esklepios Reviews

House of the Dragon (2022– )

Gave it a chance, but by episode 6, done with nonsense.

[2/10 · 27 September 2022]

Written to make money, it shows and it ought to fail.

Shameless exploitation of a once good idea. Cast of nasty characters doing nasty things in ways that neither reveal nor reflect human truths. Can't even see how this is catering to a "perceived desire" of the actual audience. Not even consistently good production values, it regularly resorts to an almost black screen, and all the incredible make up talents that can age actors seem to have been cast aside creating a ridiculous discontinuity with new actors playing some of the lead roles.

There is gore and violence for its own sake, a kind of violence porn that degrades TV and degrades us, and the very opposite of the kind of realism that was shown in eg. Saving Private Ryan.

In summary shame on those involved. A real disappointment after the first 7 series of Game of Thrones (ignoring the last of course).

Journey's End (I) (2017)

Benchmark by which to judge others

[9/10 · 3 June 2018]

What a contrast to so much mediocrity and worse eg. Dunkirk. Set in the trenches in March 1918 but not really about the trenches or March 1918 at all.

Superbly cast and acted, a beautifully written reflection of a junior officer's view of the penultimate stages of WW1. Even more, this is a beautifully written reflection on the human spirit in adversity. Of course some of the senior officers are somewhat caricatured - that is what happens in real life. Of course it becomes more and more difficult with the passage of time for people to understand the mentality of empire, the public schoolboy ethos embodied by Raliegh, Maybe the same bravado and fear affects people joining violent gangs - I know not - but Raleigh is about the same age as some gang members - 18/19. Stanhope at 21/22 is a veteran of war, Uncle (Osborne - quite possibly early 30s) almost a veteran of life in their eyes.

Of course such characters have been used in films since - but this was written in 1928. It cut the new ground - others have followed.

The Roman Horace said "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." and it took until WW2 for Patton to say "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." But what about sending your friends, your very best friends, your nearest and dearest to near certain death. What does that "do" to a man. Stanhope knows and through this film we can maybe glimpse that horror. What happens when there is no "cunning plan" left. Uncle knew.

Hold them off for as long as you can. In 1914, in 1918 when Journey's End is set, and again at Dunkirk ordinary men really did. No doubt there are countless other examples both before and in the last 70 years.

This film is a fitting tribute to those men.

The Invention of Lying (2009)

NOT a rom-com

[8/10 · 8 March 2018]

Hard to believe that as I write, this is 9 years old. I was pointed to it by Avi Tuschman's book: Our Political Nature: The Evolutionary Origins of What Divides Us and bought the DVD.

A satire on organized religion (but not amoral or without compassion), a satire on Kantian ethics, and the way some women and some men choose partners I found this deeply uncomfortable to watch - AND WELL WORTH IT. Not surprised some people left the cinema, I ended up watching much of it in 5 - 15 minute chunks mainly because of the cringe factor.

The opening part of the film is definitely the funniest as people calmly offer their real thoughts and actions rather than polite platitudes. After that the film gets down to serious business and there are few laugh out loud moments. While the first lie emerges as a counter to job loss and potential eviction, we soon see lying being used to help the troubled, the homeless and street poor. The potential for happy myths to do real harm is touched on but not really explored, while the potential of happy myths to do some good is explored in a little more depth.

For the most part the acting is excellent, though the Gervais monologue at his mother's headstone could have gone on the editor's floor. The music and choice of songs suited well and I certainly had no problem with the cinematography.

If you can cope with some discomfort you will have some laughs, and certainly be left with something to think about and talk about.