Ian Alexander MartinTwo episodes of a 3-part #STEnt arc (it’s like all of Season 4 is 3-parters).
S4Ep12 + S4Ep13 are all about common causes, loss, and respect for everyone’s cultural formalities.
★★★★☆ for both.
#STEnt completes an arc and another as well.
S4Ep14 sees the end to a powerful weapon.
S4Ep16 + S4Ep17 covers curing a rapid pandemic for Klingons, and curing a misbehaving warp engine by turning it off and on again!
All ★★★★☆
ORION SLAVE GIRLS!! •THREE• OF THEM!!
Every single male of around my age, prior to Leia Organa, had a wild fantasy about green skinned babes. S4Ep17 of #STEnt honours that.
★★★☆☆ for wit and taking the plot beyond merely a sight gag.
Because by this point, #STEnt was cancelled but allowed to complete the season, I suspect they decided to have as much fun as they could. S4Ep18 + S4Ep18 reflect that (forgive me) with a two-part ‘mirror universe’ story.
★★★★★
A few months ago, I started thinking about Desmond Bagley’s “The Snow Tiger,” and started hunting my shelves, as well as my parents’. Having to buy a copy, along with “Night of Error”was an excellent result. Grand stories, both.
★★★★★
S4Ep20 + S4Ep21 of #STEnt are a two-part story about eugenists / xenophobes lead by a single-minded mad-man. Parallels to… oh, several points in history… are fairly clear.
★★★★☆ for both: they really zoomed past in a good way.
S4Ep22 of #STEnt is an odd experience, with a bit of a wrap-up of the show’s characters, but also a tie-in to #STTNG as well as Picard… sort of…? As I say: odd.
Still, closure is good. ★★★☆☆ for the episode.
The series in full: ★★★★☆ due to its solid writing and acting.
A bit like “Adaptation,” this deconstructionist meta action / comedy / thriller was last week’s 99¢ Apple rental, and just what I was in the mood for! “Tiffany Haddish plays a CIA agent” is probably the least weird thing in the film.
★★★★☆
Before “Iron Man” got the ball rolling for Marvel, people were all a-flutter about how “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” was morally wrong for creating sets out of thin air! How quaint they were.
Great style, thin story.
★★★☆☆
“The Blacklist” is something that I’m so happy is being made. It’s dark, political, topical, and frequently more morally uplifting than deserved.
S09Ep01 & 02 get the band back together, Ep03 gives them inertia.
Both: ★★★★☆
#TheBlacklist continues!
S09Ep04 involves a vigilante.
S09Ep05 has high tech PsyOps at its core.
S09Ep06 is about psychiatry and the criminal mind.
They all examine the question of “what is the right thing to do?”
All three: ★★★★☆
Two episodes of #TheBlacklist this evening.
S09Ep07 sees Agent Ressler get a shave and a haircut.
S09Ep08 has a pro tennis player killed by his physician. But… why?
Both: ★★★★☆
S09Ep09 of #TheBlacklist is an obligatory ‘Black People Working as Part of Systemically Racist Injustice’ episode — which is 100% accurate — but doesn’t touch on the subtlety of the issue.
S10Ep10 is about intra-agency non-communications.
Both: ★★★☆☆
Four episodes of #TheBlacklist.
S09Ep11 reveals Spec Agt Park’s interregnum wet-work.
S09Ep12 examines a ‘Black Market Stock Exchange.’
S09Ep13 looks at obsessive love.
S09Ep14 is about caring, unfit mothers.
All: ★★★★☆
Here are my issues with the episodes:
Ep11: the marriage of Sp Agt Park cannot possibly survive this, unless the husband is fully briefed.
Ep12: the notion of an ‘Underworld Financial Investment / Futures Market’ is insane.
Ep13: not only is technology not at this level, the guy who is a former Tech Bro not knowing about a LoJack-like system is preposterous.
Ep14: this mental problem is probably to some extent real, and that’s really disturbing. (not a problem, it’s a plus)
Recommended to me by someone who really enjoys Edward G Robinson’s work, this picture tells us what matters most in life is simple: love, family, and little else. Period.
A damned shame about the Italian-American stereotypes, however; including a bust of Mussolini in the bank president’s office. Leaping lizards!
All in all, a fine evening’s entertainment.
★★★☆☆
Return to #TheBlacklist.
S09Ep15: Harold reveals a secret altogether too late.
S09Ep16: Aram gets a job he never asked for (and does really well), while the Task Force pull a heist.
S09Ep17: Aram learns just what his programme is capable of.
#TheBlacklist S09Ep18 is centred around an addict and the search for someone from the past. ★★★☆☆
S09Ep19 has a growing conspiracy while Aram goes on a little trip. ★★★★☆
Conclusion of #TheBlacklist season.
S09Ep20 follows the money.
S09Ep21 is where the money leads to.
S09ep22 is the result of that investigation.
All three: ★★★★☆
The dialogue is clunky, some of the performances are too far over the top, and the action is occasionally predictable, but WOW does this picture REALLY COOK!
The thing it misses is Los Angeles with a hard-G.
★★★★★
#review #NeverEndingPandemic #film #CriterionCollection #IOwnThis
If you still wanted a reason to watch this, consider the following:
«The Kefauver Commission, a federal unit dedicated to investigating corrupting influences in the 1950s, singled this out as 1955's number one menace to American youth.»
BEST. REASON. EVER!
A picture about simple people working and living simple lives, and trying to do the right thing as often as possible. Sometimes, other people want to make that challenging. Those people are a problem.
Highly recommended.
★★★★☆
A very dark tale of losers who cannot win for losing in a very loss-filled situation.
Parallels of your humble reviewer’s life are present.
Highly recommended.
★★★★☆
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#SlashBack is billed as “Attack the Block” meets “The Thing,” and that’s a great way to get people interested! The French title is better, though: “Horreur boréale” reflects the setting, the plot, and sounds way cooler!
★★★★★
To be honest, I would have liked a bigger ‘final battle’ sequence, maybe involving more people and possibly some BFG-esque weaponry, but that probably would have trebled the budget. Still, a damned good picture! Excellent writing and cinematography.
Highly recommended.
Thinking I hadn’t seen this yet, I bought it on sale via Apple Movies for, I think, $10. A worthy ending to the run of James Bond films, with many inside references.
I would have preferred “007 will return” as a closing.
★★★★★
Also, quite the surprise to learn that the guy who plays Benoit Blanc in the ‘Knives Out’ films has •also• been in other films! I wonder if it’s because of @rianjohnson’s casting him in those films that this fellow is getting the gigs now! Talk about a lucky break! Wow!
I was previously unaware of the systemic cluster-fuck that existed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts regarding drug testing lab techs, the AG’s office, and non-disclosure of exculpatory evidence to defendants. Wow!
★★★★☆
A mayoral race in Wisconsin becomes a battleground for the two US political parties’ dominance. But don’t worry; it’s all for a good cause! Someone’s… we’re not sure whose…
All entirely legally permissible.
Alas.
★★★★☆
And, if you should doubt just how factually plausible this film’s premise and action are, please read this quote from the former head of the US Federal Election Commission, Trevor Potter: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9076562/quotes?item=qt5700159
An incredibly well-made noire from a story by Hemingway. There are some incredible character actors in this, all doing phenomenal work. Do not walk, run to see this.
Highly recommended.
★★★★★
#review #NeverEndingPandemic #film #CriterionCollection #IOwnThisTwice
An interesting interpretation of the previous version which adapted a short story for its first scene. Great performances, but FAR TOO BRIGHTLY LIT THROUGHOUT, owing to it being intended for television.
★★★☆☆
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Despite the problematic nature of the lead actor, this film is an incredible tapestry of an experience. It’s a picture one comes away from asking ‘what just happened?’ and feeling elated.
★★★★★
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Like “The Killers,” this stars Lancaster and is directed by Siodmak. Possibly the original ‘armoured truck heist’ picture. Includes butler to The Bat Man, as well as funicular railway. Lacks Los Angeles with ‘hard g.’
★★★★☆
Two incredible performances are more than worth the price of admission. Why Hitchcock got all the grief he did for making ‘terrifying pictures,’ when •this• got nothing but raves, I’ll never know.
Very highly recommended.
★★★★★
An entirely acceptable spy thriller with Finland as a stepping-off point. Oddly, it’s mostly in English! Marketing, I suppose.
BONUS: being introduced to to the shoe company two weeks ago, I knew what ‘karhu’ meant!
★★★☆☆
While I would have preferred just a •little• more ending, or perhaps more twists to the plot, but these are inconsequential matters.
Highly recommended, this sets the stage for many films to come. Incredible!
★★★★★
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I understand why Howard Hughes watched this so frequently: everything is in the right place and supports everything else. As an engineer, he would appreciate that. It’s not exciting, but it’s very well crafted.
Not ‘must see,’ but worth the time.
Solid ★★★☆☆
Damn, is this ever satisfying! I wish I knew how, but this hangs together better than “Noir,” by @TheAuthorGuy which I loved very much and is in the same world. Perhaps it’s easier due to a more linear narrative and less of a necessity of world-building, owing to it being the 2nd. Who knows? Who cares?
Very highly recommended.
★★★★★
EditrixEmma@IanAMartin @TheAuthorGuy I loved this book! I've read a lot of Moore's books and they're all great, but this is such a great setting and the characters and voice are so well done.
@EditrixEmma “Sacré Bleu” is probably my favourite by @TheAuthorGuy, because it really is a masterpiece. Much like Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” there are large passages that transcend reality and narrative form, veering close to prose poetry. While Bradbury’s sentence structure becomes a new form of narrative, Mr Moore’s magical reality and shifting narrative position really blends things in way simultaneously fantastical and perfectly clear.
@EditrixEmma Plus, many of the books by @TheAuthorGuy have parts of their covers that GLOW IN THE DARK!’