allmoviesfan Reviews

Manhunt: The Final Act (2024) Season 1, Episode 7

"The Final Act"

[10/10 · 22 May 2024]

A tremendous finale, one that stretches out to four years after the assassination.

Of course, presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth departed stage left in "Useless", the penultimate episode. That means the final episode could be devoted to the trial of David Herold, Samuel Mudd, Mary Surrat and others.

Tobias Menzies delivers perhaps his best performance of the series, which is saying something, because he has been good in every scene.

The court room tension is brilliant, and in the background are the ongoing political machinations where President Johnson and Stanton were concerned, which provide an interest soft ending to the episode and series. Impeachment of a President is something we know all about in 2024.

A bittersweet final scene - a final act, you might say - but a fitting end to "Manhunt".

Great television.

Manhunt: Useless (2024) Season 1, Episode 6

"Useless"

[8/10 · 22 May 2024]

The final confrontation between John Wilkes Booth and the Union cavalry who have been closing in on him is no less tense because you know how it's going to end.

I've read a few books on the subject so I'm familiar with what happened at the barn where Booth and Herold are trapped, but there's nothing like seeing it on the screen in front of you. Anthony Boyle as Booth has been very good right from his first scene. Same goes for Will Harrison as David Herold.

It was an interesting move to have the subject of the show's title "Manhunt" meet his end with more than an episode to go, but I like that it will now assumedly give us a solid episode dealing with the trial of Herold and others, which is often somewhat glossed over.

JAG: Full Engagement (1997) Season 2, Episode 8

"Full Engagement"

[10/10 · 20 May 2024]

"Full Engagement" really deepens the Harm/Mac relationship that will come to define the nine seasons of JAG which they starred in together.

No courtroom drama in this one. Instead, the two are flying in Harm's bi-plane over the Appalachian Mountains when a mechanical incident means they need to land, and quickly. There, they happen upon poachers who have just killed a game warden, and are thus on the run from backwoods men who want to kill them. Back at JAG, Bud has to stand in on a case Harm was working whilst also figuring out what happened to his colleagues

Whilst it was pretty clear that everything would turn out okay in the end, there was still good tension and watching the way the two leads worked together to get out of their mess was superb. Good to see Harm opening up to Mac about his father, too.

Good acting, good action...good everything.

JAG: Ghosts (1997) Season 2, Episode 7

"Ghosts"

[9/10 · 20 May 2024]

In "Ghosts", we have a very intriguing and sad episode focusing on Admiral Chegwidden when he was a SEAL lieutenant in Vietnam. Tragic events that take place throughout the episode are a nice way to show a softer side to the hard-nosed irascible admiral, who generally spends his time growling at Harm and Mac and co. Right to the end, I wasn't quite sure where the threat to Chegwidden was coming from, so kudos for the writers for keeping us - or, at least, me - guessing. Steven Culp has another maxi-cameo as CIA agent Clayton Webb, and Boris Yeltsin features as well! John M. Jackson does a great job displaying the admiral's grief - very believable.

JAG: Trinity (1997) Season 2, Episode 6

"Trinity"

[9/10 · 20 May 2024]

Grab your popcorn and get ready, because "Trinity" is a rollicking yarn of an episode, quintessential mid-90's stuff with the IRA and URC playing key parts. Even Princess Diana has a cameo!

We barely see Chegwidden and Bud. This is the Harm and Mac show again, out of uniform and on the road in Ireland, where a Navy officer has managed to fall pregnant to an IRA heavy hitter. There is a little intrigue and plenty of action - out of the courtroom this time.

Clearly, a lot of the episode is rubbish from a factual background, but it was a lot of fun, and I must admit that I forgot this episode from the first time I watched JAG all the way through. Not sure how. Great entertainment.

Manhunt: A Man of Destiny (2024) Season 1, Episode 5

"A Man of Destiny"

[9/10 · 19 May 2024]

"A Man of Destiny" is the shortest episode of Manhunt to this point and one of the best, and it features a flashback to ten years before the assassination, which I think is also a record for this show, where the flashbacks ha have been plentiful, and necessary to telling various parts of the story.

Whilst President Jackson continues to try and undo everything Lincoln had achieved, Stanton and the cavalry he is working with are closing in on John Wilkes Booth, who isn't actually in Virginia, but still in Maryland due to a navigational error on the part of David Herold.

The walls are closing in. Doctor Mudd is arrested, and there are leads coming thick and fast. The episode ends with a strong one as to Booth's whereabouts, and with Stanton in serious personal jeopardy.

Manhunt: The Secret Line (2024) Season 1, Episode 4

"The Secret Line"

[8/10 · 18 May 2024]

Patton Oswalt and Tobias Menzies as Baker and Stanton respectively are a brilliant duo. They really make this show hum.

The question posed in "The Secret Line", is whether Stanton ordered the assassination of Jefferson Davis as a way to perhaps cut short the long and wasteful war. The conversation Lincoln and Stanton have in one of the flashback scenes certainly alludes to that being the case.

You can feel the walls closing in for Confederates in this episode. Not just Booth, who appears to be headed for the Commonwealth of Virginia, but the Wall Street traders who are Confederate sympathisers and may have had something to do with Booth as well.

Manhunt: Let the Sheep Flee (2024) Season 1, Episode 3

"Let the Sheep Flee"

[7/10 · 17 May 2024]

Good acting and pacing throughout this episode, with a couple of very interesting flashbacks. Hamish Linklater continues to impress as Lincoln.

Stanton is fighting battles on multiple fronts as he tries to push through Lincoln's idea of Reconstruction, but he meets some significant headwinds along the way, including from the President himself. He's still on the hunt for Booth, who is holed up in Maryland, whilst a hotbed of Confederate spies has gathered in Montreal of all places. The search is clearly taking it's toll on Stanton, who is supposed to be on at least a month's worth of bed rest under orders from his doctor due to asthma-related issues and it's fair to say that Mrs Stanton is unimpressed when her husband basically ignores those orders.

JAG: Crossing the Line (1997) Season 2, Episode 5

"Crossing the Line"

[9/10 · 15 May 2024]

A crossing the line ceremony aboard the USS Seahawk - another nod to the first season - goes wrong and a female pilot has made a complaint via the Navy's sexual harassment hotline, alleging that the ceremony was the latest step in a long pattern of harassment against her by the CAG, Thomas Boone, played irascibly as always by Terry O'Quinn. Harm and Mac, along with Bud, are sent to the Seahawk to investigate the situation, as the complicating factor is the CAG's pending promotion.

"Crossing the Line" offers a nod to JAG's past and also to it's future, as Bud meets Ensign Harriet Simms, the Public Affairs Officer who took over his position when he transferred to JAG sometime between the first and second seasons. JAG aficionados know that Harriett will, in later seasons, become Bud's wife.

JAG: Heroes (1997) Season 2, Episode 4

"Heroes"

[10/10 · 15 May 2024]

Ahh yes, the famous episode where Harm earns the ire of the court and Admiral Chegwidden by firing a loaded Heckler & Koch submachine gun into the ceiling in order to make a point. It's one of the most seminal moments in JAG's ten-year run.

"Heroes" is also notable for the first real tension between Harm and Mac as the former prosecutes and the latter defends a member of SEAL Team Five who has been charged with deliberately killing a fellow team member on a mission to recover some Semtex. Har and Mac really go at it, and Mac appears to take it personally.

As Harm learns, things aren't as they seem, and it's ultimately quite a heartbreaking story about fathers and sons and hidden, uncomfortable truths. I guess it was just the way things happened in the US Navy in the 1990's - thankfully it is a thing of the past now.

JAG: Jinx (1997) Season 2, Episode 3

"Jinx"

[8/10 · 15 May 2024]

Harm, Mac and Bud are headed out to the west coast in "Jinx", after one of Harm's old fighter pilot colleagues, Lieutenant Tess McKee is killed during an F14 Tomcat accident. It turns out that the squadron may be cursed - jinxed. The JAG trio are there to investigate the cause of the accident, and Harm manages to spend some time with Annie and Josh Pendry.

"Jinx" is the first time this season that we see Harm in the air, and it is a tense few moments after he goes up to try and help the squadron get past the curse they are believed to have.

Mac and Bud had little to do in this episode, and we didn't even see Admiral Chegwidden. This was definitely a Harm episode, with a nod back to the first season.

Rambo (2008)

Rambo 1, bad guys 0

[8/10 · 13 May 2024]

John Rambo is back in action, this time battling the merciless Burmese army who are engaged in some very horrific ethnic cleansing.

When the grizzled vet agrees to take some religious missionaries (Julie Benz and Paul Schulze amongst them) up river to Burma, Rambo ends up being thrust back into combat once again when the group goes missing and are captured by the Burmese army. He must accompany a motley crew of mercenaries (including Graham MacTavish and Matthew Marsden) on a mission to save them.

An ultra-violent and at times confronting return to the big screen for Sylvester Stallone's iconic character. The body count is enormous. I've not seen anything like it before or since. Not for the faint of heart, and certainly a lot more gory and gruesome than the previous three instalments.

Manhunt: Post-mortem (2024) Season 1, Episode 2

"Post-mortem"

[8/10 · 11 May 2024]

In "Post-mortem", Tobias Menzies' Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War in a country recently at war with itself but currently adjusting to peacetime, must balance the preparations for President Lincoln's funeral with trying to put together a full picture of who killed the POTUS at Ford's Theatre, and figure out whether it is part of a conspiracy enacted by Confederate forces.

Meanwhile, the actor turned assassin John Wilkes Booth is on the run, trying to stay several steps ahead of federal forces, receiving assistance from various sympathisers.

Less action than the first episode, but nonetheless a strong one: good writing and good acting, especially from Tobias Menzies. I recognise characters from history as they are introduced.

Manhunt: Pilot (2024) Season 1, Episode 1

"Pilot"

[9/10 · 11 May 2024]

The time jumps early in the first episode of "Manhunt" are a little confusing unless you're paying very close attention, but those are gone about two thirds of the way into the episode, which moves at warp speed in dealing with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre by actor John Wilkes Booth, and the attempted assassinations of the Secretary of State and the Vice President.

Caught in the middle, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, has to piece all the events together and begin the hunt for Booth, who escapes Washington D. C. in the chaos after his country-altering act.

Even though you know what's ultimately going to happen (well, parts of it, anyway) "Pilot" is a tense episode that sets up the rest of the miniseries perfectly.

I thought Hamish Linklater did a great job as Lincoln, and Tobias Menzies as Stanton was also good. He'll work his way further into the role as the episodes go by, I'm sure.

(I don't get the hate for this episode - I was enthralled from the very beginning.)

Road Trip: Beer Pong (2009 Video)

Dumb, but fun.

[6/10 · 11 May 2024]

Look, it'sno masterpiece and is definitely not in the league of the original "Road Trip" movie (which is a classic of it's genre, no doubt about it) nor the semi-related Euro Trip that followed. However, there are a few laughs to be found in the first instalment of the franchise, which focuses on a group of students (stereotypical ones, it must be said - your stoner, your guy in a long-distance relationship, your player, and your cringey ethnic student as well) from Ithaca, the same college as in the original, heading to the National Beer Pong championships, where they are entered

As you might imagine, they get waylaid plenty along the way and find themselves in a few situations that lend themselves to the crass, late'00's humour that wouldn't pass muster today. It's dumb, features a fair amount of female toplessness, and doesn't even attempt to be subtle, but I watched it on a long overseas flight and it gave me a few chuckles.

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

The Force is strong with this one.

[10/10 · 11 May 2024]

A brilliant film from the start to finish. George Lucas' creative vision is sometimes questioned, but not where the original trilogy is concerned.

You can see why this took the world by storm and continues to enthrall people, myself included, many decades later, not to mention having spawned ten other films and a half-dozen TV series', with no signs of it ever slowing down, either.

I remember watching this for the first time, my mind blown. The classic good versus bad, Rebellion versus Empire, Sith versus Jedi story. Darth Vader is a villain worthy of the name, the Death Star is a monstrosity, Luke Skywalker is the perfect hero, Han Solo is the the rogue with the heart of gold who ends up saving the day, and there are so many other great characters, iconic one-liners and great action.

(The final clash between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance fighter pilots is surely one of the best action sequences ever.)

So good. So much fun.

JAG: Secrets (1997) Season 2, Episode 2

"Secrets"

[8/10 · 11 May 2024]

Following a prison break in the pre-credit sequence, the action in "Secrets" takes place nearly exclusively at JAG's Falls Church, Virginia headquarters. There, Admiral Chegwidden (and, later, Mac and Bud as well) are taken hostage by the prisoner who escaped. He believes he was wrongfully incarcerated and decides that the best way to prove his innocence is to take an admiral hostage. Not sure that checks out, but anyway.

There is plenty of intrigue afoot as Harm (with some assistance from Clayton Webb) try to talk the hostage taker down and rescue the admiral, Mac and Bud, all whilst fending off a strike team who - for various reasons that play out as the episode goes along - are very keen to silence the hostage taker.

A very good episode.

The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream (2008 TV Movie)

Better than the second one

[8/10 · 11 May 2024]

"The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream" is basically the first movie in reverse: a male figure skater needs a new partner, and he finds her in the form of a hockey player.

For mine, the film's biggest selling point is the chemistry between the stars Matt Lanter as Zack Conroy and Francia Raisa as Alejandra 'Alex' Delgado. The rich boy and the poor girl. The skater and the hockey player. They made a hugely believable couple right from the outset. All their scenes together were very well done.

Also, it was nice to see a connection to the original film, through Christy Romano's Jackie Dorsey, the daughter of Doug and Kate.

And look out for a cameo from noted TSN Canada broadcaster Rod Black.

Sure, there are some very predictable - almost formulaic - parts in the fim, but that's the case with most of these rom-coms. It definitely doesn't detract from the film's overall entertainment, and it is indeed entertaining. Not to mention that it's a vast and welcome improvement on the sequel, which was quite dull.

JAG: We the People (1997) Season 2, Episode 1

"We the People"

[9/10 · 8 May 2024]

Notable in JAG lore for being the first episode where Catherine Bell's United States Marine Corps Major Sarah 'Mac' MacKenzie debuts alongside season one holdover Harmon Rabb Jr, played by David James Elliott. After JAG was cancelled by NBC, it was picked up by CBS and ran for another nine seasons, featuring the DJE/CB combo all the way to the end.

In "We the People", the Declaration of Independence, is stolen by some disgruntled Marines (in what is a cool opening sequence) and Mac has a connection to the case, thus being handed the assignment by Steven Culp's Clayton Webb. Whilst Mac believes she is only Rabb's partner on the mission to return the Declaration, of course we all know better.

The only annoying thing about the season two premiere is that the season one cliffhanger isn't even mentioned. I mean, last we saw of Rabb was him being arrested for murder. Then, to start this season, he's getting a medal from President Clinton, and working with someone who looks a heck of a lot like the person whose murder he was arrested for (of course, both were played by Catherine Bell). Some continuity issues, but a good episode nonetheless.

Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance (2018 TV Movie)

All things considered, not bad.

[7/10 · 7 May 2024]

Well, considering it's a made-for-TV Lifetime movie heavy on British cliches and surely - SURELY! - with a truck load of creative license taken, "Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance" is actually pretty good. I mean, it isn't going to win any awards, but this a fictionalised version of the royal romance that just about broke the internet, has it's moments.

The shadow of racism that seemed to hang over the whole thing is not shied away from, which I thought was a brave choice that elevates the production, and there is some good acting in places from the cast. There are some cringeworthy moments as well, but you take the good with the bad in a movie like this.

A note on casting: Parisa Fitz-Henley looks a lot like Meghan Markle and from certain angles, Murray Fraser bears more than a passing resemblance to Prince Harry. Some of the other casting decisions are a little off, but you can't win them all. Fitz-Henley and Fraser have good chemistry, and their romantic scenes are quite well done, as well.

Raise a Glass to Love (2021 TV Movie)

Good Hallmark - cheers!

[8/10 · 6 May 2024]

THIS tale of wine and love is an example of what Hallmark can produce when they really set their collective minds to it.

Laura Osnes is a stunning leading lady, and I really wish she'd been in more Hallmark films before decamping for GAC Family, where films are, to my mind, of a lesser standard. Osnes is well cast opposite Juan Pablo Di Pace. Who I don't think has starred for Hallmark before.

Credit Emily Schmitt and Laura Rohrman for giving them a good script with which to work.

British Columbia wine country stands in for Sonoma - BC is called upon often by Hallmark to stand in for all sorts of different cities - and it is stunning countryside, well captured. There's something spectacular about wine country, especially in the fall. Actually, Hallmark's Fall Harvest movies are amongst their most visually spectacular, year-in, year-out.

If only there was more of this sort of Hallmark movie than the other formulaic, cliche-riddled, poorly-written and poorly-acted variety that, unfortunately, is the norm for them.

Cheers!

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003)

Average but harnless

[5/10 · 5 May 2024]

They probably should have stopped after the first Lara Croft movie, which was superior to the sequel in every way.

Nonetheless, "The Cradle of Life" has some good special effects and impressive action sequences, not to mention a plot with a bunch of nefarious bad guys hellbent on world domination that made me instantly think of a modern-day Indiana Jones, albeit a female one.

Angelina Jolie is the undisputed star of the show portrays the fearless gun-toting titular video game character well, even managing a passable English accent, and the appearance of Gerard Butler's Terry Sheridan gives us a glimpse into her past.

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Better than Patriot Games, every bit Red October's equal.

[8/10 · 4 May 2024]

Rewatching this after a while, I forgot how good a political thriller "Clear and Present Danger" is.

Whilst the story of a secret CIA-run drug war in Colombia gone horribly wrong could not hope to replicate the intricacies of the Tom Clancy novel on which it is based, the script writers have crafted a movie that starts off slowly, setting the scene and establishing the players, before coming home with a wet sail.

Harrison Ford is supreme as Jack Ryan. He is the best Ryan there ever has or will be. I thought Willem Dafoe played John Clark with the necessary edge and enjoyed the performances of Henry Czerny as Ritter and Harris Yulin as Cutter, the two (American) protagonists. Joaquim de Almedia as Cortez, the real bad guy, was pretty good as well. James Earl Jones had limited screen time as Ryan's mentor, James Greer.

Spectacular action sequences (especially those in the jungle) interposed with Washington intrigue makes for a well-rounded movie. You know, it might even be better than "The Hunt for Red October," which is often mentioned as being the best Jack Ryan movie of all.

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Flat - a tired franchise.

[5/10 · 4 May 2024]

Director Taika Waititi brought the best parts of "Thor: Ragnarok" to the sequel, but the New Zealander, who also stars as the voice of Korg, couldn't - and you'll pardon the pun here, I hope - make lighting strike twice.

There were times when I thought I was watching a parody of Thor as we knew him from earlier movies. The jokes that worked in "Ragnarok" didn't work here. The scenes with Zeus (Russell Crowe, one of many Australian or New Zealand actors and actresses featuring) were just dumb and don't even get me started on the goats.

A film that could have been better and arguably should have been better. Hemsworth was a shadow of his former monolithic self and Christian Bale, barely recognisable, wasn't really all that much of a villain. Not even Natalie Portman's return as fan favourite Dr Jane Foster or Waititi as Korg could save this one. Unfortunately. Best the shelve Thor if this is as good as it gets.

Blind Date Book Club (2024 TV Movie)

Hallmark Star Power

[7/10 · 4 May 2024]

It's refreshing to see Erin Krakow in a Hallmark movie that isn't a period piece. She and Robert Buckley (of "One Tree Hill" and "Chesapeake Shores" fame) are both big Hallmark guns, and are both well cast in an original and well-written story (no tired tropes or cliches to be seen here!) set on Nantucket, but filmed - like most Hallmark movies - in British Columbia.

The chemistry between Krakow's Meg, a book store owner, and Buckley's Graham, a writer suffering from that terrible affliction of writer's block, is on point from their very first scene together. It's this chemistry that makes the movie so good.

I enjoyed this one. Hope we see more movies with Krakow and Buckley starring together.