The Movie Journal

  Stumptown: Season 1, Episode 4 "Family Ties" October 16, 2019  Hold on to your popcorn because there is a lot that happens in “Family Ties.” It is a direct continuation of the previous episode where Dex enlists the help of Artie Banks to get her PI license. We also learn more about Grey’s past and how he fits in with his former boss, Wallace Kane. The forty minutes of the episode flew by thanks to the great performances and assured directing from Marc Buckland. My biggest takeaway is that Artie Banks may have a conscience after all. There is some important backstory and we learn that Banks is a former cop who stole money from the department for a life-saving medical surgery for his child, but the procedure failed resulting in the child’s death. Banks turned to the dark side in order to hide his grief, but past feelings erupted when a child was kidnapped in this episode. Talk about a dark past, geez. Stumptown uses its secondary characters well here. Tookie, played by Adrian...

  Stumptown: Season 1, Episode 3 "Rip City Dicks"  October 09, 2019  “Rip City Dicks” is a reliably engaging episode of Stumptown . It does come across as a filler episode, but I mean that in a positive way. Characters are introduced and existing characters are developed in a way that will mean something further down the line. I found Dex’s storyline fascinating. She actually lost her case because of her vulnerability. She cares too much about the people of the cases that she gets involved with. That is what the experienced yet double-crossing PI Artie Banks told her towards the end of the episode. I liked this character (who comes across as a bit smug) who is played by Donal Logue. It is almost like this character was plucked from a noir setting.   Using her skills of persuasion, Dex convinces a veteran PI named Artie Banks to take her on as his apprentice. Banks seems to sympathize with and has some modicum of respect for Dex. Their first case together involves...

  Ace in the Hole (1951) In a world where the trades are able to get away with publishing nasty stories about celebrity breakups or political trades smear their opponents with loony nonsense, Billy Wilder’s cynical, dark 1951 picture Ace in the Hole could not be more relevant in the modern world. Wilder spares no one in his biting, satirical portrayal of the American media institution, which may be a reason why the film received unfair negative reviews upon release. The good guys are the victims while the media and the public are the bad guys. Of course, the trades are the one who writes such sensational journalism. But who eats these stories up? The public! The public absolutely love the celebrity gossip or the next big tragedy. Much hasn’t changed since 1951. In fact, with the advent of social media, sensation in the news has gotten way worse. Wilder’s film is a tightly edited narrative with a strong screenplay and an excellent, fierce performance from Kirk Douglas.   Comi...

  Barton Fink (1991) Upon initial viewing, I had no idea what to think about Barton Fink , yet another interesting film created by the dynamic duo known as the Coen Brothers. I thought it was weird, unsettling, and driven by its core performances from John Turturro and John Goodman. Yet the more I thought about the film, the more I began to understand the type of film it is. Like most films from the filmmaking brothers, this is not an “easy” watch. I would even dare call it inaccessible. The film is going to make you think. Even though the Coens openly admitted that they did not go into the film with allegorical thoughts in mind, it can be easy to suggest that they had some thoughts about fascism, or the bad side of Hollywood, or writing scripts for entertainment in general. The script is excellent. The characters are three-dimensional, and the actors breathe life into the words that were written for this film. I also really enjoyed the ending because that is what got me thinking m...

  Regarding Henry (1991) I really wanted to like Harrison Ford’s drama Regarding Henry . It seemed like the perfect project for the action star. Coming off well-known action films such as Indiana Jones and Star Wars , time seemed ripe for Ford to tackle a meaty role from a big-name director with classics such as The Graduate to his name. Mike Nichols and Harrison Ford. Sounds like a film worth watching, right? Sadly, the answer is no. By all means the drama is not bad, but it is not the hard-hitting movie I expected. Imagine my surprise that the script was written by a very young J.J Abrams, the brains behind modern Star Wars and Star Trek . He, of course, would get better at writing films. This particular film felt like a sitcom with how the plot played out. Speaking of the plot, the well-intentioned plot is highly predictable, and I smelled the ending within the first few minutes. The most exciting part of the film happened in the first few minutes where Ford’s character gets sh...

  Terminator 2: Judgement Day One could say that it is a legendary feat for a sequel to be superior to the original. One might also say that James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day is one such film. That actually impresses me because the 1984 film is no slouch. It is an incredible horror/sci-fi classic that launched the respective Cameron’s directing and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting careers. The sequel took everything up a notch. While the original film was a more horror-based, contained story, the sequel is more about the intense action sequences and the incredible, earth-shattering special effects. In a way, T2 is similar to Jaws in how the film revolutionized moviegoing. Without Cameron’s action masterpiece, there would be no effects-driven films like Jurassic Park . Say what you will about the laziness of filmmakers using special effects these days, but sometimes masterpieces such as this film comes along. In addition to great visual effects and makeup, this is also a s...

  Stumptown: Season 1, Episode 2 "Missed Connections"  October 02, 2019  After a strong premiere, Stumptown improves on itself with a very strong second episode. It builds on the information that was given to us in the first episode. One of my few complaints were that Jake Johnson’s character was not up to snuff, especially compared to the other characters. Despite the charm, he was only seen as a potential love interest. Well, the writers must have heard my complaints. He and Dex were given a backstory about how they first met…which was a one-night stand. Given their platonic relationship in current day, it was clear that they did not have the spark. I thought it was a fun idea to develop a platonic, asexual relationship although I do not think that will continue. We also learn that Grey may have had a checkered past with the introduction of Austin Amelio’s character. While the set pieces may be toned down in comparison to the premiere, the writers remain as ardent as ev...

  Stumptown: Season 1, Episode 1, "Forget It Dex, It's Stumptown" September 25, 2019  I gotta say…I really liked the premiere episode of this private investigator series Stumptown . I was worried because the first ten minutes didn’t really do it for me. Then I was able to warm up to Cobie Smulders’s sarcastic, barely-able-to-do-her-job character, Dex. Her character, or the show itself, is nothing revolutionary but Smulders’s charm is able to make her character easy to root for even if she makes bone-headed mistakes on the job or in her personal life. Her character is surrounded by a likable cast whom we mostly get to meet in this episode. Michael Ealy plays Detective Hoffman, an immediate romantic interest for Smulders. Jake Johnson plays Grey McConnell, her best friend and potential slow-burn romantic interest. His character is interesting enough, but is not fleshed out enough. Thankfully, Johnson is another underrated actor who knows how to be charming. The cast is roun...

  Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) Here we go with another adaptation of Robin Hood. The Robin Hood tale has been told many times over and over. The edition that made the biggest bucks at the box office is Kevin Reynolds’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . In my opinion, it barely squeaks by with a passing grade. There are moments of fun and lots of adventure. The action is pretty good and well-choreographed. It is certainly more graphic than I have imagined it would be. Most of the performances, especially those from Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman, are good. I also consider Michael Kamen’s score to be magnificent and one of his most epic, lushest scores. Even to this day, Bryan Adams’s ballad “Everything I Do (I Do It for You) remains a popular, soulful hit. Unfortunately, there are some glaring issues. After Kevin Costner delivered an emotional engaging performance in Dance with Wolves , he delivers the complete opposite here. His accent would be right at home in LA, certainly...

  Thelma & Louise (1991) Thelma & Louise takes the road trip genre to a whole new level. Rather than follow the simple formula, Ridley Scott took the story and gave it an empowering, feminist angle that shows what women go through on a daily basis. For a film released in 1991, it is way ahead of its time. There are familiar beats (we meet the usual road trip types such as state troopers and Adrian Biddle’s strong visual interpretation of the West), but Scott never allows the story to grow stale. We are taken on a journey that not only empowers, but also makes you laugh with some comedic dialogue gems and will also break your heart. The ending is now iconic in film history. For me, the ending was unexpected. As the Thunderbird was hurling itself to the cliff as Hans Zimmer’s score swelled, a pit grew in my stomach. I grew to care about the two ladies that are the heart of the film. They are put into impossible (and downright criminal) situations, but the audience has no choi...

  Backdraft (1991) Backdraft is a technical tour de force that must be seen on the biggest and loudest screen possible to get most out of the pyro techniques. The best part is watching the visual and audio splendor of the raging fires that seemingly has a mind of its own. You have to put realism on the backside because not everything will be realistic…not unless you want every firefighter to die from smoke inhalation within seconds. As an action movie, the effects are incredible. They still hold up many years later. Fire is a beast not to be trifled with and even the very best may fall victim to the unpredictability of the flames. The action is serviceable, and the effects are outstanding, but they could have been served better with an adequate screenplay. Gregory Widen’s screenplay, to put quite bluntly, is not good. The characters are paper thin and the character’s dilemmas with each other is something that has been done thousands of times before, often better. Two brothers at od...

  Stephen King's It (1990) As a child, the mini-series IT, based off the 1,300 page novel from author Stephen King, gave me nightmare after nightmare. Honestly, I only have one person to blame (other than King himself) and that is Tim Curry. Only Curry’s flawless Pennywise performance would be enough to keep up the nightmares. He made me despise clowns for a long, long time! About the mini-series itself, it is a solid horror series. It is elevated by Curry’s wicked performance, some strong scares (especially strong for a television production), and good performances from the majority of the child actors. Tommy Lee Wallace, who directed and wrote the screenplay, does a good job adapting the novel to the screen. There was so much he needed to cut from such an incredible novel with strong characterization. Sadly, some of the adult character plot points had to be removed. That said, Wallace was able to keep the strong centrality of Pennywise, which is important to the story whether it ...

  Citizen Kane (1941) It took me a long time to finally watch Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane . I mean, it has the reputation as the greatest movie ever made. I did not want to ruin my perceived notion about this classic. I finally caved in, and I remember my thoughts as I watched the film and when it immediately ended. I was like, “this is good, but seriously the best movie ever?” Here is the thing. The movie kept replaying in my head for some time afterwards. I found myself thinking about how the film innovated cinema with its unique story structure, experimental cinematography, and strong performances from a cast that has never been in a motion picture before. The movie may not seem like a big deal to younger generations, but it was a huge deal in 1941. It paved a path for future filmmakers. When people like Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese or practically everyone who directed a film, they will always circle to Welles’s first Hollywood picture. In the end, my thoughts kept circli...

  Defending Your Life (1991) Albert Brooks’s comedy Defending Your Life is a thoughtful, amusing, and generally light-hearted film despite a topic that can be pretty grim depending on your view. There are movies that ask the question, “What happens when you die?” Some movies can be philosophical or even religious. Brooks, on the other hand, chose a different and more intelligent approach to the subject matter. He approached our heavenly adventures as a courtroom film with prosecutors and judges. A very unique spin that is designed to make you think. Brooks later said that he received letters from people whose relatives are dying or dying themselves, and this film made them feel better about their journey ahead. It does ask some questions that can hit home hard. Have you done enough with your life? Is there anything that you could have done better? With only one life given to you, you should live it to the fullest. That was the message that came across for me. The screenplay, writt...

  The Hard Way (1991) I suppose The Hard Way is a better movie than I initially gave it props for. Yes, the plot is formulaic to the point where you are saying, “Are there any more ideas left in Hollywood?” I predicted nearly everything that happened, yet…I had fun. This action/comedy, which stars James Woods and Michael J. Fox as unlikely buddies, has lots of energy reminiscent of screwball comedies from the days of Old Hollywood. Both Fox and Woods work off one another and Daniel Pyne’s/Lem Dobb’s screenplay allows both actors some room to say and do crazy stuff. Admittedly, some of the lines are hilarious. The final half of the movie is about crazy action and special effects that rarely wants to let up. Think about the Mt. Rushmore scene in North by Northwest and change the setting to Times Square. As a New York resident, I think it is fun to see everyone’s favorite tourist destination get leveled in some crazy action sequences. In an era where action films were at their best, t...