TV shows...
Outlander (♦♦♦♦): in Season
1, volume 2, just as Claire is about to return to 1945, she realizes
she loves Jamie and stays put. Both flee to Lallybroch, home to the Fraser
clan, of which Jamie is laird. As bad luck would have it, Jamie and Jack
Randall, the captain of the British troops, cross paths again, and, as always,
Jamie will be in the lose end.
Season 1, volume 2 feels like a
transitional set of episodes that bring volume 1 episodes to their head. In volume
2, Claire realizes that she loves Jamie Fraser and shares the secret of
her provenance with him. A chain of events test their commitment to each other
and their vows, mostly in the last two episodes, which get overwhelmingly
brutal on account of torture.
The great acting, the wry humor, the
incandescent chemistry between Jamie and Claire, as well as the spectacular
Scottish landscape are still signature elements of the series in volume
2 of Season 1, all marvelous reasons to keep watching this series.
The movies...
Captain Fantastic (♦♦♦♦♦): Ben is rearing
his six children in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Despite far from
conventional, the kids are outstandingly educated. When news of their mother's
tragic suicide reaches them, the kids convince Ben to travel all to attend
their mother's funeral in New Mexico. The kids' education doesn't sit well with
Ben's father-in-law, who is determined to get custody of the kids. When an
unlucky incident puts one of his kids at risk, Ben must consider if living in
the wild is the best he can do for them.
This Indie gem is achingly funny, acutely
smart, a roller coaster of emotions, and overall, a journey of the heart. Frank
Langella gives a solid, spirited performance as the kids' grandfather. Viggo
Mortensen, in the role of Ben, gives a career defining performance, not a small
task for an actor who has spearheaded movies such as A Perfect Murder, A History of Violence, Appaloosa, Eastern Promises,
and Hidalgo. If Mortensen is
brilliant in his role, so are the six precocious and very peculiar kids, who
ably keep up with Mortensen, and who embrace their roles in such a way that one
hardly believes they are acting.
I had a frolicking time with this romp. Don't
miss it as you may be missing a movie filled with whip cracking social commentary.
Hell or High Water (♦♦♦♦): Toby Howard
owns a farm in Texas that he is about to lose to the bank. There is oil in the
land, but he is in such a financial hole that he even owes money to his ex-wife
in child support for their two children. Toby refuses to hand in the farm, so
he conceives a plan—aided by his ex-convict older brother Tanner, to rob small
branches of the bank that owns his reverse mortgage—to gather enough money to
pay off the mortgage, the back taxes, and put the land in a trust so his kids,
because he is putting it in his kids' names, never again worry about money.
They only have to keep it small, don't shoot anyone, and outsmart two law
enforcement officers hot on their trail.
Hell or High Water is a
testosterone charged, fast paced Western with a modern twist. The horses have
been exchanged by old wheels, but the bank robberies, the shootouts, the die-hard
law enforcers, strong females in need, decaying towns, and the big guns are
present in full force...The action unfolds in Texas, after all! The social commentary referring to predatory banking
practices and poverty cannot be ignored.
Brilliantly acted, Chris Pine, Ben Foster,
and Jeff Bridges give career changing performances. I wasn't fond of Jeff
Bridges' (as the old Sheriff) Texan accent; I thought he sounded like drunken
lawman "Rooster" Cogburn in the Coen brothers' adaptation of True
Grit (2010), a character also interpreted by Bridges. I wasn't too fond
of the Indian bashing either; it was a little too much. Aside from those two
things, no detail was left to chance, either with the flawless screenplay, the acting,
and production-wise.
I do not watch TV, so I'm totally unaware of the television series. (Not in a negative way... it's not my thing, but on the other hand I love movies). I definitely want to see Captain Fantastic. I'm fond of Mortensen and Langella. I also want to see Hell or High Water (adore Jeff Bridges.). Thanks for this brilliant review.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I had a strong TV phase in the mid 90s to 2000. From then on, I followed this show or that until something in the story line or a change of characters would turned me off and I would stop watching those shows even if they weren't done. I swore TV off for a few years until last December when I started watching a few shows that have been making buzz.
DeleteYou are in for a treat with these two movies.
Captain Fantastic surely sounds like something I would love to see. Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella are a great recommendation for any movie.
ReplyDeleteThey are both brilliant in it.
DeleteThanks Carmen. Two more for the queue for me! Movies that is.
ReplyDeleteYes, Judy, I knew you meant movies. :-)
DeleteWe saw and liked both Captain Fantastic and Hell or High Water. Viggo Mortensen and Chris Pine were both good in these. I agree, they're not to be missed.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Fantastic came into my radar after reading your thoughts on it, so thanks a million for that one! Both movies were among the best of this year, in my opinion.
Deleteoh great Carmen ... glad you liked them
DeleteHappy New Year 2017. Lots of Love :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you too! :-)
Delete