Lian Reviews

A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Just stop Ken...

[4/10 · 30 November 2023]

I'll be honest, after the first two 'adaptations', I only decided to watch this as it had Tina Fey in it as Ariadne Oliver, and I thought perhaps, *maybe*, her character might, as Agatha's fictional alter ego, add some life, and levity to Branagh's interminably gloomy just plain wrongheaded Poirot. But nope. He dragged her down too. Betraying the two character's enjoyable and long standing friendship. Messing that up, just as he has the character of Poirot who bears neither the physical nor personal attributes of the character.

The dapper, overweight, charming, spikily likable, *devout Catholic*, slightly self regarding Belgian is just not there in any shape or form. He's a miserable, friendless, joyless, charmless egotist with a Hi-De-Hi accent. Ariadne is a rapacious author, out to sell books rather than who she actually was, a bantering cross between Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, both of whom were sick of their main characters and only too happy to stop writing about them. And her Finnish detective was based on Holmes (with his pure logic, lack of interest in romance), not Poirot...but then why would Branagh bother with that detail either.

As for the plot itself, it would've served as a Blum House movie well enough, but was plodding, slow, dependent on the odd jump scare, had plenty of plot holes (basements in Venice?) and much like Poirot himself, relentlessly miserable.

The Ruins (2008)

Good Cast. Nice Pace. Usual Plot Hole.

[8/10 · 14 September 2023]

There's a lot to like about this movie, the acting, pacing, FX, cinematography. It makes for an entertaining, absorbing feature. But like Midsommar after it, it suffers from the same glaring plot hole. Groups of people that are known to be disappearing from a specific place, that never seems to attract any attention from the authorities.

The plot hole in this one is in many ways even worse than in Midsommar, in that people are going to a known spot, disappearing and no one wonders why/turns up to investigate. It's more glaringly obvious here in that the initial pairing that the gang are going to join at the pyramid, are stated to be on a dig. In order to get funding and permission to do that dig they would have had to do a number of preliminary studies which would have required them to survey the ruins *without touching* them (and come back) in the first place. You dont just rock up at an ancient Mayan temple and start digging.

The fact there is an entire village of well armed, well dressed, people that *exclusively* speaks Mayan and nothing else in Mexico is also far fetched. But even if that were the case, there are a great number of Mayan speakers in Mexico and by this point someone would have spoken to them about what was going on.

By the end of this movie alone there are at least 10 international people dead (assuming the final duo also go). And this is without the notion that others have died there before. Academic instutituons, funders, families, friends and the general authorities have never asked questions, sought answers before?

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Jury of Her Peers (1961) Season 7, Episode 12

Riveting Viewing Undermined horribly

[9/10 · 12 July 2023]

Hitchcock once told TV Guide that his little post ep comments where we are told a criminal, no matter how justified, were necessary nods to morality. This episode provides the most egregious example of this 'necessity'.

A wonderfully tight adaptation of an existing play. The sense of claustrophobia and tension helps give a sense of the isolated life Mrs. Wright lived before she finally snapped under the years of abuse and maltreatment at the hands of her cold hearted husband. Ann Harding, a wonderful theatre and Oscar nominated actress is quietly mesmeric as she calmly lays out her explanation/defence of June Walker's Mrs Wright's actions, to Mrs Peters, the Sheriff's wife.

There is genuine tension about the decision Mrs Peters will make (whether to tell her husband of their discovery) right to the end, with the way women's intelligence and the oft overlook burdens they bear underlined by the way the men just assume they've been gossiping or talking about quilting the entire time they've been away.

In this case however, Hitchcock's closing nod to morality, is nothing of the sort. It is merely a nod to the 'law', and actually ignores morality, completely undermining everything that has been laid out in the episode itself and leaves a rather sour taste in the mouth. Just stop the episode as it ends and skip over Hitch for once.

Evil: E Is for Elevator (2021) Season 2, Episode 4

The American 'Lens'

[6/10 · 19 April 2023]

This was a truly creepy episode. Elevators are prime territory for fears. But the whole thing was undermined, not by the lack of 'proof', which has been a standard for supernatural shows (the X Files being a standout!) but by the ridiculous America focused view of the Catholic Church in regards to race. The Catholic Church is a Global Entity, not an American one. Having these guys voice the idea that David was being groomed as some kind of black figurehead for "The Catholic Church" just by them making him a priest, is utterly ridiculous when you know there are 26 African CARDINALS *alone* (including several who are front runners for the Papacy) never mind the 31 Cardinals in Asia, and others of Colour from around the world. Painfully cringeworthy. Writers of American shows need to take a step back and take a more holistic view of International organizations and issues!

The Mandalorian: Chapter 20: The Foundling (2023) Season 3, Episode 4

Oh dear...

[3/10 · 30 March 2023]

After some really solid episodes, this was awful. More holes than a full swiss cheese. The entire rescue of the kid was based on the premise that the creature hadn't already eaten him, with no reason given for believing that.

Bo Katan comes back to the community when she could have radio-ed Mando from her ship to his, with the location, to bring others. She had no need of any specialized equipment to get to the kid, so coming back made no sense when obviously urgency was required as the damn creature took the kid to eat him!! But back she goes and they then they take their sweet time walking the rest of the way there, because the creature could 'hear the ship' yet somehow can't hear the percussive shots of their grappling hooks as a multitude of them climb up to the next. Then, somehow, the kid survives *inside the creature* for a full day, and is spit back up without a scratch (when creatures regurgitate the food for their babies they're dead!). There's not even acid damage to the kid's clothes, they're not even damp, nothing! Meanwhile the father fails to mention that the kid is his son until they get to the nest, showing no urgency beyond anyone else until that revelation is made.

Seriously, Favreau & Filoni slept walk through this.

Our Time (1974)

Raw, but appropriate acting and, sadly, still timely.

[8/10 · 23 June 2022]

It's interesting on viewing this movie, how raw the 4 'teens' leading this movie are. After years seeing the smooth talking/acting plethora of Movies and TV shows with the young/teen casts of the last 3 decades, it is almost jarring to see a set of teen characters, who actually sound like either the teens you were, or actually overhear in real life.

Chatty, scatty, ignorant yet pompously covering that up, they veer between talking over one another in rapid verbal torrents one moment and then long awkward, nervous pauses. They feel utterly unpolished, and, as it goes on, all the more real because of it.

Betsy Slade (Muffy) and Pamela Sue Martin (Abby) make convincing and touching good friends (and given that Pamela Sue Martin asserts that Betsy didn't actually like her, you have to give extra kudos to the actors), and while it's a familiar tale of the Pretty and the Plain, the close friendship between the two really adds to what happens. It's also nice to see a story where the handsome All American Captain of the team (Parker Stevenson) actually turns out to be a genuinely nice guy who both loves his girlfriend and is supportive of her friend too. Ditto the lovelorn Malcolm, who pines after Muffy but abides by her decisions, both not to marry him and to abort the pregnancy.

Ultimately though, set in the stultifying, double standard filled, moral trap of hypocrisy that was the 50s, it remains a cautionary tale of what happens when sex is shunted into the shadows, both turning it into a dirty little secret *and* increasing curiosity around it; and when a woman can't freely and safely make choices about what happens to her own body. The latter, sadly, rearing it's head again in U. S. society, making the movie all too relevant almost 50 years later.

Mork & Mindy: Metamorphosis - The TV Show (1982) Season 4, Episode 13

Williams is an Actor, Winters is not

[7/10 · 2 February 2021]

The difference between the two comic geniuses is most evident here, when called on to switch roles. Robin Williams carries off the character and Winter's bodyshape/movements really well (especially the scene at the party). Jonathan Winters impersonation of William's Mork is a series of eye rolling, "Min, Min, Min'..."Big Kiss" punctuated lines. A Middle Aged Mork by way of Ohio.

Admittedly Williams has the easier role playing the more exaggerated part, (and has played a child effortlessly in episodes of the show already) but whoever Winters was playing, that wasn't William's Mork, and actually feels a bit like it's poking fun at him.

Of the trio, the one who comes out best of this Freaky Friday installment (carrying it really) is Pam Dawber. With Mindy's discomfort (and aloneness) both in regards to her situation at work, and having to deal with the bizarreness, especially a husband inside her son's body, and making innuendos, really well conveyed.

Charles Bloom (who went on to top class career as a composer) does a really good (and very recognizable) job playing the pompous, intellectual young General Manager, tying himself in knots trying to pretend he understands the abstract terms coming out of what is actually a child's mouth.

The Chevy Chase National Humor Test (1979 TV Special)

Yiccccck

[3/10 · 5 January 2021]

Chevy Chase always seemed ideally suited to the kind of comic narrator role perfected by the likes of Robert Benchley back in the 40s and 50s. And indeed those bits where he's the anchor/narrator fare best in this odd concept. When he gets directly involved in the central sketches it unravels painfully, as he's just not animated enough.

You mostly end up feeling sorry for the likes of Dr. Joyce Brothers and especially Pam Dawber who riding high on Mork & Mindy at the time, and more than able to handle her own with (better) comedians than him, seems to be there entirely for Chase to hit on (or have her hit on him).

It's a bit of a surprise to see Christopher Guest, Martin Mull and Harry Shearer get writing credits on this, as to be honest this is a dud. Though Guest's quick turn as an (Irish?) Aran Sweater clad folk singer, puts you in mind of the gem that is A Mighty Wind that is to come.

Mork & Mindy: Mork the Prankster (1980) Season 3, Episode 5

Crash Into You

[9/10 · 12 October 2020]

This episode marks the first time Mork & Mindy kiss in more than a full season, a kiss that is far more romantic and long lasting than any of the others that have come before, marking the start of a shift forward in their relationship, that culminates in their mutual declaration at the end of the season.

The circumstances setting it, and a classic episode, in motion are triggered by Glenda Fay playing a practical joke on Mindy and Jeanie that Mindy in turn decides to try on Mork. She carries it off and after initially missing the point (to make you laugh) Mork decides to play one back on her, consulting his young charges (including Corey Feldman in the first of two appearances) because he doesn't know any. They give him some ideas, but Mork being Mork gets the wrong end of the stick about the nature of practical jokes, and begins a series of small stunts that fall flat because he flags every single one of them to Mindy. After Mindy explains that surprise is the key component, he begins to cotton on, and raises his game.

Pulling off a giant version of Mindy's prank on Mr. Bickley & Fred, they congratulate him, and Mr. Bickley reminisces about his college days and the practical joke that made him a Legend, when he took apart the Dean's Studebaker and rebuilt it in the Dean's living room. A light bulb comes on in Mork's head as the legendary practical joke sounds perfect in his aim to make Mindy laugh.

Spending all night, he takes apart her Jeep and rebuilds it in the living room, waking Mindy at 5am to come out. Half asleep it takes her a moment to take in what he's done, and rather than amused she's aghast. Unfortunately no one mentioned to him, that a 2nd floor apartment is not the place for this kind of prank, and the combined weight of them both and the Jeep is too much, the wooden floor giving way, and plunging the Jeep down into Mr. Bickley's living room on the ground floor.

A shell-shocked Bickley, up early to go fishing only escapes being crushed by having gone out to the kitchen to fill his Thermos with coffee, and wanders out in a daze with Mindy's assurances that Mork will remove the jeep and she'll check to see if her insurance will cover the damages.

As soon as he's gone she rounds on Mork, rightfully furious at his unthinking recklessness, telling him that he could've killed Mr. Bickely, and he's wrecked both his and their apartment which could cost her a huge amount to repair. Unable to deal with him further she storms off to Glenda Fay at her single's complex.

Glenda Fay is entirely sympathetic and, though a little shocked when she realizes Mindy is actively thinking of ending her living arrangements with Mork is happy to put her up . No sooner is that decision made however, than two of Glenda's neighbours drop by. The chain wearing super swinger Todd Norman Taylor - TNT (first encountered in Mork's Mixed Emotions in S1) and the male model handsome Derek who would be a statue were he any more the poseur.

After 5 minutes of TNT's unrelentingly and cheesily hitting on her, and Derek's virtually motionless display of posing, during which neither of them use either her or Glenda's correct name, Mindy is in shock. Not only on her own behalf but Glenda's who is intending to take up the two men's invitation to their Jacuzzi party.

As she discusses why Glenda would possibly want to hang out with two self absorbed bozos, who have no real interest in her beyond having fun, Glenda confesses that fun and a few laughs is all she wants in the wake of her husband's death. But that every so often she misses having someone who really cares about her and that is why Mindy is so lucky to have Mork. She suggests that she give Mork another chance, telling her that a hole in her floor is a whole lot better than a hole in her life. Having seen what is out there, Mindy admits that she actually has it pretty good at home.

Going back to Bickley's apartment, she finds a truly repentant Mork, who has written a massively long list of all his bad points to work on. Mindy tells him that despite what he thinks of her, she's not perfect, that she should have had more patience, and knows that he only did what he did to make her laugh. Yes he's crazy, aggravating, impulsive and frustrating, but he cares about her and that makes everything else worthwhile.

The kiss that follows is a kiss and make up wrapped in flirtation, with Mork's questioning as to whether she really wants to kiss him, teasingly toyed with before Mindy eagerly seizes on it. It's sweet and lingering, with the added classic 'in love' visual gag from old movies of the raised leg (normally by the girl, but this time by Mork) which is strong enough to lift the Jeep behind him.

All in all this is a wonderfully crafted, visually top notch episode, that blends escalating humour, with dramatic punctuations and a some genuinely moving moments (Crissy Wilzak's Glenda Fay can really turn the tables on your expectations), and a pretty iconic moment with that Jeep going through the floor!

There is only one serious caveat, which relates to Mork's lack of knowledge of Practical Jokes in the first place. Something he made abundantly clear he knew all about in S1s To Tell The Truth, where the whole thing is kicked off with Mork playing a practical joke on Mindy (Splinking her) convincing her to go out with her rain coat, based on his ion ratios telling him the weather forecast was wrong, and laughing that she fell for it when she comes home soaked to the skin.

Mork & Mindy: Mork Meets Robin Williams (1981) Season 3, Episode 14

Not what you might expect

[10/10 · 12 October 2020]

On recommending this episode to anyone, you tend to get the same reaction. A cringe at the idea of fictional characters meeting one of the actors who actually play them.

The idea does sound cheesy as hell. But by the end of viewing this episode the reaction is very different. And even on repeated views its hard not to be moved up by the honesty and emotion on display.

It's cleverly done too, hitting the requisite laughs, with Mindy being set the seemingly impossible, job on the line, task of interviewing Robin Williams in town to do a stand up set for a Solar Power benefit, by her boss Mr. Sternhagen (if anyone does a more upright hilarious drunk than Foster Brooks I've yet to see it).

Or seemingly impossible for her at least. To her frustration, everyone else she knows seems to have run into him around Boulder with ease.

While she's super excited by the prospect of meeting him, Mork expresses complete ignorance about who this guy Williams is, before sniggering at his name and grossing her out whispering to her the 'disgusting' thing Robin means in Orkan. He then denies he looks anything like him, when she observes they actually do look very alike, and on her production of Williams' 'Reality What a Concept' album Mork proceeds to deconstruct his looks, ultimately declaring '"I'm bright and cheery, this guy has big problems!"

A line which is funny but after you stop laughing the term, half joking, whole in earnest springs a little to mind.

Nor is Mork any more inclined to believe in the resemblance after he arrives home with his clothes torn to pieces, claiming that the people of Boulder have discovered he's an alien and are chasing after him calling him disgusting names. Such as Robin? Mindy suggests.

Still not convinced, primarily as he can't understand why people would chase and rip the clothes off someone they claim to love, he agrees to go with Mindy, as a protector, to the stage door of where William's is performing but in disguise.

It's a last ditch effort on her part to see him, and save her job...and it pays off when she finally convinces Mork to take off his silly disguise as it's only attracting more attention then deflecting it. The minute he does of course, the crowd around the Stage Door surge at him, assuming he's Williams and he and Mindy are ushered inside by security who also assume he's Williams.

Inside his dressing room, finally about to meet Williams, Mindy gets teased by Mork for being star struck reminding her stars are just "big balls of glowing hot gas."

It's well documented that Robin Williams ascent to fame off the first season of Mork & Mindy was stratospheric and sent the demands on his time rocketing...along with setting unrealistic expectations of who he was. This episode, suggested to Garry Marshall by Williams himself, tries to show the public not only that he is not Mork, but that characters he drew on were created through his childhood to help mask an innate shyness and early difficulty making friends. Stemming from that difficulty making friends, is often a desire to please the ones you have and have people continue to like you...resulting in an inability to say No that's very hard to overcome, especially when people take your saying No for you suddenly thinking yourself better than them, now you've 'made it big'. And while saying No might give you more time to yourself, maybe having more time to yourself, might be the last thing you want.

Having Mork present during the interview is clever, well done, and underlines the main point that they are not the same (with the added whimsy of a little poking fun either direction) the rest of these topics, including the acknowledgement that he's also a performing addict, come up through the course of Mindy's conversation with the sober, thoughtful Williams. Something which must've been a slightly strange yet (one might imagine) probably a personally satisfying, experience for Pam Dawber too, as his friend who was there alongside of him through much of the unexpected madness and fallout.

The encounter leaves Mindy suitably conflicted in accepting his offer to slip away (without telling his management) the next morning to meet her to do an on camera interview with *her* at KTNS. Something that could be a huge boost to her career as she was only supposed to write up the interview for the KTNS Anchor to read out. But he assures her she's not taking advantage, and he can learn to say No tomorrow.

It's bookended by easily the most emotional exchanged between Mork and Orson ever done. With Orson taking the view during Mork's report that it is hard to feel sympathy for stars as they essentially have it made, money, fame, mansions. Something which Mork largely agrees, but points out that some times are trapped by their stardom, unable to be anything else but the persona their fans expect, 24 hours a day.

Mork & Mindy: Mindy, Mindy, Mindy (1981) Season 3, Episode 15

No replacing The Soft Lapped One

[9/10 · 12 October 2020]

You gotta hand it to Mindy, every Orkan male she's met on Earth seems to fall for her on some level, be it Mork, Xerko, or the Elder. The latter returns for a visit on his birthday, specifically in the hope of seeing 'The Soft Lapped One' Unfortunately for him, Mindy has taken off for the weekend on assignment for her job at KTNS. All he finds is a scruffy wreck of a Mork who after a day or so without her is jonesing bad for a Mindy fix, the place a shrine to her.

Both of them missing her, Mork reminds the Elder of his earlier (Putting the Ork back in Mork) comment about easily building a new Mindy for Mork if he had to go back Ork, both Orkans setting forth to build a clone of her up in the attic. But while the physical outcome of the Clone is spot on, the personality balance proves problematic resulting in three Mindy clones with very different dominant personality traits (Smart, Athletic, Affectionate) running around with the landlord, Al Klveins on the way to install smoke alarms..

Fortunately for Mork, the Elder has built in an off button of sorts, on the sole of the left foot of the Clones and Mork is able to trick Smart Mindy into raising it, switches her off and stores her in the Armoire. Then does the same with Athletic Mindy, before Mr Klevins arrives. Not impressed by the absence of Mindy, or the state of the apartment, he heads into Mindy's bedroom to install the smoke alarm, the door closing just as "Affectionate Mindy" arrives to out and out seduce Mork.

Trying to keep her out of the bedroom where Klevins is, Mork resorts to his best Charles Boyer accent and mangled romantic lines to lure her to the couch where he finally manages to get her left foot. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't quite manage to get all of her into the Armoire before Klevins emerges. Whereupon Klevins becomes convinced that Mork has murdered Mindy, and grabs the phone to call the police. Only for the real Mindy to return home.

Kelvin then accuses him of having stuffed some other woman in the Armoire, forcing Mork to improvise to stop both of them finding out, extracting the Mop Mindy from the Armoire. With Mindy's help, Klevins is convinced both that that is what he saw and that they are crazy, and departs. Mindy however is not so easily fooled and ignores Mork's attempts to stop her, before opening the Armoire to probably the biggest shock in her 3 years living with him.

While Mork confesses the truth about his "personal pile of perkiness" within to her, a defeated Elder trudges wearily down from the attic admitting he failed, and giving up, only to lay down on the actual soft lapped one's lap and discover her return. Rising up, he confesses that he was wrong, and that it was impossible to capture what made Mindy Mindy, and unique, and would take the three clones (and the aberration that appears at the end) back to Ork with him for further study.

The episode is a riot from the moment Mindy leaves. Harking back slightly to Season 1's 'Mork's Night Out' in Season 1 where Mork's boredom kicks in seconds after being left alone, this time we see that after a day without Mindy he's gone to pieces. Moving from people in general to missing Mindy specifically, was probably another indicator of where the third season was heading with their relationship.

Unkempt, unshaven, and in ratty slobbish clothes he can't stop thinking about her. The place is a mess and covered in (reversible) photos of her, he's replaced the regular window blind with one with her image all over it, and dressed a mop in her sweater and jeans and affixed her face to the head, to converse and dance with her. The sight of Mork dancing with the "Mindy Mop" is like a twisted version of an Astaire routine, and fabulous. His Boyer impressions and that bizarre, hip twisting, arm flailing dance he and Affectionate Mindy do is another high point (and must've been crazy fun to plan/rehearse).

But in truth is this episode is a little personal tour-de-force for Pam Dawber, who is allowed again to stretch her comedic muscles, and display three distinctly different personas, on top of Mindy herself. Smart Mindy is disinterested in anything non-intellectual (including Mork) and poses philosophical conundrums that would give Plato headaches. Active Mindy, an Olympian style athlete, who only wants to wrestle and spar with Mork, and probably most memorably, "Affectionate" Mindy, a feather boa-ed, man eating, "human hickey maker" determined to get into something more comfortable "like skin" and bed ol' "Blue Eyes" Mork.

In addition, throughout the show, Pam Dawber made something of an art form of 'Mindy Reactions', those (frequent) moments where she's faced with whatever weirdness or consequence Mork has dropped in her lap. And after all the good stuff she gets to do as her clones, this episode tops it off with, if not the best, then certainly one of the top two 'Mindy Reactions' of the entire show. As she slams the Armoire shut a fraction of a second after seeing the three versions of herself inside, visibly runs through about a half dozen emotions trying to process it...and then simply asks, tight jawed, "Mork? Where'd ya get the dead Mindys?"

Quite possibly the line that best encapsulates the almost expected anarchy of living with a Mork.

Another little relationship idiosyncrasy appears to be that only Mork gets to make jokes about his Shiksa goddess being a Shiksa, his blank uncomprehending stare off of Bickley's Shiksa-Mat joke about where Mork picked up all the pictures of Mindy unexpected and funny.

There are some curiosities, like Al Klevins...described by Mr Bickley as a creep and a landlord so picky he bounced tenants for having crooked doormats, but one apparently not too bothered about huge structural damage to a floor from a Jeep falling through it 10 episodes previously. So we must guess Mindy's insurance did indeed cover that.

Mork & Mindy: There's a New Mork in Town (1981) Season 3, Episode 13

Wonder Orkan...twinkle of eye, sparkle of teeth!

[9/10 · 12 October 2020]

Xerko the Godlike, Mork's idol and Orks most accomplished, greatest at everything, citizen....who judging by the newly intro-ed reverse aging of Orkans must also be younger than Mork pays him & Mindy a visit.

Xerko's arrival is announced by Orson to Mork at an awkward time, and his deliriously happy reaction to the news that they are to be honoured by a visit gets Mindy excited too. Xerko duly arrives, not by Egg, but the H28 beam, one of many great innovations of his own. Pompous, yet charming, classically handsome, a genius and boastfully aware of all his qualities yet with the talent to back everything up, Xerko dispenses little nuggets of praise for Morks work on Earth to the star struck Orkan. He reveals that Morks reports are massively popular now on Ork, leading to Earth's 'moving up the charts' as a Planet of Interest.

On fetching Mindy to meet Xerko, Mork's tizzy of happiness, evaporates entirely when Xerko announces to both, that Mork's reports of his life on Earth with Mindy have become too popular for his taste, and he's come to challenge Mork to a Hollytacker duel to take both Earth and Mindy off Mork's hands. His very Earthlike romantic interest in Mindy immediately clear, increasing her unhappiness with the news massively.

To Mindy's shock, Mork's self esteem immediately implodes and he concedes without even arguing, and he virtually hands her over to Xerko, assuring her she'll be happy with him. In the face of Mork's hopelessness. Mindy tries to elicit Fred as an ally, on the grounds of how he freaked out about one Orkan moving in with her. This backfires however as Xerko has a far better handle on Earth customs already than Mork has, including a love of classical music, and Mindy can only watch in dismay as he charms Fred utterly.

Flat out refusing to be passed along as part of the job, Mindy defies Xerko and states her belief in Mork and his ability to defeat him even if Mork doesn't. Finding a packing Mork, she stops him, giving him a pep talk based on her own experiences in school, faced with a girl who was better than her at everything. And how through believing in herself, and not giving up she eventually won a victory over her in a spelling bee. It's enough to convince Mork to at least try, and he accepts the challenge, with Mindy pinning her winning spelling bee ribbon on him ala a Medieval jousting favour.

What follows is the use of the invisible swords of Cletus, the partial destruction (again) of Mindy's living room, and the arrival of an irate Mr. Bickley convinced on sight of the two men in their spacesuits with Mindy and the noise that they are up to something seriously kinky. At the last moment, on the verge of defeat, Mork triumphs...and Xerko admits to being bested, and departs thanking them for teaching him humility the final thing he needed to become an even greater version of himself than he already was.

This episode is a nice little reminder that Mork was sent to Earth not because he was some highly rated explorer, but because essentially, he was a misfit and they were trying to get rid of him, and he knows it. He views himself as "worm sweat" in comparison to the likes of Xerko the Magnificent, and sees no point in fighting someone who is pretty much an Orkan ideal. It's also a clever way to show that while Mork still totally reveres the Orkan traditions and ideals he can't himself live up to, he is actually starting to change ideas and attitudes on Ork itself...without realizing it. From modern viewing there's a little creepiness to it, not only with Xerko's intentions towards her, but all three men don't really take Mindy's perspective/wishes into account...Xerko thinks he gets her by default like a perk of the job....Mork just gives up without at least fighting for her if not his job...and her father sees Xerko as an upgrade for her. Thankfully though this is slight, as Mindy herself makes her feelings plain.

Mostly though its a wonderful showcase for Williams and Waggoner, short, star struck and quakingly fearful vs tall, self absorbed, and super confident.

The Carole Burnett Show was not widely shown (and definitely has not had much in the way of repeats) outside the U.S.. To that end beyond America, 6' 4" crazy handsome Lyle Waggoner, is mostly known for his stoic, near cardboard cut out of a Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman. Only knowing him from that, on seeing him as Xerko for the first time without knowing him from Carole Burnett can be a shock to the system, as you realise how funny he was, and his delivery of his super smug lines in this episode only get funnier on repeated viewings.

Kudos has to go to the FX team on this episode too, with their timings on the duel. Hard enough to get things right when you see an actor swing a sword at a prop, but when said swords are invisible, slicing up candles, and furniture at just the right time to keep the action going and really make you believe they have weapons in their hands is great work. Special nod to the plaster coming away when Mindy has to find and yank out the invisible sword stuck in the wall.

Mork & Mindy: Mork's Health Hints (1979) Season 2, Episode 9

Mork & Mavis

[9/10 · 12 October 2020]

Mork's insecurities about primitive Earth ways are a fun source to mine, and this one is a little gem.

Mindy has to have her tonsils out, and Mork's worry about her health and the state of Earth's medical expertise is just about kept in check by Jeannie's reassurances. His first visit to see her in the hospital however does little to alleviate his worry finding it overcrowded (with Mindy housed in the children's wing), understaffed (1 nurse for three floors) and with the practice of cutting people open still in play. Unable to stay to 'protect' her, due to visiting hours, his anxiety skyrockets further the next day, when he returns to find her missing, lost in the administrative and staff shuffle, with the hospital staff and administrator either assuring him he's wrong about her being there, or leaving him to his own devices to resolve the issue. His increasingly desperate attempts to locate her finds Mork in full surgical garb posing as a doctor, and a blissfully drugged up on pre-op meds Mindy mistaken for a Mrs Mavis MacDonald and now scheduled for brain surgery.

Mork's gradually escalating panic is cleverly and funnily done, with some, non-vilifying, but pointed comic commentary on the inadequate state of hospital funding, management and patient care. So bad in this hospital that even the kids are sardonic about it (one appropriately played by Kim 'Tootie' Fields soon to be on The Facts Of Life), and the staff won't attend their own facility to get treatment. The truly comic kick however comes in the final act, in the discovery by a now fiercely protective Mork, of the doped up, happily delirious Mindy, who is not even fully aware of her own name by this point.

While the plot is driven by Williams and Mork's anxiety and protectiveness, this is one of the shows rare moments (along with classics like Mindy, Mindy Mindy in S3) that allows Pam Dawber to let loose and show some broad comedy chops of her own, and she nails it.

Her physical comedy and pratfalls, goofy 'drunken' pronouncements, giggling and flirting as she's manhandled by Mork are both endearing and pure funny. She even manages to get a tiny bit of her own back on Williams (for his legendary attempts to throw her off/make her laugh) by full on licking the side of his face at one point. Keep an eye on her in the background too as she's wandering around on the hospital's window ledge, while Mork argues inside with the staff.

The show is a showcase for, and legacy of, William's genius, but like Mary Tyler Moore before her (who also had no comedy background when she came onto the Dick Van Dyke show) its incredibly fun to watch the evolution of his co-star through the run. Again like MTM, one thing Pam Dawber did have when she came to the show, along with her immense charm, was an innate grasp of comic timing and reactions, and throughout the first season you can see how both got polished fast. She was thrown in at the deep end with Williams at his wildest on camera (yet, like Dick Van Dyke a generous performer) and she learned quick, with this second season episode a definite milestone in her own comedy growth.

Mork & Mindy: Stark Raving Mork (1979) Season 2, Episode 3

Knockdown, drag out, new beginnings

[9/10 · 11 October 2020]

The decision to omit Fred & Cora and replace them with new cast members, Remo & Jeanie Da Vinci (and Mindy's cousin Nelson), and up Mr Bickley's role was plain wrong on the part of the Network. But one not felt until the third episode of the season. Mork in Wonderland 1/2 explained their departure, but due to the displaced nature of the two part storyline it didn't really hit.

Here it does, with the music shop gone and the Da Vinci's Deli the new out of house meet up joint, brother and sister's bickering taking the place of mother and son-in law. And it's jarring. It deprives the viewers of characters they loved (proving the insight of network executives in these matters is nil) and Fred especially is a huge hole. He and Cora were Mindy's only two sources to go to about Mork, as the only two (outside Exidor) who knew what he was, and now she's cut adrift to handle this on her own. But Fred's antipathy towards their relationship (even while actually liking Mork) added a welcome note of discord and realism to Mork's presence.

The new (and expanded) cast members are not at fault however, as Tom Poston (so funny in his own right), Gina Hecht (as Jeanie) and Jay Thomas (Remo) all add to the vibrancy of the show, and are used well in this 'secondary start' to the season back in the real world.

Jeanie & Remo's argument on Mork's first meeting them, and Remo and Mr Bickley's advice about fights keeping a relationship fresh gives Mork the entirely wrong idea about how to keep his Mindy's relationship exciting, after reading about the divorce statistics.

What follows is just a total classic scene from the show.

Without realizing the necessity for having to actually be angry about something, he barges in in uber macho mode and destroys the intimate dinner she had planned for them, before taking hurtful pot shots at her. All done in the hope of being able to kiss and make up, and not taking into account Mindy's reciprocal and righteous fury.

Williams worked with Dawber to retool the weak comebacks the writers initially had (trying to keep Mindy 'nice') for her to make them more realistic, and it pays off in spades, with those suspenders of his deployed to painful effect before she flings him out of the house, leaving him in a panic. After all those scenes with Mindy silently simmering and/or being tolerant, it must've been something of a relief/fun to have a full on knock down drag out fight, where she unleashes her frustrations. It's wonderfully paced and acted (as all of their (rare) subsequent fights were), and the leads chemistry and timing with each other shines again.

It also allows for exactly what the actors (especially) were going for, a more realistic tone to the relationship.

Mork has to evolve and learn, he can't stay the innocent forever, and the relationship evolves along with it. Up until this point the characters kissed frequently at least 6 times in S1 alone, and while sweetly set up, they do not kiss the way friends/besties do. Trying to keep that up while having them (well Mindy) insist they were only friends, wasn't sustainable, and this "kiss and make up to shut you up" resolution, is both realistic, and marks the last time the characters kiss for more than a full season (in S3's Mork the Prankster), contrary to the erroneous idea that they kissed more often.

From this point on the romance became less physically overt and by extension more adult, punctuated with moments of UST, emotional intimacy, jealousy/possessiveness and protectiveness, building towards their actual declaration at the end of S3.

The whole set up is also a good way to intro Remo & Jeanie and up Bickley's role in having them have input into both the argument and apology discussions.

You still miss Cora, Fred and the music store though.

Mork & Mindy: The Honeymoon (1981) Season 4, Episode 3

Some great moments, if only the budget had been bigger and Clones culled

[8/10 · 10 September 2020]

From Engagement to Honeymoon these three episodes each take up where the last one left off. With the wedding guests still in their finery, Mork & Mindy are packing to head off. Orson it seems has wasted no time. Mindy is both excited and terrified at the idea of being the first human to visit another world (especially for ones honeymoon).

Budget constraints are partially worked around by having the entire trip from the newlyweds POV inside the egg....with Ork looking suspiciously like a planetary outtake from Star Trek: TOS. Eagle eyed SF fans will instantly spot that the Capital of Ork is directly taken from Logans Run.

After 4 years, you had every reason to be excited about finally seeing Ork and other Orkans (beyond Lyle Waggoner's swaggering Xerko), and even by early 80s standards it is a bit of a confusing let down, as until you see later episodes (involving Orkan schooling) you're not sure if witnessing Orkans or not. And you're not. What you get is a weird mix of species, of all shapes, sizes and colours...which would be fine except it feels more like the cast of Barbarella meets a cheap ass Halloween Party.

The best moments deal with Mindy as the fish out of water, talking to penguins, sitting on oddly shaped aliens, before they follow through on the continuing Orkan idea that, as a human, she's a lesser life form. Her indignation (and his mortification) when she's snatched while he's distracted, then returned thinking she went through immigration only to discover she's been through a pet show (and not done very well) is pretty funny and a nice touch.

As is the cluelessness of the 'intuitive' Orkan hotel room that is supposed to design itself to meet the needs of the species using it, only for every room decoration bar the bed (conveniently) being affixed to the wrong surface/in the wrong place. Given Mork initially sat on his face and slept hanging upside down, this works damn well both humorously and Orkan continuity wise, embarrassing the hell out of Mork.

The most out of place thing however is 6&7 the Clones, old friends of Mork, who come to visit and congratulate him. They are nothing but an irritation to Mindy, who only wants to be alone with her husband...and unfortunately they are a massive irritation to the viewer as well. The problem with trying to showcase that Mork is in fact the only Orkan with a proper sense of humour is that you put your audience through painfully unfunny moments to prove it. The image of Mindy slumped face down on the bed is pretty much where you as teh viewer are mentally by the time Mork gets them out of the room. As delaying tactics go this was a poor writing choice.

What they are delaying occurs next as, after four years, our couple hits the sheets, turn out the lights, engage in a little pillow talk about the time having arrived. Only for Mork to turn the lights back on and engage in the ancient Orkan honeymoon ritual. The suddenness of seeing the Chicken visuals and William's crazed African style chanting and dancing while waving eggs over his bride is just laugh out loud funny even on repeated viewings.

An utterly non-plussed Mindy, faced with her chicken head wearing husband back in bed with her (in a non kinky way), has to resort to the "marriage manual" that her father has given her, and which she was full sure (and argued with her Dad that) she would not need for Mork.

And this is where the episode both feeds and then subverts expectations. Throughout the show they have had Mork avoid exploring Sex except in the most tangential of ways. Now Mork flicks through the explicit manual calmly, states he understands it, and then makes a break for it, escaping to the bathroom and out the window before Mindy can stop him. Once she's tracked him down to the set that actually does work (a garden full of roses Mork has sent back from Earth, with a backdrop of the city and the three Orkan moons) they talk, and it transpires his panic is actually about letting her down as a husband, given everything she's sacrificing to marry him (and everything that's gone wrong since they arrived). With her gentle rea-assurances of love and support, and an alarm ringing in their ears after he picks a rose for her, they flee back to the room, where you could cheerfully throttle the writers as they reintroduce two more painfully unfunny clones.

With them gone, they are alone again, and Mork confesses that (thankfully after all this time!) he does fully understands human (marital) customs and cares about them, before making a kinky joke about her wearing the chicken head that night.

Clearly he wasn't kidding about having a handle on things, as we finish with the newly weds on their way home in their Egg a month later, curled up tight and giggling (like newlyweds) having had a blast, reminiscing about pillow fights and waking up together.

Overall a fun and pivotal (for our protagonists) episode, but one that really should have been edited better in writing (or at table read...maybe the clones came off better there, but I doubt it) and definitely given a bigger budget to both aid in the storytelling (and catch more viewers attention)...now this is where things weirdly go Egg shaped.

Mork & Mindy: The Wedding (1981) Season 4, Episode 2

A Wedding Cake of an Episode, with a hole

[9/10 · 10 September 2020]

Picking up pretty much immediately after Limited Engagement, having gotten past Mindy's mental reservations in marrying Mork they now. as a pair, have to deal with the external obstacles to their Union raised by her family and Orson in the previous episode.

Cora, who has always been supportive of the couple (and viewed them as such before discovering Mork's secret) is the easier sell. Once she's sure Mindy is sure about what she's doing/giving up, she's foursquare behind them...just not enough to hang around for Fred's 'freak' when he finds out. Elizabeth Kerr's pivoting from sweetly supportive gran to hard nosed pragmatist has always been great fun and she brings it to bear here.

Orson's absolute refusal to allow Mork to marry, as it's breaking Orkan law, is the catalyst for Fred finding out about their plans, as he and Cathy walk in just as Mindy is fuming at the Orkan overseers interference...though naturally its Mork that spills the beans. Fred's reaction (naturally dead set against it) is in opposition to his wife's delight, who sees how much in love the 'kids' are and wants to throw Mindy a shower. The passive aggressive exchange between Fred & Cathy in their 'non argument' about the wedding plans, is a beautifully played, very fun moment, and leaves you regretting that they didn't make more of Shelley Fabares, and Cathy & Fred as a couple.

Mindy's facing down of her father, plays rather like a child throwing off the last yokes of parenthood and stepping into full adulthood. She knows he's concerned, she knows exactly why, but in the end its her life, her choices and she'll take the steps down the aisle (and marriage with Mork) alone if she has to. In a neat counterpoint to the previous episode, like Mindy with Mork, love and the danger of losing something you care about, wins out over concerns, and Fred folds, determined to walk his little girl down the aisle.

Buoyed by Fred's blessing and a serious pep talk by Mindy, Mork blasts back into his head to confront Orson and gets blown away, threatened with retribution of transformation to a more pliable life form if he disobeys. Unable to disappoint Mindy, naturally he lies to her...and Orson follows through.

A quick time jump to the Wedding day...and Mork is rapidly morphing into a Dog. Angry and without any other way to turn, Mindy plugs into Morks brain. Mindy's rare forays into Morks mind are always fun, Pam Dawber never failing to convey the absolute weirdness and nervousness of a human being inside someone elses head with a being of Orson's power, and it's gratifying to see her give him a piece of *her* mind. She faces off with Orson berating him for what he's doing. He admires her spunk and her vow to marry Mork even if he does become a full blown dog, but he doesn't back down.

Only then he does. There is a fake out moment involving 'Best Man' Exidor, but Mork is restored. And that's the one real 'Huh?' spot of this episode. We are given no further insight into why and when Orson changed his mind on this breach of ancient Orkan law. Was Mindy's turning up the church with a half man half dog, following through on her vow, enough to do it? And if she did turn up with him in dog mode, how come no one else in the wedding party waiting for her saw 'Dog Mork'? It happens, we accept it...but the pursuit of a tension filled moment leaves a hole in the narrative and a vaguely dissatisfied feeling to the resolution of the 'threat'.

That aside, the ceremony itself balances romantic, funny and weird (hello Exidor) as you'd expect, and again Dawber & Williams make every moment believable. They depart down the aisle happy, in love and nervous as hell about what they've both done....something that's magnified for Mindy to full blown panic attack ten seconds later when Mork casually announces their previous Acapulco honeymoon plans are scrapped and they're now on for a full month's luxury honeymoon on Ork.

So Orson definitely came around. Just would've been nice to see/hear more of his logic.

Mork & Mindy: Jeanie Loves Mork (1980) Season 2, Episode 21

Sweet, if a bit of a re-tread

[7/10 · 10 September 2020]

Morks' most charming trait is the lengths he goes for for those he cares about and considers friends. This episode is best for showcasing that and actually focusing some of the light on the emotional life of the newer regular supporting characters (beyond Mr Bickley or, weirdly, Exidor) as they had to some extent in Season 1 with Fred and Cora. Gina Hecht is a terrific actress (with a career still going strong), and she was finally given some meat to work with and, unsurprisingly, carried it off really well (as she did later in S3's Reflections & Regrets).

Unfortunately in taking the route they took, it feels in tone very much like Episode 1's Old Fears. And worse makes it feel like Mork learned nothing from his well meaning actions in that, and once again tries to fill a hole in someone's life just to cheer them up and inadvertantly plays with their emotions as a result). In addition it's saddled with a resolution that seems very pat in comparison to the satisfying (and revelatory) one in Old Fears.

Having already squired a lonely Cora (as an old man), in Old Fears he now does the same for Jeannie who has written her lonely hearts letter (to a high conveniently placed Mindy in the Agony Aunt position just at the right time). Jeannie is rapidly charmed (just as Cora was) and sounds out Mindy about Mork as a possible boyfriend, but naturally Mork is just trying to cheer her up and romance is just not going to play out. But while Cora figures out her beau is Mork by herself; that isn't going anywhere (also a great way to have her discover he's not human) and has already come to terms with it before he eve confesses...Jeannie's feelings for Mork are just magically dissipated by the end of the episode and never arise again.

Mork & Mindy: Mork in Wonderland: Part 2 (1979) Season 2, Episode 2

Crazy manic multi-homage fun with a powerfully bittersweet kick

[9/10 · 8 September 2020]

The plot device, set up in part one, that saw Mork shrink to Ant Man level size and into another dimension is actually pretty clever as well as funny (though the writers seemed to make Orkan physiology as fluid and flexible as needed). While Wonderland is in the title, in fact once in this new dimension he actually ends up in kind of pseudo homage to Danny Kaye's classic The Court Jester (by way of Wizard of Oz where people from the 'real world are there too), and on the behest of rebel leader 'Mandy' infiltrates the evil 'Kings' court as an anti-Jester, in an attempt to overthrow him and restore happiness (and electrical power!) to the people.,

While its fun to see regular actors play different roles, the world itself is pretty half baked. More often than not it feels like a showcase for some (fairly average) impressions of other current major comedy forces, and not so subtle political commentary on the U.S of the time. It does however take an interesting 'tragic' turn you wouldn't normally expect of a sitcom like this one, one that feeds into the main characters relationship arc.

And for all its ups and downs (no pun intended) it is (as always) Williams and Dawber who carry this two-parter, giving emotional resonance to the storyline, the characters and their relationship. Never more so then in the final scene, which is simply one of the most affecting, emotional, beautifully acted scenes in any sitcom.. Pam Dawber giving a genuinely stunning turn as a completely distraught Mindy reuniting with a grieving Mork. A scene given even more emotional punch post Robin William's own tragic death, with his final lines to her.

The Foreigner (I) (2017)

Absolute Shower....

[1/10 · 21 January 2018]

....of rubbish. Usual shallow understanding of the complexities of the Northern Ireland situation, everything reduced down to pathetic stereotypes, and simplicities. And then you have the incredibly sloppy plot holes. A major politician with one of the two most important positions, in a country where security is a major concern, where appearances are crucial, with NO PSNI security around him just his mates (yes, even Sinn Fein reps have govt security). British SAS types, breaking through the ceiling of a hotel to get to their targets but NOT putting anyone on the front door, allowing people to walk straight out?! It's a wonder half the city of London isn't on fire with class work like that. Chan gave an excellent downbeat performance but can't help but wish it wasn't in an utter mess like this.

3-Minute 4-Play (2005)

So much fun..

[9/10 · 21 June 2016]

Only discovered this little gem of a short with two top Irish talents, a couple of months ago.

Risteard Cooper, who has now established his dramatic chops on the stage is his usual wonderfully chaotic comedic self and it was so fun to see Ruth Negga, so SO powerfully talented in dramatic roles, just having a ball.

Over amorous man meets utterly disinterested and distracted woman. Crams in so much fun, both verbal and visual into 3 minutes.

Always fun to see actors early in their career, even better when it's someone like Negga and something frothy like this

Madam Secretary: Spartan Figures (2015) Season 1, Episode 19

Total Clunker

[1/10 · 24 January 2016]

After a really absorbing run, the first really awful episode of the show.

The main plot was laughable in it's depictions of the financial situation in Europe (and European leaders) and utterly incomprehensible in terms of just what the U.S. was bringing to the E.U.'s negotiation tables.

God forbid POTUS be sidelined in something crucial in terms of the world, and other countries prove capable of handling their own business. And don't get me started on the U.S. Security Detail guy bossing around of the (smaller) European one. Quite apart from it being ridiculous, as there were about another 10 E.U. guys just standing around to stop them, did no one at all among the makers see the 'U.S. bullying' visual it gave off? Big hulking American intimidates smaller guy on own territory. Horrendous.

And then we wonder why even among European allied countries, America isn't as popular as it might be.

Empty chest thumping rubbish of the highest order.

Loser (2000)

The Apartment Without The Class

[26 June 2002]

Rented this as the freebie along with Amelie, and was stunned to discover some 15 minutes in that I was watching the most wholesale refilming of one my all time favourite movies, as Loser, transposed "The Apartment" to teenflickville. Amy Heckerling's previous reworking of classic material i.e "Emma" into the very fun "Clueless", at least had deftness of touch, sureity of footing and genuinely funny moments, along with a public acknowledgment that she was tinkering with someone elses work. Maybe she was testing out the movie going public and critics to see how knowledgeable we were or maybe she was just keeping her eye down, but it stuns me that I don't recall ever seeing in the (mostly bad) reviews I've seen of this that anyone ever brought up the obvious lift of Billy Wilder's entire movie, right down to the 3 manipulative weasly co-workers of Jack Lemmon turned into 3 manipulative weasly roomies of Jason Biggs.

Entire scenes are just reworded and refilmed, with no real spin or new take. Biggs and Suvari, while sweet and a hell of a lot better than a lot of their teen compatriots, are no Lemmon and McLaine, Greg Kinnear just doesn't have the oily charm of Fred MacMurray's original, and the ending doesn't have anything like the understated impact of the Wilder original.

Not surprised it bombed, because it's too flacid (the transposition to college life doesn't work) it doesn't work as an original, it doesn't work as a tribute (due to no new insight) and it doesn't work as a remake (class always wins out over youth). Rent the original, sit back and enjoy.

The Cat and the Canary (1939)

Top notch Horror/Comedy with great performances and a classy mix of spooks and laughs

[9/10 · 17 November 1999]

Yet another Classic movie from 1939, one of the first Horror/Comedy hybrids, and one where the mix is almost flawless. The first teaming of Hope and Goddard is a fun one with the two stars playing off each other well. Paulette Goddard playing the much put upon heroine of the piece conveying terror without tipping over into annoying "get a grip!" timidity while all the while more than holding her own in the give and take wit stakes with Hope. Hope is a little more constrained by plot here than in a lot of his other films. He is, as was to become usual, the timid unwitting hero of the piece, but shows a little more backbone and heroism here than in any of his other pictures, and it serves him well. There is a lot less mugging and his performance is memorable, also perhaps because the gags (while razor sharp) aren't coming at you rapid fire and it gives the ones that do come time to really strike home. The plot itself is pure cheese, but tasty cheese. Dead rich relative, family gathering for will reading, remote house in backwoods bayou, no way off till the boat comes back, creepy housekeeper, dead bodies, murders and clutching hands. Hokey even by the standards of the day but there are a few genuine "jumpy" moments and there's a good chance that you won't actually figure out "whodunit" till the end. But it's the comic element provided by Hope and several of his "relatives" among the top notch cast, that really gives it a kick. And the inimitable Gale Sondergaard as the creepily psychic Housekeeper lends both tremendous atmosphere and tremendous comic fodder to the whole proceeding.

Great stuff for a late night in.