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Reviews
Carrie (2013)
Competent But Unremarkable
I was actually quite surprised by this film. I was expecting yet another defective product from the modern Hollywood assembly line. But Carrie (2013) is a technically competent and satisfactorily executed film. For that alone I must tip my hat.
I fully realize that films should be assessed based on their own merits. But this story has been told on screen before. It's just impossible not to draw comparisons with previous screen adaptations of King's novel. Brian De Palma's 1976 film still to this day casts a long shadow. It's considered a bonafide classic and rightfully so.
Much like Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, De Palma's Carrie will almost certainly remain the last word in the cinematic telling of their respective stories.
And these were some of thoughts bouncing around in my head while watching Carrie (2013). It's not a bad film, but it's completely unremarkable and ultimately unnecessary. Nothing really new is attempted. It basically follows the same playbook as the 1976 adaptation. This film had to do something extraordinary to justify its existence. But it doesn't. The film's prom night climax especially sticks out. I found the absence of De Palma's masterful direction and dynamic camera work to be...jarring. It's hard to enjoy a movie when I've already basically seen it but handled infinitely better.
Adam-12: Excessive Force (1974)
Great Episode
I've always particularly admired this episode of Adam 12. Cops are people too - a point Jack Webb always tried to drive home. But between Dragnet and Adam 12, that theory is seldom tested in a convincing way. Sure we occasionally see dirty cops, but they are always the "other guy." By the end of the episode the good guys root out the bad apple and all is well.
In this episode, Malloy is confronted with a real monster. That usually impervious professionalism is allowed to slip. In short, we get to see him behave as perhaps a real person on the job would. Child molesters are beneath contempt, and the one portrayed in this episode is terrifyingly convincing. Adam 12 was going for something real this time and I like it.
But to be real, this was 1974. I come from a family of cops. What Malloy did is of course against department policy. But in reality this scumbag would have lost teeth and NOBODY would have cared. From fellow officers to IA to the DA's office, not a peep. My grandfather worked Narcotics for many years as a detective. If he caught someone dumb enough to sell hard drugs to kids, he'd usually break their hand. Dope pushers were petrified of him. But back then nobody really cared what dirtbags had to say about anything. Things are of course different now. But right or wrong that's just how things were.
Masters of the Air (2024)
Anemic, Unconvincing. and Disrespectful to our RAF Allies
I'm only a few episodes into Masters of the Air. While The Pacific ultimately fell short of delivering a Band of Brothers level experience, this is just an abject failure.
What the hell happened to our ability to make convincing and compelling entertainment? I'm watching these terrible episodes and thinking: "who are these people? I don't even know most of their names. None of them stand out for any positive reason." But meh, I don't really care to know anyway at this point.
The excellent character development in Band of Brothers had us knowing and caring about those guys in the first hour. We're already well into this mess and the best I can muster is indifference. I hope Masters of the Air gets its crap together. But I know it won't. It seems like we are forever doomed to suffer through lame acting, incompetent filmmaking, and video game-like special effects. God help us all.
I'd also like to register my DISGUST with how our British allies are portrayed in Masters of the Air. The RAF fought with bravery and tenacity during the Battle of Britain. The chips were down and they ended up kicking the Luftwaffe's teeth in. This was no mean feat and it wasn't accomplished by effete dandies or elitist A-holes. The RAF was made up of mostly guys from all walks of life. Cool, professional, and courageous. Normal men called upon to do extraordinary deeds. My grandpa, God rest him, was a B-24 pilot during WWII. Aside from some minor scrapes here and there, Yanks and Brits got along just fine. But that doesn't make for interesting "entertainment" I guess.
Titanic: Birth of a Legend (2005)
A Little Top Heavy On Politics
I think that Titanic: Birth of a Legend would most appropriately be catalogued as a documentary rather than a film. It's fully narrated with actors playing the real people in the dramatized vignettes that carry most of the program.
Titanic enthusiasts of all kinds will find Birth of a Legend indispensable. It's a fine addition to the catalog of films and television programs depicting the beloved ship.
The characters are interesting and reasonably well acted. The CGI recreations of the Titanic in all stages of her construction are impressive. The presentation of real photographs taken at the time are wonderful.
Aside from the unavoidable limitations that come from television productions (even good ones like this), I can think of no significant strikes against this documentary.. The only issue I had was that it feels a little bit padded. The politics of Unionist Protestants and Republican Catholics are of course essential to the story. But I felt this documentary harped on them to a point that I felt an agenda was at play. It tries a little too hard to make Protestants look bad and predominantly responsible for the sectarian tensions and violence of the time.
But it's certainly nothing that diminishes the legitimate historical value of this documentary.
The Hunley (1999)
Admirable Enough to Overcome Flaws
I remember being quite young when The Hunley first premiered on the now defunct TNT channel. It's a story about the Civil War where an increasingly desperate Confederacy was groping in the dark for a miracle. The HL Hunley was intended to break the mighty Union's blockade of Southern ports. The only problem was that The Hunley was a primitive early submarine , the first of its kind. It was also more dangerous to the men operating it than to the enemy. Who would get into such a machine? That's what this film is about.
I vaguely remember being somewhat lukewarm toward The Hunley. Even back then I was a history geek and would snap up anything that involved The Civil War. Maybe I thought it was too light on action and battle scenes. I couldn't honestly say. But after recently revisiting The Hunley, I found myself really enjoying it. I admired its ambition and how much it managed to accomplish with an obviously tight budget. Dropping tens of millions of dollars on a tv show isn't a wild concept today. But back then it would seem insane. Films like The Hunley had very modest budgets and their success or failure would usually depend on the fundamentals. Good writing, smart casting, and the talent of the filmmakers.
The Hunley is, even by today's expectations, much better than it seemingly has any right to be. The cast is solid and ably led by the great Armand Assante. The writing is good enough, although it isn't without weakness. The special effects aren't what some might consider "special," but in the 90s they would were competent.
The Hunley is admirable filmmaking. It sheds light on a small chapter in American history that deserves attention. In that respect it carries legitimate cultural and historical significance. It also really feels like the people making it were doing their best with what they had. Most notably a scene at the end of the film that depicts the ultimate fate of the Hunley's crew. The filmmakers made some ballsy choices in their handling of that scene. It could have so easily been an eye rolling schmaltz fest. But to their credit, they actually managed to pull it off. I was sincerely touched by it.