michaelangellcanfield Reviews

Cry Wolf (1947)

Gothic Noir

[6/10 · 22 April 2024]

Stanwyck is great, as always. She holds the film well. There's good claustrophobic, unhealthy gothic atmosphere Sinister goings on right under the same roof, and potentially aberrant science And a gothic romance comes in too, with creepy undertones.

There's a fairly small cast of charactery, mostly confined to a large mansion or manor house.

It's out in the country, essentially isolated from anyone else with enough wild surrounding to go for long horseback rides without seeing anyone.

I think the gothic atmosphere and tropes are as prevalent as the noir ones.

Stanwyck is charming throughout.

True Detective: The Long Bright Dark (2014) Season 1, Episode 1

One of the best hour-long pilots

[10/10 · 5 April 2023]

It's amazing the amount of material they fit into this episode. Rust's character (McConaughey) is more fully previewed here compared to Marty (Harralson), but Rust was always the main character. Harralson has more work to do since Marty is a cop character that seems more familiar. He crushes it. I'd say his performance is the best in the show.

That said, the character of Rust is so good and McConaughey brings him to life in a way that makes Rust one of the all time best screen detectives.

There's so many combined clues or red herrings, suggestions, questions and mysteries in this episode. It's dizzying.

For fans of murder mysteries and southern gothic with the suggestion of the cultic/supernatural.

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

Psycho Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est?

[8/10 · 19 October 2022]

It's like two movies stitched together, and they're both good. Throughout the film there's plenty of tension, but different kinds.

Curt Duncan is like a not-at-all supernatural Michael Myers. His capacity for detached evil gives the whole second part of the movie a queasy dread.

The camera work, patience to let tension build, and focus on sound made this a tense, interesting, and scary watch.

The second and third acts by themselves would be a dark, killer-on-the-loose noir. Carol Kane does an arming job with the age transformation of her character. She brings the first act back into the movie with her performance.

Law & Order: For Love or Money (2001) Season 12, Episode 3

Slipping quality episodes

[6/10 · 24 February 2022]

I don't know if it's fair to hang the slightly lackluster performance of the first episodes of season 12 on this one, but that's the impression it left on me. I could see the episode rating an 8 in season 8, and it's rough plot line solution is similar to a couple other (and better) L&O eps. Best part of the episode: the fantastic scene of the mob boss giving Briscoe and Greene his on-site expertise on knocking someone off at the crime scene.

Law & Order: Brother's Keeper (2001) Season 11, Episode 21

A standout episode

[9/10 · 21 February 2022]

This one has a few excellent aspects to it. The footage of the murder is something you don't get to see in L&O episodes much, and it's understated and real feeling. The cab driver (and Greene's empathy) are touching and add depth. The FBI angle is a good mystery within the mystery of the murder, and Agent Innes and Callie's relationship adds more great depth. The big twist is saved for late and is a good one. Nothing disappoints all the way through to the end.

Law & Order: White Lie (2001) Season 11, Episode 18

Interesting main defendant

[7/10 · 19 February 2022]

The husband-wife dynamic in the episode is maybe underdeveloped given that it's pretty engaging. The episode felt like it had unrealized potential. The murders are grisly and the criminal details and main defendant are interesting.

Law & Order: Bronx Cheer (2001) Season 11, Episode 16

Deviation from usual formula

[8/10 · 19 February 2022]

The second half has more to do with the Bronx DA (as indicated by the disclaimer at the beginning). Makes for an interesting episode. Diane Weist has some good screen time.

Law & Order: Scrambled (1998) Season 9, Episode 6

Interesting Embryo Questions

[7/10 · 17 February 2022]

Coral is a great character who just gets better. The ex-cop is fun too. Interesting legal dancing. The cast toss around quasi-abortion issues questions.

Law & Order: Agony (1998) Season 9, Episode 5

Good Serial Killer Episode

[8/10 · 17 February 2022]

The serial killer angle is revealed in the first 5 minutes after the cold open. The two halves are less discrete than usual, and there's an engaging villain. Plenty of twists and turns.

Law & Order: Cherished (1998) Season 9, Episode 1

Nice twists and turns

[8/10 · 16 February 2022]

Excellent episode if you don't mind a slight deviation from the L&O formula - very slight. Lot of ins and outs and a sassy intro to the litigiously muscular character of Abbie Carmichael.

Rick and Morty: A Rickconvenient Mort (2021) Season 5, Episode 3

Edging close to Morting the Rick

[5/10 · 27 August 2021]

This episode is far from bad, BUT it's displays cracks in the meta-reality of the show. Not that there haven't been episodes driven by 'deeper' character motivations in previous seasons, but this one really starts to feel like it's betraying the central conceit of the show, and instead going for emotionally low-hanging fruit.

It's the fifth season - it's hard to maintain brilliance for that long without succumbing to the temptation to alter what R&M is at heart - a foul-mouthed, toxically-intelligent shit-show. I miss that.

PEN15: Posh (2019) Season 1, Episode 6

Supposed to learn a lesson, or pat yourself on the back?

[2/10 · 18 August 2020]

Didactic entertainment is very hard to pull off. When it's successful it's thrilling, challenging and engaging. This episode feels more like an After School Special - albeit a creative one.

This series consistently succeeds at being insanely funny, while seamlessly incorporating references to the particular challenges facing teen girls, and offering a diverse cast, and never feels heavy handed. Until this episode.

If I was rating an After School Special-type program, I'd probably give it a 7 or 8.

The Killer That Stalked New York (1950)

Part Noir, Part True Life Drama, Part PSA

[6/10 · 14 April 2020]

Nice cinematography and some noir atmosphere and characters. Not enough of the film had the noir elements to make it gratifying, but the PSA/newsreel parts are pretty fun, and there's some hilarious dialogue as the killer is pursued.

The Loneliest Planet (2011)

Ambitious Failure

[3/10 · 29 August 2019]

One star for cinematography, one for subject matter, and one for effort. In another film these scores would be doubled or tripled, but this film's demerits are just so flagrant and overbearing. It doesn't give to the audience - it asks and keeps asking: mostly for patience, and ultimately for endurance of the pretention of it all. It could have been really good: beautiful setting, a director willing to embrace naturalism and ambiguity, and some deep underlying aspects of woman & man relationships. But the first half plays like an extended, beautifully-shot (and therefore all the worse) Instagram story of an attractive, charismatic couple on holiday. The second half, where the real substance is, has already been spoiled by the first half. The interesting stuff is stretched without given much more substance. Ultimately it feels lazy, and actually in a way, safe: substituting scenery for story, and suggestion for substance. And it's really pretty agonizing to actually watch. Instead, go to "Force Majeur" and "A Bigger Splash" for movies studying men and women on holiday.

Barry: ronny/lily (2019) Season 2, Episode 5

Catastrophe

[1/10 · 2 May 2019]

The physicality and stylized realism running through Barry were completely undermined in this episode. Instead the episode switches genre from dark comedy to weird dark comedy. A genre I like, but a tricky one to pull off. The backstory of Barry and Fuchs as (relatively) experienced assassin team is basically abandoned. They have no idea what they're doing all of a sudden. Lathering the clumsiness on thicker, the writers throw in plausibility strainers left and right. Extras are treated like extras - as in paid background people, not actual real people who do stuff like walk down the street and notice things out of the ordinary - like bloody people. Over and over the characters who we've come to know are chucked over for a sort-of stream of consciousness extended joke. Sounds like it could actually be awesome, right? But it's not.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Smoking Jacket (2005) Season 5, Episode 6

Nice Cameos

[8/10 · 10 January 2019]

Solid episode and Shelley Berman and Richard Kind are always a treat to see (just about every movement, word, and facial expression Richard Kind makes in any episode as Cousin Andy is pure gold). And Grant Rosenmeyer puts in an especially pleasing performance as Wilson.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Lewis Needs a Kidney (2005) Season 5, Episode 5

Despite recycled jokes, a winner

[9/10 · 10 January 2019]

Seinfeld already did the same joke on the eeny meeny picking game, and the level of hilariousness isn't as relentless as the best Curbs, but there are fantastic moments like the eating Jack-in-the-Box scene, great performances, and the whole episode maintains a high level of comedy and creativity.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Blind Date (2004) Season 4, Episode 3

A Wimner

[9/10 · 3 January 2019]

Ok - Moon Unit Zappa as Haboos doesn't quite work, on a few levels. But everyone else plays excellent scene after excellent scene. Anton Yelchin, Patrick Kerr and Mel Brooks are particularly hilarious, but everyone puts in great performances. Ben Stiller plays his beset and irritable version of himself in top form too.

The Deuce: Inside the Pretend (2018) Season 2, Episode 9

Potentially strong episode marred by sentimentality

[6/10 · 14 November 2018]

With the exception of the cold open, the first half of this episode is great. The season really starts to wrap up nicely, with strong, emotional and intriguing plot developments. In the second half a growing trend in the Deuce starts to happen: the show starts to "give the audience what they want." "Good" characters succeed, "middle" characters seem to learn lessons and/or get a little burned, and "bad" characters are softened or get theirs (as is a continuation from last episode). Gone is season 1's Wire-esque feeling of a glimpse into a gnarly part of Real Life, where the audience doesn't know when we'll be heartbroken and when and we'll be shown the rare occasion of a life dramatically changing, and when we'll see characters' situations just perpetuating themselves into an unknown future. Sure, minor characters show these tendencies, but the show pulled back from presenting something gritty in favor of a safer route, maybe to survive itself into a third season.

The Office: The Sting (2010) Season 7, Episode 5

Weak Late-season episode

[4/10 · 25 October 2018]

This one and following with Danny character, are bad partly because his character is so pointless and unamusingly written. He's doesn't have the tics that make even the most peripheral Office characters seem funny and real. His purpose is to fill a 1-dimensional role of a smarmy, jerky guy. Boring. The songwriting storyline feels like a cloyingly upbeat way to root for Andy, Kevin, and Darryl, and flesh out their characters in a safely likeable way, while throwing in some obligatory Office quirk to make it seem like it's in keeping with the original feel of the show. At this point in the show, you're either ok with the show adapting to a new feel, or you're not (or you're unaware that it's even happened). I'm not ok with it in general. This episode is emblematic of the weaknesses of the last few seasons.

The Office: Counseling (2010) Season 7, Episode 2

Contender for best later Office episode

[10/10 · 24 October 2018]

This is definitely one of the best episodes of the later seasons. The three main plot lines - Michael & Toby doing counseling, Pam's Office Administrative position, and Dwight's pewter wizard - all develop and pay off hilariously. Michael and Toby's moment is probably my favorite non-comedic moment of the show.