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Reviews
Wyatt Earp (1994)
Very enjoyable movie
Never understood why this movie "failed". I think it's a great story of an amazing life full of experience and adventure. Costner and Quaid do a great job portraying the hard, uncompromising attitude that men of the west must have had to succeed. Hackman is a master of realism.
Some critics say this movie is too long and slow, and it contains too many useless details. I'd say those critics are little-leaguers who were apparently only looking for another story of the gunfight. This movie is about the people, and every scene is filled with dialogue and events that shape the characters.
Very enjoyable and well-done.
Griselda (2024)
Disappointed
This series does not portray the true events at all, and I really don't know why - her true life story is very different and much more interesting than this predictable and typical drug-king story line. Due to the excellent "Cocaine Cowboys" documentary made in 2006(?), many people know the highlights of her career, and I was expecting it. I'd like to see some better writers make another attempt at portraying her in a more authentic way. Witnesses and contacts are still alive.
The performances were good - almost all characters were believable, sympathetic, etc. These same actors with a different script and an abrasive bridge-troll as Griselda would be more worthy of a watch.
Band of Brothers: Points (2001)
Masterful
This was a fitting end to an amazing piece of work that illustrated the core values and attitudes of "The Greatest Generation". Those character traits enabled them to accomplish what no later genreation could ever do. I am amazed at the (mostly British) actors' ability to portray the attitude and behavior of Americans at that time in history. The German General's speech and Leibgot's translation, the baseball game, these are deeply moving scenes I will never forget.
Episode #1 is probably my favorite, but most of them are excellent. These very likable characters combined with interviews with the real soldiers as elderly men creates a strong bond with the viewers. This is why the baseball game was such a moving and creative way to appropriately finish the story of these characters. The whole story is a fitting honor to Major Winters who truly was an amazing individual.
The Pacific (2010)
Trying to like it more
A huge subject, horrors of war and hardships well presented (I guess that's the Speilberg contribution?). But the characters and their stories, are just not interesting. The presentation of the battles - objectives tactics, etc are also boring - rarely know what they are trying to accomplish, many scenes are shot only close-up, or in such darkness that the viewer can only see bullet streaks and these scenes are WAY too long. They added some romance - OK, but not needed and the sex scenes are out of place. Hard to believe the same writers created BoB, which is one of the greatest series of all-time, this seems like a rookie writing effort. Just not moving or memorable.
Silicon Valley (2014)
Comedy Masterpiece
For drama, give me Breaking Bad. For comedy, I can't think of any better series than Silicon Valley. Great job spoofing the tech culture, the personalities, and issues of that industry. The characters and dialogue, plots and subplots are all very well-done. The story moves at a perfect pace.
They lost a key character after Season 4 (Erlich Bachman played by TJ Miller). This definitely hurt the show - he added a crude energetic element that was a great contrast to the others, and his dialogue often could stand alone as short comedy routines about tech culture, California, etc. The story/plot became less interesting after his exit as well.
Seasons 1-4 are absolutely worth watching/ buying/renting. Some of the best comedy writing and acting we'll see.
Kingdom (2014)
Very Good
Good storylines, good acting, fast-paced. Excellent work all-around. I had never heard of this series despite having a number of friends who would be interested. It popped up on my Netflix recommendations and I took a quick look with minimal expectations. Immediately hooked into a binge-watching period.
I generally avoid anything that smells of being a vehicle for Timberlake, Bieber, etc, but Nick Jonas' character is not the lead, and he does a good job with his part. Only criticism is the over-done sex element. If needed to target high school boys, then fine. In this case, the other elements were plenty good enough to keep the audience engaged - no need for that.