Change Your Image
kevncarlin
Reviews
The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018)
More Monster Movie than Demon Movie
The pastors almost never pray, even in full demonic crisis, and the logic of the action is more consistent with Carpenter's The Thing than with any theory of demonology. So monster movie fans might connect with the story better than those into demonology. Dramatically, the lead delivers as a fallen ex-cop who takes a night job at the morgue to wrestle with her guilt and anxiety issues. If they hadn't sucked me in with the possession title I might have given it a five, but probably would not have watched it.
Prohibitas (2017)
A Short Lucifer
A nun succumbs to a minor temptation and then discusses the creation with someone claiming to be the Father of Lies. Her closing line is muddled and closed captioning was little help, but the arguments are not interesting. Available on Amazon Prime, though I'm not clear as to why.
Jack Ryan (2018)
Astonishingly Not Clancy
Astonishing because his readers are the built in core audience here. First, instead of a Jack Ryan as the analyst that gets caught up in something by accident (Patriot Games) or because his knowledge of the pieces of a puzzle make him the guy who needs to be someplace dicey, they went with the Ryan that just hauls off and hits the field (Clear and Present Danger, the movie). And Greer is a very different character. As Clancy said in the commentary to Sum of All Fears, I wrote the book they ignored in the making of this movie. They are patently grooming Ryan to be the field operative he never was.
That being said, the actors playing Ryan and Greer are doing a great job with what they've been given, and the script is a more than respectable CIA Ops script, doing a good job with all of the cultures (American, French, Lebanese, Syrian). That being said, the porn bits detract from the story and, frankly, I am more a fan of Jack Ryan as written than the current run of Homeland Security type dramas. I miss the well researched little known technical nuances that Clancy was able to extract from people in the field.
I do look forward to more, but this show is occupying the space that could be occupied by a more balanced, repertory approach where the ops guys are ops guys and analysts are analysts and Ryan is still a fish out of water when he finds himself in the firing line.
Leap Year (2010)
Romantic Comedy in the Classic Mold
It has been years since my wife and I have seen a new romantic comedy that did not offend or annoy us with some element or another. Even our favorite current director in the genre, Richard Curtis, slips in a bit of unnecessary Chaucerian vulgarity. At his best, it redeems itself, but it seems a fixation (artistic or commercial, I wonder?).
This comedy could have been directed by Frank Capra. It is rooted, it is humanistic, and it is earnestly funny in spots.
She (played by Amy Adams) is an American career woman who has responded to her father's (played by John Lithgow) financial misadventures by forging a life of success and security. He is a cardiac specialist who likes to consult on surgeries from the dinner date by IM and share the pictures at the table. The other he is a cranky Irish tavern owner on the brink of ruin conducting her to Dublin after her own travel misadventure because he needs the money to stave off ruin.
Ireland serves as the fairyland where, at the end of a long overcompensation for her father's flibbertigibbet ways, she finds her total control solution also has unfortunate limitations.
Excellent work.