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brutusalwaysminded
Reviews
Il était une fois Jean-Sébastien Bach (2003)
A Roll in the Hay with Bach
To my mind the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is far from a pretty, bucolic romp in the woods; but that's pretty much what we have here. The leads are mostly miscast, gorgeously coiffed, French lookers who display little affinity for the depth or complexity of the composer's work (we never even see Anna Magdalena, Bach's second wife and accomplished musician in her own right, play the clavier - though we do see plenty of cleavage). The narrator provides all the necessary biographical information, interpretation and commentary on Bach's life and career. The rest is an insipid but pretty melodrama accompanied by the splendid of music of Herr Bach. If that's all you require, enjoy!
West Side Story (2021)
If only to hear the glorious soundtrack again...
I'd recommend a viewing for lovers of 1961 version if only to revisit Leonard Bernstein's glorious soundtrack. Unfortunately, the rest of the production is a dull comic book variation of the original. With the exception of Ariana DeBose as Anita it has mostly uninspired individual performances. The rest of the principles lack the magnetism of the '61 cast. The kinetic art design and choreography are far more intriguing to watch, though again, they lack the power of the original. The strobe/white light effects are annoyingly distracting and cannot make up for the uninspired dialogue. I'm afraid the talented Tony Kushner dropped the ball in the writing department on this one. The domestic scenes are flat and little of the dialogue in the street scenes is remotely believable. Still, it's nice to see a new generation doing what is, essentially, a sometimes interesting revision.
Dead Like Me: Business Unfinished (2003)
The ensemble makes this one shine.
While I like Ellen Muth's work it was great to see the other actors (including a nice guest appearance by. Susan Sullivan) at or near the center of the continuing storyline; particularly Jasmine Guy, whose character arc gets a bit more development. In terms of writing, directing and performance it's one of the more sophisticated episodes. Perhaps if the producers were able to lure in more accomplished or, at least, seasoned actors (like Sullivan) to do guest spots the series might have been raised to an even higher level. And, of course, none of it would have gone over without the great work from cameraman, Tony Westman, the great timing of editor, Alison Grace and the art direction/special effects team. Kudos!
The Doris Day Show: Dinner for Mom (1968)
Happy Birthday, Dear Lady...
This was a charming episode which had a tone that was more serious - and a tad ambiguous - than I expected. Day, of course, is a mom with two young boys who commit a slight transgression, though they do it with honorable intentions. What's surprising to me is that they never get the requisite talk from Day later in the episode about their behavior. Instead the onus is placed on other family members who get in the way of Day who tries her best to avoid informing her children of their shortsightedness. In short, they're spoiled and not terribly bright, which seems to be the running joke about a number of characters surrounding Day in yokel town, America. But make no mistake - Day makes it all work, not the yokels.
Macbeth (2018)
Problematic Conception
The main drawback I found watching the film was in its conception of Macbeth as complete fabrication. Scenes take place underneath, within or above a transparent phantom house. The actors all have different English accents so there is really no coherent wider/national context to which we can relate unless the impression is to convey a kind of diaspora of corruption (which the king tapping globe image may suggest). It's not that the insistent visual theme of transparency up against Shakespeare's text is anachronistic, it's self negating: the entire impression of text vs. Image becomes meaningless. And although the character of Macbeth descends into nihilism by the last act the movie certainly shouldn't. What is the human recourse when the only measure of structure against insanity is itself a phantom? Fairly bleak considerations here. 3 Stars for the great visuals.
Ophelia (2018)
Who IS Ophelia???
Forget Shakespeare. Or if you must remember his play about the fictional young Danish heir it's simply a starting point. But if Ophelia is going to be the center of a dramatic story please tell us who she is! What does want? What are her dreams? Her nightmares? Who was mother? None of this is addressed in this so-called version of Hamlet from his rejected lover's point of view. It's certainly pretty and artistically derivative of historical fiction fantasies like Kapur's Elizabeth. But at the end of it Ophelia remains a stranger and the characters around her far more interesting because we remain shut out from her inner world. A missed opportunity here.
Living with Michael Jackson: A Tonight Special (2003)
Nice glimpse of the fated Neverland and, of course, Mike.
The interviewer and host is a typical putz but the film provides an interesting portrait of Mike. How this type of "journalist" even got in to participate in this project is an indication of the kind of people Mike allowed into his world - which inevitably led to his downfall.
Blue Bloods: Spilling Secrets (2021)
It took 4 writers to come up with this?
Tuned in to see what they gave to my former classmate, Opal Alladin (bank manager, Robin Waits). Not much. And I was genuinely curious about the series. How on earth has this been around for 11 seasons? No one I know in New York talks like this. Especially not cops. The music is stock filler. The direction is wooden. The script is terrible. The photography and editing ARE first rate, however. But you gotta be high to get into this dreck. 👎🏽
Truck Turner (1974)
Script KOs the Isaac Hayes magic.
Except for one crucial misstep the movie had all the ingredients for a legitimate classic once they got Isaac Hayes, not only for the soundtrack, but for the lead role as Mack Truck Turner: the stupid conclusion. I suppose it was inevitable as Turner's main foil, Harvard Blue, should have been as smart as him. In fact, in the end Blue's simply another pimp. I guess it explains the tacky ending, which if the script were written with a little more intelligence, might have been more interesting. It's too bad, too, because with the exception of the late Yaphet Kotto (who is wasted in this one), there are some good performances. Particularly good is the rapport between Truck and his partner (Alan Weeks) and booster girlfriend (Nichelle Nichols). At least there's humor in this one due to Kaplan and his cast. The ending makes it a downer, though.
Saturday Night Live: Richard Pryor/Gil Scott-Heron (1975)
"If You Didn't Watch The Show We Hope You Made Love!"
Pryor, as I expected, was the highlight in this episode. I've started watching selected eps since PeacockTv made all 46 seasons available for free streaming. This was the first choice and, man, was it a great choice. It isn't the best episode I've seen but a great intro as some of the trademark sketches were just being broken in. There are some misses but all skits have something interesting to offer. Guest musician, Gil Scot-Heron, who's cut short on his second number, looked and sounded great. And they let Pryor loose near the end. One of the fun ones!