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buzzdixonwriter · 5 years

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Chillin’ With Netflix (2018 edition)

LOST IN SPACE

Really well done, family friendly space opera. Top notch production values, good / smart writing, superlative cast.

And despite all this, it couldn’t keep my attention past episode 4.

I put the blame on me, not this new series by writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

As a preteen, I was in the prime target audience for the original Lost In Space back in the mid-1960s, and that series -- despite its wildly varying tone -- created an iconic show that, try as they might, every subsequent re-make struggles to overcome.

Seriously, it’s like trying to remake I Love Lucy only without Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley.

Yeah, it can be done, but why bother? Use that talent and energy to do something in the same vein but different.

That being said, I deny no one their pleasure. If you haven’t seen / loved the original, try this version; you might very well like it.

. . .

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE

Excellent production / writing / cast / performances.

I started out really liking it.

That enthusiasm faded.

I ended up enjoying this new retelling of The Haunting Of Hill House but came away feeling it fell short of 1963’s The Haunting, the first and still best adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s classic ghost story.

First off, a definition of terms (which will explain my enthusiasm fade): In order to work, a ghost story must take place in the audience’s head.

That is to say, the reader / viewer must be left with two equally possibly yet mutually exclusive possibilities: There are such things as ghost, or the haunting is purely psychological in the mind/s of the character/s.

Even in stories such as the original novel or the 1963 film where the possibility is presented that at least one of the characters is mentally unstable and is either imagining / causing the manifestations, the book / movie / series must never come down concretely in either camp.

To make it purely psychological turns it into a drama about mental illness, the make it supernatural moves it from the realm of “ghost story” into “monster movie” where the monster happens to be a ghost.

A ghost story doesn’t have to be scary, simply…haunting. Portrait Of Jenny is a bitter-sweet romance that despite a lack of spookiness remains a bona fide ghost story.

(Ghost comedies such as Topper, Blythe Spirit, Ghost Busters, etc. are a different genre entirely akin to leprechaun / alien comedies where a fantastic being disrupts the lives of the human protagonists.)

This version works well, even though it doesn’t maintain the high level it starts with. The family dynamics are well done, the performances excellent.

For the first couple of episodes the series tries to walk the line, raising the possibility and eventually confirming that mental illness runs through the family that moved into Hill House, but the moment the ghosts begin manifesting themselves, it paradoxically stops being a ghost story and becomes a booga-booga story). Virtuosity for the sake of virtuosity also works against the production, occasionally dragging audiences out of the story to admire how clever the film makers are.

It also gets a little too convoluted and overly melodramatic towards the end, however (ghost stories work best at their simplicity.

And it is not an upbeat ending but a really horrific one as the family in question literally consumes itself.

This version inhabits a godless universe, and the apparent “good” ending is really a terrible one of eternal damnation (albeit not in the Christian sense).

I recognize and appreciate the level of craftsmanship that went into this, and recommend it to people who like scary stories.

But it ain’t what I’d call a ghost story, and it sure ain’t what Jackson would call one, either.

. . .

SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWER

I'm not the target audience for She-Ra in either incarnation.

That being said, I watched episodes 1-3 and 12-13.

It looks good to me. The story was familiar, but like old B-Westerns it's the kind of genre where familiarity breeds affection, so no complaints there.

Pacing seemed slow, but the design and animation was good, voices top notch. Clearly a heavy anime influence.

Really liked the wide range of physical types and acknowledgement of LGBT characters. Lots of fun with the various interpersonal relationships and characterizations, especially Swift Wind, the smartass flying unicorn.

They did a really good job with this show and the characters seemed more like real teens than the previous incarnation.

. . .

THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS

Well, this one I can recommend whole heartedly and without reservation.

Joel and Ethan Coen have shown a remarkable penchant for period films and a strong affinity for Westerns in the past, and this anthology film offers a dazzling grab bag of good / off beat stories that range from the ridiculous to the realistic, though a couple of them are Westerns by location only as they don’t really rely on any of the themes that define the Western genre.

The stories are:

“The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs” -- a hilarious send up of old Hollywood Western clichés starting with the quintessential sing cowboy trope and spiraling into full bore craziness from there.

“Near Algodones” -- a would-be bank robber has a really bad day. Despite its dazzling editorial style, one of the more conventional stories -- and yet it manages to evoke both classic Buddhism, the crucifixion, and the ultimate sardonic joke all in the last 30 seconds.

“Meal Ticket” -- a Twilight Zone-ish story about a backwoods impresario and his limbless performer, told almost entirely silently except for quotes from poems and dramatic works and the occasional song. While it makes good use of its Western locale, there’s really nothing in the story to tie it to the West; it could just as easily occur on a Mississippi riverboat, the back alleys of White Chapel, or the slums of Mumbai.

“All Gold Canyon” -- based on a story by Jack London, it’s a look at how hard and demanding a prospector’s life could be (with a virtually unrecognizable Tom Waits as the grizzled old prospector). The Coen Brothers use their location to the fullest advantage, recreating the feel of what such land must have felt like before the first settlers moved in.

“The Gal Who Got Rattled” -- the longest, most realistic, and most bitter-sweet of the stories, set on a wagon train heading to Oregon, and focusing on a young woman who is definitely not the sort who should be making such a trip. While we can look back from our safe vantage point in the 21stcentury and recognize the Indian Wars were the direct result of rapacious land grabbing by Western settlers, this story does an excellent job of showing just how terrifying it would be to sit on the receiving end of a tribal attack. The ending is a morally complex one, well worth pondering, and especially ambiguous given the nature of the story’s framing element.

“The Mortal Remains” -- weakest of the stories, but salvaged by strong performances. Another Twilight Zone style story, and if you didn’t guess the ending by the one minute mark I’ve got a bridge in Florida made of solid gold bricks I’d like to sell you.

. . .

AMERICAN VANDAL

Yowza! This is one of the best series I’ve ever seen, and it’s perfect in damn near every way.

On the surface it’s a parody of various true crime documentary series, especially Netflix’ own Making A Murderer. It’s told from the point of view of two students in their high school’s audio-visual club who make a documentary about an act of vandalism directed at the school’s teachers and the student who is blamed for it.

Of course, as they investigate, they turn up evidence that the accused student did not commit the vandalism, and in their pursuit of the truth uncover several more secrets on their way to the big reveal.

At first blush, the makings of a solid show.

But what co-creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault manage to pull off with this is nothing short of astounding, a fun parody of a genre that raises interesting questions about both the genre they’re parodying and the issue of truth and guilt, while on top of that adding an incredibly complex yet easy to follow overlay of conflicting characters and emotions.

They get every single detail right, and even seemingly throw away lines / scenes / characters get fleshed out in amazing and unexpected ways (for example, one extremely minor character, with no significant dialog, who appears only briefly on camera as comic relief in one or two early episodes is later revealed to be severely alcoholic, and in recalling his earlier appearances, one realizes the character must be suffering through a genuinely hellish existence).

Dylan, the accused student, starts out as a character of fun and amusement, a high school goofball of Spicoli proportions, only to come to a sad and ultimately terrifying end as he realizes just how dumb and dead-end his life is.

I cannot praise thise series enough. Very rarely will I look at someone else’s work and say “I wish I had done that.” American Vandal is one of the rare exceptions.

The series has two seasons, the first involving Dylan and the vandalism of the teachers’ cars, the second involving a food poisoning incident at a private school the original two students are invited to investigate. Season two is very strong but lacks “the shock of the new” that season one provided; it’s high quality and entertaining, but not as compelling as the original.

. . .

#television #media #comedy #Netflix #Coe Brothers #Lost In Space 2018 #The Haunting Of Hill House 2018 #She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power #The Ballad Of Buster SCruggs #American Vandal

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narcisbolgor-blog · 7 years

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Withnail and I: Cult classic turns 30 – BBC News

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Charting the travails of two out-of-work actors in the dying days of the 1960s, British film comedy Withnail and I has staggered to its 30th birthday. Star Richard E Grant looks back at its filming and considers whether anyone else could have tackled the role that put him on the road to Hollywood. Chin chin!

Camden Town. Two sleep-deprived thespians wallow in filth, battling drug-induced paranoia, a worrying lack of booze and stalled careers.

What follows - an ill-fated jaunt "to the country" and run-ins with an assortment of misfits and malcontents - would marry with caustic dialogue to produce an oft-quoted classic.

Largely unnoticed on its release in April 1987, standout performances by Grant as the acid-tongued Withnail and Paul McGann as the more introspective I helped the film gradually gather a dedicated following.

No less memorable was its supporting cast of colourful characters, among them the love-struck Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths), drug-dealer Danny (Ralph Brown) and poacher Jake (Michael Elphick).

Initially created as a semi-autobiographical novel by Bruce Robinson more than a decade and a half earlier, the writer-turned-director would largely use his one-time flatmate Vivian MacKerrell as the inspiration for the scabrous Withnail, while I - identified as Marwood in the script - was a version of Robinson himself.

It was, as he has outlined, "a tale of English hopelessness" and threw a spotlight on his "appalling lifestyle" as he struggled to find work after leaving London's Central School of Speech and Drama.

Image copyright Shutterstock

Image caption "Wait till the morning and we'll go in together" - Marwood pleads with Withnail to abandon plans to tackle the fetid kitchen sink

With each set-piece so perfectly penned, the stale cigarette smoke and alcohol fumes almost seeped through the screen.

But while the story may have been loaded with laughs, Robinson demanded his dialogue was delivered with a straight face.

"Bruce was very exacting and did not brook any improvisation or word substitutions," says Grant, who himself had been without work for nine months and become increasingly beset by nagging doubts about his chosen career, having emigrated from Swaziland to Britain at the turn of the 80s.

"He was also adamant that as there were no jokes or punchlines, it had to be played with deadly seriousness.

"The script was so accurate in expressing the frustrations of being an out-of-work actor that as soon as Paul and I played everything 'for real', Bruce was very open and accommodating.

"That experience [of being unemployed] proved invaluable. Withnail is so staggeringly self-obsessed and entitled, which anyone who has been to drama school will be all too familiar with!"

Auditioning for the part would almost mirror the character's woes, as Grant competed against a gaggle of better-known names in a casting merry-go-round as dizzying as the concoction of drink and drugs downed throughout the film.

Image copyright Shutterstock

Image caption "I've been watching you" - poacher Jake warns the hapless pair

Daniel Day-Lewis had turned down the role and other leading contenders included Bill Nighy and Ed Tudor-Pole.

It was not much easier for McGann, with the role of Marwood offered to Michael Maloney.

Having stepped into his shoes, his strong Liverpudlian accent promptly saw him sacked before an equally swift reinstatement.

So what was it that Robinson eventually identified in the duo?

"Finding a contrasting pair of actors made the audition process protracted," Grant recalls, "as Bruce was very determined to secure two people who looked and sounded like Vivian and himself.

"Paul is incredibly handsome and had the quality of 'an innocent abroad', which Bruce was after."

While it may seem almost inconceivable for fans to imagine anyone else in the role of Withnail, Grant modestly disagrees.

Here's to you, Mr Robinson

Image copyright Shutterstock

Image caption "We want the finest wines available to humanity" - the drunkards offend the owner of the Penrith Tea Rooms

Bruce Robinson paid for the filming of additional scenes out of his own pocket after Handmade refused to stump up the extra cash

Producer Denis O'Brien wanted filming shut down as he had expected a comedy more akin to Monty Python

Devoted fans make pilgrimages to many of the film's locations. However, anyone visiting Penrith for its tea rooms will be sorely disappointed - that scene was filmed 240 miles away in Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes

Paul McGann had only just passed his driving test when shooting began, and for the motorway scenes was replaced behind the wheel by Robinson

Despite his acclaimed portrayal of a desperate drunk, Richard E Grant is famously allergic to alcohol

"I absolutely believe that all those illustrious names could have essayed the role, as it is so brilliantly well written.

"Bruce writes stage directions with the same exactitude as his dialogue - hugely entertaining, mordant, witty, and conveying the precise mood so that you simultaneously 'see' and 'feel' what the scene is about."

Indeed so expertly crafted was Robinson's dialogue, fans delight in reciting the characters' one-liners and stinging rebukes - and sometimes in the most unexpected of places.

Image copyright Shutterstock

Image caption "Oh, my boys" - Uncle Monty shows his affection at the cottage dinner table

"[Some years later] I was filming in the Australian outback beside a dirt road in the middle of nowhere," says Grant.

"The only car that drove past all day was a battered yellow 1959 Ford Anglia - my dreaded primary school maths teacher drove one - and the driver leant out of his window and yelled 'scrubbers!' at me - to the bewilderment of the film crew."

Shooting got under way in August 1986, but, like the pair's rain-lashed on-screen drive from London to the Lakes, the film's journey to the cinema screen was tortuous.

A modest million-pound budget would come from Beatles legend George Harrison's Handmade Films and a New York businessman.

Decamping to Cumbria's Wet Sleddale to begin work at isolated cottage "Crow Crag" (the real-life Sleddale Hall, near Shap), interference from its backers threatened to derail production, causing Robinson to issue a "back me or sack me" ultimatum.

For Grant, that period of time was difficult for an altogether more tragic reason as he and his wife, Joan, grieved the loss of their daughter Tiffany, born prematurely at seven months and pronounced dead within a few minutes.

"She is the size of a little bird," he recalled in his book With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant.

"She is warm but dead. And perfect. Ten toes, ten fingers. Eyes, mouth, all. Broken. No breath.

"Our hearts are broken and will we ever cease weeping."

Image copyright Shutterstock

Image caption "I want something's flesh" - Withnail goes fishing for lunch

The film would have its own sense of sadness and loss as McGann's I packs his bags having landed the lead role in a Manchester-based play - leaving the desperate Withnail railing in despair with only a bottle of Uncle Monty's wine and the Regent's Park wolves for company.

Just as eloquently it would sum up the end of the 60s dream, replaced by commercialism and cynicism with the selling of "hippy wigs in Woolworths".

Although Withnail and I failed to make a commercial splash upon its release, McGann would establish a solid stage and screen career, while Grant had Hollywood hot-shots Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese all come calling.

He has hardly stopped working since.

It is, he admits, "some irony playing an unemployed actor opened every subsequent career door I've walked through".

Robinson would have more mixed fortunes. Follow-up How to Get Ahead in Advertising, also starring Grant, was an altogether more patchy affair while Jennifer 8 and The Rum Diary also met with criticism.

Thirty years on, though, Withnail and I's popularity shows no sign of waning and a series of screenings are being staged by fans across the country throughout the coming months - with Sleddale Hall itself among the venues in July.

Image copyright Shutterstock

Image caption "Are you a sponge or a stone?" - Monty propositions Marwood

So just what does the now 59-year-old Grant believe lies at the heart of its enduring appeal, and does he ever feel trapped by the role which, for many, defines his career?

"The film is so accurate about Bruce's experience of being an unemployed actor at the end of the 60s, encompassing his breadline, booze and drugged desolation, and being friends with the coruscating and charismatic MacKerrell, that it is indelibly authentic.

"His portrayal of a symbiotic male friendship is the core of the story, and its disintegration is painful and poetic.

"If I had only been offered 'alcoholic actor' roles I might have something to complain about, but that never happened. Playing someone so extreme has meant I've been cast in roles that demand a certain level of intensity or mania, which I've hugely enjoyed.

"I'm genuinely amazed that a film made so long ago, which initially met with such a lukewarm response, has accrued the status and cult following it has done.

"For that, I am eternally grateful."

More From this publisher : HERE

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myhollywoodnews-blog · 6 years

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Taylor Swift INSPIRES Fan To Commit a Bank Robbery?

Jeremy Brown - Latest News - My Hollywood News

Taylor Swift INSPIRES Fan To Commit a Bank Robbery?, New Hollywood Celebrities 2018.

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New Hollywood Celebrities 2019, New Hollywood Celebrity News 2017, Taylor Swift INSPIRES Fan To Commit a Bank Robbery?.

Hollywood Celebrities 2015 Celebrity News Ebert Celebrities by Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio based in Burbank, California. It is owned by Cartoon Network and Turner Broadcasting System, which are both subsidiaries of Time Warner.

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Thank you to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for sponsoring this episode #justdrive If you’re texting, you’re not driving More Celebrity News ►►

It’s only human nature for a person to do something grand to impress their crush but unfortunately for this particular fan, his grand gesture to Taylor Swift caused him to get arrested. Just last week, a man by the name of Bruce Rowley was arrested for robbing a bank and he reportedly told the police he did it just to impress Taylor. According to the police report obtained by TMZ, Bruce allegedly entered a bank and demanded an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank teller. After he received the cash, Bruce told the police that he tried to contact Taylor about his achievement and when he realized she wasn’t home, he reportedly threw some of the stolen cash over her fence. However, throwing the money over the fence wasn’t a part of his initial plan. The police report stated that Bruce had planned on donating some of the money he stole from the bank or Ansonia PD and he believed that the gesture would’ve totally won her over. Unfortunately, none of that worked out too well for Bruce as he was booked for robbery and larceny and is being held on bail. Someone needs to add this guy onto Taylor’s list of people who should not come near her ASAP. Anyway, in other Taylor news, her brother Austin opened up about his big sister at the premiere of his movie Cover Versions and revealed the best advice she gives him. Austin told Entertainment Tonight QUOTE, “[I get] a lot of advice in all aspects, but I think the best advice I get from Taylor is that she says I can do things – in the sense that a lot of times I’m more reserved and cautious and she’s like, ‘You can do it, you can handle it.’ That’s always nice to have that in the background.” What did you guys think of all of this? Were you surprised that Taylor’s beauty caused a man to go out of his way to rob a bank for her? And what did you think of Taylor’s advice to Austin? Share all your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for hanging with me on Clevver Newsfeed, I’m Vivian Fabiola, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and I’ll see ya next time!

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Latest Hollywood English Celebrities 2017 New English Films, Taylor Swift INSPIRES Fan To Commit a Bank Robbery?.

Hollywood Media Networks is a business segment and primary unit of The Walt Hollywood Company that contains the company’s various television networks, cable channels, associated production and distribution companies and owned and operated television stations. Media Networks also manages Hollywood’s interest in its joint venture with Hearst Corporation, A+E Networks, and ESPN Inc. Fresh News for Celebrities In Theaters, Taylor Swift INSPIRES Fan To Commit a Bank Robbery?.

https://www.myhollywoodnews.com/taylor-swift-inspires-fan-to-commit-a-bank-robbery/

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carot-dj · 7 years

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5.0 out of 5 stars Gardens of Delight

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars, Five Reasons to Love "Gardens of Awe and Folly" My personal gardening skills leave much to be desired and my painting skills are far from ready for prime time. So why would I leap into "Gardens of Awe and Folly" with difficult-to-contain enthusiasm? Simply because it is by the remarkable Vivian Swift, whose paintings and text (which is both fun and informative) highlight nine gardens from her own Long Island to such exotic or sophisticated locales as Rio, Marakkech, Paris and London, among others.With delightful humor, a generous sprinkling of quotes, information about plants I never considered, an eye for architecture and enchanting paintings, the book is a journey into the worlds of poets, devoted amateur gardeners, gardening tips and the pecking order of the 17th century health care system! Added into the mix is a two page spread where the author demonstrates her painting technique for picture-perfect autumn leaves.Five reasons to love this book? The paintings, the humor, the gardening tips, intriguing back stories and finally, beautiful production values and the sheer beauty of the finished product.If I must find fault with Gardens of Awe and Folly it is quite simply because Vivian Swift stops at nine gardens, while I would have loved her to go on and on. Take this book, as I hope you would take the other two books by Vivian Swift ("When Wanderers Cease to Roam" and "Le Road Trip") and savor every second. Perhaps you'll be like me and start reading all over again -- after you order a copy or two for your favorite garden-loving friends! Go to Amazon

5.0 out of 5 stars Traveling to Gardens Visiting gardens wherever I travel is my greatest delight, yet friends ask, “Why? Don’t you see the same plants over and over?” Vivian Swift in her new book Gardens of Awe and Folly, has the best answer to this question. She writes, “If all you ask of a garden is What?, then all you’ll probably get in reply is a planting list. But ask instead, Why? How? When? and most of all, Who? and then you’re in for a nice, long conversation.”Swift’s book is classified as Garden Essays, but it far exceeds this label. She describes her work as “an illustrated book for grownups,” with watercolor art, stories, thought provoking collages, and life lessons. Swift shares conversations she had with nine significant gardens. Not actual conversations with the gardeners but the stories found within and around the garden gate.She is in awe of the complexity of the native plant societies and the powerful color of Majorelle Bleu. The spirit of gardeners is illustrated through Karen rebuilding her garden after hurricane Katrina. Karen purchased a French vintage garden gate, a “Katrinket, a ridiculously expensive, indulgent, and therapeutic thing” to help lift her out of misery. Swift appreciates the folly of gardeners taking on the burden of rearranging nature to create their vision of beauty and provides examples from garden history to make us all feel better.After you have immersed yourself in this reading adventure, examining every little detail of this beautiful book, you will want to keep it close by. Then in an instant you can open it again to celebrate a sunset in Key West, have tea in Morocco, feel the chill of a winter rain in Scotland, walk in the light of brief autumn hours on Long Island, and sip champagne among a dozen roses in New Orleans. Thanks to Swift, you’ll be prepared for your own conversations with gardens no matter where you travel. Go to Amazon

5.0 out of 5 stars so I could just squeal and drool and go on and on about how much I love Vivian Swift's books OK, so I could just squeal and drool and go on and on about how much I love Vivian Swift's books, but I'll try to be specific. I can't decide what I like most about this book - the detailed watercolor illustrations, the writing, the hand-set type (swoon) - because I love it all. Her illustrations make the gardens come alive and the writing makes me want to see every garden in person. Perhaps the best is Ms Swift's attention to detail in every part of the book (and her others, too)- the precise watercolors, the clear, thoughtful, and funny prose, and the typography - no detail too small to be addressed with perfection.This is a book to savor in bits, taking in all the art and descriptions while trying to make the book last as long as possible. Go to Amazon

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Delight This is my first Vivian Swift book and I am enthralled by it. I began reading about Paris because I am most familiar with that location, however I quickly let go my own memories and allowed myself to be led by Swift’s words and paintings. Touring her 9 gardens is a delight . The prose is clever and full of interest, even for a non-gardener. The illustrations are marvelous, miniature paintings with exquisite detail. This is a travel book like none other and I look forward to following Ms.Swift on future journeys. Go to Amazon

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