badger-ken Reviews

Homicide: Life on the Street: Kaddish (1997) Season 5, Episode 17

May be the best episode of the series - but not as an intro

[10/10 · 18 February 2014]

What made "Homicide: Life on the Street" so special, and so different from the regular 'cop show', was its emphasis not on "whodunit", but on the impact of crime - the impact on the victims, the detectives, the families, even on the perpetrators. Imagine if your job was dealing with murder and murderers all day every day. How would that change you?

This episode is about hope and faith - both losing and regaining them. The crime victim in this case is a high-school friend of one of the most cynical detectives. Via flashbacks, we see how much naiveté and hope he used to have. In one particularly poignant scene, he himself ruminates on this: "What happens to us that we forget how wonderful it is just to hold another human being's hand?".

In parallel, we see another detective going through a religious crisis. Recent crimes, and recent events in his family, are causing him to lose faith. Finally, in the last scene one of the detectives ever-so- tentatively gives hope and faith another chance.

A beautiful episode. However, I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the series, as without knowing the back story of the two main detectives involved, it's not nearly as compelling.

The Last Shot (2004)

great cast, idiot plot

[4/10 · 28 September 2013]

I rented this movie to watch on a plane because of the fantastic cast - Baldwin, Broderick, Shalhoub, Collette, Liotta, and on and on. Even the smaller supporting roles are filled by actors like Joan Cusack and Callista Flockhart and Tim Blake Nelson. wow.

Unfortunately, this is ruined by an idiot plot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiot_plot). People make idiotic decisions solely to provide the setup necessary for comic situations to exist.

Try though I might, I actually wound up shutting my laptop on this move in favor of reading the Southwest Airlines flight magazine - that says it all.

Weekend (II) (2011)

glacial

[3/10 · 6 November 2011]

wow, I can see I'm in the minority - by a lot. But nevertheless - this is a movie which is glacially paced. Very little happens, and it happens very slowly. Character A is getting ready to go out. There's a scene where he brushes his teeth. Then a scene where he puts on his shoes. Then a scene where he walks down the street. Then a scene where he's on the subway. You get the idea.

As others have mentioned, the accents and sound can sometimes make the dialog difficult to follow. But there's not much _to_ follow.

While I liked the idea of the movie, and I thought both the lead actors were quite good, it's a very, very slight movie.

The Castle (1997)

hated it

[2/10 · 12 August 2003]

wow, I know comedy is a matter of taste, but I am flabbergasted at all the glowing reviews. I adored "Local Hero", just rented this, and hated it. The corners of my mouth never moved upwards once. The "humor" in the movie mainly consists of snickering at what rubes, bumpkins, and generally simpletons the protagonists are. For those who disagree, then tell me, what IS supposed to be funny in this movie? A funny line, a funny visual, anything?

The Majestic (2001)

good until it becomes bad Capra

[4/10 · 14 August 2002]

interesting mix of two genres. On the one hand, it's a low-key and well-done study of loss and yearning in a small town. I found this part compelling. But then about 2/3 of the way through, it turns into a bad Frank Capra movie, complete with a laughably simplistic Heroic Triumph. If you want a much better movie about HUAC and the Red Scare, see "The Front"

Dogfight (1991)

lovely

[9/10 · 14 August 2002]

As others have mentioned, Phoenix and Taylor are both excellent. But what makes this story so memorable for me is the ending. Without giving anything away, I'll just see that it's so rare to see a movie where a person grows and loves another for their inner character.