Reel Reviews

300 -- The quintessential example of the power of a noble defeat. It would have been nice if a certain two-term president I could name had the resolve of Leonidas and his Spartans in the face of opposition; as this film demonstrates, sometimes getting beaten is what sets up the more lasting and meaningful victory down the road. Worth seeing for its visual inventiveness, its excellent performances, and for all the deep stuff this movie has on its mind. Yes, we are the inheritors of a tradition that has hung in the balance--by a thread--more than once in our history; and yes, if need be, we can beat back the attack once again.

Reel Reviews

A Face in the Crowd -- The villainy of Andy Griffith--who would have thought it? Apparently, Elia Kazan, that’s who. This film has become a standard namecheck for explaining our country’s current politics--no, Lonesome Rhodes is not Trump; Glenn Beck remains the modern model, though others are coming up fast behind him--so it’s probably must-see material at this point. Fortunately, it’s entertaining material, so you won’t get bored watching it. The only real problem is, in the end it might be too hopeful; there’s no guarantee that our ending will actually be even this happy.

Reel Reviews

The Three Musketeers -- This is the version from the ‘40s with Gene Kelly as D’Artagnan. The film makes good use of Kelly’s dancing talents; his D’Artagnan is athletic and agile and makes his swordplay sequences a lot of fun to watch. The plot seems to careen wildly all over the place, with a few too many climaxes--but I suspect the filmmakers hewed fairly closely to the source material, so it’s hardly their fault for that. There’s almost a bit too much bonhomie between the Musketeers; sometimes the movie comes across as more parody than comedic adventure, but that’s a minor quibble, as is the fact that it runs just a bit too long. But this is one of those classic, old-style Hollywood adventures that you don’t see much of anymore, so it’s definitely worth a look for that alone.

Reel Reviews

The Sea Hawk -- An absolutely standard, straightforward Errol Flynn swashbuckler, like many others, almost to the point of being templated. It’s a fortunate thing, then, that Flynn, director Michael Curtiz, and some familiar cast members all had that template down pat. The movie provides exactly what you expect of a old-time pirate flick, and that means high entertainment. It does run a tad long, with a bit of a dull stretch in the middle, but the payoff is worth it, and it’s ultimately a very satisfying experience.

Reel Reviews

Where To Invade Next -- A somewhat kinder, gentler Michael Moore. Not that Moore was kicking people in the dick as he built his career as filmdom’s foremost political muckrake--but there was always an angry edge to the geniality in his previous cinematic indictments (as he would probably admit himself). Here, though, Moore seems to have softened a bit; perhaps it’s because he’s looking for solutions rather than just exposing problems. It also probably helps that he’s talking to Europeans about their solutions; Moore usually reserves his harshest scolds for his fellow--but wrongheaded--Americans. There are the usual caveats here: Moore doesn’t ask enough questions, frames some ideas a bit too sunnily, assumes too much in the transferability of solutions from one situation to another; and, as always, be suspicious if he quotes statistics (Moore doesn’t seem to understand numbers very well). But it’s certainly worth everyone’s time to check out the ideas presented herein and contemplate how they might, just might, make a good nation even better.

Reel Reviews

Cabin Fever (2016) -- A reboot? More like a boot to the head, specifically one that damages the brain. It’s like someone collected every horror movie cliche into a gigantic vat, added an industrial amount of stupid, cooked it down to a thick reduction, and then vomited it onto a screen. This is quite possibly the stupidest, ugliest, worst movie I’ve ever seen. And it’s not even the original, let alone “original” in any sense. Not even so bad it’s good--just insultingly, cynically bad.

Reel Reviews

You Only Live Twice -- This is where it started to get silly. You can see how Connery would have wanted to get out after this piece. Every Bond cliche that was lovingly mocked in the Austin Powers movies has its provenance here, and it all suffers accordingly from the viewer’s memories of the parodies. The fact that Roald Dahl is listed as the scriptwriter only adds to the absurdity. Watch it if you’re a Bond fan, or a Powers fan for sure, but don’t have high expectations.

For The Record, Scale Check

Interesting. Almost exactly a month after the last low-point reading, I've reached a new low. Just by a pound, but it's movement in the right direction--and that's fascinating, because I can't remember the last time I reached a new low weight in December. This is not the time of year when this kind of progress gets made.

So what's going on here? Well, I can say this: back in October I got very worried about my blood sugar (I'm diabetic; no surprise there), and I instituted some new eating policies which, so far, have held fairly well these last eight-to-nine weeks. Specifically: avoiding sugary drinks, particularly regular soda, except for an every-other-week "soda day"; and avoiding sweets, meaning any foods that are particularly sugary, including (but not necessarily limited to) candy, pastries, ice cream, etc. (again, with an every-other-week exception for a "sugar day"). And that really seems to be working; the blood sugar has been better, and--most obviously here--the weight is slowly, steadily coming down. And note, it's been coming down even as I have not been getting as much exercise as usual (late November and December are what passes for the dead of winter in the Bay Area).

So this is quite exciting. The results demonstrate that with a couple of very simple steps--which are not huge sacrifices and (as of now) look to be sustainable--it's possible to maintain steady weight loss even under less-than-ideal circumstances. These results also promise that I will be set up nicely going into next year to make a fairly decent push in the downward direction going into and through the spring and summer.

Not bad at all.

Reel Reviews

Thunderball -- This was the point, apparently, when Bond films started to settle into a groove; not necessarily a groove that fulfilled all of the series’ early promise, but more like a track that served as a template for respectably entertaining action movies to come. Few people these days would cite this film as their favorite Bond movie, and with reason, though it’s not awful by any stretch. Just not quite it could--maybe should--have been.

Reel Reviews

Goldfinger -- Acknowledged as a classic for decades now, a re-viewing of this film shows a lot of the original fun, but also displays just enough flaws to lead to a certain amount of reassessment. No doubt it’s a cool flick and worth watching, but the reality is that its predecessor (From Russia With Love) is probably the better film. Not really complaining, just calling it like it is.

For the Record, Scale Check

This reading is highly unsual, in that it comes in November, a time of year when the "weight losing season" is usually long since over. But there have been a collection of circumstances that have led to this new low weight reading. The pic above comes from November 9th, and comes roughly at the end of a long period where I was living outside the usual location; thus, I had a different living environment for almost a month and a half, with only brief interruptions. This gave me a real opportunity to seize better control of my eating habits, as well as exercise habits, all to positive effect.

At least, the positive effect came eventually. In the beginning of that period, I found myself having a bit of a blood sugar crisis--it was up, and I couldn't get it down. There was, in truth, a little too much freedom in my living arrangements during that period, and my glucose level suffered because of it. To correct that, I've taken the step of radically cutting back on my consumption of sugary stuff, specifically sugary drinks and candy. I now schedule myself for a "soda day" and a "candy day" at (currently) two week intervals; the rest of the time, I force myself to avoid the stuff. And that, in combination with a relatiely rigorous exercise schedule these past several weeks, has pushed my weight down to a new low.

The interesting part about this is: if I had had the sense to make that adjustment a while ago, I would almost certainly be further along in the project by now.

But that's looking back. Looking forward, I'm planning a "food holiday" around the upcoming Christmas season, basically the last fortnight of the year, and I don't expect to post another new goal achieved message for the rest of this year. But, moving forward, I think I have a path that will carry me through to a better series of results in the upcoming winter, which just might set up some real progress next year when the spring and summer come. It could get interesting and exciting. We'll see how it goes.

Reel Reviews

From Russia With Love -- More Bond movies in order. Quite the step up from the first flick. Everything in the execution of the story seems more confident and skillfully done. It's all there: the action is almost non-stop, the familiar Cold War setting is firmly in place, the gadgetry plays a key role, and Bond gets a metric ton of tail. No wonder the next film in the series is widely regarded as the best of them all -- they already had the template down cold by the one before it. Sweet.

Reel Reviews

Dr. No -- Kicking off a project to rewatch all the Bond movies, in order, we begin at the beginning, as they say. Viewed today, this is a strange mixture of rough draft of a very familiar story yet also featuring fully formed aspects of the genre--considering Bond flicks as their own genre--right there, present and accounted for from the beginning. Either way, it’s a good watch, and no wonder folks decided they’d be up for more (and boy did they ever get it). Works for me.

Reel Reviews

Blade Runner: The Final Cut -- I’m pretty sure I’ve seen BR before, in one of its many incarnations, but I never remembered it enough to have much of an opinion on it. Hence this viewing of what it supposedly director Ridley Scott’s preferred version of the movie. The verdict: it’s pretty good; not spectacular, just pretty good. The film certainly scores by the questions it raises; not so much “Is he or isn’t he?” as “What does it mean to be human? To have a life? To be?” Beyond its philosophical implications, this movie holds up rather well for a sci-fi flick; its vision looks less dated and more like just an alternate version of the future. There’s just a little something lacking; hard to say what’s the fault (story? characters? action?). But some crucial element is just not quite there. Ultimately, a decent diversion, but not really a monument in filmmaking history, whatever anyone tells you.

Reel Reviews

Harvey -- The proof that this is a fantastic movie? When the moment of crisis comes, the moment when Elwood P. Dowd is in danger of becoming just an ordinary guy--maybe--the viewer will most likely be moved, possibly even heartbroken. That’s quite a bit of work for what is a fairly restrained film, one that gives its comedy a lot of room to breathe and injects just enough pathos to give it all some heft. It’s been remade at least once, but that was a quixotic idea, for without Jimmy Stewart and his essential self, the role of Dowd and the entire story would be either too silly (and not in a good way) or absurd to the point of falling entirely flat. Thankfully, we have this one result of when Stewart and company teamed up to do it right.