February 8th, 2021

Mank:  The Golden Globe nominations came out last week for the Film and TV Dramas and Comedies.  On that listing came the Netflix film,Mank with an impressive cast including lead Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins (Phil’s daughter), and Tom Burke as Orson Welles.   Oldman plays Herman Mankiewicz, who was a writer in Old Hollywood.   For a lowly writer he seems to be very well connected with powerful friends, including Leo B Mayer and William Randolph Hearst among them.   He is a drunk but a well respected writer.    He is tasked with writing Welles’ Citizen Kane, which Welles at 24yo was brought in to resurrect RKO Pictures’ fortunes.   It is a black and white period piece set in the early 1940s with flashbacks.    Actually the flashbacks can be somewhat of a distraction, taking away from the direction that the story seems to be focused on.   It isn’t clear to me how the gubernatorial election in California from 1934 impacted the Kane storyline, despite having some nice tie-ins to more recent Presidential elections, and that is a criticism for me.   It’s all very fuzzy.   I would be much more interested in the making of the classic film.   The other major distraction for me is how a 62yo Gary Oldman, plays the 33yo Mank from 1940.   Why?   Add to this the backstory of his Oscar winning role of Winston Churchill and him claiming that he must have a fat suit, because he refused to add the weight that he said would be difficult to ever get back off after filming.   Well, he seems to have added the weight on himself, perhaps he swallowed the Best Actor Award?  One cannot say.    In the end, I cannot recommend this film.   It was long and slow.   It had brilliant production design for places like Hearst Castle, which in many ways one should know a little of that story (Hearst and Marion Davies) to put into context what transpires.   It looks beautiful.   The plot is a headscratcher from which Hollywood types will vote for it (like Birdman a couple years ago).  

The Flight Attendant: This Kaley Cuoco TV series is named as a Best Drama (Musical or Comedy)??, and her as a Best Actress.  Ummmm, no.   To me, the lines of Comedy get blurred when there is a murder to be investigated.   The series is all about that.   So it’s no Schitt’s Creek.   The eight episode storyline leans heavily on the pretty and drunkard young blond flight attendant and her life.    In many ways it channels the character of Amy Schumer in Trainwreck from 2016.   Schumer is funnier.  But here there are these surreal flashbacks when our constantly drinking protagonist messed up in a situation that clearly is way over her head that push this intoAmerican Werewolf in London territory.  Strange and yet an important plotline that they continue to perpetuate.    She is after all just someone who is a “party girl” and hooking up on a layover (literally and figuratively) with a handsome guy in first class.   Much of what happens is a drunken haze for her, but it comes back to her in snippets.    It all becomes a little too nice and tidy in the final episode.   You KNOW that they will be working on a sequel (season 2) so that many of the characters have to continue on.   I won’t be rushing out to see this character enter more shady situations.   I don’t think one wins awards for being pretty and acting drunk.    There is more than that. 

Tom Segura –(Netflix) I have seen now three separate comedy specials by this guy, and I like him.   I like his point of view and the stories that he tells.   It is light entertainment that is welcome in these times.   Much like Jim Jefferies he has a cutting humour, doesn’t really care about political correctness and makes interesting human observations.   Smile and enjoy!

February 1st, 2021

In and Of Itself: I have to give credit where credit is due; Alison had brought this to my attention. It is a film of a play that had 554 performances in NYC. Frank Oz directs. Stephen Colbert and his wife are Executive Producers. It is a one man show starring Derek DelGaudio who is a very unassuming guy. I didn’t really know what to expect, but it has stuck with me for days afterwards. For those Canadians of my generation, you likely will remember The Amazing Kreskin on CityTv during the early 70s. Kreskin was a self-labelled mentalist, who was also a magician. DelGaudio is a storyteller, who while imparting stories of his life, his also introduces a little bit of magic on his own. The film is structured in six rough sections. In each he matter-of-factly describes the story. Each story gets a little more and more fantastic, so stay with it if the first story makes you pause a little. You will be rewarded. By the end, without giving too much away, I was quite simply amazed at what I was watching. The section involving letters and the section regarding the labelling cards were jaw dropping for me. There are some life lessons, and one that sticks out to me is that you never can really tell just by looking at someone the depth of their experiences and character. From the perspective from someone who can enjoy playing cards from time to time, I think I have plenty to learn (or at the very least reason to be cautious!!) I rented from http://www.cineplex.com, but it is also available on Rogers On Demand and Hulu in the US. Definitely worth your time. I have recommended to those around me and the office.

Pieces of a Woman: Vanessa Kirby is getting plenty of work these days. From her introduction a couple years back in her role as the young Princess Margaret in The Crown, Seasons 1 and 2, she has been in Mission Impossible as well as two more MI movies in the next while. In this drama she plays a young woman who is very pregnant. Her partner, unmarried is the blue collar Shia LaBeouf, and Mom (poorly cast in my opinion) as 88 yo Ellen Burstyn. Kirby is 32yo, and Burstyn looks every year of her 88 years (hell she was a Mom in The Exorcist back in the early 1970s). Kirby and LaBeouf are anxious about being parents and have chosen to have a home birth, with the assistance of midwife. The trailer shows Kirby in a court room setting, so on some level you know that this will go wrong somewhere along the way. It does. It reminds me more of a film like Revolutionary Road, where you see the poor choices, lack of communication, and escalating tension between a couple. Burstyn as the Mom interferes more than she comfortably should. There are some cringe-worthy exchanges between the primary actors. In the end, it was not very satisfying. It was too long. In some ways, choices made were surprising and others were outright unreal. Perhaps they were possible but not for me. Not worthy of your time. As an aside, there was a very uncomfortable encounter between the couple, which I later found out LaBeouf was accused by an ex-GF of mental and physical abuse. It put this in a different light.

https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/1223901/vanessa-kirby-reacts-to-abuse-allegations-against-co-star-shia-labeouf

Tony Parker: The Final Shot: I have to admit that not being a huge basketball fan and I haven’t paid much attention to NBA champions that didn’t have the name LeBron James associated with them (not because I am a fan, far from it) but just that he gets so much attention. So when I saw that there was a documentary on Tony Parker, a guy who I only knew as the former spouse of Eva Longoria, all of the background and his story was new to me. This young man who was born in Belgium, and grew up in Normandy France area. He was a highly skilled but undersized point guy (6’2″). This documentary was French and thus has subtitles. I had no idea that Parker was a major part in 4 NBA Championships with San Antonio as well as being Playoff MVP one year. Tim Duncan and David Robinson were also part of these teams. He had a remarkable career and seemed to be one the first European players brought over to play in the NBA. San Antonio seemed to be a team that was able to identify and recruit young talent in Europe. Others soon followed after their success. All I came away from after the show was a sense of arrogance about the man, maybe it is just the French accent. But in the way that Tiger Woods in his documentary tried to downplay his talent, fame and money and all that came with it, Tony Parker has no issue with having the theme park like waterslide in his Texas residence. Maybe this is just in how it is shown (heaven knows Tiger Woods has the yachts, houses and private jets too). But in my mind, Tiger Woods is on a different level, and earnings on a different scale. So I would say that for the avid basketball fan, this would be worthwhile. For the more casual view, like me, I didn’t take as much away from it.

January 25th, 2021

Tiger: On Crave HBO Sports has released a two episode documentary on Tiger Woods. It is three hours of interviews of people who have known him, like family friends, ex-girlfriends, ex caddie Steve Williams and others. It is informative, from the early days with young 2yo Tiger being showcased on the Michael Douglas Show, with Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart, to him winning three times the US Amateur Championship. From the highs of winning the Tiger-slam in the early 90s (by holding all the major golf championships at the same time – Masters, US Open, British Open and PGA) to the down times of being arrested for DUI in Jupiter FL and the SUV accident in front of his house as his marriage to Elin falls apart. The viewer realizes pretty early on that one of Tiger’s most magnificent gifts was his ability to compartmentalize his life and emotions. His father, Earl, in many ways was like Leopold Mozart, who pushed his young son into greatness, but the son eclipses the father from talent, determination and hard work. Earl had a Messiah-like belief in his son which would have been difficult to live up to as a young man. It was. Still, despite the challenges, this is a remarkable life, and even though he likely won’t overtake Jack Nicklaus with his 19th Major victory (he is currently at 15, with the 2019 Masters remarkably captured) but it in no way diminishes his impact on the game of golf. It is also a cautionary tale of what persona you put before the public which you aim to meet. Time well spent, especially for those who enjoy golf.

I Am Burt: Crave also had the documentary about Burt Reynolds. Burt the Hollywood actor, had led an interesting life. He early on was a football player of note in Florida and went to Florida State. A knee injury in those early 60s was a fatal career diagnosis. He needed to pivot and choose another way to keep himself occupied. He by chance got into drama. He was good and became an extra with bit roles in Hollywood, mostly in TV cowboy series. Much like Clint Eastwood, his career became stalled and he decided to go to Italy to perform in some spaghetti Westerns. Clint’s career took off as a result of his, but Burt didn’t do himself any favours (Navajo Joe). His big break occurred in 1972 with Deliverance. From there a string of successes with The Longest Yard, Smokey & The Bandit, and others. He was noted later in life for a messy financial situation which was a result of him being gullible and generous to a fault it would seem. There never seemed to be a thought toward “another day”. It seems that the attitude was that the money would always be there. If Tiger was a tale of a being careful of a hard-to-emulate squeaky clean image, this is a tale of fame and money being taken for granted. It is interesting to note that Burt was viewed as a bigger star than today’s Brad Pitt or Leo Dicaprio and others. In fact, the stuntman Pitt character in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood was based upon Reynolds, who himself was a stunt man at one time. This is also worth viewing.

Soul: Pixar recently released this animated full-length animated feature on Disney +. Pixar is well known for quality pictures that have a heart, good stories and relatable characters. Known for classics like Finding Nemo, Up, Cars and Toy Story, they more recently have done pictures like Coco. Back in 2015, they released Inside Out that spoke to the inner workings of a teenage girl’s emotions. It was clever and cute. They have followed up with Soul. Focusing on an aspiring jazz pianist who has only secured a job as a part-time teacher in a high school – this young, single black man looks to have his big break. Just as he does, he meets with an accident and his multi-coloured “soul” is on its way to heaven/The Great Beyond. Instead he fights back hard to complete this mission to make his way in music. The film goes more into Inside Out territory as it explores the plains beyond what we perceive. It once again is clever with some colourful imagery. Little pre-souls are meant to gather their personalities and then find a “spark” that allows them to head to Earth and occupy a human. The details aren’t as important that there is a story with a message. I enjoyed this more than I thought that I would. Although not on the level as the classics from Pixar, it is an exploration of a subject matter that is best suited in animation. Wirth checking out for some lighter entertainment. Can’t we all use a little lighter entertainment.

January 18, 2021

Ammonite: Set in the early 1800s, this period piece stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. For that reason abut forgotten lone I wanted to check out this TIFF film from September. This movie follows a now more familiar pattern; it is a repressed time for women who are told that they must live their life in the service of a husband and for his benefit. She is meant to have children and be valued less. She has no ability to be herself and follow her own dreams, even in the eyes of her own father and family. I am reminded how even 140 years later, Queen Elizabeth isn’t given a proper education by her parents because she just doesn’t need one. She disagrees. Winslet here plays Mary, an accomplished but forgotten (mostly) archaeologist who studies fossils found along the shores of her English home. Single, aging, and living only with her elderly mother. She early on in her life found a fossil that is in the British Museum and which paid for life for her sizeable family. Ronan plays a deeply depressed married woman who has recently lost a child. Her husband has an avid interest in fossils, but also yearns for his wife of earlier days. He leaves for a lengthy business trip but pays Winslet to look in on his wife. Winslet gets more than bargained for as she begrudgingly accepts the task, but Ronan falls ill. Much goes unsaid. Much is assumed. Wrongly or rightly. The viewer tries to piece together what has happened to both of these women. How have they been wronged? What has lead to the rather lonely existence of Winslet and her hardness? Ronan appears to be more of an “indoor girl” to borrow the words of Jack Dawson when speaking of Rose in Titanic. Mary alternatively is more sturdy and rugged. She is more outdoorsy, with dirty nails and no appetite for traditional women’s interests. She takes good care of her Mom and the sick Ronan. Mary is though rather awkward and uncomfortable around people. Things happen. Some more surprising than others. Portrait of A Lady On Fire was a very similar story. I think that it was told better. The difference being the star power of the main characters. This film has two top A-list stars who are showing more in many ways than expected. In the end I think we can better appreciate how difficult that these times could have been. Many would have lived, loved and fit directly into society. But quite a few would have had a great deal of difficulty and feeling as though they were likely living in the wrong time. I expect in a lean year that Oscar nominations will likely be forthcoming for one or both.

Downhill: A few years back at TIFF the Swedish foreign film Force Majeure was released and it was a dark film showing the tensions in a marriage when a husband and father at a ski resort betrayed his wife and family in an unexpected way and suffers the consequences. In truth I don’t remember the comedy elements. I just remember that there were uncomfortable situations and tension. Then, presumably Wil Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfus saw this as a movie to remake as more of a comedy. It doesn’t work. It’s not funny, but more contrived. I didn’t laugh. I marvelled at the mountain ski resort in Austria. The views and skiing makes me wish for a year ago at Whistler. But otherwise, this dysfunctional family is not where I would want to spend time. Like many Hollywood remakes of European films, this was not a good idea.

Wanda Vision: This new series on Disney + has been advertised hard in the past few weeks. It stars Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen (the best actress in the Olsen clan). Both accomplished actors. After seeing the first episode and 10 mins in the second episode, I have to ask myself “what the hell were they thinking?!” This is bad in a way that I haven’t seen in quite some time. Episode one is a black and white Bewitched remake feel, with the robot “Vision” as Darren and Olsen playing Wanda (a woman with magical powers). I don’t know the point. I don’t the background. I don’t know the Marvel “superheroes”. Frankly, I don’t give damn.

Bridgerton: Saw the end of this. Enjoyed Season 1. I think that the ultimate resolution was satisfying if not altogether predictable. It was a good story. The characters were engaging. It was well written and well acted. Check it out.

January 11th, 2021

Bridgerton: As period pieces go, this series is a good dramatic undertaking with a very good cast, quality writing and plenty of intrigue and scandal to keep everyone wondering what will happen next. At the very least, they might wonder when the next time they will see the lead black actor (Rege-Jean Page) baring his bottom in another episode. Note, as an aside, the charismatic Page is apparently being considered as a new James Bond candidate. This Netflix series is new and part of the latest releases from Shonda Rhimes, the TV wunder-executive, who seems everything she touches turns to gold. This series set in early 1800s England, begins like Hamilton, with people of many races represented, most notably at first a black Queen. Later in the series it is explained that the current King fell in love with his Queen and that this elevated everyone around her. There are multiple houses at play, in addition to the Bridgerton household, along with the Royal House, and those of other surrounding houses. Think Downton Abbey, along with a healthy dose of Upstairs, Downstairs. Pregnancies, marriages, vying for a Prince or a Duke’s affections are all part of the series. The voiceover done by Julie Andrews, is from a local Social Society newspaper that adds to the intrigue because no one seems to know who the well informed writer seems to be. It keeps one’s attention, and I have quite enjoyed it. More than I expected to be honest. But it has been a fun ride as Season 1 closes out and more seasons are to come it seems. Worth your time to see it.

The History of Swear Words. Nicolas Cage, of all people, is hosting this series of short 6-part comedy vignettes about various swear words and their use, origin and trending status. An initial thought was “how the mighty have fallen” from A-list star to Netflix documentarian. But I digress. From innocuous words like “Damn” and “Dick”, we get to more and more intense words, although starting at the top of the food chain in the series with the F%#& word. This is a comedy with supporting cast like Jim Jeffries (who’s own claim to fame C-word is NOT discussed) Sarah Silverman, Nick Offerman and other various comedians. I think that the commentary from Nikki Glaser, or Zainab Johnson are as funny as any of them. It’s fun. I laughed out loud in a couple of the episodes, mostly because I think I was caught off guard (like the “Dick” episode). The viewer may learn a thing or two, but generally it is meant to be like toilet humour for men (you laugh just because people are using words that not-too-long-ago were considered off limits: see George Carlin and The Seven Words You Can’t Say On Television). For the record, of George’s seven words, only two were discussed in the 6 episodes. I think that they missed out on a couple more colouful than Damn. Just sayin’. But it is also fun escapist time away from the news and Covid. If we needed a good laugh, today is the best time I can think of. This one is also worth your time.

Finally I am reminded back to the review of Queen’s Gambit and today in the local paper, there was an article about my step-father, the Chess Master and former champion in his youth. Chess has once again become more main stream, and this shows him during the same time when the Queen’s Gambit was taking place. For the record, he felt that the series did a very good job of showing chess, with real moves and the feeling of playing competitive chess.

https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/canadian-chess-master-ross-siemms-pleased-with-new-interest-in-the-game

January 4th, 2021

The Midnight Sky: George Clooney has taken on this project recently released by Netflix. He stars in, directs and produces it. He has put together a very good cast with David Oyelowo, Felicity Jones, and others. Sadly the story isn’t that compelling for me. It is a mash up of the Gravity story, adding in a few bits from Interstellar and then an apocalyptic event with some human drama. A younger Clooney character believes that there is a liveable planet out there, in a Carl Sagan way, but proposes it is on a newly found moon near Jupiter. Fast forward a few years (2049) and there has been an Event. George is up near the Arctic Circle. Alone seemingly. Then add in a exploratory spacecraft coming back from Jupiter with a crew reminiscent of The Martian. Things happen in space with the craft much like as in Gravity, and it has much the same look and feel for it. I have to admit that I don’t fully understand what the Earth “event” was, but there is obviously a political undertone to the whole thing. In the end it didn’t really add up to much, and added very little to the movies that have already addressed the theme. I can’t recommend it. It may have given George the excuse and opportunity to grow a Duck Dynasty beard for his home life.

I have watched and re-watched a number of things over the Christmas holidays. I was unable to watch Kate Winslet Ammonite through the TIFF platform since they have security issues with every browser that isn’t Edge. It is frustrating, and rather than refunding me, they just talked to me slower in the hopes that I was the problem. I am not. It remains on the list of films to be seen.

I also re-watched The Big Short which remains interesting on the perils of Wall Street, self-regulation and those in power making money with complete disregard to the general public. Scarily there was never anyone sent to jail of note for the fraud and corruption perpetrated on the public. Because of this, there is every likelihood that it could be repeated. One doesn’t need to look much further than the current stock market (DOW over 30,000) to wonder how those lofty heights are supported during a pandemic. Other interesting documentaries include The Great Hack and The Social Dilemma which focus on the fact that if you aren’t paying for a product or service, that you ARE the product or service as with Facebook and other social media platforms. The point in both is how AI and tracking of your every movement in your online existence means that you are sent targeted ads to keep you engaged. These targeted ads, as well as news, shapes your thinking and attitudes, which led to results in elections around the globe, including the US 2016 Presidential election and Brexit. More to the point, it suggests that it isn’t even all people on the web, but rather those who are viewed as changeable. They are called Persuadable. I did review it on October 26, 2020, but it was a good thing to refresh. I also re-watched Coco from Pixar the other night and it was a story very well done. Good music, a well told story and a really good story with family and meeting idols.

December 28th, 2020

This week is a tale of two reviews for the same topic; Mulan.  I had never seen the Disney animated original back in 1998.   Knowing that I was going to view the updated real life version I decided to check out the original.   Mulan (1998): The animated version is a musical and tells the story from the 15th Century with the Chinese emperor engaging a conscripted army (one male person from each household) to engage with the horrible Huns who have invaded the northern territory.   Mulan’s elderly father has two daughters and a wife.  Eldest daughter Mulan is a tomboy who isn’t interested in being “matched” by the local matchmaker.   Dad volunteers to be conscripted and fight despite a wonky leg.   Mulan decides (against the family wishes) to take his armour, sword and horse to fight in his place.   She is part of a group of new recruits.    Before she arrives, she meets up with a small dragon, voiced by Eddie Murphy who is the comic relief.    His role is very much the same as Donkey in <strong>Shrek</strong>.   Shrek was from 2001, but it also seems to channel 1992 Aladdin (which was also recently remade in real life).   In short Mulan acts as a young man, and then saves the platoon from the Hun hoard and ultimately the Emperor.   I doubt that I am giving anything away by stating this.   The songs are okay.   Eddie Murphy has a couple funny lines.   The ultimate battle sequence Mulan does something that in hindsight isn’t all that remarkable, but it took some outside of the box thinking.   The Forbidden City entanglement was more than a little unbelievable.   This is a story of a strong woman in times of great repression.   She overcomes cultural challenges and proves her worth to her father, her family and her Emperor.    I know more than a few women who look upon this in a favourable light.   For me, it was okay.

The latest Mulan released on Disney+ was from 2020 and unlike more recent re-makes from Disney is not a true translation.   In most instances the musical aspects are supplemented so that the now live version is longer than the 90 minute animated feature.    Many Disney remakes have done this like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.    In this instance the music is eliminated entirely, and I think to the peril of the overall look and feel.   There is a more serious tone as the young Mulan attends training and eventually encounters a new character, a female witch, who is assisting the Huns.   Mulan’s family speaks of women being labelled as witches and this is obviously not a good situation.   Ultimately the witch and Mulan have more encounters.   This is a significant difference to the original.   There are other scenes as well including the romantic interest who are also very different.  Adding the witch along with other changes didn’t make the story better. In fact I found it a distraction. I wasn’t expecting to do a full scale comparison between the two, but I kept being reminded how different the live version was to the original. Disney+ wanted a significant contribution to watch this when it was first released. I am glad that I didn’t spend the money for it. This is beloved story for many. Having seen it twice in the last week, I don’t feel as though it is something that has added to my Disney catalogue of movies worth watching. So I would avoid this one.

Finally, the Mandalorian Season 2 was completed with the conclusion which I have to admit was a little bit of a surprise. We had learned earlier that the Baby Yoda could potentially engage with some Jedi, although there weren’t many left by sitting atop that one mountain where he was snatched by the bad guys. I won’t reveal more than that. I will say that the technology for making actors younger isn’t really as good one would be hoping. Enough said on the subject. I did enjoy the season, however I would say that for two seasons there were more than a few episodes that felt like filler. By the last couple of episodes it was better and moved along. Was this a satisfactory ending to it? Meh, I don’t know. Was it worth watching, sure. I am more impressed frankly with the ability to have the episodes LOOK like they are filmed in Tunisia and other places in the Star Wars universe. They weren’t. They are projected screens on sound stages. You never would know it in looking at it. There is a documentary about the technology in bringing this series forward, and it was good to see. The ongoing technology is evolving so very quickly. Still. Real actors are a benefit and add to the viewer caring and being engaged.

December 21, 2020

Aladdin: Disney has taken upon itself to remake virtually anything in their animation library.   More recent efforts have included those included in my review of Black Beauty, also a remake from December 7th.  Now Disney has taken on the remake of the Robin Williams vehicle Aladdin.    Will Smith takes on the leading role of the genie.    To his credit, he and the buff CGI body that he exhibits doesn’t try to emulate in any way the comic genius of Robin Williams.    No one could and it would be folly to try.    Instead he does a lot more singing, and throws in a few extra jokes.   The rest of the cast isn’t really remarkable or known to me in any way.    The story has remained the same with the “diamond in the rough” street rat who needs to be found in order to obtain treasure from a perilous cavern.   He meets by accident the local princess from the Sultan’s palace and impresses her.   She is forced by culture to be married as she cannot be a ruler.   Her father, the Sultan is a bit nerdy and has been influenced by the sinister Jaffar with plans of his own.    The songs remain the same, and they have added a couple.    Notably they have tried to make the Princess more independent and strong-willed to show her breaking free of the societal norms placed upon her.   In the end it is all too familiar, and by the end you wonder why this had to be made in the first place.   Yes I have a Disney + membership, but that has been for The Mandalorian and some other classics more so than these remakes.  I am already paying for them, and will watch Mulan for example, but I didn’t and wouldn’t have paid for them in the theatre.   There are better places to put my more expensive movie dollars.    Anyway, if you love all things Disney, and many people do, this may work for you.    For me, I value the Robin Williams performance enough that I respect it remaining on its own.   I didn’t need to see this.   I cannot recommend it, and it seems like a lot of effort for no real pay off.   You want your kids to experience Aladdin and some laughs, watch Robin.  

Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart:    This new documentary has a more recent interview with the eldest Bee Gee, Barry Gibb, and survivor of the Gibb troupe.   I enjoy seeing documentaries about musicians when they get into the creative process.   How does a person get inspired to create something totally new?    Those who can do so, are remarkable in my mind with a special gift.   Those who are able to exploit that gift fully are entitled, in my mind, to everything that they get.   The world is a better place for the efforts that they came.   I am reminded at this point about the recent review I did about Dolly Parton.   Like the Bee Gees, I wouldn’t seek out a live concert with Dolly Parton, but she has written hundreds of songs, and she is able at times to create a new song in minutes.    Here, the Bee Gees for example where a young act in Australia and decided to move to Britain after the Beatles were massive in the 60s.    They were successful song writers early on, despite their sound feeling like copycat Beatles.   A song like “To Love Somebody” and “I Started a Joke” are those that I knew upon hearing but didn’t know that they were from the Bee Gees.  They are quintessentially sixties.   But then you are told about the rights to a New Yorker article about Dancing in Manhattan in the 70s, you have the purchaser reach out to the Bee Gees to write some appropriate music.   It includes Maurice being told to write the greatest love song of his life, and coming up with “How Deep is your Love?”   The other songs for Saturday Night Fever create the greatest selling soundtrack to date, and a colossal movie hit.   One thing I did not know what that Robin and Maurice were twins.   With old brother Barry they were the group.  Later little Andy joins in, although he later succumbs to drug addiction at the age of 30yo.   Drugs beyond this aren’t really mentioned, but you have to expect that the partying and scene for disco in that time with the Kings of it, with money and power would have been tremendous.    I found this interesting and worth my time.   The Bee Gees, well Barry, would like to be remembered as song writers, rather than creators of disco.    They wrote songs for people like Barbra Streisand, the aforementioned Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross etc.    Even with “Disco Sucks” and the backlash for being associated with it, they remain formidable songwriters of their era.  

December 14th, 2020

Hillbilly Elegy: Newly released on Netflix, this is a new Ron Howard film with a very good cast, principally starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams. In a recent listing of Best Performances, both of these two actors were mentioned for this story. This is a movie based upon a best selling book. The casting and make up teams have done an excellent job to find talent and then make them look like their real life counterparts. In a rural farm area of Kentucky this family has its origins and we learn that it goes all the way back to the Hatfields and McCoy feud. They are poor, with few prospects. The family moves to small town Ohio early in the lives of the children. The story has three generations with Close playing the Grandma, Amy Adams playing the Mom and then two siblings. The young man was bullied and a bit awkward, but smart enough and finds himself on the verge of breaking free of this rural life. The challenge is that his Mom especially, finds ways to bring him back. Not generally being an Amy Adams fan, I can say that here she plays a character that is very difficult to like. She is what one thinks when you hear the term “hillbilly” or “redneck”. She isn’t a Mother of the Year candidate nor is her Mom. It is not a family really that you would wish to share a holiday meal. If August: Osage County has a dysfunctional aspect, these people have them beat. In the end, I was scratching my head about some of the decisions of the young man. I can understand family and being there for them, but I can also make a compelling case that he helps his family more if he can find a way to break free from the life. I cannot recommend this, but the performances were decent, however unlikeable that they were. Close who is one of the most nominated people without an Oscar will likely garner another nomination here. I won’t predict if she can break her streak.

Safe (series): Safe is a 2018 series starring Dexter star Michael C. Hall. That is a series that I did not watch, but is held in high regard. It is from the author Harlon Cobin, who writes popular crime/drama books. It is an 8 part series, with the typical who-dunnit style. A young person is dead, and the daughter of a prominent doctor (Hall) is missing. Hall, like most fathers would do, is scrambling to find his daughter, and doing some detective work of his own. The police are involved, and they too are following up on leads. The characters in this small gated community are all pretty tightly linked. They are friends, or neighbours and are bound by some collective history. The good doctor’s wife has passed away from cancer, and we see her being buried in the opening sequence. Her death has created tension in his household with his two daughters. The elder one goes missing. The story unfolds rather slowly as various people and their agendas are revealed. The viewer is left thinking about who the ultimate culprit is as the series comes to its close in the final episode. I will reveal nothing further than those higher details. I often wonder about the motivations and actions of various characters, in this instance the teenage mind at times needs to be forgiven. The adults and their situations are a little more perplexing. Was this worthwhile, or at least on par with a Broadchurch (season 1), The Bodyguard (UK series with Rob Stark)or The Fall? No. I can’t say that. It tries hard and means well, but I can’t put it up to those levels of quality. But if you have seen all of those, you can give it a go.

The Mandalorian (Episode 14: The Tragedy) again kept the momentum moving forward after the quality Episode 13, although not the same extent. Baby Yoda is taken to the planet that was discussed and manages to do the expected. Meanwhile, the new Empire leader is busy with trying to re-acquire the Asset. The two parties converge at this site.

SPOILER ALERT. The Mandalorian runs into Boba Fett (hard to not name the character without having a more fullsome discussion about him). Maybe I have the timelines wrong with respect to the Mandalorian but I don’t think so. Boba Fett found and captured frozen Han Solo and brought him to Jabba the Hutt in Empire Strikes Back. In Return of the Jedi, he was seen in Jabba’s chambers and nodded to the bounty hunter (Leia) who brought forth Chewie to Jabba. Boba Fett rather unceremoniously and lamely was felled by a half-blind Han Solo who turned around with a weapon and inadvertently launched Boba Fett’s jet pack to plunge him hard into the wall of Jabba’s sail barge and have him fall into the pit of the Sarlacc (ending with a belch). So seeing him here (with the same actor from Episode II: Attack of the Clones) was odd. It’s the thing about Star Wars people, we remember these not so insignificant plot points and then question how it all ties together. And maybe I am totally off but I am reading The Mandalorian is set 5 years AFTER the Luke timeline but before Rey and the latest episodes. So that doesn’t really work for me. Is Boba Fett resurrected somehow? Did he survive being “slowly digested over a thousand years” as C-3P0 exclaimed in the Sarlacc? Unknown but it makes little sense to bring him back here where there is a universe of characters that could be used that aren’t dead.

December 7th, 2020

So this week on Disney+ I was able to view the following:

Black Beauty: This is a remake (of a remake of a remake) – no less than 8 movies on the subject – from Disney starring Mackenzie Foy (from Interstellar fame as younger Jessica Chastain) and Iain Glenn (Jorah Mormont of GOT) and finally and surprisingly the voice of Kate Winslet. The previous versions in both TV and screen I have not watched, so I am seeing for the first time. With Disney these days it seems if you can’t come out with original content, recycle or sequel what you already have. Recent examples would include Lion King, Jungle Book, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast, Lady and the Tramp, and of course Star Wars. The former movies are all computer graphics re-doing of the original cartoon. Scary enough when you list them all – curse you Jon Favreau!! Anyway, a girl loses her parents in a tragic car accident (what is a Disney story without parental death after all?) and she is sent to live with her horse trainer uncle. He works on a ranch where part of what they do is purchase wild mustangs and look to “break them” and resell them. Black Beauty is one such spirited mustang that he is charged with training. The horse is stubborn, and we know this because the horse is voiced by Kate Winslet. It’s a distraction really to have an outwardly thinking horse, I won’t say talking because the lips at least aren’t moving like Mr Ed. How do we really know what the horse is thinking? How does the writer? Unknown to me, but then again it’s a movie so I will ignore the disbelief to see where it all leads. The young girl connects with the horse, and that allows her to respect her Uncle a little bit more. The horse matures but ultimately needs to be sold off, and separated from the young girl – who continues to grow herself. She at some point has a summer away with a very wealthy family with a very large ranch and they jump horses. I hadn’t seen the actress in a while and it was good to see Mormont, but in the end this story didn’t really impact me. I suppose that I am not really the target market for this; young girls and women would be. I think in part I was expecting this to be a remake of National Velvet that starred Elizabeth Taylor in 1944. It is decidedly not that. The movie ends with a cheesey whimper and isn’t really very uplifting. But there are pretty horses. There are young girls showing their independence. This will have a market, but for me I can’t really recommend it.

The Mandalorian, Season 2, Episode 5, story chapter 13 called The Jedi, was I think the best and most interesting episode of this season series, and perhaps through the entire show. It seems that much of Season 2 has been filler stories where the Mandalorian has been taking on sideline stories, helping those who he doesn’t really need to do anything for, but does so to allow there to be something to do. Why he would put his own life at risk for a person he could overcome much more easily isn’t explained. Finally, mercifully, we have him meet up with a character of some skill and ability. Rosario Dawson (yea!!) plays Ahsoka Tanu who is a Jedi. As an aside I really like Dawson and I would like to see her work more. She brings an edge, she has intelligence and character. I liked seeing her here. Her character is from The Clone Wars, the cartoon series that I have not completed, where she is an apprentice and working alongside other Jedi like Annakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi. Now a full fledged Jedi, she is making an attack on a walled town where a new leader has been oppressing the locals. She is here to help. The Mandalorian impresses the local bad ass, who engages him to try and kill the Jedi for a reward. The story continues. Not only was there Rosario Dawson here, but Michael Biehn from Terminator movie, Kyle Reese. It was good to see him, even more aged than expected. Overall, some quality action. Things happened and the story of the Baby Yoda, now named, gets to inch forward. This wasn’t just action for the sake of action, but it had purpose. I hope that there is more to be seen from Dawson going forward.