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Reviews
Will Trent: Pterodactyls Can Fly (2023)
Still Lots of Violence in Resolution
Had hoped to see more thoughtful conclusions to the conflict but then it is a police show so should not be too surprised to see Will using nail guns, crescent wrenches and bullets to save Betty and the kid. But who was Deacon the bad guy? Cannot find his name in any credits anywhere? He only had four lines but I found him rather compelling. French Stewart is doing a great job being a completely different person than his character in 3rd rock or mom. His voice and demeanor are dialed way back yet under the surface there is a lot going on. He is being a great actor. Everyone is for that matter so thank you ABC for putting this together so well.
Cosmos (2019)
The World Has Changed, Here is the Proof
The days of giant crews pulling down giant paychecks filming giant stars earning fistfuls of cash by the minute are numbered. They might be completely over with even. When you watch this you will find it impossible to believe that it is the work of eight people who did it for the art and the message and some love. To call it a remarkable achievement is merely lame. It is a jaw dropping knock you over with a feather colossal masterpiece. OK it has some flaws but those don't matter at all. Try making a movie this complex with nobody helping you, nobody looking over your shoulder, nobody telling you what does not work, nobody providing any of the equipment or the money. See what kind of a mess you will end up with. Two thirds of the highly paid A list directors and producers and crews and actors we know as household names should be embarrassed and mortified that seven people under the age of 35 (plus the producers' mom aged 60 something) could make something so breathtaking, so goose-bump inducing and so thoughtful with no money and no studio and nothing but their old volvo station wagon for a set. The only reason I hold back one star is the continuity issue about the clutch and the gear shift. When you watch it you will know what I mean.
The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939)
Now We Know What Capitalists REALLY Thought of the New Deal
We stumbled across this on amazon prime and endured the entire thing mostly with jaws dropped. If we think our country recently became politically polarized after the 2016 election, watch this and learn. The right wing jack armstrong type and the left wing marxist sympathizer are constantly being warned by the girl in the middle to not make a scene at the family dinner. Sound familiar? We are trying to figure out if this were shown in movie theaters as a short second feature or at Westinghouse sales or stockholder meetings or elsewhere. It had to be a big hit at the NO THIRD TERM rallies that would soon put Wilkie on the republican ticket. .The most striking thing to us was the anti-intellectualism that pervaded the pro-capitalist speechifying disguised as stilted dialog. It's a wonder we won the war if this is meant to represent the best and brightest. The republic has made it this far maybe in spite of the thinking behind this film.
The River and the Wall (2019)
A movie that will open your mind
Part of me has been on the fence about the giant immigration problems dominating the news over the last few months. But seeing this movie has literally opened my eyes. The vistas and panoramic shots left me gasping in my theater seat and by the way DO NOT watch this on a phone or computer. Go to a theater and see it large. Everybody has an agenda, and most of the people in front of TV cameras these days are shouting and gesticulating about theirs. Here is a lower key, rational, thoughtful and emotionally careful presentation that does not try to be authoritative or have the last word. It asks you to think and reflect and accept.
The Orville: Deflectors (2019)
Hoping there won't be haters (again)
Seth tries another angle tonight to get us to look at ourselves. Here are all these advanced brilliant people doing amazing things with deflectors and computers and warp drive or whatever they call it on orville...making huge mistakes and displaying narrow prejudices and inflicting pain on each other. Look in the mirror, people. All these problems played out in a 24th century space drama began much earlier. And it does not look like our descendants are any closer to solving them than we are. Thank you Seth and Brannon and Andre for making us think and question and find ways to improve.
I would have given all ten stars but the flower scene sucked the air out of the room for me.
The Orville: Primal Urges (2019)
What have we learned?
One person on here asked if the people who gave this episode one star saw the same show he did and I am in that camp as well. I throw this out and wonder if anyone agrees or not: the theme of the show so far seems to be that no matter how advanced humans might become, they are still saddled with the foibles shortcomings insecurities and ignorance that we are right now and that all humans have been burdened with from the beginning. The goal is to rise above that programming and try to do better. Using a star hopping space ship manned by us and aliens to throw light on that maybe is Seth's idea and I say go man go. There is no rulebook on stuff like this and comparisons with star trek are misplaced. The Orville flies under its own power on its own mission and so what if it might make its own mistakes along the way? I have yet to see a bad episode.
Charade (1963)
Neither Fish Nor Fowl
Why there are dozens of positive review rave pages on here for this is a far deeper mystery than any portrayed in the film itself. While the actors are competent, they are miscast and out of their respective elements in this failed attempt at clever storytelling. You can see the red herrings and twists coming from a kilometer away, and the various plot discontinuities and holes comprise a rolling non sequitur that distracts from the visual appeal of the settings and the people. The Hepburn character's sloppy evolution and transition from innocent/naive/bewildered to savvy/manipulative/covetous disproves the myth of an educated actress stopping filming to ask: "What is my motivation?" Such a question seems never to have entered anyone's mind at any stage of the proceedings. Much less an answer. I had recorded it off High Def satellite onto High Def digital tape, but will be driving over it with something better now that we managed to sit through the entire thing squirming in our barcaloungers hoping it would get more meaningful but being profoundly disappointed.
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
one more reason to get HDTV
UHD ran this last night and is doing so again on 25 September. The digital sound was excellent, and the HD transfer revealed details I had not seen since 1973. My partner was leery of sitting through what he was afraid would be a "dated" piece. But by the end, we had undergone an emotional experience. With all the madness in the middle east over the last few weeks, was Universal trying to make a statement by dusting this off? I wonder what the rest of you think? I looked through several comments to see if anybody but me saw gay overtones in the Judas-Jesus connection. The answer is no so far. There are several scenes where Judas' emotions convey strongly in non-verbal vibe; or am I projecting? Mary Magdalene's reactions seem to underscore this but maybe I am nuts. True literature provides a lot to chew on in the way of subtext, so there you go. If anyone knows more of the shooting details, please post them. Universal seemed to cut off the credits prematurely at the end; there was not a word about locations used.
Used Cars (1980)
wild ride
This crazy romp is now running on a high definition movie satellite channel and it looks like it was done last month. It so happens I was working at the CBS TV station in phoenix in 1980; the producer rented out editing suite for the "style/mile" substitution chicanery scene. Jack Warden sat on his casting chair in the alley behind our building just waiting quietly and patiently and politely to do his stuff; there were all kinds of problems getting the specially created videotape images to appear on our monitors without appearing to flicker at the film camera shutter rate. But eventually, the problems were solved. We were the only location in town that had what was then state of the art video editing bay suitable for the scene. I totally agree with the person who called this movie cynical. But it is worth 113 minutes especially in HD. The arizona scenery is fun, too. Anybody know where the big final caravan scene was shot? I am thinking around florence junction on 79.