Tag: Drama

TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993-1994)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

In what should be a long-term project, I plan to watch and review every Star Trek television show and movie in the order that they were released.

Title: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Release Date: September 20, 1993 – May 23, 1994
Production Company: Paramount Domestic Television
Episodes:  26
Summary/Review:

After a month away with the crews of Deep Space Nine and Discovery, it’s nice to rejoin the Enterprise in their final season.  Nevertheless, I had some trepidation heading into season 7.  For one thing, I remember it not being all that good, at least before the finale “All Good Things…” The bigger thing is the nostalgia for 30 years ago when the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation was a bittersweet moment for me.  It will be sad to have no more TNG episodes left for me to watch for the first time.

Watching the season, it was indeed wildly uneven, with some of the biggest stinkers since the early years of the series.  But there were also some excellent episodes with a lasting legacy of what we think of The Next Generation crew 30 years later.

Top 5 Episodes:

 

And the biggest stinker:

Related Posts:

NOTE: The capsule reviews below the cut presume familiarity with the episodes and contain SPOILERS!

Continue reading “TV Review: Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993-1994)” →

Movie Review: Shirley (2024)

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Title: Shirley
Release Date: March 21, 2024
Director: John Ridley
Production Company: Participant | Royal Ties Productions
Summary/Review:

Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress, representing a district in Brooklyn from 1969 to 1983.  In 1972, she ran for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.  This film focuses on the campaign’s behind-the-scenes dealings and the emotional effects on Chisholm and her family and friends.  The highlights of this movie are Regina King’s performance in the lead role and bringing awareness to Chisholm’s historical role.  Scenes that stand out include Chisholm’s visit to segregationist candidate George Wallace (W. Earl Brown) after an assassination attempt and a meeting with Black Panther Party leader Huey Newton (Brad James) mediated by actor Diahann Caroll (Amirah Vann).  The rest of the cast includes Michael Cherie as Chisholm’s patient husband Conrad, Lance Reddick, Terrence Howard, Lucas Hedges, and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Chisholm’s campaign advisors, and Christina Jackson as a young Barbara Lee.  Unfortunately, this movie is highly formulaic like a lot of biopics, and a much of the dialogue sounds unnatural as if the characters are narrating from a history book.

Rating: ***

Theater Review: Tuck Everlasting

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Tuck Everlasting

Book: Claudia Shear & Tim Federle
Lyrics: Nathan Tysen
Music: Chris Miller

Performance at The Footlight Club, Jamaica Plain, MA – April 21, 2024, 2 PM

Director: Katie Swimm
Music Director: Jeff Kimball
Choreographer: Alicia Powell
Producer: Val Tracy

Summary/Review:

Based on the 1975 young adult novel by by Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting is the story of the Tuck family of Treegap, New Hampshire.  Mae (Kathleen Comber) and Angus Tuck (Todd Sandstrom), and their sons Miles (Howie Reith) and Jesse (Magdalena Poost) attempt to homestead in the wilderness in 1808 and after drinking from a spring they discover that they cannot die.  They keep their immortality secret for nearly a century until they’re discovered by Winnie Foster (Adeline DeFeo), an 11-year-old girl who runs away from her overprotective mother Betsy (Lisa Tierney).

Winnie bonds with the adventurous and mischievous Jesse who tries to convince her to drink from the spring when she turns 17, the same age he gained immortality.  But the rest of the Tucks, especially Miles, have less positive experiences with living forever.  Meanwhile, the villainous Man in the Yellow Suit (Brian Bakofen) learns of the Tuck’s secret and plans to exploit it for his own gain.  All along, the new deputy Hugo (Ash Quasney-Sandler) and Constable Joe (Jim Ansart) attempt to locate Winnie and investigate the Man in Yellow Suit’s suspicious activities.

The musical is a family show that deals with some serious issues of life and mortality with a light touch.  There are some terrific musical numbers including “Good Girl Winnie Foster,” “Partner in Crime,” and “The Wheel.”  All of the main characters get a solo number to tell their perspective on the story.  In the Footlight Club production Adeline DeFeo and Magdalena Poost shine in the lead roles.  Ash Quasney-Sandler is utterly charming as the young Hugo and steals every scene she’s in.  I also enjoyed the multi-generational ensemble who seamlessly transition from playing villagers, to something of a Greek chorus, and ultimately several of them take the role of the aging Winnie and Hugo in the show’s climax.

Tuck Everlasting continues to play at The Footlight Club through May 4 and is worth checking out if you have the opportunity.  Otherwise a performance on a stage local to you would most likely be equally enjoyable.

Movie Reviews: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

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Title: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Release Date: November 15, 1977
Director: Steven Spielberg
Production Company: Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips Productions | Columbia Pictures |  EMI Films
Summary/Review:

Strange incidents around the world, including the appearance of airplanes and ships that went missing long ago, and French scientist Claude Lacombe (French New Wave director François Truffaut in bizarre but inspired casting) and his American interpreter David Laughlin (Bob Balaban) investigate.  Meanwhile in Indiana, after widespread power outages, electrical lineman  Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is sent out to make repairs and he has an encounter with an alien spacecraft.  Roy’s life is transformed by the experience and he tries to recreate a vision of a mysterious mountain.  His mania leads to his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) leaving with their children.  But he finds a common interest with Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), a single mother whose young child Barry Guiler (Cary Guffey) was abducted by the aliens.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind stands out from the blockbuster films of the 70s & 80s for it’s slower pace, big scientific ideas, and willingness to embrace ambiguity.  It feels a lot more like 2001: A Space Odyssey than Star Wars.  But it also has many Spielberg-ian touches, especially in the depiction of the Roy’s suburban family.  The scene when the family falls apart with Roy, Ronnie, and the children all shouting their own fears and anger simultaneously is particularly effective.  The special effects look a little bit dated, even compared to Spielberg’s later works, but are still impressive.  I found the sound design particularly effective as one could hear murmurs of conversation, atmospheric sounds, and the ever present TV and radio advertisements behind many scenes.  And of course there’s John Williams’ score with the unforgettable 5-note musical phrase.

The movie strikes an interesting balance between fear and wonder.  There are some terrifying scenes in this movie, and first contact with aliens causes even some of the scientists to run while others stare in awe.  And while science is at the heart of the movie, art is equally important, from Roy’s sculpture to the music used to communicate with the aliens.  Communication is a key theme of the movie with the breakdown of communication within Roy’s family contrasted with the hopefully more successful attempt to “talk” with the aliens.  I watched this movie when I was young – probably in an “edited for TV” version – but it was great to revisit it with the perspectives of an adult.

Here are some parts of the movie that stand out to me [SPOILERS]:

  • Roy’s close encounter in his truck is an amazing scene from the effects to Dreyfuss’ performance.  And when the lights in the rear window rise UP, I always laugh.
  • The scene with Barry’s abduction is also fantastically done and quite terrifying in a movie that never quite settles on being horror or optimistic until the very end.
  • When the crowd of people in India all point UP at once, what a shot!
  • A scientist very seriously and urgently declares “”We’ll need a geodetic survey map of Wyoming.”
  • The arrival of the massive mother ship from behind Devil’s Tower is the piece-de-resistance!

Rating: ****

 

 

Movie Review: Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

~ Liam ~ 2 Comments

Title: Dog Day Afternoon
Release Date: September 21, 1975
Director: Sidney Lumet
Production Company: Artists Entertainment Complex | Warner Bros. Pictures
Summary/Review:

It’s closing time at a Brooklyn bank when Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and his quiet colleague Sal Naturile (John Cazale) enter with rifles and declare a robbery is in progress.  Turns out that most of the cash was already picked up that day, and before they can make off with the small amount of money on hand, the cops arrive.  And so the poorly planned bank robbery turns into a completely improvised hostage situation.  Sonny agonizes over negotiating with the New York police and FBI for a jet out of the country while also trying to meet the needs of the hostages. A large crowd gathers to watch and the incident turns into a media circus (not unlike Ace in the Hole) that Sonny, some of the hostages, and even the guy who delivers the pizza all embrace.

Over the course of the movie we learn that Sonny is married to a transgender woman Leon (Christopher Sarandon) and Sonny is robbing the bank to get the money to pay for Leon’s gender-affirming surgery, something Leon never asked for.  In fact, it looks like Sonny and Leon’s relationship is on the skids.  The movie is surprisingly sensitive to LGBTQ issues for the 1970s.  Even the cops seem mostly matter-of-fact to this revelation about Sonny and shoot dirty looks at the one cop who chuckles during Leon’s story.

For much of the film, Sonny faces off with NYPD detective Eugene Moretti (Charles Durning) who seems to be a sensible but unable to keep control over the sprawling multi-agency action outside the bank.  He spends a lot of time just yelling at the more trigger-happy cops to back off.  Sonny is able to play up the anti-police sentiment of the era with his famous “Attica” chant hyping up the gathered crowds. Late in the film FBI Agent Sheldon (James Broderick, whose resemblance to George W. Bush I couldn’t get over) takes a less compassionate approach to dealing with Sonny that leads to the film’s ultimate tragedy.

Apart from great acting across the board by the leads and the ensemble, this movie is well-scripted.  It’s often funny but carries the gravitas of the more serious issues as well.  There are also some great cinematic elements such as the montage of everyday life in New York that begins the film, or a sequence of quick cuts showing people reacting to the one time a gun is fired within the bank. This is one of those movies that was on TV a lot when I was young, and I don’t recall if I ever watched it all the way through.  I’m glad I’ve watched it now because I can’t emphasize enough how good a movie it is.  Dog Day Afternoon would also make a good companion to The Taking of Pelham One Two Three for a double feature of ensemble crime dramas in 1970s New York.

Rating: ****1/2

Movie Reviews: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

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Title: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Release Date: October 2, 1974
Director: Joseph Sargent
Production Company: Palomar Pictures  | Palladium Productions
Summary/Review:

How the hell can you run a goddamn railroad without swearing?

Four men with machine guns hijack and New York City subway train and hold 18 passengers hostage.  They are lead by Mr. Blue (Robert Shaw), a ruthless former mercenary soldier.  Mr. Green (Martin Balsam) is a former subway motorman with a bad cold.  The trigger-happy Mr. Grey (Héctor Elizondo) and the conscientious Mr. Brown (Earl Hindman) round out the gang. Transit police Lieutenant Zachary “Z” Garber (Walter Matthau) is forced to deal with Mr. Blue’s unreasonably short deadline for delivering the $1 million ransom, and try to figure out how the gang plans to escape the subway tunnel. For added New York-ness, the cast also includes Jerry Stiller as another police lieutenant and Tony Roberts as the deputy mayor.

The crew working with Garber to resolve the crisis are layered with every “Noo Yawk” stereotype imaginable with their conversations peppered with racist and sexist statements and plentiful profanity.  I’m not sure if the filmmakers deliberately decided to make the acting over-the-top or if they really thought everyone in New York City is like Archie Bunker, but the end result is a movie that’s very funny as well as thrilling.  It’s a cynical story with the mayor (Lee Wallace) depicted as worse than useless, while the passengers and other civilians generally seem clueless.  Granted, before the internet and personal devices people did not have ready access to breaking news, but I still don’t think everyone would be so blase.

There are also some evident flaws in Mr. Blue’s plan, but ultimately the story, the action, and the dialogue are just to entertaining for that to matter.  This is a movie in a heightened reality of New York at its grittiest, but in no manner is it realistic.

Rating: ***1/2

Boston Movie Festival: Sound of Metal (2019)

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In honor of Patriots Day Weekend, I’m watching and reviewing movies set and/or filmed in my hometown, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Title: Sound of Metal
Release Date: September 6, 2019
Director: Darius Marder
Production Company: Flat 7 | Ward Four | Caviar
Summary/Review:

In Sound of Metal  we follow the journey of Ruben Stone, played by Riz Ahmed, a drummer in a heavy metal band who suddenly loses his hearing. The film delicately navigates through Ruben’s struggle to come to terms with his new reality, exploring themes of identity, acceptance, and the human experience of adapting to unexpected change. The story begins with Ruben , touring with his girlfriend and bandmate, Lou (Olivia Cooke) . However, his world is abruptly disrupted when he experiences sudden hearing loss. Desperate to regain what he’s lost, Ruben embarks on a journey to find a solution, leading him to a deaf community where he learns sign language and discovers a new way of life.

Riz Ahmed delivers a compelling performance as Ruben, capturing the emotional turmoil and vulnerability of his character with subtlety and depth. His portrayal allows viewers to empathize with Ruben’s journey of self-discovery and acceptance, as he grapples with the loss of his sense of hearing and confronts his own identity beyond his music career. Ruben’s denial of his suddenly and irrevocably changed circumstances represents a near universal experience that audiences can empathize with.

One of the most striking aspects of Sound of Metal is its innovative use of sound design to immerse audiences in Ruben’s experience of hearing loss. The film utilizes sound editing techniques to simulate the muffled and distorted sounds that Ruben perceives as his hearing deteriorates. This auditory perspective provides a visceral insight into the challenges and frustrations faced by those experiencing hearing impairment, enhancing the film’s emotional resonance. Another noteworthy aspect of the film is its authentic portrayal of the deaf community and the importance of connection and acceptance within it.

Sound of Metal was filmed on locations in the Greater Boston area, both urban and rural.  This is not a straight-forward Boston movie as the settings are unspecific enough to represent a generic American landscape.  In fact, early on Ruben and Lou are supposed to be touring the country even if they don’t actually go out of the route 128 belt.

Ultimately, Sound of Metal is more than just a film about hearing loss; it’s a universal exploration of resilience, adaptation, and the human capacity for growth in the face of unexpected change.

Rating: ***1/2

Boston Movie Festival: The Verdict (1982)

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In honor of Patriots Day Weekend, I’m watching and reviewing movies set and/or filmed in my hometown, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Title: The Verdict
Release Date: December 7, 1982
Director: Sidney Lumet
Production Company: 20th Century Fox | Zanuck/Brown Productions
Summary/Review:

Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) is a down-on-his-luck, alcoholic lawyer reduced to attending funerals of accident victims to try to find clients. Frank’s friend and mentor Mickey Morrissey (Jack Warden) tries to get him on his feet by giving him a case that should lead to an easy settlement. It involves a young woman who has been in a brain-dead state ever since she went into labor and the doctors at the Catholic hospital used the wrong type of anesthetic.  The woman’s family wants to settle, the doctors want to settle, and a bishop representing the Archdiocese offers Frank a generous settlement (by coincidence, this is the the third straight movie I’ve watched in which the Archdiocese of Boston plays an antagonistic role).

But seeing the comatose women stirs something in Frank where he wants to take the case to trial to find justice for the victim and consequences for the doctors who injured her.  The problem is that Frank isn’t that great a lawyer.  Even when he uncovers evidence of the doctors’ malfeasance he’s unable to introduce it in court. The Archdiocese has employed Ed  Concannon (played with the utmost sliminess by James Mason) as their council, while the case is tried by Judge Hoyle (Milo O’Shea, the Irish actor who starred in Ulysses) is openly hostile to Frank.

Newman’s acting makes this film as he portrays a man motivated by something that even he doesn’t understand.  He also performs the fine balance of making the character unlikable, but still a protagonist the audience wants to succeed. Ultimately this movie is less of a courtroom drama, but a story of a man’s redemption as he struggles for a hopeless cause.  The script by David Mamet features crisp dialogue, and the subtle direction from Sidney Lumet makes this film a good counterpart to his earlier work on 12 Angry Men. Boston is both the setting and a character in the film, and the film uses some interesting locations, such as having the interiors of the Massachusetts State House represent a hospital and a courthouse.

Rating: ****

Boston Movie Festival: The Last Hurrah (1958)

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In honor of Patriots Day Weekend, I’m watching and reviewing movies set and/or filmed in my hometown, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Title: The Last Hurrah
Release Date: October 22, 1958
Director: John Ford
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Summary/Review:

Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy) rose from a working-class immigrant neighborhood to become a four-time mayor of “a New England city.” Planning his campaign for a final term in office, he realizes that the dawn of the TV age will put an end to the traditional face-to-face means of campaigning that have made him a success.  Nevertheless, he continues to use the power of ward politics and patronage to ensure loyal support from his base. Skeffington has made a lot of enemies too, especially among the blue blooded Protestant elitess like newspaper publisher Amos Force (John Carradine) and banker Norman Cass (Basil Rathbone).  However, two men he grew up with in the Irish-American slum, businessman Roger Sugrue and Cardinal Martin Burke (Donald Crisp).

Much of the movie is seen from the point of view of Adam Caulfield (Jeffrey Hunter, later the original Captain Pike on Star Trek), Skeffington’s nephew who is a sports columnist at Force’s newspaper and is also Sugrue’s son-in-law, which is way too many coincidental connections if you ask me.  Adam provides the outsiders view that allows the audience join him on seeing what looks like crass politics is actually how Skeffington is taking care of his constituents. The standout set piece of the film involves Skeffington attending the wake of a man who was not liked in his community, because he knows that by appearing he could attract a crowd of people to offer support to the widow.

The film is based on a novel by Edwin O’Connor who was inspired by the colorful Boston mayor James Michael Curley.  Like Skeffington, Curley was a man of the people, but while Skeffington appears to be honest, Curley used graft to fatten his coffers.  Filmed on sets in California that look nothing like Boston, The Last Hurrah nevertheless captures the feel of Boston’s parochial political culture.  I particularly like the character actors who add flavor to Skeffington’s campaign, especially Edward Brophy as Ditto.  The only part of the movie that didn’t work for me was the conclusion which felt too stagey, although Skeffington’s final words are perfect.

The movie has a Frank Capra feel in the balance of sentimentality and cynicism along the lines of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or State of the Union (also starring Tracy).  Speaking of Tracy, this is the second movie of his I’ve watched this year after Bad Day at Black Rock and I’m really impressed with his work as an actor.  It’s also another great book adaptation by director John Ford.  Of course, now I need to read the book.

Rating: ****

Boston Movie Festival: Spotlight (2015)

~ Liam ~ 1 Comment

In honor of Patriots Day Weekend, I’m watching and reviewing movies set and/or filmed in my hometown, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Title: Spotlight
Release Date: November 6, 2015
Director:  Tom McCarthy
Production Company: Participant Media | First Look Media | Anonymous Content | Rocklin/Faust Productions | Spotlight Film
Summary/Review:

The Spotlight unit at The Boston Globe  – Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton), Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) – were a group of investigative journalists who did in depth research and writing on a specific topic.  Prompted by new managing editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber), an outsider who doesn’t follow how things are supposed to “work” in Boston, they Spotlight team follows up on the arrest of Catholic priest John Geoghan for sexually assaulting children.  They learn that there are at least 90 priests in the Archdiocese of Boston who have molested children and that Bernard Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston (Len Cariou) knew about them and moved them around to other parishes to cover up their crimes.

The movie is procedural in style, very much like All the President’s Men, as the journalists interview survivors, challenge lawyers, and look for evidence in public records.  The dialogue and the acting are very strong with the ensemble cast also including John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup.  The events depicted in this story happened a few years after I moved to Boston and remind me of the shocking revelations of the extent of the crimes.  I’m also reminded that Geoghan was assigned to the church around the corner from my current residence back in the 1970s.

In the decades since this scandal broke we’ve learned that other institutions besides the Catholic Church have covered up for unspeakable crimes betraying a general rot that comes with power.  We’ve also seen the resources put towards investigative journalism dwindle which makes me worried for the future.

Rating: ****