The Pink Panther is a comedy heist film that was first released in 1963.  Blake Edwards directed this film that he also co-wrote with Maurice Richlin.  Peter Sellers, David Niven, and Robert Wagner lead a pretty impressive cast.  Sellers plays the iconic and clumsy detective, Jacques Clouseau as David Niven takes on the role of master jewel thief Sir Charles Lytton, also known as the Panther.  Wagner plays Lytton’s nephew, George, an irrepressible playboy with some amoral ambitions of his own.

The Pink Panther is an exotic jewel that has its origins in some fictional Middle east region.  The Phantom has his eye on it, and Inspector Clouseau has his eye on finally capturing him.  Clouseau’s wife is also not all that interested in fidelity since she has a fling going on with the notorious phantom.

In many ways, I found this film to be very overrated.  I could just lack the proper taste for this kind of occasional slapstick comedy.  I found the pace very slow.  I did appreciate the cinematography.  There is some striking scenery presented here throughout.  Some of the gags went on much longer than I appreciated.  I understood the reputation for idiocy Clouseau carried, however I didn’t have much fun actually seeing it.

Maybe this type of film with this type of humor just doesn’t age well.  Maybe I am never going to be a Clouseau fan.  The film has moments where it can look gorgeous at times, and the talent that was cast is formidable, but it moves too slowly at times and just failed to keep my attention as much as I had hoped.

In the Shadow of the Moon is a science fiction thriller released on Netflix last year and is directed by Jim Mickle.  It was written by Gregory Weidman and Geoff Tock.  The cast includes Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, Bokeem Woodbine, and Michael C. Hall.

Holbrook plays a police officer in 1988 Philadelphia when several people suddenly keel over after hemorrhaging quite grossly. Officer Lockhart identifies a suspect as a young black woman in a blue hoodie.  When she is killed during the pursuit, the matter is thought to be closed.  Until people start dying again, and she appears nine years later.  As Lockhart’s life and sanity apparently start to unravel over the years, the woman keeps turning up every nine years, drawing him closer to the heart of the mystery.

This is actually a fairly interesting movie even if it becomes a little more predictable once some of the reveals come to light.  The performances were pretty solid.  I am not that familiar with Boyd Holbrook, but he turned out to be a decent lead actor.  It was good to see Michael C. Hall, who is best known from Dexter.  It’s not anything that could be considered to be on the road to some kind of classic status, but it was an adequate diversion if one is having to shelter in place due to an inconvenient pandemic.

 

Daughter of the Gods is a Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish Productions.  It is the latest episode from the range known as The Early Adventures.  It is written by David K. Barnes and directed by Lisa Bowerman.  As displayed on the cover, the First and Second Doctors encounter each other in one of the more ambitious tales.  Peter Purves shares narration duties with Wendy Padbury as well as reprising his role of Steven Taylor and providing a pretty impression of the First Doctor, who was initially played by the late William Hartnell.  Padbury also plays Zoe Herriot and stars alongside Frazer Hines, who is quite busy with reprising his role of Jamie McCrimmon and also filling in for the late Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.

One of the other more intriguing elements is that a short-lived companion named Katarina gets a new lease on life with the performance of Ajjaz Awad.  Laura Elphinstone, Ian Crowe, Max Keeble are also in the guest cast.  Nicholas Briggs fires up the voice modulator again grating out threats and orders as the Daleks.

Katarina is rather a significant figure in the television series in that she was the first companion to have died onscreen during the story known as The Daleks’ Master Plan which was first broadcast in 1965. Awad takes on that role which was originally played by the late Adrienne Hill.

I sort of had some trouble following the story on this one, but the chemistry between the actors sort of made that irrelevant.  There was a poignancy to the idea of centering this around Katarina that made this seem rather special.  The fun of the two Doctors finally meeting and bickering as expected was welcome, if not surprising since this is what usually goes down during multi-Doctor episodes.

This is probably one of those I will understand better when I listen to it again, but I found it to be rewarding due to the performance and the effort to explore a character that did not get much screen time but could still be considered a companion.

The sound effects were quite convincing.  Briggs still seems to bring great joy menacing his cast mates as the Daleks.

I also enjoyed that this story sort of mixes up the pairings of companions as well.  Even if the immediate coherence of the episode could stand a little improvement, I still enjoyed the effort and imagination Barnes out forth here.  As always, I want to enjoy new adventures with the earlier Doctors and their companions.  Purves, Padbury, and Hines are not getting any younger, and sometimes that shows in their voices, however their obvious enthusiasm and energy they still exude will hopefully be used for some years to come.

 

 

Coffee & Kareem is an action comedy that was released on Netflix.  It is written by Shane Mack and directed by Michael Dowse.  It’s got some pretty solid actors with Ed Helms, Taraji P. Henson, Betty Gilpin, and David Alan Grier.  A kid named Terrence Little Gardenhigh plays the brazen foul-mouthed Kareem, the son of the woman with whom Helms’ Officer James Coffee is in a relationship.

James Coffee is a police officer in the city of Detroit and is in a relationship with Vanessa, played by Henson.  He has yet to bond with Vanessa’s son, Kareem.  An afternoon with the two of them goes awry when young Kareem walks in on a murder and brings a gang of drug dealers and corrupt cops on their heads.  Kareem and Coffee have a very antagonistic alliance throughout the misadventure.

This is way more raunchy than necessary.  There were a few moments I found mildly amusing, but those moments were scant.  Coffee is an utter goofball, and it’s a complete mystery as to what Vanessa would ever see in this guy.  Gardenhigh, the kid, has most of the filthy dialogue spewing out of this thing.

I don’t necessarily mind a raunchy comedy as much as I should, but this film just crossed a few more lines than needed.  It’s a waste of some talented actors.

The Psychic Circus is a Doctor Who audio play released by Big Finish Productions written by Stephen Wyatt and directed by Samuel Clemens.  Sylvester McCoy returns to his role of the Seventh Doctor.  The guest cast includes James Dreyfus, Ian Reddington, Chris Jury, and Anna Leong Brophy.

Now this is a fairly special episode for the fans.  It serves as simultaneous prequel and sequel to the television serial entitled the The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.  The Doctor returns to the Psychic Circus as it was starting but another evil and familiar influence hovers over it that is forcing him to face his past.  The author of this audio play also introduced the television viewers to this troubled circus as well as Paradise Towers.  Although the Doctor knows the future of the Psychic Circus, he is rather surprised to find that he was present in the past as well.  Back when the Chief Clown achieved his ambitions which twisted him into something considerably darker.  This was where we get to meet Kingpin before he was Deadbeat.

This is a little bit of a confusing tale at times, however it’s still a pretty good time.  McCoy puts in his usual engaging energy into the performance.  Some of the cast members of the television serial reprise their roles.  Wyatt does quite well keeping the continuity intact.  The episode hits the right chords of nostalgia for those of us quite familiar with the earlier story.  It plays with the pitfalls of time travel for the Doctor.  The verbal sparring between McCoy and Dreyfus is also worth the price of admission.

It’s a solid adventure with a few aural delights for the long-time fans familiar with the television stories that intersect.

 

 

Game Over, Man! is an overly raunchy action comedy directed by Kyle Newacheck.  Anders Holm concocted this screenplay with story credit being shared with Newacheck, Adam DeVine and Blake Anderson.  Anderson, Holm and DeVine also star in this alongside Daniel Stern, Neal McDonough, and Aya Cash.

The basic premise is that three friends  who work as housekeepers at a ritzy hotel are aspiring video game designers.  They are about to make it big when their plans get hampered by terrorists taking the hotel by hostage.  It’s an obvious rip-off of Dir Hard, however I think the comparison was supposed to be intentional.  There are a few mildly interesting plot twists, but that’s overshadowed by the gross humor.

I should have not bothered to hold out any hope for this to be redeemable once I saw that Seth Rogen was one of the producers in this one.  There were a couple of surprising cameos, but it only knocked any respect I had for these individuals down a notch instead of raising my appreciation for the film.

If you come across this on Netflix, no need to indulge your curiosity.  I already sacrificed a couple of hours so you can be properly warned.

 

Molly’s Game is a biographical drama about Molly Bloom, who got sideways with the feds over organizing underground high stakes poker games.  The film was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin and was based on the autobiography Bloom had published in 2014.  The film stars Jessica Chastain in the title role and is joined by such august talent such as Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, and Chris O’Dowd.

Molly Bloom is born into quite the intellectual and athletic family.  Her promising ski career is cut short by an injury occurred while training for the Olympics.  She is introduced to the world of underground poker after moving to Los Angeles.  She comes into contact with various celebrities and bigwigs.  But matters take a much nastier turn after she moves to New York and comes across some mob guys.

It’s a great cast, but the movie does seem to drag quite a bit at times.  The poker jargon that is thrown around isn’t always explained that well, which is a little distracting.  It’s probably not the masterpiece that others may claim, however there is still a lot going for this one.  As mentioned before, it’s a solid cast.  It is a pretty interesting story for the most part.

In spite of the some of the missteps, I will going to say that I liked the movie overall.  I don’t think this is one I will be drawn to repeatedly, however it’s just compelling enough for me to not regret sticking it out until the end credits.

Badland is a western film written and directed by Justin Lee.  Nathan Makely is in the lead role as a Pinkerton detective who is tasked with finding the worst of Confederate war criminals.  Some of the other cast members include Mira Sorvino, Bruce Dern, Jeff Fahey, and Wes Studi.

The lead character has the great name of Matthias Breecher, who is on the hunt for various former Confederate leaders who misbehaved the most during the Civil War.  He encounters the daughter of one of his targets and begins to feel something other than his usual stoic determination.

Breecher is the usual cliche protagonist who lives a violent life but secretly yearns for a more peaceful existence.  He may have a path to that with the aid of a pioneer woman played by Sorvino.

This film is not too bad actually.  There is not too much originality in the writing though.  Breecher borders on being kind of a boring lead character in between gunfights and fisticuffs.  Fortunately there is just enough action sequences to keep my interest.turned

It can drag a bit at times, but there is quite a bit of pleasant scenery.  The performances were not extraordinary, but no one stood out as being noticeably bad.

The film was kind of interesting but nothing to get too excited over.

 

Double Indemnity is a 1944 film that is considered the definitive film noir where the ending isn’t all that warm, and the protagonists are lacking in morals.  There is a lot of history and unique acclaim attached to this.  It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won none.  It did make a lasting mark on cinema history, so the makers had to live with that.  Billy Wilder was the director of the screenplay which he co-wrote with Raymond Chandler.  It was based on a novella written by James M.Cain.  The cast includes Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward G. Robinson.

Most of the story is told in flashback when MacMurray’s Walter Neff staggers into an office, sets up a dictaphone, and starts telling his story of infatuation and murder.  Neff meets the wife of a client who later asks about setting up a life insurance policy without the husband’s knowledge.  Neff figures out that Phyllis Dietrichson is setting up a big payout following the murder of her husband.  He decides that Phyllis is just attractive enough for him to lend a hand.  Not only does he have to  make sure the police has no suspicion, but he has an older colleague who is a good deal sharper than many.

A double indemnity is a clause in the insurance policy which would double the payout depending on how subject meets their death.  That was kind of fun to learn.

This is worth the reputation.  The performances aren’t bad at all.  I particularly enjoyed Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes, who is the colleague who is just a little too nosy for Neff’s good.  All of the cast did pretty well.  Apparently, James Cain thought the movie was better than his original story.  I haven’t read the novella, but I would probably take his word for it.

This is one of those films that I should have been long before now.  It may struggle a little with plausibility, but the overall experience was too well crafted for me to mind all that much.

A Fall From Grace is the latest film written and directed by Tyler Perry and was released on Netflix a couple of months ago.  Perry himself takes on a supporting role with a cast that includes Crystal Fox, the always welcome Phylicia Rashad,  Bresha Webb, Cicely Tyson, and Mehcad Brooks.

Crystal Fox plays a middle-aged woman awaiting her trial for the murder of her younger husband.  Bresha Webb is the young attorney who is doubting her career choice and is afraid of trial.  She’s young, nervous, and somehow astute enough to sense there is a story that needs to be told since her new client just wants to take a deal.  Phylicia Rashad plays the ever helpful best friend of the hapless Grace Waters, who is facing life in prison.  Much of the movie unfolds in flashback as Grace is convinced to tell her tale of renewed hope in love and a subsequent horrible betrayal.

This is a mess, and it saddens me because I actually really like Tyler Perry.  I think he has good ideas, and the basic premise of this film actually isn’t bad.  The problem is I don’t think Perry does much research when it comes to police and court procedure.  I understand the films do need to take some creative license with those, however Perry’s depiction her is almost completely implausible.  Once again, the resolution seems rushed and just way too out of left field.

There is a talented cast here, and some interesting performances.  Perry’s dialogue is a bit cliche at times and just flat out unrealistic at others.

I really tried to like this movie just because I like Tyler Perry during interviews.  I found the lack of authenticity in what would actually happen in the courtroom really distracting.  Some of the clues being missed by the main characters was just annoyingly absurd.

I was just reading that a lot of technical mishaps such as boom mikes being visible and some continuity errors had occurred in the final film.  I guess I missed those because I was too perturbed about how the story is being told.

Some of these criticisms I have expressed before in other Tyler Perry projects, however I found this particular film to be the most glaring example of  his more questionable film making decisions.