interactbiz's Reviews

Curb Your Enthusiasm: No Lessons Learned (2024)

Season 12, Episode 10

10/10

15 April 2024

I suppose Curb will live on in reruns, but what an inspired way to end production.

Talking about nasty drunks a friend said, "Always remember that alcohol reveals the true self. With reduced inhibitions, nasty people act out the behavior their sober selves suppress."

The Larry David character has no inhibitions. He has the kinds of reactions that many people experience but choose to hide because they want to get along with others.

I doubt there is any other TV series that lasted 12 seasons while featuring a thoroughly unlikeable main character. Or should that be the main characters?

The final episode of Curb must have been fun for the cast. Many former players return to revisit past segments.

Larry David has spent much of his career doing groundbreaking comedy. It's sad if this is his final work, but what a career he's given us.

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Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (II) (2023)

9/10

Interesting and touching

14 January 2024

A touching story of a man who initially struggled to find success in the entertainment world. He achieved it beyond his dreams, grew beyond the risky behavior that affects many young people, and matured into a distinguished adult.

The story seamlessly joins old photos, videos, and excerpts from Fox's movies and television, along with recreations and current footage.

Parkinson's Disease changed the lives of Fox and his family. But the actor focused on conquering the disease. CBS News credits him with raising awareness and funding over $2 billion worth of research.

The program illustrates how Michael J. Fox succeeded in the entertainment business, but more importantly, facing difficult challenges, it shows how he has succeeded in life.

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Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

9/10

A tour de force

3 September 2023

A genuinely fine filmmaking achievement. From the script and film design, to the acting, directing, editing, costuming, makeup artistry, and other human elements that make great filmmaking so difficult.

The movie was overlong. The session leading to the main character losing security clearance dragged on longer than needed.

A writer for the New Yorker mentioned that Oppenheimer's humanitarian concerns proved to be his "undoing." Richard Brody got that wrong. It took time, but ultimately, Oppenheimer's reputation was not undone. Informed people recognize his malevolent commie-hunting, power seeking accusers as the villains they were.

There will be a boatload of Oscars collected by people involved in Oppenheimer the movie. Murphy, Damon, and Downie will be rewarded for great performances.

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Recipe Lost & Found: Myra's Matzo Ball Soup (2022)

Season 1, Episode 1

8/10

An exploration of food and culture.

19 February 2023

Lesser food shows focus on preparation without revealing much about the people who originated and kept the traditional dishes alive across many generations. Host Casey Corn studied food anthropology, then travelled and studied culinary arts in Europe. After working with legendary chef Susan Feninger, Casey travelled in Asia. Having lived in three corners of the USA, she seems well prepared for explorations of different food traditions. Ms. Corn is a skilled presenter. Time will tell if she can follow in Anthony Bourdain's footsteps. His travels in North America and beyond are still enjoyable to watch and instructive about cultures he encountered. I will keep an eye on further episodes of this series and I expect to see more of Casey Corn on television in the future.

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Corner Gas (2004–2009)

8/10

An underrated gem

20 October 2022

Gentle, quirky, and timeless humour. Not intended to educate, motivate, or activate. Sure, some of the characters are almost terminally dumb, but they're human. The humour is often subtle, involving puns and other wordplay. The program succeeds because the casting is excellent.

I would bet the creators and the actors never expected this half-hour show to last more than 100 episodes and be followed by 48 animated versions. Like Schitt's Creek, which was developed for CBC years after Corner Gas, this creation of stand-up comedian Brent Butt started modestly on CTV and built a loyal audience inside and outside Canada.

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Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee (2022)

2/10

Accept humanity in all its flaws? No thanks.

29 August 2022

Despite never meeting McAfee in person, Director Charlie Russell said of this accused murderer, tax evader, drug user and paranoid international fugitive, "I think it's quite hard not to like John." Russell is also quoted by Esquire's Laura Martin as saying, "Ultimately, I think John teaches us to accept humanity in all its flaws."

Personally, I think not. Instead, McAfee teaches that badly flawed people are dangerous to be around and deserve only rejection and disapproval.

The subject of this program told so many lies, that truth is impossible to know. Documentaries are supposed reveal useful facts. Using various sources, this one only reveals that narcissist John McAfee deserved zero respect for the final decades of his life.

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Jon Stewart: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (2022 TV Special)

9/10

Jon Stewart - more than a humorist

24 June 2022

A series of entertaining and amusing segments featuring stars who've been inspired by Stewart or had their own careers launched through association with him. But also entertainers like The Boss were there to appreciate Stewart's work. The opening with Springsteen and Gary Clark Jr. Featured a superb cover of a Beatles classic.

Stewart talked about the hope we are getting back to normal, and getting back to honoring non-essential workers. The show is typical of Jon Stewarts work: a mix of comedy and talk with serious purpose.

Stewart says, "Democracy is under threat. Authoritarians are the threat to comedy, to art, to music, to thought, to poetry, to progress, to all those things..." This program will offend supporters of authoritarianism but should be a pleasure for the remainder.

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Showbiz Kids (2020)

7/10

Early pursuit of success, helpful or harmful?

4 June 2022

Reality is that some children live in the Hollywood experience and emerge as capable, accomplished, and happy adults. Others do not. However, the same can be said about youngsters pushed toward high-level sports. Or music. Or dance. Or academics.

Reaching maturity successfully depends on numerous factors but thoughtful, unselfish, and caring adult influences might be the most important.

Alex Winter spent his life in the entertainment business, so it was reasonable for him to focus on experiences of people who worked as child actors. Winter understands the risks and rewards of the entertainment business but his documentary would have been more complete had he taken a wider view.

Another documentary could examine the processes of very young people chasing "success" in other fields. I would bet the adults that emerge are a similar mix of happy and troubled people.

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United Skates (2018)

9/10

A revealing documentary

27 May 2022

At the simplest level, this is a celebration of the artistry and physical ability of skaters of many ages. Yet, the filmmakers go well beyond, exploring social and economic issues that have long affected, and today, doom skating facilities across the country.

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Young Sheldon: A Clogged Pore, a Little Spanish and the Future (2022)

Season 5, Episode 22

8/10

More real than reality shows

20 May 2022

Recent episodes may offend people who appreciate the days when hunger and poverty never faced TV families, when married couples slept in separate single beds and babies were delivered to deserving families by storks, when miscegenation didn't exist and people of color knew their place. But it's refreshing to see entertainment that has families dealing with real-world situations and experiencing both sadness and delight. Viewers that can't handle the ride should dig out old episodes of I love Lucy.

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Ozark: A Hard Way to Go (2022)

Season 4, Episode 14

4/10

Logical plot development not a thing here

6 May 2022

The filmmakers had enough material for about ten episodes but wanted to produce fourteen. That led to pointless plot elements that contributed little or nothing to the story arc. The car crash is but one example.

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Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)

8/10

Roger Ebert: "wonderful"

10 April 2022

Any film that Roger Ebert awarded top marks is almost certain to please discerning movie watchers. In life, genius sometimes has difficulty living with happiness and social comfort. Helping children develop a particular skill without sacrificing balance for all things is a challenge central to this film. Writer/director Steven Zaillian has been involved in numerous fine feature films but has only directed three. The fine performances in this film are a credit to the actors but also director Zaillian. Young Max Pomeranc was perfect for this role.

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Boys vs. Girls (2019)

2/10

No originality

14 March 2022

Canada has a continuing supply of movies made only through funding from tax funded agencies and compelled exhibitors. Few attract theatre audiences, but some appear on television to meet domestic content requirements.

Boys vs. Girls would be one of these. The script, direction and performances have something in common: lameness.

Actors portraying kids are as close to 30 as to their time as teenagers. But that's common in low budget examples of the vacation camp genre. I shudder to imagine Louis Malle using 26-year-olds as the leads in Au Revoir les Enfants.

Do not be fooled by high ratings. Those are likely provided by friends and family.

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California Typewriter (2016)

8/10

Fascinating

13 March 2022

I stumbled over this documentary and was soon captured. Perhaps because I recalled 10-year-old me beginning an unwritten novel on mother's new Smith Corona portable and 14-year-old me banging on clunky manuals in middle school typing classes. I suspect that for many of the collectors featured in this show, now-impractical devices trigger nostalgic yearnings for times when life seemed less complicated and more enjoyable.

Filmmaker Doug Nichol offers both recognizable celebrities and little-known folks, each with their own level of interest in, or obsession for, fading technology. Another juxtaposition involves people preserving outdated machines and a sculptor deconstructing them to give machine parts new life in unique art forms.

As the program evolves, it becomes less about machines and more about the people who treasure them.

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The Righteous Gemstones (2019– )

6/10

Absurdity weakens the satire

8 February 2022

In many situations, organized religion is ripe for satire. Christian evangelists enjoying unrestrained luxury after begging cash from unsophisticated followers should be the ripest targets of all. Yet this series often dips too deeply into absurdity. That weakens any message the Danny McBride series might have delivered.

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Son of a Critch (2022– )

4/10

Assumes stupidity is somehow funny

13 January 2022

I admit to underestimating Schitt's Creek when it was first shown so I chose to stay with this new Canadian comedy for more than the first episode. Halfway through the second, I couldn't go further. It is another series that assumes stupidity is funny.

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All In: The Fight for Democracy (2020)

10/10

Democracy is fragile

19 September 2020

America was once labeled a democracy and it appointed itself leader of the free world. But democracy is defined as a system of government by the whole population. This documentary proves that powerful people in the USA believe the 15th amendment was a mistake and plutocracy is preferable to democracy.

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American Gospel: Christ Alone (2018)

6/10

Critiques the most egregious cons; but excuses mainstream artifice

3 June 2020

Mythologies have a powerful hold on people with psychological need for them, and on those who were taught to accept their church's teachings uncritically. This would have been a more useful documentary if doctrines of mainstream Christianity were subjected to analysis.

It seems more like an effort to keep conventional Christians from straying and paying too much attention to big money preaching enterprises.

Perhaps we'd have heard an explanation of why an all-powerful and loving God allowed, according to UNICEF, 223 million children to die before their fifth birthdays between 1990 and 2013, with slightly lower numbers continuing each year now.

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Restoration Garage (2013– )

3/10

Vanity TV

14 April 2019

Restoration Garage features David Grainger, his wife Janice Stone and billionaire friend Larry Burns. The series seems like a TV version of vanity publishing and some viewers will be left wondering how and why this show was produced.

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Canada's Smartest Person (2014– )

1/10

Tax dollars pay for this rubbish!

13 October 2014

This has to be one of the worst CBC programs ever produced. It occasionally professes to be science based but is as scientific as the E! show on which host Jessi Cruickshank spent time.

With fake audio sweetening, producers intend the studio audience of about 2 dozen mostly inanimate people to sound like hundreds of exuberant devotees. The audio fits as well as laugh tracks on early Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

I suspect someone at CBC watched "Canada's Greatest Know It All" on Discovery Channel and set about dumbing-down the concept and turning out a game show that would have made Chuck Barris happy in the 1970's.

Productions such as this probably would not exist except for the billions of dollars extracted from cable TV subscribers and dispersed by the Canadian Media Fund.

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The Cheshire Murders (2013 TV Movie)

8/10

Powerful exposition of ugly events

22 August 2013

The movie presents chilling portraits of evil. Two career criminals commit capital crimes against innocent victims who are described with respect and sympathy. After setting fire to the crime scene, the murderers flee but waiting police capture them almost immediately. Viewers learn the murderers' backgrounds but are left to weigh factors that might have contributed to wilful depravity.

The documentary suggests that police could have done more to avoid the deadly outcome. For almost 30 minutes, police observed the victims' home but took no actions. They chose not to enter the house, despite knowing the woman and her two children were captive. A victims' relative thought police intended to keep an intact perimeter to ensure capture of the criminals. Rescuing victims seemed secondary.

Whether police actions were excusable or not is uncertain but it is certain that officials refused to be accountable for their decisions. Transcripts of conversations involving police were almost entirely redacted and, according to the filmmakers, officials would not respond to family letters nor make comments that were anything more than tasteless self-congratulations.

Ultimately, the program turns to capital punishment. Suffering family members take positions in the film in favour while other voices counter the arguments. This not a definitive examination of the death penalty but filmmakers note that a possibility of death sentences, while failing to deter the killers, was a complicating factor at trial. But for it, the case would have been resolved in weeks instead of years.

The film is a balanced examination of the crime, the criminals, the victims and the justice institutions. I was intrigued also by the subtle review of religion. It offered comfort to victims but was shown as a contributor to the personal disintegration of a youthful killer whose adoptive parents had refused him recommended therapy, opting instead for bible camp, hoping prayer would be corrective.

A solid and moving effort.

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Screen One: A Foreign Field (1993)

Season 5, Episode 2

9/10

A real delight, funny, touching, meaningful

31 March 2010

Wow, what a cast of masters. Looking at the user ratings, I note that younger folks rate the film a little lower than older people. It is sad if some young people are not touched by this piece of history.

David Niven, usually a ready raconteur, explained (see IMDb bio) why he never talked of his WWII experiences, "I was asked by some American friends to search out the grave of their son near Bastogne. I found it where they told me I would, but it was among 27,000 others, and I told myself that here, Niven, were 27,000 reasons why you should keep your mouth shut after the war."

Alec Guinness could could probably play a statue and do it well. Here, he barely utters a sound and performs wonderfully. Leo McKern plays a Rumpole like character, radiating goodness from within a crusty skin. Character actor John Randolph fits perfectly as the American GI returning to remember Normandy. The other lead roles are faultlessly cast with two magnificent veterans, Jeanne Moreau and Lauren Bacall as well as Geraldine Page. A true A list group of actors.

Writer Roy Clark has done countless hours of comedy, nearly always with gentleness and dignity. This is among his best work.

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The Staircase (2004–2018)

8/10

Shameful Prejudice Used to Convict

2 May 2008

Warning: Spoilers

This powerful exposition ultimately demonstrates how moralist prejudice drives administration of the law in at least parts of the American heartland. Director Lestrade obviously has condensed the trial and chosen scenes to further his point of view but much of the evidence and many of the submissions had no place in a trial seeking truth and justice. Lestrade did not stage events that showed the prosecutors creating jury prejudice, he reported on them.

Judge Hudson allowed an immunized gay hooker to testify about Internet chats with Peterson. The only purpose was to demean Peterson for his sexual interests. It certainly was not to add information about a homicide because the witness had never met Peterson face to face nor had any direct contact with the defendant or his family. The only information he could provide about the Peterson's marriage was Michael's repeated statements about love for his wife Kathleen. Similarly, evidence about gay pornography on Peterson's computer was, by itself, prejudicial. No testimony supported the notion that the material offended the dead woman but assistant prosecutor Freda Black certainly was highly offended by what she called filth.

The prosecution failed to establish a believable motive for murder of Kathleen Peterson. They suggested she was soon to lose her lucrative employment and that might cause Peterson to prefer her dead. Alternatively, they said that Kathleen might have been so offended by newly discovering his gay interest that she would end their relationship.

The most egregious act of the prosecution was to claim parallels between Kathleen's 2001 death with the death of a Peterson family friend in Germany in 1985. Her death 18 years before Peterson's trial was found by investigation at the time to be by natural causes.

Lestrade's film is probably most powerful in the way it presents the Peterson family dynamics. The natural and adopted children stood by the defendant throughout the trial and that presents the strongest evidence of innocence.

Despite my comments above, I am not convinced that Michael Peterson is innocent. However, I do believe that the trial did not prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

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The Castle (1997)

8/10

Hidden Treasure

26 November 2007

A family member found this movie through recommendation of an Aussie friend. I began watching, expecting to bail after a few moments, but was pleasantly surprised. It's a fun story with gentle humor, one that Roger Ebert called "one of the funniest movies of recent years."

My favorite lines involve the "castle" owners explaining how lucky they are to live on the fringe of an international airport. Although the family never travels by air, they think the location would be very convenient if they ever begin flying. Of course, as this is explained, a screaming jetliner passes low overhead, about to land on the nearby runway.

With such a perfect location, it is understandable that the family goes to great lengths to protect their home when the airport wants to expropriate.

Director Rob Stich's next theatrical project was "The Dish", another comic movie with affable and quirky characters. Look for either of these when you are in the mood for comedy.

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Tristram Shandy (2005)

8/10

A must for lovers of inspired comedy,

10 March 2006

Very unique -- it probably helps to be a fan of British humor and perhaps a film industry insider. Don't be put off by thinking this is an old period piece with extravagant costumes and manicured English estates. It is a comedy about movie-making and movie-makers that twists and shifts repeatedly. The viewer won't get lost but some rich material may fly past unnoticed. Good performances from a fine cast. You will never read the end credits because they roll beside a hilarious verbal duel featuring stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Fans of these two should search the BBC Internet site to find some great amusements. If you like Tristan Shandy, look at 24-Hour Party People, a film from the same Director and Writer of Tristram Shandy and starring Steve Coogan.

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