ssochet Reviews

Oppenheimer (I) (2023)

Three Hours but worth the time

[10/10 · 15 September 2023]

The first half hour or so of the movie was quite disorienting. I kept thinking that I was watching an MTV version of the film. I resigned myself to letting Chris Nolan be Chris. Cillian Murphy encompasses the weird manner that Oppenheimer put out there. And Emily Blunt is powerful as Kitty Oppenheimer. But the movie's fulcrum starts to shift to Robert Downey Jr's performance is Lewis Strauss, whose relationship with Oppenheimer changes the course of our collective history in a way that translates into the original cancel culture of the 50s where anyone who didn't toe the line was treated as a traitor.

Downey deserves serious consideration for an Oscar.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023) Season 2, Episode 9

Stop the Curmudgeonly behavior. This is great!!

[10/10 · 3 August 2023]

For 57 years we've had Star Trek embodied in dozens of versions. The movies, the next generation, deep space,more movies,more series etc. So now we have a musical episode and all you special people that are so preoccupied with innovation and creativity get sooo insulted when they have the audacity to do something different. What ever happened to the idea that sci fiction people are the most open minded on our planet? I think that used to be the case but obviously no more. It's a treat so see the talent that these actors have. The music and words of this episode are actually beautiful and resonant. Get over yourselves and enjoy it.

Barney Miller: Good-Bye, Mr. Fish: Part 2 (1977) Season 4, Episode 2

A work of art episode

[10/10 · 10 May 2023]

Barney Miller may be pound for pound the best tv comedy of all time. Its simple, single squad room set, incredible guest character actors, crisp writing, and prophetic statements by Dietrich and others goes way beyond coincidence. In this episode, part 2 of the retirement of sergeant Fish, demonstrates the comradarie that develops between the detectives and how much they depend on each other. Although Fish's character moved onto a spin-off comedy that didn't fare that well, the show still was well worth watching . Dietrich took over Fish's desk but took on a different niche on the show. Highly recommended episode.

Harper (2021)

OMG.

[1/10 · 8 December 2022]

A very strange, disturbing, uneven, and awkwardly written "film" about a young girl whose parents abandons, sort of. It's tough to tell what's going on. There are flashbacks that don't quite feel like a flashback, feeling more like quick cuts into a slightly related but somehow different movie. It's not just that if feels amateurish, sometimes amateur actors can pull it off. Look at the Clerks series. They were able to make you connect with them. This film pushes you away.

Yikes. Sorry. Harper doesn't rate for me writing out six hundred characters. You must pass on this wacky film that wasn't intended to be wacky.

Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)

Scary on many levels

[9/10 · 23 June 2022]

As I watch the events in this 7 part miniseries unfold, I begin to make associations. The events in the series and book date back to the early 1980s, the reign of the first "make America great again" president who stopped at nothing to appease the politically emerging hard core religious faction as well as white people who would never ever vote outside the Republican Party again. Without explicitly pointing that out, Under The Banner... shows how determined this group is in terms of ensuring that white people, of a certain type, in this case LDS, have their way to preside over the power of the US. So you can connect these folks of the early 80s to the current whites and others, of 2020 and beyond. This show seems to beg the question, or answer, to "who's country is this, anyway?"

Seinfeld: The Wife (1994) Season 5, Episode 17

Courtney Cox just before Friends

[10/10 · 10 June 2022]

Jerry and Courtney get together with incredible chemistry. They pretend to be married to each other just so they can each get a family discount on their dry cleaning. Hilarious.

Gaslit (2022)

A whole new approach to the fall is Nixon

[10/10 · 4 May 2022]

And finally, the security guard at the Watergate Hotel, Frank Willa, gets the credit he deserves for exposing the stupid hustle of Nixon's paranoid re-election campaign.

The Shrink Next Door (2021)

One Trick Pony

[4/10 · 13 December 2021]

The content of this series was an extended one trick pony that would have worked better as a 1 hour 49 minute film. Think "What About Bob", but with Will Ferrell as Richard Dreyfus and Paul Rudd as the Bill Murray, sort of.

Homeland: Prisoners of War (2020) Season 8, Episode 12

Awesome Ending

[10/10 · 27 April 2020]

A great finale to a well,done final season. Artistically rendered. What a terrific series.

Sword of Trust (2019)

Nails It. Forget the low numbers.

[10/10 · 23 April 2020]

This is a terrific Marc Maron.vehicle. In addition to being the primary lead he also does the soundtrack which actually enhances the movie a lot. It's a funny premise, a sword that proves the South wind the Civil War, but it might throw some Americans who don't see the humor under the bus. If you have a Confederate flag in your house and it's not ironic, this film is not for you..

Fantastic Fungi (2019)

Inspired and Accurate

[10/10 · 26 March 2020]

Being a trained mycologist, I found it quite heartening to see Paul Stamets and others actually use the correct pronunciation (Fun-jai) and instead of (Fun-guy) or (Fun-gee). The graphics used to show the ubiquitous nature of fungal mycelia in the soil was amazing. The time-lapsed photography is phenomenal and the few inserted personal storylines are effectively portrayed. There is an informative, extensive sequence on the medical use of Psilocybe for helping people with anxiety and other conditions. I watched this via VIMEO and unfortunately there weren't subtitles which would be helpful to keep note and track when they are using scientific names.

Modern Love: Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am (2019) Season 1, Episode 3

Unrealistic Housing Takes away

[2/10 · 16 January 2020]

Hard to understand how someone with bipolar disorder who can't keep a job is able to afford to live in what looks like a $2 million apartment in NYC. This series has its characters living where they could never be. And it's annoying.

Boundaries (I) (2018)

Not As Bad as Some People on this Site Indicate

[7/10 · 16 February 2019]

This is a road movie, I guess add it to the 450 made in the past 25 years, so perhaps people are tired of the genre. But I found it funny in more than a few spots. Not for everyone, obviously, but give it a chance, if you're in a risky, open minded mood.

Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists (2018)

A History of New York City Through the Lenses of Two Larger Than Life Reporters

[9/10 · 3 February 2019]

Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill; 2 of the most influential reporters of the 20th Century were similar to each other in many different ways, couldn't be more different from each other. They were celebrities, usually in the right way, but sometimes, the distraction as much as the messenger. This documentary is historical evidence of where journalism was, and where it naturally headed, and how we might rue the day we handed the reigns of the press to cyberspace.

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Descendants of the leadership our pres supports

[10/10 · 22 July 2018]

This was a chilling comedy... like Dr. Strangelove only different. Steve Buscemi gives an incredible performance as Nikita Khrushchev, acting as the only voice of reason in a sea of total chaos and terror. One of those movies that you do and then don't take seriously. Genius on display.

A.P. Bio (2018–2021)

Not Funny... But trying to be

[1/10 · 11 February 2018]

I get it... The show is trying hard to be funny by being ironic... But you can't exclusively live on irony 24-7. And the misogyny doesn't ring funny at all in the current climate. In addition, the Patton Oswald character is beneath his talent.

Bad timing, bad writing, bad show...

Marc Maron: Too Real (2017 TV Special)

An amazing soliloquy

[10/10 · 6 November 2017]

Marc Maron really outdoes himself in this Netflix special. If you are a late day post 1960 born baby boomer, you will be hooked. If you are a millennial hipster,your brain might explode from nonunderstanding. Why am I saying this? Marc's references require historical context, reflection, and knowledge that goes beyond Wikipedia. He expects you to be smart, well read, and perhaps a little paranoid. So be prepared, it's fun.

Mean Streets (1973)

Everyone's Got a Right to Their Opinion, Even if It's Wrong

[10/10 · 7 May 2017]

The negative reviews here ignore some basic things. It's all about context. This is not only a great film, it is one of the greatest because of its originality at the time. The use of music to not only highlight but to accentuate, going way beyond Easy Rider. The plot... OK... I get it, the story line is thin. But so what? It's character driven to the max. And finally, this was not Dinero's film at all. It was pure and simple Harvey Keitel. He carried the film in every scene. And Scorcese's eye caught it all brilliantly. A 10 out of 10.

At Berkeley (2013)

Fly on the wall at UC Berkeley

[10/10 · 5 March 2017]

So I see there are only two people who've reviewed the film not including mine. One of the reviews fixates on the fact that this film does not discuss the Berkeley of the 60s, which is true, of course. Wiseman has never, and will never make a documentary like that. His films are in real time, connecting scenes with only the last sounds of the previous scene, for only a few seconds, then goes to the next which is often completely unrelated to the scene directly before. In a way, his movies deliberately are non-narratives, and our friend here from Ireland who went to UC Berk in the 60s completely misses the point of why this film was made. Most people who have the stamina to sit through four hours of a film most likely know about the protests and action of the 60s, which by the way, was not the sole possession of Berkeley. Columbia, Harvard, etc., dozens of other campuses had cultures of student and faculty protests too. What the film does do is it shows you snapshots of many talking heads from the student body, faculty, and the administration. There are also some celebrity pop-ups who teach or guest teach such as an awesome one by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. That being said, make yourself available to see this over several days rather than binging....

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Don't Worry, No need for Spoilers

[6/10 · 21 January 2017]

Denzel Washington is one of the great actors of our time. He has played several iconic roles, most notably Malcolm X. But here in this remake, one has to ask repeatedly, "WHY?" Why remake a classic? The chances of being able to eclipse the original is nearly 0. The chances of it being about the same, is... also nearly 0. Let's see, what does that leave you with?

Without making the comparisons between Yul Brynner, the classic man in black, who reappeared in the original Westworld, and Denzel, as Chisolm...Yul might have been a stretch in the role, but he was such a balanced presence in 1960, excelling in so many areas of film, that he pulled it off. Washington, on the other hand.. can't really match that. Not this time.

Basically, this version felt more like a bad remake of Blazing Saddles without the laughs. I won't even get into the embarrassing performance of Ethan Hawke, sorry man, love the guy in Boyhood, but not here.

The Wizard of Oz (1925)

Yikes....

[1/10 · 3 October 2016]

Man I was really looking forward to seeing this. What would the original film be like? Well, it bares NO RESEMBLANCE to the book or the 1939 classic, and in this case, this is not a good thing at all. The plot, well, there is not plot that makes any sense at all. The Kingdom of Oz is still in Kansas, or right next to it apparently, Missouri? Then there are the characters, and barring some passable slapstick by the director and actor, Larry Semon, the characters are lame. I think this attempt ended his once bright career. Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy is also in the film, playing the TIn Man for about five seconds, but he goes from neutral to nondescript instantly. Repetitive scenes of Hardy smashing wooden crates chasing after the Scarecrow is 1920s funny for the first couple of wacks, then gets mighty old quickly And as for the story itself, as I said, it bears no resemblance. Strange but awful. This one is a big disappointment and an ouch for the ages.

Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)

The Reviews for this film tell you more about the Reviewer than than the film itself

[2/10 · 30 July 2016]

Yikes, everyone. What is going on here? This is another hastily slapped together documentary by a filmmaker who in his previous film presented himself as knowing exactly what President Obama was subconsciously thinking/dreaming about his father, with absolutely no supporting evidence; just pure speculation and subjectivity. In several interviews when he went on his promotional tour, Dinesh D. was never able to even remotely defend the key points of his book/film, even when he had repeated opportunities to get his story straight. So now he's doing something similar: demonizing Ms. Clinton just as he tried to make everyone fear Obama's alleged ingrained anti-colonialism. Of course, you can say anything about anyone, doesn't mean it's true. Unless there is real evidence. Not conspiracy nonsense.

Look, if you're willing to give this film 10 stars, you realize your review is vacuous since your putting it on par with classic films like the Shawshank Redemption and Goodfellas... Seriously? It's stuff like this that makes me sad and wonder if this country will ever get it together...