Today’s TV series review is for the seven season / 151 episodes / 115 hours total viewing time, drama / crime-police / mystery series: “The Mentalist“. The show stars Simon Baker as Patrick Jane (the Mentalist) and Robin Tunney as Agent Teresa Lisbon (his long suffering boss / side-kick”Watson”). There are three other “main” supporting characters: Kimball Cho (played by Tim Kang), Wayne Rigsby (played by Owain Yeoman) and Grace Van Pelt (played by Amanda Righetti). The series originally aired between 2008 and 2015. I viewed / “streamed” the series over several weeks in 3-to-4 episode chunks. Some spoilers follow, so if you are intending to watch this series, do so before continuing this review… | |
The basic premise is that a “reformed” con-man / fake psychic (Jane) assists law enforcement (the California Bureau of Investigation [CBI]) with solving crimes (mostly murders). Because the CBI is a state law enforcement unit, the crime is generally on California state property or CBI involvement is “requested” by someone with sufficient political influence to warrant the notice of the CA State Attorney General. Sometimes this aspect is a REAL stretch… and then has to be narratively explained away by dialogue. | |
The main character – Jane – has highly developed observational skill, exceptional memory skill and high intelligence which combined with his years as a con-man / magician / fake psychic allow him to “solve” each case in intuitive (sometimes illegal) ways – much to the discomfort of the supporting cast (professional law enforcement officers). Jane becomes involved with CBI after recovering from a nervous breakdown following the brutal murder of his wife and daughter by a serial killer (“Red John”). Red John’s modus operandi is “generally” a rape, disembowelment and then throat slitting of his (mostly female) victims. Red John is a cult leader type criminal, generally following the “Dr. Moriarty” character type from the Sherlock Holmes genre. Lisbon is Watson to Jane’s Sherlock. | |
The series has two over-arching series themes: the developing romantic relationship between Jane and Lisbon and the developing friendship(s) between Jane and the rest of the law enforcement supporting characters. Within this there are also three main seasonal story arcs: seasons one through three are single episode murder mysteries developing the two main arcs. Seasons four, five and half of season six are devoted to both episodic crimes and the hunt for Red John. Red John is revealed (and killed) and then the last half a season six and all of season seven is Jane assisting in various FBI cases. Season seven is an abbreviated season of only twelve episodes. All of the other seasons are twenty-one plus episodes. Most of the series is based in Sacramento. Post-Red John, the series moves from CBI to FBI and is then based from Austin, Texas. | |
So, is this series any good? Has it stood the test of time? How is the acting? Is the show realistic for leadership, psychology or law enforcement? And, finally, is it worth investing 115 hours of your life? In order: yes, mostly, poor to excellent, more often than not, so-so, “I sure hope not”, and yes. | |
More specifically, overall, this is a VERY good series. It is as predictable as any police procedural: crime, investigation, resolution. It is mostly predictable for character development – but at a surprisingly / interesting slow pace and then – bang – your in rapids, and then – back to slow pace. The series ends “happily” from a romantic perspective it is well rapped up – the two main couples wed. So, bottom line, the good-guys win and live happily-ever-after. | |
Test of time / acting / theme portrayals: As a police procedural – I hope not. As a romantic drama, yes. As a “Sherlock Holmes” genre, so-so. In practically every episode, some person’s rights are either ignored or aggressively violated. This is morally acceptable because the team is putting very bad people (mostly men) behind bars (or killing them). No matter how honorable the character starts in their role, they are always corrupted by Jane and the concept of acting for “the greater good”. On the romantic side, a big part of every drama is how long can you maintain the sexual tension between the main characters. Although obvious from the first episode, both main relationship arcs are well developed. As a super-sleuth / Holmes procedure series, the show has problems, but it (the show) still works because of the believability of the actors in their slowly developed / multi-layered character portrayals. The portrayals of most of the bad-guys are mostly flat and one dimensional, but there are notable exceptions. As the series progresses most of the other (non-super-genius) characters say: “This is what Jane would (would not) have us do…” For me personally, I found the various depictions of leadership styles / personalities to be one of the most interesting aspects of the series. The whole gamut of leadership from criminal to sainted is represented and the strengths and weaknesses of the various styles is examined, critiqued and accepted or rejected. | |
Investment: I feel there has been an on-going transformation in home entertainment happening over the course of my lifetime. The progress is roughly equivalent to that of written literature. In writing we have daily comics, short stories and comic books, short-moderate-long books (texts and novels), books series and encyclopedias. In TV, the corresponding genre would be animated / cartoon shorts (multiple stories in a half-hour show), episodic stories (half-hour to hour long shows), movie length (90 minutes to mini-series [sub-30 hours of total viewing time]), and seasonal arcs (episodic, but with 3-5 minutes devoted to long-term character / story development), and then generational shows / series. I consider “generational” series to be any series over 15 years / seasons – so, most day-time soap operas and multi-series franchises (“I Love Lucy“, “The Simpsons“, “StarTrek“, “Law & Order“, “NCIS“, etc). I (personally) do NOT consider game shows to be “generational” series, even though many have gone well beyond 20 seasons, because they are normally not re-watched after the initial viewing. Although, there is now some give on this characteristic, too, as you can “watch” some of the prior episodes (on TV-history channels). The point of the “re-run” (though) is to view the contestants (famous personalities from yesteryear) and not viewing the contests, themselves. At any rate, I would put a seven seasons series in the “War & Peace” – lengthy story grouping, but not in the generational level group. | |
Final recommendation: This is a moderate to strong recommendation for an initial viewing (see caution later), a low to moderate for re-viewing in its entirety and a strong to highly for individual episodes (if you develop a favorite character or mini-story arc during your initial viewing). For me, 100-plus hours is almost certainly too long to spend re-watching the entire series. I purchased my “series-bundle copy” on steep discount ($30 as I recall), at which price this a bargain for entertainment value – even if only viewed once – $.25 per hour or $.20 per episode. One note of caution: there is the occasional swear word used at least once per season and there are repeated scenes of victims injuries (almost one per episode), so this is not appropriate for viewers under 12 years of age. | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Press On |
Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This | |
2020 | AMA |
Still Shiny | |
2019 | Things That Go Bump In The Night |
Hoping I’m Careful | |
2018 | I Must Be Truly Wise |
2017 | My Sensei |
2016 | The Worst Sin |
2015 | Rules Of Thumb |
2014 | A Prayer |
Orange October (IX) – Giants Lose Game 2 In Bullpen Collapse | |
2013 | Complacent Reality |
2012 | Two-minute Sex |
Just Staring, Why? | |
2011 | A World Of Difference |
Archive for the ‘TV Series’ Category
A Series Of Observations
Posted in Leadership, Philosophy, Reviews, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Agent Teresa Lisbon, Amanda Righetti, California Bureau Of Investigation, CBI, Dr. Moriarty, Dr. Watson, FBI, Federal Bureau Of Investigation, Grace Van Pelt, I Love Lucy, Kimball Cho, Law & Order, Leadership, Moderate to Strong TV Series Recommendation, Moral Choices, NCIS, Owain Yeoman, Patrick Jane, Philosophy, Red John, Robin Tunney, Sherlock Holmes, Simon Baker, StarTrek, The Greater Good, The Mentalist, The Simpsons, Tim Kang, TV Series Review, War & Peace, Wayne Rigsby on October 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Grr-Argghh
Posted in Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds, Chiwetel Ejiofor, David Krumholtz, Dr. Simon Tam, Firefly - TV series review, Gina Torres, Highly Recommended Movie, Highly Recommended TV Series, Hoban 'Wash' Washburne, Inara Serra, Jayne Cobb, Jewel Staite, Kaylee Frye, Morena Baccarin, Movie Review, Nathan Fillion, River Tam, Ron Glass, Sean Maher, Serenity - movie review, Shepherd Derrial Book, Summer Glau, Zoë Washburne on May 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »
[Yes, this is another looonnnggg post! You’ve been warned… — KMAB] | |
Background: | |
Today’s review(s) are for a TV series and movie based on a science-fiction / western style premise. The show is titled: “Firefly” (2002). The movie is titled: “Serenity” (2005). Both star: Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds, Gina Torres as Zoë Washburne (second in command / wife), Alan Tudyk as Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburne (ship’s pilot / husband), Morena Baccarin as Inara Serra (a liscensed “companion”), Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb (soldier / weapons expert), Jewel Staite as Kaylee Frye (ship’s engineer / mechanic), Sean Maher as Dr. Simon Tam (ship’s doctor / brother), Summer Glau as River Tam (telepath / enhanced warrior / sister), Ron Glass as Shepherd Derrial Book (ship’s preacher / retired government agent), with Chiwetel Ejiofor (a government “operative”) and David Krumholtz (a futuristic hacker) appearing in the movie (but not in the series). | |
The basic story-line for both the series and the movie is the same: Earth has become uninhabitable, so humanity has colonized a new solar system (in the TV series it’s continuously referred to as a new galaxy). The setting is roughly 500 years in the future. The planets and moons in the new system have been “Terra-formed” so they support human life. The planets / moons nearest the sun (the closest together) form an “Alliance” government. The outer planets revolted and the war ended with the rebels losing. ‘Mal’ Reynolds was a sergeant in the rebel army and after the war he purchases a spaceship so he is “mostly” beyond the reach of any government. The ship / crew take any job they can to stay afloat in space. The ship is an unarmed transport vessel: “Firefly” class. (It looks vaguely like an Earth firefly bug who’s rear-end glows.) The crew is armed with small caliber personal firearms (and some small explosives). | |
The series runs 14 episodes with the pilot being the longest at roughly 90 minutes and the remaining “hourly” episodes running about 42-45 minutes. | |
I remember watching a couple of episodes during the original run (back in 2005-6), but I never caught them all before it was cancelled and pulled from broadcast. A work friend picked up the DVD’s when they came out and as he knew I was a “Trekkie”, he loaned them to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the series and he said they also had a movie – which he loaned me, too. I made a mental note to pick up both and I have. (Side note: the series DVD’s come with “extras” which your streaming service may or may not include with the series purchase.) | |
Anyway, I just finished watching both (again). | |
“Firefly” — TV series review | |
If you’ve ever spent ANY time watching American western TV series from the 50s / 60s, the formula is pretty standard. Weekly episode of the crew doing their transporting of goods around space with occasional petty larceny thrown in. Like all of the better series, there is an on-going / over-arching story-line to allow for the personal growth of each of the characters. There is also a surprising amount of well written dialog and humor in the series (and the movie). | |
The TV series was never a broadcast hit (and as I recall was re-slotted for live sporting events, which almost always hurts a new show’s numbers). The series was cancelled but has achieved a cult following over the last 20 years. There was initial talk of restarting the series, but it was reformatted into a movie instead. | |
Final recommendation: very highly recommended!! I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this series (and movie) several times over the years. Come for the action and special effects and get hooked on the characters and story arcs. One caution: There are multiple instances of drinking, swearing and the occasional sex scene (although you never “really” see anything but sweaty arms and backs). | |
“Serenity” — movie review | |
This is a follow-up to the TV series and takes up shortly after the last episode. The “preacher” and the “companion” have left the ship and the government / Alliance is still trying to recover River Tam. Chiwetel Ejiofor is the government “operative” sent to bring her back. He is “licenced-to-kill” and he does – repeatedly – to achieve the objective. | |
River Tam knows something the Alliance wants kept secret and they are willing to do most anything to get her back / silence her. The movie is a long series of chases and fights. | |
Now, both the movie and the TV series are simple entertainment… They are “Sci-Fi’d” westerns with enough action to keep you entertained and enough plot / character dialog – development to keep you interested. That’s it… Don’t expect anything to make sense (scientifically). Just get your popcorn and get ready to be entertained (not educated). | |
By the way, the movie doesn’t explain it very well (the series does), so I will: “Serenity” is the name of the ship – a Firefly-class transport vessel. The name comes from the famous final battle in the revolt which both ‘Mal’ and Zoë fought in: “the Battle of Serenity Valley“. | |
Another point: in both the series and the movie, it sounds like the cast are speaking some form of Chinese. They are not. Some of the individual words are, but much of it is made up to get around the (rating agencies) censorship of cursing / cussing in broadcast TV. | |
Final recommendation: (Again) Very Highly recommended! The movie can stand on it’s own, but you’ll enjoy it more if you watch the full TV series first. A last note: the movie was not a BOMB! It did make back its production cost – but just barely. The fan base for both versions continues to grow (slowly), and there is “some” talk of Disney doing a re-boot for their streaming service. Disney bought out FOX movies and now has rights to the IP (“intellectual property”). Obviously, the original cast are all too old to reappear in their roles (20 years flies by!) | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Facing Life |
70’s Sunshine Sound | |
2020 | #IncompetentTrump And His Pandemic Briefings |
#IncompetentTrump | |
2019 | I Hope So |
2018 | Painted Into |
2017 | Prayers, Miracles And Lottery Tickets |
Roman View | |
2016 | Dignity And Grace |
2015 | Is It Warm Enough For You |
2014 | What The Right STILL Wants |
2013 | Embrace Serendipity |
2012 | Your Order, Please |
2011 | Well Enough Anyway |
Big And Bad (In A Good Way)
Posted in Reviews, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Alan Ritchson, Amazon Prime Series, Die Hard movie series, Jack Reacher, JAG/NCIS, James Dover Grant CBE, John Wick movie series, Lee Child, Reacher - streaming series, Reviews, Streaming Series Review, Tom Cruise, United States Military Academy at West Point, Very Good to Strong Recommendation on February 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »
“Reacher” — streaming (TV) series: Season 1 (2022) | |
This review is for the recently released Amazon Prime video / movie / TV series titled: “Reacher“. The series is based on the book series by the same name written by Lee Child (James Dover Grant CBE). The book series first started getting released in the late 1990’s and comes out about one volume per year – so, yes, there are now about twenty-plus books in the series. I’ve read the first four and then skipped ahead for one of the books which explained some of the character’s background. I’ve also seen both of the Tom Cruise movies in which Tom plays the lead. I’ve done a review of the first (here), but never got around to reviewing the second (which I’ll probably need to re-watch before finally reviewing). | |
Anyway, the main character – Jack Reacher – is played by actor Alan Ritchson. This is the first role I’ve seen Ritchson in. Reacher is a retired Army officer who served in a “special investigations” unit. Some sort of super JAG / NCIS. They only worked cases no one else could handle – blah, blah, blah. Reacher comes from a military family, graduated from West Point (as did his older brother), and served with distinction during his career. Reacher retired as a major; a rank he regained after being busted back down to captain. The series history differs from the books as over twenty years has passed since the first novel, so they’ve “re-booted” his life to make him younger for the series. It’s also possible the character got an early-out / medical discharge as he doesn’t seem old enough to have graduated from the Military Academy and served a full twenty years of service for a “normal” retirement. In real life, Ritchson is 37 years old, (although he looks younger to me) so I guess it’s possible. Reacher is an expert with multiple firearms, hand to hand combat and has a photographic memory. He is also given to sarcasm. | |
Reacher has no “social-media presence”, no driver’s license, no phone, no permanent address, no ID and no bags. He has a passport, a couple of hundred dollars in cash and the clothes on his back. He buys used clothes when he needs to change and tosses what he’s done with. Reacher likes old-fashioned blues, so he decides to visit the home town of a famous blues musician (which his brother mentioned). The night before he arrives in the town, the murders start… Reacher is the only stranger in town and he walked into town on the same road near where the body was found. He is arrested and off we go… | |
The series is a thriller / crime / action series loosely based on a bigger than life (6ft 5in) paladin who roams around the country with no ties, just trying to mind his own business and bring a form of “rough” justice to the world when he feels it’s needed. | |
So: is the series any good? Is it true to the books? Is it better than the (two) movies? Is the acting / dialogue any good? Yes, pretty close, so-so and yes. The season-series is broken down into eight episodes of roughly 50 minutes each, so you’re investing almost 6-7 hours which gives a lot more time to tell the story (book). The fights are pretty well shot (choreography wise). Given the lead character’s physical size, most of the fights involve multiple attackers / combatants – again, true to the book. I found the series marginally better than the two Cruise movies. I didn’t think the acting was much better, but I found the inter-personal dialogue to be better – particularly the lead’s sarcasm. | |
The books are good to very good. Cruise’s two movies were entertaining action movies, but nothing to write home about. Ritchson simply makes a better Reacher than Cruise does physically (not in acting, though). Cruise is (maybe) 5ft 7in; Ritchson is (maybe) 6ft 2in in real life. Reacher claims to be 6ft 4in in the series. He’s supposed to be 6ft 5in in the books. In a funny (strange) way, although height was the biggest complaint about casting Cruise in the movies, it doesn’t seem to be a factor for Ritchson. The problem remains: a “BIG” lead requires more than a shorter cast and the sets just don’t deliver / convey the size of the lead character. | |
Final recommendation: very good to strong recommendation. If you are a fan of the books, you will almost certainly enjoy this series more than Cruise’s two movies. If you are a fan of action / crime-thriller / vigilante genre (again), you will almost certainly enjoy this series. Note: There is some profanity and some brief nudity in a few of the episodes. There is quite a bit of violence / bloody injuries across all of the episodes, but I’d put it closer to “Die Hard” style than to “John Wick” style. The series is NOT appropriate for young teens or pre-teens (IMHO). | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2022 | Big And Bad (In A Good Way) |
2021 | Suggestions… |
Dichotomy | |
2020 | Until November… Then Vote |
2019 | Start With Health And Friends |
Iterum Vale Tres* | |
2018 | Tweets From The Disrupter-In-Chief |
2017 | Do We Still Listen To Her Silent Lips? |
Not Now, Not Ever | |
2016 | Why Do You Write/Blog? |
2015 | Can Your Repeat The Question, Please? |
2014 | On Faith |
2013 | My Name Is Charles Stein |
2012 | Faiths And Sorcery |
Made And Kept Free | |
2011 | Multi-Source Learning |
Dangerous Waistcoats
Posted in Reviews, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Afghanistan, BBC, Binge TV Viewing, Bodyguard, Bodyguard -- BBC TV Series, Bodyguard -- TV series review, Bum, Commander Anne Sampson, Game of Thrones, Gina McKee, Highly Recommended Series / Movie, Highly Recommended TV Series, Home Secretary, Julia Montague, Keeley Hawes, Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, Mum, Netflix, Notting Hill, PCO, Richard Madden, Sergeant David Budd, Thames West, TV Series on January 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »
“Bodyguard” (2018) — TV series review (BBC and NetFlix) | |
This review is for the BBC series from last year which was made available world-wide (or at least here in the U.S.) via NetFlix. The series stars “Game of Thrones” actor (oldest Stark son) Richard Madden as Sergeant David Budd, an Afghanistan war veteran and Protection Command (PCO) bodyguard, Keeley Hawes as The Right Honorable Julia Montague, the Home Secretary, Conservative MP for Thames West (the “subject” person being protected), and, Gina McKee as Commander Anne Sampson, Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command. Of course there was a raft of others, but I remembered (finally) McKee as the crippled wife / friend seen in “Notting Hill” (my review of that here). McKee didn’t get a mention in that review / post, so I’m kinda making up for it with a mention in this post. | |
Like most BBC series (a “series” on the BBC means one year of shows), this series is relatively short – only six episodes, but each is roughly an hour long. This means the series is suitable for a single day of binge viewing. Or, alternatively, you can easily break it up into two viewings – which is what I did. | |
Because the show is relatively current, I won’t get into a lot of detail as it will ruin the viewing for you. All I will say is that it is a tense, well acted police drama with a smattering of politics (police, domestic (U.K.) and international) thrown in, as well as some discreetly shown sexual content (male nudity) and action / violence lightly sprinkled in. The first twenty minutes throws you in the deep end (tension wise) and it’s a roller coaster from there to the end. | |
Final recommendation: highly to very highly recommended. If you’re dying to see Madden’s bum or hear him repeatedly calling his superior female officers (and PC subject) “Mum”, this is your ticket. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope there will be additional years (series) to follow. There has been no announcement as of this date (to my knowledge), but I understand the show was so popular the producers / writers have said if there is a second series, it will run through four. If this happens, I hope they don’t run the main topic of each year across the break(s). Please keep the story arc within each single season. Then if the BBC or NetFlix cancel the remaining years, we viewers won’t be left in the lurch with an incomplete arc. (Not that anyone ever listens to me…) | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2022 | Pass A Voting Rights Act For Democracy’s Sake |
2021 | Tomorrow President Biden Starts Wrestling |
Good-Bye #45 | |
2020 | The Burden Of Faith |
On To Superbowl LIV (54)!! | |
2019 | Are Your Dogs Barking? |
Dangerous Waistcoats | |
2018 | And 40+ Years Later? |
2017 | He Is Alone |
2016 | Compensation |
2015 | Charlie Redux |
2014 | The Crux |
2013 | Erosion And Rechannelling |
Alliance, n. | |
2012 | How Many Thought… (One I Know Of) |
Choices And Decisions | |
2011 | Speed Spoils |
Simply Intended | |
2010 | A Second 4 Hour Jog |
Make Two Calls
Posted in Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, TV Series, tagged Dave York, Denzel Washington, Edward Woodward, Marton Paul Csokas, Moderate To Strong Movie Recommendation, Nicolai Itchenko, Pedro Pascal, Robert McCall, Stingray, Strong Movie Recommendation, The Equalizer, The Equalizer -- movie review, The Equalizer 2, The Equalizer 2 -- movie review, The Last Samurai on January 10, 2019| 3 Comments »
Personal Ads: “Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer: 212 555 4200.“ | |
Today’s reviews are for a movie and its sequel: Equalizer (2014) and Equalizer 2 (2018) | |
Both movies star two time Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington as the lead character: Robert McCall. The character and stories are based on a moderately successful TV show from the mid / late 1980’s of the same name starring Edward Woodward as McCall. McCall is basically a “hero for hire” and the show is pretty similar to another TV series I enjoyed from the same period called “Stingray” (see my review of that TV series here). The main difference is McCall never really seems to ask for a payment, whereas “Stingray” asked for a favor some time in the future. Anyway, in this version, instead of a geriatric Brit playing McCall, we have a geriatric American. | |
Equalizer (2014) — movie review | |
This movie is rated “R” for violence, language and implied sex. Basically we have a normal looking man who has a history as spy / detective / electronics expert and martial artist. He is “retired” from his official duties at “The Agency” by faking his death. Whenever he sees someone being hurt or taken advantage of unfairly, he exacts his sense of justice on the bad guy. He says he usually gives them a chance to do the right thing (mostly they don’t) and if not, well, they don’t usually live to regret it. | |
In this movie, McCall makes friends with a young hooker who is beaten and nearly killed by her pimp. The pimp is part of a Russian gang, so McCall ends up having to bring down the gang, too. There are lots of great fight choreography – particularly a scene which replays in slow motion. On watching it, I was reminded of a similar “replay” technique / scene used in “The Last Samurai“, another action movie I also enjoyed. The scene works because it demonstrates the “temporal shift” it is said happens to highly trained and skilled warriors / athletes in which they say time slows down for them as they fight / perform. Unless you have actually been in that “zone”, it (the feeling) is hard to relate to, but once you have experienced it, you find an enjoyable sense of déjà vu when you see the feeling in film. At least I always seem to. | |
If you are a fan of violent action movies (and I can be), you will enjoy this movie because it is literally a string of increasingly violent encounters tied together by a thread of a plot. It works because Washington carries the hero’s role and the Russian baddie (Nicolai Itchenko played by Marton Paul Csokas) is equally believable. As an aside, there is also a scene in which a personal item is stolen from a co-worker of McCall. The item is recovered and McCall is seen wiping down and replacing a hammer at the hardware store shelf display. There is no “action” at all, but you know the robber has just had a very bad day. | |
Final Recommendation: strong recommendation. While the story is almost unbelievable, the hero and the bad guy both make the movie an enjoyable action film. It is violent and not appropriate for pre-teens. | |
Equalizer 2 (2018) — movie review | |
Okay, let’s get this out of the way: “Denzel doesn’t do sequels…” What we have here is Denzel Washington in his first career sequel reprising his role as Robert McCall: a guy who goes around helping others and righting wrongs. I don’t mean stopping jay-walkers and litterbugs; I mean Russian gangsters (in Equalizer 1) and here (in the sequel) rogue killers who work both sides of the political fence. When an “Agency” asset is killed, a former top analyst is sent to make sure it wasn’t a “hit”. When she gets wacked, something smells fishy in Denmark (actually Brussels). Because the lady is a lifelong friend of McCall, he must avenge her death. Oh, and he’s upset because he will only get to kill them once. | |
The main bad guy in this movie is Dave York (played by Pedro Pascal), who worked for and with McCall before McCall’s staged death. York was not aware McCall is still alive and he and the rest of McCall’s “team” go private after McCall’s death. Anyway, the team kill a bunch of people on assignment and then to tidy up loose ends and there is a big battle at the end which (of course) pits McCall against the team. After tidying up their loose ends McCall gets asked: “Who are you Mr. McCall?” | |
Final recommendation: Moderate to strong. Again, another violent movie… The sequel is just not quite as good as the first. Yeah, I know, big surprise. It’s well shot and reasonably well acted, but the bad guy(s) just aren’t as threatening. I guess they are a little too “clean” as professionals and lack the intensity of the actors playing the Russian gang in the first movie. If you are a fan of Denzel or of this genre, you will enjoy this movie – both movies, actually. I did. But, it’s really not quite as good as “1”. There is talk of a “EQ3″… We’ll see… I think I would prefer a re-boot / prequel with a younger actor. | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2022 | Limited Knowledge And No Control |
2021 | Gifts |
Look Inside Your Heart | |
2020 | A Strength Of Science |
2019 | A Higher Standard |
Make Two Calls | |
2018 | Irreplaceable Sparks |
2017 | Saving For April 15th |
2016 | First Wish |
2015 | Tracing Shadows |
2014 | One Thing |
2013 | More Is Less |
2012 | The Screw-Up Gene |
An Honest Binge
Posted in Reviews, Science and Learning, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Body Language, Brendan Hines, Dr. Cal Lightman, Dr. Gillian Foster, Dr. Paul Ekman, Eli Loker, Emily Lightman, FBI Agent Ben Reynolds, Hayley McFarland, John Wayne, Julius Fast, Kelli Williams, Lie To Me* -- TV series review, Mekhi Phifer, Microexpressions, Monica Raymund, Reservoir Dogs, Ria Torres, StarTrek, StarWars, Strong Recommendation, Tim Roth, Vudu.com on July 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Today’s “binge” review is for the series “Lie to me*“, which aired between 2009 and 2010. I purchased two of the seasons (I haven’t seen Season 3 – from 2011) on VUDU while on sale for $5 each. Season one has 13 episodes and season two has 22, so I watched about 26 hours of the show over the last week (ish). Season three (13 episodes) is not currently available to purchase on VUDU, and even if it becomes available, I’ll still wait until it’s on sale for $5. (Cause I’m just cheap / thrifty that way.) Which means I may be waiting some time before I see / review the final season. I believe the series was cancelled for lack of audience. My brother referred this series over a year ago (he said it was terrific / must see), but when I told him I was watching it, he claimed to not remember it at all. Go figure… | |
The series is basically a crime drama / investigation / police procedural starring Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, Kelli Williams as Lightman’s partner, Dr. Gillian Foster, Brendan Hines as Eli Loker, a graduate student / employee of the Lightman Group (Lightman and Foster’s company), Monica Raymund as Ria Torres, another employee, Hayley McFarland, as Emily Lightman (the Dr.’s daughter) and Mekhi Phifer as FBI Agent Ben Reynolds, muscle assigned to work with the Group. | |
The company specializes in “reading” body language and micro-expressions to act as human lie detectors. The premise is Dr. Lightman is a “genius” at this and can tell if anyone is trying to lie. Hence, he gets lots of work from the government and various police forces. | |
The show is based on the actual scientific studies and work of Dr. Paul Ekman who serves as a consultant for the show and who actually performed these duties for real agencies, in the real world. I was completely unfamiliar with “micro-expressions” or the work of Dr. Ekman. I read “Body Language” by Julius Fast, way back in the early 1970’s when it was a best seller, so I have been “kind-of” familiar with the general concept of “reading” people for most of my adult life. Fast’s book was published in paperback in 1970, which is the version I read. Dr. Ekman has loads of books and has been publishing for over fifty years. You can find some of his videos on YouTube if you are interested in the topic. | |
Is the show any good? Does the “science” work? Yes and who knows for sure… I thoroughly enjoyed the series after I got over my initial doubts that ANY of the premise is actual science. If the show works (as entertainment), who really cares if the science is real or not (see StarTrek, StarWars or any of a million other series). It IS entertaining. Mostly because Roth owns this role. I’m not familiar with much of his other work, so I don’t know if he’s acting or doing a John Wayne (playing himself in every role, over and over again). I remember Roth from one of the Hulk movies and kind of remember him from “Reservoir Dogs“, but I haven’t seen that in ages, so, like I said, I’m not sure. The other actors are mostly ok to good in their roles, but to be honest, it’s all mostly attractive yuppie stuff, so I wouldn’t say I’d go out of my way to look for any of them in other roles. | |
Final recommendation: Strong, but with reservations. I did enjoy the series and found the premise interesting enough that I will look into the scientific basis if I happen to stumble on a used book on the topic of micro-expressions / lie detection / body language, but I doubt if I would ever really try to use any of the info I might glean from the book. Generally, I think I’m a bit too narcissistic to care about other people’s body language now that I’m retired. I’m not sure their “truth” is worth all that much effort on my part and I certainly would not devote enough time on it to become expert level. Like I said: interesting premise and entertaining series. I’m looking forward to viewing season three. | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2017 | Give And Keep |
2016 | No Change Here |
2015 | Campbell’s Law |
2014 | Dignified Values |
2013 | Unappreciated Skill |
2012 | Living Courage |
2011 | What’s Happening To Us? |
2010 | Toothbrush, Carbon and Monoxide |
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair! | |
Green Binge
Posted in Movies, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Arrow - series review, Batman - The Dark Knight movie series, D.C. Comics, Daredevil, Green Arrow, Marvel - Agents of SHIELD, Netflix, T.V. Series Review on August 22, 2015| 3 Comments »
A few weeks ago I finished binge-ing on the first two seasons of “Arrow” on Netflix. The series is an adaptation of the “Green Arrow” comic books series by D.C. Comics. First, a little background bias aka “full disclosure”: I am not really a D.C. person. When I was growing up, the comics were basically D.C., Marvel and everyone else. D.C. had (mostly) single issue stories which were generally run of the mill superhero fare. Marvel tended to tell individual stories, but within story arcs which could last six or more months. This made Marvel seem more like literature than “just” stories. Anyway, even within the D.C. universe, there were major and minor characters. Green Arrow was one of the most minor of characters. He was essentially a low budget Batman in a Robin Hood suit, shooting arrows (and little else). Bottom line: I started off with very low expectations I would like this series. | |
Because the comic book wasn’t one I followed, the T.V. series is a “new” story for me. When I say “new”, I mean only for the “Arrow” character as the storyline is basically lifted from Batman “The Dark Knight” movie series. This doesn’t make it bad, just not very original. Here goes: rich / spoiled, under-achieving college student is in a shipwreck and gets stranded on an island for five years where he learns a number of martial arts and survival techniques from various folks on the island. He returns to civilization and becomes a vigilante trying to clean-up the city his father loved. He starts off as a killer, indiscriminately disposing of bad guys, but at the end of the first season he resolves to try to avoid killing anyone while still bringing them to justice. All the while, there is an over-arching soap-opera going on about his love life and the love lives of the people around him. And, of course, all while trying to run the company which makes him a billionaire. | |
Does the series work? Surprisingly, yes! At first I found the soap-opera-ish-ness tiring, then I kind of got used to it, then it was boring, then I had kind of an acceptance of it as a means of bringing a humanizing facet into the show. I’m sure it (the humanizing) could be handled in a different way, but I guess the soap is there to keep the teen-and-tween audience tuning in. The action scenes are mostly pretty good. Not up to the level of Daredevil, but still pretty good. | |
All in all, pretty good entertainment for TV – certainly better than “Marvel – Agents of SHIELD“, but I digress. So, now I wait for season three to become available on Netflix and then season four, which I understand is still broadcasting. A final note: I’ve found this serial (as in one after another) binge-ing makes the series enjoyable in a way that going week to week would probably have never been for me. Once again, a big “yes” vote for “the binge.” | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2014 | Overdone |
2013 | The Courage To Remake The World |
2012 | Minor Gifts |
2011 | I Love It When A Plan Comes Together… |
2010 | Eloquence |
Cleaning the Chalk Board | |
One Life
Posted in Philosophy, Quotes, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, tagged Alan Arkin, Binge TV Viewing, Charlie Crews, Damien Lewis, Dani Reese, Fresh Fruit, Highly Recommended TV Series, Life - TV Series, Philosophy, Quotes, Sarah Shahi, Ted Earley, www.hulu.com, Zen Philosophy on December 4, 2014| 5 Comments »
What we learn as children, | |
That one plus one equals two. | |
We know to be false. | |
One plus one equals one. | |
We even have a word for when you | |
Plus another | |
Equals one. | |
That word | |
Is “Love”. | |
— Narration from the final scene of the last episode of the TV Series: “Life“ | |
The episode was titled: “One” and originally aired on 04/08/2009 | |
[A couple of weeks ago I went on one of my TV binges on Hulu and watched the two seasons (32 episodes) of the canceled series “Life” staring Damien Lewis as the main character (Charlie Crews) – a cop recently released from prison after serving 12 years for a multiple homicide he didn’t commit, co-starring Sarah Shahi as his new senior partner Dani Reese, and Alan Arkin as a released white collar felon Ted Earley, who is Crews’ financial advisor (and housemate). Charlie “annoys” everyone with a dual fixation on Zen philosophy and fresh fruit (which you supposedly can’t get in prison). | |
The show has an over-arching story of finding the real killer and then finding out why Charlie was set up as the fall guy. Each episode has the “main” case which is being worked as Charlie proceeds with his personal investigations. | |
Lewis, Shahi and Arkin are all touch perfect in their roles, with Lewis getting the best lines, Shahi the best facial reactions and Arkin as a strange kind of “glue” in the arch storyline. At various points Ted asks Charlie: “Am I Robin to your Batman?” Then later: “I’m Alfred, aren’t I?” | |
My viewing wasn’t a “true” binge, as most nights I was only able to watch two episodes, and on a weekend a string of four, but it was still a compressed version of viewing the series which ran over two seasons, but was less than 40 shows because one of the years was during the television writers strike. | |
As I was going through the first season (11 episodes) I thought, wow, this show sure seems familiar, but I know I haven’t seen this before. About half way through the second season (21 episodes) I started hitting shows I had seen and which I did remember generally, but not specifically. I particularly did not remember the over-arch story, so it was interesting to see how much I’d missed and probably never understood in the first going. As it turns out, NBC moved the series around in several timeslots, which explains why I never saw the series ending – they moved the time and I missed the initial viewing. Although the main arch gets resolved, there are still a number of unanswered questions which we’ll now never know anything more about. | |
Anyway, while it is not the most realistic cop show on TV, I found it to be very entertaining and, if you have the time, I highly recommend it! As mentioned, I found it on HULU, for free, both seasons. The drag is if you’re not on HULU+, you will have to sit through annoying advertising. Still, a small price to pay for otherwise quality entertainment. | |
I wish someone would bring the show back, but they’d probably have to re-boot the series with new actors, so I guess that ain’t gonna happen and if it did, it would probably ruin the show’s chemistry. C’est la vi… — kmab] | |
. | |
On This Day In: | |
2021 | Candlelight Serenade |
Golden | |
A Roots Man, Myself | |
2020 | Wonder And Dreams |
Gatherin’ Up The Tears | |
2019 | I Resemble That Remark… (7!) |
2018 | Mueller Investigation Comparison To #LyingDonald |
2017 | #DonTheCon And Russian Collusion |
2016 | Balance The Truth |
2015 | Still Itchin’ |
2014 | One Life |
2013 | Reason Is Your Light |
2012 | Bordering Manhood |
2011 | Even Christ Couldn’t |
You Never Call Anymore…
Posted in General Comments, History, Series (TV or Streaming) Review, TV Series, Videos, tagged Highly Recommended TV Series, Joseph Campbell, Military History, Sci-Fi Channel, Space: Above And Beyond - TV Series Review, U.S. Marines, YouTube.com on April 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Rate this:
Share this:
Like this:
Read Full Post »