Media Notes: Roundup for September 2021

                                          

This is a somewhat random selection of the movies and series on DVD and/or online I watched during September 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):

• Notorious (2009. Biography. Crime. Drama). Plot description: "The life and death story of The Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), who came straight out of Brooklyn to take the world of rap music by storm." The movie, like these biographies often do, start at the end scene, in this case when he is killed, then we go back in time to the beginning. The movie is your common story of boy from a bad hood who with natural talent and work (and some pushing him from people that cared for him) rises to fame and fortune. Biggie certainly was a complex man: extremely talented, smart but also a man who enjoyed his vices and often yielded to temptations. The movie also features other artists that were Biggie's contemporaries, including of course Tupac Shakur and Li'l Kim. We get to see the East Coast-West Coast rivalry triggered in large part by Tupac getting shot, which broke the friendship he had with Biggie. From there, things degenerate, and it is a matter of time until Biggie is next. An interesting detail are Biggie's voiceovers where he reflects on particular episodes of his life. As I said, it is a typical story, but it does look very good overall. It is a two-hour film yet it feels that a lot is not covered. Still, pretty good overall, looks good, the music is good. This is one fans will enjoy. For more casual viewers, I'd say it makes an OK biographical film. Naturally it is sympathetic to the subject, but it has good performances. I did like it, but it feels like there could have been much more to the story. I'd say 3.5 out 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/4. 
• Like many biopics, this one is based on a book. The book is Unbelievable: the Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G. by Cheo Hodari Coker, who also helped write the film's script. 
• Tourist Trap (1979. Horror). Plot description: "A group of young friends stranded at a secluded roadside museum are stalked by a masked assailant who uses his telekenetic powers to control the attraction's mannequins." Tubi brought the "uncut" version of this. I had not seen the film before, so I took a chance. It's one of Full Moon Features' films (same folks who made films like the Puppet Master and the Trancers series of films), so a B-movie. The somewhat playful opening music just adds to the creepy factor of the film. Movie starts like other horror films with couple of young people breaking down on the road. Guy walks to find help at a shady barely functioning gas station in middle of nowhere. However, instead of the usual shady guy, the station is empty, and soon the horror kicks in as our guy finds moving objects, some very creepy mannequins, and no way out. We get our first victim. Pretty good start to this horror film. Meanwhile, the girlfriend gets picked up by some friends, and by the way, no one seems to remember the one guy initially; they soon find a hint where he may have gone, so they go into the tourist trap, an old roadside museum, to see if he went that way. And things take off from there. In typical horror movie fashion, our young people go places they know they ought not to go, and then they start disappearing. Turns out the museum's owner's brother plans to make them part of the exhibits. The movie does have some creepy moments, but it can be seriously slow otherwise. One plus for it is that it has a pretty good music score that adds to the atmosphere. However, that is not much. The acting is not great, though Chuck Connors as the museum owner does deliver a pretty creepy performance. The other characters, the friends, to be honest pretty much make it pretty easy for the killer (even by horror movie standards). The premise had potential, but the seriously dragging slow script just sinks this film. Slausen's (Connors) revelations could have added a bit of depth, but as I said, the film is just way too slow and dragging for them to work. The ending was a nice twist, but again, too little too late. This is one that nowadays  you are better off skipping. By the way, other than making for a long film, I am not sure what the big deal about the uncut version is. There is next to no gore. It does not appear there is anything extra or special. Heck, not even Tanya Roberts in tube top and hot pants can save this. 1 out of 5 stars, barely. Watched 9/10.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003. Adventure. Action. Fantasy. Graphic novel adaptation). Plot description: "In an alternate Victorian Age world, a group of famous contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and adventure characters team up on a secret mission." This is the very loose adaption of the graphic novel by Allan Moore and Kevin O'Neill. Moore did not exactly like it, but then again, he has not liked any movie adaptations of his works so far. The movie is not exactly a great adaptation of the graphic novel, but it is an entertaining adventure movie overall, plus it does have a pretty good cast. Sean Connery as an aging and a bit regretful Allan Quatermain is a good performance and highlight in the film. One thing I do like about it is the steampunk aesthetic which looks pretty good here. I really like the film's look. Also, there are small details here and there that are fun to notice if one looks closely. And while the addition of Tom Sawyer irks some purists, I thought it was a nice touch to add an American literary character (and Twain did write Sawyer sequels with the character traveling abroad and as detective, so him growing up to be a U.S. Secret Service agent works a bit here. This is one of the places the movie digresses from the book as there is no American in the league). Speaking of Sawyer and Quatermain, for me, the scene where the older man teaches the boy to shoot does have a bit of a bittersweet element to it. Plus I do like the ending of the film. Overall, it is a light and fun film, good for a weekend evening with a bit of popcorn, and it may make you just curious enough to go find the graphic novel (or find it again if you've read it before). I really like it. I think it is fun entertainment that harkens back a bit to old adventure films. If you've read some of the literary works referenced in the film and series, you might appreciate it just a bit more. I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 9/11. g
• The Andromeda Strain (1971. Science Fiction. Thriller. Mystery). I watched the 2008 remake of this back in October 2020. I thought at the time it was OK, so when Tubi brought in the original film, I decided to take a chance on it. Basic plot description: "A team of top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what has killed the citizens of a small town and learn how this deadly contagion can be stopped." The film runs the story between the crisis situation, flashbacks prior to the lab's establishment, and after the fact in congressional hearings. The film takes a bit of time to get the scientists into the lab, decontaminate them, so on, which adds an element of suspense, makes it seem a bit more authentic. This may be 1970s special effects, may seem a bit dated (compared to today's high tech, but the ideas hold pretty well today. To be honest, even with the technology as it was it works very well with the overall story. The movie is a bit of science thriller with conspiracy elements. Is Andromeda really alien? Or a bioweapon? All the scientists know for sure is they have to find a solution. The film can be a bit slow, but it has a decent blend of suspense, paranoia, and the ending is quite thrilling. To be honest, this film works a heck of a lot better than the mini-series they made later. The plot is tighter. The characters work well, especially the scientists, and there is little to no waste of time or talent. Unlike the remake, they did not try to add any extraneous and irrelevant to the main story. I am willing to give it a 4 out of 5 stars. It is still worth watching. Yes, it is fiction, but it does the realism very well. To be honest, if you get a choice, skip that mini-series and watch this film. Watched 9/17.
• This is based on a novel by Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain. To make things interesting, the film opens with acknowledgment notes thanking government agencies, so on and that film depicts a four-day historical event, the record of which will soon be made public. 
• Enter the Dragon (1973. Action. Adventure. Martial Arts). The classic movie that put Bruce Lee on the map in the U.S. Basic plot description: "A secret agent comes to an opium lord's island fortress with other fighters for a martial-arts tournament." Before video games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, movies like this are where the martial arts action is. One of the interesting elements to me is how the characters backgrounds are introduced gradually early in the film, often with flashbacks, which works well here (unlike other films where flashbacks are disruptive).The overall plot is simple; the three main characters-- Lee, Roper, and Williams (Jim Kelly)-- are on the island for various reasons of their own. A strength of the film is in the characters as we get to learn quite a bit of them as the movie moves along, often via small details here and there. By the way, there are some nice lines in the film as well. Overall. this film is a classic of action and martial arts, and many of the films that came later owe a lot to this one. Good entertainment, good fights scenes, and good characters. It may be a 1970s film but it holds up very well and is still worth watching today. 5 out of 5 stars. Watched 9/18. Via TubiTv.
• On a side note, when Roper's character (John Saxon) arrives in Hong Kong with all the suitcases, I wonder if later on Johnny Cage's arrival on the tournament island (in Mortal Kombat), with all the baggage was a bit of homage to the previous film. 
• Lee for the most part is very serious in the film, but once in a while, usually when interacting with Roper, he will let a small smile show, which I found amusing too. 

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:

• C.O.P.S. (1988-1989. Animated series. Police. Action. Humor. Children and Young Adult).  See my comment on this in the May 2019 roundup. I've been watching this in and out. I start this month on episode 41 (out of 65) as I continue catching up on watching the series this month.  I will note that over time some of the plots do get a bit silly, but the cartoon is a fun watch overall. 
• Midsomer Murders (1997 to present, still going. Mystery. Crime. Detective. British series). I commented on this series in the July 2020 roundup. Via TubiTv, which has up to Season 20. 
• Season 11, Episode 4: "Midsomer Life." Plot description: "When the body of Londoner Charlie Finleyson is discovered in woodland near Midsomer Sonning, Barnaby and Jones find themselves investigating employees at local Midsomer Life magazine. It turns out the dead man was married to the ex-wife of Guy Sandys, the wealthy owner of the publication." Sandys is a rich guy who made his money in London, retired, and bought the magazine as a hobby. One of the things the magazine does is reviews of local eateries and such, and under his leadership, well, let's say the locals are not too happy about his reviews. This one takes a while to solve as there were plenty of people with motive, and then turns out there are other secrets, a couple more people get killed, and a feud between town locals and city tourists. Add in a murderer who committed his crime about 14 years ago, and, well, takes a while to sort things out. In the end, while it seems it was one of the locals, it did go back to that long time ago murder. 
• Season 11, Episode 5: "The Magician's Nephew." Plot description: "A children's magic show goes horribly wrong when one of the performers dies during a trick. Barnaby and Jones discover that the victim was poisoned with a rare toxin extracted from Ecuadorean poison frogs - so the hunt is on for a particularly ruthless and imaginative killer." To complicate things there is a local feud between an occultist and a famous writer that writes about debunking the occult. This is also a Halloween episode for the series. Add some antiquarian book theft, and the episode promises to be interesting. Soon the common binding is a long ago ritual, that may have been invented but made to sound very real, as members of that circle start dying off. The question to solve is why now. This was a pretty interesting episode with some light Halloween humor here or there, mainly in the subplot of a Halloween party Barnaby's wife is setting up. 
• Season 11, Episode 6: "Days of Misrule." Plot description: "Barnaby and Jones are forced to take part in a team building exercise and Tom has plenty of problems dealing with the young, new, acting Chief Superintendent, John Cotton." That is the seemingly easy part as soon Barnaby and Jones become involved in a case of fraud, smuggling, lies, and of course, murder. This is the season's Christmas episode too. In the end, it boiled down to loyalty and love, very dangerous things. Episode was pretty good, though for a Christmas episode, that element was fairly minimal. At least at end of day, the acting Chief Superintendent does leave. 
• Season 11, Episode 7: "Talking to the Dead." Plot description: "When two couples vanish into thin air in the village of Monks Barton, Barnaby and Jones hear rumours of haunted woods and witchcraft." Was it something supernatural, or more mundane? That is what Barnaby and Jones need to figure out. This is the last episode of season 11. To complicate things, a celebrity psychic comes on the anniversary of a massacre of monks in the woods to do a ritual to help the ghosts rest. The local parish priest needless to say is not happy with that. While that is happening, the local wealthy guy, who turns out may not be as wealthy as he sounds, has an antiques smuggling and theft racket going with some other thieves from out of town and a local dealer. The episode does have just enough eerie elements that you wonder once or twice just how good that psychic was. This one was pretty good.