mongand2000 Reviews

Do Not Resist (2016)

A chilling glimpse

[9/10 · 5 December 2016]

Do Not Resist is actually several films, as the narrative unwinds on the truth of police militarization, training, and the future of policing with 24 hour aerial surveillance and the ability to track movements. It is surprising how much is contained in barely over an hour. From Ferguson, where a line of armored vehicles approaches a protest line, to the deep south, and preparations for a SWAT raid. A dealer is confirmed at the house, and "we" expect a serious haul. But no, afterward we are told that such raids are "50-50;" a thorough search only a little personal use pot is discovered in a book bag. To small town New England, where the city council debates a "free" armored vehicle from surplus military stockpiles, and then to the surplus vehicle boneyard. A Senate Hearing room. A SWAT "convention" in Florida, and a training seminar with Dave Grossman. He promises a crowded room of police that the best sex they'll ever have is on their most violent days on the job. An airplane over Baltimore, tracking every vehicle and pedestrian in real time downloads to police. There's so much, ultimately too much, to easily process it all; the ultimate lesson is that the venue of a particular police action doesn't matter. This is how modern American police train and act.

Surprisingly, filmmaker Craig Atkinson does not provide any narrative. The real people on the screen are the entire narration. The transitions are not particularly smooth, and the film packs so much into 72 minutes that I wonder how complete it is. There is no judgment, just reporting in their own words. It turns into a compelling story. It is easy to see why it won Best Documentary at Tribeca.

The Rockford Files: The Farnsworth Stratagem (1975) Season 2, Episode 2

Great Con, with a plot hole big as an oil rig **SPOILERS**

[6/10 · 17 November 2014]

The Rockford Files is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. This one features Rockford pulling a con on a con man, and the actual con is fantastic to watch as it unfolds. It seems that Dennis was conned in a real estate scam, and is on the hook; he turns to Rockford for help, and Rockford comes up with a great scam to get the money back.

But then it turns out that the original con man had an inside girl, and she is also working with Rockford on his con. When Rockford meets the original con man she's right there, yet the original con man isn't suspicious? Not the first time the series has had an issue like this, but this one is definitely the worst. You just shake your head in disgust at the sloppy writing,and hope for better next week.

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

This one is NOT in the top 250?

[10/10 · 30 July 2014]

In one of those weird times when the forces of the universe come together and make a great movie, how is it that time one was overlooked by the IMDb rating community? Seriously, WALL-E makes the top 250 and a real film doesn't?

A wealthy northern white man is found murdered in the middle of the summer heat wave. A lone black man is arrested at the train station a short time later, and quickly apprehended. But all is not as it seems, since the black man is on his way home to Pennsylvania where he is the top homicide detective for a big city police force. When his boss offers assistance to the racist southern town, a fantastic plot is born.

This film has everything a movie needs. Fantastic acting all around, believable characters, an intriguing murder mystery, fast paced action, perfect editing, and writing that today's screenplays just don't seem to have. The direction is spot on, particularly reaction shots as dialog is heard off screen, and set up scenes. (E.g., the police chief is summoned to the mayor, who then visits the mayor's car dealership, complete with the sound of ratchets and welding, where important policy decisions are made in the service bay.

"What kind of people are you; what kind of place is this?" the widow says. Timeless questions that can arise in any of today's murder mysteries or police dramas, but without anything close to the drama or mystery here.

The Newsroom (2012–2014)

What is it about Sorkin? You wanna like it but . . .

[4/10 · 25 August 2013]

Aaron Sorkin, like David Mamet, has some great stories to tell. The Newsroom, a behind the scenes look at politics, infighting, and the sordid scandals that occur in a major network news show, has some. The stories are great. In fact, the stories justify eight stars out of ten rather than merely four. Throw in a mix of great actors. Veterans Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, and Sam Waterston; relative newcomers Olivia Munn, Alison Pill, or John Gallagher, Jr. All portray compelling interesting characters. Coupled with the great stories arcs, and this show is easily worth nine out of ten stars. So where do they go wrong? Writing, editing, and direction. Like The West Wing, Charlie Wilson's War, or almost everything else he writes, Aaron Sorkin writes incredibly intelligent dialogue. The characters never have to stop and think. They cut each others' dialogue off as if they know exactly what to say to provide a cogent, witty response. There's no pause in the dialogue like normal people. They are so smart, all the time, that it literally becomes a distraction. By the end of a conversation I just don't care anymore. The realism was lost in the writing and direction, and the cuts from one actor to another. One character remembers every detail of a historical event; the date, the time, the exact number of casualties. Everyone remembers, word for word, exactly what someone said in a fifteen second meeting months before. What does it feel like to watch every episode, every week, and leave thinking it could be so good but fell short? Another Sorkinism.

Suits (2011–2019)

A fine premise / A disappointing execution

[4/10 · 14 February 2013]

Season 1: a young man with eidetic memory and a job that consists of taking entrance exams for others ends up employed masquerading as a lawyer from Harvard. Can he fit in without the real law school experience? Mentored by one of the best lawyers in New York, if not the country, I guess we'll see.

Season 2 and following: But then the story line changes to sex lives of the many unique characters, lawsuits that are decided by lawyers without their clients' consent, depositions that never seem to last more than a few minutes, and routine criminality among the various lawyers. One guy sneaking into the legal field is plausible. But when every officer of the court is a criminal, even the guests brought in from time to time, the story starts to become just silly, if not boring.

Leaving the episode to episode story aside, the characters never seem to grow, improve, or to even realize their singular dimension. How many times do we have to hear Harvey say "I" beat you. How many times will his secretary pine like a lovesick teenager? Will Louis show why he is supposed to be a great lawyer (no) or just be the nerd that everyone jokes about (yes)? Frankly, it's now just a boring wait for the imposter lawyer to find the key document that will let Harvey win again.

Whale Wars (2008– )

Worse than watching the Kardashians

[1/10 · 1 June 2012]

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to confess that I've only been able to sit through three episodes over the last two years. I gave it a chance, it was crap. I gave it a second chance and, yup, still crap. A friend told me to try again but it was crap. From five minutes in, you just want the remote in your hand to stifle the stupidity and boredom, interlaced with watching stupid people do stupid things.

A college professor once told me that being ignorant is worse than being stupid. If you're stupid you don't know, but if you're ignorant you must have "ignored" the lesson. That is, you could have learned but chose not to. These people are ignorant.

Activists have a valid place in our world, and I do not dispute the Sea Shepards' right to raise money, sail boats to frigid waters, and protest. I do not even dispute their right to protest with potentially life threatening tactics. There are consequences to such protests, which make the news from time to time but are best remembered as Rosa Parks (who got arrested for sitting on the bus). These people just don't seem to understand.

A bunch of idiots who have no idea how to navigate or maintain a complex system like a ship remind me of the Children's Crusade in history class. Idealism is great, but these people risk no only their own individual lives, but their co-volunteers, on a daily basis. Do none of them see that? None of the "officers" of these ships have a clue how to lead, how to delegate properly, or even how to operate the ship. Each episode seemed to be made on a "best guess" theory of operations with an "at least we're trying" denouement. The comedy is unintentional; however welcome it comes about, because they're ignorant. Do these people not train at all?

Even the drama is false. The Japanese ship uses an acoustic device to defeat the anti-whalers? How rude! Did they actually think that the whalers were going to help them? They can't possibly think that the whalers were not going to respond to their interventionist protest, yet that's what they certainly appear to believe. Idiots. Cutting together three elitists I watched, I might get 10 minutes of compelling and interesting video. Out of one season, you might get a good two hour documentary. But episodic bumbling is not entertainment.

The Good Shepherd (2006)

A good story poorly told

[4/10 · 30 May 2012]

I've always had a personal interest in what type of person gives up their lives for patriotism; what does it take to give up everything you have and fight a great (albeit Cold) War? In the 50's and 60's, when the US and USSR were the biggest guys on the block and arguing over world domination, each had intelligence and counter-intelligence types looking for information and sowing dis-information. This is their story. It's long, it's sometimes very boring, but it is compelling.

Matt Damon becomes he head of CIA counter intelligence, and consumed with discovery of a mole in the organization. A loner, he is picked for Skull & Bones at Yale, has a quick affair with the sister of another Bonesman, resulting in a loveless "shotgun" marriage and an estranged family as Damon's work of saving the world occupies his every thought and action. Individuals and countries become pawns in a battle between Damon's "Mother," and his agents, and Oleg Shtefanko's "Ulysses," and his plots and plans and moles. In the end, the biggest leaks of CIA information turn out to be a defector (planted to learn and report) and Damon's own son (who falls for a "honey pot" in Africa). Damon gives up any possibility of a relationship with his son when he silently condones the murder of his son's fiancé.

What detracts from the film is the plodding detail. Much of this detail is necessary to the eventual tragedy of Damon's career dedication to his country, but also told in a style that has to make one wonder if this detail is important. Any movie you have to watch two or three times just to understand the plot should be rethought.

Matt Damon is great early in the film as a man lost in the mire of his father's suicide, trapped in a loveless marriage in a day when divorce was taboo, and taken in by a gem of a defector truly too good to be true. But later, when his hunt for the mole is all-consuming, seemed strained and unapologetic. Although he clearly realizes what he has given up, and the mistakes that he's made, it's just shrugged off as part of the game.

Angelina Jolie was, well, Jolie. Her lines are not delivered as an actress playing a part, but a famous actress reading lines. Even her tumultuous coming apart at the realization that she really doesn't know her husband was poorly yelled. And Eddie Redmayne as their love-child? One of the worst casting jobs possible. Rather than a strained family relationship, Redmayne appears to be a "special ed" candidate. And what would a CIA department chief's son be doing traveling Africa at the height of the Cold War without careful briefing and debriefing?

Smaller roles are filled with great talent. John Turturo, as Damon's bodyguard and confidant, steals virtually every scene with his absolute devotion to duty and unflinching belief in his own version of truth. DeNiro appears briefly, and offers a compelling yet in the end unimportant behind the scenes superior. William Hurt, as a flawed patriot and Jolie's father (really, her father?), reveals a class of character unwilling to yield to patriotism in favor of self-gain.

Some tragedies are necessary. Romeo and Juliet died so their families could live in peace. Damon gives up a better (or at least happy) life so the Cold War did not become a real war. But the slow pace, flashback retelling, strange casting, and a largely one-dimensional supporting cast (save for Turturo and Tammy Blanchard as Damon's early love interest) made for a tedious experience. I've seen the movie a half dozen times now, each time picking up a little more detail and understanding, but each time becoming less patient with Jolie's and Redmayne's characters and performance. I want to like this movie a lot more, but just can't.

Chronicle (2012)

Plot holes you can drive a bus through

[3/10 · 7 February 2012]

I had no intention of seeing this movie, but after a family vote there I was at another "found footage" formula film trying to find something to like. Three teens with absolutely nothing in common suddenly find themselves together when a strange force gives them telekinetic powers. An apparent government conspiracy removes the source of the power, and the boys accept a get out of here from the local park ranger rather than using their new powers to unearth the artifact. Of course, no one trusts their parents enough to share the look-what-I-can-do power.

So, the popular kid, the jock, and the down-and-out loser have to deal with being Superman, with all the predictability of Carrie but with no pig blood or nudity so they can have a PG-13 rating. Throw in an abusive alcoholic dad and a mom dying of unknown illness with no insurance; there is simply no character in the film who is original.

All the while, for reasons never made clear, two kids decide to shoot video. (I know when I'm in the middle of a fight for my life flying ten stories above the streets, I check the framing on my camera too.) On the plus side, the film is blissfully short at 83 minutes. And it comes with 10-plus minutes of trailers.

The young cast of relative newcomers justifies my rating of 3/10. Playing stereotypes the young men and one woman rise above the poor material and all are clearly destined for something better. Dane DeHaan and Ashley Hinshaw, in particular, are clearly stars on the rise. DeHaan reveals a depth comparable to DiCaprio or Pacino and I look forward to his next project to see if he really can play anything. Although Hinshaw's role is regretfully small, and her disappearance at the end has no denouement, her flirty journalistic interaction with Alex Russel's character was entertaining and intriguing. In a grown up role she would clearly shine.

Waiting for Superman (2010)

What if your child's future was decided in a lottery?

[10/10 · 25 January 2012]

Very rarely, there are documentaries that you feel you have to share with others, buy the DVD and give it away, then buy another and give that one away. This is one of those films.

Following a handful of kids across the country, the film parses the history-made traps of the American education system. Bad teachers, low expectations, and ridiculous unions that refuse to acknowledge there really are bad teachers all add up to a system that fails our children. Yet a number of schools succeed by not following the normal rules. These charter schools, which set their expectations high and send disproportionally high numbers of graduates to universities, defy the odds in some of the worst performing school districts in the country. WHY DO WE ALLOW IT?

Successful schools and smart kids are possible, the film proves it, and then shows why other schools can't perform. In the end, these schools are so successful that they must hold a lottery for incoming students every year, and the films follows these lotteries for each kid as numbers are called. Some make it; most don't. It's hard not to cry with the parents when the losers realize their futures were decided with a lottery.

Cool It (2010)

A "must see" for anyone interested in climate debate

[8/10 · 9 January 2012]

I saw this on cable, twice now. The first time it was on in the background while I was working and I found that I couldn't work; it was just too interesting. The second time I sought it out, set a reminder to ensure I didn't miss it, and set aside undisturbed time so I could pay attention and LEARN.

Unlike most modern documentaries, which contain barely disguised sarcasm (think Michael Moore) rather than factual discussion, or which lecture without informing (think Al Gore) this film is a combination of facts (with references) and lectures with a common sense approach rather than Al Gore's "I know more than you do" doctrinal catechism.

Starting with his own background and disfavor in the mainstream climate change community, the film agrees that climate change is a problem to address, but then moves through several climate change "remedies" which have been proposed, looks at the cost, and then uses the same amount of money to address the climate change issue as well as hunger, education and disease. Turn off the lights for an hour? It's a great feel good remedy but it doesn't do a thing to help the planet, and lighting a candle is actually worse. Buy a hybrid? It has almost no impact.

The gist of the global warming debate, we learn, is fear. And taking on Al Gore point by point we learn that our fear is misplaced. Hurricanes cause more severe damage nowadays, but there's more people living at the beach and more high rise buildings to be damaged too. Was New Orleans flooded because of a global warming induced Hurricane Katrina, or because a levee was poorly designed? Moving on to solutions, we learn about alternative energies, alternative strategies, and more, and finally the final cost for all these strategies is so low that other world issues like hunger and disease are easily paid for with the same investment that Al Gore would ram down our otherwise-frightened throats.

Before you pay a "carbon tax," and buy a Prius, see this movie. And don't be afraid anymore.