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Today, July 4th, I started watching an HD marathon of "John Adams" on HBO, never dreaming that I would watch it all, but except for missing a bit at the start of the first episode, I watched the entire series, unable to pull myself away. I'm not a huge fan of Paul Giamatti, but he's quite good in this, and Laura Linney is wonderful as long suffering Abigail Adams. Without Adams and some of the other Founding Fathers, the U.S. might have been a lot different than it is today.
Incidentally, this mini-series sure made me appreciate modern dentistry!!!
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TO RON HARDCASTLE- Just wondering, you didn't say good or bad when you said AMERICA would be different?
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TO RON HARDCASTLE- Just wondering, you didn't say good or bad when you said AMERICA would be different?
dan: I don't think it would have been better, especially during the 1800s. But it's kinda like asking if Germany had won WWII would or wouldn't the world have been better? In THAT case, the sort of institutionalized barbarism of the Nazi concentration camps would have continued, and you wouldn't have seen any freedom of speech. In the case of our war with England, we would have continued under their colonial rule, and they may have steamrolled over France and Spain. But no one can say for sure. I'm just glad we had some very smart people fighting for our independence, and it's interesting to discover that Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves and had a slave mistress originally tried to end slavery, until it became obvious that the southern Colonies would never have ratified the Constitution.
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Today, Saturday, I finished re-watching all of Showtime's excellent "Masters of Sex" series about sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, which I had really liked when it was first broadcast last year. But as much as I liked it, I never got around to watching the last 4 episodes, so with Showtime's 2-day marathon of the entire series, I decided that it would not only be a good time to finish it, but also a good time to re-watch all of it, which I did. Very very good!
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Posted: |
Jul 6, 2014 - 1:37 PM
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By: |
TominAtl
(Member)
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I saw 2 films this weekend mainly because I have liked the directors previous efforts. One does OK on this outing, the other though has a total misfire.
Snowpiercer
From the director who made one of the best monster films ever, "The Host", comes an entertaining if totally implausible and even a bit gonzo apocalyptic sci-fi action film set on a train that traverses the earth carrying the last of humanity after an erroneous attempt to halt global warming creates instead a devastating ice age that all but wipes out humanity. It has a very good and eclectic cast that includesChris Evans , Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton(almost unrecognizable thanks to her hideous hairdo and choppers), Octavia Spencer and Song Kang-ho, also from "The Host".
All of the aforementioned with the exception of Swinton, on are on the back of this vehicle, for the great unwashed masses, the poor if you will. They live in squalor, are mistreated and beaten and eat what look like blocks of black liquorish. Chris's character has had enough of this crazy train and wants to put an end to the brutality and squalor they have endured and which the front trains do not, carrying the elite and all the good stuff, like food. He stages a revolt and they head to the front, one car at a time.
The CGI is OK over all, sometimes obvious and sometimes quite good. The pacing is brisk and there are some interesting surprises and developments that go along, particularly the ending. The story line though reads like another SyFy channel Saturday night movie. It however you can buy into the story and let it carry you, it's decent escapist fare with some heavy brutal action scenes. Marco Beltrami did the score and it has his signature style for this sort of fare.
*** out of 5
Deliver Us from Evil
Director Scott Erickson had some success with "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and to even more extent with "Sinister", one of the better horror offerings in recent years. He tries his hand at yet another "based on true events" story centering on the supernatural occurrences experienced by New York police officer Ralph Sarchie (Eric Bana). The problem with the film is that we have seen this over, and over, and over. Basically its just another possession film. You see the scares coming at every corner and the movie jumps all over the place with the story. It's really a disappointing snooze fest. Avoid.
* of out 5
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Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, aka Doppleganger.
Love the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson stuff, and hadn't seen this in ages, so I got it for a fiver from Amazon. Loved every Anderson cliche, and Barry Gray's typically wonderful music score, but ultimately it's a disappointing piece. Mainly because the ending is muddled.
The model work is sometimes standard Thunderbirds, and at others so outstanding it could be spliced into any film now. And how cool is Anderson sf meets Roy Thinnes? Like, UFO meets The Invaders, two approaches to the same idea.
If you want to wallow in Anderson made sf, it's great. Otherwise it could leave you cold.
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This afternoon I watched my Blu-ray of Michael Bay's The Island, which is a wonderful movie for showing off one's big screen and sound system. In fact, I think it's THE movie to shock people with its staggering soundscape! I've only bought a handful of cues from Steve Jablonsky's soundtrack, starting with the closing theme, "My Name Is Lincoln," which ends the movie, and they are very effective. If you have a great surround system and want to show it off, you can't go wrong with this movie! There's also about 34 minutes of special behind-the-scenes features, which seem much more than just that, and one of these days I'd also like to re-watch the movie with Bay's own audio commentary.
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Is that the Mark Wahlberg movie about the talking teddy bear? Can't think of a movie I have LESS interest in right now. But I'm glad you seem to like it, and I'm sure that you're not alone.
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Posted: |
Jul 7, 2014 - 1:03 PM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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The June round-up, a little late because I've been busy:
Some notes:
- Watched a Devils of Loudun double feature of two excellent yet stylistically worlds-apart films, Ken Russell's incredible The Devils (1971) and Jerzy Kawalerowicz's disturbing, minimalist Mother Joan of the Angels, which takes place shortly after the Grandier affair but was made a decade earlier.
- Watched Jonathan Glazer's first two films, Sexy Beast (2000) (on the Twilight Time BD) and Birth (2004). The first of the two was a much more compelling film; the second, despite a propulsive score from Desplat, doesn't quite work for me.
- Watched a Magdalene Laundry double feature of Peter Mullan's devastating The Magdalene Sisters (2002) and Stephen Frears' more feel-good Philomena (2013).
- Followed up with a Stephen Frears double feature of Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), both of which I liked a lot.
- Started my Brian-Tyler-thon with his two earliest available movies, Final Justice and Six-String Samurai.
- Watched The Grand Budapest Hotel, the best movie of the year so far.
- Edge of Tomorrow was the least bad summer blockbuster type of the year so far.
- Extracted is a solid low-budget science fiction affair.
- Tim's Vermeer is a good documentary with some very interesting ideas and with a fine Conrad Pope score.
- In TV, watched the second season of Breaking Bad (2009), which was fun, and the second season of Arrow (2013-2014), which despite substantively addressing the biggest problem in the first season was a less compelling season with multiple problems in its narrative.
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