peteg's blog

Judas and the Black Messiah

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Prompted somewhat by the supporting actor Oscar noms for the dual leads Daniel Kaluuya (playing Black Panther Illinois/Chicago Chairman Fred Hampton) and LaKeith Stanfield (FBI informant Bill O'Neal). I did not recognise Martin Sheen as Director Hoover. The acting is, as promised, quite good but cannot escape an overall tendency towards formula; the final thirty minutes is one long kiss goodbye. The documentary outro is not handled as well as Spike Lee did in the film it reminded me of, BlacKkKlansman.

Michael Wood watched it so you don't have to. A. O. Scott.

Marnie

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Drecky psychobabble from Hitchcock. Sean Connery does his best with wry smiles, arched eyebrows and semi-private smiles. The proposal that 'Tippi' Hedren is dishier than Diane Baker is preposterous. I have no idea what point he was trying to make, beyond the usual heteronormative hedonism and that cash cures all ills.

Eugene Archer at the time.

The Dry

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Mum reckoned the book was good. Another draw was Uncle Chop Chop's return to Victoria. So I'm blaming director Robert Connolly for this being a clunky bland out, playing more like an overlong episode of The Bill with too many unconvincing, unmotivated and underdeveloped zigs and zags. Just what do people do in rural Victorian towns between murders anyway?

Feted locally, of course. Sandra Hall. David Stratton apparently also gave it four stars. The same from Luke Buckmaster who makes the inevitable comparisons with Picnic at Hanging Rock (the granite boulder/river scenes on the flashback track) and Wake in Fright (the early pub scenes). Later, Nicolas Rapold.

Magnolia (1999)

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A Tom Cruise jag from Collateral. nth time around with this Paul Thomas Anderson classic. Janet Maslin nailed it in her review: the final movement doesn't live up to the first two. Eight stars from Roger Ebert (2000, 2008).