Media Notes: Roundup for March 2021

 

This is a somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during March 2021.


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):

• The Irishman (2019. Biography. Crime. Drama). The adaptation of Frank Sheeran's story from the book I Heard You Paint Houses (link to my review of the book). Frank, now in old age, recalls his time working for mobster Russel Buffalino and later for union leader Jimmy Hoffa. This is a long film at a bit over three hours, but it is a very well made film. The cinematography and setting look great, capture the time period well. Film directed by Scorsese has a great cast of actors he has worked with before like Robert De Niro (Sheeran), Al Pacino (Hoffa), and Joe Pesci (Russell Buffalino) as well as others all doing good acting work. A small interesting detail in the film is when some new characters get introduced in the film it tells us how they died (usually in a violent way). Pacino presents Hoffa as a tragic figure, a victim of his own hubris. Pesci and De Niro do great in their roles as well. Do keep in mind that this is Sheeran's story, his recollections and reminiscences, not all agree with his story. Still, it is a very good story that draws you in, has great drama and pathos to it. I think to an extent Scorsese improved a bit on the book (with some liberties as film adaptations do). If you have enjoyed his other films, you really should watch this one as well. I enjoyed this one, and though it has some slow moments, it is a very well made film overall. In addition, it also has a pretty good music soundtrack. This is not a heavy action film; it is a film that takes its time building and telling the story with a great cast who give it all. I'd give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Via DVD from Madison County Public Library. By the way, the DVD was the Criterion Collection edition, so it is a 2-DVD set with a second DVD of extras like commentary, so on. If you were to buy this film, this set, as most Criterion collections, would probably make a good choice. Watched 3/6.
  
• Brooklyn Rules (2007. Drama. Crime. Mob). Plot description: "Brooklyn, 1985. With the mob world as a backdrop, three life-long friends struggle with questions of love, loss and loyalty." Alec Baldwin plays a mob capo in the film that Carmine (portrayed in the film by Scott Caan, yes, son of that James Caan), one of the three boys, gets involved with. The story is the three boys, now adults, and their paths. Michael gets into college, but talented as he is he prefers scams and the easy way. Carmine, as mentioned, wants to go into the mob, and Bobby, the third friend, all he wants is a steady job with the U.S. Postal Service. The movie has some slow moments, but it also makes an effort to catch the setting and times of the 1980s with a good soundtrack and references to events of the time. Cesar, Baldwin's character, works for the Gambinos, and we get references in the film to real events about the Gambinos, for example the boys see on TV the news about Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, at the time the Gambino underboss. We later also see Paul Castellano's death on the news. Michael wishes to just live his life, so does Bobby but when a random brawl happens, things get dangerous, and it turns out the mob may not be as easy to avoid as they think. Overall, this is a coming of age story with the mob in the background. As I said, some slow moments, but overall a good drama. 3.5 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 3/12.
  
• Planet Hulk (2010. Animation. Comics adaptation. Marvel Comics. Action Adventure). Plot description: "The Incredible Hulk, ejected from Earth in a spaceship, crash-lands on a planet ruled by a tyrant, who forces him to fight in a coliseum against other powerful creatures. The Hulk reluctantly befriends the combatants on his team." This is based on the Planet Hulk comic series. The animation is mostly OK; film is kind of like a longer Saturday morning cartoon, and with the same level of action and story, i.e. not terribly substantial. It gets a bit melodramatic here or there, but that goes with this kind of movie. Also, compared to the comics, the Hulk did seem significantly weaker with no apparent reason at least until the end of the film. To be honest, had it been Hulk as normal, the film could have ended in the first few minutes. By the way, unless you are hard fan, you may not know who the guy who looks like Thor is; that is Beta Ray Bill (I had to look it up. I like comics but I am not that hardcore. The character does seem interesting, I may need to seek out some of those comics). Not that it matters since the character disappears at about halfway through the movie. So in the end, the film was OK. It's decent entertainment, but nothing spectacular. I would say you are much better off reading the comic book series which is excellent (link to my review on GoodReads). This is just a weak substitute for the real thing. 2.5 out of 5 stars. Watched 3/19. Via TubiTv.  
• The First Power (1990. Crime. Thriller. Horror). Plot description: "A dedicated L.A. police detective and a female psychic must stop a demonic serial killer who was given the powers of resurrection, teleportation and possession." I remember watching this one back in the day and liking it, but I did not remember much about it now, so when TubiTv brought it in I took a chance to watch again. Lou Diamond Phillips takes the lead as the detective, who is a bit of a legend getting serial killers. His latest capture is sent to the gas chamber, but turns out the spirit of the killer is released and comes back to kill again, able to take over others to do his bidding. Lt. Logan now has to stop a killer who may be unstoppable. Overall, this is a fun little thriller right at the end of the 80s into 1990. It has thrills, suspense, and some horror but the gore is minimal. Since it is supernatural, of course the Catholic Church has to make an appearance, minimal though. And there are one or two other details that you may want not to think about too deeply, like how the professional psychic affords that hell of a millionaire's home she lives in; the psychic business must have been seriously good back then. The movie is pretty good, holds your attention, and has some good suspense and action. Not a big deal, but I liked it, so I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars. Watched 3/19.
• Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018. Documentary. Biography). Description: "An exploration of the life, lessons, and legacy of iconic children's television host, Fred Rogers." Back in October 2020, I watched the Tom Hanks' film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. While that film was excellent, a few other commenters on the film mentioned that this documentary might be a better film to watch to really learn about Mr. Rogers, so when I saw my local public library had it, I borrowed it to check it out. I wondered initially why it has a PG-13 rating, but it is because it does have some moving segments that can be intense, such as references to Bobby Kennedy's assassination and later 9/11. The documentary uses interviews, segments from his show, other media, to show Mr. Rogers in and out of the studio. Sure, he was a good and noble man, but he also had his doubts and his not so happy moments. This documentary does its best to show us the full human being that Mr. Rogers was. He was a good man who strove to bring kindness and love to a world that did not always understand it or think he may have been too good to be true. But persevere he did and in the process left the world a bit better than he found it. I honestly do not think there will be someone like him any time soon. By the way, Tom Junod, the journalist who is the basis of the Tom Hanks film, makes an appearance in this documentary. Overall, an excellent production worth watching. 5 out of 5 stars. By the way, I watched this on 3/20, which happens to be Mr. Rogers' birthday. 
• Priest (2011. Horror. Fantasy. Action. Literary adaptation). Plot description: "A priest disobeys church law to track down the vampires who kidnapped his niece." This is a very loose, seriously loosely based on the Priest manwha series.  In addition to that, the film director described the film as an homage to the John Wayne film The Searchers. So this film is somewhere between those two works with a few liberties more taken, some dystopian elements, a bit of western and far future added too. The movie overall is not bad, but do not go expecting a good adaptation of the comic; it is not. A lot of the plot is the The Searchers, some folks looking for a kidnapped girl combined with the concept of the manwha. This had potential, but it is a seriously slow film, very dark, and just not that much happens in it. Most of the action is at the end, and by then, well, the film is over. I can see why this flopped in the theaters; it just does not have a lot of substance, and what it does have, including a relatively decent premise, it does not bring up to full potential. At 87 minutes, 77 actually since the credits make the last 10 minutes of the run time, this is an awful short film for what it was trying to do. I'd say about 2.5 out of 5 stars. Via DVD from public library. Watched 3/26. I read a bit of the manwha some years ago, which I do not remember being that good, or at least it could get confusing, but I may give it another go soon and try again. I am sure it is better than this film.
• Sicario (2015. Crime. Drama. Action). Plot description: "An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico." Film has a pretty good cast in Emily Blunt playing the FBI agent, Josh Brolin as the federal agent from the task force, and Benicio Del Toro as a shady consultant to the feds. Kate, Blunt's character volunteers for an inter-agency task force after she leads a raid in Arizona. However, she does not quite know what she gets into, including crossing into Mexico, and the men she works with keep things vague, telling her to watch and learn. Film has a nice pace, keeps the audience somewhat in the dark not unlike Emily. Good suspense. As the objective becomes clearer, Kate gets in deeper. Good tension as well in this film. We get the story bit by bit, and never quite sure what is true until the final reveal. Benicio Del Toro does a heck of  a performance in this film. Overall a suspenseful and tight drama that is thrilling and keeps you wondering throughout. It will also make you wonder where the boundaries of right and wrong are. I'd say 4.5 out of 5 stars. Via DVD from public library. Watched 3/26.
• Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018. Crime. Drama. Action). Plot description: "The drug war on the U.S.-Mexico border has escalated as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver re-teams with the mercurial Alejandro." Agent Graver, with the approval of high levels of the U.S. government, decides to kidnap the child of a cartel chief in order to escalate the war against the cartels. When the abduction gets botched, things get complicated fast. Film is a bit slower than the first, and there is less mystery as we know exactly who works for who. The basic premise of smuggled terrorists is a bit of a stretch, more to get the rest of the movie going. Still, it is a good film in terms of good drama, thrills, and quite an ending. We also get a pretty good character portrayal with Alejandro's character. Overall, very good film, so I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars as it was good, but not as good as the original. Still worth a look. Via DVD from public library. Watched 3/26.

 

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:

• America's Dumbest Criminals (1996-2000. Reality. Humor. Crime).  See my June 2020 wrap up for commentary on this. Continued this month with the fourth and final season. Fourth season kept the same theme music from previous season, but the opening visuals are new for this season.
  
• Lawmen of the Old West (2014. Western. Documentary. Biography. Mini-series). Brief description: "See how men like Daniel Boone, Wyatt Earp and ‘Doc’ Holliday became frontier legends in their quest to keep the peace and stay alive. Witness some of the most infamous events in American history through authentic re-enactments, historical accounts and archived photos. This unique six part documentary series examines the personalities, weapons, tactics and corruption that made outlaws, lawmen, scouts, gunslingers and professional gamblers became American folk heroes."  This is a six part series that starts with the North American colonial era; first episode ends at the end of the Civil War, arguing that said war gave the skills both to the outlaws and the lawmen that would emerge in the would become the Wild West. The documentary is interesting but it often uses black and white old cowboy movie scenes during narration segments, and the scenes do not always match well the story they are telling. The recreations with actors are a bit better though not by much but fewer; they recycle the recreations, and as a result the images do not match the narration. Production values seem a bit low but the stories themselves are interesting overall, even breaking a myth here and there. I do wish they had put some more money and effort on the visuals. It was OK overall, so I'd say 2 out of 5 stars barely. Via TubiTv.
  
• Midsomer Murders (1997 to present, still going. Mystery. Crime. Detective. British series). I commented on this series in the July 2020 roundup.  I continue this month from Season 5, Episode 3 onward. Last I watched was Season 5, Episode 2 last September. Via TubiTv, which has up to Season 20. As I understand, Season 21 is complete, and they may or not get to Season 22. Anyhow, plenty for me to watch via TubiTv for now. 
• Season 5, Episode 3: "Murder on St. Malley's Day." Plot description: "Barnaby investigates the murder of a boy during a traditional annual race at an exclusive private school but meets with resentment." The prep school's boys club is called the Pudding Club (yea, seriously. Well, there went any sense of seriousness I may have had for that). Anyhow, just before the race, the grandfather of one of the boys, who is an alumnus, passes on the night before the race. The grandson is favored to win the race, but he ends up dead, the murder that Barnaby has to investigate. Needless the say, the school would prefer the less the cops investigate, the better, but soon the darker side of the school and its officials emerges. The village and school relations are not great, so Barnaby has plenty of suspects between the villagers and the school. Plus that one old man villager into conspiracies may not be as loony as people think. He just may know the truth. This is one where the plot thickens quite well. Also to be honest, the school is more a nest of vipers where the adults are basically training future vipers so to speak, including for the British diplomatic service. The simple murder of a student turns out to be a lot more, and the truth, which is hinted at, really comes out in full at the end. It was an intriguing episode overall. 
• Season 5, Episode 4: "Market for Murder." Plot description: "An investigation of a car fire and a bludgeon murder lead Barnaby and Troy to investigate the members of a local reading club which has an agenda that goes beyond books." The reading club is really a group of women investing in the stock market, some of them behind their husbands' backs (one of the husbands is a stock broker in fact), which today may not seem a big deal (there are many women who form investment groups) but in this time and setting in Britain would not seem proper. It was a time of very chauvinist men who thought women and money did not mix. However, despite the club doing well, and it turns out it was not just good investing, there are tensions amongst the members, in part due to the leader's bossy behavior which can be rude. Yet she is also a widow who is lonely and did learn it seems about the market from her late husband. But is that tension enough motive to murder her? Or was it something else? As if that was not bad enough, some club members are cavorting in places and with people they should not be. A lot of motives for a murder in the small village. A pretty good episode where a combination of passion and greed play a role. 
• Season 5, Episode 5: "Worm in the Bud." Plot description: "Some of the residents of Midsomer Worthy are trying to prevent James Harrington from turning Setwale Woods into a housing estate. Led by a solicitor, Bernadette Sullivan, and a local farmer, Simon Bartlett, who also happen to be having an affair, they haven't had much success in court. When Bartlett's wife Victoria is found dead in the woods, Barnaby and Troy must first determine is if her murder is related to the planned development or something as yet unknown." The motive for killing Victoria is not totally clear for a while. Oh, there are people who would want her dead from Harrington to Simon. Two local kids find the body earlier than it is later found, which adds to the mystery. Story is intriguing, though the little girl is one of those detective wannabes who tells stories the parents get tired of listening to, and to be honest, she does get tiresome. Tiresome as she can be, she does have a good memory which turns out to help the case (I suppose a way to add a bit of cuteness to the episode), and she happens to be very observant. In the end, her observations help, and we find the motive has to elders wanting to preserve a way of life. This is the last episode of season 5. 
• Season 6. Episode 1: "A Talent for Life." Plot description: "The double murder of eccentric widow, Isobel Hewitt, and adulterous doctor, Duncan Goff, lead Barnaby and Troy into finding out more about their personal and private lives in the village of Malham Bridge." Episode has another interesting element in that Honor Blackman, best known from being a Bond Girl in Goldfinger as well as from the The Avengers, makes an appearance as the widow Isobel, and she plays her obnoxiousness and joie de vivre rather well. Isobel may not have been liked locally, but a lot of people, including famous persons, show up at her funeral. Turns out that, unknown to her family, she helped a lot of people along the way.  Meanwhile, the detectives need to figure out who had the motive to kill Isobel and the doctor. Were they both targets? Or was it one or the other? A lot of people certainly wanted Dr. Goff dead given all the affairs he was having with local wives. In the end, it was a crime of passion. Pretty good episode kept one guessing until close to the end.