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I Come in Peace (1990, Craig P. Baxley)
I Come in Peace is a Dolph Lundgren versus alien movie. It’s from the period before Lundgren went to acting classes but had gotten rid of his Swedish accent, which ends up working against the picture. The terrible one-liners might have some personality if Lundgren had some accented inflection. Or if he just lost the… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e15 – To Tell the Truth
In terms of "Frasier"'s concept, To Tell the Truth is the most significant episode they've ever done. They've irrevocably changed something about one of the characters. When you watch the show in reruns, there's before and after this episode, six and a half years into the show's run, and resolving a story arc starting in… 📖
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Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e11 – The Final Frame
It’s a team-building episode with some big-scale wackiness—big scale—and a little romance thrown in. Plus, Jes Macallan (who also directed) and Adam Tsekhman trying on wedding dresses. The episode doesn’t spend much time on any one set of characters—they’re either paired off or grouped together—and while it’d be nicer to have more time with, say,… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e14 – Three Valentines
Kelsey Grammer’s garbage politics were well-known when “Frasier” aired, which always made rooting for the show awkward. But Three Valentines, the fifth episode of the series he directed, is so good I thought about how it was too bad he never broke into movies. Though he’d just have made right-wing crap. This episode is a… 📖
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Passing Strange (2009, Annie Dorsen and Spike Lee)
From the start, Passing Strange is a spectacular filming and presentation of a stage production. Lee’s direction, Barry Alexander Brown’s editing, Matthew Libatique’s photography, they’re all great from go. Lee and Libatique have highlights throughout—and Brown’s cutting excels during the busiest sections—but it’s clear Strange will look great no matter the content. Of course, Lee… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e13 – The Show Where Woody Shows Up
For an obligatory Woody Harrelson finally guest stars on “Frasier” episode, they do all right. There’s a good mix of Harrelson with the regular cast–including some of the regular supporting cast—and there’s a little bit of an unrelated B plot. Station engineer Noel (Patrick Kerr) is trying to woo Peri Gilpin while everyone drops “Star… 📖
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Much Ado About Nothing (2011, Josie Rourke and Robert Delamere)
The best thing about Much Ado About Nothing, except the dialogue, is Delamere’s direction. Not the stage direction, Rourke did that job, but Delamere’s direction of this recording. There’s some ho-hum headroom stuff going on to keep actors in the shot, but it’s a phenomenal showcase of the actors’ performances. They don’t credit the editor,… 📖
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Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic (2021, Jack Rampling)
If its aloof and earnest host is to be believed, Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic was totally going to be about said host, Louis Theroux, journeying to Texas during the COVID-19 pandemic to do a new documentary about Joe Exotic. Exotic appeared on one of Theroux’s documentary specials ten years ago and, since being convicted… 📖
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The Ramen Girl (2008, Robert Allan Ackerman)
There’s not much good to say about The Ramen Girl, except the Japanese cast does pretty well. They don’t get actual story arcs, and they’re only around to service the vanity of narcissist protagonist Brittany Murphy. But their acting is good, even though director Ackerman is terrible with their scenes too. Murphy is a trust… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e12 – Our Parents, Ourselves
Okay, I’d forgotten whether or not Janis Hirsch was a distinct new writer on the show. Or a distinct new writer to get an episode credit. She’s not. She’s new (Our Parents, Ourselves is her second credited episode), but she’s not distinct, which is kind of better. The episode’s not bad. I mean, it wastes… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e11 – Good Samaritan
This episode is transphobic garbage and shouldn’t be aired with a content warning, it should be shoved into a hole and only pulled out for academics trying to catalog nineties transphobia as it intersects with classism and general misogyny. Or for writers Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck to figure out how to attempt to atone… 📖
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Evil (2019) s02e06 – C Is for Cop
Is Mike Colter okay? As in, not injured? Six episodes into the season, and Colter’s still got nothing to do—and even less than usual as he’s not bickering with Michael Emerson (who doesn’t show up this episode). Then in the scene where he’s supporting Aasif Mandvi’s subplot, Colter looks pretty uncomfortable in his chair. Though… 📖
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Much Ado About Nothing (1993, Kenneth Branagh)
Much Ado About Nothing has a machismo problem. It’s not writer, director, and star Branagh’s fault; it’s just the historical patriarchy. Though Branagh does try to do some initial counterbalancing, opening the film with a quote about the sexual dynamics. Still, that moment only carries through the first scene, setting up Emma Thompson’s character… And… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e10 – Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz
The first time Kelsey Grammer directed a “Frasier” episode, he barely appeared onscreen. Subsequently, he started including himself more, and with this episode, he’s got himself front and center. He gives David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney some outstanding showcases—better than he ever gives himself—but he’s got the A plot from the start. The episode… 📖
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Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021) s01e08 – Fixed
The first season of “Kevin Can F**k Himself” features singular performances from Annie Murphy, Mary Hollis Inboden, and Eric Petersen. The writing is ambitious, excellent, and successful. The direction—usually from Anna Dokoza, who directs this episode to make a total of directing six of the eight first season episodes—is phenomenal. Also, you might just want… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e09 – Roz, a Loan
Roz, a Loan is a peculiar episode. It’s ostensibly about Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) lending Roz (Peri Gilpin) some money since they’re still out of work. The episode opens in the cafe with Grammer and Gilpin thinking they’re about to go back to work at their original station—the salsa format hasn’t been working out ratings-wise—but then… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e08 – The Seal Who Came to Dinner
The second half of the episode is such accomplished screwball I totally forget the first half ranges from problematic to cringe, with way too much self-awareness. The episode opens at the cafe, with Kelsey Grammer and Peri Gilpin talking about being out of work and David Hyde Pierce showing up to whine about not being… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e07 – How to Bury a Millionaire
The episode opens with a car chase sequence, with Kelsey Grammer and John Mahoney in one car and David Hyde Pierce in the other. There’s some outdoor shooting (seemingly second unit) and lots of banter during the actual driving—not just Mahoney and Grammer, but Hyde Pierce (via car phone) as well. It’s a great, distinct… 📖
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Gunpowder Milkshake (2021, Navot Papushado)
Gunpowder Milkshake is a moody, neon, sometimes minimalist mix of neo-noir and spaghetti Western. Director Papushado approaches the film’s budgetary constraints with creativity and ingenuity, focusing tightly on lead Karen Gillan and her dangerous presence. The film bookends with noir narration from Gillan, which creates a dreamscape for the runtime. A highly stylized dreamscape, full… 📖
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Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e10 – Bad Blood
There’s got to be a name for this episode’s narrative device; splitting the cast, so half are offscreen dealing with one plotline, leaving the rest of the cast to deal with their own. Then next episode, you get the other half of the story. Or, I’m somewhat confident has been the case with “Legends” before,… 📖
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It Follows (2014, David Robert Mitchell)
It Follows is a monster movie. Somewhere in the second half of the film, the monster starts acting with more malice towards its targets, like it’s frustrated it hasn’t been able to kill them yet. Given it’s an invisible sex monster—or, I guess, possibly an invisible sex demon—there’s a particular energy to it. There’s always… 📖
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Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021) s01e07 – Broken
High narrative density this episode, starting with Robin Lord Taylor getting this great prologue where we get a glimpse into his daily life. Then we see how Annie Murphy getting too involved with it doesn’t help anything. Then there’s excellent material for Murphy and Mary Hollis Inboden, not to mention the absurdly effective sitcom riff.… 📖
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Evil (2019) s02e05 – Z Is for Zombies
I’m surprised to see Nelson McCormick is this episode’s director. I don’t remember his previous directorial efforts on “Evil” being… well, being any good. And this episode’s pretty well-directed. It’s all over the place, and McCormick keeps up the pace. The episode opens on series regular Skylar Gray and her friend Gloria Manning watching scary… 📖
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Flight to Mars (1951, Lesley Selander)
The first act of Flight to Mars is quirky enough and soapy enough I had hopes for the finish. The film’s about the first crewed expedition to Mars, and I knew it had them landing there and meeting Martians, so I figured there’d be time for more quirkiness and soapiness at the end. It seemed… 📖
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Joe (1970, John G. Avildsen)
Joe is a story of white male friendship. The Joe in the title is Peter Boyle, a racist working-class Vietnam vet. The film doesn’t open with Boyle though, it begins with Susan Sarandon. She’s a rich girl turned hippie who’s slumming with a drug-dealing boyfriend (Patrick McDermott) in the Village. The “prologue” (for the entirety… 📖
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Loki (2021) s01e06 – For All Time. Always.
“Loki” will return for season two. You find out at the end (of the credits). Or online. I tried to avoid “Loki” spoilers just because I wanted to be (relatively) surprised; would it be Wizard of Oz, would it be the purple one, would it just be Tom Hiddleston in makeup. I probably should’ve just… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e06 – Secret Admirer
After a peculiar opening—Peri Gilpin then David Hyde Pierce interrupt Kelsey Grammer on a date with Grace Phillips at the cafe–Secret Admirer soon becomes a spirited mix of a “Grammer the jackass” episode and a Crane Boys outing. Lori Kirkland Baker gets the script credit, Pamela Fryman directs. Both do some fine work, though Fryman’s… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e05 – First, Do No Harm
Oh, thank goodness, first-time “Frasier” writers Jordan Hawley and William Schifrin never have another credit on an episode. I didn’t recognize their names on the titles and wondered if they would be new regular writers this promising season. No, they are not. Whew. Twenty-plus years on, “Frasier” has aged pretty well. I remember a few… 📖
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Legends of Tomorrow (2016) s06e09 – This Is Gus
It’s such a good episode. And not just because of the last five minutes, which are fantastic and remind how the magic “Legends” really started when Tala Ashe arrived. She’s spectacular. And it’s not just because there’s an adorable alien who looks like the goofy Gremlin in Mogwai form (there’s a little Gremlins montage in… 📖
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Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021) s01e06 – The Grand Victorian
What if “Kevin Can F**k Himself” doesn’t have a big twist? It certainly seems like it’s going to have a big twist, but it actually hadn’t occurred to me it might not have one until thinking about this post. I actually can’t guess, because it’s impossible to guess with “Kevin.” What is this show? Six… 📖
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Evil (2019) s02e04 – E Is for Elevator
This episode has plot holes you can drive a truck through, but it also fully embraces Michael Emerson’s villain as comic relief. He’s no longer dangerous, no longer trying to get the heroes killed or kill little kids; he’s just a troll who inserts himself in the heroes’ lives and pesters them. It’s kind of… 📖
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Black Widow (2021, Cate Shortland)
Black Widow gets a lot better after the first act. Mostly because the prologue—set in 1995 Ohio where tween-who-will-be-Scarlet-Johansson Ever Anderson lives with her All-American family (little sister Violet McGraw, mom Rachel Weisz, dad David Harbour)—is almost classy enough. With better music and a more patient, less blandly jingoistic look at Americana, it’d be potentially… 📖
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Loki (2021) s01e05 – Journey Into Mystery
Journey Into Mystery is simultaneously the cheapest “Loki”—though not the special effects, the CGI composites are solid (for most of it; oh, and the fight scene is profoundly bad), but narratively speaking (it entirely cops out on last episode’s big moves)—and the best, because it guest stars Richard E. Grant as a Loki variant. There… 📖
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BlacKkKlansman (2018, Spike Lee)
I’m late on BlacKkKlansman. It plays a little differently in 2021 versus 2018 (or even 2019), because now there’s no difference in the rhetoric of the seventies racist garbage and today’s Republicans. The film opens with Alec Baldwin playing the host of a KKK newsreel and doing multiple takes as to take the racism up… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e04 – Hot Ticket
It’s an outdoor episode for the most part, with the main action being Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce trying to get into a play. So it’s the two of them outside the theater—presumably on location, though I suppose there might be a big theater exterior on the Paramount backlot—trying to avoid looking desperate for… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e03 – Dial M for Martin
It’s another great episode. Even with some often very iffy directing from Ken Lamkin. Rob Greenburg gets the writing credit on the inspired story. The episode opens with Kelsey Grammer and John Mahoney bickering—a lot more knives out than usual; they’ve gotten sick of each other since Grammer’s been out of work. Once again, greatest… 📖
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No Sudden Move (2021, Steven Soderbergh)
I spent most of No Sudden Move hoping against hope it’d somehow end well. Unfortunately, by the end of Move, I’d forgotten it started as a potential pulpy franchise for Don Cheadle (twenty-five years after Devil in a Blue Dress maybe he could get the one he deserved). The third act is such a slog,… 📖
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Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021) s01e05 – New Patty
About three-quarters of the way through this episode, I realized how much I hope “Kevin Can F**k Himself” is a single season series. If they’re going to try to maintain the darkness escalation in the series through a cliffhanger… I’m not sure I can handle it. The episode opens with a resolve to the previous… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e02 – Frasier’s Curse
Jay Kogen gets the script credit on this episode; his name is quickly becoming a welcome sight. My rewatch of “Frasier” could be subtitled, “I should’ve tracked the writers,” but Kogen’s gotten to be memorable for being reliable. Frasier’s Curse is a very, very reliable episode. It again trades on the manufactured sympathy for star… 📖
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Frasier (1993) s06e01 – Good Grief
It only took five full seasons to figure it out, but “Frasier” has finally realized Kelsey Grammer’s whine episodes are a lot better when he’s actually got something to whine about. Christopher Lloyd gets the script credit, Pamela Fryman directs. Both do excellent work—there’s a lot of integrated, passive wit—as Grammer has to contend not… 📖