VOD

ELEMENTARY (2012-2019)

February 15, 2021

(Hulu/VOD) The year is 2012. A well-received modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes — SHERLOCK — from the beloved writer/director of classic DOCTOR WHO ep -Blink- was already on its second season. CBS announced ELEMENTARY, which was squarely positioned as a CBS procedural with Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson, positioned in modern day New York City. Most folks scoffed, wondering how it could possibly compare to SHERLOCK.

Jump ahead to today, and I found ELEMENTARY to be the superior show for many reasons, but here are a few that stand out:

1) ELEMENTARY let their characters grow naturally, as opposed to solely saddling them with sensational baggage like -some- Holmes adaptations.

2) ELEMENTARY humanized Holmes without detracting from his superhuman facets. He’s an addict, he’s a brilliant asshole, but here he does care about people, especially not hurting folks in his orbit. His arc with Watson is one of the most mature partnership and friendship arcs I’ve seen portrayed on network TV.

3) Liu is the best Watson, and it’s not just because she’s so well-dressed. She has her own voice and place alongside Sherlock, although it takes a bit for the writers to get her there. She’s also one of the few Watsons shown to properly exist independently of Sherlock.

4) It provides the freshest, most interesting take on Moriarty. To say anymore would spoil matters.

While I found the show to have peaked in the second season — if you’re pressed for time, watch the first two and leave it there — all -seven- seasons are extremely watchable, partially because of the reasons listed above, but also because of the strong supporting and guest cast, which included Aidan Quinn as Holmes’ staple Captain Gregson, Steppenwolf regular Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell, and Fringe’s John Noble as Sherlock’s father.

Lastly, the title sequence was absolutely lovely, and I would always take the time to watch it.

THE THIN MAN (1934)

February 14, 2021

(VOD/Every other week on TCM) THE THIN MAN is based on the Dashiell Hammett detective novel of the same name but, while the pre-code film adaptation retains the same narrative bones as the book, it backgrounds the murder mystery in favor of the boozy, flirty interplay between spouses Nick & Nora Charles, resulting in one of most winsome on-screen couples.

Like the book, Nora (Myrna Loy) is a rich socialite, and Nick (William Powell) is a man who gave up his detective badge to marry her, and they have a dog in lieu of children. They spend their copious recreational time running around night clubs, garnering hanger-ons and hangovers, making each other laugh with witty banter and, in general, having one good time after another, at least until Nick gets roped into investigating a murder. What makes them such a great on-screen couple is that, yes, Nick is the investigator, but Nora is often the instigator, has just as much insight and deductive powers as Nick, she takes no shit, and Nick is always willing to indulge her. They both push-and-pull each other with an endless amount of quips and gazes, and love each other for doing so.

While it’s always worth watching Loy & Powell together, what really makes the film resonate is the sparkling script penned by married couple Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, who had an amazing tandem career both as playwrights (they won a Pulitzer for their stageplay of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK) and screenwriters (they also worked on FATHER OF THE BRIDE, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS). They were not shy about admitting that they poured much of their relationship into the screenplay, and it shows, as they feel like a real forever-love couple — doting, a bit combative, occasionally prickly, always respectful — but never in a cloying way. It’s a delightful watch, a film I never tire of.

  • If you’re interested in reading more about Goodrich & Hackett, I suggest the combined biography of the two in THE REAL NICK AND NORA by David L. Goodrich.

THE WILD BLUE YONDER (2006)

February 13, 2021

(hoopla/Prime/tubi/VOD) The few folks who saw this film after first being exposed to Werner Herzog via his masterful documentary GRIZZLY MAN must have walked out of the theater feeling very confused. THE WILD BLUE YONDER doesn’t fall into Herzog’s lighthearted docudramas, but instead lands closer to his doomsaying visual photo montages, such as the better known LESSONS OF DARKNESS (1992) which took an abstracted, hellish look at the oil fields and general destruction of nature in Kuwait after the Gulf War.

THE WILD BLUE YONDER goes one step further by bringing in Andromedan extraterrestrial Brad Dourif as your personal tour guide through arctic and NASA footage. Herzog’s always been exceptional at crafting visual narratives, but having Dourif here to verbally stitch the montages together is a real treat. That said, if you’re looking for anything resembling a proper narrative, look elsewhere. My wife and I debate to this day as to whether the Gene Siskel Film Center accidentally played the reels out of order.

THE KNICK (2014-2015)

February 12, 2021

(HBO MAX/VOD) Steven Soderbergh’s THE KNICK was part of the ‘auteur TV’ moment that bloomed in 2014, which included shows like TRUE DETECTIVE where the entire series was helmed by a sole director with a vision. Not only did Soderbergh direct all twenty episodes of the show, but he also shot it — not just taking on director of photography duties, but also filling in as the camera operator, -and- he edited it.*

The end result is a spectacularly modulated historical drama featuring Clive Owen as Dr. John Thackery as a brilliant doctor/addict at NYC’s Knickerbocker Hospital at the turn of the 20th century, Eve Hewson (the previously mentioned TESLA) as a nurse who falls into Thackery’s orbit, and André Holland (MOONLIGHT, HIGH FLYING BIRD) as Dr. Algernon Edwards, fighting for his right to practice medicine as a Black man. Its use of wide lenses, extended long takes, and unflinching portrayals of early 20th century surgery made it look like nothing on TV, and it sounded unlike anything else thanks to a throbbing electronic score from stalwart Soderbergh composer Cliff Martinez.

The second season ends with a jaw dropping moment, one that you will never forget — although you may wish you could unsee it — one that seemed to put a pin in the show but, no, there’s been talk of the show being revived; first with Soderbergh at the helm again, now with Barry Jenkins as the show runner. I hope it happens but, if not, Soderbergh gave us two astounding seasons of television that deserve to be seen by more folks.

Here’s the trailer, but you may to skip it — and the show — if you do not have a strong stomach.

NAKED CITY (1958-1963)

February 11, 2021

(Pluto/Roku/tubi/VOD) NAKED CITY was a long-running TV show adapted from the 1948 film THE NAKED CITY, bringing a more grounded police procedural to the small screen, ten years after the film, and seven years after DRAGNET made the leap from radio to TV. While show creator Stirling Silliphant (THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT writer, creator of the previously mentioned ROUTE 66 which was spurred into existence by an episode of NAKED CITY) had nothing to do with the original film, he took to heart the intent of putting NYC and its citizens on display.

The first season features John McIntire and James Franciscus inhabiting the same THE NAKED CITY roles as Lt. Detective Dan Muldoon and Detective Jimmy Halloran although John McIntire quickly grew tired of New York City and the show, so he was written out in a -jawdropping- way, then NAKED CITY was recast and turned from a half-hour show to an hour long, and recast again — this with Paul Burke as the lead detective — and with him it finally found some legs.

The show’s fumbling worked though, as the delay allowed NAKED CITY to capture a completely different New York City than the one portrayed in THE NAKED CITY, a NYC with counterculture, where the youths had started to distrust the police, as opposed to the fantasyland of 60s DRAGNET. (I’ve watched far too much DRAGNET: https://tvannotations.tumblr.com/post/60116769951/dragnet)

Like its modern day companion LAW & ORDER, it made the most of the NYC theater scene and booked a number of extraordinarily talented guest actors who hadn’t been discovered yet, including Cicely Tyson, Peter Falk, Bruce Dern, Suzanne Pleshette, and many more. Even if you ignore the adept location shooting, brisk plotting and deft character work, the show’s worth a watch simply for the faces that pop up.

“There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.”

THE NAKED CITY (1948)

February 10, 2021

(Criterion/HBO MAX/VOD) THE NAKED CITY tries to be a lot of things: a detective story, a portrait of New York City and its citizens, plus an attempt at bringing a neorealism aesthetic to the silver screen. Despite its reach, it succeeds wildly with all of its aspirations.

Directed by Jules Dassin (who would make the underrated noir NIGHT AND THE CITY before being blacklisted), it’s just as much as producer/narrator Mike Hellinger’s film. Prior to being involved with film, Hellinger was a New York journalist and short story author, and you can see his background peppered through the entirety of THE NAKED CITY. (In fact, Hellinger was still giving notes about the film’s post-production on his death bed.)

THE NAKED CITY revels in the fact that they shot on location in New York City, and they even brought on infamous crime photography Weegee — who had a well-known photo book of NYC named NAKED CITY — to consult during production. (Despite Weegee’s involvement, it doesn’t revel in matter-of-fact violence the way Weegee’s photos were known for.)

Lastly, in a world before DRAGNET, THE NAKED CITY made the effort to detail the police procedural process, mostly via character actor Barry Fitzgerald as the head homicide detective. The end result intentionally veers away from overt sensationalism, often feeling more like a drama than a detective story — at least when the narration isn’t being too cheeky — but it is all the better for it.

THE ATOMIC CAFE (1982)

February 9, 2021

(VOD) THE ATOMIC CAFE is an expertly crafted pastiche documentary that maps the nuclear age and Cold War via interviews, archival footage, and U.S. propaganda. It may be because of current times, age, selective memory or whatnot, but I recall it feeling far more irreverent when I first watched it in the 90s. Rewatching it in this day and age, it feels like the pendulum has swung back, becoming a cautionary work again.

Arguably the new 4K restoration looks a bit too clean, has too much of a sheen to it — film grain shouldn’t be scrubbed out of existence! — but it’s worth it to get the film back out there again.

Re-Release Trailer:

VIBES (1988)

February 8, 2021

(Prime/VOD) When I first found out about VIBES a few months ago via TCM Underground, I was very upset. “What do you mean there was a late-80s film with Cyndi Lauper, Peter Falk -and- Jeff Goldblum? Why am I just finding out about this?!” Now that I’ve had a chance to watch it, I can understand why it never registered on my radar but I do feel it’s the sort of film that anyone who has any interest in either of the three performers — which I think encompasses most of humanity — needs to know about.

VIBES capitalized on the short-lived mid-80s screwball romantic adventure genre spurred by ROMANCING THE STONE and the like. It’s comprised of two psychics (Lauper & Goldblum) who are enlisted by a dodgy cad (Peter Falk) to track down treasure in a lost Incan city. As you’d expect, the romantic intrigue and banter between Lauper & Goldblum should be enough to propel the film forward but, sadly, Goldblum’s halting delivery hampers an already weak vaudevillian script. For example, here’s an exchange between veteren character actor Michael Lerner and Peter Falk, regarding Falk’s wife: “Harry, I once slept with your wife.” “Estelle? Or Vivian?” “Both.” “Well, you’re one up on me!” (Cue rimshot.)

The sole highlight is Lauper as a 1980s Mae West but, sadly, the material simply isn’t there to let her shine. While she has the enthusiasm and rhythm for the role, her jokes rely on a more energetic and combative performer than the languid Goldblum (who has since been given far more opportunities to hone his comedic timing than Lauper).

I don’t want to oversell -or- undersell this film. Veteran TV director Ken Kwapis does the best with the material as he can, Julian Sands does a classic Julian Sands heel turn, and Steve Buscemi briefly appears as a sad-sack gambler! It’s an intriguing oddity, and it’s worth your time if your Venn diagram of interests intersect with any of those I listed above.

THE MOVIE ORGY (1968)

February 7, 2021

(archive.org / DVD) THE MOVIE ORGY is a mesmerizing, epic camp pastiche of media footage and materials from the 50s and 60s that subversive film auteur Joe Dante (GREMLINS, THE ‘BURBS) assembled as a film student.

It originally ran seven hours long and was a mutating roadshow film, toured around college campuses and, every time it was screened, they’d edit new bits in, snip out other sections and otherwise re-assemble the film. As you might expect of a film that is seven hours long, has no real narrative so speak of, and was screened on college campuses in the late sixties and seventies, this isn’t a film you sit and watch sober, but a film you experience with others, where it provides part of the color of the communal experience.

THE MOVIE ORGY has been since been edited down to four and a half hours and, as it consists solely of stolen content, and the only way to properly see it is in a museum or makeshift underground theater (which is how I caught it, as Dante briefly came to Chicago to screen GREMLINS 2 and HOLES at the gorgeous Music Box Theatre, then screened THE MOVIE ORGY at a tiny little art space on the opposite side of town). However, there is a bootleg DVD out there, and it’s also available to stream via https://archive.org/details/the-movie-orgy. It’s perfect background material for however you’re managing to entertain yourself in this cold, dark, withdrawn wintertime.

AWAKE (2012)

February 6, 2021

(VOD) AWAKE was a short-lived high-concept procedural TV crime drama about Michael Britten (Jason Issacs, HARRY POTTER, THE DEATH OF STALIN), a detective who loses his wife (Laura Allen, TERRIERS, THE 4400) in a car accident. He falls asleep and, when he wakes, instead of his wife being dead, it’s his son (13 REASONS WHY’s Dylan Minnette). Next time he falls asleep, his son is still dead. He straddles these two realms, living a fractured life, all while solving crimes and attending therapy sessions with separate therapists (BD Wong in one, Cherry Jones in the other).

The show’s creator, Kyle Killen, previously dabbled in the ‘dual lives’ genre with his infamously truncated FOX series LONE STAR, which featured James Wolk (the Bob in MAD MEN’s ‘Not great, Bob!’. Also, ZOO.) as a bigamist and, while LONE STAR was unjustly canceled too soon, AWAKE feels like a more mature, more interesting take on the material, as it scrutinizes a man who won’t reckon with the schism in his life, so he’s forced to endure all permutations.

AWAKE was one of the rare post-LOST genre shows that used its high-concept to dig deep into the humanity of its characters, while still fueling a remarkable storytelling engine. The season one finale — also the series finale — broke the future potential of the show wide open, or lent the show some closure, depending on how you look at it.

If you do watch it and want to read about what they intended with the finale and potential future of the show, there’s a great interview with Killen here: https://ew.com/article/2012/05/26/awake-finale-kyle-killen-burning-questions/