tillzen Reviews

Columbo: Last Salute to the Commodore (1976) Season 5, Episode 6

A Fan of Columbo, This Was Their Poorest Episode

[2/10 · 25 October 2022]

"Columbo" is born of idiosyncrasy. In fact, the title character's brilliance is testament to how a gifted actor like Peter Falk can take fine scripts and wander through them in his peculiar style. These angles and quirks made the Show but as time went on, his peculiar stops and starts and idiosyncratic attempts at humor began to occasionally overwhelm the scripts and the mystery itself.

In "Last Salute to the Commodore" this is the case and it is so pronounced as to render the Episode plodding, leaden and too self-absorbed to survive Falk's schtick.

Certainly, scripts can be meaty or lean and an Actor of Falk's gifts can dance the audience past the clunkiest of Scores but more and more as Columbo moves towards the end of their 1st. Run in the 70's, even beloved fans like myself can see excess everywhere from Production Values to Improvisation by the Star and the more simple core brilliance of earlier seasons hidden in plain sight.

The Good the Bad the Weird (2008)

An Eastern Western Movie Loves Feast

[9/10 · 9 June 2020]

Fun aplenty but even more ....

If Western action thrills you'll enjoy "The Good, The Bad, The Wierd" a lot. If you lo also grew up on the American Western and love the movies, there is something even more here. Director Jee-won-Kim is certainly a technical master of action and of story but he also has created equal parts homage and love letter to the medium of film itself. There are simply too many references to all that we love in the movies to mention here , suffice to say "Thank you Sir" for pop art at its most eye and ear bathing best! What fun!

Making History (2017)

Comedic Lead

[2/10 · 1 May 2017]

The good news is that "Making History" has a premise and a lead (Leighton Meester) with promise. The bad news is that the comedic choices of the writing doom any chance the show has to resonate with any viewer unbaked. Adam Pally is GREAT everywhere BUT here and the material as written seems a major cause? In the pilot he offered goofy and endearing hope but ever since he seems lost within TERRIBLE writing? Each of the 3 story arcs so far have taken us to fascinating locales but with ZERO comedic payoff. Al Capone and Founding Fathers as comedic foils have proved to be comedic lead. These choices (like Hitler's spoon) suggest show runners with terrible (and addled) judgment. Wastes of talent and money as exemplified by "Making History" is proof positive that network television comedy is bereft of producers, writers and network executives with the chops required to deliver comedy above the bar of sub-mentality. And I'm an Adam Pally fan.

Sicario (2015)

A Great Looking Insulting Disposable Waste of Time

[3/10 · 13 March 2016]

Bad movies can be subdivided into the truly bad and those with heart, a world-view or something to say. "Sicario" sadly is merely bad. Though it certainly looks good with great locations, aerial shots and fine special effects, beneath its visual aesthetics, it is an empty vehicle. The story is the drug war on the US and Mexico border. It involves the interplay between local law enforcement, the Feds and other government entities. Though more details might also be spoilers, I have chosen to pass on illuminating more because the details matter little as the writer and director seemingly believe in nothing? This nihilism curses the film and makes every plot point, character and political statement vapid and disposable. From Mexico's corruption and America's drug use as enabler to this tragedy, everyone and everything are mere props used only to advance story and then willfully thrown away. The actors are skilled with Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin their usual quirky selves but Emily Blunt is used up as story vehicle / protagonist and like the rest of this film's caricatures; discarded once they are no longer of use. As one who loves bad film, there is a certain honor in an awful work where the creator failed but at least believed in something. Sicario was a bad film which frittered away a studio's money and the artistic abilities of actors and a film crew for nothing. The horrible real life tragedy that is the drug war and destruction of the once wonderful city of Juarez were treated as disposable shorthand for film maker's bereft of soul.

Admission (2013)

A Charming Underdog of a Film

[7/10 · 20 January 2014]

I was ill prepared for how charming and smart "Admission" was. After so many Paul Rudd "vehicles" one gets wary but Admission is a good film. The performances are uniformly good with Tina Fey a surprising dramatic foil. The plot varies from expected to unexpected and the choices the writer and director made were ultimately just unexpected enough to combine with the acting and make this film the little engine that could. Admission aspires to be smart and it succeeds. I am not a Tina Fey nor a Paul Rudd fan or even a fan of this genre but Admission kept making choices which were intelligent,clever and novel. It was refreshing to see a film whose reach exceeded its grasp. Admission surprised me consistently and isn't that a pleasure in an underwhelming and lowered-bar world.

Not Fade Away (2012)

Rave Off

[3/10 · 13 December 2013]

As a fan of Mr. Chase I ached for this work to take off but it never does. The film fails primarily upon the page.It says little about the character of those heady times that were the 1960's. This failure is no easy task as rock music, suburban angst and the decade itself remain fertile with enough substance to fill 100 movies let alone 1. Where Chase fails first is in using the 60's as mere fashionable short hand. A news flash or a film clip without worthy exposition turns tempest to teapot. That the 60's and its artifacts are presented as mere fetish objects devalues that currency. It purchases clothes, cars and music rights without story ever rising above being a disposable trifle. The art direction is terrific and while accurate, it never connects actors to actions and exposition to plot. Too often anecdotes and pithy quotes substitute for genuine emotion, motivation or character.

Luckily, the acting is fine. The best moments occur between James Gandolfini (the working class Dad) and John Magaro as his rock musician son.Their scenes crackled as no others did leaving the underwhelm pronounced. The female character's (clearly Mr. Chase's Achilles)are broadly drawn hysterical caricatures seemingly created mostly to advance the story of men. This was exemplified by Magaro professing to believing in a girlfriend whom we know nothing about. Equally inelegant were the fore-shadowed dramatic twists of staged fights, staged accidents and cancer as dramatic license. "Not Fade Away" was continuously so Hollywood soft that I found myself wishing that a Don Corleone type had read the script, met with David Chase and slapped his face yelling "Write like a man!"

Ultimately this film seems unable to decide if it is a John Sayles' time capsule told within simple salt of the earth fables or is instead a history lesson told in the sound bites and cliff notes of genuine deep thinkers.It never chooses and it ends as it began; an exercise in excess signifying little. What a waste of a green light and 20 million dollars.

Religulous (2008)

The Devil You Don't Know

[10 July 2012]

Bill Maher's feast of preference is low hanging fruit. This is who he is and what he does.By choosing here to expose faith and religion he defines both the pious and himself as ripe for the picking. He gorges upon 5000 years of fruitiness but the results are the usual Maher self- satisfied flatulence.

Maher wears pomposity well but seems to forget that a documentary in its' truest form tells its' story free from thesis. Sadly Mr. Maher as an intellectual coward and bully has zero need to let the chips fall where they may. Instead he dabbles in faith as he dabbles in documentary style and delivers insights profound only unto the muddled mind of Bill Maher.I came away from this film wondering if Mr. Maher has any world-view beyond intellectual and spiritual dumpster-diving for cash?

As an agnostic, I ache for more insight and reach from our artists and in this film Bill Maher phones in a film, leaving the planet no richer than he found it. I have little love for those of faith except when compared to a bi-polar hedonist / nihilist who spent 101 minutes showing us the sodden melon of a mind and spirit in mid-rot.

8 Million Ways to Die (1986)

One of the Few Good 80's American Films

[7/10 · 18 January 2009]

Though far from perfect, this film has enough little gems, to save it. The acting overcomes everything else, and a scene outside of the LA Coliseum between Jeff Bridges and a young Andy Garcia still makes me smile. Compare and contrast this film to "To Live and Die in LA" and you will see why we think Hal Ashby is our generations Howard Hawks. Of course Hawks was greater, but these days, so little stacks up with anything classic, that we can be forgiven for elevating our few originals like Ashby. Jeff Bridges is a movie star, and here he uses his gifts to pull this film from the 80's swamp. If I'm wrong about this film I apologize, but this is in my collection of 23 DVD's for a reason. From the architect "Gaudi" to truly GREAT henchmen, "8 Million ways To Die" is a VERY lovable flawed gem. In my other reviews, I would guarantee my taste. Here I am too much in love with this film to be a good jury member. I like this film, shame on me!

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

An Artifact As To Why The 80's Were AWFUL

[3/10 · 18 January 2009]

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Only sober, can we return to the films of our youth, and see what was what. "To Live and Die in LA" is clearly awful, but at the time, we somehow missed how clunky, and terribly written it was. So many good actors are in it, and Billy Friedkin had a rep, but now this film looks more dated than a bad silent film. The faux style, and hyper-thin cast, speaks of that decade where sex, drugs, and rock and roll died. It is no wonder that Michael Mann sued, as the film has that "Manhunter" / "Miami Vice" high-art sweaty sheen to it, when we were too slick (or too high) to know we were lame. The dialog is laughable, but so too are the actors leaping, shooting, and doing stunts that seem as everyone might have been addled. Trust me, this is a terrible film, and the one great scene should be fast forwarded to, as you will wince at how ham-handed EVERY part of this work is. As I read the positive reviews here, I am reminded why the Internet is popular. Without taste or an aesthetic criteria, everybody has their say. I would argue that if you are not shocked by how horrible this film is, that you should not be trusted to review anything beyond fast-food. As a testament to the worst decade in art within my 50 years, "To Live and Die in LA" is wonderfly AWFUL. It will remind you of a great Louden Wainwright lyric "The good old days are dead and gone ... it's why their good / It's cuz their gone!"

Kike Like Me (2007 TV Movie)

Where Documentaries Go Awful

[1/10 · 22 December 2008]

Once upon a time, Documentarians like Wiseman let the story organically tell itself. Then along came Michael Moore, and documentaries changed. The Director's began to cheat, and to steer the story. They inserted themselves into the mix, and the films became about them This is what Jamie Kastner has done in "Kike Like Me". His first glaring deficit is that he is not self-aware enough to know how un-funny he most often is. He preens, and poses as if everything he thinks or says is pure gold. Instead, he is rarely funny, and he throws away great opportunities because it is ALL about HIM. Perhaps it is generational, as his preciousness is to me off-putting. It certainly is not his politics, which are as shiftless, as his plans. He seems to just film like a Moth, turning his camera and his aren't I AMAZING personae upon the brightest light in view. Documentary is inherently powerful, but Kastner keeps jazzing it up with insights, and focus that is ham-handed. THIS is a heady, and painful topic for Jews, and the Director's tap-dancing, and patter are insulting. When at Auschwitz after failing at his first 3 attempts at irony, I simply could not watch any longer. The analogy I would give is making an ironic black comedy about "crib-death" and expect it to be cute to those who have lost a child. This is a big bad world, filled with hatred that killed 6 million Jews. Amateurs in both film-making and black comedy had best pick the lightest topic around, as it fits their style. In "Kike Like Me" Jamie Kastner has brought a pickle to knife-fight, and the result is not only insulting to Jews, but it insults thinking. This was a waste of film, and ultimately a waste to a topic that demands deeper thinkers than this dopey un-funny clown.

When Stand Up Stood Out (2006)

There Is No "There" There

[3/10 · 9 December 2008]

As someone who WAS there, this film is merely a compilation of old video, brief talking heads, and the pure chance of a reunion concert. Something DID happen in Boston at this time, but the director missed it by a mile. Instead he built a film around the footage he had, instead of doing the real work of a documentary. The focus on Lenny Clarke exemplifies this laziness. There was the most old footage of Lenny, so Lenny gets a lot of play here, that should have gone to others with far more talent and impact. The women get short-changed, as do the Emersonians. Before there were comedy clubs, there was improv, and except for Denis and Steven Wright, none of these drunken hacks could have created anything but the testament to chemical courage this film documents. The director missed the chance to illuminate the perfect storm that was Boston in those years. Instead he wallows in nostalgia instead of linking how those years rewrote comedy AND punk music, just as Greenwich Village did in the 1960's. Perhaps someday a filmmaker will correctly connect the dots, and link Boston '75 to '85 with the earth shaking cultural changes that we not only witnessed, but managed to live through!

Shooter (I) (2007)

Huge Waste of Time and Money

[1/10 · 7 December 2008]

It takes some doing, to turn a GREAT book into such a terrible movie. I challenge ANYONE to read Stephen Hunter's series, and to then see this awful film. The flaws range from a script that is WAY too busy and riddled with holes. The secret to Hunter's books, is that he keeps everything relatively simple, and makes the inner turmoil of Bob Lee Swagger the "rub". Instead, Mark Wahlberg is so miscast, and the more they give him to do, the flatter he falls. It is not his fault that he is nothing more than an average actor, but it is the fault of producers and directors to let him fail this wildly. These are the types of movies that make me have to write; thanks to these enormous wastes of money and of time. So much talent in Danny Glover, Ned Beatty, and Antwon Fuqua simply frittered away for nothing! The writer is to blame, and Lorenzo Bonaventura as Producer should be ashamed of himself, for throwing someone's money into the toilet. I love action-adventure, and these books, but this rivals "Conspiracy Theory" and "The Last Action Hero" for pure Hollywood bloat. Levon Helm's 4 minutes are the ONLY redeeming quality here. Truly AWFUL film!

The Big Fix (1978)

What 60's / 70's Druggy Hooey!

[3/10 · 7 November 2008]

I saw this film when I was 18, and at 51 I realize what a dope I was. This is sloppy 70's film-making at its WORST. Dreyfus is (like the entire film) using cutesy shorthand in lieu of acting. One need only look at the constant continuity errors to realize that everybody must have been either high, or thought making a quality film was too bourgeois. I "got" the 60's. I was a teen in the 70's, and "The Big Fix" is typical of the hipster coding that allowed the excesses that typified Richard Dreyfus "the drug years". What was well written wisenheimer dialog in "Jaws" and "The Good-Bye Girl" is here reduced to winging it, and the wires of laziness clearly show the puppet to be merely in motion; mimicking performance. What a silly, and disingenuous waste of time this film still is!

You're Gonna Miss Me (2005)

If You Like Documentaries By Wiseman!

[9/10 · 9 June 2008]

Where to begin ... Take a broken family with mental problems (self-medication), add a minor rock star, and Austin (weird) Texas Ta da! "Roky" Erickson is one of those 1960's legends who did not have the good fortune to die young, and leave a good looking corpse. Luckily walking corpses abound here from his mother (think outsider artist w. a screw loose), a brother who seems to have escaped the madness, only to regress frame by frame, and then with Roky himself who is a poster child for drugs in moderation. I gave this DVD 9 out of 10 because the EXTRA footage is the key. This is intense sad stuff, but as you see the footage from the 2 years AFTER this film was completed, a lot more questions, and answers emerge. This is NOT easy stuff, but in the end, I was profoundly moved by this work, and have yet to recover.

The Kingdom (2007)

Muddled Awful Waste O' Time

[4/10 · 9 June 2008]

Yet another movie full of explosions, mayhem, and a script that thinks it is saying something deep. Peter Berg is a fine director but here he seemed overwhelmed by the scope of this film. The story was so muddled they must have done focus groups, then added flashbacks in case we thought all Arabs looked alike. Both Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman's characters were pure cliché with the woman FBI agent too emotional and the Jewish FBI agent too nervous / funny. Redeeming them later is not screen craft, but speaks about a script lost at sea. I know why they made this (political correctness run amok!), but what a waste of time (ours) and money (theirs). Save your 2 hours, and instead rent "Children of Men". At least there, the politics and the mayhem had a bigger point.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

What Documentaries SHOULD Be!

[9/10 · 9 June 2008]

I've never played a video game, but I totally GOT this film. Often comedy films attempt to shows geeks, nerds, and outsiders, but here you will see them in their actual environment. Funny, pathetic, and hopeless, though wildly entertaining! I only wish I could follow up on these characters, as this story is clearly not over. EVERY obsessive father should see this, as well as anyone who thinks of themselves as "geek chic". Special props should be to the filmmakers for their editing and camera work.Heroes become villains, and the films largest moments are subtle. When you hear of reality TV folks complaining of how the editing made them look, you will reminded of how naked obsessed people become when exposed to daylight. Hurrah!

I Like Killing Flies (2004)

A Bully Brings Nothing to the Table

[8/10 · 12 March 2008]

Growing up in NYC one meets a lot of Kenny's.Burnt out damaged toxic bullies who could only exist here or in Paris, where idiots put up with their crap."Shopsins" was a potheads' idea of heaven as the food was huge if often uneven. Seeing the pigsty of a kitchen in this film I have no doubt cannabis or a head injury were somehow involved. Kenny's philosophy is equally messy as his self-hatred and meanness to his family are just plain awful. The film is GREAT but only as a car accident one can not take their eyes off of. Watching it I was reminded of reason 127 why I prefer my West Texas home to NYC ... nobody here is like Kenny! Nobody here would put up with such misanthropic sub-humanism in exchange for a meal. A bully with nothing to bring to the table though on film you can meet him without having to smell him.

The Jackal (1997)

Shame On ALL Involved!

[1/10 · 16 January 2008]

It is hard to screw up this story. GREAT book / GOOD Film version from Fred Zinneman, yet this film is AWFUL! First the casting was terrible. Richard Gere should of played the Jackal himself as Edward Fox was a similar type of cypher and they didn't need to mess with the original script by adding so much worthless (expensive) fluff. This film reminded me of so many Bruce Willis films, as you see huge expense with NOTHING cinematic to show for it. (It is his "Conspiracy Theory") It takes some real doing to make a film this bad from such a fine original script. EVERY person from Michael Caton Jones down should be banned from making films for 10 years; such is the insult this film is to real filmmakers. Were Hollywood to go on trial for having no idea what they were doing, this film would be Exhibit A. Shame on you ALL!

The Underground Comedy Movie (1999)

Worst Film EVER (By A Mile)

[1/10 · 8 November 2007]

I'm into bad movies but this has NOTHING going for it. Despite what the morons above have said, it is NOT funny. I know comedy AND underground movies but this is so boring that the Director / Writer should be prohibited from EVER directing anything but local cable access EVER again! To love movies and comedy is to despise this film. I may never get over how unfunny and boring this work was. If you like this movie you ARE a pothead as sober there is NOTHING here. ZERO! If you need to compare underground movies, see "Kentucky Fried Movie" or early John Waters. The movie starts by defining satire and I defy anyone to show me the satire. The rule for comedy is THIS ... If it's FUNNY you can say or do ANYTHING but if it's NOT funny you are not satirical, you are not edgy, you are merely pathetic and this movie is simply not funny. ZERO!