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The Assets (2014)
The story carries it
Based on a memoir of a CIA agent involved with the apprehension of the notorious spy Aldrich Ames, The Assets doesn't particularly satisfy spy cravings as much as hoped. I realized quickly that it had been a network television show in 2014, and likely didn't have the budget or other support it would have from other companies such as F/X or Showtime, which I mention because I had just come off binges of The Americans and Homeland.
The script seems like a throwback to before 1990 (think first season of Law & Order, or any '80s cop show), while the acting and directing reminded me of daytime soap operas .
Still, I suggest that you give it a try simply because it more or less narrates the most important spy lore in recent history. Maybe follow up with watching Breach, and your covert cravings could be tamed for a little while.
The cast did what it could with limited resources and expectations. The season sells for about $24 on Prime, and it's nowhere close to that in value. But that's HD. Buy the SD version for half, and you have a fair purchase for your money.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020)
Of course the name was misplaced, but still a good show
Friends and associates of whoever tried to link this with Penny Dreadful should have been more honest and offered guidance. It should have been anticipated that many viewers would dismiss it simply because it lacks vampires and werewolves. That said, it is a wonderful noir with an interesting supernatural veneer that doesn't work, but gets credit for effort.
The writers did their history homework: the untold story of LA's Chicanos, the aggressive racism of the LA police, the endemic corruption of city government, both overt and covert right-wing propagandists, and the insidious presence of Southern California's evangelical mega-churches, all find their way into a story which, no doubt, has too many strands... so did Los Angeles in 1938.
You'll enjoy it, especially Nathan Lane, and ESPECIALLY Natalie Dormer's many-faced demon. You'll be let down that there wasn't more. But there's always a couple seasons of HBO's Perry Mason to help wean you. And if you like to read, say, history (with a little flair), get yourself one of Carey McWilliams' California books.
Scored 9 for fun, Nathan Lane, Natalie Dormer, Mr. Data, Brad Garrett as a Jewish mobster, and hitting the right issues. Not a 10, not because it doesn't have Frankenstein, but it plainly overreaches.
Law & Order: Los Angeles (2010)
Pretty good
So many shows had low viewing ratings while they were on, but were pleasantly discovered by audiences later (eg, The Wire). Like the original L&O, the focus is on arrest and trial instead of the interpersonal issues of the "stars."
The only criticism I can offer is that the stories move at a very quick clip; it's easy to miss basic stuff about the plot.
Alfred Molina is great as a cop and a DA. Peter Coyote is fun as a borderline political sleaze District Attorney with none of Jack McCoy's integrity. The opening credits sequence is especially annoying.
LA crime shows are always entertaining.
The Black Dahlia (2006)
Not terrible, but not polished
I'd read the book first to keep track of the plot. The writing is often taken directly the book, and that's not necessarily a plus. Books and movies are different genres, each having its own style and flow. The acting and delivery seemed almost like college theater: getting there, but not quite there.
I paid $4.29 to Prime for a two-day rental. Given the other things I've spent money on, I guess it was worth it, but just barely.
The mood and setting will appeal to you if you liked HBO's Perry Mason or Penny Dreadful season 2.
I will say that those two shows plus The Black Dahlia book and movie have inspired me to start reading Carey McWilliams' Southern California: an Island on the Land, and for that I'm deeply grateful. One of the best books I've read. Can't wait to finish so that I can FINALLY after fifty years break down and watch Chinatown.
Journey to the Edge of the Universe (2008)
Turn the sound off
Beautiful animation. Stunning scenery. Dramatic imagery.
But.
Script apparently written collaboratively by a third grade class. While enjoying the dazzling images, ask yourself if you're really learning anything new. You'll be getting some exercise from all the shoulder shrugging.
This leads to the question of the exact purpose of the film. It's not educational. It doesn't educate. The narration drones on in an effort to create drama, but it doesn't actually say anything.
Or leave the sound on and play a game. Try to complete any sentence broken by a pregnant pause. It's not very hard.
Best used as a silent ambience video.
No Time to Die (2021)
Really bad script
The writing sounds like it was done by high school kids. Or some cheap foreign movie badly dubbed. Craig looks too old. His romantic scenes come across as creepy.
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Dated technology but edge of your seat THRILLER
Arthur Hill is perfect, as always. Actually all the members of The Team were grrrreat. They had TV character actors for minor roles, and they played their usual characters.
The story itself isn't dated, but the look and feel of the technology is. That doesn't detract from the thriller action.
There was some serious animal cruelty (later denied and "explained" away by producers) and it's hard to watch.
Highly recommend, although I don't know how it would come across to younger viewers accustomed to elaborate CGI special effects.
I just watched it for the fourth time (over 50 years), and I'm exhilarated.
Hotel (1967)
Merle Oberon more beautiful than ever
The racist part was hard to watch. Else, Merle Oberon was beautiful, Michael Rennie wonderfully tragic, Rod Taylor the epitome of cool. When I first saw this at age 14, Karl Malden made me want to grow up to be a hotel thief.
The Blacklist (2013)
OK for occasional binge
It's fully entertaining. Spader especially. Any mature TV actor would salivate to play this character. Something like a Bond villain partially come in from the cold. A character we'd all secretly like to be.
The episodes are very, VERY formulaic, like detective shows from the '70s. Vaguely reminiscent of Burn Notice but with very little of the warmth and humor of Michael Westen and his crew. Mysterious story arc held together by weekly good deeds.
The main character Elizabeth is too beautiful, too cool, more of an actress playing an actress playing a TV cop. Her FBI colleagues would have fit in well on Rockford or Mannix.
Still, it's kinda fun in an insignificant way. I'm watching it.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
Speeches instead of dialogue
Lots of long-winded speeches and immature writing. Much of that writing would be appropriate for a soap opera.
I do hope that in 900 years, we would have made more than 200 years of technological progress.
Michael Burnham is tiring.
Lansky (2021)
Harvey is MAGISTERIAL
It's a very so-so movie, but Harvey Keitel makes it completely worth watching. His demeanor toward the young writer reminded me of some of my own mentors. Not that they were gangsters. Just something in his voice and delivery. Don't you love it when people are really, really good at their jobs?
Law & Order (1990)
The Return of Mr. Briggs
Before some whippersnapper named Adam Schiff made a name for himself in Congress, the SAINTED Adam Schiff was played by Stephen Hill in Law & Order, finally resolving a hole in my life left by the departure of Mr. Briggs from Mission Impossible. Although I was delighted by Mr. Phelps, Mr. Briggs spent a season of spying and sabotage in wry bemusement, which Hill subtly brought to the New York District Attorney's Office.
Superman Returns (2006)
Homage to Christopher Reeve
Like Christopher Reeve's Superman, this Superman has a sense of humor and fun heroism. It revisits some memorable lines and scenes. Superman shouldn't be silly, but it also shouldn't take itself too seriously. Superman should be Superman, not Apocalypse Now. Watch this with pizza and popcorn on a Friday night, go to bed happy and entertained.
Conspiracy (2001)
12 Angry...Nazis
Very reminiscent of 12 Angry Men. Superb performances, especially Nicholas Woodeson and Ian McNeice, both of whom would later again give superb performances in HBO's Rome. An edge-of-your-seat story yet entirely in a board room.
The Tomorrow War (2021)
Not much more than a comic book
Destroy everything. Kill everyone. Sgt. Rock was better.
Without Remorse (2021)
Yawn
No discernable plot. Random shoot-em-up. Maybe interesting for 13 year-olds.
Roman Empire (2016)
Occasionally not unbearable to watch but little history
If you like movies about Roman wars, this will help pass the time on a day when you have nothing else to do. As other reviewers noted, it's not very good history. If you're not picky about facts, maybe more entertaining would be I, Claudius or the wonderful Caesar and Cleopatra. Or even Androcles and the Lion. At least George Bernard Shaw had once met Theodor Mommsen and was literate, two things that the writers of this show cannot claim.
Still, there's enough fighting to keep kids interested, and Cleopatra (except for making her Egyptian not Macedonian) is a total political snake (which she was).
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
The pity of it
Someone (writers, director, producers) should have been sued over this. Uninteresting plot and premise. Script and direction unprofessional. Acting consisted mostly of yelling.
One redemption was Michelle Yeoh. She is God.