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Reviews
Monk: Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty (2006)
No thanks, Screenrant
I decided to watch this episode because Screenrant said it is one of the best. Who the hell paid them to say that???? Yet another rehash of the already annoying Twelve Angry Men, and this episode adds nothing worthwhile. The setup doesn't suit the show at all. I like seeing Monk out and about, investigating an intriguing murder, not cooped up in a jury room with a bunch of caricatures. His way of solving the crime from his jury chair feels so trite and only makes the police look like idiots instead of making Monk seem brilliant. Monk is annoying and ridiculous the whole time, and he is kept apart from the captain and lieutenant, with whom most of the show's laughs were generated after they made the mistake of dropping Sharona. Avoid this episode!!!
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Lifeless retelling of a mediocre story
Is easy to see why despite the book selling 15 million copies since 2018 (already half of Gone with the Wind), this movie ended up being just another forgettable woman-aimed drama that had a weak box-office performance. In short, the movie plays out like a big-budget, overlong Lifetime movie with far less thrills and performance.
The clear appeal of the book to its female readers is that it's the ultimate female fantasy of a girl making it on her own to adulthood without (and despite) men and even getting away with killing one. But the movie (and its source novel) completely lack the critical details explaining how a little girl so effortlessly survives (even thrives) on her own, and this only undermines the apparent struggles that her family was facing at the beginning of the novel. Why were things so tough for the family? If a little girl can do it, surely her adult parents could.
The family leaves her on her own as if she is an afterthought and it's obvious that the story does not want to make any effort explaining that, a task which may have been worth the effort since the movie feels like it's struggling to stretch an hour's length of material into a 2-hour flick. Daisy Edgar-Jones' performance as Kya is largely robotic and emotionless, and no other cast members leave any impression as no effort was put in the film to make it anything more than a very safe, lifeless retelling of the book.
This all goes to prove that strong storytelling is no longer the requirement in fiction literature as long as you have a juicy agenda to throw to the wolves. Thankfully, movie audiences were a bit less desperate and we won't be seeing this topping the box office for the next 4 years.
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Flawed finale that still manages to please
Although Part 3 nicely continues the fun fantasy escapism of the previous two movies, it has by far the weakest story, one that isn't even justified. Having discovered that the 1985 Doc was accidentally sent to 1885 and shot shortly afterwards, the 1955 Doc agrees to send Marty to 1885 to bring 1985 Doc safely back to the future. Even when I saw this at the movies at the age of 9 this plot made no sense to me. The 1955 Doc can simply live out his life and avoid accidentally getting sent to 1885, and even if he does go there, he can avoid doing business with Burford Tannen. If they still decide to send Marty through time to prevent it, they can simply send him to yesterday in 1955 and have him warn Doc about the lightning before it strikes the DeLorean. And if they still decide to send Marty to 1885, he can advise Doc to simply wear a bulletproof device to prevent his death (this worked in Part 1).
But having forced the story of Marty being in 1885 on us, it is lightweight fun that gives Christopher Lloyd a chance to shine as his character takes center stage in this one. The 1955 Doc is annoyingly hyperactive but the Doc now in 1885 is refreshingly more relaxed, which is a neat switch. Michael J. Fox also does a nice turn as Shamus, and Mary Steenburgen is the perfect woman for doc. Flawed story that manages to satisfactorily conclude the trilogy.
Back to the Future (1985)
Very Good Fun But Not a Masterpiece
I don't need to go into all the good things about the movie because they've been said a million times and it is a very enjoyable flick. So I'll just mention the few things that bother me and which keep this from being a masterpiece:
1) Doc keeps refusing to let Marty tell him about getting shot that night because it will "endanger my own existence." This makes no sense and comes off as blatant Screenwriting 101 in plain view as the story tries to create an inner conflict for Marty. Doc already knows about building the time machine and Marty getting sent through time, and he sees the video and it's pretty obvious what is about to happen. Stopping him from speaking it is ridiculous. This annoyed me as a kid and still does.
2) When Marty returns to 1985 he sees himself going through time in the DeLorean again. This also makes no sense because that would mean Doc just allowed the Marty who lived the alternate life (with a confident father and happy family) to go into time also. Why? So he can mess up the past again? There is no reason on earth for Doc to repeat all that over again and almost get himself and Marty killed. The reason is because the screenwriters couldn't figure out a better way to get rid of the "new" Marty so we could see how the "old" Marty handles his new life.
Moments like these insult the intelligence of the viewer. Again, it's a good, fun movie, but the holes in the screenplay are too obvious to make it a masterpiece.
Columbo: Murder by the Book (1971)
Terrible
With two decent movies (Prescription Murder and Ransom for a Dead Man) and a solid first episode already made (Death Lends a Hand), the premiere episode Murder by the Book stands out as the first bad Columbo installment and one of the worst episodes ever made.
To begin with, Ken's murder plan always struck me as odd and baffling. I could never understand the benefit of committing the murder live over the phone for an ear witness, even if the witness believes it is happening at her husband's office in LA though it's actually happening in Big Bear (not to mention the likelihood that telephone records would show that the call did come from Big Bear). From the start, it seemed to me as if there were gaping holes in this plan that were sure to be exposed by lesser detectives than Columbo. And we quickly see the flaws of the murder plan come to light. The police (without Columbo's involvement) point out that there is no sign of a murder in the office, which would all but destroy the purpose of Ken's plan. It MUST have happened somewhere else. Upon dumping the body in the middle of his lawn (How could nobody in the neighborhood have seen this?), Ken calls police and Columbo immediately questions Ken's decision not to fly to LA and notices that he opened his mail today right after learning of the shooting over the phone--both of these are timing questions made possible by his decision to commit the murder live on the phone.
The episode totally lacks the battle of wits seen in previous episodes because whereas previous villains had shown Columbo respect and went along with his hunches, Ken right away bosses Columbo around about the motive of the murder, very actively leading the discussion all while showing very clear contempt for Columbo. It seems as if Columbo is perpetually trying to stand eye to eye with Ken but never succeeds. To make matters worse, Columbo is fruitlessly following Ken around except for the day that Ken decides to kill a blackmailing witness. Columbo sure picked the wrong day to give Ken a break!
And the piece of evidence that seals the case is very lackluster: a story idea written by Jim (not Ken) on a slip of paper that vaguely resembles the crime (the episode should have been titled Murder by the Slip of Paper). The really unconvincing thing is that moments after Ken threatens to sue Columbo for liebel, a story idea written by another man that vaguely resembles a plot that Columbo has yet to even prove causes him to buckle and confess. The really odd thing is that physical forensic evidence plays no part whatsoever in this episode. None. Columbo doesn't look at a shred of physical evidence and his case is entirely hypothetical. A very lazy script that is an insult to our intelligence.