While I couldn't say I binge-watched Making a Murderer, it's probably closer to say I "power-watched" it in a couple of days. The ten-part series, made over the course of ten years, tells the story of a Manitowoc County, Wisconsin man named Steve Avery who was convicted of rape and attempted murder, serving 18 yrs. in prison before DNA evidence exonerated him. Avery was out only two years and was about to file a civil rights lawsuit for millions of dollars when he was charged with the brutal rape and death of a young woman.
As with any review of a current work, I won't give spoilers or say much more about the series or case; in fact, I avoided reading anything about him or this documentary series until after I finished up the last episode. Like many writing about it online, though, I am torn as to his guilt or innocence on the murder conviction. It's obvious that the local police department coerced witnesses, mishandled the crime scene and while I'm of the mind that evidence definitely was planted and tampered with, I'm still not convinced he's innocent. Avery's learning disabled nephew was also involved and was charged for his participation in the murder and subsequent cover up...but if you watch the series, you'll most likely be confused as to his own part in the crime - IF he even took part in it.
Maybe it's because the series left me so unsettled and is why I can't give a little bit higher grade, but I'd still strongly recommend watching. It's available on Netflix and when getting the following trailer, I noticed the first episode had been uploaded to YouTube. Like most other movies or TV programs, you can also find it online with a little bit of ingenuity and Google skills.
On this day in 1983, the movie Scarface debuted in theaters. Starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who arrived in Florida with the Mariel boatlift in 1980, Montana quickly returns to his criminal roots and becomes enormously wealthy from the booming cocaine trade, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. He becomes addicted to the drug and his world collapses in violence.
From near the end of the movie, one of the iconic scenes and most quoted line:
"Say hello to my little friend!"
A good movie but even so, it's not one I watch every time it comes on TV. I have a DVD of it, but don't think I've taken it out of the wrapper.
While getting the link for the movie, I checked on IMdb and saw that I had given it an "8", but I don't recall exactly when I gave it such a high grade. Either my standards have gone or I overrated it to begin with, but I lowered it one notch to a "7"...which is still a good rating by my strict standards. I highly recommend watching it if you haven't.
Clean Break is an four-part Irish drama set in the small coastal town of Wexford. The village is quaint, the surrounding countryside lovely, yet both show the scars of the economic downturn in that nation.
Frank Mallon, a local luxury car dealer, has already lost his wife, is slowly losing his daughter and is on the verge of losing both his home and business, plus some gorgeous seaside property he was planning to develop. He hatches a plot to rob the local bank, headed by the loathsome manager, the husband of a woman with whom Mallon once had an affair.
It would be giving away too much to reveal any more and I'm afraid I've already said too much if you're one of those who didn't even like that much information about a movie or TV show before you have a chance to watch. That said, there are some interesting plot twists and turns and some "Oh, no!" moments. Clean Break doesn't have a lot of action; no car chases or gun battles, yet it never is boring....which such a short series should never be and it certainly doesn't fail in that regard. I was riveted through each episode and eagerly awaited the next.
As was mentioned, the scenery is, for the most part, lovely and even the abandoned and dilapidated buildings in some of the scenes have a forlorn beauty all their own. For a four-part series, the character development was more than sufficient. The cinematography is first rate, the writing and dialog superb, the acting is excellent by all and the ending...well, I like to think I can usually see what's coming, but I certainly didn't see this one. To be honest, I didn't like the way it ended, but it wasn't disappointing...if that makes any sense and I reckon it will if you watch the series.
At this writing, the first three episodes have been uploaded to YouTube and if you're so inclined, the complete series can be found via your favorite search engine, I'm sure.
I gave it a "7" on IMDb, which might not sound as good as I made it out to be, but I'm very stingy with my grades. (It was probably a good thing I wasn't a teacher; the kids might have liked me, but they would have hated my grading) I've discovered some drama gems from British television and now I'm wondering what-else the Irish have done that I've missed. If Clean Break is indicative of their version of quality TV, then I want to see more.
Note: The following is meant to be a mini-rant and a bit of trivia but is also a semi-snarky review of the new Fox series Minority Report based upon the 2002 hit movie.
I was torturing myself watching the fourth and latest episode of Minority Report last night when I noticed something strange; when a man is attempting to buy some fake I.D.,he plops some banded currency on the table, then reluctantly throws down some more on top of it. The scene went by fairly quickly, but not so quick that I couldn't make out the face on the $500 bill:
(click for larger view)
Yes, that's President Obama on the bill and it proved to me that Hollywood is indeed full of leftist partisan hacks. Andrew Jackson notwithstanding, I've always thought the portraits on American currency were intended to be of good Presidents or at least of people who made a significant contribution to society.
Why Obama? If he deserves to be on a bill, then - in all fairness - so does G.W. Bush; after all, both of them certainly spent enough money, printed more than their fair share out of thin air, too.
Be that as it may...and I certainly didn't mean for this to turn into a political rant...I believe that's the last episode I will watch. If Minority Report had been anything but a ubiquitous, poorly done police procedural show (albeit set in the future) I would have given it a proper review.
My recommendation? If you're watching it now and enjoying it, please be my guest and continue doing so. I just don't think it's going to last long, that's all. What's wrong with it? Oh, if I only had enough time and space to list the things. I had high hopes for the series, but IMHO (and according to the ratings), it doesn't have much of a future, especially considering how many Obama dollars much money it's got to be losing. The show is visually appealing, the special effects are pretty good and the acting isn't horrible...but not even the gorgeous Meagan Good can save this series. The potential was there but it was wasted.
On a related note: I noticed a woman on the hundred dollar bill, so I took a screen shot, rotated it to get a better view but still didn't recognize the face, but did see it was Australian currency. (or maybe American money honoring Australian notables) Thanks to the world-wide interwebs, I was able to find out the woman was Dame Nellie Melba, a noted opera singer of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century. I had never heard of her.
My only hope is that if the world lasts to the time this TV series takes place, we'll honor folks like her much more than we do those such as President Obama.
I've been thinking for the longest time that I'd do more and regular movie & TV reviews and finally decided I'd start. I'm not sure about "regular" posts, but I AM going to do them. (now 'n then would probably be a more apt description of the frequency of the reviews)
(I haven't been reading nearly as many books as I used to do, but if I read a good one, I'll try to review it, too.)
I'm going to link to IMDb for the movies and TV series so folks can get other information if they're interested - no need for me to repeat something that's available in a thousand other places. I'm not going to make any pretense that I'm some sort of critic; I'm just going to write how I liked - or didn't like - the movie/TV show. Sometimes it's difficult to describe a movie or show without revealing spoilers, so the descriptions might be a little sparse.
I've given a lot of thought about how I will grade them, too. I didn't want to go strictly thumbs up or down; that is too "either/or" for me and I also don't want to go on a 5-star or 10 point grading system because that's too limiting. I have trouble at times rating something on IMDb because 1-10 stars sometimes doesn't let me "nuance" my grade. For example, I might really like something, but 7 stars isn't enough and 8 would be too many, esp. compared to something else I rated 8 stars and liked a little better. So, I have decided to go on a 0-100 scoring system, just like number grades in school. (and letter grades also wouldn't let me be as precise with scoring, but they would be closer than a 5 or 10 star system)
I hope I will be fair to the movie or TV show, but I also think I will be stingy with my grades on the top end, generous on the lower ones. In MY system, a "60" would be passing, just as it is in many schools, but it's certainly not a glowing recommendation. I don't remember ever giving a movie or TV series a "10" on IMDb and I expect a "95" will be around the upper range of my scoring. OTOH, anything "40" or under will probably be in the "Not Worth Watching" category. If I give something a grade of 40 or less, I probably couldn't get past the first fifteen minutes of it. I won't waste my time if the thing is that bad, but I also wouldn't want to dissuade someone else from giving it a look-see. Different strokes, etc.
I may include YouTube videos in my reviews, particularly educational and documentary vids I've watched. I'll probably factor in resolution and quality into those, though. If possible, and I think the movie or TV series is worthy of the space, I'll embed a video of the trailer or a certain scene. (if I can find one)
Hope you'll read my reviews and comment on them...all six of my regular readers!
What if you had one night to prove God exists? What if you had one night to solve the world's problems?
First, a preface:
As I lay in bed last night, my sinuses aching from all the mold spores in the air due to the recent deluge, I flicked through the TV stations hoping to find something to bore me to sleep. There were plenty of options for me that normally would do the trick: a college baseball game, movies I'd seen before and didn't care for the first time I watched them and a multitude of so-called "news" stations pushing their left or right agendas, any of which would put me out in a few minutes of mind-numbing viewing.
Then I noticed a movie on the Christian station, TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network)- The Genius Club. Now, I normally steer clear of that station, mainly because of its multitude of evangelical programming (why is it they want you to give your soul to God, but make the check out to them?) and shyster faith healers (sure, punching someone in the forehead will cure their ills). The movie's premise looked good, however, and I thought I'd give it a chance. At worst I'd be semi-entertained, at best I'd be bored enough to fall asleep.
The plot summary from Wiki: On Christmas Eve, Armand (Tom Sizemore), a terrorist who has a hidden nuclear device in Washington D.C., forces the president of the United States government (Jack Scalia) to round up seven geniuses with IQs over 200. The group consists of a casino owner (Carol Abney), a bio-chemist (Paula Jai Parker), a pro-baseball player (Matt Medrano), a seminary student, an Economics professor, a painter (Tricia Helfer), and a pizza delivery guy (Stephen Baldwin).
The government is to place them in a bomb shelter and explain to the group that they are to solve the world's problems in one night; if they fail, the terrorist will detonate the hidden nuclear device planted in the basement of the 'genius lair'.
To free themselves from their captivity, the group has to answer questions and are given points for their answers. The terrorist (played superbly by Sizemore) insists they must reach 1000 points before they "pass".
The questions are: (to the best of my recollection)
Why hasn't there been a cure found for cancer?
Why does toner ink cost so much?
Why are there starving people in the world?
If you were a dictator, what is the first thing you would do?
What is the meaning of life?
Does God exist?
To say it was the best movie I've ever seen would be a lie and if I denied that the premise was a bit weak and had no holes, I'd be a dishonest reviewer, but one of my own standards of a movie's greatness is "Did it make me think about it after it ended?" I stayed awake several hours after the movie was over and am still thinking about it today.
I think the song's message and that of the movie's are one and the same.
Most of what we want is just illusion Most of what we buy won't change a thing Most of what we're told is misdirection Offered up to ease our suffering
If you get a chance, watch the movie. I plan on buying it for my library because I think it's one I could watch at least once a year and take something different from it each time, plus it would be one I'd love to show to someone for the first time and get their reaction. I wouldn't necessarily call it a "Christian movie" nor a political one, but it makes some important points about the relationship of both to humanity.
