I hope that you have a safe, fun evening and that your year begins tomorrow with joy and hope.
“THEY WERE KEEPING NEW YEAR’S EVE, AND WERE DRINKING SUCCESS TO THE NEW YEAR.” — from Hans Tegner’s Fairy Tales and Stories, 1900
Tag Archives: 2019
A few quick words on “Fractured” (2019)
“Fractured” (2019) is essentially a “Twilight Zone” episode presented as a feature-length film. Like many movies of this type, it would be better suited to a 40-minute television script; it takes too long here to reach its denouement. It suffers just a little because of that.
That isn’t to say it’s a bad film — it was pretty well executed, despite its unnecessary length, and the final minutes had me squirming. It certainly held my interest, and I’d rate it a 7 out of 10.
Brad Anderson’s directing was quite good — this is a well visualized psychological horror film that capably builds tension with its unsettling angles and strange lighting. Sam Worthington does very well in his lead role as a man who has his family admitted to a hospital emergency room, only to see them vanish altogether. He’s upstaged just a bit by two actors in small supporting roles — the priceless Stephen Tobolowsky and the superb Adjoa Andoh as doctors at the mysterious hospital.
A review of Season 4 of “The Man in the High Castle” (2019)
The fourth and final season of “The Man in the High Castle” (2019) ended the show pretty strongly — I’d rate it an 8 out of 10 for concluding the dystopian science fiction epic just when its ambitious storytelling started getting too unwieldy.
I won’t lie to you … I loved the show, and was the sort of fan that exhorted all of my friends to watch it — but even I have to admit that there were some general narrative failures. This show tackled nothing less than multiple, detailed parallel universes — each with its own history and analogous characters. (It is an Axis Powers’ World War II victory that sets the stage for the story’s initial, “prime” universe.) That’s a lot to tackle, and “The Man in the High Castle” didn’t always follow through. (It didn’t help that there was a seeming myriad of subplots and character arcs fleshing out its prime universe alone — and that some of Season 4’s story setups seemed redundant with those of prior seasons.)
By the show’s end, there were major plot threads that were left dangling — including key questions about the show’s basic plot elements. I wouldn’t blame many longtime fans for feeling frustrated at the overall story’s insufficient exposition — and this last season’s deliberately vague, befuddling final moments.
But “The Man in the High Castle” was still simply too good to dislike. What the show does well, it tends to do very well — especially its grand, sweeping, Wagnerian science fiction world-building. I’ll bet you’ll never see another what-if-the-Nazis-won story as good as this one. With everything from its panoramic backdrops to its costuming to its incidental dialogue, “The Man in the High Castle” tackles its sprawling milieu with zeal, style and impressive detail. You can tell that it was a labor of love for the screenwriters to bring Philip K. Dick’s dangerous multiverse to the screen.
Its cast includes performers that absolutely shine — most notably Rufus Sewell as the premier American Nazi, John Smith, but also Alexa Davalos, Chelah Hordal, Joel de la Fuente and Rick Worthy. For me, Sewell often made the show; his role here seems like one he was born for.
Despite its admittedly significant flaws, Season 4 was still a great watch.
You stare at this cake long enough, you get high.
Either that, or Dr. Strange is summoned before you and emerges from it.
Seriously, look at that thing.
Happy Holidays, Guys.
I’m not sure why so many turn-of-the-century Christmas cards feature pig-powered elf transportation, but you’d be surprised. It must be a Norwegian thing — in the same manner as their contemporaneous Americans had a predilection for frogs. (Hey, it could be weirder, right? Norway’s cards could features cadres of confused elves running a barber shop for pigs.)
Whatever. Drive safe and be merry. If you’re traveling far to see friends or family, remember to gas up your pigs.
Jenny Nystrøm, circa 1895.
A new Thanksgiving friend.
He goes by the name of Jasper, and he’s one mellow rabbit. He was one of my (quite gracious) hosts for Thanksgiving dinner today in the vicinity of Roanoke. Seriously, this guy is chill. He lets all sorts of visitors pick him up and pet him. He has two siblings — one cat and one dog — and I’m told he chases them around the house.
“Thanksgiving Greetings” postcard, early 20th Century
1900-1909.
Throwback Thursday: The “WKRP in Cincinnati” Turkey Drop Scene (1978)!!
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
I’m not sure if the below scene from “WKRP in Cincinnati” (1978-1982) is overexposed; it annually pops up a lot before Thanksgiving. (I’ve shared it on Facebook at least once, I’m sure of it.) It is, of course, the famous “turkey drop” scene from the Thanksgiving episode of the show’s first year. (WKRP would have been on the air only two months when this episode first aired.) The title of the episode was “Turkeys Away,” and it’s still quite well remembered by people interested in television pop culture.
The scene is really funny — people went nuts for it back in the day. I still remember my parents and older siblings truly cracking up over over it. And it really is all tied together by Gordon Jump’s perfect delivery of its feckless final line.
Hey … there’s actually another bit of WKRP trivia that’s been making the rounds lately on social media. It turns out that the lyrics for its closing theme, which many people my age remember quite well, are actually nothing but gibberish. Seriously, check it out.
“Doctor Sleep” (2019) was ABSOLUTELY ****ING FABULOUS.
“Doctor Sleep” (2019) was ABSOLUTELY ****ING FABULOUS. I had high hopes for this movie after seeing the trailer — yet it exceeded my expectations. I’d easily rate this a 10 out of 10.
This is a story-driven horror film just brimming with blackly creative ideas and weird world-building — I haven’t read Stephen King’s source material, but I feel certain this was a loving adaptation of the 2013 novel. It is also genuinely touching at times. (I was trying to explain to a dear friend recently about how King’s work can surprise the uninitiated — the monsters and devils typically occupy only a portion of his imaginary landscapes. The remainder is inhabited by good people who are bravely doing the right thing.)
All of the movie’s story elements are painted vibrantly by Mike Flanagan’s beautiful screenwriting and nightmarishly trippy directing. The film’s action and often incongruously bright visuals are reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s visions in “The Shining” (1980), to which this film is truly a worthy successor. (Flanagan was the director and screenwriter for last year’s fantastic “The Haunting of Hill House.” The qualities that you loved about the Netflix show can also be found in “Doctor Sleep” — in some ways, they are very similar stories.)
Rebecca Ferguson is mesmerizing as the story’s antagonist, Kyliegh Curran is pitch perfect as the young anti-hero, and Ewan McGregor is predictably terrific.
The only quibbles I had were minor — there was one plot device (presumably from the novel) that didn’t translate well to the screen. It concerns how the bad guys replenish themselves … I’ll bet it worked well in King’s prose, but it seemed corny and cliche when visualized on film.
You could also argue that “Doctor Sleep’s” constant references to “The Shining” were pretty heavy-handed. But that didn’t bother me too much … I arrived at the conclusion that “The Shining” and “Doctor Sleep” were really two halves of an epic supernatural road trip. Your mileage may vary.
One final caveat — this film does portray violence against children. It isn’t extremely graphic, but it’s still especially disturbing. (It technically isn’t gratuitous, I suppose, because there is an in-universe reason why Ferguson’s tribe of villains targets the young.)
This is easily the best horror film that I’ve seen in years. Go see it.
To all who served, thank you.
Veterans Day 2019.
Photo: Members of a Joint Service Honor Guard participate in the Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Nov. 11, 2014. Photo by Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 
