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Just back from 2 months in Ireland and renewing my movie jones. A treasure trove of highly touted films were waiting for me at my awesome local library when I returned. On the whole, they were as good as critics suggested, but not quite as “great” as I hoped they might be.
(All ratings are on a 5 star scale. Note that a classic only becomes a classic after a decade or more.)
(Titles in purple have been expanded for Flix Pix columns.)
> This time, we have a gander at:
ANOMALISA (2016)****
THE DANISH GIRL (2015)***
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015)****+
THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015)***+
45 YEARS (2016)****
WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN? (1959)****
MOCKINGJAY, Part 2 (2016)***+
WHERE TO INVADE NEXT? (2015)****
THE MERMAID (2016)**
JIMMY’S HALL (2014)****
THE WALK (2015)***
THEEB (2015)****+
KILL THE MESSENGER (2014)***+
SELF/LESS (2015)***+
ALLEGIANT (2016)***
THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (1961)**
IRRATIONAL MAN (2015)****
TALES FROM EARTHSEA (2006)***
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
ANOMALISA (2016) ****
> The irrepressible Charlie Kaufman paired with Duke Johnson to create this one-of-a-kind animation of a truly uncompromising and adult nature.
. ANOMALISA one of those films where one is not quite sure what to think after seeing the trailer- a condition that is not much relieved by seeing the film. This dramatic cartoon exists almost entirely in the grey areas between people, where fellows dwell together, somewhat uncomfortably. It tells the rather pathetic story of a philandering businessman on the road.
. Michael Stone is married with a kid, but unhappy in his daily existence, so he seeks out some temporary company to assuage his listless ennui. In desperation he phones his old flame Lisa, and asks her to come have a drink with him- not knowing that his callous breakup sent her into an emotional tailspin that kept her bedridden for a year. Stunned, she agrees to meet in the hotel bar, and Michael begins to seduce her. Merging the word “anomaly” with her name, he comes up with the pet name ‘Anomalisa’. (Yeah, I had a hard time pronouncing the title too…)
. All in all, it’s a kind of empty movie really, as it revolves around two largely empty lives. Nothing much happens, but what does is often riveting in a quietly somber way. Though animated, the characters feel so disarmingly human, and the writing is deft, unsparing and illuminating. You know this film is something special, when you catch yourself completely forgetting that these two are not actually people, and that you are getting emotionally involved with representative renderings brought to life by perfect vocal talent of David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh. (All other voices are provided by Tom Noonan.)
– Truly original and inspired, this.
THE DANISH GIRL (2015) ***
> This celebrated film earned the luminescent Alicia Vikander the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, though I’d have liked to see her win it for her astounding turn in EX MACHINA, released earlier in the year.
. It’s the fictionalized biography of the first transgendered man to undergo sexual reassignment surgery, and appeared to have everything going for it: great stars, a crack director, a timely and timeless under-exploited story, ravishing production values… And it delivered on all these fronts. But even the skilled Tom Hopper could not lift this story above historical human melodrama. What is here is good, but somehow, it appeared a crucial transition scene was missing between Ms. Vikander and the exceptional Eddie Redmayne that would have allowed us to see a bit more beneath the skins of the characters- how and why he would be driven to such an extreme solution, and why she would stand by supportively, when his choice turned her life upside down. The answers presented are just a bit too simple, too prate.
– As it is, THE DANISH GIRL views more like a constrained Masterpiece Theatre project than a movie, and the ending- though perhaps historically accurate, made you miss the seemingly AWOL scenes all the more.
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015) ****+
> This stunningly photographed study of a lone shaman plying the waters of Amazonia is as awesome, unusual and captivating as the trailers suggest, and certainly belonged on the year’s Best Foreign Language list!
. The third feature from Columbian director Ciro Guerra, it tells the dual stories of two expeditions into the jungle in search of a legendary healing plant called Yakruna. Though 30 years separate the excursions, the guide in both cases is a fascinating character named Karamakate- the last known survivor of his tribe. We first meet our lonely tribesman as a young man, and then again late in life after the ravages of forgetfulness have set in and the ways of his people are fading with his memory.
. This is a fine ethnographic film about the cultural effects of colonialism and exploitation that makes its point without bludgeoning the viewer. The razor crisp black-and-white photography is never less than gorgeous in this strikingly original and absolutely mesmerizing adventure. The rhythms of nature inform every frame, forcing the viewer to slow down to synchronize.
– It’s just fascinating- and as wonderful as films get.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015) ***+
> The credits proudly proclaim this the eighth Quentin Tarantino flick, which begged the question: where does it fit in among the others?
. Though as profoundly entertaining as ever, this typically star-studded ensemble piece is only middling Tarantino- better than JACKIE BROWNE, not nearly in the same league as TRUE FICTION. The iconic director almost chucked this project, after the script was leaked online before he could put a production together. He relented after a public reading of the script that rekindled his enthusiasm. I wonder if Quentin would not have been better off pursuing another reinvention. THE HATEFUL EIGHT has its charms, but ultimately feels like a filmmaker treading water.
. Being the “difficult visionary” that he is, Quentin insisted the film be released in a 70mm roadshow version that necessitated a worldwide search for projectors that could still show this format. A large percentage of them required complete refurbishing. All this drew attention to this release, but was a major expense for the producers and a pain for the studio, contributing to the film’s tepid box office success. The cinematography by three-time Academy award winner Robert Richardson is first rate, and the Colorado mountain location informs every frame handsomely. And I was happy to see Italian composer Ennio Morricone take home an Oscar for a score that elevated every shot it accompanied.
. As always, all the actors seemed to be having a blast, from a gruff Jeff Bridges to a righteous Samuel L. Jackson. Tim Roth had a romp as a sardonic dandy and Bruce Dern dug fiercely into the role of retired Confederate general. But no cast member seemed to be having more fun than Jennifer Jason Leigh, who was nominated for her lively turn as a viscous female killer being forcibly escorted to the gallows by a bounty hunter. And that’s something when it is the female cast members who get attention in a Tarantino film! As ever, there is great attention to detail here. Lots of grim tension between the characters, as we discover their secret motivations and allegiances… Is there any doubt a bloodbath is coming?
– It’s a Tarantino film! Prepare for violence.
45 YEARS (2016) ****
> Critics loved this film about an aging couple approaching their 45th wedding anniversary, and the cracks and fissures that planning for the party reveal in their frequently taken for granted relationship.
. Tom Courtenay was heartbreaking as the fading husband succumbing to the dim haze of his dotage, but the film really belongs to the great Charlotte Rampling, whose fierce emotional intelligence shows in every nuance of her considerable performance. It’s a deceptively simple yet deep film about the way the past continues to impact the present.
. 45 YEARS is like an iceberg: most of it exists below the surface. The final moments of this flick are just devastating- all of it etched on the exceptionally expressive face of Ms. Rampling who is one of those actors, who, like Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini, can tell a complex story using only her eyes. No longer the sexy ingénue, maturity has removed the distraction of exceptional beauty to reveal what a remarkable actress she is. I fell in love with her image in ZARDOZ. I fell in love with the actress in 45 YEARS.
– This fine film is for discerning adult viewers who like some content with their entertainment.
WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN? (1959) ****
> This NBC Sunday Showcase production was aired over two dates in 1959, during the golden age of live TV drama, and was immediately hailed as a milestone.
. It was a sequel actually, and it spawned many more failed sequels of its own through the decades. Part two was thought lost for a long time, until it recently came to life in an old rediscovered kinescope, enabling us to see the seminal telefilm in 2016. It’s a very American story- about the rise of lowly newspaper flunky Sammy Glick, who is bound and determined to climb the ladder of success, no matter how many fragile people he needs to tread on to get there. Sammy becomes a ruthlessly amoral Hollywood magnate who makes his way in the world through relentless self-promotion, deception and wanton betrayal of anyone who makes the mistake of thinking of him as a “friend”.
. American history is full of Sammy Glicks. In the current historical context, it is all but impossible not to see parallels between the rise, (and hopefully, the fall), of Donald Trump. WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN is a powerful indictment of the capitalist ethic that presents success as so vitally important that it doesn’t really matter how many people you need to destroy to reach it. (A page right out of Trump’s playbook!)
– As such, it is certainly a story worth reimagining for our times.
MOCKINGJAY, Part 2 (2016) ***+
Bringing the story arch to a satisfactory if not spectacular conclusion, this fifth film in THE HUNGER GAMES saga beats the hell out of MOCKINGJAY Part 1- but at the end of it all, one is left with the impression that that was a long time coming! I watched them all, but cannot say I was a big fan of the series. I love watching Jennifer Lawrence (the unwatchable JOY notwithstanding), and did get a kick out of Stanley Tucci’s over-the-top “personality journalist”, Elizabeth Banks’ crazily-fashioned ally and Donald Sutherland’s deliciously evil powermonger, so I was entertained. But really, did it have to be longer than WAR AND PEACE? Too much! Every succeeding film in the franchise was like gorging on just one more slice of fattening, sugary cheesecake. By the fifth slice, this diet induces a cumulative sugar poisoning. Seems to me a trilogy might have been preferable. THE HUNGER GAMES begged for a scalpel.
WHERE TO INVADE NEXT? (2015) ****
> Another fun bit of agit-prop (propaganda intended to agitate), from the creative mind of reliable lefty Michael Moore, this pseudo-documentary has a very clever premise: what if the U.S. “invaded” other countries by symbolically planting our flag in the center of all their good ideas to claim them for America?
. What if Mr. Moore himself were the emissary symbolically invading countries across the globe to appropriate their best policies for the U.S. people? Would that make an entertaining film? Oh yes.
. From Italy (where workers receive far more generous vacation time), to France (where they feed their kids gourmet school lunches), to Germany (with a more worker-centric industrial policy), to Norway (where prisons do more than warehouse- they rehabilitate), to Tunisia and Iceland (that have far more gender equality), we follow our intrepid one-man invasion force in search of better ways to do things. It helps of course, that I am on the far-left myself, and tend to agree with most of the viewpoints Michael espouses in these singular films, that are always information heavy without squandering entertainment values.
. No, this is not one of his best, but it resonates wildly with the message that the self-appointed “greatest country on the earth” could use a bit less hubris and a good bit more social justice.
– You GO, Michael Moore!
THE MERMAID (2016) **
> I was excited to see this fantasy action film because at the time, it ended up being the biggest box-office draw in Chinese cinema history.
. After seeing this story about a feud between a colony of mermaids and terrestrial humans, this fact is somewhat disconcerting. If the world’s largest population deemed this their best film to date, then God help us all. I am predisposed to enjoy this kind of visually fanciful fantasy on a such a big, colorful scale, but because I am not interested in most martial arts chopfests, THE MERMAID is possibly… no- probably the single worst Chinese film I’ve seen. Considering that Zhang Yimou, one of the greatest living directors, is Chinese, the extreme popularity of this trifle baffles me.
. There are boatloads of blood here- a ridiculous level of violence for a light fantasy that plays more as a family film than serious adult fare. The average domestic filmgoer in China found things in this movie funny that were just mystifying to me. Our cultures must have very differing senses of humor. Between us, there is a levity gap. For example, one of the main characters in this mess of a film is an “octopus-man”, human from the waist up, but tentacled from the waist down. When Octopus Man is interrupted in the middle of an attempted assassination, he pretends to be a sushi chef, and begins to chop off his own extremities and serve them to diners! Funny? Only in the most twisted way imaginable. The sequence induced gruesome shudders in me. (Perhaps I have too much empathy.)
– When THE MERMAID concluded I thought: “Is that all?” Hardly a good question to be left with after any film.
JIMMY’S HALL (2014) ****
> Ken Loach makes simple, direct, unadorned films that never fail to strike a humanistic chord.
. There does not seem to be an ounce of fat in any of them, and such is the case here.
. The man who brought us THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY delivers another story of big struggles in a small Irish village. In this case it’s about the strict and unspoken code of behavior imposed by Irish culture and virulently enforced by the heavy hand of the Catholic Church.
. Loach tells a true story about Jimmy Gralton, who returned from Amerikay to his small village in County Leitrim in 1932 to help run the family farm. Jimmy finds that he is now the owner of a disused and decrepit old parish hall, and after some lobbying by the locals, he decides to refurbish the building and reopen it as a community hall for dances, classes and meetings. But this “liberality” does not sit well with local finger-waggers in the church and among the landed gentry, who distrust and revile Jimmy’s politics. The more successful Jimmy’s hall becomes the more strident Jimmy’s enemies become.
. The story is told in shorthand. We do not get a lot of warning before bad things begin to happen to this good man. As a frequent visitor to Ireland, I can tell you that even in 2019, there is still more than a grain of truth to this Irish provincialism that distrusts the individual and demonizes free thinkers who “rise above their station” in life.
– 86 years later, reactionary ideas still die hard.
THE WALK (2015) ***
> Robert Zemeckis hasn’t made a groundbreaking film in quite some time. It would be nice to see him make something as iconic as BACK TO THE FUTURE or WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? or FORREST GUMP, with the time he’s got left. (The man is no spring chicken.)
. Unfortunately, this is not that film.
. A dramatization of the story told in the exceptional documentary MAN ON WIRE about an illegal tightrope walk between the newly-opened Twin Towers by French daredevil Phillipe Petit, THE WALK manages to be entertaining, and a bit dizzying and breathtaking at the end- but not much more. I found the device of having the main character breaking the fourth wall to tell his story directly to the audience from atop the Statue of Liberty too precious by half.
. Joseph Gordon-Levitt certainly had the youthful energy for the part, and though his French accent was not nearly as bad as I’d heard, it did not seem to come naturally to him, and proved a real distraction.
. Even though the original documentary is a far-superior film, there are moments that have more impact than the original, because instead of being told about something, we get to watch a fairly gripping reenactment. And when the walk itself happens in the final third of the film, it gets very exciting indeed! Word is the 3-D IMAX version of this film had people losing their lunch… I believe it!
– But considering the inherent drama of the story, this was not Zemeckis’ finest hour.
THEEB (2015) ****+
> This third film from British/Jordanian director Naji Abu Nowar was deservedly included among the top five contenders for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. It’s a small, little-seen Arabic film that deserves all the attention it can get.
. For me, this was great storytelling, vividly told, and in its way, THEEB is a perfect gem of the genre. The simple storyline revolves around the Bedouin family of a young boy named Theeb, (meaning “wolf”), living on the outskirts of the Wadi Rum Desert in the Jordan of 1916. One evening they receive two unexpected guests- a British officer with a mysterious forbidden box and his Arab guide, who translates. They are looking for some help finding an old Roman well, but Theeb’s older brother Hussein is hesitant to oblige them, knowing the trail to be rife with bandits preying upon hapless pilgrims. Guilt-tripped into agreeing to be their guide, Hussein forbids his little brother to come along. The road is not safe for children. Of course, willful Theeb has other ideas, following them at a distance until they are too far from home to send him back alone.
. It’s a great set-up that enables us to see the adventure through the child’s eyes, but it raises the stakes considerably when the adventure turns into a fight for survival. THEEB is a powerful story of savagery and revenge, with a third act that packs a real wallop. This is as good as movies get. It reminds me why I love film so much. A truly great film transports you out of your roiling head to a whole new set of experiences. It’s an out-of-body experience too, because for the running time of an exceptional movie, you are not present in the same way- or perhaps it is more accurate to say, because you are taken out of yourself, you are more present- almost to the point of being a participant. This vital, involving story brought me back to my earliest days as a cinephile, sitting in crowded art house theaters exposing myself to the unimaginable ecstasies of Warner Herzog, the existential angst of Ingmar Bergman, the breathless thrill of Alfred Hitchcock, the magical wonderment of Walt Disney. Back then, because so much of it was new and fresh to me and I was still young and flexible, I was more open to being transported like this.
. After one has seen all the films of the great masters from Fellini to Kubrick, it’s possible to get a little jaded. Damn good thing there are new masters of the cinema emerging yearly, in countries around the globe.
– All hail the new voices- the voices of women and under-represented cultures around the world, the new cinematic poets, the fresh documentarians and the incisive new funnymen who help us jaded geriatrics look at our world in ways that prove you can teach old dogs new tricks!
KILL THE MESSENGER (2014) ***+
Very aptly titled biographical thriller about newspaper journalist Gary Webb, the man who broke open the Iran-Contra scandal in 1985, through intensive research and good investigative journalism. Remember hearing how in Roman times, the bearers of bad news were immediately crucified after delivering their messages? This film draws a parallel between this barbaric deflection of responsibility and the usual fate of modern day whistleblowers, who tend to get blamed for the outrages they reveal. In this case appealing actor Jeremy Renner plays a family man, doing his job to a code of ethics, but he is totally unprepared for the retaliation vested upon him by a vengeful CIA, who make his live a living hell in the wake of the bombshell revelations. Good stuff.
SELF/LESS (2015) ***+
> This reimagining of the classic sci-fi SECONDS from 1966 was not particularly well received by critics when it hit the screens, and the public seemed to agree, as it didn’t produce fireworks at the box office.
. Ever the outlier, I thought it was pretty good. This offshoot was entirely diverting and was just vital enough to be less predictable than one would expect.
. It’s an intriguing proposition: What if, through the miracle of (fictional) science, you were wealthy enough to exchange your aging, failing body for a newer model? Why wouldn’t you want to do that, if you retained your identity and mental facilities intact? But what if you subsequently find out that you are playing a zero sum game- where your bonus years mean someone else must forfeit some of theirs? What if the only way to make things right with this life you inadvertently stole, was to forfeit what’s left of your original self- in effect, sacrificing your life for the other’s? The more I think about it, the more levels the title plays on.
. I love films about ordinary people being forced to confront thorny moral dilemmas that seem intractable and insurmountable. All the best human dramas share this commonality. Will this unwilling participant rise to the occasion and assume the mantle of true hero or heroine? Here, a selfish, craven Ben Kingsley inhabits the body of freshly dead Ryan Reynolds, a fun job for an actor. Reynolds gives a surprisingly credible rendition of older curmudgeon incarnated in younger man’s body, facing a “family” who are complete strangers to him, as did Rock Hudson in SECONDS. Sci-fi works much better when there is as much emotion in it as there is here, humanizing what can otherwise be an almost clinical affair.
> Enjoyed the film, satisfied with the ending, even if it was a bit old school. And Reynolds was good. And it’s a Tarsem Singh flick! New territory for this occasionally brilliant filmmaker…
Find my review of SECONDS at:
https://lastcre8iveiconoclast.wordpress.com/2018/12/20/quiet-in-the-back-john-frankenheimers-seconds-and-tarsem-singhs-self-less/
ALLEGIANT (2016) ***
> This film brings the three film DIVERGENT series to a close- and even though I enjoyed them, mildly, I say good riddance.
(A fourth film called ASCENDANT was planned, but the box office for this one was so tepid that the studio is considering making it a straight to TV release.)
. Veronica Roth’s series of novels for young readers may have been better than the cinematic incarnations turned out. (I didn’t read them- and certainly didn’t find anything here to make me want to.) They were certainly popular. But like the HUNGER GAMES, the franchise feels somehow less than the sum of its parts. Both are bleak dystopian visions of social engineering gone awry, with strong female leads and cartoon politics that is presented on a strictly good/evil level. Both involve idealistic young rebels, outcasts who form an alliance to rescue their wayward civilizations. And both are patently silly affairs wrapped in cloaks of false portent.
. The best thing I could say about these DIVERGENT films is that they were entertaining. And that’s all they really aim to be, after all. Not all political sci-fi is as sophisticated as THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. These films, like the books, were created for young adults, not Nobel laureates. My favorite thing about them is the re-pairing of the sincere Shailene Woodley and the intense Miles Teller, although the talented Teller didn’t have a whole lot to do here. This duo was so dynamic in the spectacular 2013 film THE SPECTACULAR NOW. I suspect good things ahead for both of them- particularly young Mr. Teller, after his stunning turn in WHIPLASH.
. This third installment was possibly the best chapter since the original. The new worlds we are brought to certainly divert the attention. ALLEGIANT was really only a two-and-a-half star effort, but I graced it with an extra half-star for ending on a somewhat higher note… if not by much. It is my hope that now, these fine actors can move forward to do some more substantial work.
– I’ll be watching for more great work from both Teller and Woodley- hopefully in much better films.
THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE (1961) **
> My summer book was a thick, wonky volume called Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, an interesting but ultimately depressing look at this poetic but depressive writer.
. It certainly rekindled my interest in this iconic American voice.
. I was a big drama geek through high school, and all my drama teachers steered us toward The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire, despite the fact that we were really too young to understand the deep human nuances of the texts. This Jose Quintero film, (the celebrated theatre director’s only one), was derived from Tennessee’s one and only novel- the story of a faded Broadway actress living out her post-fame years as an American expat in Rome, longing for love and finding surrogates to mask the unquenchable hole in her life.
. Like all of the southern writer’s heroines, Mrs. Stone is a sad, almost pathetic figure, defined by the glory of her past and the loneliness of her present. Poor, forlorn Vivien Leigh.
. Enter sexy gigolo Warren Beatty, sporting a less than believable Italian accent. He is romancing her with the intent of appropriating a chunk of her wealth in the long run. We can see, as in all Mr. Williams’ dramas, that it will not end well for them.
. In fact, the end could best be described as sordid. When the closing credits rolled I thought: “Really? That’s all?” What might have seemed daring and provocative in the early sixties seems merely pathetic in 2016.
– Slight. Very slight.
IRRATIONAL MAN (2015) ****
> This sly gem is the unparalleled Woody Allen’s 45th feature film. That, alone, is worth celebrating. Even better- the writing is so crisp and the observations about human nature so deft, it’s really one of his more satisfying efforts.
. This later work from the undisputed master has the energy of his early films, but the almost gleeful restraint of his more mature output. Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone absolutely shine, (as they always do), in this story of a cynical, jaded, burnt-out alcoholic philosophy professor with a self-destructive streak who is not beyond Russian Roulette. He feels defeated by life until a fresh and unhealthy obsession seizes him: to commit a targeted murder with the aim of making the world a better place. Ms. Stone plays a bright young student who has fallen for the controversial academic’s slovenly charms. She delivers some of the actual laugh-out-loud lines with a perfect blend of innocence and ignorance that betrays a character with zero self-awareness.
. Refreshingly absent was the Woody Allen avatar we frequently see in his flicks- an actor playing a thinly veiled version of Allen himself now that he is too old to play the roles he writes, though you could certainly hear the ever-questioning existentialist stand-up philosopher in the nihilistic ramblings of Phoenix’s distracted, sedated potential murderer. But this fine actor makes the part more than a Woody Allen clone. He creates a fascinatingly flawed character that swings from sympathetic to menacing. It’s a very confident and self-assured performance- and Emma Stone is there- going toe-to-toe with the mammoth personality, fully capable of holding her own against the force of nature that is Joaquin Phoenix. Great ending too!
– This is under-appreciated Woody Allen, I would say. See it!
TALES FROM EARTHSEA (2006) ***
> No, this Studio Ghibli release was not the jumbled mess it was reputed to be, but as one of their only films not directed by Hayao Miyazaki, it is a major step down from the ecstasies of SPIRITED AWAY or MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.
. Celebrated author Ursula Le Guin who wrote the original books, had hoped Miyazaki Sr. would take the project on, but Hayao was already flirting with the idea of retirement, and even though it caused a rift between them over his readiness to direct, his son Gorō ended up a novice in the director’s chair.
. The production design of this outlier has its own colorful charm, but lacks the jaw dropping perfection of his father’s work and the elegantly rendered backgrounds that radiate beauty. Once again, credit Disney with having the vision to translate the property for American audiences to enjoy. As always, the English language voices were impeccably cast, using the talents of Timothy Dalton, Mariska Hargitay, Cheech Marin and the sinister whisper of a malevolent Willem Defoe. But I must say, I felt no small amount of cognitive dissonance when immediately after seeing the familiar Disneyland Castle logo, we get a scene where the young hero murders his father with a knife to the gut! Did Disney watch this film before they agreed to distribute it? Graphic regicide at the hands of a brooding young protagonist is hardly the way to start a Disney toon!
. Unfortunately, through the course of the film we never are informed why the angry prince would do such a vicious thing, except that the young feller was plagued by fits of anger. Ya think? Maybe it’s just me, but I would call such poor anger-management on this scale, a fatal character flaw in a fantasy hero!
– Dragons. Pastels. Clichés. Entertainment.
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SPECIAL MENTION: I also spent ten short, riveting hours enjoying season 4 of GAME OF THRONES. It’s a sprawling monster of a narrative that remains vastly entertaining, and often dazzling to watch. Season 5, here we come!
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Until next month about this time: Have an awesome autumn!
Vive Cine, boys & girls!
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© Kevin Paul Keelan and lastcre8iveiconoclast, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kevin Paul Keelan and lastcre8iveiconoclast with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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