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Reviews
Tatort: Blind Date (2021)
Stylish, but Unrealistic Plot Twists
The story starts down an interesting path with the sole witness to a robbery-murder at gas/petrol station being a blind law student in Mainz. The personality collisions between detective partners Berlinger and Rascher are entertaining.
**Big Spoiler Alert** But the plot descends bizarrely into the story of the blind woman's ravenous hunger for social relationships that leads her into a Lesbian relationship (soft porn level) with one of the villains. In the end, the blind woman's identification with the killers is such that she even requests to accompany them on a robbery, to experience what the killers call the "adrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine" rapture of the crime.
This is a Columbo-style episode, where we know who did it quickly, and the mystery remains whether and how the police will identify and capture the criminals. I generally like these, but this one was overwhelmed by the script's concentration on less central matters and character development. A major diversion comes with the decision, horrifying at that, of Detective Berlinger to hand over her young daughter to the care of her philandering English boyfriend, because that daughter is inconvenient to the detective's lifestyle and job.
In the end, I didn't feel great having watched this episode.
Destination Wedding (2018)
Wickedly smart, meaningful, and funny
If you like to think and talk about why we're here and what other people mean to us, this is the film for you. If you want a sappy rom-com about a couple meeting at a wedding, then it's not. I suspect the modest overall rating comes from those who wanted the latter and were disappointed. This is a movie about cynicism yielding to hope and about being open to those whom life throws in your way. Its laugh-out- loud funny at many points, especially if you have a wry sense of humor. Plaudits to Keanu and Winona for their intelligent portrayals of two no-longer-so-young people who have been burned by love and struggle on anyway. A well-written and beautifully filmed gem that will fully reward the 90 minutes you spend with it.
Family Ties: 4 Rms Ocn Vu (1984)
All Time Great "Family Ties" Line
"There was a kangaroo....in my living room." This is the episode that reminds anyone who ever had their parents return home early from an out-of-town trip what it was like to fall way short of their expectations. I saw this in 1984 and have repeated that line ever since when appropriate.
Tarawa Beachhead (1958)
B Movie Reuses Scenes from "Sands of Iwo Jima"
Meh, it's a B movie from the 50s, running only 77 minutes. It's not terrible, but don't expect to see much that's accurate about the Battle of Tarawa...except perhaps for the justification for choosing the Central Pacific route to Japan rather than going exclusively through Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. As in "Battle Cry," another film concerning the 2nd Marine Division prior to Tarawa, much of the film is set in New Zealand, but some of the purported Kiwis have accents from no farther west than California and hair styles no older than the late 1950s. If you've seen "Sands of Iwo Jima," you'll recognize much of the battle and beach footage, just stuck into this movie in between dialogue scenes in order to avoid having to pay to stage it again, I guess. Some accurate, some inaccurate combat film is inserted; as for the latter, amphibious tanks and vehicles with Army markings spoil the mood if you're trying to get a feel for the real Tarawa, as do broad, sandy beaches and lush, intact vegetation. The hatred between the main characters is well done, and the villain is a good mix of hero and coward. The trope of the woman burned badly by losing a husband at war and determined never to fall in love again is on full display (as in "Battle Cry" and "The Americanization of Emily").