Change Your Image
melodyc
Reviews
Monk: Mr. Monk and the Candidate (2002)
Monk is Brilliant
Adrian Monk has OCD in the same way Superman has an allergy to Kryptonite. I LOVE Monk, and this new series underscores how what may seem a "disability" can really be a whole new, wider way of looking at the world. Naturally, he'll need a LOT of help with the disabling aspects, however.
Tony Shalhoub is perfect in this -- every nuance, every moment, every choice is 100%. His empathy with the character is profound, and rather than some quirky stereotype, his Monk is a beautiful, poetic character that will live for a longtime after the petty series characters of modern "hit" television fade away.
Bitty Schram's Sharona is a lovely, warm act of faith, and everyone -- literally everyone -- is perfectly cast.
And along with all this warmth, this is the funniest show to come along in many years.
Ignore the naysayers...watch it.
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
SG1 is wonderful, Richard Dean Anderson is not British
To correct someone posting before this, Richard Dean Anderson is a Minnesotan, so his sense of humor (as conveyed through Jack) is dry US midwestern.
Beyond that, I'd have to be an amen chorus for the previous posts (except for the commentary on the brilliant The X-Files, which never talked down to its viewers, so left a number of the fans behind). We recently had a Stargate TV marathon over USANetwork and I was amazed at the high standards evinced by every episode. This series clearly leaves most Trek editions in the dust.
The Green Mile (1999)
To various remarks, some background, and regards Delacroix (minor spoilers)
Among all the literate, lovely remarks from all over the world, why must there always be some Yankophobe posting anti-American remarks about an American film? If you don't like American cinema, don't watch it. Would you insult Japanese cinema simply because it insists upon being Japanese?
Back to the film -- the story is, I personally believe, in part based on the case of Jude Affey, a black southern US man condemned to death by hanging in the early 1900s. He was called "Magic Jude Affey" because he apparently was able to snap the noose from around his neck, then run away, escaping hanging. In reality, it's widely believed, his jailers/wardens realized he was not guilty, and that the governor of the state had it "in" for him. They repeatedly arranged his escape - that's, at least, how the modern theory goes.
Now fancy that -- the story may well be true.
Film is about the exceptional in all people...to the best or worst in human character. This film is a parable, and should not be received as some social drama rendering reality as its perceived by the status quo. It drives home its own point, rendered with deeply good, common people. Such people exist everywhere, even in the US...even among my own people in the south, believe it or not.
Would that the wonderful character at the luminous heart of this story, have met a similar fate to Magic Affey's.
Incidentally, Delacroix was interpreted by Jeeter, unless I'm mistaken, as being Cajun. Given the region in which the story is set, that's somewhat likely. Cajun French bears the same resemblance to a continental French accent as a Texas brogue resembles a London accent.
Breaking Away (1979)
To be oneself, apart from one's origins, and yet to embrace them still
I love this film, as much now as I did at 20 when it originally debuted.
I have to agree that the heart of this film is Paul Dooley's absolutely wonderful performance as "the father". He's one of our best character actors (more recently used to great effect in "Insomnia") and in Breaking Away, his many gifts are most readily apparent.
All the best lines are his, and many of the best moments. The "itti food" scene, in the hands of a lesser actor, could easily have crumbled into stereotype. He always has a wink at the audience to let them know there is humor and warmth under each line.
The film is best summed up, I think, when Dennis Christopher is spurred by events in the movie (no spoilers) to expiate his "sins" and embrace his own heritage (in a scene that shows American working class WASP social roles defined by their jobs). Christopher proclaims, "I'm a cutter." And Dooley replies, "No. I'M a cutter." In other words, he can be whatever he wishes to be, even if it includes "itti" food.
Barbara Barrie should also be remembered as his mom.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
the Darlings are the Dillards
Just want to point out that the legendary bluegrass band the Dillards played "the Darlings" on the series. They were (and are) my grandfather's cousins, so familiar glory stirs me to comment.
BTW, the series itself (during the glory years) was wonderful, funny, and genuinely homespun.