Featuring the films and shows:
The Flash, season 2
(2015-2016) ***½
Independence Day (1996) *½
All These Women (1964) ***
Party Over Here, season 1
(2016) *½
The Alphabet (1968) ***½
Always For Pleasure (1978)
****
Popstar: Never Stop Never
Stopping (2016) ***
Arrow, season 4 (2015-2016)
***½
Grimm, season 5 (2015-2016)
***
The Do Over (2016) **
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
***
Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)
**½
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,
season 1 (2015-2016) **½
Angie Tribeca, season 1
(2016) ****
New Girl, season 5
(2015-2016) ***
Piper (2016) ****
Finding Dory (2016) ***
Central Intelligence (2016)
**½
The Boy Next Door (2015) *
Sleepy Hollow, season 3
(2015-2016) ***
Amarcord (1973) ****
The American Soldier (1970)
***
The Amputee, version 1
(1974) ***
Simply Irresistible (1999) ½*
Independence Day: Resurgence
(2016) **
The Amputee, version 2
(1974) ***
Downton Abbey, season 5
(2015) ****
… And God Created Woman
(1956) ***
Hopefully this will be my
final full month summary of the year and for all time. Again, a great many
movies and television finales to cover, so let’s get to it.
On the television front. I
was running behind a bit on several series, so I finished up several series
during the month of June. Most of them were comic book shows. “The Flash”
continues to be the most fun comic book show on television, although “Supergirl”
gave it a run this year. It was fitting that the second half of the season
featured a crossover episode on Supergirl. Plus, it was like a bonus “Flash”
episode. Didn’t the producers of “Arrow” say that this season wouldn’t be as
dark as last seaon? I guess what they meant is that it would be darker. Heck,
the team narrowly avoided nuclear Armageddon for its finale. That was after the
crippling of Felicity, the failure of the Olicity relationship and the death of
a main character. While Arrow teammates do have a tendency to come back from
the dead, I think this one’s for real this time. I also finished the
surpernatural fantasy shows “Grimm” and “Sleepy Hollow” this month. Both
sustained their MOs, although “Sleepy Hollow” felt a little rockier, probably
due to its new show runners. It’s renewal was a surprise, but I’ll stay on for
another season. FOX’s stalwart sitcom New Girl also held steady for its 5th
season.
The new 3 woman sketch
comedy show from The Lonely Island and Paul Sheer “Party Over Here” never felt
like it got out of the gate. I don’t think SNL needs to worry. The CW’s third
comic book show “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” also never felt fully congealed, but
I do like many of the characters, so I’ll probably give it another chance to
find itself.
I also quickly blew through
season five of “Downton Abbey”. My wife and I binged the first four seasons
last summer. It was as solid as ever and we’ll be reporting on the final season
sometime in the next couple of weeks. But the best new television of the year
so far comes from an unexpected place. Movies have been trying to recapture the
spoof magic of the original “Airplane” ever since “Airplane 2: The Sequel.” Who’d
have thought that it would be a cop show spoof starring Rashida Jones from “Parks
& Recreation” on TBS that would crack the code? “Angie Tribeca” is the
funniest spoof I’ve seen in ages, and not only did season 1 premiere in
January, but season 2 just premiered in June. Nice!
I saw four movies in the
theater this month including another production by The Lonely Island. “Popstar:
Never Stop Never Stopping” is much more successful than their television sketch
show, spoofing pop signer documentaries like recent ones by Justin Bieber and
Katy Perry. The best aspect of the film is the soundtrack where The Lonely
Island demonstrate some of their typical award-nominated hip hop mockery. “Central
Intelligence” introduced a good buddy cop comedy duo with Kevin Hart in his
best team up yet against Dwayne Johnson. The plot of the film is weak and some
of the players, like Aaron Paul and Amy Ryan, are poorly used, but Hart and
Johnson milk as much comedy from their scenes together as they can. “Independence
Day: Resurgence” proved that you can’t make a good sequel from such a bad movie
as the original ID4, even if everyone seemed to like it 20
The clunkers this month
included the new Adam Sandler Netflix original with David Spade, “The Do Over,”
which follows a plot far more serious than the film’s intentions, which are
mostly silly. It’s difficult to make a silly comedy out of such serious matters
as murder and fraud. The typical Sandler approach doesn’t work. It might’ve
fared better with a little more studio over sight, which is something I never
thought I’d say about a movie. However, Netflix notoriously allows their
filmmakers pretty much whatever they want within their budgets. The result
seems to be comedies that lack an urgency toward the material, which plays as
flat in the final projects. The laughs don’t have any punch.
The How Did This Get Made
team made me suffer through the JLo thriller “The Boy Next Door” and the Sarah
Michelle Gellar magical cooking romcom “Simply Irresistible”. Truthfully, I’m
not sure which was worse. I originally rated “The Boy Next Door” a full half
star higher than “Simply Irresistible”, but after the HDTGM team picked them
apart it seemed that JLo’s fumble lacked the charm of SMG’s completely loony
romance. That really isn’t saying much about either of them, though. This is
a-list filmmaking at its worst.
As usual Criterion saves the
month with such solid films as Bergman’s Felini-esque comedy “All These Women”
and Roger Vadim’s equally female-obsessed “And God Created Woman”. They gave me
two uniquely weird David Lynch shorts from early in his career—the creepy “The
Alphabet” and the silly “The Amputee” in two different versions. “The American
Soldier” is Fassbinder’s low budget attempt at an American crime picture which
works surprisingly well until the final shot, which goes on so long that it
becomes a mockery of itself. I cannot deny the mastery of Felini’s “Amarcord”
with its whimsical and sometimes critical look at life in an Italian costal
town in the 1930s. But my favorite of the month was Les Blank’s 1978
documentary examination of the spirit of New Orleans, a truly vibrant and
special place in America.
Before we get to the tweets
I must note that during my DLMChallenge of watching 366 movies over the course
of the 366 days of this year, I lost count at one point. I have corrected the
numbering for this post, so the numbers don’t match my Twitter feed.
6/2
@CW_TheFlash The season 2 finale
brought closure with brilliance and upturned our expectations with a totally
surprising cliffhanger.
6/3
I hated #ID4 when it came out, and
20 years later it turns out I agree with myself. Hoping that Resurgence is
better. #DLMChallenge
No. 136
6/4
Bergman's All These Women
(1964) seems a Fellini-esque premise executed as broadly stylized comedy. #DLMChallenge No.
137
I think we've seen the end
of the short-lived @FoxTelevision
sketch comedy show @PartyOverHere
but it's hard to tell. They're not all gems.
@DAVID_LYNCH succeeds in making
The Alphabet as disturbing as anything else out of his mind in his 1968 short #DLMChallenge No.
138
6/5
If you've ever wanted to
march in a New Orleans parade, Les Blank's 1978 documentary Always For Pleasure
is a must see. #DLMChallenge
No 139
@PopstarMovie didn't stop even
when the stopping started stopping. #NeverStopNeverStopping
#DLMChallenge
No. 140
6/7
@CW_Arrow season 4 finale might've
tried too hard for the highest stakes, but I like the prospect of beginning
season 5 with just two.
6/8
If there's one gift the
writers of @NBCGrimm have it's the
ability to complicate the relationships of their characters.
Netflix feature films
continue to disappoint with their latest lackluster comedy #TheDoOver. #DLMChallenge No.
141
6/11
I dislike Alfred's story
line more every time I watch #TheDarkKnightRises
but I still see new things each time too. #DLMChallenge No.
142
6/12
Politics. Is there anybody
who actually likes politics? #OurBrandisCrisis
#DLMChallenge
No. 143
6/14
@DCLegendsTV isn't as good as @TheCW other comic book series, but it
ended strong. I'll be back for s2.
6/15
@AngieTribecaTBS is everything
you've missed in spoofs since the original Airplane. So glad I waited to watch
s1. I can go right into s2.
6/17
Oh Jess! @NewGirlonFOX
The short before @findingdory is the best part of
the movie. #Piper. #DLMChallenge No.
144
However @findingdory itself is just as
delightful as expected. #DLMChallenge No.
145
@CentralIntel makes for an
enjoyable summer action comedy. @TheRock
and @KevinHart4real make a
good comedy team. #DLMChallenge
No. 146
6/18
Does a director like Rob
Cohen just forget the basics of his trade when he makes trash like #TheBoyNextDoor
? @HDTGM #DLMChallenge No.
147
6/21
@SleepyHollowFOX ended s3 as
if they expected to be cancelled and filmed an extra "holy crap we're
still on the air" scene just in case.
Felini's Amarcord (1973) is
a vibrant celebration of the circus of life. #DLMChallenge No.
148
6/23
Fassbinder's The American
Soldier '70 is a strange, low budget version of a Le Samurai story. The end is
a little much. #DLMChallenge
No 149
The oddness started early.
The Amputee v1 (1974) short film by David Lynch. #DLMChallenge No.
150
6/24
I wish I had resisted the
Sarah Michelle Gellar fantasy romance Simply Irresistible. Thanks @HDTGM #DLMChallenge No.
151
6/25
@IndependenceDay Resurgence,
more like Independence Day: Redonculous. What it lacks most is weight. #DLMChallenge No.
152
6/26
It doesn't seem like the
effects work is as good in David Lynch's early short The Amputee, v2 as they
are in v1. #DLMChallenge
No. 153
Finally caught up with @DowntonAbbey s5, another
wonderful season. Will start the final season tomorrow.
6/27
I suppose when it's Bridgette Bardot it's easy to see how a woman can
drive men crazy. ...and God Created Woman (1956) #DLMChallenge No.
154
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