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Reviews
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
Too bad they dropped the ball on Nancy
As far as 1970s adventure tv for young people goes (most were really cheap and dumb), this was a fine series.
But the writes and producers really dropped the ball on the Nancy drew segments. The first Drew episode was a perfect modern adaptation - the characters were right (especially George) and the 'gothic lite' mystery was intriguing. But after that it seemed like the writers (all make, I'd guess) just didn't know how to come up with suitable stories. Nancy was almost immediately shifted to a secondary character in her own segment, the action carried by male guest stars. It was only a few episodes before the Hardy Boys took over entirely. Nancy just made guest appearances.
It's kind of sad.
Confess, Fletch (2022)
More Like A TV Movie
So many odd choices for a reboot. I'm a big fan of the Fletch series of novels, so I know some of the reasons they're difficult to adapt. But why make so many bad choices? The first bad choice in Confess is the same as in the original Fletch movie with Chevy Chase-- the actor cast as Fletch is too damn old in both. He's supposed to be a very youthful looking 30-ish. Chase was perfect for the role except for being at least 10 to 15 years too old. Jon Hamm is WAY too old for the part (unless, that is, this is supposed to be a direct sequel the the 1985 film-- in that case he's way too young).
Anyway, Hamm is way too sedate in the part. If he'd shown the energy he did as the evil preacher in The Unbreakable Jimmy Schmidt it might have worked. But it's like he's on ludes. Or maybe he was bored by the less than witty script.
And Confess is a bad choice to kick off a reboot. The novel works as an entertainment because of a character the filmmaker's deleted --Inspector Flynn. His removal leaves a hole in the story.
Otherwise, the plot points of the novel are followed fairly well. However, the story they did keep is filmed in such a bland, static manner. Im glad they didn't add gratuitous car chases and violence, but did they have to go out of their way to make it so lackadaisical? It's like no one is really trying.
The makers of the Chevy Chase original totally ruined the plot of the great first novel, but they did make a funny, energetic film that captured the novels flavor.
In short-- this seemed more like a failed pilot for a tv series, not a real feature film.
Endless Night (1972)
Rambling, Inept, Unintentionally Funny, Occasionally Effective.
This movie takes quite a while to get going. We'll, let me rephrase that--it never REALLY ever gets going and barely even goes anywhere. There is one--as in A SINGLE-- truly well-done scene. The rest is watchable in a " wtf is this movie about?" kind of way. It's an anti-thriller. The many characters just kind of appear and disappear as needed, like in a dream (except dreams usually seem more compelling). And there are several hilariously bits of unintentional comedy, such as when the lead character's mother is moving her lips slightly but recognizably while silently reading a letter from her son. Meanwhile, we hear his voice on the soundtrack reading it to us. The effect being that the young son's voice is coming from the old woman's lips. And not on purpose, either.
And so many other leaps of logic, odd performances, gaps in the story and long, complex sequences that could easily--and more effectively-- given us the same information with just a well written sentence or two.
(We're all the many, long, long scenes of the main character working as a day-hite chauffeur nessesary? Was there a reason the house had an pool in the living room and a conveyor belt bar? And so on).
Still ... I did watch the entire film. It has the hypnotic effect of a super slow motion train wreck.
Very, VERY early-70s nouveau vague.
Experiment Perilous (1944)
Technically Gorgeous, Makes Zero Sense
The sets, costumes, cinematography and design of the film are spectacular. Lamar is of course spectacular. But that's about it.
The story makes zero sense. I defy anyone to explain it in any detail or to explain the motivations of the characters. The fact that most description just touch on the superficial resemblance to Gaslight proves that it can't be done. The film. Makes. No. Sense.
On top of that,the.male lead is remarkably unattractive. He makes lon Chaney Jr. Look suave. I read that several top leading men like Carry Grant were up for the lead and passed. Well, I think about 2 or 3 dozen more passed before they finally got to this paunchy lug with the hilarious toupee. He is Hedy's leading man?! Really?
But I digress. The main point is the story is incomprehensible. Even if you manage to parse out the flow of events, those events are nonsensical and random
Having said all that, I still enjoyed it on a technical level.
Detachment (2011)
A Waste of Digital Disc Space
I got halfway through this film before I turned it off. And if I'd gone to see it in a theater, I'd have walked out. It may take a lot of technical skill to make any feature movie, but it takes zero creativity, skill or ever real effort to just string a bunch of nihilistic depression-bait cliches together and call it a story. There is less than nothing here. You know how you see a bad movie and say to yourself "I'll never get that 90 minutes back"? I only got 40 minutes into this one and I want 10 hours back. It didn't just waste my time, it detracted from my life. It owes me.
So many talented actors wasted here. They should have all just done a syfy channel movie about a 12-headed shark instead. It would have been more worth their time.