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TimMath-545-333580
Reviews
Jury Duty (2023)
Wow
It is rare that in this day and age when you think you've seen it all, you find something so fresh and entertaining. The show's title sounds mundane, as if you are in for another round of Judge Judy, but it's a wild ride exquisitely performed. James Marsden is incredibly good at self parody. The no-name actors around him are so believable that it's almost hard to accept that a script actually exists. I am no fan of reality shows, but I will make a huge exception in this case. The objective of the production team is to make Ronald, the only non-actor, believe that he is really on a jury. At any time, a slip up could expose the premise as false, creating the demise of the entire project. Talk about drama. . . The show is a high wire act of comedy, I can't recommend it enough.
You (2018)
Season 4 is a Bust
The first two seasons of this show are strong. Season 3 is up and down. Season 4 is almost ridiculous. The problem with this shows is that it takes the story sideways to extend its natural length. Season one and two are fresh and interesting. From then on, you can almost see the writers scratching out ideas and crossing them out to make the show live on. By season 4, the show is a parody of itself, recycling plot points, going into soap opera territory. Terribly disappointing by the end. It's really hard to stop watching a show after you've invested so much time into it. Naturally, you want to see how it ends. This show ended long before it died a dismal death.
A Kiss Before Dying (1956)
Weak Adaptation of Great Novel
Film adaptations often don't live up to great novels-nor do I expect them to-but they don't usually fall as flat as this one. The screenwriter chopped the novel up, turning the author's interesting and imaginative concepts into bite sized-schlock. The most glaring example is the ending. Without giving it away, I'll just say that the novel offered a stunning, elaborate scene in a copper mine (that Hitchcock could have made unforgettable); but this low-budget film makes a ridiculous departure, placing the action on a deserted road with a cheap, cliched, and contrived anti-climax.
Ira Levin wrote a stellar suspense novel. You won't find much of it here in this movie.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020)
Over-the-Top Hilarious
This movie is a gut punch to the fringe (or now mainstream?) right-wing. It is Borat's fearless, vulgar take down of American ignorance. Some fans are disappointed that the movie is too overtly political, with targets like QANON and MAGA, how can Cohen resist? The most sympathetic, endearing characters in the film are the real-life Black and Jewish women who try to save the misguided Borat and his show-stealing "daughter." This is a movie that shocks the system, but that is why it is precisely right for the time. WARNING: If you support the idea that Democrats drink baby blood, this might not be the movie for you.
Gone Girl (2014)
Great Book, Lousy Movie
Ben Affleck is so stiff, my neck hurt. How can anyone mess up a book like this? Oh yeah, hand it to the wrong people.
The Terry Kath Experience (2016)
Amazing Talent
This movie more than does justice to Terry Kath, an artist whose voice and guitar jumped out at me on the early Chicago albums. I knew how good he truly was when I heard the band's work after Kath's death, and clearly part of the soul and vibe of the band had left as well. Jimi Hendrix once said that Kath was a better guitarist than he was-that speaks volumes. But, as with so many great rockers, talent came with recklessness. Kath wore it on his face like Jim Morrison. Considering Chicago's decades of popularity, I am surprised at how underrated this man still is. This loving portrait by a daughter who never knew him is well deserved.
First Reformed (2017)
Worst Ending Imaginable
I was lured into the theatre by high reviews on IMDB, but after seeing this abomination, I felt I owed it to viewers to warn them off. The movie wasted the talented Ethan Hawke, and what could have been a tantalizing environmental theme, by growing into a festering boil of incompetent writing and direction. This movie should be fodder for Mystery Science Theatre 3000.