driker22 Reviews

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006)

Good -- but t-o-o l-o-n-g-!

[6/10 · 13 July 2006]

Stephen King is a prolific and excellent writer but quite frequently he tends to use far more words than are really necessary. I found TNT's first two "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" episodes to accurately reflect Mr. King, at least in the too many words area. OK, there certainly weren't too many words in Combat, but I found myself falling into an "enough already stupor" around minute 35. I certainly hope Karen Black did not watch this episode or she will spend another twenty years avoiding her bathroom.

"Crouch End" put us into a quaint village, then a ratty warehouse district, then a largish downtown. I will admit to not having read Mr. King's story, but the shooting locations and the script (and frankly the acting)left me generally uninterested in this "little bit of everything" production.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Great Formula!

[4/10 · 11 October 2004]

Take one fashionable screen writer. Add two fairly good actors. Have them play the mismatched kooky girl and the dull guy. Add one well-worn science fiction gimmick. Switch around in time (we're fashionable, remember). Shake, don't stir. The result, a herd-mentality flock of incredibly long-winded reviews.

I didn't like either one of these characters. I didn't care about their relationship. Concerning the lovely ending -- I give them six months! (Oh -- IMDb told me I need at least ten lines. Maybe that explains the lengthy reviews. I felt that my seven original lines were quite enough to give my opinion on this over-blown film.)

Deadwood (2004–2006)

I tried again and it worked for me!

[31 March 2004]

I started watching the first episode of "Deadwood" when it originally aired on HBO. The swearing really put me off -- and they didn't use a single term I haven't used myself on occasion. It was just so much and so distracting that it annoyed me. I just couldn't continue and I turned it off after ten minutes.

My son felt much the same way but he stuck it out and then watched episode 2 last weekend. He felt episode 2 really got the story going into potentially fascinating directions and he has urged me to try again. So (having HBO -- ON Demand on our cable system) I went back and tried episode 1 again. The swearing quotient did back off a bit as the show progressed and I must admit I did enjoy the character development of the cast. I will watch episode 2 before 3 comes on this coming weekend.

BUT, Mr. Milch and friends! There really is still so much swearing in "Deadwood" that it detracts from the convincing locale, the excellent characters, the excellent script, and the generally excellent acting. Sure -- some swearing because Deadwood was simply not a Sunday school, but it seems to me that good writing dictates stricter editing of "Deadwood".

The Tall Guy (1989)

Five stars or one star. Can I give this movie four stars?

[17 March 2004]

Wow -- talk about polarization. I watched this 15 year old movie for the first time this past weekend and I thought it was terrific, gentle fun. Then I looked at the comments and found that it was tied with "Citizen Kane" with some viewers, but with "Plan 9 from Outer Space" with the rest. What is there in this little film that should polarize everyone so?

Rowan Atkinson behaving like a creep? Emma Thompson's 15-years-ago tush? Jeff Goldblum doing a pretty nice job as a vague almost-actor? I think I will join the polarization here and state that I choose not to go to a party with those "one star" people. I'll bet they just discuss poetry and stuff.

How did I like this movie? Let me count the ways? 1. Funniest damned sex scene I can recall. 2. Landlady-Carmen and friends -- what do you people mean, unnecessary character? 3. "Elephant!" Is that show coming soon to a theatre near me? 4. Weak ending -- who cares?

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

I can only speak for the first half hour . . .

[2 March 2004]

I can only speak for the first half hour of "Untolerable Cruelty". It was at that point that I finally got the Coen brothers' joke. The film itself is intolerable cruelty as exercised upon the audience. Happily I was able to divorce myself from this awful film with the push of a button.

Comparing this thing to the mad-cap, but usually subtle, romantic comedies of the 30's, 40's and 50's is a lot like comparing a bulldozer to a Ferrari. Both can kill you if they hit you but the bulldozer will do a much more effective job. "Untolerable Cruelty" is most surely the bulldozer of comedy films. I visualized most of the dialog in this film (only the first half hour, of course) coming from the character's mouths in little cartoonish balloons. Oh, that's right, this wasn't "American Splendor". Also, I refuse to say anything about George Clooney's whitened teeth. Gosh, they sure were funny -- every time!

Please see my prior comments as coming from a fan of the Coen brothers. "Fargo" was magnificent. But, I cavil -- everyone gets his chance (usually more than one) at creating disaster. This time it's the Coen boys! Maybe next time.

Deterrence (1999)

Not a great movie, but surprising in February of 2003

[7/10 · 8 February 2003]

This 1999 film features an appointed Vice President who assumes Presidential power upon the death of the President -- ergo, a completely unelected President. Interesting concept but more importantly, the basic plot has this President forced to face a major crisis in Iraq when all of his diplomatic and military power is concentrated on a crisis in Korea. Somebody must be reading this script in Washington right now -- but they switched the locations.

At any rate, all of the ranting negative reviews and the flowery positive reviews I have seen here on IMDB about this film seem to me to miss the point. What happens in the film is of limited note compared to very strange feeling of "deja now" watching this film in February, 2003 while watching its big brother on CNN live. See this film! It's interesting, a bit disturbing, and sightly prescient (only partially I hope).