ociopia Reviews

Arrival (II) (2016)

Circular and loving charm

[10/10 · 11 March 2024]

I'm not familiar with the source material for Arrival so this is based on my interpretation of the film.

Arrival is a poem. It is like listening to "Like A Rolling Stone" by Dylan and thinking that you might know the story the song tells but you will never be sure. In fact, Dylan might not actually know.

In this sense, I think Arrival is a haunting story of love and loss, of faith in life and continued hope, all wrapped up in a fabulous fairy tale of aliens from outer space coming to Earth to help mankind. And it is a wonderful story and I loved the aliens. I think many people think octopi are sentient and these many legged giant beings seem like that to some degree.

Many reviews will tell you the story in depth so I won't. But behind that story is Amy Adams, a linguist who has lost her daughter to a tragic disease and is bereft, barely living. The whole movie is done mostly in shades of blue and I think that is to match her melancholy.

When Amy interacts with the aliens, she starts to have dreams and then conscious flashes of her daughter. We start to feel the touch, the loving and light but deep and compassionate touch the aliens have within Amy to help bring her back to life.

All of this is somehow based on the aliens' non-linear sense of time. Now I don't think I can even begin to grasp that concept, but they are able to slowly impart to her the gift of recognizing how important her love, her living and present love, for her daughter is. It is not a thing of the past. It is alive. And they do this by showing her how time can be rearranged with the past being the future. As if to ask "Why let the last memory be the first memory and not all the memories just be."

Agatha Christie's Hjerson (2021– )

Original, quirky and great

[10/10 · 26 January 2024]

Incredibly odd people are attracted to incredibly odd people. On one level, this show is a celebration of that. The main characters are so fresh, peculiar, lovable, awful, bent, manipulative and innocent. What a combination of traits.

I honestly don't want to say too much. Yes, it is a detective type of show but that is just a big bag of bones to hang a wonderful bit of our humanity on.

It is nearly impossible to create original characters, yet this show actually has done it.

Klara is just a peppy, darling little bundle of no inhibitions combined with burning ambition and a rather vague moral compass.

Sven is so twisted up his own you know what he can barely walk and yet you love him. Pretentious beyond belief, bored and condescending but he has a tiny little heart beating somewhere inside his brilliance. Secrets, very Scandinavian secrets, are underneath him and the earth will become less secure.

Klara's husband is just flat nuts in such an odd way. I love that they have this running power struggle contest that really gets so over the top. She is so selfish that intially you can't blame him but then, well, wow. It's kind of true of marriage, the endless power struggles. This series manages to make that tension very amusing.

Oh, and the casting. OMG I just love to look at Oscar. Who in the world could believe this is Tadeus from Death in Venice some fifty plus years later? Anyway, he is magnificent as, I don't know, some sort of mythic wood or lake spirit, I suppose.

The juxtaposition of the countryside and old hotel in Aland and the rest of the show somehow gives the show a gravity just when it starts to be too silly. Perfect.

Unknown: Cave of Bones (2023)

Really interesting

[9/10 · 18 January 2024]

This is a fascinating documentary. The discovery of the burial chamber and the wealth of bones of a spcies of homo from 280,000 years ago, just fabulous. I liked this. I loved seeing the bones put out together to get an idea of what they looked like, and then a model. And the animated drawings were wonderful

However I felt their conclusion that these ancients had an idea of afterlife to be so self-fulfilling as to be ridiculous. Spurious. Nonsense.

Why can't those ancients have cared deeply for these dead beings/comrades because they loved them and therefore wanted to protect their bodies and bones from being despoiled by animals? Isn't that enough?

Monsieur Spade (2024)

When is Spade going to wake up and do something?

[6/10 · 16 January 2024]

I've watched the first episode. I want to love this. But the only way this works for me is if I put Humprhey Bogart's voice over Clive Owen's every time he speaks. Bogart was world weary and beaten in a lot of ways, cynical and worn. But there was some indefinable spark and a nuance in his delivery that let you know he was alive, ticking, mind running full tilt and very clever plus he was quite funny, and nobody was really going to get the better of him. I just don't feel any of this from Clive. They wrote this show with Bogart dialogue but Owen doesn't have that type of delivery. I'll try episode 2. Now that the big kill has happened, maybe a fire will be lit within Owen.

UPDATE: Episode 2 now under my belt. Much much better. Maybe it will take time for the series to get its rhythm. I enjoyed this episode. I thought Owen was good and I'm beginning to have a little faith. I think the local French policeman is my favorite character. He has the best lines and delivery. I find the woman who owns the cafe/bar to be boring and her husband much the same. But something is going to happen there. I look forward to 3.

UPDATE: Thru eppisode 4. Ugh. Theresa acts like a 35 year old tired tart. That makes no sense at all. She was pretty darn young when she entered that nunnery. Why is she acting like she's been on the street?

The thing that disturbs me is how hard it is to follow. Thru episode 4, I get that we are emeshed in the after effects of not just WWII but also the French/Algeria war, of which I know nothing but I'm pleased to try to learn. And this maybe Mahdi kid? This feels so contrived. In fact, so much feels contrived. I think Owen has gotten the swing of it and is doing well. After all, he didn't write the pretty silly dialogue they are making him say.

But the father of the husband of his pretty bar-owning partner - who cares? And her part, omg. Poor actress. I did like that many townspeople shoot the Nazi member and husband of whoevver Spade was married to that is now dead. Okay. We get it. The French suffered terribly through all the world wars and Algeria and they do not play.

Could this be any more confusing? The "monk" killer - an unknown. Jean Pierre if that is his name. Who cares. The husband of whoever she is. Who cares. And the American priest who is? Really?

I am invested in Spade and the french policeman. Oh, I kind of like the maybe CIA agents who are pretending to be mother and son. What a huge mess this is. A slow, ponderous, confusing mess. Maybe they should have done a tv movie as 2 hours might be all this script could support and be bearable.

Reacher (2022– )

The kind of show everyone loves

[9/10 · 23 December 2023]

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but I love Reacher. Normally this type of ultra violent show has to be able to hang its hat on a wonderful performance and actually there isn't one. None of the ensemble cast is really fabulous though they are good. But I don't particularly like Reacher, he's wooden to say the least. Mono dimensional. I like Neeley but she's pretty mono too. I don't even know the name of the money cruncher chick but I don't find her anything but hard. David is fun, light, lively so he adds a little energy which is what this show really lacks in its characters - life. Reacher is dead, Neeley is dead, Karia is dead.

That all sounds super damning. But maybe because I have read at least 5 of the Reacher novels, though years ago, and really loved them - they are the perfect book to read on an airplane. Or maybe because I watched the first season and Roscoe and Oscar were both actually real people, somehow I can just overlook how strange the second season cast is and pretend its Mission Impossible headed by the Incredible Bulk.

Anyway, I binged the first season and I'm binging the second. The music is great and Psycho Killers at the end of episode 4 just jammed it home, right? They are all psycho killers dressed up in some vainglorious honor nonsense. I like the plots, they are captivating. The pace is very fast. But I have to admit, I can't honestly say why I just really like it except that perhaps - perhaps - perhaps it resonates with my dark side?

Deadloch (2023– )

Suspend disbelief and go for it

[10/10 · 10 December 2023]

Crazy, funny, dark, quirky and altogether surprising is how I'd sum up Deadloch. If you kind of hybridized Twin Peaks with True Detective and then smushed in the Coen Brothers with a smidge of Good Witch, you'd have the "feel" of this over-the-top show from down under somewhere.

The cast is fabulous with an incredible performance by Madeleine Sami as Eddie, the detective from out of town, or maybe from outer space? OMG I don't even know how she pulls this off.

I also love Kate Box as Dulcie, the only really sane person and Allicia Gardiner as her partner Cath who is such a sweetly smoothering bubblehead. Oh, Nina Oyama as Abby, an overzealous and insecure newish police officer is brilliant. Have I said most everyone in this town is a dumb as a box of rocks?

I really don't want to tell too much. It's a murder mystery in a small waterside town. Just watch it.

The Great British Baking Show (2010– )

Love this sweet show

[8/10 · 7 December 2023]

I've watched all the seasons. Over each season I just fall in love with a number of the contestants. I've seen so many truly talented amateur bakers. And the emotional roller coaster each is on, I don't know how they do it. I just think they are so brave and have a great sense of humor. Wonderful time models, actually. However I'm absolutely sick of the sexual innuendo the presenters constantly go on with. It isn't even clever. I don't get why they are doing it and I just think it's super lazy writing. Get better writers for them with good dialogue. I also am not fond of Allison's constant screaming. I'm sorry to say the contestants are the only stars except Noel.

Death in Venice (1971)

Haunted with longing and beauty, life unrealized

[10/10 · 21 September 2023]

One of my favorite movies, Death in Venice explores a life lead for a purpose that is not fulfilling, yet the main character remains unconscious to this until the end.

Bear with me if I say that this movie and novel are an extension of the theme of 3 wonderful novels, The Magus, Steppenwolf and Zorba the Greek. Those novels explore younger men, all intellectuals, who live in their heads and cannot connect to their emotional self. In each, a mysterious figure intervenes and literally shakes up their world so dramatically they realize they are only half living, meaning they are half dead. Each is redeemed.

Death in Venice takes the dilemma of those 3 men and ages it without intervention. We see the protagonist, a successful composer, having a breakdown. Perhaps it is partially his physical health but more than that, he has become increasingly melancholy. He is only an observer, detached and slowly drowning in misery.

On advice he takes leave for his health and goes alone to Venice to a grand seaside hotel, teeming with life vividly portrayed by noisy chaotic running children, vital and energized. They are his opposites. And as Venice descends into an epidemic of cholera, he descends into an unconscious projection of his dead, youthful self and totally succumbs to a slowly, but ever growing obsession with a magnificent young boy/man.

While the temptation is to homoeroticize this obsession, I think it is probably closer to the truth that this beautiful being is the reflection of his dead young soul that he so desperately wishes to connect with yet cannot.

The beauty of the boy enchants the viewer in contrast to our pathos for the composer, who slowly wilts away. We can metaphorically see the petals of his self wither, droop and bear down toward the earth, which calls him from his unlived life.

Complex, subtle, with a haunting score of longing by Mahler, there is no more beautiful movie.

Dark Winds (2022– )

Exceptionally well done

[10/10 · 22 August 2023]

I've been a fan of Tony Hillerman novels for ages and loved the other TV adaptations of his work. When I saw Dark Winds, I couldn't wait to watch. I was surprised, initially, at how differently Chee in particular was portrayed. And Leaphorn is a bit different too. But I thought, "who cares, at least they are adapting these great books."

Wow. Talk about someone taking something good and making it even better. Before watching the first episode I saw George R. R. Martin, Anne Hillerman and Robert Redford as Executive Producers. That really encouraged me. I didn't recognize Zahn McClarnon's name, but he not only produced but plays Leaphorn. He also starred in Longmire, but I did not recognize him.

America has an odd abstract relationship with the American Indian. On the one hand, we think of them as poor and living on barren reservations at the bottom of the social hierarchy but on the other we think of them as heroic. We admire their internal knowing, undefeatable culture, implacable determination, stoicism, relationship to nature and we've elevated them to almost beyond human abilities in hunting, tracking, running all day endurance, reading the forest, riding bareback across the plains. It is quite fascinating. To realize the depth of this, think of what we call their warriors - braves.

In season 2, some genius decided to capitalize on this mythology by juxtaposing Leaphorn, the inscrutable essence of stubborn self-determination against a villain with abilities akin to mythic, like an evil demigod , nearly impossible to best. All I can say is WOW.

Leaphorn as played by McClaron is quite a small, wiry man with a pugnacious, prideful jaw. He's an internal person, insightful, doesn't tolerate fools but underneath is kind and loyal. The "blonde man" he is pitted against, played by Nicholas Logan, is unsettlingly spooky-looking with red rimmed pale blue eyes and such a shocking intensity of expression. He's really scary. What perfect foils.

Watch Dark Winds. It's fabulous.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Really?

[6/10 · 29 January 2023]

I loved the first movie because it was visually spellbinding, creative, joyful, filled with wonder and magic. I did not like the character of the menacing jerk who was so ridiculously one dimensional. I felt it cheapened the movie. But overall I loved it.

If you take everything that was wonderful about the first Avatar and quarter it and take everything that was awful and quadruple it, I so regret to say you end up with The Way of Water.

It is beyond me why the second movie had to be a repeat of the first in plot. Couldn't Cameron think of any other drama? Maybe a natural disaster hits Pandora or something?

Once again, a movie I felt could be great instead s geared towards 14 year old boys.

Magpie Murders (2022– )

Observations so far thru Episode 4

[10/10 · 7 November 2022]

Today I finally realized why Magnus Pym seems so familiar. Horowitz has lifted from a John LeCarre novel, The Perfect Spy. So more things within things. Clever twists and turns. In Episode 2, at one point I thought, "Wait, what the heck is going on?" Then I realized we were starting to blend Alan's novel with Alan's life. Oh my gosh, it is just so darn clever. So well done. Lesley Manville is perfect as the incredibly brittle, wounded and smart editor. She's really the only character in the "present" I'm compelled by. In the past, Tim McMullan is wonderful. I'm definitely hooked. Question: Are we going to see Lesley Manville play a character in Magnus Pym's life?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Alloyed (2022) Season 1, Episode 8

Redemption

[9/10 · 17 October 2022]

Episode 8 redeems episodes 1 through 5 and elevates the series. Peter Jackson's movies never addressed Sauron's charming ability to ensnare others to his ways, yet alone his belief that his motives were noble. When I read the introduction to the Silmarillion, Tolkien spoke at length of this self-deception and of the fall, always the fall, of good into evil.

I thought the scenes between Galadriel and Sauron were brilliantly written and acted. I now believe next season will be wonderful. How fun was it to see how and why the rings were forged? Delightful. The rest of the episode pleased me too. I think we have the emergence of Gandalf. I've either adjusted or accepted the Harfoots and I'm looking forward to Nori's adventures. When the stranger said a journey is for one but an adventure was more than one, I loved that. The dialogue was fantastic. I think they have hit their stride and I look forward to next year.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022– )

Where is the magic, either literally or metaphorically? Hold out for Episode 6 - there is hope.

[7/10 · 24 September 2022]

*** Update below:

God knows I want to love it. Isuldur - just the name and the fact he is Aragorn's ancestor inspired me to start reading the whole thing again. But I'm so hard pressed to like it. Where is the charm? Where is the deep heartfelt caring of the peoples? I try and try and try to like Galadriel. But I've only liked her once - when she rode a horse and was filled with joy. Why can't she smile? Why so dour? My god, she is so central, and she is just so unlikable. I don't like the queen. Maybe that's okay. I really like Haldbrand and Durin. I just keep thinking of Durin's Bane. He is very good. I want to like the captured elf Arondir who is way too one dimensional but truly, Adar has more charisma. Why doesn't any character have any charisma except Haldbrand and Elrond? Now the stranger that is probably the Maia Sauron has charisma. So is it casting? Did Peter Jackson just have a genius for casting? Who didn't I like in the movies? I get that elves are odd, immortal, don't sleep, serious and joyful together. But who didn't adore Legolas? Maybe we aren't seeing enough special things? Why can't Arondir do anything very elflike? Galadriel can swim forever but that's about it. Almost everyone in LOTR was wonderful and fun and quite fascinating.! Didn't matter if they were weak or strong or good or evil, they were wonderful. Come on, the Marvel Universe is better cast than this. OMG heartbreaking. Just tears me up in both meanings of the word. Oh, I like Elrond. Because he is so prominent in LOTR, it is fascinating to watch him in this. It should be fascinating to watch Galadriel. Really makes me love the way Cate Blanchet played her.

Is it because the pre-Hobbits aren't very kind and charming? There is such inspiration and love felt for Frodo and Sam. I like Nori but where is that really deep goodness? Frodo and Sam's goodness and innocence is just a lynchpin to set tone. It is sorely missed. Where is the deep well of something indescribable in them?

The sets are fantastic. The visuals wonderful. I love Numenor.

The story has always been secondary to the characters and the characters are the cast. Obviously, this is about good vs evil, and strength found, all sorts of things about character.

And I also hate the soap opera quality of switching to different groups each show. I really hate that. It is just soap opera level. Now and then, sure, but I feel like there's someone saying, "Okay, now we must check on Nori and the stranger, okay then shift to Galadriel and the queen, okay now Elrond and Durin, over to Arondir and the orcs. Did we miss any group?" Ugh. Where is the magic both literally and metaphorically? Can I carry on?

*** Update after Episode 6. I loved Episode 6. I even shed a tear of joy and excitement. It does all start to come together. Gladadriel is wonderful. Halbrand reaches his stature. Isuldur begins. (No dwarves, halflings or unnecessary diversions - no soap opera.) Now if this is how the last 4 Episodes play out, I will be a fan. A very big fan. At Last!

Outer Range (2022– )

Bring what you've got and dive in

[9/10 · 16 June 2022]

I've watched 2 episodes. It reminds me a bit, in its mood and tone, of Brokeback Mountain, the eternal suffering of the lonely and isolated and Wyoming on a ranch is as good a metaphor as any. I love that so little is revealed. The first episode it wasn't until it was over that I thought to myself, why on earth is everyone acting as though they are dead or dying? And I'm just accepting it?

When the first episode opened with the Chronos mythology and Royal without a shirt, I knew this show was symbolic and not at all about reality. Imogen is wonderful as whatever she is but it isn't really quite human. She holds her eyes open too long, everything about her seems like someone being a human for the first time.

The brothers are great at being silent and tortured. Seriously, this could just as easily be a war movie, right? And when Royal put his arm into the swirling pit of time (?) I loved his bravery. What would you do if you found that hole on your land when more than anything you didn't want change, at all, ever.

This is a show that invites you, compels you, to imagine and fill in all the questions with whatever you've got.

Annika (2021– )

Expect something a bit different and you won't be disappointed

[9/10 · 3 May 2022]

The writer allows us into the mind of Detective Annika, who is quirky, sarcastic, a bit of a loose cannon as well as educated and referentially minded. Each episode is introduced through a sliver of a story she tells. Its what's on her lively if not straightforward mind. First episode its Moby Dick. Second its the Valkyries. Third its Ibsen. Right here, huge numbers of people have turned off the TV. How could Masterpiece be so brave? Not only is mythology and literature used as a guidepost, Annika breaks the wall and talks to the audience.

But not really. While ostensibly she is talking to us, it is really the audience being allowed into her internal dialogue. Its challenging and refreshing. We are asked to think, even interpret. Her outward dialogue with the other characters is also challenging as much of their spoken interactions border on abstract. Lots is left unspoken. She is quite flawed but quite self-aware and it's a winning combination.

The plots are great but quite secondary. Its Annika and her interaction with her inner self as well as the other characters that makes this little ticking bomb blow up the usual conventions.

Murder in Provence (2022– )

Almost but not quite

[7/10 · 5 March 2022]

This kind of British cozy is right up my alley and of course both leads are part of the repertoire. She for Father Brown and he for Endeavor. I have watched episode 1 and I feel they haven't quite got the rhythm. It's good but kind of like a Bentley with a flat tire. Are they aiming for The Thin Man? The dialogue is snappy, witty repartee but neither seem like its something they would really say, especially him. She is reprising her role from Father Brown, oh so bored and sophisticated, but it runs very wide of the mark. He's better but I find I can't believe he's from an ultra-rich Parisian family. Nevertheless, I kind of like it and I hope they settle in. I love the settings, her clothes are such fun and it has promise.

Don't Look Up (2021)

Where's Terry Gilliam when you need him?

[5/10 · 28 December 2021]

President Meryl Streep is a sort of Trumpian trollop. The leading scientist, DeCaprio, is riddled with panic attacks. Lawrence is whip smart but socially inappropriate. Chief-of-Staff Hill is a smarty pants jerk off. The competent people are no longer relevant, the relevant people are no longer competent and sound bite mentality rules.

Everyone is cast as not able to do what needs to be done. And what needs to be done? Well to save the planet from a comet, of course. But society is too focused on media, be it hip hop romance or tv metrics, numbers being up or down, everything is askew and skewed toward absurdity.

On the surface, this societal satire seems sure fire. How smart, how current, whoopie. But there is only one problem. It isn't funny. The current situation in the world and the United States is not funny and this movie makes that incredibly apparent. Is the aim to make us laugh or make us think? I have a hunch they hoped to do both and succeeded at neither.

Being the Ricardos (2021)

So some alien pretended to be Kidman in order to get the role

[3/10 · 21 December 2021]

Because that person on the screen is not Nicole Kidman. If it is, it is incredibly distracting to just stare at her, ignoring all the dialogue, because the very cute person playing Lucille Ball couldn't possibly be any actress I've ever seen before. Come on. That is no way to cast a movie. Aside from all the screaming. Unbearable. Ok. Great smokey voice. A great voice does not make a movie.

Dalgliesh (2021– )

Hang on as the 3rd episode shines

[9/10 · 18 November 2021]

I should disclose that I watched the Roy Marsden Dalgliesh years ago and felt it to be fabulous and worthy of P. D. James' novels. That entire series was superlative; tender, thoughtful and often rather spooky. When I saw the ads for this new series, I couldn't imagine it would be good. The first two episodes were mediocre. Above average compared to American procedurals but nothing particularly special. I nearly skipped the third episode. Praise be that I turned it on. It is wonderful. I think from seeing it I can critique retrospectively what ails the first two episodes. Tone. P. D. James has a voice in her novels that the original series was able to translate to the screen. It is restrained but under the restraint lies both a mounting tension and an overwhelming reflection of sorrow, encapsulated and reflected to us by Dalgliesh himself. Bertie Carvel captured that perfectly in the third episode. I was touched.

No Time to Die (2021)

No Time To Analyze - Just Enjoy

[7/10 · 15 October 2021]

Why am I analyzing this film so much? James Bond films are purely fantasy and all disbelief must be suspended, right? The fact that I saw it yesterday and I'm still thinking about it tells me this film did something most Bond films have not done, it tried to be serious as well as everything else. It gave me a real story which compelled me to think about it. Oops.

I love Daniel Craig's bond and even though he isn't nearly as pretty as he was, he's still a hell of a man, able to be James Bond with no problem. And all the fantastic tropes are there - wild car chase scenes, wild running chase scenes, wild motorcycle chase scenes and all are thrilling. The close-in hand-to-hand fights are fabulous too. Craig's physicality arrests. And of course, the locations are stunning. And there are some lovely beauties, the precious Ana de Armas comes to mind.

So, the movie opens and we get the Madeleine back-story. Who? I vaguely remembered her from Spectre. But wait! James Bond is in love with her? They are living together? He adores her? Why? I just don't get it. Who is this completely bland, flat, boring and certainly not interesting to look at chick?

And unbelievably, the whole movie revolves around her. Ugh. And wait, it gets worse. Who the hell is her father? Is it Blofeld? Maybe? Maybe not? Ok, I guess not. And if Safin rescued her, why doesn't she recognize him? Who raised her, where did she get the money to become a psychiatrist, what the hell is going on? And who is Safin and where did he get the money and brains and talent to have this nano bot thing going, etc. Etc. Etc.

And this of course returns me to the first paragraph. This is a fantasy. James Bond films are always filled with huge plot holes and no fill-in. Reviewers delight in saying that this part harkens back to that part in a prior film, blah blah. Okay. But come on. Over maybe 8 years, from Skyfall through Spectre to No Time to Die? Do I need a libretto? Okay, I get it. I can't ask these kinds of questions of a barely more than comic book character. But I am. I guess that's good?

Still Breathing (1997)

Wonderful

[10/10 · 30 December 2020]

I had never heard of this movie or the female lead. Brendan Frasier is one of my favorite actors. He is able to suspend my disbelief in a magical way and he brings that to this movie. He's also hysterically funny. OMG I love him in Blast From The Past. He swashbuckled in The Mummy but I thought that was darling and fun and silly.

I now realize that what he also brings, that I've never seen before, is incredibly sensual over-the-top sex appeal. Holy cow. He is absolutely beautiful, like a Greek or Roman statue. As the movie went along, I started to think he was like the perfect man that you'd dream about, give anything to be with but would never be clever enough to recognize. And I think that was one half of the plot. The other half was Joanna's two dreams, that she would find the man who was perfect for her and she'd deserve him. Simple. Complex.

I can't even explain why this movie works but it is literally enchanting. I started to feel like I was floating, carried along by the soft weave and tug of the tale. It is a tale, one of magic and promise, like all tales of love.

I think Joanna Going could not have been more perfect. You don't really know what chemistry between two actors is until you watch a movie that has it. Chemistry = when you watch two people touch, breathe on each other, and you'd give anything to be one of them right at that moment. Chemistry is The English Patient. This movie is hot.

Street Food: Latin America (2020)

Primarily the story of indomitable women surviving through food

[10/10 · 27 July 2020]

Mostly these are women's stories though there is one absolutely precious Japanese man, third generation. We go from Mexico to Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Columbia, etc., and primarily are inspired by people who came from and have nothing but individuality, determination, stubborn resolve, the ability to adapt and learn and extraordinary dedication and just how far those character traits will take you. Really a fabulous look into wonderful people.

Cosmos (I) (2019)

Lovely movie - inspiring in different levels

[8/10 · 31 May 2020]

I live in Hollywood. The first 15 minutes, I was focused on how genius it is to set a whole movie with 3 guys in a car in the woods with some equipment. Amazing how simple and cheap this is as well as incredibly well done. Bravo.

Then I got involved in the story. It is a buddy story, much like a teenage buddy movie, quite idealistic, gentle and moving.

The script is very good, the acting is fabulous and I assume the directing is too. Hard for me to judge that.

If you love sci fi that is focused on "what is out there, is something out there, are we not alone?" and don't require action but instead like intimate movies about people, you will really love this. I can't give enough kudos to all involved. Well done.

The Pale Horse (2020)

Allow yourself to be surprised

[9/10 · 21 March 2020]

I'm shocked at the negative reviews. And I'm puzzled. This is a fabulous mini-series. It's set in 1960 and the costumes are fantastic as are the wonderful depiction of the mores of the time.

I'm an Agatha Christie fan. I've read her books but not for years. I've always watched the many iterations of Miss Marple and of course Hercule Poirot. Not once, but over and over. Yet I could remember nothing about Pale Horse. So I didn't care about the plot being sacrosanct.

The cast is fantastic. I love Rufus Sewell. I watched Zen and thought it was excellent. So when I saw his face, I was overjoyed. Now very soon into the show, I knew this was not a traditional Agatha Christie. It was too eerie. And as it went along, I began to be curious about who might have killed the wife.

Then I started to feel there were echoes of Sherlock, the PBS series. Just the quirky, "who understand the murderer," and "its all a bloody mess wrapped in a jewel box," or maybe its the other way around.

The actress who plays the second wife is very good. The cool exterior belies the psycho couch cushion scene.

The dreams are subtle and foreshadowing. I think when we got to him standing and desperately pleading, "wake up, wake up," I just knew. This man hasn't killed his wife. She's killed him. He's in some ghost loop dream state. Nothing had been as it seemed right from the beginning. Wow. Genius.

Now I don't think the person I watched it with came to my exact conclusion. But I don't really see that it matters. It is stylish, clever, fiendish, twisty and extremely well done.

Dracula (2020)

So good and so bad

[6/10 · 18 January 2020]

I love Gatiss and Moffit' prior work on Dr. Who and Sherlock. I'm a huge Dracula fan starting with Bela Legosi and on and on. When I saw this coming, I figured it would be fabulous.

Fabulous it is in several ways. But it is awful in several more. It is as if there are two engines powering the story.

The first engine is a love of Dracula and the attendant lore. Two clever, creative people attempting to add their spin into an incredibly familiar and perhaps time worn tale. Harker is delicious from the gruesome start. In fact, the start is clever. The exploration of the castle, the gradual disintegration, our slow introduction to Dracula as he becomes infused with Harker's blood, the luscious sets and attention to visual detail, all good. Lots of money spent well. And a great cast. Agnes the "nun in a loveless marriage" aka Van Helsing as a woman, now that was fantastic. And her dialogue is wonderful as is her curiosity. She asks so many things I've always wanted to ask. So all good and fascinating.

The second engine has some odd kind of childhood regression into adolescence combined with the appeal of mass marketing and money as perhaps the motivations. These veer the tale into unrestrained 12 year old boy silly and sick humor. Ridiculous blood and gore, not enough kept to the imagination, really just kind of awful nonsense. Talk about bloody for the sake of it. What were they thinking?

So this Dracula is one half for adults and one half for silly ninnies. But this is not a children's tale nor is this version one for kids. This isn't Good Omens, where main characters are children. Dracula is about immortality and the attendant price or what makes a human vs an animal and many, many other things. And it has incredible sexual over/under tones.

Maybe they bit off more than they could chew?

With Dr. Who, certainly there was silly nonsense, but all in good fun. There is constraint based on audience age and good taste. Dr. Who himself is the anchor of decency.

In Sherlock, the established characters of Sherlock and Watson perhaps created borders. Or perhaps just who produced it made the difference.

Here we see the product of two creative minds gone amok, much like (but totally different) Mel Brooks without Gene Wilder.

I only watched the first 1 1/2 hour episode. I'm not motivated to go further and that is so sad.