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Reviews
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
"And The Oscar Goes To..."
"Top Gun Maverick - Screenplay"
"Top Gun Maverick - Cinematography"
"Top Gun Maverick - Sound"
Nominations for Best Picture, Director, and Best Actor (Tom). It might pull off those last three, but it lacks the wokeness that Hollywood seems to love and cater to. This is a new classic that has surpassed the original 1986 film. It keeps the feeling and look that Tony Scott gave us, and matured it like a fine wine. Screenplay and direction made this work, a rarity for a sequel. The dialogue is tight, as well as the camera focus on the actors. The aerial shots and dog fights are incredibly well done - whatever CGI was utilized blended seemlessly into the background with the live action. The love story between Penny (Jennifer Connelly) and Maverick was mature and believable, nothing gratuitous about it. There's enough homage paid to the original to remind us again why we loved the 1986 film, without depending on it too heavily to justify the current version. I will say that the first 2/3rds of the film were perfectly crafted, in the Best Film category, but the last 1/3rd at times stretched credibility to where I said "no way" at least twice. Pretty dramatic shift in the action. But overall an amazing storyline well worth the wait. It's a roller-coaster ride of entertainment that almost everyone will enjoy. Go see it.
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
Not Even Close To Being Worth It
This had great potential and interest. I expected a satisfying prequel to The Sopranos, but didn't get one.
The casting of Ray Liotta was a major mistake. Twice. Why the producers thought we'd buy him playing Hollywood Dick Moltisante, AND his incarcerated brother, is puzzling. Or just plain stupid. Both roles should have gone to relative unknowns, or at least actors not so easily identifiable by their previous roles, such as GoodFellas. Every scene Liotta was in, had me saying "that's Henry Hill, but older." None of his scenes worked for me. Vera Farmiga, just the opposite. She nailed the Olivia Soprano role on the head, with the accent and mannerisms. Michael Gandolfini as the young Tony Soprano had promise. But he wasn't given the screen time as he deserved. Other casting choices were good...for one, the younger Corrado.
I wanted to like this, but I can't recommend it. All the other One Star reviews have been accurate. It pretty much stinks.
American Horror Story: Neighbors from Hell (2017)
Politically Heavy, With Occasional Good Stuff
What jumps out in this season is that it's the writers' revenge for the 2016 Election. These characters would had led normal, happy lives had Hillary been elected president. But with the outcome not going in their favor, the freak out begins. They live in the dark present, with a cult that has yet to be explained, random clown violence, and a Pied Piper for the Devil. All this because of an election gone wrong. If you can hit the mute button when the politics surface, it's still better than last season's abortion, "Roanoke." But it makes one a bit nostalgic for the simpler, bi-partisan days of "Asylum" and "Hotel."
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
Well Done Documentary...no wonder the "Church" would be against it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this program. Who better to describe the inner workings of the "church" than former members? You can say that they're all disgruntled, and have a beef with Scientology, and rightly so. They had the presence of mind to realize what a sham it is. One estimate of the required coursework necessary to achieve "clear" cost in excess of $300,000. A true church is proud of it's doctrine, and doesn't charge members to learn about it. That fact alone separates Scientology from the mainstream religions. So the church should expect that some of the people they've scammed will eventually have a problem with it, and expose it for what it is....a business. Great job, HBO!
Into the Woods (2014)
Paved With Good Intentions, But So Is The Road To...
I avoided reading any reviews before seeing this film, so I'd have no expectations or prejudices. And in the opening moments, I thought I'd been rewarded. This was clearly nothing typical from Hollywood. The characters in period dress, singing their dialog, and the surprise of seeing Tracey Uhlman! I was delighted to see her attached to this project. It bode well! The camera focused on the actors, and not the CGI. Since I knew nothing of the story, I wondered if it would be another LES MISERABLES. But as it unfolded, the "sing-song" lyrics that I hoped would evolve into grand musical numbers got a bit tiresome, and a slow leak began to hiss from my enthusiasm. It needed more...something. OK, so we've been introduced to childhood fairy tale themes, and maybe they're going to weave them together somehow. Well they attempted to, but not in an imaginative way. Merle Streep as the witch. I thought there might have been a dash of Margaret Hamilton in her initial appearance, but no...Streep was taking it elsewhere. The first glimmer of genuine music came with Johnny Depp as The Big Bad Wolf. Cheesy makeup, but I can overlook that, the scene still works. I thought Chris Pine as the Prince was the stand-out performance. My guess is that this characterization is what the screenwriters had in mind for the entire project...funny, hammy, over the top, but enjoyable. And consistent. But the other characters, with their occasional surprisingly bad dialog, never attained it. Streep's performance became irritating. The other characters bounced between light comedy and out-of-place drama. I gave up any hope of this being an actual musical, and over half-way through, the sing-songy dialog ceased all together, for no apparent reason. It was like the assistant director took over while the big guy went to lunch. Eventually, we the audience stumbled out of a forest of confusion, and see what looks like the end of the story. I resisted looking at my watch the whole time, and thought, well that wasn't bad, but...wrong. The story plunged back into an irritating forest of heavy-handed seriousness, with thorns of what again attempted to be musical dialog. I had had enough. This could have been spin on the PRINCESS BRIDE, but it got LOST (somewhere) IN TRANSLATION. On the plus side, I was impressed that this thing got the green light from an industry that loves formulaic stories that at least promise to get production costs back. I hope they will with this one. Thirty minutes too long, and btw...Stephen Sondheim? Really?