UNDER SUSPICION (Netflix) – There’s a whole history between the two principle characters; friendly and adversarial? We don’t know the facts of the case that Captain Benezet (Freeman) is pursuing Henry Hearst (Hackman) for, but as the story comes out, we begin to see a man who is ashamed, guilty, of something… but is he [...]
Read more →SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL (Netflix) – Very much a film of the 80s with its overt sexism and racism. I think the Pryor comedies tried to comment on race issues, but they were mostly loaded down with stereotypes on both ends. I’d argue that THE TOY was much more successful as a comedy [...]
Read more →SUNSHINE CLEANING (Netflix) – Emily Blunt, Amy Adams and Mary Lynn Rajskub are all great in this. There are a couple issues with the script where I’d have liked to see certain aspects of the story resolve that didn’t, and other aspects NOT resolve that did. All in all, though, great acting on a good [...]
Read more →SHORT CIRCUIT (Netflix) – It may be horrible, but Ben Jabituya (Fisher Stevens) is my favorite character in the film, and he’s at best a secondary character and at worst a horrible amalgamation of stereotypes. He does, however, have all the good lines, and Stevens is about the best actor on this film. Ooh. Her [...]
Read more →CASINO ROYALE (1967) (Netflix) – On the surface, the idea that both the name James Bond and the designation 007 are moved from man to man are something of a good idea to explain away film and actor contradictions. Sadly, that’s just a plot device for something of a boring, silly mess of a film. [...]
Read more →LORD OF WAR (iTunes) – Nic Cage at his emotionless best, playing the apparently sociopathic Yuri Orlov. Yuri sets up shop as an international arms dealer when things in the family restaurant just aren’t doing it for him. Soon enough, he’s on a first name basis with a Liberian warlord, and he’s seduced and married [...]
Read more →QR codes have a decent amount of allowance for error… Trying to see how much data loss I can get away with.
Read more →PRÉNOM: CARMEN (iTunes) – About 10 minutes in, I was begging for it to be over; this is part of what makes it a real Jean-Luc Godard production in my books. I made it through my body attempting to reject the film, and it got better. Godard plays with audio, sometimes with birds or music [...]
Read more →THE BEAVER (Carlton) – I didn’t really want to see this at first, as it meant giving money indirectly into the Mel Gibson Crazy Machine. He’s in the same box with Jim Carrey and Tom Cruise for me; watch with caution. Ticket guy at the theatre reassured me; “don’t think of it as supporting Mel [...]
Read more →GREEN LANTERN (Carlton) – I really need to go into comic book films with really poor expectations. Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes and their 23%, I think I enjoyed this more than I would have otherwise. I really only have the vaguest of memories of the Green Lantern from the comics; basically a guy who always [...]
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