Search
Search results
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2067 KP) rated The Tower Treasure (Hardy Boys, #1) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
When their friend Chet's jalopy is stolen, Frank and Joe think it is their chance to prove they can be detectives. But when they find his car, it just leads them to more mysteries.
This is my first time reading a Hardy Boys book in years, and I found it interesting. The characters were still as shallow as I remembered, but I was surprised to find the plot was episodic and their father did some big chunks of the investigation without them. Still, I enjoyed it and think kids today will, too.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2014/08/book-review-tower-treasure-by-franklin.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
This is my first time reading a Hardy Boys book in years, and I found it interesting. The characters were still as shallow as I remembered, but I was surprised to find the plot was episodic and their father did some big chunks of the investigation without them. Still, I enjoyed it and think kids today will, too.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2014/08/book-review-tower-treasure-by-franklin.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
David McK (3185 KP) rated Around the world in 80 days in TV
Jan 30, 2022
Around the world in 80 days.
One of Jules Vernes most famous novels, and the inspiration for many a movie (and even a 80s cartoon).
I've never seen or heard of a TV series until this one, which - in retrospect - actually surprised me quite a bit, as you think the story would (and does) lend itself perfectly to the episodic nature of the journey.
This adaptation stars David Tennant in the lead role, alongside strong support from Ibrahim Koma as the French valet Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as the gender flipped/reimagined journalist Abigail Fix (instead of Inspector Fix), while still keeping its late Victorian setting.
Yes, you know how it is going to end.
Still very enjoyable!
One of Jules Vernes most famous novels, and the inspiration for many a movie (and even a 80s cartoon).
I've never seen or heard of a TV series until this one, which - in retrospect - actually surprised me quite a bit, as you think the story would (and does) lend itself perfectly to the episodic nature of the journey.
This adaptation stars David Tennant in the lead role, alongside strong support from Ibrahim Koma as the French valet Passepartout and Leonie Benesch as the gender flipped/reimagined journalist Abigail Fix (instead of Inspector Fix), while still keeping its late Victorian setting.
Yes, you know how it is going to end.
Still very enjoyable!
Awix (3310 KP) rated Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) in Movies
Oct 22, 2019
Slapdash but good-natured horror-comedy works hard enough to justify its existence. The movie closes with Woody Harrelson treating the audience to a full-throated rendition of Hunka Hunka Burning Love, which summarises the movie quite well: it's enthusiastic, not awful, and fairly entertaining, but you do wonder what the point of it is.
An indeterminate number of years after the first film (the subject of one of many hand-waves), the characters embark on another roadtrip across zombie-infested America. The plot is episodic and somewhat disjointed, but strong performances from the quartet and a frequently inventive script keep things barrelling along. It's silly and knowing and not really very scary, but it passes the time amiably enough.
An indeterminate number of years after the first film (the subject of one of many hand-waves), the characters embark on another roadtrip across zombie-infested America. The plot is episodic and somewhat disjointed, but strong performances from the quartet and a frequently inventive script keep things barrelling along. It's silly and knowing and not really very scary, but it passes the time amiably enough.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Ikarie XB-1 (1963) in Movies
Jun 23, 2019 (Updated Jun 23, 2019)
One of those movies which has clearly been influential but remains relatively little-seen, certainly in the original version. XB-1 and its crew (mostly good-looking young people, a few rugged old character actors, and a fairly dreadful robot prop) blast off for Alpha Centauri but must come to terms with the strains of long-haul spaceflight and various dangers (radiation, dangerous derelicts, and so on).
Arguably the missing link between Forbidden Planet and 2001: A Space Odyssey (yes, that's a bold claim), with a strange mixture of pulp SF tropes but also downbeat psychological realism. Notably good and interesting sets, photography, and a memorable avant-garde musical score too. The story is a bit episodic and not exactly pacey, but the rest of the film makes up for this.
Arguably the missing link between Forbidden Planet and 2001: A Space Odyssey (yes, that's a bold claim), with a strange mixture of pulp SF tropes but also downbeat psychological realism. Notably good and interesting sets, photography, and a memorable avant-garde musical score too. The story is a bit episodic and not exactly pacey, but the rest of the film makes up for this.
Awix (3310 KP) rated How the West Was Won (1963) in Movies
Jun 24, 2021
Sprawling account of fifty years of American history, as encountered by various members of one pioneer family. Starts with the initial settlement of the west, takes in the Civil War, the coming of the railroads, and concludes with the triumph of law and order (well, sort of).
At least partly sold on the sheer number of stars involved, but in the end there's hardly any John Wayne, not much more Jimmy Stewart, and probably a bit more George Peppard than you'd honestly care for. It's quite naive, sentimental stuff, in many ways, and the technical side-effects of it being shot in VistaVision are very obvious. There's some magnificent photography, the odd effective cameo, and very occasionally a moving moment - but too often this is stodgy and episodic rather than a stirring saga.
At least partly sold on the sheer number of stars involved, but in the end there's hardly any John Wayne, not much more Jimmy Stewart, and probably a bit more George Peppard than you'd honestly care for. It's quite naive, sentimental stuff, in many ways, and the technical side-effects of it being shot in VistaVision are very obvious. There's some magnificent photography, the odd effective cameo, and very occasionally a moving moment - but too often this is stodgy and episodic rather than a stirring saga.
Larry Eisner (2082 KP) rated Maniac in TV
Oct 3, 2018
Realistic views of mental illness (4 more)
So much vision in the palette and visual storytelling
The acting is top-notch!
Retro-Futurism!!!
Such creativity!
A beautiful, creative series about mental illness
Absurdism at its finest. Full stop.
Maniac is a beautifully written, beautifully shot and masterfully acted work of art. Taking a 70s-80s retro idea of future technology, and making it real, making it believable and all the while throwing crazy funny oddity at the same time is an insane balancing act and it works! My god, it works!
It is episodic and works as such, but it could also very well have been an excellent 5-6 hour film. Every scene is necessary. Every frame is intentional. The jokes hit, the visual universe is consistent, and the whole thing tugs on you like very little film does these days. In fact I hesitate to call it TV. Because while it is indeed episodic, it’s not serialized. It’s one long and perfectly crafted story. It winds and twists and it jumps at the sky but it always has a reason to do so.
And all I can say is that every damn time I forget how great Sally Field is, she kills it. She absolutely kills it. I wouldn’t have cast her or Jonah Hill, but they are PERFECT. I can not recommend this show enough. Honestly it’s the best original content I’ve seen this year. Hands down.
It’s funny, it’s bizarre, and it’s emotional. It gets, via sideways and transverse angles, what it means to be a broken and fragile human, when everyone around you seems to have it together but you.
Please watch it. You won’t regret it.
Maniac is a beautifully written, beautifully shot and masterfully acted work of art. Taking a 70s-80s retro idea of future technology, and making it real, making it believable and all the while throwing crazy funny oddity at the same time is an insane balancing act and it works! My god, it works!
It is episodic and works as such, but it could also very well have been an excellent 5-6 hour film. Every scene is necessary. Every frame is intentional. The jokes hit, the visual universe is consistent, and the whole thing tugs on you like very little film does these days. In fact I hesitate to call it TV. Because while it is indeed episodic, it’s not serialized. It’s one long and perfectly crafted story. It winds and twists and it jumps at the sky but it always has a reason to do so.
And all I can say is that every damn time I forget how great Sally Field is, she kills it. She absolutely kills it. I wouldn’t have cast her or Jonah Hill, but they are PERFECT. I can not recommend this show enough. Honestly it’s the best original content I’ve seen this year. Hands down.
It’s funny, it’s bizarre, and it’s emotional. It gets, via sideways and transverse angles, what it means to be a broken and fragile human, when everyone around you seems to have it together but you.
Please watch it. You won’t regret it.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) in Movies
Mar 7, 2020
Terry Gilliam emerges victorious from his epic battle to the death with Miguel Cervantes' famous novel. Not quite the movie he famously never finished making with Johnny Depp, nearly twenty years ago, but a subtly different tale of a film director finding himself entangled in different versions of the Quixote story and, perhaps, looking for redemption.
After a slow and rambling start the film eventually becomes a charming, funny, and occasionally thrilling and moving adaptation (sort of) of the book - if it's picaresque and episodic, that's the nature of Quixote. The knowing wit and intelligence of the novel survive too. Strong performances, visually very impressive - the fact the film exists at all is remarkable, let alone that it's this good. Very reminiscent of Gilliam's movies from the 1980s: hugely imaginative, narratively chaotic, very individual, and equally easy to like.
After a slow and rambling start the film eventually becomes a charming, funny, and occasionally thrilling and moving adaptation (sort of) of the book - if it's picaresque and episodic, that's the nature of Quixote. The knowing wit and intelligence of the novel survive too. Strong performances, visually very impressive - the fact the film exists at all is remarkable, let alone that it's this good. Very reminiscent of Gilliam's movies from the 1980s: hugely imaginative, narratively chaotic, very individual, and equally easy to like.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Abducted in Plain Sight (2017) in Movies
Jun 26, 2019
Underdeveloped True Crime Story
Unlike a lot of the episodic true crime stories that have been on Netflix recently this one takes a one off 91 minute movie approach which leaves you wanting for more details and info. Although going for a whole full series would probably be pushing it, I really feel this story needed a bit more development. A mini series would've been preferable to the too rapid rattling through of a series of hard to believe events.
It’s pretty much all told via interviews with Jan (the victim) and her family with little from other sources. Considering most of it comes from their lips and a lot sounds incredibly naive (even for 1970s) it has a very hard to believe feel to it. Needed a lot of development on some points barely mentioned.
It’s pretty much all told via interviews with Jan (the victim) and her family with little from other sources. Considering most of it comes from their lips and a lot sounds incredibly naive (even for 1970s) it has a very hard to believe feel to it. Needed a lot of development on some points barely mentioned.
David McK (3185 KP) rated The X-Files: Cold Cases in Books
Nov 7, 2019
The X Files was a big part of my teenage years.
And, frankly, I don't remember it being this explicit about the alien conspiracies, cover-ups, etc, etc …
More of a radio show than an audio book, this has David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson returning to their signature roles as Mulder and Scully respectively, alongside several other characters who 'died' in the series proper. It's also very 'episodic' - so was the TV show, alongside the larger occasional mythology episodes - although there is a narrative through-line throughout it all.
To be honest, I also found myself fast forwarding (or listening at sped-up speed) to large parts of it: I'm not sure whether it was the content, or because this misses a key component of the TV series (The visuals, and the lighting), but to me this was only OK: nothing in it that would make me want to rush out and purchase the sequel. A pity.
And, frankly, I don't remember it being this explicit about the alien conspiracies, cover-ups, etc, etc …
More of a radio show than an audio book, this has David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson returning to their signature roles as Mulder and Scully respectively, alongside several other characters who 'died' in the series proper. It's also very 'episodic' - so was the TV show, alongside the larger occasional mythology episodes - although there is a narrative through-line throughout it all.
To be honest, I also found myself fast forwarding (or listening at sped-up speed) to large parts of it: I'm not sure whether it was the content, or because this misses a key component of the TV series (The visuals, and the lighting), but to me this was only OK: nothing in it that would make me want to rush out and purchase the sequel. A pity.
Awix (3310 KP) rated A Chump at Oxford (1940) in Movies
Mar 24, 2019 (Updated Mar 24, 2019)
Disjointed L&H slapstick comedy, one of their last films for Hal Roach. Originally made as a 40-minute 'streamlined feature' and was extended to 62 minutes by the addition of an opening section which is a tidied-up remake of their 1928 short From Soup to Nuts; naturally, this has no connection with the rest of the story. Stan and Ollie try their hands at catering (badly), stop a robbery (accidentally) and as a reward are sent to Oxford University to better themselves. They antagonise the local students which leads to some surprising revelations as to Stan's past.
The individual sections are not too bad, but the episodic nature of the film means it feels longer than an hour; there are some good bits, but also a sense of the boys having run out of ideas and either repeating themselves or trying too hard. Spotting Peter Cushing (this is possibly the best-known of the films he made while in Hollywood for a couple of years as a young man) adds to the fun, though.
The individual sections are not too bad, but the episodic nature of the film means it feels longer than an hour; there are some good bits, but also a sense of the boys having run out of ideas and either repeating themselves or trying too hard. Spotting Peter Cushing (this is possibly the best-known of the films he made while in Hollywood for a couple of years as a young man) adds to the fun, though.