Simpatico with my recent viewing of Buckaroo Banzai, this 1985 new wave classic – recently rescued from the darkest depths of my growing-dormant CD secondary archive – is absolutely fantastic. Did anyone else sample Sergio Leone back then?
I LOLled once or twice. But pretty stinkin’ bad. Clark Duke is kinda funny.
The epitome of deadpan. John Lithgow takes his “Third Rock” persona out for an early spin here. Great music, great cast, great clothes – asinine story, though, but hey man, where are we going? Planet Ten! When are we going? Real soon!
I’ve no new insight into The Godfather, but a new remastering of the trilogy landed on my desk so I’ll be revisiting these films. (Actually, I haven’t seen #3 since its release.)
I’ll say this: The Godfather actually benefits from all the years of catching bits of it on TV. It’s added to its mythology – that it this some massive epic with hundreds of dizzying subplots. In truth, it is under 3 hours and fairly compact. It’s Godfather II that is all kinds of complex.
Allow me to point out two little imperfections in this perfect movie. 1) Duvall overacts in the moments he’s shouting at Sonny. 2) Woulda been nice to have more Vegas footage.
Question: can we pinpoint the birth of all mob comedy with Clemenza? I think we can.
This is a rock solid bad movie. Yes, with O.J. on Mars. Or not on Mars, is more to the point. The faked-in-a-studio Mars landing with deadly consequences also stars Elliot Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterston, Telly Savalas, Karen Black and Hal Holbrook. Yeah, you pretty much have to see it. Good computer graphics, too. Too bad the story is freaking ridiculous.
I counter the great Kerry Douglas Dye, who hates this movie. I think it is a solid old Hollywood epic and, let’s face it, the largest (and most widely seen) piece of Israeli kitsch ever made. The film that launched a thousand Workman’s Circle film nights and upped the rolls at Kibutzes from Haifa to Eliat.
Is it a good film? At times, yes, though certainly dumbed down. But not as dumbed down as in my memory. There’s a little nuance here and there – even some fair minded screen time to the Arabs.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen this before, grab your El Al carry-on jet bag and look into Paul Newman’s dreamy half-Jewish eyes as he fights fights FIGHTS!
Q is back! Q! And he’s bringing meaningless cameos with him.
And while I always love a visit from John DeLancie, this is one poorly written episode. A visit from Q means Janeway should get down on her knees and BEG for a return flight to the Alpha Quadrant. She, like, owes this to her crew. How could she not do this?
Instead, a Picard-esque trial with all sorts of high-falutin’ morals. And while a discussion on the rights of suicide mighta worked on TNG it is ridiculous in this context. Fun to see Riker for two minutes, even though it is pointless.
Could I ever give a poor grade to a Worf episode?
We wrap up the tale of Worf’s younger brother Kurn, this time begging for honor with a ritual killing. But Worf’s de-clawing from his life in the Federation (house negro, he) can’t quite do it – at least not with Sisko and Dax over his shoulder. A memory wipe cleans the slate, but does it violate the Prime Directive? (And Dr. Bashir’s character arc?) Lo! Honor may never be restored to the House of Mogh – until the Song of Worf is truly sung!!
There’s a guest in the Delta Quadrant – a souped-up runaway Cardassian missile that Torres tweaked as a Maquis terrorist. But now its gone rogue! Can she out-think it, or make it blow up with logic like Kirk used to do?
For Voyager, this one isn’t so bad. I wasn’t embarrassed when Ann came in and saw me watching this, as I often am with Voyager.
photographed at L’Astral Dans Le Concorde, Quebec City, Sept 30, 2008
This movie has two strikes against it in history’s eyes. It dares to be a remake of the absolutely classic His Girl Friday (even though it isn’t – HGF was a remake of a yet older version of this film, based on Ben Hecht’s play) and it was made just as Billy Wilder and his style of filmmaking was considered waaaaay out of fashion. I mean – in the era of Taxi Driver could you see yourself championing a movie where Vincent Gardenia stands on a theatrical X and spews out schtick for five minutes. Even Peter Bogdanovich was doing “revisionist” screwball comedies at this time.
However, I was lucky enough to see this movie (many times) as a kid not knowing all that. And in that context it is the funniest movie ever made. Austin Pendleton trapped in a roll-top desk! Charles Durning and Dick O’Neill and Paul Benedict and Carol Burnett and Harold Gould in the SAME MOVIE!!!
Anyway, if you like yelling and Yiddish, rent this at once!
One can consider this Book 3 of the Eugenics Wars trilogy – or one can consider this dipping your toe in the river of the life of Khan. The full arc: Book One, Book Two, Space Seed, this book and then TWOK. To Reign in Hell details the years (and long years they were) on Ceti Alpha V. And it is AWESOME!
Watch in amazement as Kahn defends himself against eugenically enhanced usurpers! Gasp as Ceti Alpha VI implodes, creating a natural disaster on Ceti Alpha V known simply as “The Cataclysm.” Shiver in fear of the ubiquitous Ceti Eels! Grieve at the loss of Kahn’s wife, Lt. Marla MacGivers Singh.
Greg Cox (the author of these Kahn books) does a wonderful job at keeping Kahn evil and yet still sympathetic. I believe they call this nuance.
I was sitting on a plane next to Ann the other day with this book open. Ann says, “Are those books actually any good?” You know, they kinda are.
Although it may seem unlikely, Kira and Dukat are off chasing down Klingons. And he keeps hitting on her. Unexpected things happen. A good battle episode.
Here’s an utterly forgettable episode of Voyager, even if Brad Dourif is there and he’s taken a double dose of creepy pills.
Tuvok does a mind-meld with someone who is “just crazy” and instead of learning about the human (or Betazoid) condition, we just have some “goin’ nutty” scenes.
I’ll fill this in with a little context later, but for now, just enjoy the pic.
