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glennabello
Reviews
Irrational Man (2015)
Several Flaws in the Story
The Irrational Man is an entertaining, albeit flawed, story of a brilliant college professor who is bogged down in a listless funk of a life. After he stops at a Café for breakfast, he overhears a tale of woe of a dishonest judge ruining the life of a mother who is filing for divorce and custody of her children. He decides that the world would be better off without the judge in it. He researches various poisons, follows the judge to learn his habits and finally plots to poison his orange juice that he always purchases following his daily run in the park. He fulfills his mission and authorities believe that the judge died of a heart attack. Interestingly, the poison our professor selected is cyanide, which is not only painful but also leaves tell-tale signs post-mortem. The screenplay goes on until his girlfriend, who is also one of his students, and a female colleague dream up a scenario that could implicate the professor. It turns out to be spot-on, the professor confesses to his girlfriend and tries to throw her down an elevator shaft to eliminate that loose-end. However, he is unable to overpower the diminutive Emma Stone and slips on a flashlight that he had won for her at an amusement park gaming station. He falls down the shaft, taking the quickest way to the basement of the building and "SPLATTER!". Overall, the film was rather interesting and revealed yet another confused and depressed way Woody Allen's brain works. The saving grace of this psychological "thriller" was being only 95 minutes long.
Blindspot (2015)
Needs work!
This series has an interesting premise, but its execution has been getting bogged down in soap opera type goofy romances, emotional drivel and meaningless temper tantrums. I have a few suggestions to make this more interesting: 1) Dump the annoying and irritating background "music". After several minutes of this agitating noise, one is reaching for an anti-anxiety medication. 2) Eliminate the, now, obligatory homosexual dalliances 3) Invite the cast to attend some acting classes to brush up on their "art" 4) Instruct Jane Doe on how to exhibit a facial expression other than "I've just been stabbed in the foot and I want to shout, but I can't" 5) Get a male lead who is not portrayed as an emotional train wreck. 6) Note to screenwriters: visit the BBC and observe how a real crime drama is written 6) Is the FBI really comprised of a Gang of Idiots? Actually, after witnessing the actions of the actual FBI during the HRC investigation, I would say that this is the one part of the series that is accurate.
I hope that Season 2 is better written and performed than Season 1. If not, there will be no Season 3 for this critic. NOTE: since my initial review, I have had an opportunity to view the first half of Season 2. It has only gotten worse! Jane Doe has a killer good-looking face, but is still suffering from that continually pained look. The lead FBI agent has still not been able to affect an American accent (he is Australian). The IT nerd is able to hack anything at anytime in a matter of moments, which is beyond belief and factual reality. A visiting agent from the NSA has taken over the case and is obliged to bed down the head FBI investigator, which shows a breach of professional ethics and her lack of taste in men. The FBI psychiatrist seems to have a lot of free time on his hands, although with this bunch, he should be working overtime. It seems as though no one is really in charge of this Gang of Fools, although it is a good case of Art Imitating Life. And, that anxiety-inducing background noise is still present and often drowns out the mumbling actors in this clinker.
The Blacklist (2013)
Not enough Reddington!
The first season of "The Blacklist" was excellent. It portrayed Red Reddington (James Spader), as a vigilante-type who, with the assistance of the FBI, eliminates threats to the nation. This was a very good premise of a series where the bad guy gets his come-up-ins. However, as the series has progressed(?), the storyline has shifted from Spader's character to that of Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). Besides her premenstrual temper tantrums and continuous whining, the screen writers continue to focus on her soap opera emotions rather than a good vs. evil drama. The FBI team has continually been portrayed as a bunch of village idiots who make the Keystone Kops look brilliant (in one episode alone, the FBI botched the capture of the bad guys at least twice!). I had high hopes that Lizzie's "death" was real and chubby Megan could drift off into real-life motherhood and leave acting behind. Unfortunately, like an unwanted spectre, SHE's back!!!! The only reason that I have held out for 3 seasons of this downward spiraling clinker is James Spader and his team of anti-heroes. With Lizzie back with the insipid, girly-man Tom Keen, this series is fast going to the "No-Fly" list.
The Dovekeepers (2015)
Not worthy of the effort to produce it
I tuned into "The Dovekeepers" to see a historically accurate depiction of the Siege of Masada. What it turned out to be was one of the most insipid and juvenile presentations on TV this year. Not only was the acting superficial and the screen writing not worthy of even a bad high school play, but the story of this clinker was largely fantasy and left the viewer with a migraine.
Cote de Pablo continues to sound like Ziva David (from NCIS) and I fully expected (actually hoped) that DiNozzo and Gibbs would helicopter in and rescue her from any further self-humiliation and torture of the audience. The only possible device that was added to grab a few viewers might be the steamy scenes in the local bath, but even those had little context as to the Siege of Masada, which should have been the actual historical event as written by Flavius Josephus from commentaries of Roman commanders present during the conflict. Instead, the writers choose to focus their attention on a novel (i.e., fictional account) of two women confirming Josephus' account. This miniseries was more applicable to a soap opera than good theater.
"The Dovekeepers" is just one more example of why good, thought-provoking TV should be left to the BBC.
The Last Ship (2014)
This is NOT my Navy
"The Last Ship" leaves a lot to be desired in the operations of a US Naval warship. The characters are not true to reality, the plot is juvenile and the story is predictable.
For the characters: LT Danny Green...the only Seal Team this hot-headed, irrational boy could lead resides at Sea World in Orlando Florida. LT Kara Foster...would be severely disciplined, if not discharged from the Navy along with her emotional lover (LT Green), for fraternization. This behavior is verboten aboard a warship and goes against the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). She has the continual sorry pout of a victim and should be transferred to "The Love Boat". The rest of the crew, save very few members, should be cashiered from the Service and forced to work in a fast food joint.
The plot of a killer virus about to wipe out humanity is formulaic and thin. The villains, a boatload of Russians led by the winner of the Vladimir Putin look-alike contest, is quite predictable. The story line deserves no comment other than it is appropriate for a 15-year old idiot.
It is my hope that TNT does not bring "The Last Ship" back for a second season, other than to exterminate this awful collection of misfits by means of a meteor impacting the Earth.