irvingwarner

"Madam Secretary", (2014-2019)

This series has cookbook writing that offers few surprises along the way. Not every episode is cut from the same cloth, but most are. This is rather like meatloaf for the eyes; you can sit down and watch it and be very comfortable. The episode opens with a crisis somewhere in the world, and this thrusts troubles and problems upon the Secretary of State played by Tea Leoni with the same dramatic ambience as the scripts. Her husband somehow gets into the mix in diverse ways and helps to save the nation along with his wife Madam Secretary. Along the way we have the 'Partridge Family' subplots with their three children and the interplay with their parents. Though there is some outstanding casting, including Bebe Neuwirth, Keith Carradine and Zeljiko Ivanek, these talented actors don't even break into a sweat with the parts they have. There are never very many substantial edges to the scripts and overall, they conclude with the United States 'saving the bacon' so to speak. Madam Secretary's youthful helpers are like a collection of Shakespearean clowns, and if our foreign policy is influenced by anything like these people, we are in deeper trouble than I thought. Perhaps the producers wanted to offer a mild version of the Danish series "Bergen" without the edges. Well, they did it.

"Eating our way to Extinction," (2021)

This 'documentary' is the 21st century version of a traveling medicine show. It has a bottle of Dr. Horsefeather's Elixir for us and goes on to explain how many diverse afflictions it can cure. This elixir is a vegan lifestyle. The good doctor's medicine show has all sorts of 'talking heads,' some of them accomplished in their fields, then a few hucksters (i.e., Tony Richards). Part of the way, it even offers us a standup comedian. In trying to be an informed audience/reader, I have always been wary of that old rhetorical bulldog "the sweeping generality," and the clever technique of mixing the true with the untrue. It is indeed a disingenuous documentary that will use these rhetorical techniques and expect all viewers to buy their brand of hooey. Eating animal-based food has been going on for over a quarter of a million years. The same for plant based. The problem is not what is being eaten and drank, but the corporate Greedheads that have completely discombobulated the world food system and water cycle for profit.

"Restoration," (1995) Now twenty-eight years since its release, this movie is a grand example of a superb historical set piece. For 1995, the casting was strange, even off putting. Robert Downey Jr., and America's (then) 'sweetie pie' Meg Ryan, are a long way from my favorite actors, but they surprise us here. "Restoration" IMO is both their best movie. The remaining players are splendid. Sam Neill, David Thewlis, Ian McKellen, Polly Walker and a young Hugh Grant make a powerful supporting cast. The story takes place in the 17th century court of King Charles II. Having escaped to Europe during the Cromwell scourge, and after the execution of his father King Charles I, his son is restored to the crown after the fall of Oliver Cromwell and all his Puritans. So old King Charles II pulled out all the stops on having a court of unparalleled lushness and extravagance. Therefore, this movie won Academy Awards In both craft categories for art direction and costume design. To say the production values are outstanding is to understate it. Into the midst of this splendor by sheer chance falls an outstanding doctor who suddenly finds himself in the royal position of King Charles personal physician. Being quite the party boy, he goes bonkers and out parties everybody. So, we follow him from the poverty of being a working physician in Cheapside, London, to his zenith as the Kings physician. And his voyage continues, and I shall say no more. This was a great ride, especially for people who enjoy historical dramas.