“Lawless” (2012).  A period piece riding the tails of “The McCoys and Hatfields” on the (cable) History Channel. A similar blood feud tale set in the prohibition era involving moonshiners in Virginia (probably more West Virginia).

The film was ho-hum, slow, onerous, made poor use of some of the talent (Gary Oldman), didn’t develop many of the characters well and let Guy Pierce overact. I was thinking I should have waited till it came out on HBO.

I was also looking at the location scenery.  The longer I watched, the less the location looked like anywhere in (West) Virginia.  It looked like North Georgia, a place I am very familiar with. So I stuck around for the credits, and sure enough it was filmed in Georgia and the Northeastern city of Clayton, Georgia is mentioned. The film Lawless was mediocre but the subject of moonshine in North Georgia is much more interesting.

In the mid-60s, I lived in Toccoa, Georgia, about an hour’s drive from Clayton.  Much of the state was “Dry” (no ethanol containing beverages sold).  This was an advantageous collusion between the conservative arm of the Baptist Church that considered ethanol to be a tool of the devil, and moonshiners, who made a tidy profit supplying ethanol-containing  beverages to the population, including many of the Baptists. They both combined to insure no referendum was ever brought forth legalizing booze.

The moonshiners maintained stills deep in the dense North Georgia woods, serviced by isolated dirt roads no one else had any business on and would be well advised not to find any. Many of the stills were Rube Goldberg inspired. Some used car radiators seeping lead into the brew, and responsible for some strange musculoskeletal twitching amongst some of the old timers. They were also known to dash a little Red Devil Lye to the mix for some additional curing.

As it happened, my colorful past history includes moonshine issues (but you already knew that). In 1964 and 1965 I was dodging the draft at a small college in Habersham County, North Georgia, one of the several small colleges that collected guys that busted out of normal  schools and needed protection from the draft. The other infamous school that comes to mind was Parsons College in Iowa.

The boy’s dorm at Piedmont College was right next to a large expanse of deep piney North Georgia woods. At night I could hear the moonshiners making their rounds, and occasionally them getting chased by “revenooers”. They dove fast and they drove hard through the dirt roads at night with no headlights. They knew every foot of the woods. Some previous moonshiners became successful NASCAR drivers in the 50s (Junior Johnson).

Naturally, it was necessary for shiners to have vehicles faster than the revenooers, who were pretty much stuck with stock rides. In the late 50s, the shiners vehicle of choice was the Ford sedan with an 85 horsepower flathead V-8 engine easily amenable to souping up with three Stromberg 97 carburetors and a ¾ cam. They then put huge springs and shocks in the rear end to support full trunks of liquid cargo a la “Thunder Road (1958).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052293/

In the 60s, they ran later model OHV Ford V-8s with huge four-barrel carbs and other modifications. Sewer pipes for exhaust pipes. These beasts would easily outrun any stock police car.

We college kids purchased quart jars of shine anytime. This stuff was extremely potent. I suspect it was at least 95% straight up ethanol and 5% God only knows what else. It was the only brew available to most of the poorer portions of the population. As I recall, a quart jar of typical shine went for about US$00.50, a lot more money then than now. Mixed with orange juice it wasn’t too bad, all other factors considered. I didn’t keep any of it for posterity.

Interestingly, there are still dry counties in Georgia, maintained that way by the same factions in 1964, and you don’t want to go tromping around in those woods either, especially at night. Clayton Georgia is the home of a lot of other strange things including the kid in the tree playing the banjo in “Deliverance” (1972).  He still lives there.

I give “Lawless” two laconic anti-heros out of five. Wait for it to come to cable and see for the accurate location filming.

Rent “Thunder Road” (1958 for an accurate view of moonshining in the old days.

Network television is famous for programming constructs appealing to the dumb and dumber. Irritating canned laugh tracks. Insipid plots guaranteed to offend no potential sponsors. Dumbed down dialog. Getting marginally better with Alcatraz (Fox- cancelled after one season). Person of Interest and Blue Bloods (both CBS).

But the most talented writers and directors flock to more liberal cable channels in droves, closely followed by discerning viewers. The experiment succeeded beyond the wildest expectations. What followed were amazing classics such as “Deadwood”, “Justified”, “Mad Men”, “Breaking Bad”, “Flashpoint”, “The Closer”, “The Wire”, “The Daily Show”, “Hatfields & McCoys” and others. Well written, well performed, frequently with actors no one ever saw before.

Having tasted blood, Cable TV is maneuvering to focus their viewing audience according to age and specialty interest. Accordingly four new cable dramas worthy of review have emerged.

—————–

The Newsroom. (HBO). Sundays 10 pm on HBO.

http://gawker.com/5924306/dan-rather–the-newsrooms-third-episode-is-even-better-than-the-first-two-episodes-i-enjoyed-so-much

Newsroom accurately portrays a real cable newsroom, with real newsroom. Well reviewed by none other than Dan Rather. To a degree I have not seen on any visual medium before, they portray the craft and passion of TV journalism as well as the realities of TV business. Albeit with a very “liberal” bent, they lay it all bare. Episodes deal with with how far a commentator must be willing to go to correct an on-screen gaffe (lie), how to beat out the competition to out a domestic disaster (Gabby Gifford’s shooting) and nuts and bolts of handling the bin Laden killing. Jeff Daniels is magnificent as the cable news talking head, ably assisted by Sam Waterston and Jane Fonda.

It’s VERY interesting, and got a good review from none other than Dan Rather:

dan-rather–the-newsrooms-third-episode-is-even-better-than-the-first-two-episodes-i-enjoyed-so-much

Highly recommended by me.

_______________

“LONGMIRE”. (A & E Channel- final season episode tonight Sunday).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1836037/

An adult Western along the lines of a very interesting “Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck), which CBS cancelled. The viewers for both these series are all over 50 and mystery buffs looking for intelligent plots and production. Over 50 viewers viewed as worthless by the advertisers who pay the freight at CBS. The math is a little different when you get to cable, though. A similar draw, “Hatfields & McCoys” on The History Channel earned huge ratings and 14 million viewers.
“Longmire” is based on Craig Johnson’s series of mystery novels about small-town Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire, played by Australian actor Robert Taylor (faking a credible American accent). Like Jesse Stone, Longmire is a man out of sync with the 21st century — No cell phone, spends a lot of time brooding alone. Following the death of his wife, Longmire’s personal and professional attention to detail falls apart. 

But over the course of several investigations, Walt starts to find his way back into the world, even if it’s a world that doesn’t always seem to understand an old cowboy like him.

Longmire is a VERY strong series, maintains viewer interest, interesting plots, outstanding supporting cast, great on-location scenery. The progress of each episode can be a little slow and require some getting used to. The title character has texture and grain, he relates to the viewer. Second season renewed for next Winter.

Highly recommended by me.

——————

“Boss” (Starz).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LCwFk_hxWQ

I have reviewed this series TWICE this year, which gives you hint of how much I like it. I think “Boss” is simply the most incredible series since the gold standard of incredible cable dramas “Deadwood”, which stands alone in the archives. From the opening scenes of Chicago evolving before your eyes accompanied by “Satan, your kingdom must come down” by Robert Plant (see me if you don’t know who Robert Plant is).

“Boss” is a spectacle surrounding Chicago Mayor Tom Kane, a man who understands that his constituents need to be led, but Chicago is a city with many social, economic and ethnic special interests that can’t be controlled with an iron fist. It requires a time-honored mixture of compromise and balance to maintain a functional equilibrium, frequently of a barbarous nature. And a lot of players with their own self interest, including those closest to Kane.

Kelsey Grammer is persuasive as a cunning old-school political bully. The mayor’s henchmen normally enforce his decrees with methods that would make even stone cold Russian Apparatchiks giggle. But the mayor has a devastating secret: a degenerative neurological disease that he hides with the same ruthless guile he uses to cover up all the barbarous manipulations that get things done. Suddenly a man with absolutely power is put in a position where he intermittently cannot tell the difference between real and Memorex.

The result is an absolutely uncompromising, brutal view of an amorphous world held in and out of check by a ruthless leader absolutely without scruples, even dealing with his own family. No one is exempt from his blessings, and no one is safe from his wrath. It’s a riveting drama, textured, and relentless. Kelsey Grammer brings to life an unflinching character lingers in your headspace for days. It’s a beast of a show, the best new drama of this year.
HIGHLY recommended by me. Second season initial episode this Friday night August 17

——————–

“Strike Back” (Cinemax).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1492179/

Started out as a six episode series on the BBC patterned after “24” (Fox). Highly trained British Special Forces special-op soldiers cavorting around creating mayhem behind various enemy lines in the near east. Offers serviceable action scenes, casual depictions of torture and death, and a comic-book conspiracy intrigue combined by the lead character getting lucky on-camera at least once per episode.

Did better than expected and was picked up by Cinemax who decided to join the prime-time drama game played so successfully by its parent, HBO, as well as other pay-cable networks like Showtime and Starz. Cinemax’s decision to pick up this series is a bid to appeal to a young-male audience, taking what it works best (sex) and adding the traditional component, gratuitous violence.

“Strike Back” won’t make anyone forget “24” but it has its pleasures for the aficionado of guns and flesh in exotic locales. There’s something viscerally satisfying about crisp British 007 detachment and cinematic licentiousness.
The production is fast moving and consistently interesting. The characters come alive and their interactions feed the plot. The production and on-location scenery is captivating. The plot is aggressive and not afraid to kill of primary leading men, to replace them in the same episode. It’s a strong production. Third season opening episode this Friday, Aug 17.
Recommended by me.

All the previous episodes are available on Netflix, all the premium cable channel repositories and the Torrents (The Pirate Bay).

DISCLAIMER: There’s no guarantee that future seasons or episodes

Aptly titled, “The Borne Legacy”, is a diluted adaptation of Robert Ludlow’s novel series that has essentially nothing to do with Jason Borne. Turns out there were more than one “Borne”, and the new franchise introduces one of them, Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker- 2008) as Aaron Cross.

In the original series, Matt Damon spends a lot of time, energy and three movies trying to find out his true identity. In the “Legacy”, new guy Aaron Cross knows who he is and spends 135 minutes trying to find out why his former handlers are trying to kill him and virtually everyone associated with him.

Rachel Weisz is a skittish scientist who escapes being assassinated and tags along with Cross to avoid the all-seeing eye of very effective villain Ed Norton. Interesting concepts are the probably true fact that virtually anyone can be tracked anywhere by the millions of ubiquitous cameras in the world. Shades of “Person of Interest” (CBS TV).

Impeccably relentless villain Ed Norton uses some interesting technology to track both protagonists, and he does it well. Norton is the last guy you want to see tracking you. Shades of: “Who are those guys?”- (from Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid-1969).

Best part: The car/motorcycle chase at the end. However, it must, like all such events, be compared to the two gold standards: “Bullitt (1968) and The French Connection (1971). In comparison, It’s serviceable, watchable and updated, although a bit long.

Worst part: The persistent techno-hit man tracking Cross doesn’t quite fit.

It’s been long enough now since the Borne Trilogy that a separate updated story line can be created much like “Total Recall (2012). Jeremy Renner does a serviceable job as Cross, but the film doesn’t quite contain the writing kudos to make Cross as complex or interesting a character as Jason Bourne. It will take me a while to get used to Renner. That said, I initially felt the same about Daniel Craig as 007, but I quickly acclimatized as Craig is now said my many to define the role in the new millennium.

All factors considered, I liked the film. It was consistently interesting and suspenseful.

I give it 3.75 of 5 little blue pills.

The original “Total Recall” (1990) starring Ah-nold Schwarzenegger was Director Paul Verhoeven’s vision of Phillip K. Dick’s short story: “We can remember it for you wholesale”.  Phillip K. Dick was an incredibly original and imaginative science fiction writer whose works were made into movies through the years.  “Blade Runner” (Do androids dream of electric sheep?).  Minority Report”.  “The Adjustment Bureau”.

This rehash of the 1990 original starring Colin Farrell shares the same basic idea in a radically different setting.  As a fun diversion, a mundane working guy elects to inject some adventure into his life at an artificial reality service. He then starts living the adventure in real time, but as it progresses, it becomes very unclear what’s real and what’s Memorex.

Re-runs rarely match originals, the obvious exceptions being Godfather II and Aliens (2).  Accordingly, the 2012 version is not getting stellar reviews. Rates a miserly 31% from the Tomatometer, but more viewers (56%) liked it.  Still, not a particularly good showing.

But I must disagree with the other reviewers.

The production is imaginative, well constructed and the action sequences and computer generated effects are first rate. Brings together some of the facets of “Blade Runner” and “Star Wars”. Colin Farrell does a competent job of pulling the fantasy and reality together while maintaining convincing confusion and wonderment.  Technically, I think he’s better than Schwarzenegger was in 1990. Getting chased down by a female that might resemble your soon-to-be-ex wife looking for the hidden money is well done and plenty scary by Kate Beckinsale.

And of course, the most important part of the film that half the attendance of the 1990 film stayed for a second showing to see again……. the scene everyone demanded, some refused to consider seeing the 2012 version if it was omitted…….of course I mean……the three-breasted lady. Yes….she’s there.

I think the 2012 version of Total Recall is entertaining, well done and well recommended.

I give it a solid four LED hand-phones out of five.

The inaugural showing of this film made the release of “Gone With The Wind” look like the first showing of “Plan 9 from Outer Space”.  Theaters around the country sold out entire days worth. Scalpers on EBay were getting US$300.00 per ticket.  People stood in long lines like there might be an iPad at the end. Audiences packed in like sardines were said to offer up standing ovations at the conclusion. A critic that gave it a poor review got death threats.

About half way through this thoroughly mediocre film I started wondering how all that came to pass. I think it was because of Heath Ledgers magnificent performance in “The Dark Knight” (2008).  Somehow everyone expected a reprise of that film and expectations grew out of proportion to the reality that Heath Ledger was forever gone.

Gentle readers, I must now sadly inform you that there was nothing in this film that justifies all that hoopla.

It was too long at 164 minutes. Christian Bale is getting a little long in the tooth for the role, and I think sleepwalked through it.  The Catwoman role was extraneous and went nowhere except parallel to the plot. Anne Hathaway’s lipstick was too red. The villain wasn’t all that believable, nor was his upbringing. Most of his voicings were unintelligible through his mask, the rationale of which made no sense.  Mickey Roarke did it better in Iron Man II (2010). The city citizens gathering to rebel against a seemingly omnipotent villainous force has been done many times before, at least as well if not better in “Independence Day” (1996). Gary Oldman’s formidable talents were wasted on the perpetually perplexed Commissioner Gordon.

There are too many too many overstuffed and underdeveloped digressions, over-ripe with pointless violence and too many characters, few of which are developed to any coherence. It channels Eyes Wide Shut (1999). A bunch of humorless, colorless, ambiguous masked figures indulging in desultory, pointless horseplay. Oddball mania in a world with pretensions to reality.

I give it a whopping 3 of 5 ominous voiceovers, and only because I’m otherwise in a good mood.

The plot is ho-hum, worked to death Hollywood boilerplate.  An insipid re-run of “Showgirls” (1995), small town would-be singing star girl arrives in L.A by bus, gets abused and degraded by seedy L.A star-breaking machinery. Ditto-longsuffering would-be rock star nightclub waiter ditto. Then both find love and miraculously rise to the top after a dumb-luck incident. Oily manager. Aging impresario and his burned out metal-head pal reduced to running a rock club on the Sunset Strip. Aging metal star living the dream past it’s furthest extent.

The young stars are interchangeable with any of the current crop. The talents of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) are wasted.  However, Alec Baldwin comes alive as the owner of the fading “Bourbon Room” on the Strip.  He has a genuine chemistry with Russell Brand playing Russell Brand. Both are funny and believable.

Rock and Roll in the 80s is what it is. Look for cameo appearances: Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) singing “We built this city (on rock and roll) (Starship, 1985. The last song Grace Slick performed before retiring.  Same scene, Nuno Bettercourt (Extreme) whose song “more than words is featured elsewhere in the movie). 80’s singer Debbie Gibson (Only in my dreams) is in the crowd.

The film is overlong at two hours and much of the progress smells of “Glee” but it’s beautifully photographed and choreographed. Interestingly, the actors perform all of the songs, probably with some digital voice modulation (like Britney Spears). But all that said, the film absolutely belongs to Tom Cruise. That he would even tackle this role at his age (50 this week) is remarkable.

Tom Cruise definitely rises to the persona of aging glam metal rocker Stacee Jaxx, channeling a spacy Jim Morrison in his declining years. Jaxx suffers from the Morrison curse, unable to achieve artistry for the obstruction of being a ‘rock star”. It killed Morrison at age 27. Underrated Cruise pulls it off brilliantly.

Best clip:  Stacee Jaxx coming alive from a stupor, single-mindedly pursuing the strains of “Don’t Stop Believin” (Journey, 1981). It was like following the sound of Jim Morrison and “The End” down the dorm corridors in 1967. No one had ever heard anything like that. It was like a snake charmer.

Worst clips:  The irritating propensity of the players to suddenly burst into song at desultory moments, much like Stephen Bochco’s 1995 mega-flop “Cop Rock” in which grizzled detectives broke into ballads while pursuing the scum of New York.

With all its clichés and plot foibles, it was fun. The music was great. I enjoyed it.

Recommended. I give it three and a half flashy Tom Cruise smiles.

Ridley Scott Is a world class director of science fiction film.  “Alien” broke ground in 1979. Blade Runner is a masterpiece beyond brilliant, far ahead of its time. They’re still arguing on-line whether Deckard is a replicant thirty years later (I think he was).

30 years after Blade Runner, the long awaited “Promethius” is here in IMAX 3D, portending to answer some open questions from “Alien”. I suppose it does, but not to the hyped expectations. DNA from “Aliens” is sprinkled throughout, but in the end none of it morphs into a simple explanation of xenomorphs and the origins of mankind. If there is any explanation, it hides in open-ended bombast and pyrotechnics.

The production is supurb. The cast is well placed. Noomi Rapace (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 1,2 & 3) reprises a determined Sigourney Weaver (complete with the obligatory underwear scene). Michael Fassbinder dredges up a convincing version of Gigolo Joe (Jude Law) in “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001). Charlize  Theron chills as a sinister tentacle of the corporate suits, led by the incomparable Guy Pierce. You really believe he’s Peter Weyland . He can and will re-order the universe:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BBa_GHtNB0

Avoiding clichés and cartoonishness, the first third of the film sets the stage, building suspense and accumulating menacing weirdness.  Scott builds opulent grandiosity that really works in 3D,  but the promise was only partially fulfilled. The rest of the film de-evolves into contrived twists and  reversals seemingly calculated to the sensibilities of audiences full of android-like 3D addicts. The origins of xenomorphs as they apply to origin of mankind are couched in smoke and mirrors, allowing the viewer to connect the dots any way they desire.

Accordingly, it’s wise not to enter the theater expecting to view a culmination the cinematic universe and an definitive answer to all of the questions anyone has ever asked about that universe. That said, this is a film that defies the authority of intellectual dissection.  It simply blows the viewer away, overwhelming all the senses in a deafening cacophony of pyrotechnics that defies literal interpretation.

I think Ridley Scott is now the most important Science Fiction director of our generation. “Alien” and “Blade Runner” are ranked respectively as #7 and #8 by the American Film Institute in the list of the greatest science fiction films ever made. “Promethius” is not quite in that league I don’t think, but it is good and definitely worth seeing.

I give it four of five Charlize Therons crawling on her belly like a reptile.

The first MIB (1997) was fresh, innovative, well scripted and well acted. Successive iterations of any good film are rarely good, the notable exceptions being Aliens 2 and The Godfather 2. Accordingly, MIB 3 is not as good as MIB 1, but in the end, it delivers for some rather innovative reasons.

One of the reasons is 3-D.  This film doesn’t leap out at the viewer all that much, but the scenes are definitely realistic and satisfying to the viewer. Having seen a few 3=D films now, I am of the opinion that this mode is here to stay, and in five years virtually film will be in this medium. The viewer appreciates the action in a medium more like what he or she would see in real life. I do not think this is a flash in the pan. It will spread to TV rapidly.

IMAX is another matter. IMAX is very expensive; the screen is too big for comfortable viewing no matter what the seating and I don’t think its worth the extra cost. I think IMAX will probably be reserved for major extravaganzas and non-stop action flicks where the whole point of the film is pyrotechnics specifically made for the huge screen (Battleship and The Avengers).

The second reason MIB delivers is the script, which is marginally thought provoking as to the possibilities of time travel.  Yes, a theme worked to the bone elsewhere, but MIB 3 adds an interesting “wrinkle”, a variation of the theme of the Heisenberg Principle (the more is known about where a particle is, the less can be known about it’s speed and direction). , That would be the “observer Effect”, that observing a physical system necessarily effects it. There are an infinite number of possibilities in any scenario in time but only one will happen when it’s actually observed.

In MIB 3, the delightful protagonist of this issue is “Griffin” (Michael Stuhlbarg) who steals every scene by prosaically describing some of the infinite dimensions that exist in the void before an observer solidifies one. Then of course, they end with the “a butterfly flaps its wings in Peking and it rains in New York City”, which works reasonably well.

Best quips:  (J. observing K’s sandwich): “that stuff should be in a coffin, not a pita”.  (O. Interpreting some data on the monitor):  “That’s someone named Mick Jagger…..we think he was sent here to breed earth women”.

Worst feature:  Josh Brolin. An excellent dramatic actor; doesn’t do silly comedy or sight gags well.

I give it 4 of 5 exploding alien heads.

Eagerly anticipated:

1. Promethius. Quirky genius director Ridley Scott (Blade runner, Alien) rides again. Looks to be fantastic. IMAX 3-D will be a practical necessity.

2.  Skyfall (James Bond).  Will be out this Fall. Daniel Craig is the definitive Bond, a franchise entering a whole new life of film excellence. Will have an all-star cast including Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem. Will be a must-see.