Wakanohana Reviews

Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019) Season 8, Episode 5

Not the war you wanted, but the war that was inevitable

[10/10 · 13 May 2019]

You knew Daenerys was insane, and that she had a habit of burning everyone who wouldn't bend the knee. You hoped she wouldn't go totally insane and burn all of King's Landing, but that would have gone against her nature.

You wanted Cersei to die a horrible death, and maybe she did, but you didn't actually see it. So you've been robbed of a satisfying regicide .....

But there's one more episode and maybe a regicide is still in the cards. Arya went to King's Landing to kill the queen, and now there's an even more terrible queen than her original target.

I think when you see Episode Six, you'll have a greater appreciation for Episode Five.

Perry Mason: The Case of the Clumsy Clown (1960) Season 4, Episode 7

a very logical resolution to the case

[7/10 · 22 October 2013]

Some of the reviewers have decided that this episode does not meet the usual standards of the Perry Mason show. However, the identity of the real killer could be easily discovered by the various clues which were available.

First, Perry decided early on that whoever was in the clown suit was not the killer, but that the fatal shot came from someone else.

Then it was made clear that the gun held by the clown contained only blanks, since there was no hole in the tent from the clown's first shot.

Then, when the gun was discovered, the only remaining possibility was that the killer was someone who had not been taken down to police headquarters for questioning -- he had to be back at the circus, tampering with the gun and replacing the blank cartridges with real ones. By process of elimination, the number of suspects was narrowed to one.

Too often the explanation only makes sense afterward, when Mason tells Della and Paul how he did it. But in this case the logic was clear for all to see.

The Hidden Fortress (1958)

A classic

[9/10 · 27 November 2004]

This is not a great film, but parts of it are great. The chase scene on horseback, the fire dance, just to name two that I find especially fascinating.

Regardless of what George Lucas says about the inspiration for the original Star Wars movie, there are too many similarities for his denials to be credible. If someone made this film now, Star Wars fans would recognize it as a copy.

Star Wars will always hold a place in our hearts, because it reminds us of where we were when we saw it first -- and also because we love the characters, no matter how cartoonish they were. But 50 years from now, I believe Hidden Fortress may be held in higher regard. It's a standard adventure story, but the humor is timeless.

Dunkirk (1958)

What a WWII movie should be

[8/10 · 20 December 2002]

A simple film, two stories, soldiers and civilians who did what needed to be done. None of the romance of "Mrs Minnever," but moving nonetheless.

I appreciated this film all the more for having seen "Pearl Harbor" a few months ago. I gave "Dunkirk" 8/10, maybe a little generous, because of the attention to detail and accuracy. The acting was better than adequate, and it was wonderful to see a youngish Bernard Lee. He was 49 when this film was released in 1958 -- there is a gap in his filmography from 41 to 45, so he probably served in the war... as did many of the other actors.

Pearl Harbor (2001)

pretty awful

[1/10 · 13 October 2002]

The acting was uniformly bad. The historical inaccuracies were too numerous to itemize. The special effects were cheesy. But some of the nurses were very cute. I like Kate Beckinsale a lot, and maybe this movie was good for her career. But it doesn't look good on anyone else's filmography.

Now, I admit that it's much more difficult to make a realistic WWII movie now than it was 50 or even 40 years ago. But it can be done. Saving Private Ryan is a good example, HBO's Band of Brothers is another. Filming a simulated attack on Pearl Harbor is more difficult than a simulated assault on an empty beach. But if you're going to spend $150 million on a movie, the result should be a film worth watching. This one rates as equal to a fairly mediocre network mini-series.

Contact (1997)

great moments, but....

[7/10 · 3 October 2002]

This film had the potential to be one of the very best films of all time. It has some wonderful moments, some wonderful acting, some wonderful camera work. It is very nearly destroyed by the director's insistence on making stupid political statements. As a result, it is worth watching. But I can't give it more than 7/10.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Redux is outstanding

[10/10 · 23 June 2002]

For years Apocalypse Now has been one of my favorite films of all time. Now I have seen the director's cut.

The original theatrical release is a very good story, well told. The director's cut is a much better story. I must downgrade the original version to 9/10, to make room for my vote of 10/10 for the director's cut.

I think the plantation scene is a bit didactic, and somewhat out of place with the rest of the film, but still very useful in illustrating a particular view of Vietnam from the French standpoint.

The concluding scenes, after Willard meets Kurtz, were very confusing in the original version. In fact, I was under the impression that Willard called in an airstrike after he killed Kurtz; there is no airstrike. The director's cut is far superior.

But I think the best thing about the director's cut is the character development of the PBR crew: the Chief, Chef, Mr Clean, and Lance. In the original, we hear what Willard thought about each crewman, but in the director's cut we can see more clearly for ourselves. In one memorable scene, we get to see that Mr Clean received a military funeral at the plantation.

What I liked in particular was the character of Chief Phillips in the director's cut. There is nothing flashy about him, he is just a good man doing his duty. But he could be a model for all chief petty officers in the Navy, or senior NCO's in any branch. Every other character has visible flaws.

One last thing about the director's cut: it show up more shortcomings in Martin Sheen's acting ability. Although he was in all the scenes at the plantation, and he hears about five different versions of Vietnamese society from five different French colonists, he says little and appears not to be paying attention.

Cop Land (1997)

A better film than many reviewers originally thought

[10/10 · 27 November 1999]

I saw this file when it first came out and enjoyed it on a fairly superficial level. Now, after I've seen it again, I think it is a much better film. Not quite great, but excellent on many levels. Another reviewer has commented that Stallone's character is like in the first Rocky film, before all the Rambo BS. I agree. I think this is a showcase for great actors in an above-average script, with excellent directing. This is not a Stallone film, other actors could play this part, but he plays it to a T. Keitel is fantastic, as usual, De Niro and Liotta are okay. The subplot between Stallone and Sciorra, Freddy who once saved Liz from drowning when he was a kid, but he lost his hearing in one ear as a result and could never join the NYPD -- that's a powerful subplot that could have been more fully explored, but only at the expense of the main plot. All in all, a much better film than reviewers thought when it first came out, IMO.