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The Crown (2016)
Season 5 Letdown
I loved every minute of the series until season five came along. The actor playing Prince Charles looks nothing like him physically, in demeanor, as well as body language, speech and movement. The woman playing Princess Diana is mugging in the worst possible way by straining her neck downward and pushing her eyes upward constantly. It is painful to watch! She also towers over all the other actors in every scene to a distracting level. How could such a fine show have such terrible casting choices? I've watched the first three episodes, and they all have stories that really go nowhere and seem to addresses side issues that barely pertain to the royal family at all as in past episodes. Previous seasons, placed the activities of the royal family in the context of larger historical movements in this season, seems to have a little interest in that. I'm sorry to say this series has "jumped the shark" as they say.
Elvis (2022)
Can't Get Past Tom Hanks' Accent
When I first heard, Colonel Tom Parker speaking, my hair stood on the end. Why does this Southern gentleman have a mangled German accent? I quickly googled the good kernel, and found out that he was actually Dutch. I had no idea since I never heard the man speak in my life. Tom Hanks is gussied up with prosthetics and weight gain to play this lunatic and I can't imagine why. He either needed better voice coaching or more practice, or perhaps he was trying to capture the nuance of a native Netherlander desperately trying to sound like a local, which seems to be the case with the real Parker. The effort was not worth it because the net result sounds awful, and doesn't help the audience connect to this nasty, exploitative character in any case since most audience members will have serious empathy problems with him. Because of the focus on Parker, the narrative ends up seeming overly simplistic and Mrs. Many of the elements of Elvis is complex life and other relationships. I would have liked to see how Elvis interacted with other celebrities, musicians, and movie stars over the years, and none of that was in this film.
American Pickers (2010)
Missing Frank
I used to love this show and never missed an episode, but without Frank I've lost interest completely. Mike's brother is a dud and the other characters just don't make it. The chemistry between Mike and Frank is what made this show work and it was a big mistake letting Frank go. Too bad. Now it's just like watching a bunch of junk collectors.
American Crime Story (2016)
A Bad Tripp
This is one of the uniformly worst series of episodes on television. The casting is awful, the direction abysmal, the acting is just plain embarrassing. Sarah Paulson should be ashamed of herself for her one dimensional characterization of Linda Tripp as the incarnation of Satan. I don't know if she's wearing a lip prosthetic to make her look like she's sneering 24/7 or if she's unintentionally grimacing her way through this part. It is only surpassed by the Paula Jones nose prosthetic which is beyond hilarious. Could she and her boyfriend be any bigger dumb rednecks? I am not blaming Paula here, I am blaming the writer, the Director, and the actors. Every single person in this series is irredeemably evil except for the Monica Lewinsky character who comes across as dumb as a concrete block, naïve, unattractive, borderline psychotic. None of this bears any verisimilitude to the actual events and people involved whether you like them or hate them. The idea that Lewinsky feels that this is a flattering portrayal of herself is startling. What a waste of time.
Mank (2020)
Never Write a Screenplay About a Screenwriter
A poorly constructed movie about a topic that should have been fascinating. This story is told almost entirely in flashback, thereby breaking the cardinal rule of screenwriting: no flashbacks. Of course, the only exception to this rule is the monumental screenplay "Citizen Kane," written by Mank himself! There was no compelling reason to write this movie that way whatsoever and it could've easily been told in sequence. The classic problem of writing a movie about a writer is that there is no action; the guy just sits there and types. However, in this case, it's worse: the guy actually lies down and doesn't even type- he dictates. His arms barely move. Plus he's drunk. So the screen writer faces the unsolvable problem of writing a story zero action to show on the screen. The usual answer is to say no! The second best answer is to say OK, I need the money, so I'll dig out the "spine" of the story by looking at the guys life. But still without the flashbacks. It's a real stumper and this movie, with that classic conundrum going against it, fails as anticipated. What a waste of Gary "Churchill" Oldman! I know they tried, but you would need to actually hire Orson Welles to pull this sort of thing off.
Turist (2014)
Not Much of a Force
A long, slow, plodding drama. It starts with a great hook but disintegrates into a tedious, pretentious story which leaves the viewer with little empathy for either of the main characters. The scene that everyone talks about is a mess; it is unclear what happens visually, yet the movie's entire debate hinges upon it. It seems to end about three or four times which clearly shows that the author doesn't really have a point. It does, however, demonstrate that this could have easily been a 45 minute movie and lead to the same result.
Arthur Newman (2012)
Really Got to Me
Not sure why exactly, but the plight of the two main characters hit a nerve for me. No, I'm not a paranoid schizophrenic, but someone who can understand alienation from one's own life. I can understand how we sometimes run away from the hard facts of life, but also how we can sometimes soldier through, maybe even find love or the ability to connect with someone else feeling the same things. These are two strong actors and a good director telling a somewhat ethereal story, but suspension of the need for a rigorous plotline will serve the viewer well in this case. For that is exactly what this movie is about; getting off the treadmill and going on a journey, destination unknown. Yes, the path sometimes meanders. It's what we do when we are young, and forget about as life wears us down.
Big Timers (1945)
Lots of Heart
Look beyond the obvious flaws and there is a lot of love in this movie. With the era's limited opportunities for black actors, the women do the best they can with the material and manage to avoid stereotypical accents and behaviors
Crusader Rabbit (1950)
Influenced my whole life
This mysterious show is one of my earliest memories. I loved it so much and became so absorbed it as a child that rearrange the brain chemistry in my head. I don't know why it had such a huge impact, but he ended up being a professional animation writer because of it. However, my memory is somewhat shadowy. I was much more conscious when Rocky and Bullwinkle came along which I also obsessed over. I am certain that these shows are at the root of my strong sense of satire, absurdity, and generally smartass attitude. I think I was basically brought up by Jay Ward (sorry, Mom!) Later it was Dudley Doright and Superchicken. This was the best possible preparation for the two Ivy League colleges I attended. My basic question was whether one watched Rocky growing up, and then whether they liked Peabody and Sherman, Fractured Fairy Tales or Boris and Natasha? Easy way to become lifelong friends!