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).
- Goebbels and the Fuhrer (2024. Drama. Biography. History. War. German film, a.k.a. Führer und Verführer). Plot description: "Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels is in charge of building public support for the Holocaust and for the war that Hitler is about to start." The film takes us from "from the "'Anschluss' of Austria in March 1938 to the murder and suicide in the Führerbunker in May 1945." The film offers an opening statement text about how it will show the orchestrations Goebbels did to shape the image of Hitler and the Nazis, from the perspective of the perpetrators. It goes on to state: "For only if we take an up-close look at the biggest villains of history can we strip the masks from their faces and thus disarm the demagogues of the present." Lest we forget, and we can only hope that in time we can disarm those demagogues and evil figures of today. Film opening also notes the dialogues are based on research and uses a good number of direct quotes. Film is in German, with English subtitles. The film then opens with scenes from 1945 and the last days leading to Goebbels and family joining Hitler in the bunker. From there, we get opening credits and start properly in 1938 to get the story from the beginning. Overall, it is a compelling film with some powerful moments. Don't go in expecting a big war action film. This is more a behind the scenes look at the Nazi war machine and its propaganda minister and how he was able to shape the narrative for the regime until it eventually falls apart. The film does look very good, good cinematography. Some critics argue the portrayal of Hitler may be a bit too nice, but I see that as it is from the view of Goebbels, who did idolize the Fuhrer. So it makes sense for the film. Not always an easy watch but a necessary one. If the history is of interest this is a film to watch. I am willing to give it the full 5 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 6/7.
- An interesting detail to me is that the film blends in historical footage with the plot of the film. It adds authenticity, but they also did a good job editing it to seem pretty seamless (other than the historical footage is black and white).
- Often, the Goebbels family is seen and portrayed as the very loyal, ideal Nazi family from their Aryan image to beautiful children. In this film, it does a good job of showing how things really were inside the family from tensions between the spouses, to cheating on each other, to Hitler having to intervene to keep them together for the sake of keeping their image as "the poster" Nazi family. Franziska Weisz, the actress who portrays Magda, his wife, does a very good performance here.
- Meanwhile, we also see some of the various schemes and machinations that Hitler's subordinates had against each other all to jockey for position with Hitler.
- The film, naturally, shows Goebbels talent for propaganda, even showing some of the tricks of the trade that enabled the rise of the Nazis and convinced so many Germans to go along with the regime. To be honest, some of those techniques resonate even in some of the Western press today.
- A small detail I did not know is Goebbels kept a diary, which they show him writing in the film. There are some published editions in English.
- Needless to say, the movie does have some strong content, including some very graphic descriptions and depictions of how the Nazis exterminated Jews and other peoples. As the filmmaker stated in the opening, this is necessary to see in order to learn and never forget.
- Death Wish 3 (1985. Action. Crime. Drama). Plot description: "Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods." Charles Bronson returns for the third installment of the series doing what he does so well: killing and blowing punks who are abusing the neighborhood. It's a Cannon Group film, so that gives you an idea what we are getting. For starters, as usual, the cop are not just corrupt but mostly incompetent. The film does start a bit slow as Kersey (Bronson) gets to the neighborhood, settles into his old friend's apartment, and starts learning the situation. Meanwhile, the gang keeps terrorizing the area. The pace really gets moving about halfway through the movie. Also, like in previous films, once the bad guys kill his love interest, a young woman lawyer, you know the bad guys will not be around for much longer. Once Kersey starts to really clean house, the action and violence we are there to see picks up and keeps going to the end. Also, the ending leaves an opening for another sequel. It has some cheesy moments, and some one liners that entertain. By now Kersey's character is transforming from a man out for revenge to a full vigilante. I'd say a 3 out of 5 stars, in part for the slow pacing in the first act of the film. By the way, this is a film you watch without thinking too much about certain details, such as certain package deliveries Kersey gets by mail that you could definitely not get today. If you don't worry about such details, you will be good to enjoy the over the top action and violence. By the way, this film was released in the 80s, but it maintains very much a 70s exploitation vibe and aesthetic. Watched 6/8. Via TubiTv.
- Film is also listed in the Grindhouse Cinema Database.
- In actors you've seen elsewhere, Alex Winter, known for the Bill and Ted films, has a small role as one of the punks.
- I watched and reviewed the original Death Wish back in April 2020 and Death Wish 2 in May 2020.
- Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987. Drama. Action. Crime). Plot description: "Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey takes on the members of a vicious Los Angeles drug cartel to stop the flow of drugs after his girlfriend's daughter dies from an overdose." It's the 80s, a time when illegal drugs were rampant and in pop culture, so it is natural Paul Kersey is back to clean up the town again and crack down on those evil drug dealers (and they are evil). The man cannot catch a break. He wants to settle down, he is in Los Angeles again, new girlfriend, who has a daughter, but soon crime hurts him and his family making him once more become the vigilante doing what the cops consistently fail to do. It is a Cannon Group film, so again, you have an idea what is coming. This time, Kersey has a little help, from a wealthy newspaper owner who also lost a daughter to cocaine, and he is eager to hire Kersey to help him extract his revenge and take out the dealers by giving Kersey information on the criminal organizations, which he then uses to an advantage. Unlike previous films, where the crime was random and somewhat vague, the cocaine scourge is the key evil in this film. The movie overall is better than the previous one with a bit more intrigue and suspense, plus Kersey finds some creative ways to kill off the bad guys. And just when you think the movie will be over, we get a sudden twist revealing Kersey's benefactor is not who he appears to be. Kersey will need some guile and guts to get out of the jam and take down all the bad guys. Kersey is not messing around now. Anyhow, the film is entertaining; it does move along at a good pace, and it adds a bit of suspense and tension along with the violence you already expect. I'd say 3.5 out of 5 stars. Watched 6/8. Via TubiTv.
- In actors you've seen elsewhere. Danny Trejo has a small role as one of the evil henchmen. Also in a small role that if you blink you miss it initially, Tim Russ, who played Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager, plays a small time drug dealer in the arcade scene and later in other small parts of the film. In addition, Mitch Pileggi, from The X-Files where he was one of the FBI bosses to Mulder and Scully, has a small role as cannery lab foreman.
- Death Wish 5: the Face of Death (1994. Action. Drama. Crime). Plot description: "Paul Kersey is back at working vigilante justice when his fiancée, Olivia, has her business threatened by mobsters." Once more Paul Kersey, portrayed by Charles Bronson, tries to just settle down with a nice woman, and crime messes things up. This is pretty much the established formula of the series. Bronson now goes one more round to take out the bad guys in the final installment of the original film series, which is now entering the 1990s. The pace starts picking up around 40 minutes in as we get to see the mobsters doing mobster things while the law pretty much has nothing on them. Once the Mob really hurts Kersey, you know the mobsters are on limited time on this Earth. Once Kersey gets started, we get a creative kill or two along the way. You'd think by now criminals would learn not to mess with the vigilante. If anything, Kersey has had plenty of time to hone his craft. Still, the overall pace in this one is a bit on the slow side. There are some moments the plot drags a little. Not that Kersey is slowing down in his old age, but apparently the writers are. The main action pretty much comes in the last 15 minutes or so as the inevitable confrontation comes. Overall, not a terrible way to close out the series, but not that good either. By now, it feels like they are toning down the violence that was a trademark of the series. In the end, we still root for Bronson to take out the bad guys. 2.5 out of 5 stars. Via TubiTv. Watched 6/14.
- House on Haunted Hill (1999. Horror. Thriller). This is a rewatch. I first reviewed this back in April 2021. Watched on TubiTv on 6/14.
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:
- In the Heat of the Night (1988-1995. Police procedural. Crime. Drama). Plot description: "television series loosely based on the 1965 novel and the 1967 film. The TV series starred Carroll O'Connor as police chief Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins as police detective Virgil Tibbs." Tubi got the series in last month, all 7 seasons, I figured I'd take a chance and watch it a bit at a time starting this month. Turns out I just kept binging along as I am in the middle of Season 6 as I wrap up the month. I will likely finish it in July.
- In Season 1, Episode 3, in actors you may have seen elsewhere. A younger Gail O'Grady plays, wait for it, a mistress. Some folks may remember her better from her time in NYPD Blue where she was the administrative assistant in the detectives' room as well as, for a time, Det. Medavoy's mistress. She looked good then, but I think once she filled up a little she looks better in the later series.
- In Season 1, Episode 7, again, actors seen elsewhere. Ted Lange, who played Isaac the bartender on The Love Boat portrays a charming polygamist. It is all amusing chaos until he is found poisoned in his jail cell. The six wives all brought him food at various points.
- In Season 1, Episode 8, Mariska Hargitay, known these days for Law and Order: SVU, plays the criminal girlfriend of an escaped convict.
- In Season 2, Episode 1, Iman, model and actress, plays bar owner and mysterious woman Marie Babineaux.
- Season 2, Episode 11, "A Trip Upstate," Gillespie has to confront his feelings about the death penalty when a man he helped to put away who committed murder and a bank robbery is about to finally be put to death, but before the execution, he asks to see the chief one last time. It is a simple yet moving episode. By the way, in actors you've seen elsewhere, Paul Benjamin, who among other roles played Whispers in Hoodlum, portrays the condemned man George Brownlow.
- Once more, actors you've seen elsewhere. In Season 2, Episode 17, "Walkout," we get O.J. Simpson as City Councilman Stiles, who gets murdered.
- Season 2, Episode 19, "Fifteen Forever," has to be one of the most moving and powerful in the series. After the local school wins a basketball tournament, everyone is festive, until a drunk driver kills a group of school kids and leaves the town suffering. One detail that amazed me was at the time of the episode there was no open container law, so Sgt. Bubba could not stop the one kid drinking beers in his car because having an open container was not against the law (at the time). By the way, the actress portraying the grieving mother with the daughter who ended up in a coma puts in one hell of a performance, very powerful. Also the revelation of who the drunk driver turned out to be was quite the twist, for me at least.
- In Season 3, Episode 13, "Hello in there," a bank customer makes a reference to their sister having access to one of the new (at the time) ATM machines and warns the teller she is talking to, half serious, he may be out of a job soon. Prophetic words.
- In actors you've seen before, Season 5, Episode 4, "Liar's Poker," John Saxon guest stars as Dalton Sykes, one of a group of high stakes poker players when the host gets murdered.
- In actors you've seen before, in Season 5, Episode 10, "An Eye for An Eye," Claude Akins portrays kidnapper Benjamin Sloan. You may remember Akins from various films; I tend to remember him as Sheriff Lobo from BJ and the Bear and later The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.
- In Season 6, Episode 3, "Brother's Keeper," in actors from elsewhere, Meschach Taylor, often known for Designing Women, plays Officer Luann's ne'er do well brother. Also in the episode we see a fortune teller doing a reading for a man; she is using playing cards to do the reading.
- In Season 6, Episode 9, "When the music stopped," actors from elsewhere, Robert Goulet guest stars as an aging country singer that Bubba idolizes.
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