deason's reviews

This starts off as a fairly standard-looking tour documentary: amusing commentaries with mildly interesting glimpses of behind-the-scenes logistics, travelogues and day-in-the-life-on-the-road; but by the end it has unexpectedly morphed into something more, something quite fascinating and even moving.

Anyone with fond memories of Monty Python or Fawlty Towers will enjoy this and, especially if they grew up watching the material as it came out, find it most rewarding viewing indeed.

This has all the well-done action, fights, physical struggles etc one hopes for in a superhero movie, but where it really shines is in its emotional core.

Viewers familiar with the comics will not encounter any huge surprises in terms of plot, though there's two good minor ones: one early, one late. Viewers with no knowledge of the characters except what they've already seen in the MCU are in for a few more twists. But the plot, action, explosions, chases, punching, etc, while all well done, are just gravy compared to the resonantly and movingly handled themes.

There are stand-out performances from Pugh and Pullman, but it's a strong ensemble performance all round.

This is a must-see for MCU fans, and I'd even tentatively recommend it to people who have never seen a Marvel movie before (so long as they have at least an open mind about the concept of "superhero").

This movie is just about a worthy successor to the original set of movies from the 20th century.

Like them, it uses state of the art special effects to wittily investigate contemporary questions of ethics, humanity, status and prejudice while distracting the popcorn crowd with an engrossing adventure of exploration, captivity and escape in a make-believe world that, in what is a strong science fiction tradition, is recognisably a few "what if?"'s away from our own.

Unlike the original five movies, where each sequel was originally unplanned, this is clearly a new "chapter one", taking the time to introduce some elements that will feature in the upcoming sequels.

Over and over it evokes the sense of wonder of the original handful, with plenty of specific visual, musical and thematic evocations. There are reognisable influences from the 1970s TV show and even some of the Apes comic book stories of that era. But, it is also unmistakably a post-Lord of the Rings epic, the influence showing up in how various action and travel sequences have been shot.

While there is not nearly so much sly humour as the originals, the socio-historic themes are more nuanced, closer to the surface and harder to miss. Questions of defining civilisation in terms of laws are answered in a way that will ultimately resonate with modern audiences; a layered and varied spectrum of responses to enslavement is shown; and as expected, anti-monarchist revolutions will always play well in the USA.

Non-Americans may roll their eyes a little at the very earnest equating of eagles with capital-L Liberty (one can't imagine Charlton Heston's sardonic and cynical George Taylor from the 1968 movie being very impressed), but on the plus side, Peter Macon's wonderful Raka just about matches the delightful charm of Kim Hunter's Zira and Roddy McDowell's Cornelius from the originals. Owen Teague also does a good job as Noa.

The various fight scenes are competent without being overly thrilling (the most exciting action is a cornfield chase vaguely inspired by the original 1968 film), but the deeper probing into the various sub-texts and a fine selection of minor characters keeps the interest levels up. One could pick nits about some of the physics shown in the last twenty minutes, but it's hardly the first Hollywood film to sacrifice strict logic for spectacle and it surely won't be the last.

Overall, this does a good job of working on several levels and should appeal to a good range of audiences.

If you enjoy the straight-faced absolute nonsense that this show does so well, you may well enjoy some of genius Brit John Morton's tv series, such as:

People Like Us (1999-2001)

A (fictional, performed) documentary series typically following a day in the working life of a small group of people in a different industry each episode. Teachers, police, clergy, airline staff, real estate agents and more are featured on screen, interviewed by the never-seen host. It all looks and sounds authentically like a low budget social documentary, until you pay close enough attention to the content to notice the densely packed absurdities in the narration ("By half past nine, it's nearly time for ten o'clock") and the intense stupidity of most of the subjects.

Broken News (2005)

Each episode mimics the viewing experience of channel surfing across a dozen recurring fictional 24 hour news channels, mostly British but with a few US ones. Whether the segment lasts a few minutes or mere seconds before the "channel is changed", the satire is precisely crafted, and much of it can now be seen as prophetic! Awful tv journalism in a wide variety of styles and flavours is brilliantly skewered, the nonsensical absurdities land every few seconds. "Statistics show that as many as 3 out of 5 in every 7 students today don't understand basic mathematical concepts"

W1A (2014-2020)

The closest to a traditional sitcom, with continuing characters and stories, this still blithely shows many characters so incredibly thick they are totally oblivious as to how inept, stupid and awful they actually are, but sprinkled with a few normal people enmeshed in their ongoing disasters. It is presented as a documentary giving a behind-the-scenes look at BBC TV, covering people working in a wide range of positions, ranging from sub-entry level to (not quite) the top.

Fans of the tv show and earlier film will get the most out of this, with plenty of dangling plot threads deftly picked up and woven into a satisfying series of resolutions.

There's plenty of strongly emotional moments here. It plays like one of the Christmas specials but more so, and combines an appropriately high stakes 19th century historical family mystery with an examination of an industry on the cusp of a revolution, as metaphor for Downton and the Crawleys doing their best to survive in a changing world. Hints are given how they will manage it.

This is not the place to start with Downton, and the movie assumes wise viewers know that. With so many characters, with so much history, the audience are given not so much introductions as little reminders.

As is traditional, Maggie Smith gets most of the best lines, but there are no weak performances. There's even a scattering of wisdom here and there among the drollery and drama.

Wonderfully made, deeply involving

Sometimes you just take a punt on watching a randomly selected movie, maybe because of the cast or the setting or the image on the poster. You go into the cinema (or switch on the tv) with no expectations and almost no knowledge about what you're going to see. Perhaps this is the perfect way to begin watching a movie, letting you set out on a journey of discovery with no more idea of what the characters are in for than they themselves have.

This was the case for my viewing of this. With no preconceptions, I was receptive in turn to the political, historical, philosophical, romantic and tragic strands that are woven into this marvelous Turkish carpet of a movie.

The performances of the main cast and the layered depths of their characterisations are magnificent. While the photography, music and art direction are all impeccable, convincing and skilled, they all support the story.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the low rating out of ten on the website, but it's a pity if it prevents people from discovering this rare and buried artistic masterwork from long ago...

Hill Street Blues is one of the premier achievements of narrative television, and this episode is in my opinion one of the ten best they ever did. (It's currently the highest ranked episode of the show on IMDb, so I'm not alone in appreciating it). It gives us a villain scarier than around which many movies (without the codes and practices restrictions of network TV) are built, along with many of the usual Hill Street ingredients such as ironic humour, surprise, action and emotion. Like with many episodes, you get the most out of it if you're familiar with the characters and their histories - i.e. if you've been watching previous episodes. However, this is structured so you get a pretty good payoff watching it in isolation, too. Very highly recommended, and one that springs to mind easily years after I first saw it.

Mark (Twin Peaks) Frost directing a David (The Untouchables, State and Main) Mamet scripted episode of Hill Street Blues! How can you go wrong? Jablonski, Hill, Renko and Goldblume are taking a long weekend to go hunting. It's no spoiler to say things don't turn out as planned.

Three main stories run through this episode; two follow the already-mentioned characters, the third follows Buntz's conversations with a minor character we haven't seen in a while. Each of the three threads in various ways touches (sometimes indirectly) on a common theme of handling situations that are apparently of the kill-or-be-killed variety.

Hill Street Blues has a well-earned reputation for long-running plots and detailed character growth across seasons. This episode, though, may be one of the most stand-alone they ever did. It could plausibly slip almost anywhere in the episode list with very little modification.

This short silent comedy features a great, large cast, and many hilarious scenes. The large number of characters help support a plot more complicated than the average 1914 Keystone comedy.

For a 1914 Keystone, this has it all, or almost all: cartoon violence, street fights, fraud, romance, a cross-dressing heroine, Arbuckle's acrobatic slapstick, a (brief) love triangle, death threats, menace, the funniest boxing match of the decade, with Chaplin as a guest star and the Keystone Kops! The last ten or so minutes in particular (of the 25 minute version I saw) were outstanding: densely packed with ludicrous action and surprising gags. There's easily enough going on to reward multiple viewings. It's one of Chaplin's best Keystone films (though he's only in a few minutes), one of Arbuckle's best Keystone films and has the funniest Keystone Kops sequence of the handful I've seen.

Recommended!

Tony (Iron Man) Stark and supporting cast have been continuously published for up to almost half a century now; there must be something entertaining and appealing about these characters. This movie (unlike some other comicbook adaptions this century - yes, "Azrael Begins", I'm looking at you) actually puts recognisable versions of the published characters on the big screen.

If you've been reading Iron Man for decades, as I have, then there are many resonant moments and stirring visuals that will bring a smile to your face. I don't think you can go much more than 5 minutes at a stretch without experiencing some frisson of gleeful recognition.

If all you know of the character is the first movie, this will not disappoint. It has the same mix of comicbook physics, great performances and entertaining action in another script smarter than the genre usually supplies. There's a layer of enjoyment accessible to long-time readers that you won't tap into, but you won't miss it.

(It was great to see Howard Stark presented as the Walt Disney of the Marvel Universe here! Great cultural shorthand.) Superior popcorn entertainment masterfully done!

Watching silent comedies is an almost lost art, one that today's younger viewers must teach themselves through an open-minded exposure to multiple examples, always reminding themselves that the intent to tell an amusing story clearly is always there, even if at first glance the impression is of fast-paced incomprehensible chaos. With practice one can learn to understand the conventions of the day, follow the action and enjoy the multitude of jokes and amazing performances.

Even someone who has managed this for comedies of the 1920s, and who can both appreciate and enjoy, say, The General and The Gold Rush, may find their first exposure to Keystone material of the 1910s throws them back into bewilderment. Yet once one adjusts to the conventions of the time (such as the fast paced, physically detailed and extremely demonstrative acting that makes most '20s performances seem restrained by comparison), even these very early, frenetic and largely improvised Keystones can delight.

This one is particularly interesting for several reasons already cited in other reviews: the lack of character makeup on Chaplin and Sterling (both almost always appearing in other films with fake facial hair of various sorts), the amazing athleticism of Arbuckle, the wholly natural reactions of the actual onlookers in the "found" dance hall location to the antics of the leads. It repays a second and even a third viewing for those seeking to learn the skill of following early Keystone comedies.

This was one of Sterling's last handful of films at Keystone and one of Chaplin's first. At the time, Sterling was the bigger star. They work very well together here, especially in their fight scenes, which have tell-tale signs of being more improvised than rehearsed or precisely choreographed, yet are nevertheless creative, clearly told and quite entertaining.

If you've never seen a silent Chaplin short, this is not the one to start with. (Try one of the Mutuals, like Easy Street or The Immigrant) But if you've some familiarity with the genre, the circumstances of the shooting of this one make it one of the most interesting of his first half-dozen or so.

The most boring and senseless cliché of cinema - the car chase - is here given a truly surprising, clever and entertaining twist (no, I will not spoil its nature here). The movie is worth seeing for this sequence (the best in the movie) alone.

It's also interesting, and somewhat chastening, to compare this sequel with the original movie to see how far towards political correctness the Dirty Harry character has moved. While in the original, Harry is presented (at least initially) as an intolerant racist, here it is the Lieutenant that is presented as racist, seeing Harry's partner condescendingly only as a "token ethnic" whose pairing with high-profile Inspector Callahan will be good for the police department's public relations image; Harry relates to the Chinese officer in question as "Al", an equal, from the start, and mocks the Lieutenant's attitude.