Change Your Image
topsonata
Reviews
Tehran (2020)
Is the TEHRAN series anti-Israeli or only pro-violence?
I agree that Season 1 of TEHRAN ranks with must-see Cold War classics like the 1969 TOPAZ... But I stopped watching after Episode 2 of Season 2...
Because... For thinking viewers, TEHRAN paints a darker-than-CIA picture of the Mossad... Who in this film series robotically mows down pro-Israelis and hapless civilians alike in order "maybe" to rescue one bomber pilot... Who in any CIA thriller would have preferred one honorable and sure-fire cyanide exit...
The TEHRAN series was produced by the Israeli equivalent of the BBC... It was created by Iranian exiles... Either of which might explain mixed feelings about the Mossad...
At any rate... In this TEHRAN series... Almost everyone in the Mossad is repeatedly portrayed as over-eager to murder pro-Israeli non-Israelis because of "protocol." Meanwhile claiming to be "playing the long game." Meanwhile obviously burning-down instead of building-up any long-term assets that are Israeli-friendly or blackmail-friendly or both...
And... How does an all-wise Israeli psychologist--played with iconic gravitas by Glenn Close--fail to realize that it does not serve Israel to have a key hacker-agent become a quivering lump of emotional jello? Thus do Glenn Close and every other Mossad boss initially seem protective... But eventually seem drooling for every chance to murder every Israeli-friendly asset and relative and lover...
Whereas most CIA movies seem mostly content to "burn" AKA leave-under-the-bus every more-good-than-harm or know-nothing asset...
Therefore... Perhaps Mossad Protocol overrides both humanity and common sense... And hypothetically maybe perhaps this is true...
But more than that... The protagonist and antagonist in the TEHRAN series are at first protective of loved ones... But eventually seem determined to kill themselves and everyone they love for no good reason...
And so... I stopped watching the TEHRAN series after Episode 2 of Season 2.... Because.... Soap Operas seem equally addictive to Mideasterners as to Mexicans... But if I have that gene... it is a sleeper-agent that I prefer not to wake up...
And in my opinion... We should assume that any film or slot machine is unhealthy and time-wasting whenever an episode or a sequel or a pull of the lever fails to produce a reason to doubt its guilt.
Before I Go (2021)
Perhaps best or only anti-romantic comedy. Seriously insightful, even funny.
This morning I decided to start my own religion based on watching seriously insightful movies instead of going to church. "Before I Go" is the first for my cannon. This might be called an anti-romantic comedy for everyone who does not find true love and has slightly above average intelligence. The usual New York cliches are here. The cynical, sarcastic New Yorker who never quite made it, lives comfortably but never got enough hugs from her mom. She also sees things a little too clearly. Consequently is as suicide prone as Sylvia Plath even if similarly creative. But unlike those famous films--this movie has no fake resolution, no fake happy ending. But a dozen geniune insights and very funny moments that take us half way to enlightenment. In other words, this film is unusually real and insightful plus unusually funny in a special way.
Have you ever found yourself rambling on to someone who is not listening? Seldom happens in movies but often happens in life and it happens twice here. Have you ever felt like rescuing a bird or a bug? How about a worm? Once again this is a ground breaker. Pun not intended but nonetheless it is a good one. And how often do you outsmart a movie only to have the movie outsmart you? I kept saying, "If you want to save that worm get a bag of manure already and keep it in your room until spring." And not only does that happen--but this movie goes one step further in a way that i never would have imagined.
One thing is obviously missing. How do we prevent the Sylvia Plaths of the world from killing themselves? There is nothing in this movie to prevent this one from jumping the next time. Except another accidental reminder that her equally pathetic father would be utterly devastated. I am sure that something could be added which fits the high standard of this film because it does not depend on miracles or miraculous chance. Give me a year to think about it. And, albeit perhaps unintentionally, this is perhaps the message of this film. That we can all add our own ending and all had better do so.
Here is my take. What is the point of human existence? I do not know. Like the lady in this film, I can experience creativity and follow that thought farther than most people but still not very far. And unlike the lady in this film, I have little sympathy for New Yorkers. If you choose to live in a place where even a worm can hardly find space between the concrete and the tree--how can you expect ever to feel anything other than depressed?
All I can say for sure is this. In old TV shows and movies of pioneers going West, they would inevitably pause at a beautiful vista that felt as if an entire continent of green pastures and trees and hills were spread before you. And the Bible seems similarly speechless, in only being able to say, "When God saw this He said this is good."
But in many more movies today--as well as in everyday life--we instead have a "highway scene" with thousands of metal boxes on wheels going north, thousands going south, thousands more going east and west. And each of those boxes uses fuel and soon must be replaced by more metal from the earth.
This is not good. This is like finding the body of an animal that is almost hairless from the highly developed tracks of mange and fleas. But evidently--based on watching hundreds of movies and speaking with hundreds of people--I am extremely rare to feel this way. And that is why I wonder. What is the point of saving the human race even if it can be saved?
This movie does not answer my grand questions nor even ask my questions. Nonetheless it feels like a first step in a related direction on a personal level.
Angel Eyes (2001)
Great love story if you just don't think about it for 3 minutes.
Just got to say a few things...
1. If a great love story requires a totally inadvisable union--this is it. The guy is paralyzed with grief ever since wife and son died in car crash. The gal is a police woman who routinely wears bullet proof vests because of jumping into gang wars. I.e. this permanently walking-wounded guy is the last person who might be able to survive having this high-risk gal for a wife.
2. Everyone including the film director also tries to convince the audience that the accident "was not the man's fault." Even though he was driving fast at night in the rain--and taking his eyes off the road to play with his son in the back seat. Well maybe he should be devastated because it was his fault. And maybe a few deaths could be prevented if a few movies made this clear instead of trying to cover up for all-too-common bad driving.
3. Nonetheless--in the most basic sense, "Angel Eyes" is far more "real" than most Hollywood love stories. If only she might change her job--a great chemistry is dramatized between this guy and this gal. Unlike "When Harry Met Sally." In which the audience is supposed to believe that it is a workable idea for a gal who believes in fairy tales to marry a wiseacre cynic in the hopes she can change him.
4. This movie also includes an endearing backstory. The cop lady is estranged from her dad for numerous reasons. But the most basic reason being that they seem to be too closely related. He is the most bull-headed man you are likely to meet--and she is the most bull-in-china-shop woman you are likely to meet. The movie misses a great opportunity for her to verbalize this. She could have said it along with her cute story about playing with her dad when she was little. Nonetheless the movie does a good job of dramatizing a bittersweet relationship of daughter-and-father who are too much alike to get along.