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Reviews
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
The best movie about car racing I've ever seen
I watched this film on Netflix with my teenaged son at his urging. As a car nut back in the day (though not much of a racing fan), the cars of the early 1960s were familiar to me, as was the name Caroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon). But I knew nothing of race driver Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale) or the Ford-Ferrari racing rivalry. That said, I found the film truly engrossing, evocative of the period in which it is set, suspenseful and, thanks to the first-rate acting, emotionally affecting.
While I am not sure how historically accurate "Ford vs Ferrari" is - considerable dramatic license seems to have been taken in places - the story works as a whole and held my interest to the final credits. The technical concepts that figure in parts of the film are fairly basic, so don't be put off by that aspect. Personally I would have liked more detail, but as this is essentially a biopic and not a documentary the art of racing must win out over the science of speed.
Death in Paradise: Episode #13.8 (2024)
Best episode of an utterly mediocre season!
I fundamentally agree with the other two reviewers for the reasons they gave that the series is in decline and should probably end now, notwithstanding that it's apparently been renewed for at least one more season. That said, I think this last episode was probably the best of season 13, although that's not saying much.
Not to break the mould, it employed the writers' favorite trick to solve the case - the deceptive timeline - albeit in a somewhat unusual manner. The subplot romance between Neville and Florence set up in the prior episode, though scarcely credible, provided a superficially satisfying sail-off-into-the-sunset fairytale ending to the season.
Personally, I was hoping that Florence would be appointed "Inspector" of the St. Marie Police Force. Though I'm by no means an advocate of "progressive" casting, isn't it high time a local/Caribbean, or at least a qualified non-male and non-white police officer, like DI Florence Cassell, be appointed to head homicide investigations in Honore?
Death in Paradise: Episode #13.7 (2024)
Worth a watch if you like the series
The episode quality the first half this season has been below average in my book, but since episode 5 they have been back to normal quality. This first part of a two-part storyline continues the pattern. As with the last episode, cast changes shine a light on the series' characters, which together with the idyllic environment are probably a major reason the show draws viewers. Let's face it: the murder mystery plots are not the show's strongest suit. The plot in this episode is similar at its core to many before it, but still provides suspense because the clues are obscured. The greater suspense has to do with the regular characters in the show, and whether two of them in particular will come together or separate. That we will hopefully find out in Episode 8.
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
Pedestrian rendition of the first Nero Wolfe mystery
Based on Fer-de-Lance, the first of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe's mystery novels, the film gets the characters all wrong and modifies the plot to the detriment of the story. Archie Goodwin, who narrates the novel, is presented in the film as a doofus and the butt of Wolfe's sadistic sense of humor. The latter laughs incessantly through the film, while in the book he is far more taciturn and correspondingly enigmatic. Fritz, Wolfe's personal chef, comes across as a dignified professional in the novel, in contrast to the servile flunky portrayed in this film. Finally, none of the potential suspects are sufficiently developed in the film thereby removing the opportunity to inject dramatic tension. This is particularly the case in respect to the murder victim's daughter, with whom in the book Archie had a modicum of romantic interest, albeit mostly unexpressed. Instead, a new character is added, Archie's fiancée, presumably to shore up his heterosexual bona fides. Read the novel instead, and then decide if Nero Wolfe mysteries are your cup of tea.
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
Pedestrian rendition of the first Nero Wolfe mystery
Based on Fer-de-Lance, the first of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe's mystery novels, the film gets the characters all wrong and modifies the plot to the detriment of the story. Archie Goodwin, who narrates the novel, is presented in the film as a doofus and the butt of Wolfe's sadistic sense of humor. The latter laughs incessantly through the film, while in the book he is far more taciturn and correspondingly enigmatic. Fritz, Wolfe's personal chef, comes across as a dignified professional in the novel, in contrast to the servile flunky portrayed in this film. Finally, none of the potential suspects are sufficiently developed in the film thereby removing the opportunity to inject dramatic tension. This is particularly the case in respect to the murder victim's daughter, with whom in the book Archie had a modicum of romantic interest, albeit mostly unexpressed. Instead, a new character is added, Archie's fiancée, presumably to shore up his heterosexual bona fides. Read the novel instead, and then decide if Nero Wolfe mysteries are your cup of tea.
The Gray Man (2022)
Jason Bourne without amnesia
Kind of like the Bourne Identity series, but without the amnesia angle and, compressed into a single film. Overall, it is much less credible, but very au courant with girl boss agents seemingly equal to their male counterparts both in their physical prowess and ethical dysfunction.
Gosling plays the trained assasin, "Six," in a super secret rogue CIA program. Plucked from prison, where he's serving a long sentence for killing his abusive father, Six gets his "freedom" in exchange for a lifelong commitment to kill "bad guys" for the agency on a no-questions asked basis.
Eighteen years later, he has become very very good at his job. On assignment in Bangkok, however, it all goes wrong one night when his target, before dying, informs him that his name is "Four", and hands him an encrypted USB drive, which we later learn contains incriminating information about the super secret rogue assasin program. Panic erupts in Langley as the heads of the super secret program fear exposure via the release of the contents of the drive to the media and initiate orders to find and kill "Six" and retrieve the drive.
In reality, they would simply initiate a psy-op, branding the story a "conspiracy theory." Or, even better, they would prevail upon the legacy media and tech giants to suppress it on the grounds that it is "disinformation."
But then there wouldn't be any excuse for the ensuing travelogue to a couple of dozen exotic locales, innumerable chase scenes, impossible escapes and a trail of military-scale death and destruction across at least three continents. By the end of the movie, I was exhausted by the frequency and scale of the violence displayed, but YMMV.
Sound of Freedom (2023)
A decent film
"Sound of Freedom" is a decent film about a U. S. federal agent's quest to go beyond catching and prosecuting pedophiles participating in child sex trafficking (as consumers or suppliers) to rescuing the children victimized in the process.
Centering on the innocent and adorable son and daughter of a poor Honduran man - an apparent widower - who are abducted with about 20 other children by a glib former beauty pageant winner and professional model who persuades them and their parents that the kids are future models, musicians or actors, the film takes the viewer on a wild ride through US border towns, and across the Gulf of Mexico to Cartagena and Bogota and the remote Columbian rainforest. Along the way, the film's protagonist resigns from his job to devote himself fully to his quest. By enlisting both governmental and non-governmental allies, he is able to go after child sex trafficking rings and to free the many children they have enslaved.
Based on a true story, "Sound of Freedom" highlights a little-discussed problem that deserves greater attention. It does so while carefully avoiding any actual depiction of sexual abuse yet nevertheless showing unequivocally the horror of the situation in which the victimized children have been placed.
Produced on a relatively low budget and shot in large part on location, "Sound of Freedom" held my interest for the entire more than 2 hour length. That said, it is not without its flaws. Some of the various operations to catch the bad guys come off a just bit too smoothly and thereby stretch credibility. But overall "Sound of Freedom" accomplishes its aim of shedding light on the shadowy world of child sex trafficking and likely convincing many that more needs to be done to address the problem.
Ancient Apocalypse (2022)
You don't need to accept Hancock's theory to find it entertaining and the questions posed provocative
Even though I am very skeptical of the thesis that there was once an ancient advanced civilization on Earth (prior to those in the Middle East that arose circa 4,000BC following the invention of agriculture) that was lost to history, I nevertheless found this series fascinating. At least, the author does not couple his theory with the idea that the progenitors of this advanced civilization came from outer space, a hypothesis that without corroborating evidence is even harder to accept.
Instead, his basic idea seems to be that during the ice age, at a time when sea levels were much lower than they arew today, at least one civilization had become established on the planet. However, around 10,000 BC as the Ice Age ended sea levels rose precipitously destroying most physical evidence of said civilization in a series of cataclysmic events. Survivors of this civilization then roamed the earth seeking to transmit its teachings to bands of humans scattered about the planet.
Phantom of Chinatown (1940)
Good to have Asians playing Asian roles, but that alone can't save this film
Though not of Asian ethnicity, Boris Karloff brought charm and gravitas to the earlier James Lee Wong films as the eponymous lead character in the B-movie series. With Mr Karloff's exit, it is commendable that Asian actors finally had the opportunity to play the Asian parts, including the lead role, in this iteration. Unfortunately, the change in casting alone cannot save the Phantom of Chinatown, which is burdened by wooden dialog, an unconvincing plot, and poor direction, which does little to enhance the mediocre acting skills of pretty much the entire cast. Consequently, for me the film was only interesting as a footnote of film history, and not as an engaging murder mystery in its own right.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Overrated
This critically-acclaimed and much-loved iconic movie of the 1970s, is, in my opinion, over-rated. Yes, it employs sophisticated cinematic techniques, yes the now award-winning actors gave superb performances early in their careers, but in the end Travis Bickle, the protagonist of the film, remains an enigma and the message of the film, to my mind, muddled.
The Wrong Missy (2020)
Not your average romcom
While this romantic/screwball comedy might not be for everyone, I found it absolutely hilarious. What starts as the blind-date-from-hell for the male protagonist quickly becomes a manic journey with the wrong 'Melissa' (nicknamed 'Missy') full of surprise twists and turns. If you are on board in the first 5 minutes, then you will probably enjoy the ride.
The Living Daylights (1987)
Not the best Bond film
I liked this film when it first came out, but on rewatch found it disappointing. At the time of its original release Timothy Dalton seemed a good choice to return the Bond films to the taut rawness of the Ian Fleming thrillers following a period of increasing spectacle as Roger Moore transformed the protagonist into a caricature of his former self. But Dalton's portrayal lacked humor, and notwithstanding OTT stunts, this film came across to me as a paint by numbers exercise.
Dr. No (1962)
Surprisingly good
Rewatched Dr No recently on Amazon Prime, and I really think this first cinematic rendition of Ian Fleming's spy thrillers was better than at least half of the subsequent Bond movies. It's of its time, with the stereotypical tropes of the Cold War era. But the simplicity of the story and the absence of the OTT chase scenes characteristic of later iterations of the 007 franchise made it more enjoyable than the latter. By way of illustration, The Living Daylights, which I also rewatched, was - despite incredible stunts and special effects - ultimately the duller of the two films.
House of Maxwell (2022)
Interesting as far as it went which was not far enough
Very interesting as far as it went, but ultimately disappointing as it left lots of questions unanswered or insufficiently explored. These include:
- Maxwell's role vis-a-vis MI6, the KGB, Mossad, etc.;
- - how much the 'inner circle' knew, even if they could not stop Maxwell's fraud;
- what happened to the Mirror pension holders, and did this lead to any systemic reform; as well as
- what were Epstein's links to intelligence agencies and did these figure in his evading accountability?
In contrast to some Netflix true crime documentaries that stretch comparatively small cases and limited material to fill 6 or 8 episodes when half that many would have been more than sufficient, the reverse is applicable here.
This is a documentary subject that deserved far more screen time. Not only were 3 episodes insufficient to do the topic justice, there were too few interviewees for the breadth and depth of the subject matter. Some, like the FT journalist, ought to have been given more screen time, while the revoiced bugged anonymous phone conversations became repetitive, once it was established that senior staff suspected something was amiss, and added little to the narrative.
Life in Colour (2021)
Nature TV at its best
Another fascinating nature documentary narrated by David Attenborough. Need more be said? Features the usual high production values and first-rate photography, while answering questions like 'why do zebras have black and white stripes?' and 'why, if tigers need to remain unseen by their prey, they are colored a conspicuous bright orange with black stripes?'.
Ozark (2017)
Let down by its final season ..
Took me several episodes to get into this series. The first 3 seasons had a compelling story, but gradually the plot began to stretch credulity. Season 4, the final season, went too far in this regard, so cannot recommend.
Catherine Cohen: The Twist...? She's Gorgeous (2022)
Contrary to popular opinion ...
While it's not a barrel of laughs, I enjoyed the quirky originality of Catherine Cohen's song-and- standup performance. Not sure I would watch another of her shows, but as a one-off, it was a good hour's worth of entertainment.
The King of Staten Island (2020)
Better than expected ...
Watched this on Netflix as my teenaged son wanted to see it. The premise did not much appeal to me, but I found the film engrossing from the start.
The characters, including the main protagonist, are vividly drawn and well-portrayed, even when they act self destructively. The story - how 24 year old Scott (who suffers from ADHD and a severe case of arrested development) and his mother cope with the departure of Scott's younger sister for college - seems simple enough. But it generates much drama and more than a few comic moments, though the film is not really a comedy. Instead, it is more of a coming of age story about a still living at home 20-something aspiring tattoo artist.
The ambiguous happy ending felt a bit forced to me, and at 2 hrs 20 minutes in length, King of Staten is a bit too long in my view. Still, if you keep your expectations in check it is worth seeing.
Hitler's Secret Sex Life (2021)
Totally agree with the last reviewer about it being repetitive
This 4 part series could have been condensed to 1 episode, and would still have been mediocre. A few interesting points were made, but the documentary was largely speculative and based on very limited source material.
Death on the Nile (2022)
After Branagh's successful redo of Murder on the Orient Express, the Orient Express, Death on the Nile was a disappointment
I liked Kenneth Branagh's revamp of. Murder on the Orient Express, but his attempt to give Death on the Nile similar treatment did not work for me. Maybe seeing the former on the big screen made a difference. What I enjoyed most about about previous cinematic versions of the latter title, in which Peter Ustinov and David Suchet played the role of Poirot, were the vividly drawn characters and various subplots which added so much to the atmosphere of those films. Death on the Nile (2022), in my view, was lacking in that regard, so much so that I didn't make it to the end. Also, I feel there was too much divergence from the source material.
The Batman (2022)
Too long, repetitive sound track, but striking visuals
While I was impressed by the striking visuals, this film, at 3 hours, was far too long for my taste. It was made worse by the repetitive sound track, strangely muffled dialog and extremely convoluted plot. (I'll acknowledge that I have hearing issues so you may not be bothered by the low pitch and volume of the dialog delivered by the main protagonists.) Although super-hero films stretch believability by definition, The Batman was a stretch too far in my view: for instance, the weedy accountant lacked the physical prowess to fulfill his role as the serial murdering villain, while the Catwoman character though athletic was not believable in the feats she performed. The Batman character seemed to have the requisite physicality, but the blows he sustained were OTT in my view. Ditto the car chase: entertaining but outside the realm of plausibility. Finally, if you're going to show a Gotham City that has the outline of Manhattan, dykes to keep out the sea are geographically incongruous. You may feel differently. If so, enjoy. For me, the 2nd half of this movie was a really hard slog.
The Brasher Doubloon (1947)
Passable Philip Marlowe adaptation
If not the best Raymond Chandler mystery brought to the silver screen, this comparatively short feature film set in 1940s Los Angeles is nonetheless a watchable 'whodunit' done in the hard-boiled gumshoe style characteristic of the period and place.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Surprisingly funny rom-com
A surprisingly funny rom-com which begins when Emily tells Cal that, after 25 years of marriage, she wants a divorce. Cal is blindsided, and despairs at the loss of his "soul mate."
Despite this inauspicious start, he fortuitously meets ladies' man Jacob, who shows him how to improve his appearance and his game. Hilarity ensues as a newly-confident Cal becomes more successful with women, Emily begins to have second thoughts and various romantic entanglements involving the couple's children, babysitter, teacher and others unfold.
Unlike most rom-coms, the male perspective is treated sympathetically. Like nearly all films in the genre, however, the overall message is decidedly "blue pill" in its affirmation of the soul mate myth and other trad-con tropes.
Brazen (2022)
Shallow cliché-filled mystery romance
When an inspirational high school teacher--who leads a double life as an adult performer for paying clients--meets an untimely end, her sister, a 'Murder, She Wrote' style/boss girl mystery writer, puts her own life at risk in an attempt to catch the killer. Meanwhile, said boss girl mystery writer falls for the hot-police-detective-next-door who ultimately gets assigned to the case. Cut-out characters and tired tropes (e.g. Down with the patriarchy) undermine the film, which, though watchable, is undistinguished both as a mystery and as a chick-flick/romance.
Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami (2021)
Interesting true crime series but too long
Being drawn to docudramas, documentaries and fictional films/programs about the drug trade, this 6-part series about two Cuban-American high school dropouts who became "kings of Cocaine" in Miami was a natural choice for me. It didn't disappoint.
I hadn't heard of Willy and Sal, so the story of their rise and - spoiler! - fall was one of which I was unaware. Despite brief references to other locales, changes in the "war on drugs" and the impact on the trade, the series is very much focused on the two protagonists (who are seen in historical video footage and photos) together with their families, and associates, on the one hand, and the FBI, government prosecutors and defense attorneys, on the other.
Of the many individuals who relate parts of the story, about six provide 80% of the onscreen commentary, with Sal's longtime girlfriend being the star, so to speak. Interspersed with historical local news footage, these interviewees come to dominate the narrative as it is transformed in the later episodes into a courtroom drama / morality play.
Overall, Cocaine Cowboys held my interest. But halfway through the 3rd episode, I expected that its end would conclude the series and looking back would preferred it had.