The Dark Past (1948, Rudolph Maté)

The Dark Past opens with a lengthy, confidently showy, and capable POV sequence. Lee J. Cobb is arriving at work, just like anyone–and the movie does a lengthy “peoples is peoples” bit–except he’s a police psychiatrist. It’s his job to save kids from becoming hardened criminals, thereby not being on the taxpayer dime. It’s progressive but not too progressive. Cobb’s not some wuss.

Cobb is outstanding in the film. It’s a sometimes silly role with the framing sequence, but when he gets to acting, it’s acting. Past is a remake of a stage adaptation, and Maté spotlights the actors. Well, Cobb and Holden. Cobb’s the protagonist and narrator, and Holden’s the star. The rest of the cast stays busy, but everyone gets left in the dust. It’s worst for Nina Foch. Second-billed, and she just disappears.

Oh, yeah, the setup. So, when Cobb has to convince a cop a petty criminal is a human being, he tells the story of his adventure with Holden. Holden’s so infamous everyone recognizes his name. But apparently don’t know anything about his very consequential involvement with Cobb. No spoilers, but the more interesting story is the direct sequel.

So, back to the setup. Holden and his gang crash Cobb’s dinner party. They need a place to wait for their getaway boat. While the guests give Holden’s gang minor trouble, Cobb gets around to psychoanalyzing Holden in a commercial for the Freud method. Holden’s a vicious killer who delights in toying with his prey, but Cobb sees some glimmer of humanity and tries to cure him. Foch kind of wants picket fences and helps Cobb.

The second act is Cobb slowly unraveling the very simple knot Holden’s tied out of his subconscious. Holden can’t unravel it himself because he has repressed memories, which only come out in his single, ever-recurring nightmare. There’s an inverted color dream sequence. It’s not as successful as it should be.

Despite his top billing, the film keeps Holden in reverse for a good while. Once the bad guys take everyone hostage, it takes time even to get Holden and Cobb talking. Partly because of Holden’s reticence, and partly because there are so many subplots cooking. Every single one of them gets left unfinished. The film often feels like the framing device is a distraction from the real story–which is sort of true because there doesn’t end up being a comparison between Holden and the kid criminal in the present. It’s not about criminals possibly being human; it’s about psychiatry curing them of their anti-social tendencies. Cobb’s not even concerned how the patient feels about things.

It’s craven, and it makes for some great scenes. Holden can’t figure out Cobb’s angle, and–with the frame defining the character already–neither can the audience. Cobb’s intentionally inscrutable; the only thing the frame helps with.

Lois Maxwell plays Cobb’s wife, who does get to fail Bechdel with Foch, but otherwise just sits around with son Robert Hyatt. He’ll end up with a bit to do before the movie drops him for the next subplot. Past is so noncommittal to its subplots, for a while near the end I thought they might even skip closing the bookend. At that point, with everything else unfinished, why do it anyway?

Maxwell’s solid. She doesn’t get much at all. Foch is good with a little more. Between Holden and Cobb, Holden probably has the edge. It’s a showier role, but he’s also got an arc. Cobb’s just proving one point or another.

While Past has its problems, the stars are phenomenal, Maté’s direction is good, and Joseph Walker’s black and white cinematography is beautiful.

This post is part of the 6th Golden Boy Blogathon hosted by Emily of The Flapper Dame and Virginie of The Wonderful World of Cinema.

Zero Hour! (1957, Hall Bartlett)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: fighter pilot suffering PTSD boards an airplane in a last-ditch effort to salvage a bad relationship only for the plane to serve rotten fish, requiring this unstable pilot to fly the jet to safety. And there’s an exclamation point at the end of the title.

No, it’s not Airplane!, it’s that film’s (still) unofficial source material–Zero Hour!. The difference being Hour plays it straight, instead of making fun of playing it straight, but it’s all the same material; only, you’re watching it and not supposed to laugh at it.

And it’s a long eighty minutes, especially once Sterling Hayden shows up to start barking absolutely pointless exposition.

The movie begins with narration explaining just before the end of World War II, Canadian squadron leader Dana Andrews made a bad call and got most of his men killed. Or at least a large number of them. Hayden may or may not have been one of those men. The movie’s strangely opaque about it. When we leave 1945 for the future, Andrews is in bad shape. Fast forward ten years, and we find out he’s never made anything of himself, despite marrying Linda Darnell and having a kid (an abjectly annoying Ray Ferrell). Darnell’s fed up, and she’s leaving, so Andrews chases her to the airport and buys another seat to follow her.

There will be numerous moments throughout Hour when it seems like Darnell’s going to have something to do other than debase herself at the altar of machismo. She can’t respect Andrews because he won’t get over getting those guys killed and man up. The movie simultaneously tries to show the horrors of experiencing PTSD while also lambasting him for having it. When Andrews has to fly the jet, Darnell’s in the co-pilot’s chair, and it seems like there’s going to be the couple teaming up to solve their problem.

No, not at all. However, that sequence features Andrews’s best acting in the film, when he successfully intensely stares straight ahead in static panic. However, Andrews isn’t the worst performance. Thanks to Hour’s casting choices, the bloated screenplay, and director Bartlett’s failings… every performance in Hour is eventually bad except maybe Jerry Paris, who plays flight attendant Peggy King’s boyfriend. Sorry, misspoke—stewardess, and not just stewardess, but “Stewardess,” most of the characters refuse to acknowledge she may have a name. Paris is bland, but he’s consistent. For a while, it seems like King might turn in a good turn, but then no. She also can’t stop looking into the camera in the third act, which just makes the whole picture seem more embarrassing.

Geoffrey Toone plays the doctor, who luckily didn’t have the fish. He’s absolutely flat and delivers mouthfuls of exposition. Hour’s script is pretty sure all you have to do to convince people it’s legit is use enough jargon. But Toone’s not forceful enough. Hayden’s arguably worse—heck, he’s arguably the worst performance, and Hour also stars former pro-football star Elroy ‘Crazylegs’ Hirsch, and Hirsch is a very, very bad actor. But Hayden’s a phenomenon, chain-smoking, yelling at thin air, staring into space. It’s a masterclass in how not to do a solo performance.

Though he’s not solo, he’s got a bunch of yes-men around to look worried (and get coffee). Charles Quinlivan plays the main yes-man. And until the third act, Quinlivan seems like he will get through Hour unscathed. He does not, but he gives that impression the longest of anyone in the cast.

The special effects are ambitious—except the lousy stock footage (including when the Canadian jet becomes an American Airlines one). They’re not good, but they’re ambitious. The sets are either too big, or Bartlett doesn’t know how to shoot them.

Skip Zero Hour! and watch the remake.

This post is part of the 2nd Annual “Favorite Stars in B Movies” Blogathon hosted by Brian of Films From Beyond The Time Barrier.

Rebecca (1940, Alfred Hitchcock)

Rebecca opens with protagonist Joan Fontaine narrating, establishing the present action as a flashback—which is kind of important considering how much danger Fontaine will be in throughout. She’s got to make it since there’s the narration. Some of that danger is in Fontaine’s head. Or, at least, she sometimes apprehensive of the wrong person. Sort of.

Rebecca is a passionate romance, a suspenseful thriller, and a reluctant character study. Fontaine’s nameless protagonist isn’t the one being studied, but rather her new husband, played by Laurence Olivier. Olivier’s a little older and a lot richer. He’s a relatively recent widower (Rebecca is the first wife), and he sweeps naive Fontaine off her feet.

The narration establishes the eventual setting—Olivier’s seaside estate—before heading to Fontaine and Olivier’s version of a meet-cute. They’re in Monte Carlo; she’s out sketching and comes across him on a cliff. She’s sure he’s going to jump. So, technically, maybe not a meet cute.

They soon meet again under formal circumstances. Fontaine is a paid companion to obnoxious rich lady Florence Bates. Bates knows Olivier socially, but he can’t stand her. However, once Bates gets a bug, Olivier and Fontaine become vacation buddies. Fontaine’s performance during these sequences is fantastic; the various emotions play out on her face as she observes Olivier, trying to figure out what’s happening.

What’s happening is a whirlwind romance; they leave Monte married. They’ll go on a honeymoon, which we see later on in home movies, but the action cuts from vacation to the estate. In the opening, director Hitchcock does what he can to make it not look too much like a miniature, but… it looks like a miniature. When Fontaine and Olivier arrive home, however, there’s this great composite shot of them driving up. The estate is a miniature, we won’t get any significant, closer exterior shots, but with that composite shot, Hitchcock makes sure the audience knows not to hold that kind of status against the film.

The film quickly introduces the new supporting cast—Judith Anderson as the imposing housekeeper who loved Rebecca, Reginald Denny as the estate manager, Gladys Cooper as Olivier’s sister, and Nigel Bruce as her comic relief husband. Olivier looses Fontaine to figure out how to run the house with Anderson’s help.

At this point, Olivier will orbit further and further away from Fontaine until they have their big second-act blowout. He’s busy being back but also actively neglecting to tell Fontaine anything about the house itself and how Rebecca liked it to be run. Much of the film during the second act is just Fontaine finding out more and more details Olivier really should’ve told her about. Why did he ever bring her there if Rebecca was so amazing? Since Olivier doesn’t confide in anyone, all the characters have a different impression of how Fontaine is supposed to function as the new lady of the estate. And since they all assume Olivier’s told Fontaine, no one gives her any context, with that lack knocking her between bewildered, overwhelmed, and frightened without any rest.

Hitchcock mounts whole set pieces just to showcase Fontaine’s discomfort and possible danger. There’s lots of beautiful work from Hitchcock, photographer George Barnes, and editor W. Donn Hayes. Fontaine acts the heck out of the scenes—and she’s the one who continues the character arc after the scenes forebodingly fade to black—but they’re technical marvels. Rebecca’s a great-looking (and sounding) film.

Just as Fontaine starts feeling like she should exert some agency, she tries to bond with Anderson over a favor—George Sanders, Rebecca’s favorite cousin, visits one day when OIivier’s out of town, and Fontaine promises to keep it a secret. Assuming she and Anderson share any kind of bond will be one of Fontaine’s worst mistakes.

Sanders is an abject delight. Rebecca’s got lots of great performances—while Fontaine gets a great showcase for the first three-quarters, Olivier then gets to play leading man for a bit and overshadows her—but Sanders is always a reliable scene stealer. He appears, takes over, then returns control on exit. It’s a fabulous balance. The three share a particularly great scene together.

The film has two major plot reveals to answer all the questions, tie up all the loose ends—one comes before the third act, one finishes off the film. In between those two reveals, Rebecca metamorphizes.

What follows is a very different film—still a romance and thriller, but with a different pace and narrative distance. Hitchcock changes things up for the finish, turning it into a race against time, then another, then another, all while bounding along the razor’s edge of melodrama. It’s a phenomenal success, delivering on many last-minute promises and giving the cast even further ranges to essay.

Hitchcock relies on a special effects set piece to close things out (did we forget there’s a narration safety net?), which has the added benefit of calling a draw on the performances. Fontaine has the most character development, while Olivier gets to do a great reveal and then excel further. Sanders and Anderson also have their singular qualities. Maybe it’s right no one can overshadow anyone else… they (and we) are all trapped in Rebeccas magnificent grasp.

This post is part of the Second Master Of Suspense Blogathon hosted by Maddy of Classic Film and TV Corner.

The Odd Couple (1968, Gene Saks)

Even when The Odd Couple plods, it never feels stagey, which is impressive since it’s from a stage play (Neil Simon adapted his own play), it mostly takes place in the same location, and many of those sequences are just stars Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon following each other around and bickering. The one thing director Saks can do—the one thing he can reliably do—is not make the movie stagey.

Thank goodness.

While Saks doesn’t bring much to the film, his hands-off direction isn’t really a problem. Couple just doesn’t have a story. It’s got a setup—the film opens with a suicidal Lemmon roaming the streets of New York, trying to work up the courage to kill himself. He then ends up at poker bestie Matthau’s Friday night game, where all the fellows (Matthau, John Fielder, Herb Edelman, David Sheiner, Larry Haines) know Lemmon’s marriage has broken up, and he’s at least told the wife he’s going to kill himself. So it’s a lengthy first act, with lots of laughs (once we’re in the apartment, anyway).

Matthau offers to take Lemmon in, and we’ve got a movie. Matthau is a slob with a broken refrigerator and mold, while Lemmon is a neat freak who loves to cook. They’re perfect for one another. Then, they spend the movie getting on one another’s nerves.

Sort of.

Lemmon gets on Matthau’s nerves, and we hear in exposition about how Matthau gets on Lemmon’s nerves, but it’s not until Lemmon screws up Matthau’s double date night things start getting really bad. The film ostensibly takes place over three weeks, starting with the opening night, except all the days in the second and third acts are consecutive. And they’re not a week. Also there seem to be two Fridays very close to one another (the poker game is every Friday).

Since Lemmon’s the nuisance in the film, even with his top-billing, Matthau’s the star. They share the scenes together well, but Matthau’s the one who wants to meet girls (Monica Evans and Carole Shelley are two British divorcees who just happen to like much older American men), has work subplots, divorced dad subplots. Lemmon just cooks, cleans, and whines. His estranged wife and children don’t appear, though (especially given some details in the second act) they should; he doesn’t go to work (we don’t even find out his job until late second act). Lemmon’s just there to set up jokes and gags. At times, Matthau seems overwhelmed and frustrated to be the only one with anything to do—even when he’s processing his separation, Lemmon’s just got bits, no substance. Simon isn’t doing a character study or juxtaposition of divorced late-sixties men; he’s doing a situation comedy without many situations.

The acting’s all more than solid. Matthau’s got some great moments, Lemmon some good ones (then others where he hits the ceiling on how far Simon’s taking the character development), and the supporting cast is fun. Fiedler, in particular.

Technically, it’s also solid. Robert B. Hauser’s photography is competent without ever being particularly impressive—though Odd Couple’s got a wide Panavision aspect ratio so Saks can fit all the actors in a full shot, which should make it stagey, but, again, never does. Maybe it’s Hauser.

Great theme from Neal Hefti.

The Odd Couple’s funny, charming, and only terribly dated a couple times. It just doesn’t really go anywhere.

This post is part of the Mismatched Couples Blogathon hosted by Barry of Cinematic Catharsis and Gill of Realweegiemidget Reviews.

Briefly, Movies (Winter 2024)

American Fiction (2023) D: Cord Jefferson. S: Jeffrey Wright, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross. Sublime deconstruction of the American academia novel, as through the eyes of exhausted ultra-brow author Wright, who realizes maybe he is willing to sell out to get rich. Especially since he’s back home visiting mom Uggams, sister Ross, and brother Brown. Great performances—Wright’s fantastic–with just the right amount of big twists and little. Stellar feature debut from Jefferson, who adapted Percival Everett’s novel ERASURE.

Argylle (2024) D: Matthew Vaughn. S: Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, John Cena, Samuel L. Jackson. Spy novel writer Howard finds her fictional hero (Cavill) has an unlikely real-life counterpart (Rockwell). Numerous good moments, but it’s always a little too desperate and too cheap. Lots of the cast seems checked out, with Howard doing the lion’s share. Bad special effects don’t help either.

Bruce Springsteen – The Promise – The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (2010) D: Thom Zimny. S: Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Roy Bittan, Clarence Clemons, Jimmy Iovine, Nils Lofgren, Patti Smith. Okay assembled footage doc with the E Street Band recounting the creation of the DARKNESS album. Zimmy’s way too lazy when it comes to structure, but there’s some great Springsteen interviewing. It just needs about ten more minutes to contextualize. Alas, no. But for some Boss process insights? All good.

Drag Me to Hell (2009) D: Sam Raimi. S: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver, Dileep Rao, David Paymer, Adriana Barraza, Reggie Lee. Bank loan manager Lohman pisses off old lady Raver, who puts a curse on her just as she’s up for a promotion and meeting boyfriend Long’s parents for the first time. Even worse… the curse is real. Often great direction, but the script’s a passively misogynist mess, Lohman’s barely okay, Long’s bad, and the end stinks.

The Evil Dead (1981) D: Sam Raimi. S: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly. Now classic low-budget young adults in a haunted cabin gore-feast is a great debut for director Raimi and leading man Campbell. Great, gruesome special effects, terrifying sequences, and untold buckets of blood abound. Excellent production values for the money, with outstanding photography from Tim Philo and a perfect score by Joseph LoDuca. Edited by Joel Coen! For DVD, Raimi reframed the 4:3 16mm to an HD aspect radio SPECIAL EDITION, which was anything but. The reframing killed the timing, atmosphere, and almost everything else. Blu-ray and UHD restored the original aspect ratio, thank goodness. Followed by EVIL DEAD II.

Evita (1996) D: Alan Parker. S: Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce, Jimmy Nail, Victoria Sus, Julian Littman, Olga Merediz. Adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical about Argentine “Spirtual Leader” Eva Peron features an almost really good Banderas and a very blah Madonna. Director Parker does a bad job filming an otherwise handsome production. There are a handful of really good numbers, but Banderas can only compensate for so much.

Gimme Shelter (1970) D: David Maysles. S: Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor. Singular documentary covering The Rolling Stones’s 1969 U.S. tour and the disaster of its last venue, the Altamont Free Concert. Phenomenal multi-layered document of tragedy, with artful control throughout. Absolutely devastating and, in hindsight, hopeless.

Knights of Badassdom (2013) D: Joe Lynch. S: Peter Dinklage, Summer Glau, Steve Zahn, Ryan Kwanten, Margarita Levieva, Jimmi Simpson, Brett Gipson. Nearly clever fantasy-horror-comedy about Live Action Role-Players (LARPers) unleashing a demon during a tournament. The acting’s never terrible just bland. Dinklage, Simpson, and Gipson are pretty good. The too bumpy third act does it in.

Moonage Daydream (2022) D: Brett Morgen. S: David Bowie. Way too long super-cut of extremely on television David Bowie with music video footage and interviews providing the career retrospective “narrative.” Bowie’s charisma carries the entire thing, though can’t stop the drag or the trite. The world’s best and worst greatest hits promo video.

Moulin Rouge! (2001) D: Baz Luhrmann. S: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, Garry McDonald, Jacek Koman. Abjectly terrible tale of famous Paris nightspot and its star crossed denizens. Many levels of atrocious on display, whether it’s the writing (ha), choreography (bigger ha), or Kidman’s performance (biggest ha). Sadly, the joke’s on the viewer. Amusing–for a fraction of a second–to see McGregor act (in a bad part) while Kidman’s incapable of doing so.

Nanny (2022) D: Nikyatu Jusu. S: Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Rose Decker, Leslie Uggams, Olamide Candide Johnson. Real deal performance from Anna Diop as a nanny suffering shitty white people to the point it affects her mental health. Also, there’s maybe magic. Incredibly tense, nice support from everyone, great photography, real good direction. The second to third act transition is rocky, but the film comes through big.

One, Two, Three (1961) D: Billy Wilder. S: James Cagney, Liselotte Pulver, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Hanns Lothar, Arlene Francis, Leon Askin. Brisk but empty madcap comedy about Coca-Cola rep Cagney’s shockingly sexist (even for 1961) adventures in pre-Wall Berlin, trying to sell Coke to the Russians while cheating on wife Francis with secretary Pulver and keeping boss’s horny daughter Tiffin away from East Berliner Buchholz.Lots of wink-wink-nudge-nudge ex-Nazi jokes. Buccholz’s awful, Francis’s great; everyone else is in between.

Suitable Flesh (2023) D: Joe Lynch. S: Heather Graham, Judah Lewis, Bruce Davison, Johnathon Schaech, Barbara Crampton, Hunter Womack. Weird, icky homage to eighties Lovecraft adaptations with some creepy moments and wacky performances, particularly Graham and Lewis–with everyone having at least two great moments. Quirk overcomes the forecasted, predictable conclusion.

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021) D: Questlove. S: Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Mahalia Jackson, Sly Stone. Consistently awesome documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival (aka Black Woodstock). They filmed the whole thing and then couldn’t sell it. Fifty years later, SUMMER resurrects the memories. Some original footage was lost and it would’ve put things over the top. It could easily run twice as long without drag. So good.

Under Suspicion (1991) D: Simon Moore. S: Liam Neeson, Laura San Giacomo, Kenneth Cranham, Alphonsia Emmanuel, Maggie O’Neill, Stephen Moore, Malcolm Storry. Moody 1950s-set British thriller about man slut P.I. Neeson getting into trouble after rigging a divorce case and romancing client’s mistress San Giacomo. Director Moore’s script tries hard not to be predictable but eats its own tail. Neeson’s fine, San Giacomo’s not; Cranham’s good as Neeson’s sidekick.

Willy’s Wonderland (2021) D: Kevin Lewis. S: Nicolas Cage, Emily Tosta, Beth Grant, Ric Reitz, Chris Warner, Kai Kadlec, Caylee Cowan. Silent man with a muscle car Cage finds himself broken down in a tiny town, working off his repairs at a Chuckie Cheese-style joint. Only the animatronic animals are all killer monsters who eat people. Never quite good, never too bad; it tries and succeeds at being a gory lot.

Briefly, Comics (Winter 2024)

Blankets (2003) OGN WA: Craig Thompson. Oddly callous memoir about creator Thompson growing up conservative Christian in rural Wisconsin in the eighties and nineties. The first half is rough but searching. The second half is more polished; usually for nothing. Thompson figures it out by the end, when it’s too late. More unfocused than bad.

Doctor Strange (1974) #14 [1976] W: Steve Englehart. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. The TOMB OF DRACULA crossover finishes up here, with Strange outwitting Drac to save Wong’s immortal soul. Most of it plays as a TOD issue, only with atrocious Englehart scripting. And despite great Colan and Palmer art… the action’s lousy.

Ginseng Roots (2019) #11 [2023] WA: Craig Thompson. The Brothers Thompson finish up their Chinese trip, with Craig showing a great deal of cultural sensitivity and enthusiasm. The boon is their third wheel–a “sister”/tour guide. Lush art; wonderful as usual.

Ginseng Roots (2019) #12 [2023] WA: Craig Thompson. Craig–GINSENG’s protagonist, not the creator–figures out if he’ll actually be able to turn all his ginseng research into a comic. Good thing since it’s the last issue. It’s a double-sized, glorious finale to the series.

Monkey Prince (2021) #4 [2022] W: Gene Luen Yang. A: Bernard Chang. MONKEY wraps its origin arc with a big, but not dangerous cliffhanger. Monkey and Shifu team up with Robin again, this time intentionally. They’ve got to save Monkey’s parents from the demonically possessed Penguin. Yang has fun with the teen superhero team-up. Good jokes and a great pairing of culture and canon.

Monkey Prince (2021) #5 [2022] W: Gene Luen Yang. A: Bernard Chang. New town, new school, new girl, new supervillain boss for the parents. The parents are fun and funny but also a tad psychopathic. They’re now bad parents, endangering Marcus. Though Marcus manages to get into danger on his own. Yang continues to impress, especially how he weaves in the DCU. Good, creepy action art. Who needs Batman when you’ve got MONKEY.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #38 [1975] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. More filler to delay the Dracula showdown with Doctor Sun. Unfortunately, it involves the return of Harold H. Harold, Wolfman’s most obnoxious creation (to date). Quincy and Co. team up with Sun; I’m sure they won’t regret that choice.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #39 [1975] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Doctor Sun’s master plan comes into focus, with the vampire hunters unwittingly (but predictably) playing into his plans, which–shocker–aren’t just about trying to kill Dracula. Colan seems to be doing a Will Eisner homage at times, which is something, at least.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #40 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Frank Giacoia, Gene Colan. Gorgeous art, thank goodness, to compensate for insipid dialogue and more plot churning from Wolfman as the army tries to take on Doctor Sun. Will Dracula have to get involved to save the day?

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #41 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Dracula’s back from the dead (again), because no one else can possibly stop the evil Doctor Sun (again). Dippy Wolfman script, great Colan and Palmer art. Sadly, Blade joins the gang just so they can be racist at him (again).

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #42 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. So much racism. So much. Blade’s just here as a target. Anyway–Wolfman wraps up the third(?) final showdown with Doctor Sun, in full tell don’t show mode. The obnoxious supporting cast doesn’t help anything either. Lackluster in the extremis.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #43 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Wolfman punts on Blade’s vengeance art (as always), leaving the previous cliffhanger unresolved. Instead, he does a done-in-one reset involving a reporter. The art’s nice and the characters are far less obnoxious than the regular cast.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #44 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Aside from the perplexing choice of Boston as the new setting, lousy supporting character moments, and over-baked dialogue, it’s not bad. There’s movement on Blade’s arc (finally) and great art on guest-star Doctor Strange. Plus deep cuts to Dracula’s Marvel origin. Crossover concludes in DR. STRANGE (1972) #14.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #45 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Blade and Hannibal King team up in a back door pilot and Wolfman does a full, immediate cop-out on the DR. STRANGE crossover death for Dracula. Instead, Dracula decides to start a cult. Weird, dumb, but gorgeous art.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #46 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Dracula gets married, which is boring. Blade hangs out with another racist, also boring. To stay engaged, Wolfman does a horror comic done in one about a toxic waste monster. Not good but different, with solid but not great art.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #47 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. It’s an all romance issue. Dracula and Domini talk past each other with agendas and love at first bite. Blade’s girlfriend distracts him from his life-long quest. Rachel’s sick of Frank. Harold comes back for some ungodly reason. Speaking of godly, Wolfman goes 100% Christian comic, with Jesus being a visually passive but ostensibly active participant. Blah.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #48 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Competently executed filler with a lead story about one of Dracula’s victims as she encounters him time and again throughout her life. Not great but gives Colan and Palmer variety.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #49 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Dracula’s trapped in a woman’s magical library where she hangs out with her favorites from classical literature, and he’s a mega prick about it. Good but not great Colan and Palmer art.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #50 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. It’s the battle no one needed–Silver Surfer versus Dracula! Thanks to the art, the comic works out, but Wolfman tries too hard writing the Surfer. He gets the protagonist spot, making Dracula a supporting player for an anniversary special. Also, the Christian stuff is overbearing.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #51 [1976] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. It’s a mostly action issue–Dracula’s fundraising for his cult, evil vampire Blade happens in, Drac’s racist as usual, they duke it out. Meanwhile, Frank successfully gaslights Rachel into admitting men are always right. Blah. Not even the art keeps it going.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #52 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. It’s Dracula vs. an unknown super-being who looks like Adam Warlock but isn’t a warlock because Wolfman’s doing a Christian comic. Colan’s the same but less. Colan’s real close to phoning it in level.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #53 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Blade and Hannibal King need to track down Deacon Frost for their vengeance arcs. Only problem is Blade’s dead. Good thing there are guest stars like Damian Hellstrom available. Real good art, slightly obnoxious King narration, but it’s solid action comics.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #54 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. The Son of Dracula is born, on Christmas Eve. Will Dracula keep wife Domini happy as his minions plot against him, in league with his nemeses? Of course. Gorgeous night-time wintery art–Colan’s seeming Eisner nods are back. Best “normal” issue in ages, which sadly means some racism towards Blade from his white pals.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #55 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan. An occasionally problematic, but incredibly ambitious TOMB, centering (eventually) around bride of Dracula, Domini. Colan and Palmer have a glorious issue. Wolfman does okay (it’s complicated) but there’s a lot of earnest to it. At times, so much things get silly.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #56 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Harold writes a novel about fighting Dracula. It’s terrible (one has to wonder if Wolfman was self-aware when mocking garishly purple prose). So is the comic any good? No. The art’s good. The story is surprisingly bland.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #57 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Wolfman tries another done-in-one-ish horror comic about a man who keeps getting reincarnated until he meets Dracula in present-day Boston. Lots of racism in the flashbacks (Wolfman frankly revels in it), while the regular subplots get pushed again further. Bah. But some good art.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #58 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Blade and an old friend team up to save the friend’s wife from an odd vampiric affliction. The story gets silly at times, but… at least no one’s racist in it towards Blade or his Black friends. In the story, anyway. Wolfman’s got to make sure Blade treats his girlfriend like garbage. Fine art, but the story’s more compelling for once.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #59 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Unsurprisingly, the fearless vampire hunters bungle ambushing Dracula as he celebrates the birth of his son. The regular cast doesn’t like the idea of using… guns with silver bullets to kill Dracula (it’s unsporting, but then there’s no comic if they ever succeed). Great art and a silly finish. Wolfman’s bad at Christian comics.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #60 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan. Phenomenal art–Dracula raging against a thunderstorm–would make the issue stand apart, but then there’s also all the weird and icky. First, it retcons last issue’s Christian comic cliffhanger. Then Dracula rants about being a rapist when he was alive. Wolfman’s idea of writing him sympathetic is something else. But, the art.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #61 [1977] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. After a distressing intro with the insipid vampire killers, the issue settles into the main event—Mrs. Dracula trying to resurrect Junior. Except if Junior comes back he’ll be a Heaven vampire, Dad’s mortal enemy. Wolfman’s overwriting passes obnoxious, but it’s weird enough to compel, with help from the gorgeous art.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #62 [1978] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. The issue starts soft, with Domini and Janus talking too much before Janus turns into a golden eagle (the Heavenly version of a vampire bat?). But then there’s a great, weird fight scene, followed by actual suspense. Wolfman overwrites it a tad, but the main story about a haunted house, is rock solid.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #63 [1978] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Drac, son Janus, Frank Drake, and guest star Topaz fight a demonic, telepathic worm monster in a haunted house. Lots of setup to fill pages before a strange time jump back to gladiator times. Lots of great art. And in the last few pages, Wolfman figures out how to make it compelling.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #64 [1978] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Dracula and Topaz go to Hell so Satan (not Mephisto) can babble incessantly about Dracula being so badass he most be destroyed. It’s another of Wolfman’s terrible Christian comics. Back on Earth, lots of (misogynistic) talk of the fearless vampire hunters. Not even the art can help this stinker. Okay cliffhanger. Maybe.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #65 [1978] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan. Human Dracula roams Boston by daylight, becoming a reluctant hero, while the fearless vampire hunters debate whether killing him in his resurrection is fair game. They decide human or not, he goes. Then there’s some cowboy vampire hunter. Is it lazy or just bad? Good art, though.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #66 [1978] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan. Dracula is in New York City, trying to find daughter Lilith to turn him back into a vampire. He meets a divorcée at a discotheque. His cowboy hitman pursues. Good art, if strange (cowboy vs. vampire in seventies New York. Wolfman overdoes the Christian stuff again and teases The Cowboy about his real name not being manly enough.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #67 [1978] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan. Still in New York, Dracula tracks down daughter Lilith, who takes advantage of his humanity to beat the everblooming shit out of him. Great art, a tad exploitative at times (cleavage angles are a big thing). Harold shows up and gets into a buddy cop movie with Drac. Bad Christian comics too! It’s packed.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #68 [1979] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Really good conclusion to the Dracula as human arc. Not without many faults, including the barely present Colan pencils. The art is good, but it’s very different than usual. The ending’s a talky disappointment but the ride there is phenomenal. Even with problems, the writing’s got momentum going for it.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #69 [1979] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. On the run from his old subordinates, Dracula—once again a vampire—finds himself protecting scared children. There’s a lot about crucifies too, which Wolfman manages not to bungle. It’s the first time he hasn’t screwed up the Christian stuff. Art’s good. Still that “New Colan” vibe. Maybe we won’t go back.

Tomb of Dracula (1972) #70 [1979] W: Marv Wolfman. A: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Big finale has some great art. Some. It’s also a whiff of a finish, with Wolfman going all in on a “Rachel’s a broken woman” bit. No special guest stars. No big payoff. Wolfman basically soft booted last issue and now we’re at the end. But some good—some great art. “New Colan” is mostly gone. Too bad about the script.

Briefly, TV (Winter 2024)

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s04e04 “By the Book” [2023] D: Stewart Svaasand. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton, James Anthony-Rose. While the majority of the episode concerns Shenton’s pregnancy fears, new guy Anthony-Rose works on his bedside manner (for the humans, not the animals). And Madeley has a monumental life change she quietly processes.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s04e05 “Papers” [2023] D: Jordan Hogg. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton, Will Thorp, Patricia Hodge, James Anthony-Rose. Ralph is finally off to war, but frets about leaving West with no help other than new guy Anthony-Rose. For his part, Anthony-Rose gets the traditional CREATURES onboarding with the adorable Tricki Woo. Meanwhile, Madeley’s smoldering slow burn arc heats up a bit.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s04e06 “The Home Front” [2023] D: Stewart Svaasand. S: Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton, James Anthony-Rose, Will Thorp, Tony Pitts, Imogen Clawson. The episode feels like something of a rerun–Shenton’s worried about another miscarriage after moving back home with the fam. Meanwhile, Madeley’s got some momentous changes on the horizon (or does she?). It’s nice to see Clawson and Pitts, regardless.

All Creatures Great & Small (2020) s04e07 “On a Wing and a Prayer” [2023] D: Jordan Hogg. S: Nicholas Ralph, Samuel West, Anna Madeley, Rachel Shenton, James Anthony-Rose, Imogen Clawson, Tony Pitts. Nice Christmas episode about Ralph trying to get home to see Shenton, even if it means he has to go AWOL. Back in town, West and Madeley throw the annual party. It’s a wee patriarchal and they’re in trouble with four more war seasons, but it’s nice.

Casanova (2005) 3 episodes D: Sheree Folkson. S: Rose Byrne, Peter O’Toole, David Tennant, Laura Fraser, Rupert Penry-Jones, Shaun Parkes, Nina Sosanya. Too long miniseries with old man Casanova O’Toole telling stories of his younger days to maid Byrne. Tennant plays in the flashbacks; he’s cute, but O’Toole gets good, especially when Byrne pushes him. The visible TV budget hurts it. Writer Russell T Davies cast Tennant as DOCTOR WHO based on this part.

Criminal Record (2024) s01e01 “Emergency Caller” D: Jim Loach. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Zoë Wanamaker, Stephen Campbell Moore, Joana Borja, Ian Bonar, Chizzy Akudolu. Black female detective Jumbo comes across evidence of an innocent man in prison, only to find her bosses (and the original detective, Capaldi), don’t want to hear about it. It’s an AppleTV+ prestige outing, pretty and thin. Capaldi’s good enough; Jumbo’s likable if not particularly good.

Criminal Record (2024) s01e02 “Two Calls” D: Jim Loach. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Shaun Dooley, Cathy Tyson, Ian Bonar, Chizzy Akudolu, Andrew Brooke. After an exciting cliffhanger resolution, the episode gets way more self-contained, as Jumbo continues her investigation into top cop Capaldi. The acting’s all good enough (if only just at times), with Capaldi now feeling like a stunt cast. Is the show always going to be so episodic?

Criminal Record (2024) s01e03 “Kid in the Park” D: Jim Loach. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Shaun Dooley, Zoë Wanamaker, Charlie Creed-Miles, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Campbell Moore. Another episode, another main case, this time a (white) kid hit in a drive-by shooting. The show is quickly just becoming compelling characters in rote copaganda situations, albeit with British accents. Capaldi seems like he’s doing a Pacino impression.

Criminal Record (2024) s01e04 “Protected” D: Jim Loach. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Shaun Dooley, Zoë Wanamaker, Charlie Creed-Miles, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Campbell Moore. The show’s still spinning its wheels, feigning the contemporary murder investigation is important. Capadi’s veering into one note, especially given the serpentine reveals. They all make Capaldi more suspect and Jumbo more of a martyr. Literally.

Criminal Record (2024) s01e05 “Possession with Intent” D: Shaun James Grant. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Shaun Dooley, Zoë Wanamaker, Charlie Creed-Miles, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Campbell Moore. Capaldi’s cronies go after Jumbo’s son and push things over the edge. It’s extraordinarily serious stuff for the show and unclear it can survive the flex. Loads more big reveals and twists too. Some real good acting.

Criminal Record (2024) s01e06 “Beehive” D: Shaun James Grant. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Zoë Wanamaker, Charlie Creed-Miles, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Rasaq Kukoyi. It’s the first–and entirely unexpected despite it being the natural conclusion of multiple melodramatic devices–great episode of the show. Perfect amount of tense drama and a capable cast. Capaldi, Jumbo, Tyson, Kukoyi, and Creed-Miles are outstanding. It won’t be as good again.

Criminal Record (2024) s01e07 “The Sixty-Twos” D: Shaun James Grant. S: Peter Capaldi, Tom Moutchi, Shaun Dooley, Charlie Creed-Miles, Georgina Rich, Cathy Tyson, Mark Weinman. Big reveal flashback episode. Great Capaldi and Moutchi performances, intricate, deliberate scripting. But it is all to excuse racism, knowingly, in copaganda. And the cliffhanger in the present is oddly complacent in continuing it. Only with some misogyny. But maybe they’ll pull it off?

Criminal Record (2024) s01e08 “Carla” D: Shaun James Grant. S: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo, Shaun Dooley, Charlie Creed-Miles, Georgina Rich, Rasaq Kukoyi, Tom Moutchi. Half excellent, half eh finish. Jumbo and Capaldi are great oil and water cop show partners, except of course… he maybe framed an innocent Black guy. All is revealed, with about four endings too many, and none with the right characters. Real good acting all around, even with the rushed third act.

Deadwater Fell (2020) 4 episodes D: Lynsey Miller. S: David Tennant, Cush Jumbo, Anna Madeley, Matthew McNulty, Stuart Bowman, Lisa McGrillis, Laurie Brett. It’s an all romance issue. Dracula and Domini talk past each other with agendas and love at first bite. Blade’s girlfriend distracts him from his life-long question. Rachel’s sick of Frank. Harold comes back for some ungodly reason. Speaking of godly, Wolfman goes 100% Christian comic, with Jesus being a visually passive but ostensibly active participant. Blah.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e01 “Rare” D: Marc Webb. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Pardis Saremi, Mandy Patinkin. Attempt at a KNIVES OUT (but with lots of sex) mystery set on a 1%er yacht. Beane’s the adopted poor with a tragic past and an acerbic wit. Once there’s a murder, she gets investigating alongside childhood disappointment Patikin, who failed to solve her mother’s murder. Patikin’s the whole show (once he arrives), Beane’s not ready for the lead, and the whole thing’s desperate.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e02 “Sordid” D: David Petrarca. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Mandy Patinkin, Jere Burns. Slightly better than the first episode, but still a severe lack of charisma from anyone but Patinkin (and Zhou). It doesn’t help the murder victim (Michael Gladis) is the most likable character.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e03 “Troublesome” D: Alrick Riley. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Mandy Patinkin, David Marshall Grant. Patinkin makes every scene good–whether supporting Beane or Linda Emond as the too Swedish Interpol agent–but the plot’s still dull, the style intentionally confounding, and Patten terrible. Just
embarrassingly terrible.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e04 “Hidden” D: Alrick Riley. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Linda Emond, Mandy Patinkin. There’s about half a really good episode here, by far DEATH’s best. Turns out having likable characters–especially unexpectedly likable characters–helps. Patinkin continues to delight in a part where the performance is the thing. Beane’s getting more comfortable. It’s 40% fine. 35%.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e05 “Exquisite” D: Yangzom Brauen. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Pardis Saremi, Linda Emond, Mandy Patinkin. Beane has a picturesque Maltese date with Kohli while Patinkin teams up with Pardis Saremi to hunt Keyser Sozo. Plus Patten doing business stuff. It’s better than the low but not particularly good. Saremi’s fantastic though. The show hasn’t been good to her.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e06 “Tragic” D: Yangzom Brauen. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Angela Zhou, Pardis Saremi, Linda Emond, Mandy Patinkin. Turns out Patten is a great singer at least. Lots of developments and reveals this episode–no one and nothing as they seem (again)–to get the chairs in order for next episode’s reveals (again). Kohli’s real good, ditto Edmond.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e07 “Memorable” D: James Griffiths. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Mandy Patinkin, David Marshall Grant, Michael Gladis, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Jere Burns. Initially obnoxious stylized flashback episode where Beane reviews Patinkin’s casework all those years ago. It gets real bad at times, partially because concept, partially because Griffiths’s direction is bad. But somehow, it gets through, and all of a sudden, there’s intrigue and compelling situations. With not insignificant caveats but… it works.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e08 “Vanishing” D: James Griffiths. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Angela Zhou, Linda Emond, Mandy Patinkin, Lisa Lu, Jere Burns. The plot dominos are falling at an accelerated rate, making for a packed episode, which jogs back before last episode, runs parallel, then runs subsequent. I’m sure someone thought it was a neat idea, but it’s not. Desperate Wes Anderson-esque direction too. Some real good acting, some bad; it’s Patten’s best episode, another good one for Zhou.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e09 “Impossible” D: Dinh Thai. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Rahul Kohli, Hugo Diego Garcia, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Danny Johnson, Christian Svensson. Beane’s got to do an episode without Patinkin, which actually works out. She’s come a long way on the show (and this episode continues to reveal the writing’s failing her). The passengers are now hostages; really good episode for Johnson, bad one for Cutmore-Smith. And then the cliffhanger reveal is actually a surprise. Multiple ones, in fact.

Death and Other Details (2024) s01e10 “Chilling” D: Dinh Thai. S: Violett Beane, Lauren Patten, Angela Zhou, Hugo Diego Garcia, Pardis Saremi, Linda Emond, Mandy Patinkin. Yikes, it’s so bad. The episode has lots to resolve–there are a couple decent twists, but it’s mostly atrocious. Beane and Patinkin never even get their due, presumably something for season two, which they very ill-advisedly set up. Every scene ends with a fade-out ending moment, and there are about twenty scenes. It’s exhausting. And awful.

Doctor Who (2005) s14e00 “The Church on Ruby Road” [2023] D: Mark Tonderai. S: Ncuti Gatwa, Millie Gibson, Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter, Gemma Arrowsmith, Anita Dobson. Not great but okay enough outing for new sexy, Black, possibly queer Doctor Gatwa, who continues to be Black, sexy, and possibly queer. The adventure includes on-demand retcons, goblins, skyships, and an iffy new companion, Gibson. Gatwa can hold things together fine, though.

Echo (2024) s01e01 “Chafa” D: Sydney Freeland. S: Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene, Vincent D’Onofrio. Spin-off from HAWKEYE show for anti-hero Alaqua Cox, except ECHO’s a DAREDEVIL character so there’s a lengthy setup involving D’Onofrio (and featuring a Charlie Cox cameo as Daredevil) leading up to the events in HAWKEYE. Way too busy front, with the later series setup (Cox going home to Oklahoma) much better. The fighting’s okay, but there’s not enough. Good acting. Panavision aspect’s a tad much.

Echo (2024) s01e02 “Lowak” D: Sydney Freeland. S: Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene, Vincent D’Onofrio. Sort of fun episode (fun for ECHO) with Cox trying to get her family onboard with taking on D’Onofrio’s crime empire. Graham Greene’s adorable as Cox’s dad. It’s trope after trope, but it’s fine; they’re setting a low bar and clearing it.

Echo (2024) s01e03 “Tuklo” D: Catriona McKenzie. S: Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene, Vincent D’Onofrio. Phenomenal action episode with Cox having to rescue her civilian friends from D’Onofrio’s hitmen. Fantastic direction from McKenzie. It’s just a really good done-in-one. With, apparently, a THIN RED LINE homage.

Echo (2024) s01e04 “Taloa” D: Sydney Freeland. S: Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene, Vincent D’Onofrio. Another great episode–probably the series peak given it’s an increase after the previous high–with a bunch of character development for D’Onofrio. He’s outstanding as the show flashes back into his relationship with Cox. Very on it episode.

Echo (2024) s01e05 “Maya” D: Sydney Freeland. S: Alaqua Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene, Vincent D’Onofrio. Incredibly rushed finale centering around the tribe’s powwow, which they’re basically just introducing now. Can Cox defeat D’Onofrio’s hitmen as they crash? Possibly with magic? It’s nicely made, with a weirdly wasted (but also not) last fight. The rush means skipping connecting the dots, which doesn’t help the actors at all.

The Equalizer (2021) s04e01 “Truth for a Truth” [2024] D: Solvan Naim. S: Queen Latifah, Liza Lapira, Adam Goldberg, Tory Kittles, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Lorraine Toussaint, Ilfenesh Hadera. Latifah quickly wraps up last season’s cliffhanger so she can hunt ex-bestie, back-from-the-dead-and-bad guest star Hadera. Meanwhile, Hayes and Toussaint have a weird day at home worrying about things. The action’s not good, but it’s nice having the whole team together (Kittles hangs out). And Hayes and Toussaint have heart.

The Equalizer (2021) s04e02 “Full Throttle” [2024] D: Solvan Naim. S: Queen Latifah, Liza Lapira, Adam Goldberg, Tory Kittles, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Lorraine Toussaint, Eden Marryshow. Same bad direction from Naim and some not great writing or acting, but… the show’s trying to introduce a restorative justice angle (without naming it), and it’s interesting. The main plot involves drag racing, diplomats, and diamonds, with a mystery investigation backbone. Then Toussaint’s at home trying to convince Hayes the military’s a bad choice, and it’s a good subplot.

The Equalizer (2021) s04e03 “Blind Justice” [2024] D: Geoffrey Wing Shotz. S: Queen Latifah, Liza Lapira, Adam Goldberg, Tory Kittles, Laya DeLeon Hayes, Lorraine Toussaint, Marvin Jones III. After a rocky start, the episode evens out okay with a nice guest star turn from Jones as a blind vet who knows the secret to Latifah’s case. Toussaint and Hayes having a delightful casual mystery at an old folks home might be what puts it over (definitely). And the ostensible sincerity helps.

Grantchester (2014) s08e05 “Episode 5” [2024] D: Martin Smith. S: Robson Green, Tom Brittney, Al Weaver, Tessa Peake-Jones, Kacey Ainsworth, Oliver Dimsdale, Nick Brimble. Partially a pilot for Bradley Hall and Melissa Johns as the lead coppers, while Brittney continues his sad man arc. Weaver’s by far got the most heart here.

Grantchester (2014) s08e06 “Episode 6” [2024] D: Rob Evans. S: Robson Green, Tom Brittney, Al Weaver, Tessa Peake-Jones, Kacey Ainsworth, Charlotte Ritchie, Nick Brimble. Season finale takes an “all’s well if it ends well” approach to Brittney’s guilt and self-loathing arc, in no small part thanks to Green’s interventions. Some good scenes (finally) for the ladies–Ainsworth, Peake-Jones, Ritchie.

Inside Job (2021) s01e01 “Unpresidented” D: Pete Michels, Vitaliy Strokous. S: Lizzy Caplan, Clark Duke, Christian Slater, Brett Gelman, John DiMaggio, Tisha Campbell, Bobby Lee. Okay animated comedy about Cognito Inc., the banal office space behind the Deep State. Caplan is the driven woman who doesn’t make enough friends for the white guys, so she’s paired with Duke, a lovable but untalented bro. Slater’s Caplan’s dad, doing the Nicholson impression he’s been mastering since youth. It’s okay. Duke’s a lot better than Caplan, but her writing’s bad.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014) s11e01 “February 18, 2024: Supreme Court” [2024] D: Paul Pennolino. S: John Oliver. Oliver goes after the Supreme Court in general and Clarence Thomas in particular, recapping all the reveals on Thomas’s profound corruption. Oliver’s got a funny potential. If only. There’s also a bit on out-of-touch politicians, but really maybe we just shouldn’t let terrible white people speak in public?

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014) s11e02 “February 25, 2024: Pig Butchering” [2024] D: Paul Pennolino. S: John Oliver. Oliver covers “pig butchering,” a successful social engineering scam where the scammers catfish people out of money, except with the added accouterments of crypto currency and the scammers actually being human trafficked hostages. Very humanist take—don’t abuse the hostages in the Global South, Karen. Depressing, worrying, quite good.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014) s11e03 “March 3, 2024: Airplanes” [2024] D: Paul Pennolino. S: John Oliver, Rose Byrne, David Costabile, Adam Pally, Roy Wood Jr.. After their latest problems with the FAA, Oliver’s feature is on Boeing and how the company’s fallen apart since a late 1990s merger. Basically, the company’s been cravenly indifferent to safety immediately following the merger. Oliver emphasizes pleading with the company not to be full of shit and kill people. Good luck? The amusing gag commercial has a DAMAGES reunion with Rose Byrne and David Costabile.

Resident Alien (2021) s03e01 “Lone Wolf” [2024] D: Robert Duncan McNeill. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Judah Prehn, Gracelyn Awad Rinke, Enver Gjokaj. Changes are coming to ALIEN in this setup for the season (not just the kids getting a lot older, either). Tudyk’s ever the delight, ditto Reynolds. The A plot is Tomko unintentionally romancing evil alien Gjokaj. Good acting, nice directing and writing. Solid stuff, with a surprisingly sincere finish.

Resident Alien (2021) s03e02 “The Upper Hand” [2024] D: Lea Thompson. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Levi Fiehler, Enver Gjokaj, Meredith Garretson. Tudyk, Tomko, and Wetterlund team up to investigate evil alien hybrid Gjokaj, while the rest of the town works on their subplots. Lots of heart again, lots of comedy. Some really good acting from Tudyk, Gjokaj, and Reynolds. Thompson’s direction is good. ALIEN is steady as ever.

Resident Alien (2021) s03e03 “141 Seconds” [2024] D: Robert Duncan McNeill. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Judah Prehn, Elizabeth Bowen, Jenna Lamia. Tudyk crashes Prehn’s family vacation to Yellowstone because the greys seemingly have something going there. Intrigue and hilarity abound. Back home, everyone has a lackadaisically paced mystery-related subplot, with a lot more time spent on the human factor. Particularly for Tomko, Bowen, and Reynolds. The cliffhanger sets up the season. Off direction from McNeill, however.

Resident Alien (2021) s03e04 “Avian Flu” [2024] D: Kabir Akhtar. S: Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Levi Fiehler, Judah Prehn, Elizabeth Bowen. Tudyk falls for the alien sent to evict him from Earth (guest star Edi Patterson), while Reynolds and Bowen crack their case, Tomko bonds with daughter Kaylayla Raine, and Meredith Garretson breaks down (even more). Lots of laughs, heart, and fears, and a great Tudyk performance. Good episode distracts from the season’s still slow start.

One-Percent Warrior (2023, Yamaguchi Yudai)

The One-Percent in One-Percent Warrior’s title does not refer to the super-rich, but rather when someone transcends in their film-related martial arts excellence. The majority of the film is just a forty-minute action sequence with star Sakaguchi Tak roaming around an abandoned zinc factory—on its own little CGI island—and kicking various butt. A lot of it is the same butt. It was in the second or third big beat-down I realized all of the bad guys have their faces covered so they can keep getting beaten down.

But forty minutes isn’t a movie, so Warrior’s has a very complicated story tacked on.

The movie opens with documentary interview footage about how Sakaguchi’s such a badass; even though he’s just an action movie star, he can kick his special forces buddies’ asses too. He can dodge bullets. Sakaguchi doesn’t necessarily get a lot to do in the film—even when he’s got the big reveal, which I’ll dance around later—he doesn’t do a lot. But he manages to make the bullet dodging believable.

And he’s socially awkward enough you can believe it when he can’t hold a steady job. His latest gig is on a period piece where he very quickly mouths off too much and gets fired. On this particular job, however, he meets Fukuyama Kohei, who thinks Sakaguchi’s an action god. Fukuyama becomes Sakaguchi’s sidekick and trainee, listening to Sakaguchi talk about his martial arts and his dream of the perfect action film.

So much talking.

Fukuyama convinces Sakaguchi to try to get funding, which leads them to the abandoned zinc factory island. They’ve got to find a location, after all. There, they discover another film crew already scouting the same location. Before that scene even finishes, Warrior adds the next plot wrinkle—they’re both scouting a location where a dead mobster hid his cocaine and now one set of bad guys has brought the dead mobster’s daughter (Fukuda Rumika) to find it.

Except… there’s also another set of mobsters who want the cocaine, so they’re trying to kill those gangsters without hurting Fukuda. They’ve got other gangster’s daughter Harumi Kanon with them. Harumi’s a vicious killer, not naive like Fukuda, so there’s a whole juxtaposition thing.

Fukuyama will end up bonding with Fukuda, but there’s no payoff for it, which stinks because Fukuyama’s really likable in the scenes. It also stinks because it plays into the third act reveal, which part and parcel lifts one of the more famous movie twists from the twentieth century. While Warrior uses the twist just to get to stop the movie—it’s very low budget, and they do a lot with that budget, but there’s a limit, and they do hit it multiple times—but the twist also suggests there’s all sorts of character development they could’ve done but didn’t. Even within the constraints of the established format (the documentary interviews and so on).

It’s a real bummer because Warrior overcomes a turgid first act to actually get moving once the action starts. Sakaguchi can obviously do his job, but Fukuda, Harumi, Fukuyama—they all come through. Even the gangsters are solid. Warrior goes into the finale much stronger than expected, albeit because we’re worried about characters we may or may not need to be worried about, but still. Warrior’s second act rally is significant.

And then it all crashes down.

The Moon (2023, Kim Yong-hwa)

The Moon runs about two hours, but it’s got enough story for eight. About the only way to tell all the story it’s got overflowing would be a miniseries remake. And even then, you could probably toss on another couple of episodes to even it all out.

The film concerns South Korea’s second attempt at a moon landing. Their first attempt blew up five years before this one. Moon takes place in 2029, so the first attempt was 2024. It doesn’t so much take place in the near future as the immediate future and then the very near future. Except, for all the truthiness of Moon, there isn’t any. Korea’s doing a solo moon mission because they want to take all the water out of the moon (we’ve discovered there’s probably water under the surface, and whoever controls the water controls the spice). The United States and all the other English-speaking countries with white people have teamed up to share the moon–no word on anyone else.

The U.S.-led group also has a space station orbiting the moon at all times. It has landers on it so they can go down and do a Tom Hanks-inspired skip and sing whenever they want, but Moon almost immediately establishes no one has walked on the moon since the seventies. This new mission is going to be the first time since then. Actually, wait, it might be possible only Americans have walked on the moon, including since the seventies, which means they don’t let the other astronauts on the lunar space station go walking on the moon because Americans are dicks.

Americans are dicks is another of Moon’s subplots, it turns out. See–and buckle in–disgraced Korean Astronautics and Space Center (NASC) flight director Sol Kyung-gu, who oversaw the previous tragic mission, is back because he designed the control module, and they need him. His ex-wife (Kim Hee-ae) dumped him, moved to the United States, renounced her Korean heritage, married a white dude to raise her son with her, and became the head of NASA. Lots of Moon involves Kim telling Sol to shove it whenever they need help.

Now, there’s the subtext about South Korea wanting to strip-mine the moon and not share with anyone else, especially Kim. It’s bizarre. The geopolitical implications are all very, very strange.

But Moon doesn’t get into any of them. Not when it’s also got one of the astronauts–Do Kyung-soo–vastly unqualified for the mission. It turns out his dad (Lee Sung-min in a not-tiny but always silent cameo) was Sol’s partner on the previous mission, and when it went bad, Lee was the one who killed himself in disgrace. Another big thing about The Moon–basically all of the Korean guys in authority positions imply they frequently consider suicide instead of having to apologize or be uncomfortable. It’s so much.

But also Sol and Do don’t know they’re working together. And they have so many secrets from one another.

Presumably, Do has another secret, which somehow the film felt the need to cut–he’s supposed to be an elite ROK Navy SEAL, except he’s terrible under pressure and spends all his time not under pressure panicking about being under pressure. The other astronauts–who disobey orders and kick ass because they’re astronauts, bro–make fun of him for being such a worry wart.

There’s also Sol’s sidekick, Hong Seung-hee, taking up screen time because they wanted an ingenuine (at one point, she and Do seem like they’re going to have a long-distance connection, but it’s actually nothing, which is weird). Oh, and new KASC political appointee Jo Han-chul is freaking out about everything because he wanted an easy government job without any responsibility.

See, it could easily go eight episodes. I haven’t even gotten into the constant terror everyone finds themselves in once things start going wrong.

Not talking about what goes wrong isn’t necessarily a “no spoilers” decision, either. The Moon’s a science and technology thriller a la Apollo 13 but since it’s based in a poorly thought-out reality (courtesy director Kim’s script) and doesn’t pretend to know any of the engineering whatsoever… it’s just a bunch of words and visuals out of other movies. The special effects are great, no complaints in that department, but they’re just showing various, pre-existing visual tropes.

In all, Moon’s not original (though letting melodrama knock a science thriller off course so much isn’t common), but it’s usually compelling. Do’s not good, but he’s sympathetic. It’d have helped if they revealed he’d faked his way onto the mission, just so the KASC astronauts don’t seem incompetent. Sol’s fine, but there’s not a part there. The rest of the supporting cast is solid–Jo’s a lot of fun, always in the background.

The Moon’s a very tense, simultaneously bloated and thin special effects extravaganza. The only thing missing is the human drama, making it a phenomenal contrast between that genre and melodrama.

Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman (2023, Kim Seong-sik)

Until the third act, when it suddenly becomes clear the film never really had anywhere to go (at least not in this installment), Dr. Cheon is mostly delightful. Even the listless ending isn’t not entertaining, it’s just listless.

After a magic-heavy dream sequence opening, Cheon settles into the gag–Gang Dong-won is a “doctor” who solves hauntings for his YouTube channel. Lee Dong-hwi plays his faithful sidekick, who does all the editing, takes the pay, doesn’t ask too many questions. Not even about Gang’s actual scheme: he’s a trained psychiatrist who knows he can’t cure people’s cultural beliefs in ghosts but can address the symptoms.

Or something. Lee doesn’t care as long as the checks clear.

It will turn out Gang’s actually using the actual mental health help racket to track down the very real, very evil shaman who killed his little brother and grandfather. Huh Joon-ho plays the evil shaman, who can possess people with ease, which makes for numerous good chase sequences and fight scenes. Dr. Cheon’s least realistic element might be Gang’s adeptness as a combination street and sword fighter. While the film hints at his quest to identify Huh (whose existence is something of a theory between Gang and his mentor, Kim Jong-soo), there’s no indication Gang’s been training.

Maybe it just comes with the magic.

The setup involves Gang and Lee taking damsel-in-distress Esom’s case and heading to a remote village. Esom can see dead people all around her and so on, including the evil spirit inhabiting her little sister, Park So-yi. Esom’s ostensibly going to be Lee’s love interest (Gang’s got no time for love), but no one told Esom. And then the movie itself forgets about it towards the end. Dr. Cheon only runs ninety-eight minutes, and they’re clawing for that runtime; there’s lots of delay. Good thing the cast’s so fun.

Well, Gang, Lee, and Kim. And Park to some degree. Since Esom’s in the place of Gang’s love interest but isn’t, she’s missing traditional functions. For a while, it seems like she might have more significance than a plot delivery device.

She does not.

Huh’s a threatening villain, but still cartoonish.

For most of the film, director Kim keeps a fine pace going, balancing the comic and action sequences. The story’s small but big, with the second act dipping into the flashback well a little at a time until the whole story finally comes out. But the geography–Esom and Park’s haunted village and its immediate surroundings (well, drivable immediate surroundings)–is rather finite. And since the movie spends the first half pretending Gang shouldn’t have a plan for this eventuality (one of his “fake” exorcisms leading to the real magic bad guy), it starts feeling cramped.

So instead of focusing on Gang, Dr. Cheon leans heavily on everyone else. Esom’s got damsel stuff, Lee and Kim have sidekick stuff, Huh’s got evil stuff. Gang’s around a lot and gets to charm a lot, but he doesn’t have a character arc. Not even the foreboding revenge arc; Kim warns Gang not to act with vengeance in his heart and whatnot, but it doesn’t even matter. Especially not once the film goes all out with the CGI in the third act. There’s a lot of smart, action-oriented magic on display in the set pieces in the first and second acts, but the third act decides it’s time to unlock the secrets of the universe onscreen.

It’s way too much for such little emotional stakes, derailing the film. And there’s not time to get it back on track. Dr. Cheon goes out with a bang, which is not what it needs.

Hopefully, they’ll figure out something for Gang to do in the next one.

Even if they don’t, get enough of the cast back, and it won’t matter.

Dr. Cheon’s a fun ride, but it’s (too?) determined just to be the beginning.