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Reviews
Firestarter (2022)
Lost in transliteration
I think I read the novel in the late '70s and saw the film in the '80s, and the story was well suited to those days. It seems that people I knew back then were much more aware of what obscure federal agencies were capable of doing.
For these times, this story doesn't fit with the average person's idea of what our federal agents would do. People today seem fearful of being thought of as a "conspiracy theory" buff. I think that this is what causes writers to muddle through a story like this one instead of confidently laying out a cogent story line.
This story just doesn't arouse the same kind of feelings today as it did in the late '70s-early '80s. That's why the screenplay of this remake just doesn't connect with lots of people, I think.
Fallout: The End (2024)
Much worse than expected
There have been a few game-to-series productions that have been pretty good. This ain't one of them. The dialog is clunky, the characters are caricatures and the story line... well, let's forget that there is supposed to be one in a series, otherwise there's really no point in going on with a review. Critical reviews are needed and at this point, it's a little too early for there to be more than gushing, fanboy or shill reviews. At the risk of putting too fine a point on it, this series is just a waste of time for anyone over the age of 12. Framing the "story", such as it is to establish a setting of the late 1950s- early '60s, shouldn't require making the whole thing look like a 3rd rate '50s TV show, but if that's what you like, then this series is for you.
Too Old to Die Young: Volume 2: The Lovers (2019)
Another episode of ego stroking by a totally incompetent "auteur"
Two episodes in and the total of what has happened in this series amounts to less than a minute and a half of screen time. Refn is like the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes, with a handful of fans who don't understand what his appeal actually is, but they hope to look cool by gushing over his boring films.
I'm going to say the silent part out loud here: This guy, Refn, is a self impressed fraud who can't tell a story to save his life. Telling a story requires more than making up some names for characters who do nothing but deliver dead lines. Shooting long pan shots of nothing doesn't do anything to tell a story.
The next producer to hear one of Refn's pitches should tell him to shut up and get out. Someone needs to stop this guy before he wastes another dollar with his empty, no story projects.
The Long Riders (1980)
3 stars is too kind
This is really a rather poor film about the James/Younger gang. James Keach is the worst possible choice for Jesse James, since a New York yankee can't be expected to play a Missouri guerilla, especially if that actor can't act .
The screenplay is atrocious, to be kind. It's disjointed and provides no lead ins for the action sequences. The dialog is mostly ridiculously inadequate to the subject matter.
For a much better telling of the story, see "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid", a TV movie that was blessed with some really fine actors and a well written teleplay. Robert Duvall plays a fine Jesse James and Cliff Robertson plays Cole Younger. "The Long Riders" pales in comparison.
Marlowe (2022)
This ain't my idea of a Marlowe movie
It isn't just that Liam Neeson is trying to play a 40 year old, it's also that the dialog is silly and the fight scenes are even worse than fat old Steve Sagal's doddering fight scenes. It's also that there's no actual story, only hints of a story. The period correct cars are the best part of the film. The cast is good, but they are all wasted on this woefully bad screenplay. There are incongruities enough for 5 bad films: why does the Nico smuggled "powder in a fragile statuette, with no packaging by kilo for the dope? How can a bunch of handwritten "records" of dope shipments, all written by Nico, constitute any kind of blackmail material? I'm being generous by awarding 3 stars for this piece of bad film making.
The Wire: Stray Rounds (2003)
Good but it gets a little silly towards the end
Having some of the threads get together is a good thing for the story advancement. The mention of the Colombian trade partners chiseling on the price, and the way the final bust of the Colombians' load went along with the bust of the brothel, smoothly integrated some elements of the tale.
Still the story of the towers deal stumbles. Avon knows that he can't supply his locations, but he stubbornly opposes the deal with Joe. Avon had to know that Joe, or somebody, would end up with the towers pretty soon if he can't supply the dope. The story goes silly when Avon announces he's sending "Brother Mouzon" as muscle. He's sending one man to do the work of his whole lost muscle team since that one man has some mythical reputation. No amount of muscle can make the addicts come back and finish buying up the weak stuff that Avon wasted money on, so Brother is going to be worthless.
That is plot-hole inducing silliness right there.
The Wire: The Target (2002)
Great opening episode
This series has a great cast, with a few exceptions. The most notable exception is Sonja Sohn; she is a very poor actress. Most of the time, she sounds as if she's reading her lines from cue cards. I've seen her in other TV work and in a few films, and she hasn't improved in the years I've been seeing her.
The story line is good and the fact that so much of the outside shots are done on location in Baltimore gives the series an authentic look. While a few of the actors don't sound like they are from Baltimore, enough of them do to make this convincing.
IMO, this is the best TV that existed at the time The Wire was running. To me, it's more engaging than anything that has been on HBO, much better than The Corner, in my view.
The Sopranos: Soprano Home Movies (2007)
Love seing Tony get whipped
This was good, Tony keeps needling Janice and Bobby cleans Tony's clock. All along, Tony has bullied Bobby, belittled him, and gotten away with it, but Bobby draws the line at listening to Tony offend Janice. Tony is used to being the big dog, but Bobby just whips his ass good. I loved it.
Tony is always conciliatory with the New York wiseguys, letting them say whatever they say while he slams the guys under him without mercy, even beating his young driver up in front of everyone at the store, just to reestablish his own status. It was fun seeing him get waxed by his former punching bag.
I'm rewatching The Sopranos 20 years after the '04 season, which was about where I started it this time. It's a great series, and seeing it without any sympathy for Tony makes a positive difference in my enjoyment.
The Sopranos: Moe n' Joe (2006)
Weak...really weak
What a nothing episode. Face it, nobody cares about Vito. He's a nothing character, played by a non-actor. If Vito had simply run away and never be seen again, the story overall would have been greatly improved. Vito was once a small time contractor who happened to be the cousin of Richie Aprille. Suddenly, he's a made man who is getting bumped to captain when Ralph is killed.
That's a plot hole in the story line, and I doubt that many viewers ever even swallowed it. Vito and his silly love story makes no sense in the plot. I was so impatient for the whole thing to be dropped, that I came to appreciate watching this on a streaming platform rather than on DVD, because I can preview the scenes in advance and jump past all things Vito.
The scene with poor old Sal, having to ask Tony if he can drop Johnny Sac's yard from his list is a reminder of what a predatory slug Tony is. Tony is getting his yard work done free and he resents having to release Sal from doing Johnny's 3+ acres free. That kind of thing made me stop seeing Tony with any kind of sympathy. He deserves way more than what has befallen him thus far.
The Sopranos: Where's Johnny? (2004)
This one is a reminder
Rewatching this season, 20 years later, I'm reminded by the way things work out with Sal, Paulie and Feetch, which shows us that the wise guys are total scum. Feetch assaulted Sal, took his territory, leaving him disabled, and Paulie tells Sal that he will fix it for him for "a couple of percent" off the top of Sal's income from his business. Paulie then attacks Feech's nephews and tells Tony a lie at the sit-down to justify his attack on them.
Tony rules that Feech has to pay Sal a grand for his injury, and then gives Feech's nephews half of Sal's territory. Paulie, lying scumbag that he is, then tells Tony that Sal will cut Tony's lawn free. He then goes to Sal, and gives Sal $500, instead of the grand Feech gave him, and tells Sal that he's going to have to do a couple of lawns free.
Sal is then seen working on Johnny Sac's big 4 acre lawn, which should cost Johnny at least $600 a month. Johnny wasn't even in the deal, so it's just Paulie trying to score brownie points with Johnny at no cost to himself.
I wonder if other viewers thought that Paulie was clever, or funny, or both, but I see him as a parasite who deserves to be shot by one of his victims. The people in this series are almost all unlikable, amoral scum. What I take away from the stories of what these crooks do, is that none of them are worthy of any sympathy, other than the family members and other people who live alongside the "wise guys". Of course, though, Janice isn't some innocent victim in the stories, and she deserves to get whatever Tony, Paulie and the rest have coming.
True Detective: Night Country: Part 6 (2024)
This isn't a whole season of True Detective
This is just 3/5ths of a season of True Detective. Making this 6th episode the finale just cheats the viewer of 4 episodes. There are characters which never get developed, allusions to supernatural happenings that are never finished, and parts of the plot that are left as holes in the fabric.
Something apparently happened with the production, because the season was cut short. The season was promoted as though it was going to be a whole season, but viewers were ripped off. Everyone who watched this partial season had paid for a full season, whether by way of HBO fees on satellite, or via a purchase of the streamed version on amazon, or by way of paying for a subscription to MAX on amazon.
This seems to be in the process of becoming a thing with streamed content: first Yellowstone is just dropped halfway through the final season, which was sold by amazon with payment for the season required in advance. Now, we have just over half a season of an anticipated series for which viewers paid and never got to view.
Amsterdam (2022)
Disappointing
I rented this on the strength of a mention that this story is centered around the Business Plot exposed by Gen. Smedley Butler. I didn't suspect that it would be an unfunny "comedy", but that's the perfect description for it.
The cast includes three purported A-List actors: Taylor Swift, Robert De Niro and Chris Rock, none of whom belong anywhere near a film about the Business Plot, which is not a "Conspiracy Theory, but was a real conspiracy to depose a president and take over a government.
De Niro is a once solid actor who has become a political activist, losing his acting talent in the process. Rock is a once great stand up comic who has never had any acting chops. Taylor Swift has never been able to act and doesn't belong in films, except those on the level of "Barbie".
Maybe it was filmed as a "comedy" just so the story could be told, but the story isn't told, only alluded to in spots. For that reason, I can't give it the benefit of the doubt.
Deadland (2023)
Not what I thought it would be
The blurb for this film states that it's about the murder of an illegal immigrant that is covered up by the border patrol. That isn't all of it by any means.
This is actually a film about a supernatural event that involves three border patrol agents who encounter a ghost or possibly a doppelganger. Angel, the agent in charge of their station picks up a man who tries to cross the river at a deep point with a fast current. Angel thinks the man has drowned, but he's alive, so Angel takes him to the station and puts him in the care of the other two agents.
At about the same time, Angel's estranged father, a Mexican national who has been in institutions in Mexico for 30 years shows up at Angel's house. Angel has never met his father and thinks that he abandoned Angel and his mother when Angel was born.
Yes, it is about a murder, in a way, but it's a chilling story, a murder mystery,of sorts, but there lies the twist in the story's ending.
It's well acted with excellent direction and cinematography. I liked it.
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Captivating story ruined by obligatory political rhetoric.
The political rhetoric in the script is so grossly overincluded that it makes it hard to stay interested in what is a good story. I know that it's a good story because it comes from a good novel and an earlier production that turned out to be a good enough movie despite having Frank Sinatra playing the Major Marco character.
The invented role for Meryl Streep, as Shaw's Senator mother is almost a deal breaker. Streep does her best with the character, but can't save the film from the damage done by such an over the top villainess.
The addition to the cast of several DC "celebrity" scumbags doesn't help much either, BTW.
The Ipcress File: Episode #1.1 (2022)
Anachronistic dialog distracts from the story
The Maddox character, a black CIA officer in 1963 Berlin is enough of an anachronism without dialog from the 21st century, such as, "Yes, I'm black", and "Can we grab a coffee?" followed by, "It's all good". This is lazy writing, and is seriously out of place in a series intended to present one of Len Deighton's best works.
Casting choices so far are not too bad, and production values are good as well. I hope that the dialog writing improves so that the series will be enjoyable for readers of Deighton's novels. Joe Cole is doing a pretty good job as Harry Palmer. If that role had been miscast I probably wouldn't have liked this first episode as much as I have so far.
Umbre (2014)
Unexpectedly interesting
I almost skipped trying this series. It's Romanian, and I'm only fluent in English, it's about a taxi driver who collects money for a mob boss, and that sounded like a setup for some lame comedy of errors type sitcom, and the cast was small, which usually means a cheap production.
All of those clues to the worth of this series turned out to be misapprehensions on my part. The story is believable, and the acting and direction are at least on par with my favorite English language series and the acting is actually much better than a few of my favorites.
Here's some of what I like about Umbre': The characters aren't the typical hit series characters in American productions, you know, people who all live in McMansions and drive new cars, with even the "lower middle-class" characters having $1500 smart phones and wearing $300 casual shirts. There is no brand name plug in every scene like American series display.
By American standards, these people, even the mob boss, are poor or nearly broke. The comedy is unforced and is integral to the story instead of being stitched on after the fact like what you see in anything written, directed and produced by the current superstar series maker (you all know who I mean) whose reign is at its peak right now in American TV.
That might just be the whole reason that Umbre' appeals to me: what it isn't as well as what it is. I'm really liking this series so far and I'm 5 episodes into it.
The Outsider: Que Viene el Coco (2020)
Serious direction failures
This director tries too hard to stamp and restamp his little trademarks onto the episodes he directs. Apparently, the only trademark he's capable of is the out of focus depth of field photography. I can imagine the cameraman blowing air out of his mouth with each instruction for an out of focus shot that trails into focus. That kind of shot is unhelpful to the production unless it's used to build suspense, which is clearly not the case here.
Looking into Bernstein's work history, there are several series in which he is credited for a single episode. Does that indicate that he's hard to work with, or a sign of dissatisfaction with his quirks? At any rate he fumbles this episode. The script for this one diverges far afield from the novel's story, which is usually a sign of a showrunner telling the writers to "do something different". Often the showrunner is a writer, which may be the case here, but sometimes the showruner is a director or a producer.
Whoever came up with this episode, it was a failure both in writing and in direction.
Mayor of Kingstown: Every Feather (2021)
Iris? Oh, please...
This Iris is a homely, scrawny, childish looking little hooker. Why would anyone in a strip joint be drooling over her? Apparently, the casting director thinks that all that's needed is any female, and they can hang a sign on her that reads "BEAUTIFUL WOMAN" and no one will notice that she isn't even cute, let alone beautiful.
Another plot hole is the "Russian mafia boss", Milo, who is in prison for committing a robbery. Sure, kingpins go on armed robberies every day because nothing hurts an organization when the kingpin is convicted of an armed robbery.
The idea of this series is interesting, but the writers and directors cannot figure out the details of who to cast and what items in the plot are believable.
Finestkind (2023)
Pretty good film, IMO
The reviewers that downrated this film are entitled to their opinions, but so am I. My opinion is that this is a good story, and it was told without leaning on overstated action scenes and unbelievable violence. There were a few goofs here and there, but nothing that made me dislike the overall story or the screenplay itself.
This is a story of two brothers who were brought up apart from each other but who came back together because the younger brother wanted to see how his older brother managed a life that was a world away from the one that the younger one felt he was being led into by his father. Charley was the younger one, a half- brother to Tom, the older one. Tom was a fishing boat captain while Charley was headed to law school, following his father, a successful lawyer. Charley wanted to see what fishing boats were like, so he asked Tom to hire him as a deckhand.
Tom's boat sank on their first trip together, and Tom suspected that the owner of the fleet of boats that included the one Tom commanded had not kept the boat properly maintained. That led Tom to confront the owner, an arrogant young non-fisherman and the confrontation left Tom unemployed.
Tom's father, Ray ( played by Tommy Lee Jones) asked Tom to captain the "Finestkind", Ray's scallop dredger. Tom agreed, but disregarded Ray's order to fish according to Ray's plan, and took the boat into Canadian waters. The Canadian Coast Guard caught Tom in the act of poaching scallops in Canadian waters, which led to the boat and the catch being impounded. The catch was seized and the boat was held for a $100,000 fine that would have to be paid before the boat would be returned to Ray.
This leads to the real drama of the story. You'll want to watch what happens. The story shows how important family ties are. There is some violence, but it is by no means a violent crime drama. Maybe that is what makes some people dislike the film, but it was a pleasant change for me given the violent action films that are so prevalent today.
Reacher: ATM (2023)
How does this get an 8.4?
" Bad Luck and Trouble" is one of the better Reacher novels, but this series made from it is so bad that it should have been killed in pre-production. The writers are at the level of CBS/ABC/NBC. The novel, admittedly, does drag somewhat at first, but the solution to that shouldn't be to cram the first 25% of the story into the first episode. The writers are completely incompetent, and incapable of writing dialog, as other reviewers have pointed out.
Casting is pretty bad as revealed by all of the changes in the characters by the writers being made to fit talentless actors. The two women on the team were attractive females in the novel and two absolute plain Janes were cast as Neagley and Dixon: Maria Sten as Neagley is a terrible choice as she's so unattractive that she must have a relative in the casting department to have been chosen and Serinda Swan is an absolutely bizarre looking person who wouldn't fit in any story outside of post apocalyptic fantasy.
The director seem unable to coax any acting at all out of any of the cast, possibly due to the dreadful script. I gave this second season one episode to see how it might develop. I doubt I'll watch the second episode.
Ray Donovan: Baby (2018)
The return of good TV is still holding this season
Last season was so lame, lame writing, poor direction, and a storyline that had fallen down the stairs, that I gave up on Ray Donovan. The last few episodes hinted that there might still be something there, and then came this season's opener.
Season 6 is a return to the interesting plot, better direction and the addition of Domenick Lombardozzi to the cast. There are still plot holes, some bad dialog and the need for suspension of disbelief, but the overall effect is good. Domenick Lombardozzi's performance in this episode is pretty close to some of his better work, not as good as he was in "Blood Ties", but close.
I've been liking this season so far.
Ray Donovan: Staten Island: Part 1 (2018)
Big improvement
Compared to the last few seasons, the new characters and scenery are a big improvement. I had taken all I could of the LA stories, with Mickey's nonstop insanity as the only relief from the drudgery of Ray's ongoing trials. So far, Ray is in a new world, with no harassment from the crooked DA and no demands from the LA movie scumbags.
Dominck Lombardozzi is a new character, a NYPD beat cop with problems coming at him from IA and his bosses. He is starting to open up to Ray about what's happening at the same time that Ray's billionaire client is asking him to come back to work for her.
I can see that she's a criminal and is going to be real trouble for Ray. At least the interesting stories are back and the series seems worth following like it was in the first season.
Ray Donovan: Lake Hollywood (2016)
Stuck in the mud, sliding toward the ditch
Other series that I've watched have filler episodes from time to time. This one is in a filler season right now. The episodes are overfilled with characters who come and go for no reason.
This season, there are a few dramatic stories working apart from each other. The casting has been pretty good for the central characters since the beginning with no major fails until this season. First we have Lisa Bonet made up to look like crackhead, which just doesn't work. She plays sympathetic characters usually and is an accomplished actress, so she's miscast in the role of crack addicted crazy woman.
Stacy Keach plays his role well enough, but his role was just too minimal, so that's another case of miscasting. He's just too good n actor to have been wasted in such a tiny role.
The worst case of miscasting is Raymond J. Barry . Raymond J. Barry plays Raymond J. Barry, as a totally unconvincing Russian mob boss. Barry simply can't do accents. In fact, I've never seen him play anyone but himself no matter the name of the character he's supposedly playing.
Ray Donovan: Fish and Bird (2016)
Bunchy and the rubber baby
The scenes with Maria alternate between an infant who is uncredited in the cast listing, and a baby doll which has some movement capability. That's understandable because the parents of the infant who appears probably weren't willing to let actors handle the child while standing and passing the baby from one to another, but it's really poorly done and not convincing.
The scene with Embeth Davidz showing Ray her mastectomy scar was unnecessary and it didn't even fit what was happening. These writers are not capable. The cast is being wasted on this story and the story seems to be getting worse with each episode this season.
Ray Donovan: One Night in Yerevan (2015)
The writing is limping along
I've been waiting for an improvement in the writing, and there has been a little, but that Hasmig character isn't much of an improvement. I can see that something was needed if Ray was going to intervene for Mickey and this was something. It just wasn't the right something. Grandma Minassian was just about to settle ol' Mick's business when Hasmig sweeps in and grandma just melts for her. That didn't really do anything for me.
I don't really see an elderly crime family head knowing a pop singer, let alone being a fan of this young pop singer to the extent that she would let the singer influence her business conduct. The silly title of the singer's big hit, "Thighs Go Boom" is just ridiculous.
The writers are making it up as they go and it's too obvious.