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Reviews
The Crowded Room (2023)
Some of the strongest acting I've seen in a long time
Standout performance from Tom Holland; he felt genuine in his role, very complex, multifaceted, even when I knew some of the spoilers of the the base material, it oddly didn't mater, it actually enhanced the story and I wanted to see where and how it got to the finish line.
Amanda Seyfried was also terrific, I really enjoyed her character as well, driving the bus, teasing out the truth through the web of mysteries in Holland's character.
All the lead actors did a really fantastic job, it's the reason to watch very difficult material.
Where I did have some minor faults, was that at times, the characters were a bit paint by the numbers and they hit most of the tropes with the characters, the cop, the attorneys, the psychiatrist, Danny's mom and dad.
But the very, very end...It was good, but I wasn't expecting it and it felt a bit flat for me.
Silo (2023)
Live action Fallout has ups and downs
The first two episodes were engaging, as was the last, but the other episodes were largely filler - honestly you could skip them and not miss much.
Biggest problem I encountered with the middle episodes, is that the likeable characters, namely the sheriff and wife were killed off in the first couple of episodes.
New sheriff is largely a plank of wood rest of the time. Sure, that's probably how the main protagonist is written, but it doesn't mean I have to like them either.
The set design is good, very Fallout vault-esque, but like those games, you just have to wait for the pieces to fall into place so that you're getting to the point where the main character goes outside.
Tim Robbins as overseer does fine, but also a bit of a plank of wood.
Going back to the pieces falling into place, the pacing is sluggish, and I know that the plot has to move forward somehow and there are plot twists and turns but ultimately the main character is never in real danger and so there's never any agency, I'm just waiting for the "a-ha" moment.
Getting back to the last episode, it literally recapped most of the previous episodes, what side characters I did or didn't forget about really didn't make a difference, but the pacing did pick up and we got to see the outside.
Parnell (1937)
Nothing special
I only watched this as part of my Myrna Loy viewing quest, and it's far from my favorite movie, but it's also far from the worst that I've seen of hers.
It was just...there. At one point, there was a courtroom scene, and that added a bit of tension, but that only brought my overall score up to a 5.
Overall, it seemed slow and went on and on, yet the story didn't really progress very far. Loy and Gable weren't terribly well cast here, however they and their characters just didn't have much to do, just talk, fret, talk some more.
Night Gallery (1969)
I liked The Twilight Zone, but don't care for Night Gallery
While The Twilight Zone seemed groundbreaking and somewhat grounded, with generally believable characters, operating in or under unusual situations, Night Gallery just misses the mark completely for me.
Some episodes are decent, somewhat reminiscent of TTZ, quality-wise, but generally most felt very subpar (direction, acting, writing), and unlike TTZ, the show feels very dated.
I don't understand some of the interludes, such as when vampires appear, and I do feel that the mult-story episodes don't help, as some sketches might only last for a few minutes, have little to do with the overall "theme", and the remaining stories feel rushed.
I'm fine with occult, supernatural or macabre settings and stories, but Night Gallery just isn't pulling it off.
Maybe it would've been better without Serling's name attached, as for better or worse, I'm going to compare it to the (IMO much better) The Twilight Zone.
After the Thin Man (1936)
Come for a Thin Man sequel, stay for Nick and Nora
I actually liked 'After' better than the first, but it also suffered from the same convoluted story resolution that I just didn't find satisfying.
It was neat to see James Stewart play against type.
The Thin Man (1934)
Fun lead characters, but dated film
For me, the most enjoyable part of this film were Loy and Powell, just great to watch, and their dialog and body language were the best parts for me.
The amount of drinking didn't bother me, about a year or so after the end of Prohibition, and I could see the pent-up thirst, and it's what makes Nick and Nora, Nick and Nora.
As for the rest of the story, just bland and convoluted. Maybe it made more since to the audience of 1934, but I just never understood how Nick came to the conclusion that he did...it just fell into place, because the plot had to move forward.