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I Love Lucy: Bon Voyage (1956)
All Aboard -almost
Lucy's dream trip to Europe is finally here so natually she misses the boat! The rest of the epiosode is spwnt trying to get her to the ship with the rest of them. It's so well written. Lucy geting her skirt caught on the bike causing a delay and missting the boat (she wants to give Little Ricky one more hug).
She then misses the pilot boat too as she jumps on the wrong boat!
She finally gets there by helicopter ! Lucy is quite nevrvous about riding in the heliopter and jumping out wheh she finds out they can't actually land .
One of the most interesting parts is watching everyone in the background as Lucy attempts to make it on board. Many extras in this one and most are quite thrilled to be part of it! But watch for Fred as he's often covering his eyes.
Lucy tries to make light of it once she is aboard but promptly faints into the arms of Ricky,Ethel and Fred!
Mass (2021)
The aftermath
I won't go much into the plot it's well know enough I will just give some of my thoughts on it.
First for that fifteen to twenty minutes before our main characters arrive there is a building up to the main even .It's awkard .A side room in a church is where the parents will meet. I know this opening is tedious for many but I feel it's in line more or less with what would happen because now one knows what to say or how to act .
The performances of each parent is a valid representation but one in particular got to me the most .
Reed Birney's probably affected me the least but it seems true of how I have seen some parents come across .He also has a moment or two I think the character elevates himself to a more ungarded less driven by the pat answers he's likely given in the few years since the event too place.
Jason Isaacs has that break out scene .He has questioned a lot but now he reveals just how comeplete the utter loss of his child is and how in lives in him.
Ann Dowd probably has had the most praise but I also found her performance the most obviously calculated and calibrated . I understand it's likely how I woman in her place might be after years of questions thrown at her and accusations .Her most natural moment come near the end when she reveals soemting and gives the victims parents the piece they were looking for .
Finally I cannot praise Martha Plimpton enough. I never think she's acting she is living in that mother's skin .There is not one false move or reaction by her . Ann you know is acting and she is doing it superbly but Martha just is and it's the most impactful performance I have watch in a while.
The final moments Plimpton and Isaacs characters hear the church chior practicing and it gives them especially Isaacs character some peace and relief .
The Railway Man (2013)
underrated
Rewatching this film I am struck once again by how underrated it is .How it escaped award season . The way everyone does a does a superb job. I think Colin Firth though had so recently won and his screentime split with the younger version of Eric Lomax had little chance at a nomination .Jeremy Irvine though was the standout as the younger Lomax would be my choice that year for Best Supporting Actor.
Kidman playing the wife of Lomax is the supportive wife and is a key element of the story but hasn't overall much to do . I think this role could have been played by any number of acrtresses but it's nothing against her.
Hiroyuki Sanada as the older Nagase the soilder /guard who tormented Lomax with beliviable regret .
As the to older men finally unburden themselves to one another we understand that forgiviness is maybe our greatest superpower.
Poor Things (2023)
Second watch doesn't improve this story
If anything it might be even worse . I know its supposed to be about female empowerment but it gets there in a very odd way . It's more like soft core porn /horror . I don't mean showing her sexual exploration but if she had to did it have to be so graphic and ugly ? It doesn't seem to be very empowering. Certainly not different it rips off many other sources.
None of the characters are subtle certainly the script spells every thing out and does so through out the film.
There is no a nuanced character or moment the entire run of the film .
That's another issue it's quite long and dull . As much as I like the actors involved I am disappointed by their choice to appear in it. Sadly the Academy decided to indulge them too much. I just hope in the future an actress won't have do the things Emma did just to win an Oscar . Considering that the Screen Actors Guild did not give their award to Stone I don't think the acting branch is at fault for giving her the Oscar unless it's the BAFTA faction which would make more sense this is more of a British thing .
I just don't see any great achivments here in writing directing or acting .The technical achivemets are not any better than other films and the costumes are nothing special. Hopefully the actors will be involved with better projects in the futre it couldn't get much worse.
Strictly speaking I wouldn't put all the blame on Hollywood this production was a joint effort from the US , The UK and. Ireland .I do find the making of this disturbing and the praise baffling. I have disliked many films but with very few exceptions I can at least understand others may like them this is one of the rare times I simply don't understand the fawning for such rubbish.
Maybe people are getting too easy to entertain if so many went wild for this.
I Love Lucy: Paris at Last (1956)
Clever
This is one of the most clever scripts! Lucy wants to explore Paris on her own and runs to various problems but initally thinks she taking Paris by storm. Her first mistake is getting taken by a counterfeiter that leads ot trouble for Fred and Ethel too as Lucy shares some of it with them. One thing I never caught onto -until today when watching this one is that while Lucy and Fred and Ethel and Riky all buy the same paint from the same scam artist the scammer kind of got some justice as Lucy and the Mertze's would have paid him with the counterfeit money !
There is a really funny scene snails when Lucy realizes she has orderd snails for lunch! Then there is the clever set up at the French jail when Lucy needs several characters speaking various laungauges to translate the proceedings for her. One of the most standout episodes that is kind of underrated.
The Pope's Exorcist (2023)
Underrated
I won't say Russell Crowe was born to play this role but he's aged into it quite well. He seamlessly weaves merriment and gravity into the most colorful priest .He certainly relishes this most interesting role.
I didn't however expect to enjoy the story as much as I did. Interesting and entertaining I was never bored. I also liked the partership that developed between the older and younger priest (played by Daniel Zovatto)who really grew into the role as the younger preist . I hope there is a sequel .
I also plan to check out Gabriele Amorth's books the movie has intrigued me to learn more about the subject and the Father Amorth himself.
Nyad (2023)
Team Bening and Foster!
I was more moved than I expected to be .The Dynamic between Bening and Foster goes beyond what I kept hearing about. Bening the prickly Nyad who never gives up and learns to appericate her team as well as Foster who plays her friend ,confidant ,coach,concience and at times cheerleader.
Foster is consistant in her performance while Bening must play the confident and often arrogant Nyad with the underlying fear and need to meet meet her goals in the face of impossible odds and constant pressure to give up .The music used when Nyad is swimming is among my favorites and was a treat to listen to. The Make-up for Bening was incrediably realistic and unlike any de-glam I have ever sseen before and maybe the best .Extremely moved by Bening despite playing a difficult character. She makes the case for following a dream.
Butterflies Are Free (1972)
Mrs. Baker the unsung heroine
Without going into every detain I have to say Wileen Hwchart surprised me here .She won best supporting actress for this film for what is often describes as an overbearing or over protective mother. In fact as Mrs Baker she actually deepens this storty and set things in motion that made for a happier ending than it could have been otherwise.
One also should consider she just loves her son Don (Edward Albert) and sees Jill (Goldie Hawn ) as someone who will hurt him. She doesn't of course intend for certain things to happen the way the ultimately do but she makse Don and Jill face some things about themselves and each other. Don is then able to say what Jill needs to here and she finally sees she doesn't have to settle for less herself.
This film with literally scream that it's set in the early 1970's a generaltional differences are a part of it but Heckart's Mrs. Baker is more remarkale when yo consider how she raised an independent sightless young man more capble than most sighted people. She also has a fair share of witty combacks especially to the jerk that Jill introduces them to. Butterflies Are Free is not a screwball comedy but it's a light comedy with some dramatic moments and well balanced that way .The actor all keep it from getting too heavy or overly dramatic.
Barnaby Jones: The Enslaved (1979)
Betty's boop
The only way to keep the show going was to use more of Betty and JR as Buddy Ebsen didn't want to continue .He agreed to continue but with a lighter work load . Betty in this case jumps in a little too deep and seesm oblivious to the dangers as Barnaby says she can leap in without looking. Betty howerever is usually pretty sensible but oddly JR is the one that points out to her that the vitiamins she is taking at a facility that claims to be a legitmate rehab center might not be as oodfor her health as she think it is she feels so good!).She gives some of the itamins to JR so Barnaby can analyze them and ideed they are amphetemines and patients leave withouth them go through withdrawls and start drinking or taking whatever it is they use and it puts them back in rehab. Quite a set up. In the end Barnaby and JR save her .
All in the Family: Everybody Does It (1975)
Funny episosde
You have to wonder after this episode why Irene has anything to do with the Bunkers or at least Archie outside of work..He speaks to her in the rudest manner. I rememeber when Edith tells him soon after meeting Irene and Frank she won't let him ruin another friendship .It's happened before by the sound of it it's happened several times. The episode however is very funny and centers on taking things from work which Archie thinks is fine as he plans to return it . He gets his just desserts in the end as a piece of plywood gets stolen off the back porch and in a fit of anger he slams the kitchen door and breaks a window.
All in the Family: Prisoner in the House (1975)
Terrible
Archie is mostly just a big talker .He says inapproriate things and isn't always the nicest guy and can hold some unpleasant views but he seldon will he actively do something that hurts another person. Here he does that and it's really disappointing when he's succesful at it .There really isn't much that can be said about this episode it does make me feel really bad for Edith while much of the time it can be overlooked in an episode like this you wish she really had married someone else. How she puts up with him when it gets like this reminds me that this happens in real life and not always to women .
La La Land (2016)
good actors not so good movie
I did have high hopes for this one. Stone and Gosling are likable
and have charisma and are certainly not lacking in talent but despite feeling Stone got the emotional range of the character right and feeling bad for her at her lowest moments overall the movie doesn't work for me. Maybe had it not been a musical it would have worked better. I didn't feel they got the singing and dancing down pat it was a weakness . Stone is good in so many things and Gosling has proven he has more range and a flair for comedy so it's not something I say with any pleasure .I just feel it missed too many marks . I also don't have a problem with the ending it's not something I felt ruined the whole movie or like some feel it was good until we knew how they ended up. I actually thought it made more sense that way.
The Women (2008)
Well there is Annette Benning
This is not to say I dislike the cast I don't quite the opposite but it just shows a likable or taletnted cast doesn't assure and good movie .They took the basic premise of the 1939 classic but should have either updated the basic story or reworked the plot. 2008 shouldn't be that much like 1939 except in the sharp writing and humor.
I did like Annette Benning's character and how she played her. Flawed but not awful .More sympathetic at times too. I also would have liked more of Bette Middler.
One problem is if your going to show a lot of women who have privilidges most women don't find some way to make them more relatable or funnier maybe even change the whole premise and not make it about getting the husband back it was retro but not in a goood retro way.
Baby Boom (1987)
A charmer
High powered marketing executive J. C Waitt (played by Keaton) is set for partnership and is put in charge the biggest account (a food company) .She is driven so much by her work that her boss that he can have this life because his wife takes care of everything else. JC doesn't care she's career driven has no interest in family and has a relationship with a man that seems lacking in any real emotional connection. She gets a call that a cousin she barely knew has died along with his wife and JC is inheriting from him she thinks it will be money but it's a toddler girl named Elizabeth . She planss to put the baby up for adoption but bonds with the litlle girl when she's taken ill. She even buys a lot of toys and clothes to ease her guilt but in the end is unable to give up Elizabeth especially when she gets a load of the potential parents. She's keeping Elizabeth which effectively ends things with the boyfriend who doesn't want this. He isn't mean about it but he's just not going to stick around. With her attention now divided between job and motherhood JC's assistent takes advantage and gets the big account while JC gets a smaller less important one and a humiliated JC quits. She buys a farmhouse in Vermont she has had her eye on but never seen in person. She is dreamy about the simple country life but the house has many problems and drains her money quickly There is even more humor to be found in the story once JC and Elizabeth move to the country. She also meets town vetrinarian (Sam Shepard) along with a cow and pig!. She wants to return to New York but can't sell the house which is actually very charming despite all the needed repairs. JC does however discover the baby applessauce (made from her own apple tree) is something she can sell and Elizbeth proves to be the perfect assistent in selling the product. She also gets help from many townspeople. She may make enough to return to New York. She is so sucessful she ends with with a baby food catalog and her old company comes knocking! In the meantime me she and the vet (named Jeff) slowly develop a relationship. JC's former bosses will buy her out take over and she will work for them with a big salary .JC is excited but realizes she doesn't want the old life and they can't have her company ! She and Elizabeth are doing well in Vermont and she made her own success she's keeping it! Interesting they diminshed JC for having a life outside of the company but once her own success they were going to buy it and make her a salaried worker never fully respecting her. JC returns home to Vermont and Eliabeth,her business and a future with Jeff as well.
If it sound like they make city life look bad and coutry life superior well maybe a little but I thought it had more to do with how JC had to carve out a life for her and Elizabeth that gave her more flexiblity that isn't always easy no matter where you live and CJ had many advatages in getting there including her knowledge in marketing .It's also a bit of movie magic that happens in this type movie which is funny and enjoyable it's an easy watch.
All in the Family: The Longest Kiss (1974)
Fun episode !
Edith hears from Archie and they all await his return. The story on how he ended up at the wrong place is hilarious .Mike and Gloria keep needling each other it's amusing to listen and watch them goad and irritate instead of the usual lovey dovey stuff. Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner had amazing chemistry whether Mike and Gloria were fighting or getting along. I don't think that's always appericated it's that chemistry works that perfectly and this is one of the episodes you see how well they work togerther even when the characters are on each other's nerves .
As the day goes on Irene,Loiuse and George end up at the Bunker's for different reasons and all are involved in activities that make Archie think they can't get along without him when he walks through the door!
Eye of the Needle (1981)
On the edge of my seat
A taught World War II thriller that as far as I can tell is largerly overlooked and certainly underrated.
Donald Sutherland can play the good guy or the bad guy with seeming ease. His charm in the first minutes to the film fool us but we quickly learn what he's really up too. He plays Farber and we think he's with the Allies but we soon learn he's a German spy trying to outpace the Allies and help the other side. Farber is ruthless and the body count rises.
Lucy and David are a young couple who are in an accident on their wedding day and now live on a remote island because David can't or won't try to cope any other way as he lost his legs. Lucy makes the best of this and is a good mother to their son Jo(she was pregnant before the wedding) This is key because on the humorus side her mother tries to tell her what the wedding night will be like! On the down side David has become resentful of Lucy and doesn't want another child. Jo is well adjusted and happy thanks mostly to Lucy but the island is too remote for them this however comes into play.
Enter Farber who ends up on their remote island . By now it's been four year the war is still going on but entering a critical stage. Farber is on his mission but ends up on the remote island. His causual questions gives him information he thinks he can use to give the Germans information the on the island with a two way radio and only one extra person a caretaker around.
Lucy and Farber become involved due to her lonliness and his ignoring his usual rule to stay uninvolved. David though knows more than we expect not just about them but what Farber is up to in terms of the War. David though underestimates Farber and overestimates himself. Lucy a little at a time learns everything she needs to know and will have to take matters into her own hands.
It gets a little overdramatic right at the end with the final showdown and her saying "please" anyone who has seen it will know what I mean and the context but overall a exceptional war time thriller that kept me interested from the begining to the very end.
The Twilight Zone: Probe 7, Over and Out (1963)
A Whole New World
It's not biblical even the Bible borrowed the story as it did more than once.
Adam Cook and Eve Norda are our main characters . We only know them as Cook and Norda until the end. Cook makes the point that more intelligent of the two will learn the other's launguage indicating it will be Norda which I always found interesting . Interesting too as another reviewer said Norda speakes English in reverse.
I find it a very tender love story and how they must come to trust one another to survive .Yes it's an age old story but it will always have a certain relevance. Fear and hate destroyed their worlds and they are left to start over .That's never outdated unfortuately .In this case it's due to nuclear annilation and Cook and Norda end up in a whole new world to start over .
The Twilight Zone: No Time Like the Past (1963)
Time Travel
Paul Driscoll (Dana Andrews ) tries to change the past but it never quite works so unsatisifed with war making he decides to live in the past . 1881 to be exact and not change anything. He knows too much though about the future and even trying to do what he thinks will help will have unitended consequences . Paul decides he must return to his own time despite finding love .He doesn't belong there and returns to his time and will concetrate on the future and changing the tomorrows .That's really the moral of the story we can't and shouldn't try to live in the past it's pointless we should do what we can to make the future better .Well acted especially by Dana Andrews good support by Patricia Breslin and Robert F Simon as Paul's wise counterbalance .
The script is not perfect it feels a bit like two episodes intead of one seemless one and it's an issue of time travel stories in that the big things don't change but the travler still manages to alter something but the overall moral of the story is simple but profound.
The Twilight Zone: In His Image (1963)
Strong start to season four
Walter Ryder tries to make a perfect version of himself and he does to a point only it's that version we met first and he's called Alan Talbot. He has a murderous range but he also has a finacee and a background that doesn't seem to exist . Alan also finds something disturbing about himself ,something physical. This leads him unexpectldy to discover his creator Walter Ryder. Walter explains it all he's genius but not as personable or confident as he wishes .There were many failures before Alan . Now he's suceeded too well but not without the mentioned issues. This is the first of the hour long episodes and in some ways the best although many won't agree with that. In a way it's the most interesting of the hour long episodes and like The New Exhibit makes the best use of the hour format. I't a combination of science fiction with a dash of horror some mystery and romance mixed in but ultimeately not too dark . Strong performances by George Grizzard and Gail Kobe make you car about the characters. A story by Charles Beaumont and outstanding direction by Perry Lafferty make it one of the most interesting TZ episodes .
The Twilight Zone: The New Exhibit (1963)
Underrated season four episode
No hour long epsiode ofvThe Twilight Zone makes better use of the extra time. Martin Balsam plays Martin Sensecue who works at a wax museum and is already too interested in a particular group of wax figures known as murders row. The business is closing and he takes the wax figures home. It's meant to be temporary until Martin can find a new location for them but he becomes more obviously obssesed with them. His wife Emma of course wants them out of her house. She's a patient woman but the figures are understandably unsettling to her. The air condition is on constantly to keep the wax figures intact and it's expensive . Emma's brother Dave has a solution but Emma isn't so sure she should but between the air conditioner and Martin wanting to get them new clothes she's had enough. Then there is Martin's boss Mr Furgeson who understands his his devotion to them but not is not fully aware of the obssesion. Furgeson arrives and tells Martin there is famous was museum that will take them but Matin is too far gone he .Martin's solution for Emma ,Dave and Furgeson lead to him joing his wax friends on murders row in the new museum. One of the most inttersting episodes and best endings of the series .
The Twilight Zone: On Thursday We Leave for Home (1963)
Mostly a good episode
This is one episode I have changed my mind about a number of times . The premise is interesting enough a group of people from earth want to find a place more utopian than the earth a place of peace .It's an understandable idea but of course the place they choose turns out to have no night ,a double sun and none of the more beautiful places on earth.
Beenteen is the leader he is paterlistic and it goes a bit far but is also helpful in it's way. He tells stories about the beauty of earth while they wait for the day they will be taken back to earth. That day comes and they are all excited at first. Beenteen sees his power slipping away especially when he learns the group will go their own ways and spread across the earth returing to families and such. He predictably reverses course and claims the earth isn't so wonderful .The captain who has come with his crew to rescue the people is patient with Benteen but also makes it clear he will be left behind as no one is being forced to go and indeed he is only to realize too late he really wanted to go.
It's one of those twist that does stick with you for sure. The hour format however could have been better utilized a more interesting turn of events would have been to only spend half the time on the barren atroid and have the story continue when they return to earth. Beenteen would have been in much demand and then see his popularity decline after a while .They could have shown the group finding their way back on earth too. Spending so much of the first part of the episode before the rescue team arrived could have been shortened .The hour format could have done more with the adjustments made back on earth and the excitent of returning for all of them including Beenteen. Instead they made it almost too much about Beenteen. James Whitmore does a wonderful job and seeing Beenteen losing his grip is not totally unexpected but it's hard to believe he wouldn't go back and take advantage of the interest people would have in him and the rest of them and what he does when it starts to go away.
The Twilight Zone: Escape Clause (1959)
Title gives away too much
I agree that this one misses something given that Walter can break out of prison and evade the police and give himself some excitment that he craves. I get it though they are going for a lesson here but it could have been achived in another way. Walter however is well played by David Wayne and we get another interesting version of the devil. It's somewhat entertaining and is going for dark humor but I thought it was one of the episode that takes an interesting idea and doesn't do as much with as it could .
We get the first of The Twilight Zone's long suffering wives who really wasted her concern for him as he had none for her.
Not a classic but a decent episode.
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Blanchett delivers but can't save the movie
Shades of A Steetcar Named Desire but while Vivien Leigh plays a largely sympathetic character with Blanche Cate Blanchette as Blue Jasmine must perform on a tightrope between making us feel contempt and pity for her characer.
Sally Hawkins plays her sister Ginger and if it wasn't for her poor taste in men she would be more sympatheic herself. I give her ex a pass he was done dirty by Jasmine's now dead husband with shades of Bernie Madoff but Ginger's current boyfrind Chili(yes for real) is a jerk and why she keeps getting back with him shows she has some issues of her own. I can honestly see Jasmine's problem with Chili but she does herself no favors. It's clear she need professional help but her actions but her constant lying ,judging.patronizing makes it hard to get on her side. She had a lived a life of luxury and priviledge and kept herself in a bubble to her huband's crooked business deals and numorus affairs .Ginger even picks up on it but Jasmine blows it off until she accidently discovers one of his affairs .A friend tells her everyone knows but her. Confronting her husband he says he's leaving her for one of the others and she turns him in he later kills himself and her stepson cuts her out of his life. Jasmine moves in with her sister and struggles to get some semblance of her old life back first trying to be and interior decorator and than with a new man who could put her back into the rarified life .He has poltical ambitions and we all know she's not up to it. Jasmine and her new boyfriend run into Ginger's ex and he spills it all including the whereabouts of Jasmine's stepson Danny. Her dreams of the new life are over and Danny still wants nothing to do with her. Ginger and Chili are oblivious to how much Jasmine has declined and she won't tell them she has no place to go. The movie ends with Jasmine on a park bench still talking even if no one wants to listen - similar to how the movie started. Every scene with Jasmine's husband Hal (Alec Bladwin) is seen in flashbacks.
I agree with some it's not really a comedy .The only time I felt a bit that way was when Jasmine enteracted with her young nephews especially when she was out to eat with them the things she was telling them was both amusing and a little disturbing! The bigget issue is you can always see her acting and you don't get a free moment she just goes with it very mannered and techincal.
Blanchett does give a strong performance of a fragile ,brittle woman who really isn't up to life and the ups and downs and disappointments but the film dosesn't support her so much as she carries it.
My Three Sons: Francesca (1963)
What really happened?
I didn't catch the entire episode but most of it. Mike is in charge and Robbie ,Chip and a friend are nursing a bird. A young woman who named for the epsiode title is weak and knocks on their kitchen door no one asnwers but she is desprate and eats some food before passing out. Robbie finds her and calls the doctor .She's ok he says just underfed and Robbie makes sure she eats. She's pretty and he's a bit smitten. Mike isn't so sure her stories about who she is prove to be untrue when Mike does some checking .She is afraid to return home for a reason but Mike makes a phone call that can actually help her. By the time Steve and Bub return home both Francesca and the bird of disappeared it seems together. I honestly thought it would turn out to be a dream one of them was having. I notice the rating here is very low for the early seasons maybe that's why since there is no follow up on what really happened. Nice episode until then.,Robbie is funnier and more interesting than the later episodes when they move. Once Ernie comes on though he's the funniest.
Barnaby Jones: The Marathon Murders (1977)
Entertaining episode
Not an unusal plot by any means but well done. Lynne Marta plays a woman so unbalanced it's hard to know how she got this far without more trouble for her or others. Her mother though seems oblvious and just thinks there is no reason to get professional help for the mind. Barnaby plays it cool though as usual and learns by letting people reveal thmeselves .
Lorriane (Marta) is in a group encouter therapy weekend but leaves for a while she uses a supposed condition to gain sympathy but in this case also as an albi so she can murder the wife of the man she thinks loves her. He's also in the group. Another woman Sally played by Lynette Metty is also interested in the husband but with none of the tricks or games or interference in his failing marriage.
Robert Hogan plays the man central the plot and he catches on to Lorraine but she scares him into not telling the police. Lorriane also murders the group encoutner therapist before he can tell Barnaby about Lorriane. Barnaby though stays on the trial. Hogan's character realizes it's Sally he wants and that of course endangers her but all works out before Sally is really harmed .Betty and JR do their share in this one but it's mostly Barnaby in this one. Nice ending that is a bit lighter and some relaxation for all.