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Reviews
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
The real question is why?
It's not a good movie. It's not really that bad a movie either, but only for the performance of Keifer Sutherland. For that alone it is worth a watch.
The concept is ok, update a WWII classic to modern times. But it can't be done, times have changed too much, what was plausible in the 1940's just won't carry water anymore. Suspend disbelief, you say? Sure, for just about anything other than a historical war drama, where the plot must marry the history or it just doesn't come off. It doesn't.
Even then, it could have used some better writing. In the original, Barney really does torpedo the old man. Here, the lawyers have a lot of strong words, but are just bystanders watching Queeq destroy himself. That's what really left me flat, all the hot air around Sutherland's outstanding performance. Not as good as Bogart, of course, but no one should be held to that standard. For the times, it could not have been better.
So why was it made? I read all the great things about the director's final film, and sure, he made some good ones, but this frankly is sub-par for greatness. Left scratching my head.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Broken Circle (2023)
A gripping action episode
True Trek in all respects. We get fabulous effects, Spock's first command, wherein he steals the Enterprise no less, a mystery to be solved, one-on-one confrontations with the Klingons, the tension of a space battle, and Carol Cane as the new Chief Engineer. It just doesn't get much better than this.
I was glued, which is saying something in these days when we are all ADD. Forgive the plot devices, accept them for what they are. It's not science fact, its science fiction, and the best episodic science fiction ever done, by several light years.
This show is about the characters. All great fiction is about the characters. Gene Rodenberry gave us Wagon Train in space. Live long and prosper.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Spock Amok (2022)
Officially Outstanding - This is the episode that hooked me
It was good from the start. They clearly set out to capture the zeitgeist of TOS. They have succeeded better than Tribbles make babies, causing it to go down smoother than Romulan ale. Huzzah!
Captain Pike is the clone of Captain Kirk, or is it the other way around? Young Spock is brilliant, except that he is grappling with his human side more than old Spock ever did. So much the better. The supporting cast is perfect. There are a couple of timeline violations, but we can chalk them off to the whole alternative universe thing. The important themes of the cannon are well preserved.
The absolute best part is that they have captured the tongue-in-cheek humor of TOS, and with it the loving friendship that the crew share as they save the universe week after week. The stories are brilliantly bizarre. Revering the prime directive while violating it at every turn, conveniently using physics when it works and magic when it doesn't, all to support what's most important, a tale well told, my goodness, it's hard to imagine it being done any better.
Gene Rodenberry gave us Wagon Train in space. He must be watching now from Beta Omicron Delta II. Welcome back!
Goliath (2016)
Good Characters, Well Acted, Well Directed
But you have to forgive some of the plot holes. I just finished season 1. No, it's not as good as Grisham or Connelly, but if that's your standard then you ain't gonna enjoy much TV. The courtroom scene denoument was disaponting. The whole story could have been saved here and I thought it would be. I was anticipating a Perry Mason style battle between two skilled and sharp combatants, but the wrtiers frankly blew it.
Still, very watchable. The characters are believable, the dialog is good, the sub-plots are interesting and fully developed.
Had this come out before Bosch, it probably would have been hailed as brilliant if not groundbreaking. It is still an enjoyable ride through the streets of LA and into the (literally) dark corners of corporate and legal corruption. More than good enough to pass the time while waiting for the return of Hironimus.
BTW, the only reason I discovered this was that I heard from a legal mind I much respect that season 4 is outstanding and true to the mark. Perhaps I will post again once I get through all four seasons.
Revolutionary Road (2008)
An American Tragedy
In a tragedy, while the characters are superficially the victims of unfortunate events, look deeper to find that the seeds of their demise were planted by their own moral failings. As it was with King Lear, so it is with the Wheelers.
Others find fault with this movie. I find it to be fine art. Kate and Leo are phenomonal. Michael Shannon is fantastic as the truth-telling "crazy" son of the neighbors. And director Sam Mendes does that thing that he does so well.
The vision into the commuting and office life of the fifties is intensely realistic. The three martini lunches, the, um, extracurricular uses of the secretarial pool, the daily routine of the housewife, expresses a clear point of view on the banality of middle class existence.
Difficult to watch at times, this movie has the audacity to try and make the audience think. The final shot tells in a single image the message it is sending. Or does it?
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Read the book instead
It started out well enough. The idea of Danny DeVito as Sid Hudgens providing exposition by way of narration was a good one. But it seems they gave up on that idea too soon. It was also true to the book for a while (Bloody Christmas), but this could not continue. There is no way that the novel could be compressed into even a long movie. Problem is, they kept in the wrong parts, and left out the true motivitions of Exley (the expecations of his father, an act of cowardice in war) and Vincennes (the drunken killing of innocents). They also left out the original crime that ties the whole sotry together in the end.
Kevin Spacey was horribly miscast. A great actor, but not nearly the character in the book, and decidely not a noir figure.
And where the hell was LA? If not for a few oil derricks and shots of city hall, we could have been anywhere. A greivous error in direction and cinematography.
It seems they started with a hollywood ending (I know! Let's have a heroic shootout that wraps up the whole story!) and worked backwards from there. Very unfortunate.
Elroy's novels are about corruption, power, and how power is wielded. They also describe the dark underbelly of the places they occur, and use anti-heroes as the protagonists. These are the components of great noir.
In the end, while the movie fails as a noir, it does ultimately succeed as a better than average detective mystery. But oh, what it could have been, with a better adaptation and more visionary direction.
One Under the Sun (2017)
This movie deserves some love
Yes, it's a B movie. No, it's not 2001, or even Solaris. Clearly low budget, much of the exposition is in dialog, which makes it feel a bit slow. At its root, however, is a striking and beautiful message. If you love 2001, and were disappointed by Solaris for what it could have been, then you are likely to enjoy the high points and overlook the slow pacing and low budget sets. OTOH, if you are going to compare it to Star Wars, don't waste your time.