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Reviews
The Mandalorian: Chapter 4: Sanctuary (2019)
Standard western series episode
Seen variations of this episode hundreds of times in TV western series from the 50s and 60s. Not on a par with episodes 1-3, especially 3. Serves as a reminder that this isn't an episodic movie but an old-fashioned TV series.
One comment on something that has bugged me since the first appearance of imperial walkers in The Empire Strikes Back. Who really thinks these are effective weapons of war? They are terrain-limited, slow-moving, and extremely vulnerable in their gangly legs and underbellies. I wouldn't want to be a soldier in the AT-AT/AT-ST service.
ps. To all the reviewers bashing the director: It's the writers you should be dissing. The direction was reasonably competent, but you have to work with the material they give you, and it was mediocre.
Robin Hood (1922)
Overlong, overacted, not Fairbanks's finest hour
Douglas Fairbanks's Robin Hood starts with more than an hour of backstory, ponderously paced with heroes and villains alike hulking around in chain mail declaiming in mime that is way over the top. Sets and costumes are ludicrous (people would freeze to death in the main castle's great hall, which looks like it takes up a couple of sound stages and is virtually empty). Lady Marian trails looooong veils and trains, which it's a wonder she doesn't trip over. Wallace Beery is horribly miscast as King Richard; the actor playing Prince John, Sam de Grasse, is actually pretty good, though he too indulges in occasional broad mime. Douglas Fairbanks transforms from a galumphing knight who's afraid of women to a jumping bean when he removes the chain mail and becomes Robin Hood. The Robin Hood parts of the movie are few and far between; we get barely a nodding acquaintance with the usual cronies--Little John, Friar Tuck et al. Favorite absurdity: Robin Hood bouncing around, climbing down a castle wall holding a bag of gold between his teeth. Must be great teeth. There've been a lot of better Robin Hoods since this flatfooted film (Errol Flynn and Richard Greene to name my two reference points). Of minor historical interest only.
Star Trek: Voyager: Favorite Son (1997)
Silly; an example of Star Trek at its worst
Every male's dream (a harem of beautiful and willing females), every male's nightmare (it's a VERY short happy life).
And this one has plot holes you could fly a starship through.
Nor does it advance any story lines or reveal anything interesting about any recurring characters. This is filler through and through.
I really have nothing more to say, but I have to get to 10 lines; the episode doesn't have anything to get your teeth into.
Nothing to analyze.
It's not horrible; it's just plain silly.
And frankly, though I'm not a connoisseur of female beauty from the male perspective, the females in this episode don't look that appealing.
Wuthering Heights (2009)
Blechh
I have yet to see an adaptation of Wuthering Heights that portrays Heathcliff as the nasty piece of work that he is. He is NOT a romantic hero, not even the Byronic type. And I have yet to see an adaptation that doesn't idiotically compress or ignore the second HALF of the novel, proving that the adapters either DON'T GET IT or are blatantly playing to commercial interests (you'd know for sure H isn't a romantic hero if you saw him abusing women and children, as he does in the second half of the novel). This particular adaptation is worse than most; among other transgressions, it includes a quite illogical sex scene (likely for commercial interests), illogical because part (and ONLY part) of the tension is about sexual frustration; if you've been making out in the heather, you're not frustrated. I always hope when it's a miniseries that at last we'll get a version that does full justice to the novel. Not this time, alas.
Star Trek (2009)
We got the daredevil, but where's the explorer?
I enjoyed the movie, dubious black holes, plot holes, and all. But... It was a bit relentless about checking off the to-do list of references (in jokes, mostly) and quotations. Most of the variations in character competencies, motivations, and relationships were justified and interesting for future reference.
But even allowing for the requirements of the plot, this Kirk is pretty much a stock action hero with no hint of the curiosity that made him interesting in his previous incarnation (and was a far more sympathetic reason than common bar brawls for him to get into trouble).
And I haven't seen such improbable promotions since the Rebel Alliance made Han Solo a general in Return of the Jedi.