Narcos Season 1

Narcos Season 1 focuses upon the life of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and his various wildly outrageous, but true, exploits during 1970's and 1980's. It frames the story though through the exploits of two DEA agents working with the U.S. government with the Columbian government. In one way the series is often, well, a series of fascinating anecdotes about the war drugs and Escobar's personal ridiculousness. Whether it is a particular method of trafficking, Escobar's insane acolytes, or the terrorist acts by Escobar trying to keep the government off his back. It attempts more personal stories with the DEA agents but these at best are only mildly interesting. Their arc of becoming more morally compromised is also fairly thin. The more interesting character lawful character is the ground level Colonel Carillo, as his personal battle with Escobar is often the series at its most intense and compelling. The most engaging aspect overall is Escobar played Wagner Moura. He is a consistently fascinating character but the show also manages to create an emotional investment in his story despite in no way hiding his ill-deeds. His performance is captivating as are the almost unbelievable, if they weren't true, details regarding his exploits whether it is trying to become the president of Columbia or his assassination of any one who stands up to him. Escobar's story carries the season, and though the overall series is not quite great the character study around him is.
4/5

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men was the film that won best picture in the year of the masterpieces, though only competing with fellow "masterpiece" There Will Be Blood in terms of the actual Oscar nominations. The film is notable as it finally brought Coen brothers their Oscar wins for picture and director, although this came with only their second adaptation of a source material, and really the first since O Brother Where Art Thou was heavily altered from the Odyssey. Despite being an adaptation of it is in no way truly a departure for them with the filming of opening monologue directly alluding to the opening of their first film Blood Simple. It technically is bit more serious even in terms of their dramas though they still find ways to bring forth their trademark humor, though often through very subtle, very dark methods. These are most often small pauses or slight actions such as when Javier Bardem's serial killer Anton Chigurh almost chokes on what he's eating, when hearing the gas station attendant he's playing a life and death game with married into his gas station. Those moments, which are through out, provide the Coens touch in perhaps the most overt fashion but that is not all there is in terms of their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's bleak novel. The efficiency and effectiveness of their work is remarkable, while outside of one curious factor. That curious factor being the set decoration which in no way alludes to the story's 1980's setting, which is a bit strange for a Coen brothers film. However every other technical element is immaculate, but never at a distant. Whether that is Roger Deakins's, again, incredible cinematography creating such a beautiful yet desolate and foreboding Texas, or the incredible, almost scoreless, sound design the Coens take these elements to craft such a such a tension filled thriller. The film though comes into question though in its end result which is of nihilism rather than the technical optimism of a different type of thriller. The Coens's work does not lose their style but rather amplify the theme through the dread filled reality they create within the film. Although it is not my favorite Coens brother film or film from 2007 it is a remarkable film in its right as well as a fascinating stretching and alteration of the directors' usual style.
5/5

Nicholas and Alexandra

The 1971 nominees for best picture included one old mainstay of the past, Fiddler on the Roof, but also three films that seem to suggest the new wave of film making with The French Connection, The Last Picture Show and A Clockwork Orange. The fifth nominee though might seem to some to fit the old style historical drama, something for the real old timers in the Academy, with Nicholas and Alexandra about the life of the last Russian Tsar. That wouldn't be quite the right view. It is true this is a historical drama, but as a film it feels very modern, well at least for 1971 anyways. The film offers no revisions or romantic view of the royals, it instead decides to give us the blunt story. It is of course grand in scope, with an expected focus on the production design and costume, but those do not cover the drama of the real story. The film covers the various events yet is careful to examine it closely by showing the titular pair as real people, flaws and all. In fact it actually has a rather compelling approach to show almost how the world outside of the family, makes them worse as they attempt to maintain power. It may not focus on every single detail but it does not simplify the politics. Of course this could just be a stagy, more historically accurate film, but that's not the case either. Franklin J. Schaffner grants the film some of what you may expect but also subverts your expectations as well. There are the occasional moments of style that are very effective particularly the former prime minster Witte(Laurence Olivier)'s somber reflection on the state of Russian or the downright brilliant staging of the assassination of Rasputin. It is largely a captivating film which does not shy away, for the most part, of the brutal truths of the story.
4.5/5

The Naked Spur

The Naked Spur is the very best of the Mann/Stewart western through its particularly tight knit story about a man trying to take an outlaw with a group of men and one woman. Unfortunately for him they all have their own motivations that could lead them to betray him at any time. Stewart as usual is great, but the man who steals the show is Robert Ryan. Ryan, an ace at playing heavies, is in top form offering a great villain that actually makes you able to clearly see cracks in the performances of his villlainous predessors in the Mann westerns. Ryan is just on another level from them, and inturn makes this easily the most tense of all of them. I love the whole set up of this one, that stays in the wilderness the whole time, giving the sense of isolation even while in the open. The film gives you a real sense of all the character, intelligently keeping the character count low, to craft quite the thriller.
5/5

North

North is the very worst kind of horrible film, a terrible comedy. The "humor" stemming from a boy trying to find a new family, being helped along by modern day Bruce Willis in 1994, by visiting one stereotype after another. Of course this is not just a comedy where they don't land. The jokes go into a tail spin, run through a crowded skyscraper, killing all, fall into a nuclear test facility and cause a meltdown. The level of atrociousness is truly uh astonishing that anyone could have felt a single line in the film was good idea. As the film is not only unfunny it has a terrible mean spirited quality that makes one's stomach churn watching it. The problem is the film doesn't seem even aware of its own offensive nature, after all how could it given it ends with "it was all a dream". No one can save their rotten material, most don't even try, and the entire film is a festering pile of waste which contaminants all that it touches.
0/5

Night Moves

Night Moves is a neo-noir that purposefully seems to wish to subvert expectations of the normal noir genre. It's lead Harry seems like a tough guy private eye, well played by Gene Hackman, but really has no idea what to do with his wife's infidelity as well as really has very little control over his situation. The plot's moves along but in an odd way. The kidnapped girl is instantly found for example. As standard the body count piles up yet there is a strange lack of urgency to the proceedings as the film leaves you in a position like Harry, where you do kind of know what's going on yet can't quite what to make of any of it. The plot matters, yet it doesn't in the way is prods along in a most peculiar fashion leaving you only really being able to hold on to the character of Harry. I won't say that it clearly works or it clearly does not either. The whole thing holds a certain fascination, yet it is not consistently compelling in this atypical approach either.
3.5/5

Night Of The Iguana

John Huston proves a pretty good fit for Tennessee Williams's material in this case as he keeps the material from becoming to melodramatic while in no way limiting the characters. The cast is more than decent, thanks especially due to Ava Gardner giving perhaps her best performance, though there are few moments where Richard Burton falls upon his usual yelling routine, but thankfully it does not overwhelm his character in this case. In addition Huston actually manages to relieve the film of almost any memory of the stage by realizing a real sense of place for the story.
 4/5