Tag Archives: Netflix

It’s Really Super, Supergirl or: Dad and Son Time

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Salutations™!!

My son, 3B and I have been waiting for the second season of Supergirl to hit Netflix. It’s

Supergirl_Intertitle

©WarnerBros

here and we’re not on Ep 12 of this season. Yeah, it’s a cheesy show, for sure. But, it fits perfectly with the current DC fare on the CW. It’s fantasy cheesy goodness if anything.

 

So, we loved the first season, not because of substance, not because of the stellar scriptwriting, not because of the deep character studies. For me, at least, it was because it was something else for us to enjoy together. I know I get annoying with this stuff, but it has really taken us this long to get to a point where we are doing as much as possible together and I’m loving every bit of it. Mr. Mxyzptlk just showed up. I wish he was the imp that he was in the comics, but oh, well.

Because that’s what we’re doing as I write this, I’m going to sign off early. I will say that if you want mindless, plot hole-filled, barely canonical fun with a few very pretty cast members that can be watched by all members of the family. then this is the show for you. See ya.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“When I was a child, my planet Krypton was dying. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off-course and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become Superman. And so I hid my powers until recently when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I’m a reporter for Catco Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adoptive sister for the DEO to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl.” – Intro of “Supergirl”

This is Spinal Tap or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

03 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, This is Spinal Tap (1984), starring Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner.

Thisisspinaltapposter

©Embassy Pictures

Per IMDb: “Spinal Tap, one of England’s loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DeBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.”

The loud, aging, denying and washed up quintet, Spinal Tap, is releasing a new album called Smell the Glove and are wanting to put together a tour to support it. The band has been around since the 60s and their age is really starting to show; such is the evidence of how painfully out-of-touch they are.

The three main members, David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls are good song writers that show flash and glory, but their dwindling fan base, in conjunction with a terminal case of bad luck, bodes an impending demise for the classic rockers. Rockumentary director, Marty DeBergi captures the life and times, the good, the bad and the horrible on film, which follows the band from album pre-release to the ensuing tour.

Marty DeBergi is, of course, Rob Reiner, the director of the movie and the movie within the movie. Michael McKean (of Lavern & Shirley fame), Christopher Guest (the husband of Jamie Lee Curtis and the six-fingered Count Rugen from The Princess Bride), and Harry Shearer (about half the voices for The Simpsons) all wrote the songs, performed the songs and made the songs what they are: rocking, comedic genius.

I have known of bands that have gone through some craziness and even the ones I don’t know, I hear stories and we call them all Spinal Tap moments. The things that happen with this band are unreal and ridiculous. Getting lost in the bowels of an arena trying to get to the stage, stage props going awry being completely wrong, being second billing to a puppet show, or drummers spontaneously combusting. It’s too much. But… it’s all too fun, too.

There are great one-liners, iconic quotes and a plethora of pop culture right there in that 82 minutes. Most of the script was improved and the entire cast, including the cameos, did a great job delivering them. The cameos, themselves, are remarkable. Bruno Kirby, Howard Hesseman, Dana Carvey, Billy Crystal, Patrick Macnee, Fran Drescher and Paul Shaffer, just to name a few, is an amazing cast. Very good stuff. This is comedic, somewhat silly, but very clever film making. Hats off to the cast. It is awesome.

I knew nothing of the film when it came out and just saw something on HBO about it around 1985 or so. I didn’t know it was a parody and I didn’t know there were real actors playing characters here. When I got into playing music, someone said I had to watch it, so I did and I fell in love. I also have the soundtrack (“Smell the Glove”) on CD.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 95% Fresh with an Audience score of 92%. Dang! IMDb has it at a solid 8 out of 10 stars. It is on Netflix, although we watched it on Blu-Ray with 3B, who I believe a lot of the humor went over his head. I love this film and give it 4.75 out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It’s like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.“ – Nigel Tufnel

Stand By Me or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

27 Saturday May 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movies of the Week, Stand By Me (1986), starring Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell.

Stand_By_Me_1986_American_Theatrical_Release_Poster

©Columbia Pictures

 

Per IMDb: “After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.”

The film starts with a writer (Richard Dreyfus) sitting in his car in the middle of a field with a confused, not-able-to-believe-it look on his face. He rereads a newspaper article about an attorney who was stabbed to death while trying to break up a fight in a fast food restaurant. This leads him to start telling a story of his childhood, his best friend, who was the attorney and two of their pals, who were a bit challenged in their own way.

The story is about Gordie (Wheaton), Chris (Phoenix), Teddy (Feldman) and Vern (O’Connell) and their trek to find the dead body of a boy their age that had been hit by a train and a county-wide search was going on to locate him. Turns out that Vern overheard his brother Billy (Casey Siemesko) and his fellow hoodlum Charlie Hogan (Gary Riley) say they found the body while ditching a stolen car. Vern knew the vicinity where the body was from the description his brother told. Billy and Charlie were part of a bigger gang involving Chris’ brother Eyeball (Bradley Gregg) and Ace Merrill played by a very young Keifer Sutherland. It was a race to find the body if anyone did.

Gordie’s brother Dennis had been killed in a car accident earlier that year and his parents had pretty much written him off. Chris’ whole family were pretty less desirable, except Chris, who tried his best to do the right thing and set the peace. Teddy’s dad was a former veteran who probably suffered from PTSD (although that wasn’t mentioned) and had a bit of a drinking problem. He held Teddy’s ear to a stove and burned it half off. His dad was in a mental institution. Vern was an overweight kid who was a bit of a screwup, but he was a lovable screwup. Any more and I’d be giving away all the good parts. Watch it for yourself.

I have stated before and I’ll state it again, I love films where adults are recounting their childhood with VO (voice overs) as the narrator. The Sandlot was another of those and Now and Then was another. This happened to be narrated by one of my favorite voices, Richard Dreyfus.  He didn’t step on the story too much. He actually allowed the younger actors to take charge and tell their story and each of them were fantastic in their roles. Wil Wheaton went on to play on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Corey Feldman was a staple in many late 80s films, especially alongside Cory Haim. Jerry O’Connell grew up to be a non-fat kid that is a pretty good actor and is now married to Rebecca Romijn. The tragedy, however, is River Phoenix who passed away from a drug overdose at the age of 23 just outside of Johnny Depp’s Rainbow Room Lounge in LA. Such talent that was snuffed out by fate and bad decisions.

This happens to be my second favorite film of all time, right behind another adaptation of a Stephen King work; you’ll have to wait for that one. The pie eating scene from one of Gordie’s stories is both gross and hilarious all at the same time. Rob Reiner did a fantastic job of directing this and the screenplay adaption was spot on with little divergence of the original work. Again, watch it.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 91% Fresh with an Audience Score of 94%. Wow. IMDb has it at 8.1 stars out of 10. It’s only available via Netflix‘s DVD.com I have it on DVD and it was one that was watched with my son, 3B. I rate this film 5 stars out of 5. One, I think it’s worth that rating and two, it holds such a nostalgic place in my heart. The soundtrack is fantastic as well and I wore out a copy of it on cassette and now own it on CD. Have you seen it? What did you think? Do you agree or disagree with me? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” – The Writer

Good Morning Vietnam or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

20 Saturday May 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor for The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Good Morning Vietnam (1987), starring Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker.

Good_Morning,_Vietnam

©Touchstone Pictures

Per IMDb: “In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.”

The late, great Robin Williams stars as a wacky,  on-the-fly and humorous DJ, who’s also an airman, sent from Crete to Saigon to host two shows daily on the USAF radio station on an army base. Immediately, he meets resistance as his immediate supervisor, Lt. Hauk (Bruno Kirby) has control issues and lacks any kind of real humor or musical tastes, but thinks he’s abundant in each and his supervisor’s superior is Sgt. Major Dickerson (late J.T. Walsh) who just has a stick up his rear end wants to make life heck for Adrian.

Adrian’s liaison around town is Eddie Garlic (Whitaker) who is truly a lovable but awkward fellow. Eddie shows him where the G.I. bar is, some sights around town and is even his driver on assignments. While Eddie is driving, Adrian notices a pretty Vietnamese girl and wants to talk to her. She tells him to buzz off but Adrian is persistent. He follows her to a school that teaches English and bribes the instructor to let him teach the class. That allows him to get closer to the girl (Chintara Sukapatana). Her brother, Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran) tells him to keep his distance, but becomes Adrian’s friend after a while. 

Every piece of news that comes across the news wire must be censored by a pair of twins in order to be read on the air and that rubs Adrian the wrong way. It is also a point of contention between him and his superiors. I can tell you more, but I’d be giving away all the highlights. Does he get the girl? Does he make it out of Vietnam alive? You need to see it for yourself.

Robin Williams was phenomenal in this film. Almost all of his radio broadcasts were improvised and minimally scripted. The rest of the acting in the film was great, too. The locals who got the English right enough to speak, really had it down like it was real and not a movie. The scenery was vivid and beautiful, even the destruction and blowing up of stuff in the film was perfectly shot.

I had the soundtrack on cassette. In fact, I wore out the first copy and got a second. I now have it on CD and the film on DVD. It’s currently only available through Netflix‘s DVD.com or you can rent it from Amazon Prime for $3.99. If you subscribe to Cinemax though Amazon Channels, you can watch this for free. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 89% Fresh with an Audience Score of 82%. IMDb has it at 7.3 stars out of 10. We watched this with 3B, on DVD and I will rate it 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read or hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The Mississippi River broke through a protective dike today. What is a protective dike? Is it a large woman that says ‘Don’t go near there! But Betty- Don’t go near there! Don’t go down by the river!’… No, we can’t say ‘dyke’ on the air, we can’t even say ‘lesbian’ anymore, it’s ‘women in comfortable shoes. Thank You.'” – Adrian Cronauer

History of the World Part I or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

06 Saturday May 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, History of the World, Part I (1981), starring Mel Brooks, Harvey Korman, Gregory Hines and Dom DeLuise. History_of_the_World_poster

Per IMDb: “Mel Brooks brings his one-of-a-kind comic touch to the history of mankind covering events from the Old Testament to the French Revolution in a series of episodic comedy vignettes.”

That IMDb description is mostly correct. It actually starts in the prehistoric times, predating even the Old Testament’s canonical timeline. It covers art, music, performance, Moses’ presentation of the Ten Commandments, the Roman Empire, the Spanish Inquisition and the French Revolution. Its comedic and decidedly Mel Brooks-take on “history” is exactly that. Comedic and decidedly Mel Brooks. Does that equate to hilarious like Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein? Not necessarily, although there are very funny parts. It’s not accurate, but it’s not meant to be. There are sprinklings of historical fact and comedic license throughout.

Mel Brooks, once again plays the roles of several characters: Moses, Comicus: the Stand-up Philospher, Tomas de Torquemada – the friar that was principal in the Inquisition, Louis XVI of France and Jacques “le Garçon de Pisse” or “piss boy.” He plays a part or three in most of his films but in this he was the “lead” in several of the sketches.

This was Gregory Hines’ first film role and he plays Josephus, a slave-boy entertainer who is positioned by Empress Nympho (Madeline Kahn) to be the wine servant after he was saved from death by Miriam, a Vestal Virgin played by Mary-Margaret Humes. He and Comicus get into some trouble in Emperor Nero’s (DeLuise) court.

Harvey Korman, a mainstay in Brooks’ films, plays Count de Monet (which everyone mispronounces de money – mispronouncing Korman’s characters is also a staple in Brooks’ films). De Monet is a aristocratic leach who convinces King Louis to let “Piss Boy” stand in for him as king as the revolution is starting to unfold.

Like many Mel Brooks films, this is chock-full of cameos. Bea Arthur, Shecky Greene, Sid Caesar, Dena Dietrich, Hugh Hefner and Howard Morris (Otis on The Andy Griffith Show). Also, like many of his films, there’s a good bit of fourth-wall breaking. And, really, Orson Welles as the narrator, that’s pretty good.

Not Brooks’ funniest film, at all, but he does take a funnier look at what could have been history. The previews of History of the World, Part II (which never happened, nor was it meant to) are some of the funniest parts. The take on the Busby Burkley musical, the chariot races, what I feel was a nod to Blazin’ Saddles and so on. The film tries really hard to make you laugh. I feel it tries too hard at times and the comedy is forced. But, it’s still worth watching. We introduced 3B to it as it was on my list of “films from my childhood.” He didn’t like it as much as Blazin’ Saddles, but he laughed a few times.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 62% Fresh with and Audience score of 81%. IMDb has it rated at 6.8 stars out of 10. I own this in a Mel Brooks DVD collection and that’s where I saw it and you can, too, through Netflix‘s DVD.com. I will rate this film, mostly on nostalgic memories, 3.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen the film? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review? Let me know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I’m sorry, I’m on my wine break.” – Dole Office Clerk

The Long Weekend or: Things I Wouldn’t Trade

01 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

This weekend, from Friday until yesterday was filled with good stuff and I wouldn’t ochange a single thing about it. It was fun, informative, entertaining and just plain great.

It started on Friday. I picked up 3B from school and we came home to watch the latest in our run of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. Then, the BCPF came home early and we went to have some artsy-styled beer at the Sawtooth School‘s Arts & Craft Beer where we met up with Beer Dad Paul, his Pilot, Susan, our friends Jim, Jordan and Michael & Karen. After we had about 12 different brews, we headed to one of our favorite restaurant, Willows Bistro, where we all broke bread together as well as more imbibing. We really enjoyed our evening.

Saturday, The BCPF and I were up and to Mary’s Gourmet Diner and then to Underdog Records (of course). We nabbed a great haul (see yesterday’s post) and had some great coffee at Twin City Hive. We came home and listened for a few hours and went to our standing bar rezzie at Willows (yes, two days in a row). As we were going to Willows, we got a text from our pals Stacy and Paden, inviting us to come over and hang out on the deck and do a little more imbibing. So, we had a great meal at Willows then went and hung with S&V and Beer Dad Paul. We talked life, podcasting, rekkeds and just had a wonderful time.

Sunday came and we kind of lazed around before going to eat at Crafted: The Art of the Taco and picked up 3B. We went grocery shopping (I really enjoy grocery shopping) and came home to watch History of the World, Part I in the latest “movies that we (The BCPF & I) grew up on.” Then we started dinner, which was probably one of my favorite things we’ve ever made here, “In the Home Kitchen.” It was a peanut curry chicken. Delicious. I’ll post about that on the food blog. Then it was a WWE PPV and we had fun watching that.

So many great times with my best girl. Many great times with my boy. Many great times with our friends. So much that I wouldn’t trade for anything. We are so lucky to have what and who we have in our lives.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Stand-up philosopher. I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and meaningful comprehension.” – Comicus (Mel Brooks)

The Jungle Book (2016) or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

29 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, The Jungle Book (2016), starring Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley and Bill Murray.

The_Jungle_Book_(2016)

©2016 Walt Disney Pictures

Per IMDb: “After a threat from the tiger Shere Khan forces him to flee the jungle, a man-cub named Mowgli embarks on a journey of self discovery with the help of panther, Bagheera, and free spirited bear, Baloo.”

Mowgli (Neel Sathi) has been raised by Alpha female wolf named Raksha (Lapita Nyong’o) since he was a toddler. There has been a pact between all the animals that they could gather at a certain waterhole, the remnants of the wet season during a drought, without fear or danger of violence. Akela, the Alpha male of the wolf pack (Giancarlo Esposito), gets annoyed with Mowgli for his use of human tricks, like making tools and so on, and wants him to only act like the rest of the pack.

Suddenly, a large, mean, scarred tiger named Shere Khan (Idris Elba) shows up and senses something foul. He smells a human (we find out later that Mowgli’s human father scarred Shere Khan with fire) and wants him dead. Akela and Raksha refuse to hand him over so Shere Khan tells them that when the rains come, the truce between the animals will be over and he will come and take the man cub anyway. Later, the rains come and the pack decide to send Mowgli to the man village but Raksha refuses. Mowgli senses he’s endangering the pack and other animals so he decides to go. Bagheera the black panther who brought Mowgli to Raksha says he’ll escort Mowgli back to the village. Along the way, Shere Khan attacks but Bagheera fends him off long enough for Mowgli to get in the middle of a wildebeest herd that keeps him safe from Shere Khan but not necessarily safe from harm. The wildebeest herd is caught in a landslide from the rains and ends up in a raging river. He ends up safe and finds some food.

While chasing some thieving monkeys that stole some food, he encounters a very large python named Kaa (Scarlet Johansson). She hypnotizes Mowgli and tells him (and us) his story. She has him in her grips and is about to eat him when a large sloth bear named Baloo (Murray) shows up and saves him. It turns out Baloo needs him to do some chores for him, you know, as payback for saving his life. I’m leaving the rest of the story for you to watch yourself. I will say though, that Christopher Walken as King Louie is pretty cool. He’s more eerie than in the 1967 version. Dark, like Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now!, especially in that old temple and in the shadows.

This film is far superior to the 1967 animated version, but that version still has a place in my heart, as I am a Disney freak. That being said, the effects in this film are nearly flawless and stays true to the animated version. Even though it is CGI, it doesn’t look like it and after the first bit, you start thinking these animals are really talking and doing what they’re doing in the film.

I don’t think that Neel Sethi had ever played in anything before and he was quite the actor. To be able to act like that in a CGI Green Screen world is amazing. He had to take parkour lessons to be able to move about like that. Idris Elba plays Shere Khan perfectly. His voice is awesome and it comes across here as deep and menacing. Same with Ben Kingsley. Kingsley’s voice is deeper and he sounds like a wise mentor, which fits his character. Bill Murray as Baloo brings his comedic abilities to the forefront as only a Bill Murray could do. The film is dedicated to Garry Shandling, who voices Ikki, an Indian crested porcupine. Shandling passed away after recording his parts and before the film was released.

Rotten Tomatoes rates the film 95% Fresh with an Audience score of 87%. IMDb has it at 7.5 stars out of 10. I watched the film on Netflix and I am so glad I did. I rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I could get used to this.” – Baloo

Hush or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

22 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!Hush_2016_poster

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Hush (2016), starring Katie Siegel and John Gallagher, Jr.

Per IMDb: “A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.”

Maddie Young (Siegel) is a deaf writer who is working on her second novel while living in semi-seclusion. She’s having trouble figuring out where to take it or how to end it. She has seven files for the ending on her Mac. Her friend and neighbor, Sarah, really liked her first book and can’t wait for the second. All of a sudden, the smoke alarm goes off. The dinner that Maddie was unsuccessfully creating was over cooking. Sarah alerts Maddie to the fact and they go into the kitchen where there’s a ridiculously loud alarm and flashing strobe light. Maddie explains that it has to be loud for her to hear the vibrations if she’s asleep.

After Sarah leaves, Maddie starts to clean up. All of a sudden, Sarah appears at her back French doors beating it and screaming at Maddie to help her. Suddenly, an arrow is launched into Sarah’s back. She turns and a masked man comes up to her and stabs her, no less than eight or nine times. Maddie hears none of this. The killer stands, staring at Maddie through the window. She doesn’t see him. He taps on the door, nothing. Hits it harder, nothing. He drags Sarah off the back porch. Moments later, he shows up, lets himself in and grabs her phone. He then goes back outside. He’s ready to play with her. How will she handle herself? Does she suffer the same fate as her friend Sarah? You’ll have to watch to find out.

The screenplay was written by the director, Mike Flanagan, and the star, Katie Siegel. I think her having a part in the screenplay enabled her to feel what was going through the character’s mind throughout this ordeal. It all happened at night and the lighting wasn’t very good, so it was hard to see everything going on. But, it was a very suspenseful film. Creepy, in fact. I think there were some plot holes but the plausibility was still there. It was hard not to say to the TV, don’t you hear him right there? when the answer was, of course, no. She’s deaf. There’s really not a lot to tell you about the film other than it was mostly edge-of-the-seat suspense. Was it a great film? No. Was it a good film? Yes.

It made it’s world premier at South By Southwest in March of 2016. By April, 2016, Netflix announced it had acquired worldwide distribution rights. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at an astonishing 94% Fresh with an Audience score of only 74%. IMDb has it at 6.6 stars out of 10. I, of course, saw it on Netflix and rate it a 4 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I can come in anytime I want. And I can get you, anytime I want. But I’m not going to. Not until it’s time. When you wish you’re dead… that’s when I’ll come inside.” – Man

Toys or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

15 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Toys (1992), starring Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, LL Cool J and Joan Cusack.Toys_poster

Per IMDb: “When a military general inherits a toy making company and begins making war toys, his employees band together to stop him before he ruins the name of Zevo Toys forever.”

Kenneth Zevo is dying. He has two children Alsatia (Cusack) and Leslie (Williams) who have basically “grown up” in the toy factory that Kenneth has spent his life making. The workers are happy, the facility is a happy place, all is well. As Kenneth is about to leave the Earth, he asks his 3-star general brother, General Leland Zevo (Gambon) to take over the company. Leland is apprehensive. He’s serious and “Kenny” is a fun-loving free spirit who made a fortune making toys. Why not give the company to his children? Kenneth thinks they’re too childish to run a business.

Leland, desperate to win the approval of his elderly father, who was a 4-star general and played by Jack Warden, and seeks said approval in taking over Kenneth’s company. The old man tells him to make up his own mind. He takes over the company and is bored out of his mind until he hears that there’s a leak in toy designs. That sends him back into full military mode. He decides he wants to find the leak and enlists the help of his military son, Patrick (LL Cool J). In that Leland decides to start making miniature war toys to be sold to the government. Leslie is dead set against the idea because he knows his father would have also been against it. Leland says he won’t make any but can he have a tiny bit of space to make is own toys? Does he get it? Does he make war toys? You’ll have to watch to find out.

I saw this film when I was about 21 in the theater. I liked the fantasy and whimsy of it. I have to say that watching it now some 25 years later, it has lost a good bit of that luster. There’s good and bad here. The good: the cast, the scenery (mostly sound stages but great nonetheless), the ambition. The bad: the story line is dated and weak for even 1992, no direction, lack of actual comedy. With this cast, Williams is kind of sedate and even when he’s breaking loose he’s almost forcing the character to come out. Michael Gambon is a long way from his role in The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover previously and as the second Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series. He was unrecognizable but he was good. LL Cool J was pretty good. I think the real star here is Joan Cusack; she played the best part. But, while the film was funny in parts, it was, like Williams’ portrayal, forced and a bit weak.

I was disappointed in the overall film as it wasn’t what I remembered it to be, but there was still a nostalgia that was keeping me watching. I just wanted to see it, I guess. Rotten Tomatoes has it at a lowly 26% Rotten, with an audience score of a slightly better 39%. IMDb has it at 5 stars out of 10; exactly 50%. I saw this on Netflix and, sadly, I have to rate it only a straight up 3.0 out of 5 which on a scale from 0-5 would also be right down the middle. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review? Let me know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“We’re going to fight fire with marshmallows.” – Leslie Zevo

Soaked in Bleach or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

08 Saturday Apr 2017

Posted by in Movie Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Soaked in Bleach (2015).

Per IMDb: “Tom Grant, a private investigator once hired by Courtney Love, reveals his take on the death of Kurt Cobain.”

Soaked_in_Bleach_poster

©Montani Productions

So, my first marriage happened on April 9, 1994. I didn’t know that Kurt Cobain had passed away. I didn’t care that he had (once I found out), on two levels: I couldn’t stand him because he “single-handedly killed my music;” I had a honeymoon to get to. Turns out it was suicide, which I also have a hard time with and which had led to a few disagreements with my current wife, The BCPF. So, on top of all that, I had a real hard time giving two piles of dung about it or him.

As I stated at the end of last year, as I was doing the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time, I have had a total turn around about his music and really, about him, as well. “My music” was at its end anyway and as a matter of fact, I think he wrote pretty good music when I let the biased haze fade away. So, back to the suicide thing…

Conspiracy theories were everywhere within months of his passing. His psycho biatch of a soon-to-be-ex-wife had him murdered, a friend had killed him, the list goes on. I won’t begin to say that this film cleared anything up. If anything it adds more questions, but it does raise some eyebrows in the case of Courtney’s actions and reactions and the same for their friend Dylan Carlson. The godmother of Love and Cobain’s daughter, Francis Bean, their entertainment attorney, Rosemary Carroll, was helpful until she realized that Tom Grant, the private investigator who was hired by Love to find Kurt, was finding things that he was going to go public with. She didn’t want anything to do with the situation after that.

Supposedly the police ruled it a suicide, never (until three months after this was filmed) developed the pictures taken at the crime scene and dropped the ball on a lot of things in the investigation. Tom Grant, whose own investigations is the basis of the docudrama, and Benjamin Statler, who directed the film never actually accuse anyone of anything, but they do try to make a case to reopen the files and reexamine the entire situation. A few of the “experts” in the film were upset with it because it portrays them as supporting that it was anything other than suicide. Some agreed and some didn’t.

I have to say, that to me, outside of when you actually hear Courtney’s and others’ voices on recordings that Grant made, the portrayals are a bit slanted and seem forced and pushed, both for entertainment value and in pushing their view. After all, it is their film and it is their view. I’m just not sure I’m buying it, at least not all the way. Do I think he killed himself? I think it’s probable. Do I think he was murdered? I think it’s plausible. Either way, a music icon is gone and we’re not bringing him back.

One thing I found fascinating is the amount of heroin they say they found in his system in the toxicology report. I don’t know the amount right off hand but if he had had that much, it would have rendered even the most serious heroin junkie unconscious before he ever had the time to pull the trigger. Also, the location of the empty shotgun shell in perspective of the way the gun was held, is darn-near impossible. Love was in a position to lose a lot of money if the divorce had happened due to a prenuptial agreement. With him dying before that had a chance to happen, well she still gets royalties from his music, today. She was pretty shady before they found the body. The list goes on and on and that makes for a strong case to perhaps reopen the case.

Rotten Tomatoes rates it only 30% Rotten but the audience score was 76%. That’s a vast difference. IMDb has it at 7.5 stars out of 10. That’s right on the money with the audience from Rotten Tomatoes. I saw this film on Netflix and it played at a/perture cinema for a bit when it came out in 2015. I liked the film but didn’t think it really answered anything and was more conjecture, with a bit of theatrics and slant, than anything. I thought it was good food for thought. I rate the film 3.75 out of 5. Incidentally, I have had this on my list for about a year. I decided to watch it this morning and had totally forgotten that this weekend (the day you read this, probably) April 8, is the 23rd anniversary of his death (at least when they found him). It was coincidental. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“If you want to get away with murder. You kill a junkie.” – Max Wallace