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Reviews
Citadel: Spies Appear in Night Time (2023)
Citadel Episode 2 Review.
I thought this episode showed improvement over the debut. The agents seem a bit more human with some depth of feeling and motivation. The plot objective of the week was straightforward, the new Manticore baddy intriguing. The action was tight and well photographed, especially the restaurant fight. It's apparent that neither lead is a skilled actor-combatant but the shot interchange covered their shortcomings and created the illusion of continuous fight movement.
The prolific swearing is not to my personal taste, it's also a cheap and lazy shortcut for portraying forcefulness in a character. The show has a very competent cast, give them a higher level of dialog to deliver.
Then Came You (2020)
Enjoy the numbers that work
"Then Came You" is an uneven, by the numbers rom-com. Its biggest problem is the contrived, poorly set-up back story of Annabelle's deceased husband being the child of Howard's aunt. If you can willfully suspend your disbelief about that flaw you're home and dry. The movie does well with the genre's "getting to know each other" bits and the "comedic emergency that has the leads set aside their differences" scene. The "rejection of the unsuitable fiancée" bit is made enjoyable by Elizabeth Hurley but it, too, needed more set-up and seems to occur solely for the purpose of removing the "roadblock to romance". Ford Kiernan as Gavin, the "oddball friend of the hero", is a standout. All in all, "Then Came You" is an OK film with which to pass some time.
Happythankyoumoreplease (2010)
A Pleasant Surprise
I put off watching this film for 13 years. I just didn't trust Radnor's ability to write and direct. Turns out in this case he's quite good at both. His own character, Sam Wexler, is a slightly more serious version of Ted Mosby with an enjoyable storyline featuring many fine moments but few surprises. However, Radnor's blessed his co-stars with far meatier characters and stories and has shepherded them through their performances with aplomb. Of particular note is Tony Hale who busts his Buster/Emmet Milbarge persona to bits as Sam2 with a tender and moving performance opposite Malin Akerman. Rated 7, letter grade B-.
Take Me Home (2011)
It happened one week
Enjoyable comedy in the tradition of "It Happened One Night". The cast is made up of familiar faces: that girl who ran the herb shop in "Grimm", the too-tanned lady from "There's Something About Mary", Ted Mosby's Mom/Phoebe Bouffay's Mother-in-Law, that guy who was in that episode of Castle, the admiral from "The Orville" - ok, Victor Garber is or should be better known for his long and distinguished career.
These are all talented actors as well as familiar faces and they bring a lot to the film but the core of it is the quarrelsome couple. The Jaegers sell both the conflict and the budding romance believably as the story unfolds. They make us like and root for them as individuals and as a possible couple.
If you get the chance to catch this gem, don't pass it up.
Daughter of the Wolf (2019)
An enjoyable pastime
It's not the best adventure journey movie but it's far from the worst. In fact, I rated this higher than The Green Knight. Why? Because it is what it purports to be whereas Green Knight is a moral inversion of the story and genre on which it capitalizes.
Both movies feature beautiful scenery as the adventure unfolds. Both have mystical elements that affect the hero. Obviously Green
Knight has higher production values but that isn't all it takes to make a good movie.
Yes, some script tweaks would have helped "Daughter", e.g. Some foreshadowing of the aforesaid mystical element, but the filmmakers chose a slam-bang start that minimized that sort of thing. It then tries to pick up character motivations through backstory dialog as the action unfolds.
SEAL Team: Fair Winds and Following Seas (2022)
We interrupt this war...
...to bring the schmalz. There is a huge continuity problem with this episode. Bravo is exiting Mosul with no certain exfil in place. We cut to Lt. Davis who was supposed to be back at her oversight station helping to make that exfil happen but instead she enters her office where she pulls up a heavily redacted document on her computer. Next we jump to Bravo on a transport headed home. We have no idea how Bravo finally got out and no idea what the document Davis brought up is (the document is explained later).
Streaming should mean more to a series than just being able to cuss. It should mean being able to tell a story in full in its own time. The plot points cut from this story killed the continuity and detracted from an otherwise enjoyable and meaningful season finale.
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
D- on D+
I couldn't finish it. I liked the opening but Waititi's "humorous" retelling of Thor's saga was unpalatable. Thor's companion's were very important in my era of reading the comic books and I was dismayed at their unmourned dispatch by the MEU. Mocking them as Waititi did in this movie was really maddening. That was followed by a flat, dull, and corny "action" scene with the Guardians and I was done. Waititi shouldn't be behind the camera, in front of it, or in the writer's room...apparently I need to fill this out a bit so I'll just point out that also in my era Marvel retold the Volsung Saga (Wagner's Ring Trilogy) with Thor as Siegfried. It was excellent. I wish they had gone there instead of going with the god slayer story line.
Still Breathing (1997)
The Lady Rosalyn
At first this movie seems quirky for quirkiness' sake but it's an interesting and endearing story crafted on the bones of the Preston Sturges classic, "The Lady Eve". The basics are there: the con artist who's charmed by the goodness of her mark but the ways in which that goodness comes out are far more textured.
You can't say his goodness is more realistic because Fletcher's mystical character components aren't realistic. People can be square and forthright as Henry Fonda's Charles Pike is in the original. A family tradition of seeing your loved one in a dream is fantastical.
We are in a fairy tale, as the director acknowledges with a gender bent nod to true love's kiss.
It doesn't work but it doesn't have to because our princess awoke when she walked away from working her first post-Fletcher mark.
Street performer Fletcher is no financial savior to Rosalyn, only a chance for being really and sincerely loved. That's what she offers back to him.
It's a "fairy tale" ending that's rooted in the best real life has to offer.
The Orville: A Tale of Two Topas (2022)
Thoughtful SciFi
I'm reminded of the line in "Stardust Memories" when the aliens tell Woody Allen they prefer his earlier, funnier movies. It seems that "New Horizons" will be a far more serious season. Perhaps it's a fitting bookend to the oh, so sophomoric Season 1.
Personal autonomy and the constraints placed upon it by the expectations of family, society, and government is an important theme and this episode explores it well...as well as the impact those constraints have on the individual.
I hope we're seeing a glimpse of Captan Kelly if there is a Season 4 sans Ed (as per MacFarlane's announcement re developing Ted the foul-mouthed Teddy Bear for TV).
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Elysian Kingdom (2022)
Fantasia
Fantasy episodes are a good test of an ST series, be it alternate universe, intervening entity, or holodeck. They give us a chance to see a bit of range from the cast (as well as the writers and director), a measure of their chops.
If I could give a B- to this episode in my rating, I would. I agree with the idea that we got here a little early in STSNW, i.e. We're not quite there with how we relate to the characters in the normal course of their adventures. Although Mount pulled off the humorously cowardly courtier I think the show needs to do more to build him up as hero rather than comedian...unless they don't intend to do so, as some STSNW detractors contend.
Those other than Mount who were suitably impressive in their fantasy version were Peck, Bush, Chong, and Navia. Sir Adya's brashness as a courtier plays a lot more palatably than it does in bridge officer Ortegas. The barely sub rosa Sapphic suggestiveness between Adya and the Huntress was a gratuitous detraction.
Bruce Horak did well as an unaffected foil to the fantasy riffs.
I think the script missed a chance for real pathos by not having Rukiya's consciousness leave her body behind for her father to mourn over before she returned as an adult. Yes, a child's corpse would have been more unsettling to show but it would have been truly poignant and made the comforting that followed even more impactful.
There continues to be a lot to like about STSNW.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Serene Squall (2022)
Moving off the fence...
I haven't much cared for the Spock-T'Pring relationship and while some of it still bothers me I did my research and have stopped thinking of it as non-canonical for them to have seen each other since they were seven. I watched "Amok Time" and that's not explicitly stipulated. As for them having sex, here's a quote from the Memory Alpha wiki:
One way to interpret pon farr is that Vulcans only have sex once every seven years. However, TOS writer and continuity story editor D. C. Fontana once explained that pon farr is not the only time Vulcans feel romantic attraction, sexual desire, or engage in sexual activity:
"Vulcans mate normally any time they want to. However, every seven years you do the ritual, the ceremony, the whole thing. The biological urge. You must, but any other time is any other emotion - humanoid emotion - when you're in love. When you want to, you know when the urge is there, you do it. This every-seven-years business was taken too literally by too many people who don't stop and understand. We didn't mean it only every seven years. I mean, every seven years would be a little bad, and it would not explain the Vulcans of many different ages which are not seven years apart." - D. C. Fontana (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
Ok, so this relationship is new addition to existing canon. Given that there's a lot to like in its development in this episode. The sex-related stuff is still a little much but their interplay that helps save the Enterprise is fun. We also see the nascence of Nurse Chapel's feelings for Spock and whence the T'Pring-Stonn relationship will derive.
The plot is fun, Pike's beguilement of "the pirate king" has echoes of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance". The revelation of Dr. Aspen as Captain Angel, a powerful female leader, calls to mind NextGen's "Angel One" matriarchy.
If Strange New Worlds is, as critic Dave Cullen has said, a Star Trek tribute band it's a pretty good one and this episode hit the right notes for me.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part II (2022)
Star Wars: Young Sheldon
Obviously Leia and Obi Wan must have crossed paths at some point before Episode IV. Exploring how that might have come about via an adventure is not a bad idea. However, it's being ineptly executed. There's a chance for a Swept Away/My Man Godfrey/Eustace Scrubb learning of mature, unselfish behavior theme to develop with Obi Wan and Leia. In the case of Cousin Eustace C. S. Lewis managed it while telling a pretty darn ripping yarn. Obi Wan being a big influence on Leia following her mom's path of leadership could play out the same way. If we don't get some hint of that in E3, if it's just more bratty Leia, or if she's just an annoying macguffin, then there will be little reason to watch.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Ghosts of Illyria (2022)
Una-fication
A deserted planet with strange entities and no one assumes the possible connection as an hypothesis? I'm pretty certain other viewers got there much more quickly. Apparently no one in the future reads science fiction.
Of course, the plot is all in service of giving Una the new backstory she needed since she can't be Majel Barrett's emotionless Number One from "The Cage".
So now there's tension between Una and Pike because he's gone out on a limb to hide her augment status. It's a good move that should make them seem less like Ed and Kelly on The Orville.
That's all to the good but the story itself was a little clumsy as well as obvious in where it was going.
Hawk the Slayer (1980)
B cool
This is a deservedly loved B movie, chock-a-block with cameos from popular UK actors like Roy Kinnear, Ferdy Mayne, and Annette Crosby. All of the cheesey, CGI-driven sword and sorcery movies that go right to streaming today have their roots in Hawk the Slayer. Indeed, this film owes its wide audience to airings on cable services and to VHS rentals. It helped prove that non-theatrical venues could make a film popular.
Enjoy it for what it is.
Raised by Wolves (2020)
Raised by wolves, written by committee
I won't be back for season 3. Here's the sort of S2 plot and character kasha that ruined it for me: "I don't want my baby... I don't want my baby... I don't want my baby... I don't want my baby..." baby is born, "I want my baby". Alien kidnaps baby "We must risk everything to find my baby!" Finds alien nursing baby. "I don't want my baby... I don't want my baby... I don't want my baby... I don't want my baby..." That's not through-line objective, it's an unconnected set of dots.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Children of the Comet (2022)
A definite step forward - mild spoilers
Despite a few grating moments this was a good Star Trek script. Uhura's backstory had a little Basil Exposition/Lawks! Six O'Clock and the master not yet home! Feeling to it. However, the subsequent payoff when it ties into understanding the true nature of the comet was satisfying.
Ethan Peck's Spock is coming along. He's walking a pretty good line between honoring Nimoy and making the character his own. I was expecting a line from Spock to Uhura along the lines of, "I'm not certain I have your ear for music, cadet." Nimoy would have killed us with that line punctuated with one raised eyebrow.
Pike's repeated use of humor to alleviate tension makes even a straight up episode like this one more jokey than TOS but it's not intolerable.
Moon Knight (2022)
Flawed but fun (minor spoilers)
As Nerdrotic pointed out there are plot holes as in the gunsels in the first episode not using their guns on Marc/Steven when the easily might have. Much later on I found Tawaret's comedy relief tedious. Overall, though, satisfying entertainment with some of the best combat since Daredevil (not that Moon Knight attains that series' quality). I look forward to Season 2.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
No one bought the original Captain Pike series...
It was updated to the Kirk version we all know and love. Next Generation started out a ponderous bore at Farpoint. DS9 and Voyager took time to find their legs. Enterprise never quite found its legs and ended horribly.
So we're off to an imperfect start here. So what else is new?
Kurtzman in charge is little reason for hope but I see the names Zimmerman and Roddenberry in there and that's comforting.
With an episodic structure there's a chance to attract more writers and better scripts. If there's any intelligent life at Paramount they'll try to mend fences with Bryan Fuller and ask him to do some - Rick Berman and Seth McFarland, too.
There's potential here and this viewer is going to keep watching to see where it goes.
All the Old Knives (2022)
A Dandy in Aspic With a Twist
I gave it four stars for four good actors who were wasted in this movie. When it started I knew it would be like A Dandy in Aspic with Pine's character being the traitor. However, the twist of the motivation for the betrayal being love and a threat made against Newton's character being a virtual gun to Pine's head was good.
Still it's talky and tedious. There's just not enough to it for the running time. It's too bad there isn't an anthology program on Prime like the old Alcoa Hour or GE Theater. As a tighter, hour-long drama on such a program it could have been quite good.
The Rookie: Long Shot (2022)
I was sad when Randy didn't die
Nolan said it: a little Randy goes a long way. So why do a Randy-centric episode? The past episodes' Randy phone bits weren't all that funny.
Nolan is supposed to be old but if he can't catch a woman running with her hands cuffed behind her he doesn't belong on the streets. As far as that goes running while cuffed like that throws off your balance and you tend to stumble.
A good show depicts the reality of social concerns in the context of drama, this show is scared to depict serious things so it ends up just talking about them, that's why it's preachy. Wesley could be seeing a lot at the neighborhood center and we seeing them through his eyes. Instead it's blah blah blah about the issues while they play a scene with a comedy drug dealer.
The writers and producers should look back to past shows like NYPD Blue to see how to handle balancing professional, personal, and social story elements. Look at how Major Crimes handled Rusty Beck's homelessness, his mother issues, and his sexuality.
This show has and can be better but it has to stop playing it safe.
The Sweeney: Messenger of the Gods (1978)
Carry On Supercops!
This action comedy episode is the best of the show's run. Diana Dors is a delightful dreadnaught mom among the ingenue's odd family: the uncle is deftly deaf and the brothers low rent thugs. Regan and Carter finally really kick some villain arse. The youth cast is suitably attractive and "our hero" rides off into the sunset. The only thing.
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)
Not the garden of whimsy seen in the trailer
Mr. Wain had tremendous talent and a life filled with heartbreak caused by his unsuitability to the realities of life. This movie portrays those things without a lot of explanation of the whys of Wain's odd mind and ideas. The film boasts a talented cast led by Cumberbatch and a features a wonderful performance by Toby Jones. It is hard going, so be warned.
Underground Aces (1981)
Buy the bits, ignore the premise
Definitely "buck night" drive in fare but there are well-handled bits that recall Shakespeare, Mack Sennett, Chuck Jones, Rube Goldberg, The Three Stooges, and burlesque sketches ("I'm bearish!" "I'm bullish!" "I'm chicken!"). Frank Gorshin's cigarette shtick is fun as well. Enjoy those elements and ignore the excuse for stringing them together.
McDonald & Dodds: We Need to Talk About Doreen (2021)
One more thing
This was the first series entry which proved severely disappointing. If you're going to "go Columbo" and tip the killer's identity early on you better have the cat and mouse game that made the Peter Falk series work. Here the killer was the cat, the cops the mice who only "get their man" by lamely appealing to the killer's vanity after banging up the wrong person. There was no character-driven reason for the killer to accede. Then the killer saves Dodds's career as a bonus. There wasn't 90 minutes worth of mystery in this one so they padded with jokes about Scots and character background that didn't relate to the relationship between the killer and the person the killer frames - which we knew in the first few minutes after meeting them. The side story about Dodds' medical review seemed like a vestigial appendage and they betrayed Dodds' character by having him miss evidence he should have reviewed and locked away in his keen brain.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981)
Static shocker
In stage directing class we were taught that stage movement should be arranged so that if the actors were to stop at any given point the scene would look like a well composed painting or photograph. Here they director and DP have made a holy virtue of this principle. The production seems to have been shot with a single camera locked in as tightly as possible, limiting the actors' movements extremely. The result is beautiful looking but immensely dull to watch.