A_Different_Drummer

One of those films where you wish you were a fly on the wall in the restaurant when the project was still in the "napkin" stage. Did the creator pitch the finance guys with "Hey, I know this is a low-budget indie, but I have a great gimmick. With clever editing, I will make the plot a mystery even to the audience. Even to the actors. No one will ever figure out what they are seeing, even if they see the film more than once. Guaranteed. " And somehow that pitch got a greenlight. The movie itself is entirely forgettable. The use of violin to punch up key scenes, however, is rare and and quite interesting all by itself. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

There is a throwaway line in an early episode of CROSSING JORDAN (David McCallum was a regular) where a curious female asks the Senior Pathologist (well played by Miguel Ferrer) what McCallum's character might have looked like when he was young? Without even a pause, Ferrer answers "Illya Kuryakin." Even for inside jokes, that was a doozy. Similarly, the spectacular series WANDAVISION did a better job of showcasing the 1950s than the actual 1950s themselves did. All of which goes to say, you can't go home again; and, if you are playing the nostalgia card, you had better have an ace up your sleeve. The problem with this nostalgia piece ... no aces. The original was a jewel of its era, not only fun to watch, but (as the PR pak said) all the locations were authentic so you got to see the world at the same time. (DANGER MAN did something similar, and it worked well too). This production tries hard but never even comes close to the original magic. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

The elephant in the room. Someone has to talk about this entire season, and this is the perfect spot. First, the series as a whole. Brilliant. Never read the books but, had I done so, I do not think anyone, including the author, could have imagined how great Oldman would be. Second, the first four seasons. Incredible that they managed to maintain that seriocomic vibe for four years straight. Finally, this season. Not even close. The writing for this season is what you do when you have a tired sitcom that has been on air for 8 or 9 years, and you know the viewers show up for the companionship not the story. There are entire episodes here that make no sense when you first view them; and, when you think of them later, only go downhill from there. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))