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Reviews
Come September (1961)
Entertaining 60s Rom-Com
Fabulous photography and scenery. Plot is a bit silly but Gina Lollabrigida is gorgeous and engaging. The 'Sausalito girls' are cute as well. Rock Hudson plays a wealthy conservative American trying to navigate an Italian romance convincingly (despite knowing his orientation after the fact). Movie opens with an airport scene of a rare Bristol Freighter. The chicken truck 'rental' scene is hilarious. Bobby Darin sings a nifty number in a night club where people are classily dressed in 1960s style. Subplot with Gina engaged to a stuffy Brit adds some laughs. Rock Hudson's villa being secretly rented out foretells the era of VRBO and AirBnB!
The Hidden (1987)
Surprisingly Engaging
The Hidden has a great blend of action, believability and strangeness. I'm not a big fan of movie violence but this film draws in the viewer with good pacing, a simple but slightly twisted plot and fine acting.
Elvis (2022)
Disjointed and Distorted
This movie had a number of interwoven themes and messages of varying importance. First and foremost, that Col. Tom Parker was a manipulating crook. Secondly, that American Black music and culture had a major influence on Elvis. This particular theme is highly exaggerated, to the exclusion of other Presley influences such as Gospel and country music. I found it highly doubtful that B. B. King was that important a confidant to Elvis. The scene of 12 year old Elvis having some transcendent spiritual experience in a Black revival tent was bizarre and unbelievable. The entire film is filled with exaggerations and possibly outright fiction to make various points and keep the audience superficially entertained. Among other things, the people who didn't care for Presley's gyrating performance style are portrayed as repressed racist rubes. Hank Snow, who was probably a huge influence on Elvis came across as a boring uptight jerk, when in reality Snow was anything but.
On the positive side, the costuming, set design, and cinematography were top notch. Austin Butler did a fine job as Elvis; he nailed the voice and accent. Tom Hanks gave a decently nuanced performance of Col. Parker. It may have been intended for him to be the bad guy, but I didn't hate the character.
However I was relieved when Elvis' mother died in movie so we didn't have to endure another of their on screen arguments. Did Parker and Presley actually negotiate their relationship in a house of mirrors and on a ferris wheel? Unlikely.
The 1960s civil rights struggle permeates the film unnecessarily. For some reason the assassinations of ML King and Robert Kennedy are involved in the movie. Bizarrely, the Kennedy death which took place in June 1968 is mixed up in Elvis' Christmas special in December of that year!
To sum up, the movie didn't respect the music of Elvis nearly enough. It was frustrating to hear just snippets of good songs. In my opinion the film is barely worth seeing, and should be viewed with skepticism as to it's accuracy and entertainment value.
The Courier (2020)
A Decent Spy Tale
Good acting, great scenery, wardrobes, 60's era atmosphere, and believeable (true) story. Terrible lighting was a serious flaw. Didn't quite buy Rachel Brosnahan as a fairly high level espionage handler.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
Disjointed, confusing and plain bad.
When this movie was released I was 22 years old, probably the target audience. However despite being a Beatles fan I didn't bother to watch the film until recently, when I had more time to waste.
This movie is a series of nonsensical skits put to Beatles music performed not particularly well, although on a fairly big budget considering the top notch costumes, set design and cinematography. Perhaps it was designed to take a stoned viewer on a weird trip? The best thing about the whole thing is Barry Gibb's spectacular hair and the bizarre 70's vibe. Probably worth a watch just to see how much money and talent can be wasted by a truly terrible concept and awful direction.
Backroad Truckers (2021)
Rugged Characters In Rugged Country
Tough people in spectacular rural British Columbia making a living in trucking, towing and salvage. Very enjoyable scenery and entirely plausible plotlines. Never a dull moment with these independent and individualistic folks!
GLOW (2017)
Terrific Show With Humour and Drama
I was initially skeptical of this series being too female-oriented, but the story and characters won me over. Alison Brie did an awesome job as main character Ruth Wilder and Marc Maron was brilliant in the role of sleazy, sexist filmmaker Sam Sylvia. 80's culture was faithfully represented (even celebrated?). Downside was a serious shortage of hair metal in the soundtrack, so I'm taking a star off for that. Otherwise a fabulous way to spend screen time!
Halt and Catch Fire (2014)
Captivating, Intense, Amusing Series
I remember programing FORTRAN on punch cards, my brother is a software engineer, and my son has a computer science degree. In my view this series shows authentic computer culture of the '80s. Characters are interesting and well acted with situations that connect with the viewer. The prominent role of females in a computer game startup is PC and far-fetched, but can be overlooked based on the quality of storylines and acting. I took a star off for the terrible soundtrack. Far too punky and alternative with little if any hair/thrash metal of the era. Watched this show with my Russian lady who grew up with a totally different language and culture and she thoroughly enjoyed the series because of the excellent stories and acting. Recommended even if you aren't a computer nerd!
Peaky Blinders (2013)
Violent, Not Believable
Watched about 10 episodes. Acting is good, but story and characters not very believable. Main character Thomas Shelby just way too wise and calculating for his age and experience. Fatal or serious mistakes always made by someone else. Continuing implication that underworld thugs are more honorable (and smarter) than the police and 'establishment' is a misleading trope. I can tolerate a certain amount of violence (Goodfellas, Sopranos) but PB is over my limit. Grim, dark, depressing lighting also a 21st century overdone cinematography cliche. Heard good things about this show and gave it a decent shot but recommended only for devoted mob crime fans.
Superstore (2015)
Terrific Quirky Cast of Characters Bring This Show To Life
Superstore is a truly amusing show with a great cast of character actors. Based on the staff of a 'Cloud 9' store (thinly disguised Wal-Mart) there is no end to the hilarious storylines. The store manager is a middle-aged straight white do-gooder Christian male, whereas the assistant manager is an authoritarian, militaristic aggressive female. What a fun contrast, and interesting that they are both actually Canadian. Many other characters of different ethnic backgrounds lend genuine colour to the show. The flaming gay Filipino, submissive Hawaiian woman, wisecracking streetwise black store announcer, and teenage Asian bimbo (c/w white rapper boyfriend) are all fabulous. Show tends to wrap plots around central characters Jonah (clever but not very ambitious Jewish lad) and Amy (sensible but flawed Latino chick). Topics covered are very current but funny and not at all cliche. My gal and I are halfway through the series and thoroughly enjoying it. Will be sad when it ends!
Rust Valley Restorers (2018)
Genuine Characters and Car Love From Rural British Columbia
Entertaining to watch Mike, Avery and the rest of the cast restore classic muscle cars in the midst of disorganized, reactive semi-chaos. No doubt these guys are exactly the same in person as on camera. It's the opposite of a meticulous Roger Penske type operation but quite fun to watch them persevere through their screw-ups. Just light entertainment, not meant for serious restoration buffs. Situated in a beautiful area in the Shuswap region of B.C. that I've been to many times.
Chemi bednieri ojakhi (2017)
Good Story and Acting
This movie shows a fairly typical squabbling family living in close quarters in the struggling post-Soviet republic of Georgia. The main character, a 52 year old wife and mother feels unappreciated/unloved, gets fed up and decides to leave the chaos. It's kind of a middle-aged chick flick but the characters, setting and situation are interesting. The story unfolds organically and kept my attention throughout. There are some light moments in the film which contrasted with the melancholy.
IMDB summary refers to a 'patriarchal society' but it seems the old lady of the house ran the family. As a North American who has visited Georgia, the film showed the country accurately, kind of scruffy and run down, but full of life. I recognized the Tbilisi flea market in one scene.
BTW I actually might have preferred them speaking Georgian with subtitles instead of having English with American accents dubbed in, but that's a minor gripe. Great to see a slice of life from a little known but fascinating country.
The Terminal (2004)
A Sappy Hollywood Tale
The good: lighting, sets and costumes were absolutely first rate. It's actually quite rare these days for all three to be excellent. Unfortunately Tom Hanks as a Slavic character wasn't very convincing. His accent wasn't bad, but he didn't quite nail the cynical and slightly paranoid Slavic mentality. The pseudo-love story with Catherine Zeta-Jones was contrived and hardly believable.
The airport terminal surroundings looked terrific, but no way would someone in the pre-security lounge be allowed into the secure baggage handling area, even in 2004. Tucci was great as the petty and mean border security official Dixon, but it's a mystery why they assigned an Anglo-Saxon name to an ethnic Italian actor. Overall the movie was ok for killing time, but is unremarkable Hollywood fluff. Not worthy of repeat viewing.
Nashville (1975)
Convoluted Plot with Annoying Characters
I have never been to Nashville and didn't have any preconceptions about this film, I just heard it was good. Much to my surprise it wasn't very good at all. The convoluted plot followed a bunch of uninteresting, annoying and borderline pathetic characters. If the point of the film was to show shallowness and sleaze, then mission accomplished. But it wasn't pleasant or funny.
The van blaring political propaganda continually throughout the movie was highly irritating. Many situations made no sense, such as Lily Tomlin's character (a housewife and mother of two deaf children) being a member of a black gospel choir, then consorting with a womanizing folksinger. The scene of a freeway car accident seemed ridiculous with people milling around unconcerned about anyone's well being, the condition of their vehicles, or even about being late for their destination. Some of the music was good, but most was a poor parody of 70's country. The completely overlooked highlight of the film was the terrific upbeat song 'Hard Riding Cowboy Man' by a character about to have breakdown. The backing band sounded fabulous.
Henry Gibson was unconvincing as a country star and his hairpiece was so bad it wasn't funny, it was just ugly. Which is pretty much in line with the plot.
One character was an aspiring singer with no talent. Her singing was unnecessarily terrible. The audience would completely get it if she was just not a very good vocalist.
The ending was senseless, but was that was Altman's distasteful point: America at its heart is senseless?
I grew up in the 1970's so much of the ambiance was quite familiar. However the comfort of the nostalgic imagery juxtaposed with the pointless and surreal weirdness was unsettling. Some reviews compared Nashville with the brilliant Dr. Strangelove, but I'd say there is no comparison with Kubrick's masterpiece. Altman had no affection for the country and culture he was dealing with, it is just a cynical, unfunny skewering of mid-70's middle America.
Nashville (1975)
Convoluted Plot with Annoying Characters
I have never been to Nashville and didn't have any preconceptions about this film, I just heard it was good. Much to my surprise it wasn't very good at all. The convoluted plot followed a bunch of uninteresting, annoying and borderline pathetic characters. If the point of the film was to show shallowness and sleaze, then mission accomplished. But it wasn't pleasant or funny.
The van blaring political propaganda continually throughout the movie was highly irritating. Many situations made no sense, such as Lily Tomlin's character (a housewife and mother of two deaf children) being a member of a black gospel choir, then consorting with a womanizing folksinger. The scene of a freeway car accident seemed ridiculous with people milling around unconcerned about anyone's well being, the condition of their vehicles, or even about being late for their destination. Some of the music was good, but most was a poor parody of 70's country. The completely overlooked highlight of the film was the terrific upbeat song 'Hard Riding Cowboy Man' by a character about to have breakdown. The backing band sounded fabulous.
Henry Gibson was unconvincing as a country star and his hairpiece was so bad it wasn't funny, it was just ugly. Which is pretty much in line with the plot.
One character was an aspiring singer with no talent. Her singing was unnecessarily terrible. The audience would completely get it if she was just not a very good vocalist.
The ending was senseless, but was that was Altman's distasteful point: America at its heart is senseless?
I grew up in the 1970's so much of the ambiance was quite familiar. However the comfort of the nostalgic imagery juxtaposed with the pointless and surreal weirdness was unsettling. Some reviews compared Nashville with the brilliant Dr. Strangelove, but I'd say there is no comparison with Kubrick's masterpiece. Altman had no affection for the country and culture he was dealing with, it is just a cynical, unfunny skewering of mid-70's middle America.
Mindhunter (2017)
Some Good, Some Bad
Excellent time period costuming, sets, vehicles and music. Decent dialogue, some vile subject matter. But terrible, cliche dingy lighting for cheesy dramatic effect.
Minions (2015)
Boring and surprisingly violent
Terrible movie, worse than I imagined. My girlfriend dragged me to see this atrocious waste of time after seeing Despicable Me. The attempts at humour in Minions were juvenile, tiresome and plain dumb. What's worse is the action sequences thrown in were excessively and unpleasantly violent, and I actually like mob movies.
Aloha (2015)
Tragic Waste of Talent
My mind was open to this film; I had no idea what to expect as, I had not read any reviews or heard anything about it.
Right away it seemed to be disjointed and confusing. Plots are all over the place. Camera work was often overly dramatic and plain bad. None of the characters were interesting. Emma Stone as an over-caffeinated part-Hawaiian space nerd F-22 pilot is the worst casting since Mickey Rooney as an Asian in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
With a cast this impressive set in a gorgeous setting one would think 'blockbuster' but this movie is an awful waste of talent.
One reviewer said it was as if the director had a story in his head and only told part of it. Exactly right. This is an example of a Director's disaster. I'd love to sit down with Bradley Cooper to hear how badly this was botched.
Warning: watch this only if you have nearly two hours to see how good actors can be made completely uninteresting.
Failure to Launch (2006)
Good Fun Flick
This movie is fun for everyone. It has some guy stuff with Tripp hanging out with his buddies, plus the relationship stuff for the ladies. The story has a few twists although it may not have been 100% logical. Good performances from the cast, however one scene with Terry Bradshaw I could do without. Photography and background scenery is excellent. Glad I ignored the critical reviews, those writers obviously need a sense of humour transplant. It's a light rom-com well worth watching.
Metallica Through the Never (2013)
Great Concert Film with a Mini-Story
This is an excellent live concert film of a great band, with a story thrown in. The lighting, sound, performance, editing and effects are all absolutely first class. A lot of thought went into this piece of work.
I know Metallica fairly well, having bought their first two albums when they were first released on vinyl in the 1980's. The band has had their ups and downs but this is definitely one of the high points in their career. Metallica likely realized when they conceived the project that live concert footage can be remote and lack intensity, as the viewer doesn't experience the concert energy of seeing the band live. Therefore they added a cinematic story element that has metaphors for the songs. Brilliant idea, even if the story is difficult to understand.
The people that give this a film a low rating completely miss the point and misunderstand what this is about. I have no idea how anyone expected a movie in the standard Hollywood sense. It is a piece of work that is different, innovative and effective and I applaud Metallica for the effort. Anyone who enjoys hard rock / heavy metal on any level should see this movie.
I attended one of the shows in which some of the filming was done and the live experience was outstanding.
We're the Millers (2013)
Good But Raunchy
I went to this with my Russian girlfriend not knowing what to expect but thinking Sudeikis and Aniston are usually pretty good. As hoped, they were both excellent. Ed Helms was also great as the big time drug lord. The constant satire of American middle class 'RVers' was hilarious and the 'Fitzgeralds' were classic with their excessive hospitality and cliché 'intimacy issues'. Some of the movie was very clever such as the Mexican cop scene, although the premise was rather crude. Had to explain terms like 'anal' and other sexual innuendo to my lady friend but it was fun to hear her giggle and laugh about what she missed. Worst part of the movie: the dumb rap by Will Poulter - couldn't wait for it to end. Plus we did not need to see the private parts of one of the male characters... I think they overdid the raunchy language, so if you are offended by 'F' words and so forth, avoid this movie.