Task
This HBO miniseries was created by Brad Inglesby who created Mare of Easttown a couple years ago. So if you liked that show, you're bound to like this one as well. It has a very similar structure and, like Mare, it's very well-written and well-acted.
Task follows a criminal and a detective. The criminal is Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey), an otherwise unassuming father of two who, along with a couple friends, robs the homes of drug dealers. But not just any drug dealers: members of the Dark Hearts, a biker gang his brother used to belong to.
The detective is Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), a once priest-turned cop who is mourning the tragic loss of his wife. Brandis is assigned to a task force with three other cops after one of the robberies takes a dark turn with 4 dead bodies and a child abducted from the scene.
The acting is excellent in this series and the secrets and motives of the characters are revealed slowly over the course of the 7 episode run. Just like Mare of Easttown, Task really has you on the edge of your seat and cursing the showrunners deciding to release one episode a week because that means you have to wait for the next one. But, dear reader, you don't have to wait because the whole show is on HBO for you to enjoy. If you like crime dramas that humanize both criminals and cops, this is definitely one to check out.
Grade: A-
***
Gosford Park
Gosford Park is the first Robert Altman movie I've seen and it was SO GOOD! If you love Downton Abbey, you'll love Gosford Park (it's written by Julian Fellowes).
The film takes place in 1932 at the estate of Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon) and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas). The couple have invited friends and family to their estate for a shooting party. These friends and family arrive with their servants. I'm not going to name all the characters because there are like 30 of them, but some of the big stars include: Dame Maggie Smith, Charles Dance, Clive Owen, Kelly Macdonald, Ryan Phillippe, Helen Mirren, Emily Watson, Bob Balaban, Jeremy Northam, and Stephen Fry. The cast is an anglophile's wet dream.
In the style of Agatha Christie, a crime takes place at the estate and everyone has a motive. However, the crime and its solution are almost beside the point. Gosford Park is about the drama and gossip both upstairs and downstairs. There's a little something for everyone: secret sexual liaisons, fake identities, catty bitches, drop-dead gorgeous costumes, Dame Maggie Smith looking horrified at various faux pas.
Gosford Park is a GREAT movie...one of the best I've seen in awhile. And I'm excited to watch it again because I will almost certainly catch things I missed the first time. I'm also excited to watch some more Altman films.
Grade: A+
***
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Ugh, this is a very mediocre possession film and a slightly less mediocre courtroom drama rolled into one. The movie is "inspired by true events" and if you hate how The Conjuring white-washed the scammy legacy of Ed and Lorraine Warren, you're going to hate this one too.
Tom Wilkinson plays a priest, Father Moore, who is implicated in the death of a young woman, Emily Rose, after he tries to cure her of what she believed was a demonic possession. Laura Linney is Erin Bruner, Moore's defense lawyer.
There's some genuinely spooky imagery in the film and there's an interesting moment when Erin calls an anthropologist to the stand as an expert witness in exorcisms who suggests that Emily could have been cured of whatever it was that was tormenting her through exorcism since people who believe they're possessed may also believe in the power of exorcisms (this is the same argument, by the way, that convinces Chris MacNeil to allow her daughter, Regan, to undergo an exorcism in The Exorcist).
But that's really all the film has to offer. Other than the aforementioned The Exorcist, nearly all possession movies suck balls. There are a few good ones, but most are just religious propaganda in scary movie sheep's clothing. They also nearly always have a weird gender thing going on with the possessed person usually being a young girl and the people "helping" her being old men. The Exorcist actually has the balls to show us some REALLY fucked up shit. All other possession movies are baby stuff in comparison.
Grade: C
***
Men in Black
Would you believe that I hadn't ever seen Men in Black before? It's always been one of my blind spots and when my friend invited me over to watch it with her kids, I figured it was time to give it a go.
Now, you have to understand that I watched this movie with a sweet six year old girl cuddling me very aggressively and lots of commotion going on around me (as is typical in a family with two talkative and excited kids), so my movie-watching experience was a bit curtailed. But overall, it was a fun, enjoyable flick that harkens back to a time when Will Smith was known as one of the most sought-after actors for big-budget action movies and not as "that guy who slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars." Ahh, more innocent times.
But the real MVP here is Tommy Lee Jones. I think people tend to forget how funny this guy is. His naturally grumpy looks allow for some excellent deadpan humor.
Men in Black is the perfect movie to watch with your kids, your friends' kids, or your nieces and nephews--it's just gross enough to get a fun reaction from little ones, but not too scary or crude. Next time you're babysitting or cuddling with a sassy six year old, considering queuing it up.
Grade: B
***
The Old Dark House
This horror comedy from 1932 was a fun and very mildly spooky time. Starring Boris Karloff and Gloria Stuart (whom you might know best as the elderly Rose from Titanic), The Old Dark House was directed by horror powerhouse James Whale and is essentially a satire of haunted house movies before the genre even really took off!
Couple Philip and Margaret Waverton and their friend Roger Penderel get caught in a rainstorm and can't continue driving, so they beg for shelter and the home (the old, dark home) of siblings Horace and Rebecca Femm. The Femm's butler, Morgan (Karloff) is a mute, terrifying brute whom the siblings themselves seem scared of. Later, the group is joined by a Sir William Porterhouse and his platonic female companion Gladys DuCane.
Secrets of the house are revealed throughout the night. Old, dark secrets. Also, there's a fair amount of bare shoulders, drinking, and canoodling, given this was a pre-Code film.
It was a good time and it made me want to check out more pre-Code films and see just how far they pushed the boundaries of what they could show on screen before the Hays Code pooped the party in 1934.
Grade: B
***
The Search for Spock
A few months ago, my partner and I watched The Wrath of Khan. I am very new to the world of Star Trek and so my partner is my guide to these "strange new worlds".
The Search for Spock is not quite as good as The Wrath of Khan, but it's still very satisfying and comforting in that unique way Star Trek tends to be. This is comfort-watching for intellectuals.
Notably, Christopher Lloyd plays a bad guy Klingon, Kruge, and even though he's under about 15 pounds of make-up, he still has those crazy eyes. I couldn't help but "Marty!" every time he was on screen.
This movie was also the first time I have heard of "Pon farr" outside of The Simpsons or The Big Bang Theory referencing it. Man, I love Vulcans.
I don't have much to say--good movie that I would have not watched if left to my own devices.
Grade: B
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