calipic's Reviews

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)

7/10

20 May 2022

Take movie footage of Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey's real name) from various angles and at various times of day; add the smiling faces of a cast we fans have known for over a decade; top it of with THOSE INTRO BARS OF MUSIC, and the tears are already lining up in their ducts.

Sure, the main plot is "borrowed" from a very famous movie, and, sure, the dramatic tension is practically nonexistent, and, yeah, the world of the Crawleys seems completely divorced from a world that's about to slide into a Great Depression, and worse.

But I still loved every minute.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022– )

8/10

Traditional Trek is Diverse Trek

9 May 2022

Strange New World's pilot episode's joys may rely a little too heavily on knowing canon (there are amusing new twists on familiar characters), rather than on an interesting plot (Trek TOS started with "The Man Trap," one of my all-time favorite episodes). But I'm willing to buckle up and enjoy this ride.

I'm also glad ST continues its commitment to diversity, a key element of the Star Trek canon. It's why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Star Trek fan, asked Nichelle Nichols not to quit the show after the first season (she was already tired of playing Uhura). The presence of Sulu, and Uhura, and Spock (an Alien!), and Chekov (a RUSSIAN!) on the bridge was intentional 1960s optimistic "wokeness," not to mention the interracial kiss between Kirk and Uhura (even though it wasn't actually the first interracial kiss on TV).

Paramount seems to have made a conscious decision several years ago to give us "the many looks of Star Trek" (the gloomier "Discovery"; the personal "Picard"; the animated "Lower Decks"; the traditional "Strange New Worlds"). I like it. Resistance is futile. Engage.

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War of the Worlds (2019– )

5/10

Adult Sci-Fi

25 August 2021

Season One: Skip this show if you prefer hero-driven sci-fi with speedy plots and uncomplicated morality tales. Also skip this show if you're an adherent to some sort of "War of the Worlds" canon; this has little to do with the H. G. Wells original. But if the previous two sentences do not describe you, do not hesitate to watch this show. It embraces how messy the human experience is, and relishes in exploring that, under the context of an alien invasion. If, like me, you're a fan of what I'll call "moody Euro sci-fi" (2008's "Survivors," 2012's "The Returned," and the sine qua non "Black Mirror"), add this show to your watch list. (P. S. I haven't watched Season Two yet, and I'm hoping it's better than what some of the reviews suggest.)

********Update********

Season Two: A complete mess that's alternately incoherent, cliched, and sadistic. Towards the end, it aims high, but falls completely flat. Makes me wonder whether the success of Season One was an accident.

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Monsters (2010)

9/10

Life is Short

27 February 2015

Warning: Spoilers

Big-explosion, cartoon-character, utterly forgettable sci-fi is a dime a dozen these days. Done well, big budget sci-fi can be amazing ("Aliens" still stands the test of time). But most of what's shown in our local theaters is designed to NOT challenge the viewer; its purpose is to reassure the moviegoer that things will always end up the way they should.

If your sci-fi tastes are broad enough to include slower-paced films that try to touch your heart, check out the badly-titled "Monsters." (By the way, also check out "Looper," and "Never Let Me Go," and some of the episodes of "Black Mirror.")

Major Spoiler Alert

IMHO, those who say "Monsters" is merely an allegory for the plight of illegal aliens are missing the main point of the movie.

To me, the point of the movie is that life is short, and you must grab hold of love whenever it presents itself -- because you may lose it (love, and life) all too soon. Andrew and Samantha wait until the end of the movie to acknowledge their love -- with a deeply passionate kiss -- END OF FILM. But in the next few minutes, they will lose that love.

If you stream or rent "Monsters," replay the beginning of the movie, and you'll realize that the first 5 minutes of the movie are the END of the movie. After Andrew and Samantha kiss, they are separated by the military and placed in a convoy, which is attacked by one of the aliens. At the "beginning" of the movie, the night-vision sequence glimpses Andrew screaming, with the dead body of Samantha in his arms. (After the night-vision sequence, the movie actually skips back in time, to before when Andrew and Sam met.)

So, kudos to Gareth Edwards for crafting a story that's not about monsters, but about our fear of opening ourselves to love, even when it's staring us in the face. Wait at your own peril.

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Into the Woods (2014)

10/10

"Just remembering you've had an 'and' when you're back to 'or' makes the 'or' mean more than it did before"

27 February 2015

If my summary line makes your head explode, don't see "Into the Woods."

But, if complexity and nuance intrigue you, you have a sense of humor, and your musical taste is broader than twang-twang-blah-blah-blah- you-done-me-wrong, then treat yourself to this terrific movie made for adults. (I wouldn't recommend it for children, despite the Disney stamp.)

I've seen the stage version of "Into the Woods" a couple of times (including a fantastic PBS broadcast way back in the early '90s, I think), and this is one of the best "movie versions" of a stage musical. I wanted my money back after sitting through the movie versions of "Phantom of the Opera," and "Nine" (except Marion Cotillard's phenomenal "My Husband Makes Movies"), and "A Chorus Line," and "Les Miz." But "Into the Woods" really moved me.

Extra kudos to Anna Kendrick, Emily Blount (is there anything she can't do?), and James Corden, for singing and acting their roles just right. And thank you, Stephen Sondheim, for creating entertainment for adults who like to think.

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Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

6/10

Well Acted But Not Authentic

24 February 2014

Having lived through the AIDS crisis, and having volunteered in the mid-80s with groups that were fighting AIDS, as I watched "Dallas Buyers Club" I kept wondering how true this "based-on-a-true-story" movie was. The idea that gay men rallied around a homophobic, heterosexual rodeo rider who despised the men he was "helping" just didn't ring true. So, I did some research.

There are good articles on the Huff Post, the Guardian, and other sites indicating that Ron Woodruff, the hero of Dallas Buyers Club, was at least bisexual if not gay (according to his wife, who should probably know), and got along well with gays. The prejudiced homophobe depicted in the movie is a fiction. The transgendered character, Rayon, is a fiction. The female doctor with whom Ron flirts is a fiction.

Fiction is fine, but why SO many "fictions" that fly in the face of "truth"? I've read several reviews on IMDb praising the producers for having the guts to put such a difficult "truth" on screen. In my humble opinion, they've done the opposite. The truth is that gay men (including Ron Woodruff?) rallied and organized to fight HIV. While there were many concerned heterosexuals who helped, there were no homophobic cowboys riding their rodeo bulls to the rescue. But don't let the real truth stand in the way of creating a commercial product that can attract a wider audience and win a few acting awards for those involved.

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