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Yeonmo (2021)
It's Worth Lasting the 20 Episodes
One wonders how many strings Park Eun Bin pulled to land this role, but then did the plot ask for a diminutive female to play the role of a female impersonating a King, that the characters behind a puppet King, so needed anyone to be their King. As my title states, if you can sit through 20 episodes, you will be treated to so many twists and turns, you will go on an emotional rollercoaster. If like me, you have only come to watch this because of Attorney Woo, then you are in for something completely different, but just as very well acted by Park Eun Bin, she does not dissappoint. The costumes are amazing and so much is in common with a Chinese Emperor of the time including the writing and customs and wondered why Korea wasn't part of China and according to Wikipedia, it had been during the last 2000yrs, just not recently.
Prodigal Son: Fear Response (2019)
No Power?
How did the record player, play music, when the power has been turned off?
The Gulf (2019)
Might be the best, "Who Did It"
Best NZ thriller ever, well worth the watch. As good as anything the BBC makes.
Madam Secretary (2014)
Really?
** Spoiler** I really like Tia Lione, but really? Ex-CIA retires, then is a University lecturer, then lands the Secretary of State job. Then use every out of work American TV actor that is type cast for their particular role in a storyline that was so weak in the pilot episode. An African polygamist Dictator at a state dinner, who is placated with a few neutral lines about his un-political correct lifestyle and a couple of kidnapped kids in Syria,threatened with execution, who are rescued by ex-CIA connected acquaintances, all with a nice happy ending. I just can't see this surviving a season, unless the story writers pick up their game I have decided that I won't be watching anymore episodes.
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
This Was Just So Ahead Of It's Time!!
One has to remember this movie was thrown together before the latest flash in the pan band was forgotten by the fickle record buying public, hence it being in B&W. The big guns didn't think they were worth colour! The movie was well written and well directed, even though Lester had only made advertisements till this movie. But they tried to show a fictional day in the life of the Beatles. The comedy works really well, working off the natural humor within the group, it's all natural from the Beatles themselves with actors playing all the other parts. I understand Paul, who thought with his theatrical background (Dad?) he could act but he was a handful for the director. The impromptu, train carriage scene and eventually recordings in a TV studio/theatre in front of a "live" audience. This was filmed when the usual musical was either a "Elvis" or Cliff Richard" type setting. But the movie when released in '64 was just so fresh, the songs are of the era and now they do sound dated, but it only lasted a couple of years and by the time Let It Be was recorded they had a completely different sound which even today sounds fresh!
Let It Be (1970)
The Beatles Near The End
I remember when this movie was released as a 15 yr old and I was living in rural Auckland without transport to get to Auckland city to see this movie. But during that year I managed to make it to a screening of "Woodstock". Some 6-7 yrs later I finally saw LIB at a local suburban theatre (remember those) Mate and I sat engrossed throughout from beginning to end. Recently I've managed to lay my hands on a DVD of the movie (which is a lil' grainy and the sound during the jam sessions a lil' suspect) the memories just come flooding back. I've yet to hear from anyone who is not familiar with the Beatles and I wonder what their comments would be about this movie, would they find the jam sessions tedious? or look upon it, like we do, as a great bit of history, watching great artist's at work?
Door to Door (2002)
Perseverance over ones disabilities
The portrayal of peoples attitudes towards other peoples physical differences, being they, handicapped in some way or skin colour is wonderfully enacted in this movie. How once you accept someone as just another human being, that person is able to achieve as well as the next person. Macy's portrayal of Bill Porter is engrossing, it wasn't until I looked up the movie on this web page I realised who was acting as Bill Porter, I was convinced he was acting as himself! I have to applaud Bill Porter for his achievements in life and how he was so independent. To be the Salesman of the Year, he had a custom base of regular customers who treated him as their friend and confident. Shelly's character was the friend we all wished we had, but Bill Porter was lucky enough to have her for his. Did the movie ever tell us what her major was? Maybe it did, but I was so engrossed with Porter's character, I didn't notice. A great lil' "feel good" movie, despite the prejudice shown in the movie from the characters that Bill Porter encountered in his every day life, from his 1st customers to his last pimply faced boss.
The Good Thief (2002)
A Good Lil' Heist Movie
The 2 main characters are all given very seedy qualities, ie: Bob is a washed up gambler/heroin addict, Anne is a 17 yr old Russian hooker/junkie and everyone else is somehow involved with Bob's past, including the cop, Roger. The atmosphere of seedy bars and back alleys of some small town in the South of France is effective.
I thought Nick Nolte did a great job of Bob's character, all very convincing. Nutsa Kukhianidze played the character very "flat" which seemed to suit, because no matter what she was doing the expression on her face seemed to stay the same, about the only time she showed any emotion was when they won for the 1st time on the roulette table and Nick's character told her to tone it down.
So we have a small time Gambler/Heroin addict offered a job to steal some very valuable paintings from a Monte Carlo casino, which just seems minutes away from this small South of France town setting. Bob goes cold turkey, so he can figure out a plan to steal the paintings. Before this happens Bob rescues Anne from a local pimp and takes her in. Bob's young side kick Paulo takes a liking to her and beds her. Bob comes up with a plan to use the $80m in the Casino vaults as a decoy heist . The local Policeman (Roger) has threaten an Algerian illegal immigrant with deportation if he doesn't get some info on the rumoured heist, who is also Annes drug dealer. Anne is used as a leak so people are made to think that the $80m is the main job. The Security system installer is the inside man for the painting heist. Bob uses an old unknown Picasso painting to finance the heist. he convinces a local art dealer to advance him the money while the art dealer tries to sell it on the American market. Bob rounds up his old crew which includes a trans gender body builder Phillip/ Phillpa (who appears to be really a female? Sarah Bridges) The cop Roger tails Bob everywhere he goes and doesn't try to hide this fact. In the mean time 2 twins who work as security in the Casino and help carry the money to and from the vaults approach Bob and inform him that the Casino don't know they are twins as only one of them actually has the security job. Now Annes former pimp in turn rescues her from her dealer who was trying to get more info out of her while she was stoned and the pimp finds the reconnaissance photos of the paintings. Paulo comes home and is confronted by the pimp and is informed that the dealer knows about the heist, Paulo finds the dealer talking to Roger the cop and duly shoots the dealer dead. The pimp lets slip to the cop, that Paulo was the shooter and that the heist is for the paintings. Paulo is told by Bob to make his escape across the border to Italy. The art dealer discovers the Picasso painting is a fake and threatens Bob with a deadline for his $1.5m. Bob takes Anne with him to the Casino to play the Roulette table during the heist. The heist crew descend into the service tunnels under the room holding the paintings. During a previous dummy run Phillipa asks Paulo to turn the gas off for him as the handle is crawling with spiders and Phillipa seems to have a spider-phobia, but Paulo doesn't turn up for the heist. The cop takes the whole towns police force to the casino and catches the crew in the act after an explosion in the paintings room. But while all this is going on Bob and Anne are winning big on the Roulette table and the Blackjack table.............
You'll have to see the movie for the rest, suffice to say, I liked this movie, a lil' bit of the movie must have been left on the cutting room floor as the end may have been better handled, as I had to come into the movie data to try and grasp a few things I didn't quite understand as how did the twins fit in, but it sort of falls into place. I recommend anyone that likes a heist movie to rent this one.
The Driver (1978)
An All Time Great CAR Movie!!
I remember seeing this at it's first cinema release back in the late 70's before theatre complex's. We're talking 1000 people capacity theatres. Well there were maybe 6 of us sitting there at a 5pm session watching this movie. I was blown away by it's simple script to support the car chase scenes, not car chase scenes to support a script. The script was so simple that characters had no names. I love the scene where the robbers recruited by the cop character to entice the Driver to drive for them, and asks him how good is he? He systematically drives a Merc 600 limo to destruction in a car park building with his wannabe employers in the car and then he turns the job down. The chase with the pick-up and Trans Am through the warehouse are a classic. One of my all time favourites, which I have a grainy copy I copied off a rental 20 years ago.