Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

Even I couldn't watch the only new movie in my movie package this week, Winnie the Pooh. The 209th viewing of The Sorcerer's Apprentice would be more bearable than that movie. However, I do have an unexpected guest reviewer this week, my husband, who watched all of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind while I slept (hey, it was a tough weekend.) 

His mini review: a very watchable movie. Moved along swiftly and reminded him of Slaughterhouse-Five with the protagonist traveling between worlds as is typical in sci-fi. Except in Confessions, protagonist (Chuck Barris, TV game show host by day and supposed CIA agent by night) does not travel to the distant planet, Tralfamadore, but perhaps to an invented world where he works as a secret agent.

Some slight background: Chuck Barris' claim to fame was as the host of the annoying amateur talent TV show, The Gong Show, The Dating Game, and also as promoter of similar ilk shows. But the real shocker in his life was the claim in his autobiography, titled same as the movie, that he was a CIA agent in the 1960s. This is a claim the CIA has always refuted and, with Barris' life as a promoter, one can't tell if this is reality or just another promotional gimmick.

Whatever the truth here (and when did truth ever matter in Hollywood?), the movie on Barris' double life was made into a 2002 movie with a great cast headed by Sam Rockwell. Rockwell is more your character actor than flashy star but if  you want to see good performances, you can't go wrong by watching a Rockwell movie. Beside Rockwell as Barris, this is one of the zanier cast ever assembled  with Matt Damon and and Brad Pitt as Bachelor # 1 and 2. And, let's not forget George Clooney, Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts.

Clicking on the typical viewer reviews (as opposed to paid critics) in IMDb, I was surprised to see the sharp contrast between effusive praise for the movie and then utter condemnation which has convinced me I've got to watch this film and see for myself.

Finally, some short observations: I saw the second in the PBS Sherlock series, The Hounds of the Baskervilles last night. Not as good as last week's A Scandal in Belgravia (but then Lara Pulver ate the scenery in that one) but so much more professionally done than the much touted Starz' A Magic City. What is wrong with AMC?  It comes across as a bad soap opera and for all the crime, mayhem and suspense, I'm bored. As I said in an earlier blog, it reminds me of the shot of Charlie Chan walking out of a building. Dull. When I really examine Sherlock, I see the same "dull" transitional shots (all drama has to have some) but perhaps it's the accompanying music, or camera cuts or witty dialogue which pushes their potential dullness down. But AMC reminding me of one long Charlie Chan walk. Which is amazing because Miami (the magic city of the title) in the late 1950s and early 1960s was historically a rich drama laying there for the picking. After watching all the promotional mini-documentaries on A Magic City regarding the costumes, the cars, the music, I think they got mired into the minutiae and mistakenly thought that the trees were the forest.