries.
The final twist at the end of the movie was seeing Marsha's face one last time before it went to the ending credits. I experienced shortly afterwards a rather haunting moment I've never forgotten: after watching the credits and stopping Windows Media Player, I came right to this page on IMDb to look up Elisabeth Brooks. I was pleasantly surprised to see that she was a fellow Canadian - and rather startled to find out that she was dead! Not just dead, but dead for almost 21 years! Even though I had been by myself the whole time while watching this, the room seemed to become more still. My SiriusXM boombox was tuned in to the Hair Nation channel in the background, and I heard Lita & Ozzy on their duo for 'Close My Eyes Forever'.
It's not my favourite movie from the series, but it was a good start. Numerous continuity goofs, especially later in the movie, kind of ruin it for somebody who's seen the movie more than a couple of times already and it makes me wonder why I didn't notice them earlier. Still, I now consider 'The Howling' to be a "new classic". I won an eBay auction in 02020 on a Robert Picardo autographed photo from the movie, and around the same time I also bought directly from Belinda Balaski an autographed photo of her from the movie. She wrote "Best wishes Jordan & stay safe". I thought that was pretty touching. I told her by email that I liked her character more than Dee Wallace's for the abovementioned reasons, and I think even nearly thirty years afterwards, she was still pleased to read that.
Journey: Faithfully (1983)
Simple but perfect
This music video is seven years older than I am. Yet, its encapsulation of both the human aspirations for the future and the human worries about the passage of time, wondering if it's well-spent - is timeless. There is no reason why this video(and this goes for a fair portion of the popular music of the 80s), if preserved for posterity, cannot live forever.
Perry looking off around him as he lets the phone ring against his cheek.
Cain's meditation on the photo of his girlfriend as he practices.
Schon's laughter at Smith drumming of the arm of the sofa.
Perry's shuddering as he sings "easy on this love affair".
A person would have to be either asleep, a psychopath, or a vegetable to not be touched somewhere deep by this simple but perfect videography combined with this brilliant song. I think the world is blessed to have this piece of art.
Red Rider: Light in the Tunnel/Human Race (1983)
The sublime & the underwhelming
My rating of a 6/10 for this music video is really the mean of two ratings: one for 'Light in the Tunnel', and the other for 'Human Race'. The first hundred seconds or so of the video was magic, the rest is a flop.
The watercolour-like aspects, Tom's turning his head to look in the distance, the train moving through the city to pick up early-morning passengers... it's beautiful. Even before seeing this video, I associated this song combo with early mornings.
For some reason, the creative team ran out of juice after that. Once the band takes to the stage, there's basically nothing else to the video.
It is also strange that Tom, Rob, and Jeff get most of the screen time, but Ken and Steve get almost none.
Aside from the abovementioned intro, I honestly get more enjoyment from just looking at the album cover while the music plays. Shame for such a good song that they couldn't have done something more creative for the rest of the video - recording the band members wandering through the hoodoos of the Red Deer River Valley at dawn, for example.
Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General (1968)
I really wanted to like this movie...
I learned of this movie from the Black Sabbath-style band who adopted their name from this movie. Having an interest in the English Civil War, I was fortunate to find a high-definition upload of it on the Internet Archive.
Unfortunately, the movie proved to be less than satisfactory. A rather short run-time, obvious red wax as fake blood, unrealistic gunshots (almost no smoke, even though this was the black powder era), more screaming than in 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre', & no attempt by Vincent Price to perform an English accent were buoyed by all the scrumptious lady flesh (Reeves must have enjoyed making this!). Hilary Dwyer is one of the most beautiful actresses ever, in my opinion. I thought Ian Ogilvy played the best character, a man whom the audience could relate strongly to as a friend. Stearne was a slimeball & I hated him more than I hated Hopkins. Hopkins was icy, manipulative, & self-serving under a facade of authoritative righteousness, although in his public image he carried himself better than any of the other characters.
In our current era of an ever-present high risk of terrorist attacks committed by religious fanatics, 'Witchfinder General' reminds us from a different angle that people can be & have been shown to exhibit remarkable cruelty when they feel that some higher cause gives them a warrant to do so. Although the villain perishes at the end, I still see it as a sad ending. Richard wanted to avenge Sara & her uncle by killing Hopkins himself, & he lambastes his friends from his unit for fatally shooting Hopkins while he was still waling on him. It was the other side of the coin to Hopkins's obtaining sexual gratification from young women he accused or threatened to accuse of being witches: whether we're seen by others as being good or being evil, the reality is we're all just machines programmed to serve ourselves in our own ways.
Unfortunately, I cannot give this movie more than a 5.5/10 as is. I would however have given it a 7/10 if it had more realistic props and 30-40 minutes more plot development.
Anacondas 4: Trail of Blood (2009)
For a 2.9-rated movie, I quite enjoyed this one!
I've heard of Canuxploitation and Ausploitation - but I'd never heard of Romaniexploitation before 'Anaconda III' and 'Anaconda IV'!
As with its predecessor, 'Trail of Blood' is a much more gory movie than the original. Yet, it is not a movie I would consider a slasher as much as I would consider a technothriller. It makes good use of atmospheric horror throughout to keep the tension flowing and the viewer's attention. I would say 'Trail of Blood' has more in common with the original 'Jurassic Park' than it does with the 1997 'Anaconda'.
I wasn't particularly impressed with 'The Hunt For the Blood Orchid', so I wasn't expecting much for this one. It was the last DVD out of the four-disc set I bought for cheap, and I had procrastinated getting to it. But of course, it's when our expectations are lowest are we most easily impressed!
Like in 'The Hunt for the Blood Orchid', 'Trail of Blood' created its antagonist serpents on the computer, with little or no physical props - which is for me always a disappointment. However, compared with its predecessor, the CGI in this one was much more believable. The snake was usually blended seamlessly into the set and didn't look so cartoony as before.
The human side of the story in 'Trail of Blood' was much more developed too than in 'The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'. We see the return of Amanda, the classic farm-gal-next-door whose personality is not an act: she grew up in Camrose in my home province of Alberta (so I am biased in her favour for this) - combined with a sprinkle of Lara Croft on top.
The Romanian extras in the movie had that slimy charisma about them that made them excellent bad-guys. I fell in love with Heather almost instantly (I noticed her remarkable resemblance to the curler Anna Hasselborg!), and I'm happy that she lived. Alex was a pretty likeable character, and was probably the most relatable for the audience, being sort of the bewildered bystander in most of the character interactions. Scott was the only character I didn't much like; his overly-intense personality annoyed me.
Even though John Rhys-Davies was the only big name in the movie, I feel that the storyline was developed enough that he didn't carry the movie all himself.
The main thing I disliked about the movie was the somewhat-unrealistic durability of the characters dealing with wounds. We had our one guy walk back to camp with one arm gone at the elbow, and survived until being shot. We had our other character shot at point-blank range in the chest with a handgun, who not only survived but managed to stay standing and sentient. He found the strength to brawl with another character who had been stuck in the chest with a pocket knife on the outside of a moving vehicle. Meanwhile, another character was shot in the arm with a handgun while driving, and managed to stay conscious and sentient enough to hand the wheel over to one of her passengers.
Apart from that, what more do you want from this that you folks give it a 2.9 average?? (Meaning, many of you have voted it even lower) It's a direct-to-video cash-grab sequel with a relatively obscure Canadian lead, extras whose first language was mostly one other than English, and probably all put together on a very limited budget. Given all of those challenges, I think they did the best with what they had. Definitely my 2nd-favourite in the franchise after the original.
Halloween (1978)
A timeless piece of film art that grows on you
Watched John Carpenter's original 'Halloween' last night. Probably the fourth time I've seen it. Realised again and probably more than ever before what a film classic it is. Like Michael Myers, it seems this movie will never die.
Laurie Strode: the main character, somewhat nerdy, slightly outcast, good with kids, somewhat awkward with boys - is an easy protagonist to identify with.
Dr. Loomis: my favourite character. An old-fashioned strong male figure combined with a paternal caringness. Actually, for some reason, his mannerisms remind me a lot of my grandmother who died about three weeks ago - even though he was a British man and she was a French-Canadian woman.
34 years before his role as Loomis, Donald Pleasence's bomber was shot down over France and he parachuted into the night. That sounds far scarier to me than anything in this movie!
Loomis is a movie hero to me.
Annie: The type of continuously-sarcastic girl I typically wouldn't be able to stand being around in real life, she's grown on me more and more every time I've watched the movie. Hanging around with her seems like it would be chaotic: she could either throw you off-balance like she did when she called Ben Tramer on Laurie, or she could come to your aid when you're caught in a tight spot with her quick wit.
Lynda: the doll of the three girls. The brief cut of her and Annie just before Laurie mentions she forgot her chemistry text at school is a gold-star photo. Listening to the way she speaks is auditory masturbation. Unfortunately for her, she is also stained by her rather hedonistic personality.
Michael Myers: compared to the antagonists in horror movies before and after, there's a certain purity to Michael Myers that just can't be beaten. Although there is a certain element of supernatural in his ability to keep taking hits and still walk, he's not an overly magical/sci-fi character. A tall, guy with a basic Halloween mask through which his heavy breath rushes, dirty coveralls, and a big kitchen knife. That's it. Just that and his Frankensteinian unstoppable march towards his victims. The audience is left guessing based on his behaviours and Dr. Loomis's reports on what he's observed what's really going on inside Michael Myers.
I think that this combination of the purity of his character aspects with the inability to understand his emotions or motivations give him an enduring (fright) appeal that other horror movie antagonists lack.
But Michael Myers doesn't steal the show for me. I think almost everything is really well put-together emotionally. One of my favourite scenes is when Annie and Laurie are driving in the car after talking with Annie's dad, and the conversation turns to asking boys to the school dance. I just love the expression on Annie's face when she realises Ben Tramer is the boy Laurie's got on the brain, and how ruddy and embarrassed Laurie becomes talking about it. It's such a timeless conversation that it really helps the audience relate, and is for me one of the most believable acting bits I've ever seen in a movie. It has an immersiveness that makes the viewer believe that they're one of their friends sitting in the backseat.
My main criticism of this movie is the lack of set realism. Set in Illinois in the last week of October, 'Halloween' was actually filmed in California in the spring. Unless Haddonfield is in the far south of Illinois and it was an unusually warm fall, I find the green laws and full bushes visible throughout the movie to be rather implausible.
And we can't forget the iconic piano tinkle! It's such a lovely, tense, mysterious theme, that almost takes on a facetious quality in the way the 'Jaws' theme now does.
I have only seen this movie and its first sequel, so I have no idea as of yet if the recent final films in the series do the original two justice or if they're just money-grabs. Even if that's all they are, I feel that the original has an immortality to it - that it can stand the test of time in the way other stories might not. Its relatively simple storyline, its lack of dependence on period-specific culture like music and fashion (which can badly date a film by making it more foreign to posterity) and its relatable characters will give John Carpenter's 'Halloween' an enduring power that most other horror movies won't match.
Patty Loveless: You Don't Even Know Who I Am (1995)
An anthem about the struggle for mental health
I love this music video. One feels Patty's warmth and sincerity through the screen. The song is touching without making one need to wipe one's eyes afterwards, and enlightens one to the seriousness of the characters' situations without being made to feel guilty.
I'd rate it higher if the video was a minute or so longer, with more depth in the scenes of the characters' struggles - it feels extremely short for a four minute video. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful work - truly timeless.
Thank-you, Jim and Patty.
The Wallflowers: Heroes (1998)
Powerful video
The theme of this video revolves around a movie with a current 5.4 stars rating .The Wallflowers did not write this song. And being as how I first watched 'Godzilla' when I was eight, and it was something of a staple movie in my elementary school years, I probably have more of an emotional attachment to the movie than I would if I watched it when I was, say, eighteen.
And in spite of all this, I think this is one of the better rock music videos ever made.
I don't feel the cover of the song despoiled the original version. Like the namesake of the movie this song was used for, it's huge. To take a song of the 80s and update it with a grungier yet fresher, end of the 90s sound, is a small task but a huge feat.
The spookiest part of the video is how it foreshadowed the September 11th Twin Tower attacks. Between the destruction of New York City by an unexpected enemy, and the chorus "we can be heroes - just for one day", I can't help but wonder how the band felt when the attacks occurred. Surely this song came to their minds, up from their stomachs and as a lump in their throats.
I do have one question: who was the actress who played the honest customer in the convenience store?