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Reviews
Columbo (1971)
Even the 90's episodes are great!
Everything has been said about how good Columbo is. The episodes made in the '70's are some great storytelling and acting. I had never seen the 90's episodes until recently, where I found the collection at the library. I never sought out these as it looked like just a grab to collect on the Columbo name mixed with '90's cheesy production values. I was wrong. They're pretty well done and worth a look. Some great guest stars, like Shatner making another appearance! There's even format bending episodes where Columbo goes undercover and another where he has to solve a kidnapping. If you can find these and you are hankering for a Columbo fix on episodes you've never seen, check them out!
Exhibit A (2019)
Really Confusing
You know something is going to be wrong when the makers of this misspell an entire episode title. The episode, Blood Spatter, is spelt, 'Splatter.' It's a common misuse with the general public but surprisingly wasn't caught with by the film team trying to look credible presenting facts.
This lack of attention to detail rears it's head again in the episode with the missing child. On the 911 tape, she says her niece has been kidnapped. But then in her interview she says it's her daughter. A discrepancy the documentary never addresses. Instead it's all very one-sided and leaves you thinking there has to be more to these cases because the evidence or lack thereof that the documentary presents would hardly bring these cases to trial less result in guilty verdicts.
The editing is really annoying too with very confusing shots of b-roll of a person sitting at a slightly different angle, hearing his voice, and then cutting to the shot with his voice. It also does the, 'linger on the subject after they talk for dramatic effect' shot way too much.
The Jigsaw Man (1983)
Gotta see to see how bad it is!
This is one of those that has to be seen to be believed! Right off the bat, the music is an indicator of how bad the rest of the movie is going to be. Like most spy films, this one is pretty confusing. But nothing more confusing than certain things that happen in the film. Michael Caine promptly get his face surgically altered and the first thing the doctors do is give him during recovery is some vodka. Then there's an actual training montage!!! Cain knocks a policeman out simply by tripping, then he uses rocks to knock the policeman's hat off the sidewalk into the water so the cop coming down the walk doesn't get suspicious in a scene that's supposed to be suspenseful. The KGB is out to get his daughter so he warns her not to go to her place, but she sees nothing wrong letting her friend go to her place instead where she gets knocked out by carpet wielding KGB thugs and kidnapped! To add to his disguise, he needs to color his hair but all it does is restore it to Michael Caine's natural lighter hair color. Caine kills an innkeeper for wanting to call the cops on Caine's loud yelling with nothing more than a judo chop to the neck. Then somehow the spies in London know he did it immediately! And the way it looks is terrible! I watched it on Amazon and the aspect ratio is 4:3, which hadn't been done since the 40's! I can only imagine this was taken from an old 4:3 laser disc or maybe VHS as the original film was probably left to rot 35 years ago! The only way to get through this film is to appreciate how bad it is all the way through. That being said, the story isn't too bad.