SuperfluousChap Reviews

Breaking Bad: One Minute (2010) Season 3, Episode 7

Phenomenal acting, greatest shootout ever

[10/10 · 8 May 2021]

I've been going back through Breaking Bad after finishing the series in 2014. I was looking forward to this episode in particular.

Dean Norris (Hank Schraeder) never won the supporting actor Emmy, and it's very difficult to understand why. His acting is difficult and executed flawlessly, in this episode in particular. At least four distinctive and intense emotional displays in one episode (anger, despair, hope, fear), which is one of the very best of the series and of all TV.

The final scene is, I believe, the best shootout ever on TV, perhaps even in a movie. Vince Gilligan calls BB a modern western, and the shootout here rivals the climax of High Noon. Every second, every shot, every edit thought out in painstaking detail, and tied to superb writing so in a completely watertight storyline. Not as visually spectacular as the climaxes in GOT's The Mountain and The Viper, or The Battle of the B*strds, but more thoughtful and intense.

One of the great hours of TV history, probably second in the series to Ozymandias. Burned in my memory, that's the testament to its greatness. Bravo.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Shattered (2020) Season 7, Episode 11

WOW

[10/10 · 2 May 2020]

I am floored at the last three episodes, just amazing. So much suspense. Such a good flip side to the Order 66 we saw in Eposode 3. The Darth Maul sequence is not only the best action sequence of the series, it's one of the best in the entire Star Wars franchise - reminiscent of Vader at the end of Rogue One. Really great work team, you made the time investment worth it.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)

Don't listen to the haters

[8/10 · 22 December 2019]

The Rise of Skywalker is a totally enjoyable movie, and a legitimately great wrap on the story. It makes sense (Palpatine as the ultimate bad guy in all 9 episodes, and we know from the prequels that he knows about coming back from the dead).

Great surprise with Rey's background. They had us hanging and I didn't guess it. It explains why she always had power that she wasn't aware of.

Awesome turnaround for Kylo Ren. I really didn't like KR in episode 7 - but the completion of his story felt authentic and made me really end up liking the character. This was probably my favorite part of the movie.

And the conclusory battle was terrific.

And thank you JJA for all of the nods to the fans. Was so fun to see everything come full circle and in an unpredictable but plausible way.

All that said, overall this is not the best SW movie. Mainly in that it went too fast (so much to cover). The Sith planet was probably too dark. The final fight between Palpatine and Rey/Solo didn't quite make sense (he can easily destroy her with one lightsaber but god forbid she uses a second!)

But it was totally enjoyable. I have a family of SW fans, kids 6-11 who have all seen all of the movies at least three times each. We all loved it.

I think I'm the Star Wars movies there are basically three tiers of quality - the first tier (4 and 5) a middle tier (3, 6,7 and Rogue - although I actually place Rogue in the top tier, just don't want to argue that here), and a lower tier (1,3,8 and Solo).

I definitely put this in the middle tier - not the best but a great wrap for the franchise. Bottom line, don't listen to the haters.

The Mandalorian: Chapter 6: The Prisoner (2019) Season 1, Episode 6

GREAT episode, edge of seat

[10/10 · 14 December 2019]

Dude, a Mexican standoff in Star Wars? Good guy escaping and systematically stalking and taking down the bad guys who stabbed him in the back? Cameo from the Breaking Bad guy, who has a robotic third gun on his back? Doesn't get better than this. Edge of seat all 40 minutes. Keep it up guys. Best episode so far even if it was a standalone. Wow.

Roger Dodger (2002)

A great movie and commentary on 30-something single, professional men in the big city.

[10/10 · 17 August 2005]

Seldom does an honest movie come along that explores the plight of single, professional men in the big city. Whit Stilman did it a couple of times in Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco. Dylan Kidd does a remarkable job with this theme in Roger Dodger.

Campbell Scott plays Roger, copywriter for an advertising firm in New York. He and his boss, Joyce (Isabella Rossellini) are in a physical relationship that ends, just as soon as Roger's nephew Nick (played by Jesse Eisenberg) comes to town on a "find out your ideal profession day" for his high school.

Nick knows Roger has a reputation for being a ladies man and asks him for advice on fishing for women. Over the evening Nick finds that Roger's reputation exceeds his record.

Roger is an atheist with a penchant for evolutionary psychology, and the movie brings up serious questions as to whether a life lived in the city with purely biological and sensual aims (Roger tells Nick at one point "sex is everywhere!" and his coworkers during lunch that men are using their primary utility to technological advances) can bring any kind of serious fulfillment. As you ask these questions you see Roger embarrass himself at the office party held by his boss (who by now has reeled in one of Roger's coworkers) and regress to a late night visit to a filthy whorehouse -- the "fail safe" option where women are always available -- with his 15 year old nephew.

Scott, Eisenberg and Rossellini perform spectacularly. Roger Dodger is able to be hilariously funny while asking serious questions, and is one of the best films I have seen in a long, long time. Most highly recommended.

Cobra (1986)

Do you have a lifejacket?

[9 April 2004]

This picture is classic 1980s action at its best and most cliche. My favorite scene is right at the top of the movie. Cobra is in a supermarket, on the trail of a guy who's killing safeway employees for fun. Cobra's in pursuit. He passes a 6-foot display case of Coors light. Stops. Cracks a can. Takes a sip. Tosses it on the floor. Continues in pursuit.

It reminds me of another 80s action flick few will remember called the Punisher with Louis Gossett Junior. Some dufus is carrying pizza into the torture chamber where LGJ is getting it. EXCEPT HE'S NOT GETTING IT, guys. He's already knocked the guy out with a punch and a pressure point maneuver. Then, Gosset neutralizes the pizza guy. But rather than let the pizza, which is all over the floor, go to waste, he kneels down, takes a couple of pieces, bites, then leaves the room as though nothing has happened.

I learned a lot from Cobra and Stallone's character, Marion Cobretti. First, I need to get a "nitro" option on my car so I can go as fast as he did. Second is a great line to reel in the girl, next time you're out on a date and she's using too much catsup on her fries.

"Do you have a lifejacket?" "Why" "To save all the french fries that are drowning."

This movie is a classic for 80s action lovers. I own the DVD and highly recommend it.

The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

Pretty much a flawless movie

[10/10 · 2 April 2004]

I watched TYLD after a prof recommended it in grad school. I had to rent it from an obscure-movies rental place in Alexandria, Virginia and I now own the picture.

There are three elements, mixed together, that make TYLD superb, rich cinema. First, it captures the feel of westerners living abroad, the cluster of expat personalities that you find were you to live or work abroad.

Second, it is one of the best love stories ever crafted, with a "fleeting end of summer feel" between Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. They are both young; Weaver is stunningly gorgeous. Their romance ends almost as abruptly as it begins. We've all been there.

The movie also captures an awesome historical moment and is fascinating Cold War history. The movie is flawless.