Media Notes: Roundup for December 2018

 

These are the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during December 2018.

Movies and films (links to IMDB.com for basic information unless noted otherwise). Some of these I watched via TubiTv.com or other online source. The DVDs come from the public library (unless noted otherwise). In addition, I will try to add other trivia notes, such as when a film is based on a book adding the information about the book (at least the WorldCat record if available):

• Krampus: The Christmas Devil (2013. Horror. Thriller.) I figured I had to pick at least one movie with a holidays season theme, so here goes. As a kid, Jeremy Duffin was one of the bad kids, and Krampus abducted him to kill him. However, Jeremy managed to escape and survived. Years later, as an adult, he is a cop now trying to find the abductor and solve the case of many children going missing right before Christmas. The plot is complicated a bit by the fact that there is another criminal on the loose; however, Krampus soon takes care of the naughty criminal (this is a moment you end up rooting for Krampus). Krampus has to complete his task of punishing naughty kids before Christmas Eve midnight, and he has Santa Claus' approval to do whatever it takes. This movie is seriously slow, not too thrilling if at all. Some of the scenes just drag on way too long. As for the attempt to use a hard rock soundtrack to slow things down for dramatic or tense effect, it was poorly done. Overall, a cheaply done movie with sub par acting. A seriously lost opportunity here. This is one to skip. It is bad, and I do not mean in the "bad but funny" category. It is just bad, period. Via TubiTv.
• Real Gangsters! (2013. Crime. Drama. Mobsters). This is the story of cousins Vincent and Jack LoGiacomo, who run their own mob family. They are like day and night. Vincent is the reasonable peacemaker, and Jack is the hotheaded guy who prefers to settle things the hard way than with diplomacy. Vincent does his best to be peaceful, discreet, but do not mistake that for weakness. Jack, on the other hand, is a walking stereotype of a wiseguy with a temper. We see most of the film through Jack as he goes about business. The movie is funny in an unintentional way. For example, the scene of Jack sort of debating films with his henchmen, bad but funny at times, at least until it takes quite a dark turn  but then we get a small tension breaker, and a small laugh again. And then I was not a fan of that ending, which was expected but seemed cut short. The movie is not great, but it has some amusing moments, and it does have a decent cast including Nick Mancuso as Vicent, Frank D'Angelo as Jack, and  an appearance by Margot Kidder. Via TubiTv.
• Hobo With A Shotgun (2011. Action. Grindhouse. Exploitation). What started  as a faux film trailer included with the film Grindhouse became a real movie. Rutget Hauer goes all out playing the hobo, a man who arrives to Hope Town on the rails. All he wanted was to get a lawn mower cheap to start a lawn mowing business, make a few bucks. However, the town is exploited by Drake and his sons, a town where rape, crime, violence run rampant. The hobo decides to take justice in his hands, manages to buy a shotgun, and off he goes to clean the town. Film is a throwback to the exploitation and extreme grindhouse films of the 1970s with the spurts of fake blood, gruesome killings, and a lot of shotgun blasts. It does take a dark turn to the end, but overall, you pretty much get what the title promises. In a time when all we seem to get are remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, and pretty much same old, this is one of those films that took a chance to do something gruesomely different. Some folks may cheer, a few may not, but it was entertaining overall. Via TubiTv. 
• A Christmas Carol (1984. Fantasy. Literary Adaption. Drama. Christmas). A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas stories, and I tend to like most movie adaptations. This 1984 film with George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge is one of my top interpretations. Scott gives a great performance. He is the mean old miser we all know, but Scott humanizes Scrooge to show us how his early life helped shape his anger and hate of the world. Scott truly makes the role his own.  The film does a good effort in being faithful to the story. I also loved the Ghost of Christmas Present, portrayed here by Edward Woodward (you may know him from the television series The Equalizer) having great fun with the performance. This may be a made for television movie, but they really created one of the best versions available. Via YouTube. 
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992. Drama. Comedy. Family). Michael Cane takes the turn as Mr. Scrooge and Kermit takes the turn as Bob Cratchit.  Sure, they take some liberties with the story, but the essence of the story is kept quite well in a film for children of all ages. The humor can be light but also dark, and the drama is just serious enough. The film is entertaining and moving at times, and it will leave you with a smile, This is definitely a nice holiday classic to watch with family. Overall, a great Muppets film. Via DVD from public library.

Television and other series (basic show information links via Wikipedia unless noted otherwise). Some of these come in DVD from the public library. Others may be via YouTube, which, as noted before, I keep finding all sorts of other old shows in it, often full episodes:

• Supermarket Sweep (Game show. 1965-2003). I continue watching the 1990s run, with some 2000s, hosted by David Ruprecht, which ran on Lifetime Channel and later on Pax TV, on YouTube this month. See the June roundup post for more comment on this show. Watched 4 episodes. 
• L.A. Law (Legal drama. 1986 to 1994). I found this at the main branch of the public library. They had the first two seasons of it; the show ran for eight seasons. I did some research, turns out they have only released the first three seasons for the United States (lucky Europeans got the full release, including a complete series package). The DVDs for the US are sold by Shout! Factory, which is known for selling various old time television shows and films. Anyhow, saw it, and I decided to check it out and do a small trip down memory lane. This is a series I used to enjoy back in the day, and it was one of the few series I have watched from beginning to end when it was on the air.  
• Season One covers the first 22 episodes, including the series pilot. It comes in 6 DVDs.
• The pilot episode is an hour and 37 minutes. It sets up the series, and it shows the program's eventually well known trait of having various story lines running at once. A small detail, well, seems small now, is the episode featured a transsexual character. As I said, seems small now but back in the 1980s, this would have been a big deal. One of the lawyer's homophobic reaction seemed shocking to me now, but odds were good back then more people would have side with him. The show is certainly a product of its time, and it did dare to take chances. Overall, the pilot does provide a good start to the series. 
• Episodes for the rest of the season are about 48 minutes long. As I mentioned, this is definitely an 80s show. It was interesting to see some of the issues of the time presented in the show such as the AIDS epidemic (this was way before treatments came along), date rape (their standards back then were clearly nowhere near things like the Me Too movement era we have now), and post partum depression, which today is recognized as a serious condition by the medical establishment but it was not back then. In addition, the seriousness is balanced with some humor. This season contains one of my favorite episodes: the case of the stolen bull semen. Overall, great entertainment and an interesting look now at the time the series was made. I can see why this series was so successful in its time.
• Season Two includes 20 episodes. In this season, two new characters are introduced: lawyer associate Johnathan Rallins (portrayed by Blair Underwood) and Benny Stulwicz, the developmentally disabled clerk (portrayed by Larry Drake. The character made his first appearance in Season One, becomes a regular in this season). In this season you see a bit more how this series has aged. For instance, we get a trial of three lawyers accused of raping a young stripper. The guys' defense is the usual "they are prominent men, wholesome Christians, family men" blah blah, stuff that today would not fly, and while the men did get convicted, you get the feeling it was barely. There is an AIDS reference where one men is telling the other to use precaution, and the other replies he is not worried because he is heterosexual. It was a different time, and AIDS was still seen as "the gay disease." We've come a long way. However, despite some aging, the show still remains interesting and entertaining, and it still retains some relevant points to today here and there.