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reviews: catching up

Really, I couldn't catch up. I've read so many books and watched so many films and seen so much television since I last posted a review that it would take a month to reconstruct it all. So I'm just going to give you some highlights.

Television:

Carnivale/HBO. The second season is underway and I like it. I can't decide if I like it more than or less than the first season. They lost some characters I was attached to and kept a few I could do without; they've had some excellent plot and character twists and some subplot lines which don't work for me. But all in all: they've got my willing attention.

Huff/Showtime.***** I loved the first season of this show. My big statement: It's worth getting Showtime to see this show. Don't get it on my word alone (oi, the responsibility), but that's my opinion. It's high time Hank Azaria had a lead role in a series, and all of the actors are at the top of their respective games. I may even buy this on dvd when it comes out, and I haven't bought (and don't plan to buy) Carnivale. Didn't even buy Dead Like Me, which I also like a great deal. I'm just hoping they have enough viewers to guarantee at least a couple more seasons.

Deadwood/HBO:***** This is what's so good about HBO, all these original shows that take risks (and I'm not talking about the vocabulary choices, either). The second season of Deadwood starts in March and so I've been watching the rerun of the first season. It's hard to work with historically accurate characterizations and make your people appealing, or at least complex enough to be interesting. They manage to do it here.

Films:

Spanglish***. I didn't expect to like this movie (James L. Brooks rarely does a movie that I really like, or get; I think I was the only person on the planet who really disliked Terms of Endearment.) In fact, I didn't like Spanglish... much. But I can't deny it stuck with me. It has tremendous ... heart, I guess is the only word I can come up with, but it's awkward to the extreme in some ways and silly in others. The narcissistic wife was done so well by Téa Leoni that I cringed whenever she came onto the screen, and Cloris Leachman was perfect. I also have to say that I always brace myself for Adam Sandler, and now find that I don't have to -- if it's a drama rather than a comedy I've come to see. Punch-Drunk Love was a wonderful (if quiet) movie. I am going to see this again as a rental, and may reassess at that point, but right now I'd recommend it to some (but not all) people.

Dawn of the Dead*** (remake). The first ten minutes of this movie were the most engrossing, exciting, well edited opening I've seen in a long time. Right up to the point where the titles start and you see a car crash from overhead. The rest of the movie is worth seeing if you like the genre. If you don't skip the whole thing.

Ray. *** Worth seeing for the performances and the music. The story itself has some serious pacing issues, but then it's really hard to make a movie about a man's whole life.

I saw a lot of other movies, and remember not a single title at the moment. Not a good omen.

Books:

I haven't read a book I really loved in a good while, except for:

Red Tide/**** G.M. Ford. This is the next in the series with his journalist Frank Corso, and it's really good. I had a hard time putting it down, which is saying a lot in my case. There's a biochemical terrorist attack in Seattle, but forget the usual suspects. G.M. Ford tells a fast paced, vivid story but he doesn't neglect the characterizations or the backstory, which turns the question of guilt and responsibility on its ear. My only quibble is the last two pages, which seemed a rather... lazy way to solve one of the backstory issues.

February 17, 2005 11:16 AM

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Posted by: bohemianblogger at February 17, 2005 11:32 AM

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