“The Front Runner” is a film chronicling the collapse of Democratic Senator Gary Hart’s 1988 presidential campaign after the exposure of an affair.  Hugh Jackman stars as the disgraced senator from Colorado. Vera Farmiga plays his wife, Oletha Hart.  Alfred Molina, J.K. Simmons, and Sara Paxton are also part of the well-chosen cast. Jason Reitman directed this piece and co-wrote it alongside Matt Bai and Jay Carson.

Jackman is unsurprisingly quite compelling in his portrayal of Senator Hart.  It’s not that easy to sympathize with Hart in the grand scheme of things, however Jackman does well to bring out the other more human side of the story.  It is easy to see why so many people were captivated by Hart and probably disappointed by the behavior that led to the demise of his presidential run.  I don’t quite remember how Hart presented himself at the time, but Jackman’s interpretation does appear quite accurate.

A rather surprising facet the film puts forth is the question of how far reporters should go to pursue the story.  It delves into the apparent sleaziness of them basically staking out Hart’s townhome to catch him in a compromising position.  It also explores the impact and emotional consequences Donna Rice faced when she was exposed as the other woman.  I had not heard of Sara Paxton before, however she seemed pretty convincing as the beleaguered Rice.  Really, there wasn’t a performance in this film that I found unnatural or problematic.

The movie does spend quite a bit of time displaying the initial campaign before the big story broke.  It takes some patience to get to the meat of the story, but upon reflection I think the wait was worth it.

Hart was a charismatic and complicated guy apparently as many politicians are. The movie does a good job of covering many aspects of this situation and avoiding just telling the audience as to what side to come down on.  I could side with the reporters sometimes and yet still agree with some concerns Hart raised.  The concerns I could agree with had to deal with how the journalists sometimes conducted themselves to get the story.  I probably wouldn’t have much sympathy for Hart’s political positions.  This is one movie where some ambiguity is tolerable.

I thought Hart raised some good points regarding the methods the reporters used to discover his infidelity even through he clearly was rather deficient in the morality department.  How much intrusion should his wife and children have suffered from the press after his affair was discovered?  One the other hand, the reporters depicted have a pretty strong point in that this man wanted to be President of the United States and how he treats his marriage could be indicative of his views on ethics and morality.  Should the people place that much trust in someone who could not keep his vows to his wife?

It’s not a movie that will get the heart racing with excitement, but it is thought-provoking.  The cast all gave solid performances.  The film seems to drag a little at times due to the various meetings and debates, however I am not sure how could have been left out since that’s how probably much of the decisions were reached.

It’s probably not a film that everyone would appreciate, but I think it raises some interesting points for discussion.  Hart did continue to have a public service career even after this hullaballoo and some depiction of the aftermath of Hart’s scandal could have been explored a bit more.

The strengths of this effort significantly outweigh the weaknesses here.  It turned out to be a pretty good film.

“Kerblam!” is the latest Doctor Who episode starring Jodie Whittaker in the title role. Kerblam! is an interstellar mail service that finds the Doctor in the time vortex and drops off a package.  The Doctor and her companions are intrigued when a request for help is within the package, and they travel to the enormous moon-sized warehouse to find the source of the plea.

This is one of the better episodes of the eleventh series of the revived Doctor Who.  It’s still not great, but it’s a little less preachy.  Pete McTighe is the scriptwriter and still doesn’t pull off anything particularly special with this contribution.  It’s not a complete wreck, but I am not expecting much of an improvement in the ratings.

Whittaker has some decent moments, but she cannot quite pull off the sense of authority her predecessors in the role could when the Doctor is threatening who she thinks is behind the mystery of the week.

The main cast are fine once again.  Bradley Walsh remains my favorite, but I found myself liking Mandip Gill’s character a little more.  Yasmin Khan isn’t really that bad, but she still feels somewhat superfluous when compared to the more interesting dynamic between Graham and Ryan.

It’s a better episode this time around, but not by much.

“The Bad Seed” has had a couple of adaptations over the years, and is probably one of the earlier movies with a creepy kid at the center of the tale.  The 1956 version is directed by Mervyn LeRoy and stems from a 1954 play written by Maxwell Anderson, which actually is an adaptation of a novel by William March.  The cast includes Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Evelyn Varden, and surprisingly William Hopper, who will be come better known for his role as Paul Drake in the “Perry Mason” television series.  Hopper was the only one I really knew on sight, so I was kind of excited to see him.

McCormack plays the little girl, Rhoda Penmark, who just knows how to lay on the charm until her mother, played by Nancy Kelly, starts figuring out that her precious little eight year-old daughter has a bit of a murderous streak.  The father is deployed as part of his military obligations so he is out of the loop for much of the movie.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, but I had to forgive some moments of atrocious dialogue and over the top acting.  The film took on some tough subject matters for that era of cinematic entertainment, so my respect and appreciation for the courage exhibited putting this thing out ticked up quite a bit.

There were times when mother and daughter could get a little too shrill for my taste. I could understand that some kind of hysteria was warranted at times considering how the story unfolds.

McCormack did have some genuinely creepy moments, but she could sometimes have utilized a bit more subtlety when Rhoda is back into charming the socks off everyone mode.  If course, this is a young kid having to deal with sometimes clumsy writing, so I could forgive some lapses in her ability to be entirely convincing.  There were moments where I could see a talented young actress lurking throughout this piece.

I found the movie to be very interesting in many ways in spite of what could often be fatal flaws.  It apparently did well at the box office at the time of first release, and it was not that hard to see why.  I would still recommend for anyone with interest in classic films to add this to the viewing list.

“The First Wave” is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions and is an episode from Companion Chronicles range.  Simon Guerrier completes the trilogy of adventures which featured an original companions named Oliver Harper.  Peter Purves returns as Steven Taylor and narrator.  His impression of the late William Hartnell as the First Doctor is still quite convincing.  He doesn’t pull off a perfect impersonation, but it’s still serves the purpose quite nicely.  Tom Allen returns to conclude his run as Oliver Harper that follows up “The Perpetual Bond” and “The Cold Equations”.  A couple of extra performances are added with the talents of Alex Mallinson and Lisa Bowerman. Bowerman is also the director of this and many of the Companion Chronicles range.  She is quite a consistent contributor to Big Finish plays as both director and actress, most notably as Professor Bernice Summerfield for the past two decades.

The Doctor, Steven, and Oliver arrive on a planetoid known as Grace Alone to find out why they would be wanted for crimes they didn’t commit which would lead to their deaths.  They find a murdered crew and a race known as the Vardans waiting for them. The Vardans had been seen before in a Fourth Doctor television serial called “The Invasion of Time”.  The Vardans are a race that exist within radio waves.

It took this one until the second part to draw me in for some reason.  I ended up liking this one very much in spite of a bit of a slow start.  It is one of those episodes where much of it seems to be done in flashback.  I actually found the whole trio of stories with Oliver to be quite creative.  Purves really consistently puts in a compelling performance. He is another actor for Big Finish who is almost 80 years old and manages to keep a strong, youthful voice.

I am not a fan who thinks a whole lot of the Vardans as adversaries for the Doctor, but I thought they were appropriately menacing in this one.  I would not mind them making further appearances, but I don’t want to hear them too often.

The episode turns out quite well overall, especially with a very interesting and moving epilogue scene at the very end.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is a return to the magical, wizardly world of J.K. Rowling and continues the prequel series to the renowned Harry Potter series.  This film is the second to feature Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, the magizoologist, who studied and catalogued the impossible creatures of the magical realm of the wizards.  He is joined by familiar allies played by Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, and Alison Sudol.   Johnny Depp joins the cast as the persuasive yet malevolent dark wizard, Grindelwald.  Jude Law plays a much younger Dumbledore.

This film has spectacular visual effects and creativity in the realization of the various creatures and characters.  The performances are all very convincing.  Grindelwald actually seems to have more intriguing depths than Harry Potter’s nemesis, Voldemort. I am actually rather fond of Newt because he seems to be the epitome of the reluctant hero, who is still anything but cowardly. I actually may like Newt a bit more than Harry Potter.  I may think on that more.  Newt also seems to have some difficulty with being comfortable around others, but he manages to convey an awkward charm..  He could be considered quite eccentric, but he is also just a nice guy with some formidable magic at his fingertips.

Now, there are some shortcomings that undermine the strengths in this film.  There are too many characters and relationships to keep track of.  There is also what I would call a lack of cohesion in the storytelling.  I am not sure director David Yates signed off on the best editing decisions.  I think some of whatever ended up on the cutting room floor would have actually been more helpful for the audience to track the ploy a bit better.

The film also seems to run pretty long, which I am sure makes the fans of this franchise rather happy.  I probably would be less exasperated if there weren’t so many unexplained threads and rushed explanations.

There is quite a bit of fun to be had, in my opinion, however there were some aspects in the storytelling that could have been better thought out.  Rowling wrote the screenplay herself, however it seems that she let some of the novel writing tendencies bleed through.

I did eventually get more drawn into the story as it progressed onscreen, however it took some concentration.  I liked it better than I expected, but it was tough going through some of it.

“The Tangled Skein” is a Sherlock Holmes audio drama from Big Finish Productions.  It was initially written as a novel by David Stuart Davies and was adapted to an audio script by Richard Dinnick.  Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl return to the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively.

The script and the sound effects work well enough.  Briggs’ interpretation of Holmes isn’t really a favorite performance of mine, but I am getting used to it.  Earl does really get into the more exciting scenes as he narrates the story.  The actors are well chosen.

Here’s the problem: Holmes meets Dracula…again. This is another pastiche work in which someone can’t keep other works of the period out of the realm of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  We have other works who have indulged in this pairing out there.  A lot of these pastiche writers keep wanting to push the supernatural through the doors of 221B Baker Street, and I just find that it gets old.

I was especially annoyed when Briggs or one of the other cast members said something about the Bram Stoker’s creation fits so well into the Conan Doyle canon during the cast interviews on the CD Extras..  I don’t know  which canon they were reading, but the supernatural was only addressed in about three stories or so in Doyle’s stories.  None of them actually depicted Holmes meeting a ghost or vampire.

I get it though. Since Holmes was such a stubborn rationalist, the temptation to create situations where his grounding in reality is challenged is hard to resist.  I just get rather weary of some of these writers thinking that they are churning out something unique by having yet another story where someone brings some ghost story or curse to be investigated by Holmes.  This story is kind of a sequel to “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, which is actually one of my favorites in the original canon. I didn’t entirely mind revisiting the Grimpen Mire or Devonshire, but I have to say that has been done before by other pastiche writers.

Giles Watling assumes the role of Bram Stoker’s Godfather of Vampires and performs well.  I do have to admit being rather captivated when Holmes and Dracula exchange their first menacing introductions and threats in spite of my exasperation.

I do hope Big Finish will resist the urge to have Holmes have too many cases where he meets other Victorian fictional characters or supernatural beings.

In spite of the ranting here, this particular release is not without its good points.  I just think the whole business with Holmes, vampires, and curses has just been overdone with the pastiche works, and it just isn’t as faithful to Doyle’s original concept for this world as much as these authors claim.

“The Threat” is a crime drama released in 1949 and stars Michael O’Shea, Charles McGraw, and Virginia Grey. A crime boss and murderer escapes prison and kidnaps a detective, a district attorney, and a nightclub singer.

Charles McGraw as Arnold “Red” Kluger is pretty convincing as he tries to collect on the heist that landed him in prison from his partner who had fled to Mexico.

Michael O’Shea plays the tough, honest cop who is taken along with the district attorney who managed to get Kluger convicted.

It’s quite a brutal movie for that era.  It’s also a pretty short film, which is fitting because this feels like a short review.

This release from RKO Radio Pictures is directed by Felix E. Feist and is not all that memorable for the most part.  I did not find it to be that awful, however I am not too likely to revisit it anytime soon.

Stan Lee died today at the age of 95 years old.  I have not collected comic books for several years now, but I would always count Spider-Man as my favorite super-hero. Lee’s impact on pop culture and entertainment is profound beyond description.  I have seen some interviews of him over the decades and thought that he was a very nice man who cared for his audience.

I will not pretend to know all of the ups and downs of his long career.  I have yet to read any biographies on him although I may change that.

Stan Lee lived a long time.  His legacy will live on longer.  I never met him, but I did see him from a distance at Dallas Fan Expo convention in 2016.

He was a very old man when he died, but it will seem strange for a while knowing that he is no longer out there.  I imagine there are a few more cameos filmed for upcoming Marvel movies, so we may have some reminders of his impact there for a little while anyway.

There is not much else to say other than Stan Lee will be missed and deservedly so.

“Beautiful Boy” stars Steve Carell as a father trying to save his son from the grip of drug addiction.  Timothee Chalamat plays the son who outs himself and his family through all sorts of emotional hell on this devastating journey.

I have not experienced this first hand.  I do work with drug addicts in my professional life and have been through some training courses on the matter.  I have some distant family members who have fallen into the trap over the years.  There have been people in my life who have died because of their inability to quash this compulsion.

Although it is hard to say that this movie is enjoyable, I will say that it was well-made and seems to have been well-researched.  It is based on the experiences chronicled by David and Nic Sheff.  There was some effort to infuse some actual data about the biological effects that drug use can have on people.

The movie also explores the notion of the addict can’t be saved by anyone except himself once he is ready to really accept the help.

The performances were powerful, Carell plays the turmoil that most loving fathers in this predicament must experience quite convincingly.  Chalamat certainly held up his end quite well.  Maura Tierney was quite good as Sheff’s second wife and steep=mother to young, hapless Nic.  Tierney is always good so that’s no surprise.  I was surprised to see Timothy Hutton in a brief turn as the doctor trying to explain the scientific side of drug addiction to David.

The film seemed to have done the information down pretty well.  I am no expert on drug addiction, but the material seemed to have lined up quite well with what I have been taught over the years and have heard from addicts.

There were some flashback scenes that were a little sudden at times.  It’s one of those films that starts with a startling conversation and then backtracks to catch the audience up.

It’s a tough movie to watch sometimes, but it is an important one. Sadly, there are too many families in the world that will find this agonizingly familiar.  It may not be the most joyous of cinematic diversions, however it is an enlightening and emotionally powerful one.

“The Thinking Log” by R. Rachel Gauna is a bit of a departure from my usual preferred reading selections.  It is a self-published novel by an Amarillo author and is about a very tumultuous and perplexing relationship between two people who have been a part of each other’s lives for years.  I had to put aside some preconceptions and prejudices that usually involve self-published novels, however I had met the author since she sets up a kiosk at the local mall and enjoyed talking to her.  I went into reading this thing with some trepidation because you know, “what if it’s no good?”. I was rather relieved to find that this lady can write and started caring about the characters and the outcome of the story more than just being too compulsive to not leave a book unfinished.  If only that compulsion manifested in my own writing aspirations!

The story begins from the perspective of Liberty Rose Anderson as she relates the rather complicated and heart-rending path her love for Adam leads her down.  This seems to be about how complicated people are even when their actions are quite loathsome.  It would be easy to dismiss the complexities of human interactions and affections and judge Libby for getting roped back into what turns out to be a pretty toxic situation rather harshly. however I have been known of several situations like this and have been involved first hand in some.  To be fair, nothing with quite so much far-reaching tragic consequences as depicted in this novel.

Anyway, there times where the story can fool one into thinking it’s fairly predictable. Although some of the roads are not unknown in literary fiction, Gauna does manage to throw some emotional gut punches that kept me hooked.

Not all of it is told in a very linear fashion.  There are some tricky flashback scenes where I did have to backtrack a bit to get my bearings.  There were some side characters that I found interesting enough to wish for a bit more development while a few others I thought were given a little too much attention.

As despicable as Adam’s actions could get, I couldn’t bring myself to hate him entirely, which I think is a goal the author wanted to achieve.  I also think I have mishandled personal and romantic situations bad enough for me to somewhat sympathize.  Not wholly sympathize, but somewhat.  Once again, it brings home the lesson that people are complicated.  It is possible to actually love someone and somehow keep inexplicably hurting them, even more than just physical abuse.  Adam comes off as a likeable guy, but he’s selfish and careless.

Although it is easy to see Libby as sort of the victim of Adam’s reckless approach to relationships and love, she still has her flaws in spite of the descriptions of her generous and forgiving nature.  Even sweet, naïve, reliable Libby has some shades of grey in her as well, which also emphasizes makes her more relatable for the reader.

This isn’t something that leaves you with a lot of warmth and happiness  by the end, however it doesn’t leave one entirely in despair either.  As mentioned before, it highlights the complications of people and their efforts to connect with each other, to build lives together, and to forgive each other.

If anyone who lives in Amarillo, or will be in Amarillo, up to the end of this year R. Rachel Gauna will be standing post at her kiosk at Westgate Mall with quite a few books left to sell.  I would recommend saying hello to her and checking out her first book. I also think it’s a great opportunity to support local creative talent and try out something new. Meeting Gauna and reading her first piece is a great way to do that.

“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak will be the next step on my journey of literary diversions.