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Priscilla (2023)
When you're that good, rules don't apply.
Simplistic, episodic and hopelessly one-sided? Okay, that's fair. Anachronistic? Definitely. And yet, PRISCILLA works magnificently at the hands of director Sofia Coppola, who's more than proven to be more than another "Nepo baby," but rather, a creative genius in her own right.
Those who take issue with the points listed above have plenty of ammunition to make their arguments with, as the script essentially boils down to the tale of a doe-eyed innocent who learns the pitfalls of trying to share a pop icon (Indeed, the King of all pop icons) with the rest of the world.
If it weren't for the onscreen chemistry of Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi as the star-crossed couple, there's little doubt that this bittersweet memoir would fall flat, even with the sumptuous cinematography, production and costume design that make this bittersweet recollection so appealing. Spaeny is simply magical--who couldn't love her? On the other hand, Elordi managed to conjure up a believable and complex character from a script that reduces his role to a shallow and manipulative brut.
The rest of the cast are fine in their supporting roles, even if they often seem pop in and out of the action like props; this one good, this one bad, this one sweet, that one sour.
There two marvelous exceptions. Dagmar Dominczyk, breathes real life into the otherwise thankless role of Priscilla's mother. She's one to watch and I'll certainly be keeping an eye peeled for this actress in the future.
The other exception is that ensemble commonly referred to as the "Memphis Mafia." With no slight intended towards the individual actors involved, ultimate credit must go to Coppola for nailing this group of king's courtiers and the negative effect they would have had on any married couple.
A film crew photo follows the end credits and deservedly so, given the movie's sumptuous sheen. Love it or hate it, PRISCILLA is certainly easy on the eyes and ears.
The Oscars shut this film out, doubtless because it didn't trumpet a feminist statement, ala the inferior BARBIE, but this is yet another example of award shows that are conducted as popularity contests, ultimately resulting in a shiny bauble, valuable as a tin crown.
Office Killer (1997)
MISDIRECTION
Inexplicably, Molly Ringwald makes it through with her dignity intact. Otherwise, this is an embarrassingly unoriginal, aggressively unfunny waste of time and money. Problem one: Carol Kane brings nothing to this project; the first time I've ever seen that! Proof, yet again, that a woman director is just as capable as a man in delivering cinematic dreck!
Momma's Man (2008)
INDEPENDENT OF ENTERTAINMENT VALUE
A cinematic endurance test, tethered to a weakling character that nobody, mother included, would miss if he blundered into the bleak NYC winter night and never returned. Nice to see Richard Edson pop in; pity he had nothing to do.
Mare of Easttown (2021)
UPHILL CLIMB
The pilot proved itself to be pretty standard modern-day cop fare and moved frustratingly slow.
I came to see Kate and I'll not give up just yet, despite her recent, shameful denunciations of the work she did previously with Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
Never mind that one of the men is merely accused of something that has never been proven and that the other man's victim called for the case against him to be dropped years ago, how does Kate square the fact that their stories were well-known before she took the jobs in the first place?!
Judging by this pilot, Ms. Winslet's not gone off to discover greener pastures, career-wise.
It Chapter Two (2019)
ENDLESS AND AGONIZING
Blecch! Sitting through this CGI nightmare was tantamount to losing a long war through attrition. Chastain, Hader, McAvoy, et al. should be ashamed at what depths they'll stoop to for a big paycheck. Artists? Flesh-peddlers, more like. The repetitive jump scares and gross-outs make the film's final solution all that much sillier, and the best of the disgusting cinematic tricks were put to much better use two years ago in Darren Aronofsky's lowly attended but highly superior"Mother!"
The Smith Family: Another Day, Another Dollar (1971)
Can I get an Amen?
I was very young when I saw this episode, but as I remember it, Henry Jones played Fonda's longtime friend and colleague--turned dirty cop--who leaves the Smith house in the story's final moments and perishes, as the result of a bomb placed in his car. I also remember an "All In The Family" episode that ended similarly. Am I simply mixing the two up? Looking for someone with a better memory to clarify.
Town Without Pity (1961)
Discrepancy!
reviewer bkoganbing stated the following in an earlier review: "As another reviewer pointed out this was taking place while Germany was still an occupied country. Allied occupation of Germany didn't officially end until 1955 when our High Commissioner to Germany, James B. Conant, became our first ambassador to the German Federal Republic. After that these four would have taken their chances in a German criminal court." The narrator clearly states at the beginning of this picture that the occurrence happened in September of 1960, so I'm wondering why this case was, in fact, tried in a military court? Otherwise, this film, while eminently watchable, suffers from a tawdry, quick-reward based approach that keeps it from being the truly superior examination of social mores it campaigned to be.
The problem is simple: the incident (an alleged rape of a teen-aged German girl at the hands of four drunken American soldiers)and the trial that follows are peopled by stick-figured characters, with the exception of Major Garrett, played by Kirk Douglas in an Oscar-worthy performance.
The actors are fine and the film flits by before interest can falter or common sense questions start to nag, but once the curtain goes down, you'll soon realize you've been had.
Imagine this: you're very hungry, starving, even. The only food available is your favorite brand of chips or candy and you gorge, feeling better with each bite until you're stuffed.
Now fast-forward to an hour later; how much good did that stuffing actually do you?
Quincy M.E.: Guilty Until Proven Innocent (1983)
About Paul Andrews' comment....
regarding Paul Andrews' comment (above): Mr. Andrews presents a well-written case for his qualitative judgment of "Guilty till Proved Innoncent," and his points are well taken. However, there is one point not made that I believe must be made in order to fully review this episode and that is about the quality of actor Eugene Roche's work as St. Johns, the hyper-aggressive federal prosecutor who convenes the grand jury. Roche will be more than familiar to anyone who's logged more than 8 hours watching film and TV offerings from the 2nd half of the 20th century. Most famously, Roche played the ill-fated voice of hope, reason and protection in the film version of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five," in 1972. He's an actor well worth familiarizing yourself with and in this episode, his work is first-rate. One other point? Though it's true this episode has little to do with "Quincy," the thesis posited (that the Grand Jury system can be perverted into an Anti-American persecution chamber)is valid and terrifying.