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Reviews
In the Valley of Sin (2021)
Sex abuse claims prove to be an abuse of power
Sad not to see any reviews here of this hard hitting six-part documentary about the child sex abuse scandal in a small eastern Washington community which took on a nature disturbingly similar to the Salem Witch trials. Like the notorious trials that took place in 1692-1693 in colonial Massachusetts, the initial focus of the Wenatchee abuse investigations was small but soon spread to scores of accused and took on an aura of mass hysteria. How could this be happening in our town?
It is both maddening and terrifying as one watches how a single unqualified policeman, employees of the local office of the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services and a supportive mayor accuse more and more parents, take away their children and secure convictions with prison time. It is Kafkaesque.
The filmmakers dig deep, telling the story in slow, meticulous detail, unveiling, first, a sensational story of increasingly remarkable proportions, and, then, as the great lie begins to unravel. In between, good people suspect the claims. They become vocal. They raise concerns, only to find themselves also accused of child sexual abuse.
If this were a fictional movie, it would be criticized as hysterically unrealistic and needlessly sensational. But it's not fiction, prompting the question, how could this happen in our nation?
The Oklahoma Cyclone (1930)
Consider When It Was Made
This is a pre-code sound western churned out on a bottom-of-the-barrel budget under the watchful eye of Trem Carr, who ran Monogram for many years. But if has pizazz and cast and crew are working hard to deliver to their audience. There's a nice opener that establishes Bob Steele's cowboy credentials as he outwits a posse. The picture gets flabby in the middle. It wouldn't seem so if the acting and some bright dialogue moments weren't so painful. Performers often wait what seems like seconds to respond to a line of dialogue. But embedded within these moments there is attention to character, relational tensions and motivations. Star Bob Steele and his frequent nemesis, a notably slim Charles King, work hard to deliver a rousing punch up for the climax. The two actors invested time in choreographing their fights over the many years they worked together. It shows here, likely with support from not-yet legendary stuntman Cliff Lyons, who gets screen credit. And there is a death scene that is highly original and masterful. Cut this film some slack, stick with it and it has its own rewards.
Locusts (2005)
They Eat Everything, Except, Unfortunately, the Writer and the Director
This couldn't be funnier, even if it had intended to be. It is a 21st century rendition of those awful 1950s drive-in fodder, supersized radioactive insect movies. It just doesn't know its a parody. It really thinks it's a serious movie. As a result, it has turned out much funnier than Date Movie, Epic Movie and Scary Movie, all the uninspired clones of the Zucker brothers' wonderfully screwy Airplane (Flying High down under) and Naked Gun flicks.
Great sets, nice photography but the praise stops there. The script is stupid and the acting is atrocious. Grab snacks and laugh your head off. Lucy Lawless is a scientist battling swarms of carnivorous locust, a CYA secretary of agriculture and an army general eager to gas the bugs and most of America. All are of about equal intelligence. Well, maybe collectively the grasshoppers are smarter. Remarkable, given they are all stick-on props and CGI.
BTW, the unintentional humour is so raucous I never pegged Xena until I came to IMDb. She isn't nearly so visually arresting out of leather. Her estranged boyfriend though, another scientist, is another matter. He could push this flick over with specialized audience niches. It was guffaw time for me when he walked into Command Central and was introduced as a leader in some sort of scientific field. Square jawed, wavy haired and such a caricature of handsome, you know he must have just come straight from his other job. As an underwear model.
Low moments but big laughs: Every time Lucy jumps up and down like an 11-year-old trying to get the attention of a doubting bigwig. When the biggest mid-script plot turn is the "reveal" that Lucy is pregnant. Prime moment for a line something like, "You remember that night. You came straight home after shooting the g-string commercials and you were unstoppable." No matter; viewers are already laughing so hard they'd have missed the line.
Oh yes, and those amazing CGI effects! Really love the computer simulations of the USA at Command Central where the dark swarms of dots (representing the locusts, ya know) spread across several states as fast as spilled water covers a granite counter top.
Enough already. You get it. Do NOT approach this as serious entertainment.
Oh, I forgot. There is one good performance. It's Mike Farrell (B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H) as a man outstanding in his field. You got it; a farmer. That's cuz the locusts attack all the crops in Midwestern America. Those good, honest folk don't deserve such diss.
Coronet Blue (1967)
Let me blow this series' horn
Haven't thought of this fine series in ages. Then, suddenly that phrase that so haunted Frank Converse jumped into my head and I did a search. What do I get? The answer to the mystery. Thanks IMDb and like-minded fans. "Coronet Blue" was shot several years earlier than it's summer '67 airing. I remember this from a TV Guide article and I think we knew we'd never know the outcome. Is that possible? Was there a hope it's summer airing with less than a season of episodes might lead to its revival? I prayed so and caught every episode. Strong premise, Converse's intensity plus humanity, was convincing. And I have always recalled the camaraderie of Converse's running man and two other characters. I think one ran a coffee shop or bar and the third might have been black. Sadly, I've never heard of it resurfacing, which means it's probably rotting in some leaky vault. Please, how about a DVD set with at least an interview with Larry Cohen. "Coronet Blue" and my romance with Debbie Fink were the highlights of the summer of 1967.