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Reviews
Professor T (2021)
This did not really compare to the original
I searched online today to figure out how the two versions of this series related. In all honesty, after seeing only the initial British version I thought the British version had be first, was cancelled, and the Belgians took over. I was wrong.
I thought the casting in the British version was terrible. It looked more like the woke diversity version.
Ben Miller lacks the implied danger that the original actor evoked in the part, the seriousness with which he took his illness and anger laying under the surface. Miller lacks the physical stature to even suggest it.
The girl playing the police detective lacks to ability to carry a show like this. I cannot say I liked any of the cast in their new roles. In no way was anyone in this remake better than the Belgians cast. And I tend to like British crime shows too.
The Age of Adaline (2015)
A simply brilliant film in every aspect you can measure.
While this would ordinarily be considered a "women's film, I am not a woman and found it an almost perfect film. The direction, editing, lighting, scene framing, acting by Blake Lively, story line and cinematography were virtually perfect. It was a brilliant film.
I am generally more of a pessimist but I simply did not find anything to complain about with this one. If you do not see, you will be missing a great experience.
I spend most of my time watching films from the 30's and 40's and maybe that had an influence on my rating, I cannot say.
I was most impressed with Blake Lively's performance and the absolute subtlety that she evokes or the brilliance of director Lee Toland Kreiger to really convey what she is thinking and the issues involved in living too long. We all wish we could live longer or so it appears but this film explores what that really means, and it is not all good.
Even Harrison Ford's performance deserves an honorable mention. He was really quite good.
Arkansas (2020)
I missed the first few minutes of the film or the rating might have been higher.
I could not stop watching this film. I judge films by the watch theory. Do I keep looking at my watch during the film.. In this film I never looked at my watch.
It mystified me why people think this film reflects Tarentino, it never occurred to me at all. What did occur to me was that I was looking at another Fargo or that the film could have been done by the Cohen Brothers, that is what saw, the quirky characters, the droll dialogue, the casual violence that seemed almost nonviolent.... if that makes any sense.
It had a mid-80's quality to it and they carried it off very well. I thought Vince Vaughn was tremendous as a bad guy too. And I will say that I had never even heard of Clark Duke before. Never seen anything he had done before at all. I was amazed he had written and directed it.
Now, was the film perfect, no. Some rewriting and some editing might have helped the continuity of it but the overall package overcame those deficiencies.
I posit that if you can get Noah Hawley and Clark Duke together you might have a real continuation of the Fargo quality screenplays many people find appealing.
I enjoyed this film a lot.
Rasputin and the Empress (1932)
This movie pulled me in
When I recorded this movie recently, it was not to watch the entire movie but simply scan thru it for items that interest me about pre-code movies. This movie however quickly pulled me in. Not sure if it was the Oscar nominated writing or not, but what what kept me engrossed in this film was watching the Barrymore family.
Lionel, Ethel, and John were all on display for watching, and as it turned out, for comparing. I came away from it with new perspectives about them.
I had watched many of the movies of Ethel and Lionel, only a few of John and all when they were older. I think we are all familiar with Ethel and Lionel playing their older character parts but this movie displayed their romantic lead characters, a first with me for Lionel and Ethel to some extent.
I found Ethel very attractive, something I never really appreciated in her later, older roles, and she was just over 50 in this movie at the time too. Quite a beauty in her time I think.
I found John's performance very stiff and poor really, but I was blown away by Lionel's performance as the domineering and lecherous Rasputin. I don't know what the competition was in 1932 for best actor but I find it hard to believe anyone was better that year. I have never seen him in that type of role before or since.
I always base my opinion on how well an actor sells the part, and he sold it in spades. I don't see how it could have been any better, one could really see how someone like Rasputin could come to have the enormous control over the Romanov family that he did in the film. You should watch this film if only to see Lionel Barrymore in his finest performance ever in my opinion.
The Public Defender (1931)
Not as the title suggests.
I watched this movie recently because I like Richard Dix. I expected it to be another 1931 courtroom crime drama but while it did concern crime, it was quite different. I concluded this had to be the blueprint for the Mission Impossible series and was pleasantly surprised by a tightly written caper movie that could have come right out of the today's plot lines.
Richard Dix is a home grown crime fighter, has a willing crew and pulls off some very precisely timed insertions and escapes collecting information to put the bad guys away. If you are into old movies and want one not in the mold of anything else at the time, this is it. Well worth watching.