Mad Men: Season 3 (2009)

Every season is better then the last and I'm glade to say that I was able to get season 3 finished in time for the premier of season 4, as I have the opportunity to at least start the run of this season on TV as opposed to DVD. This show is really one of the all time greats, in the pantheon of astoundingly good and deep shows of my lifetime that includes Homicide: Life on the Street and Six Feet Under. The Third Season spans the Spring of 1963 to just before Christmas of the same year. The historical events covered are obvious, the March on Washington, early Vietnam, and the Kennedy Assassination, the last of which is astoundingly well handled in an episode that for our generation can evoke nothing save 9/11. But the emotional events, in both the home and work lives of our characters are equally, if not more astounding. This is the year that Don and Betty's marriage finally crumbles, that Dick Whitman's secret past gets reveled to his wife, that Pete and Trudy's marriage takes on a remarkable health and shine, Salvatore is in effect outed, and that little girl who plays Sally proves she is a really remarkable young actress. This is a great show, its so literary, I love the way it builds, those last three episodes are consecutive knock-outs of a level seldom seen on even good television. If you haven't you should watch this show, the most satisfying hour of programing currently on television. Thumbs way up, Five stars.

Bulldog Drummond in Africa (1938)

John Howard is again The Bulldog, as right he should be that experiment with Ray Malland was not what it might have been. This time Hugh and Phyllis's wedding is disturbed by the kidnapping of Col. Nielson (this time H.B. Warner) by seller of state secrets J. Carrol Nash. Bulldog and company must fly to Morocco to rescue the Colonel and there are lions, a bomb on a plane, and a young Anthony Quinn as an evil henchmen. Probably the best Drummond film I've seen as far as being a coherent movie goes. Fun.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

From the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. This has everything you want and expect from Williams, decay among the Southern ruling classes, strained relationships, smouldering desires, alcoholism, unrealized dreams, along with Elizabeth Taylor in body hugging white. Film centers around the 65th birthday of Pollitt family patriarch "Big Daddy" (Burl Ives) in which he learns that he is fatally ill. Long impassioned arguments and various family skeletons surface on three different floors of the old estate though Brick's (Paul Newman) homosexuality is extremely toned down. Jack Carson does an admirable job as the older brother, fitting perfectly the needs of a kind of small and understated role, easy to overlook amongst the more well known and expressive members of the cast but beautifully rendered, probably his best work. Williams knows how to use a small space for tension and though not exactly a drawing room drama in the truest sense, it contains some of the finner elements of that kind of production. Essentially a big existential therapy session on film. Thumbs up.

Francis of Assisi (1961)

Very boring film about the father of the Franciscan Order, the son of a wealthy cloth merchant who renounced all his worldly possessions for a life of austere devotion to God, and became the patorn saint of animals, the environment, and Italy (along with Catherine of Siena). The usually capable director Micheal Curtiz manages to drain this story of anything that would make it interesting and gives us a dry, earnest, very Catholic non-spectacle populated by a no-name cast with Bradford Dillman particularly dull in the lead. Curtiz does attempt to inject some story life into the film through use of a contrived seeming quasi-romantic subplot between Dillman and the generically pretty Dolores Hart as an acolyte. Obviously Saint Francis has some appeal or he wouldn't be such a significant figure in Catholic tradition, but this film simply doesn't capture that. This movie is bad, it felt pointless, and particularly towards the end it loses all semblance of coherent structure and character motivations. Ugh, what a waste of time, this movie is crap.

Harlan County, USA (1976)

Winner of an Oscar for best documentary feature, Harlan County, USA tells the story of a protracted strike between UMWA workers and the Duke Power Company centering on the titular east Kentucky county. Excellent documentary, riveting story, first class engaging work. Critical of Duke Power, and to a lesser extent the UMWA leadership, the movie is very much in sync with the miners in its sympathies,the film makers spent a lot of time on the ground with them. My brother served in Harlan on his mission and I served in neighbouring counties so I've heard about this documentary and the story it chronicles for years, good to finally see it. A dramatic movie version of the same story was done by Showtime in 2000.

That Hamilton Woman (1941)

Reputedly Winston Churchill's favorite film, he had it commissioned as a propaganda piece toward the start of World War II. Film tells of the romance between Britain's best Admiral, Horatio Nelson and Emma Lady Hamilton wife of the British ambassador to Naples. Patriotic and a little risky, Churchill was said to admire Nelson of course for his military proles and Lady Hamilton for her uniqueness. Story is handled well by director/producer (and Churchill personal friend) Alexander Korda, it is after all the type of historical romance he specialized in, and aided greatly by the presence of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in the two lead roles (they too had been having a tempestuous affair and married around the time this film was made). In my opinion good but not great, it helped that it was a story I hadn't heard before and you could tell the production code was being skirted a bit, but its also perhaps excessively formal and you don't particularly bond with either lead character despite good performances. Kind of average.

G-Force (2009)

Jerry Bruckheimer produced Disney actioner about talking spy guinea pigs and other rodents and critters. Zach Galifianakis and Sam Rockwell seem to being playing it sincerely straight, while Tracy Morgan proves he can't act even in just voice form (something that actually works for him on 30 Rock though). Nobody strained any brain muscle on this script it just sort of carelessly glides, but its warm hearted and perfect for its young target audience. Watching this after all that's been happening recently made me feel almost normal.

Colin Wray Dredge: 1983-2010.