List of 9/11 movies for discussion in forth coming podcast. 

These are all films that show up in various lists of media inspired by or concerning the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

Begin by talking about 9/11 generally, how much we talk about it, 9/11 memories then move on to the movies. 

Cloverfield (2008)

DC 9/11 Time of Crises (2003)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

The Looming Tower (2018)

Reign Over Me (2007)

United 93 (2006)

Vice (2018)

W. (2008)

World Trade Center (2006)

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

The Star Trek Project: Next Gen Season 4 Highlights

 Picking up after Season 4 episode 2 'Family' 

Episode 4 "Suddenly Human" 

A "raised by Indians" story in which the Enterprise encounters a human boy taised by Talarins. Some good Picard stuff as he attempts to guide this young man and help him learn to connect to his human roots. 

Episode 7 "Reunion" 

Major Worf episode and important Klingon politics stuff. 

Episode 11 "Data's Day" 

One day on the Enterprise from the point of view of Lt. Commander Data, an audience favorite. 

Episode 12 "The Wounded" 

Introduction of the Cardassians, who will go one to be both major villains and sometimes allies on Deep Space Nine. The Cardiassains are arguably the most multifaceted of Star Trek antagonists to develop after the original series. 

Episode 13 "Devils Due" 

Fun mystery for Picard and company to solve. 

Episode 14 "Clues" 

Another fun mystery for Picard and company to solve. 

Episode 15 "First Contact" 

A 'First Contact' mission goes awry when Riker goes missing on an alien planet just weeks away from making their first warp speed flight. 

Episode 16 "Galaxy's Child" 

Good Geordie episode and a kind of sequel to 'The Trap'. 

Episode 19 "The Nth Degree" 

Featuring The Next Gen's greatest every man Lt. Barclay. 

Episode 24 "The Minds Eye" 

The Romulans try to use Geordie as a Manchurian Candidate against the Klingons. 

Episode 25 "In Theory" 

Data tries his hand at Dating. Feels like this episode was made because "Data's Day" was so popular. 

Episode 26 "Redemption Part 1" 

Start of the Klingon Civil War of 2367-2368.

Season 5 Episode 1 "Redemption Part II" 

End of the Klingon Civil War of 2367-2368.

The Bridges at Toko-Rio (1954)

 'The Bridges at Toko-Rio' is a Korean War navy picture based on the novel of the same name by James Michener. Well received at the time by both critics and audiences, I felt it played slow, almost like it was running at three quarters speed. Still there is a good movie in here and it's got some moments that I felt were quite strong. For one thing it actually uses Micky Rooney well, and few films after his childhood where able to do so. 

The movies lead is William Holden as a conflicted navy flyer, with Grace Kelly having little to do as his devoted wife. Fredric March is the fatherly commanding officer, and Earl Holliman and Robert Strauss are here as well, the latter because he was so well received with Holden in 'Stalag 17' the previous year. 

The scenes of bombing the titular bridges I thought were quite well done in their mixture of miniatures and actually flying. A bunch of planes close to the ground stuff that you really don't see too often in movies even today. The lengthy segment of the film with our characters on leave in Japan seemed to be announcing to American audiences that it is okay to like the Japanese now. ***

Tab Hunter Confidential (2015)

 'Tab Hunter Confidential' is a documentary on the actor Tab Hunter, who was a closeted homosexual while a teen heart throb in the 1950's. Charismatic, everybody seemed to like him, including a bunch of gorgeous women the studio had him date as cover. Despite his looks, his success, and the double life he was forced to lead, Tab still comes across as a very genuine guy. He tells his own story well and it's neat to see all the people he interacts with from Hollywood history. I wasn't expecting that much form this movie but I really enjoyed it. ***

Pray the Gay Away (2021)

 'Pray the Gay Away' is a Ryan Murphy produced documentary on the Evangelical gay conversion therapy movement, particularly a now defunct group called Exodus. The highlight of the film is seeing all these former members of Exodus leadership who have left the movement, a mass exodus if you will. Gay conversion therapy is now a highly discredited approach to dealing with homosexuality though it still has vocal advocates. One other thing I thought interesting about the film is seeing how many of these ex Exodus leaders stayed religious, of course migrating to more accepting churches. In a modern world where a major contemporary narrative is people leaving religion, to see those who fight so hard to hang on to it, despite having many reasons not to do so, is quite intriguing. ***

Val (2021)

I had been planning on maybe skimming 'Val', the new Amazon documentary on the actor Val Kilmer, and was surprised when two of my best friends highly recommended it. It seems Mr. Kilmer has an awful lot of goodwill from members of my generation, though I personally harbored no great affection for the man. None of his movies were particular touch stones for me, and I'm well aware of his reputation as being difficult to work with. 

While in this documentary I feel that Mr. Kilmer understandably downplays his excesses, for example he casts himself chiefly as victim on troubled production of 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' when he was in fact one of its principle 'bad actors', you do feel some sympathy for him. He opens up about quite a few things, including a difficult childhood, and as now a victim of throat cancer whose voice will never be the same he elicits a healthy dose of pity.  

Kilmer also proves to have been a pack rat, near obsessive in self documentations and his home movies, videos and writings provide a major source of material for this movie. I did feel the film ran a little too long, and it has been suggested to me that it might be better apricated if watched in segments. ***

The Suicide Squad (2021)

 'The Suicide Squad' is the sequel to the 2016 film 'Suicide Squad' about a group of imprisoned comic book villain's, sent on risky missions by the government in exchange for reductions in their sentences. This is a much better film then the strangely dour original, the lighter tone seems to suit the premise more and the direction by 'Guardians of the Galaxy' helmer James Gunn is a good fit. 

This movie concerns are group of characters who, with the exception of Harley Quinn (one of only three or four characters to return from the previous movie), you've probably never heard of before. This group contains such standouts as a Poolka-Dot Man, and a CGI Sharkman essayed by Silvester Stallone ala Vin Diesel's Groot. They are dispatched to a fictional Caribbean island nation to retrieve a McGuffin following a military cue.

Well paced, full of fun action sequences and neat visuals. It's actually a fairly clever film though comic movie fatigue blunts some of it's impact. It also reminded me a lot of the film 'Army of the Dead', which came out earlier this year and was directed by Zack Snyder who is a producer on this film. Both movies concern a group of misfits sent on a mission to get something out of a big building, and there is something of a double cross and zombies, though of vastly different sorts. A solid entry in the notoriously uneven DCEU. ***

The Judge (2014)

 When this movie first came out I remember reading a review somewhere that said that 'The Judge' sounds like one of those smallish scale, finally acted, smart family/legal drama's that they used to make during say the 1990's, but that it's actually kind of stupid. That description stayed with me and after seeing the film I'd have to agree. 

Robert Downey Jr. is an amoral city lawyer whose life is a mess and his marriage is falling apart, who travels to the small town in Indiana he grew up in for his mothers funeral. The night after the funeral Downey's semi-estranged father played by Robert Duvall is involved in a hit and run, in which he kills a man he had sent to prison, and who he publicly felt was released too soon. Downey must defend his pop against a slick lawyer with a grudge against him played by Billy Bob Thornton. 

Now these leads are great, if too obvious for their parts, and the supporting cast is quite strong, including Vera Farminga and Vincent D'Onofrio. However the story is well worn cliché, this movie feels 30 years old. The painfully obvious is mixed with some weird decisions, including Downey Jr. making out with a young woman (Leighton Meester) whom he comes to think for awhile may be his previously unknown daughter, but turns out to be his niece (Robert and Vincent both bonked Vera in high school). The resolution to the main father and son arc was so painfully cliché and on the nose that I boo'd at the TV for close to minute. While there are some solidly performed scenes in this film the whole of the picture is an insulating mess. **

The Judge (1949)

 I chose to watch 'The Judge' the other night because it was free on Prime, I could use it as an excuse to watch another film with the same title in the near future (2014's 'The Judge'), I was in the mood for something black and white and it's really short (70 minute run time). I wasn't paying a ton of attention to it at first, until it started to get weird and then it got my interest. 

'The Judge' appears to be more or less an independent feature, put out by a company called Emerald Productions, and I can see now why no major studio at the time would have made it. The judge of the picture (Jonathan Hale) is only a minor supporting character, though he provides the narration. The film is actually about a lawyer name Martian Strang played by Milburn Stone. Stone had a forty year career in front of the camera, half of which was spent playing Doc Adams on 'Gunsmoke', and he's quite good in this picture, though the supporting cast is largely poor to mediocre. 

So here's the story. A man Strang got off on an a murder charge kills again, a young boy. Strang feels the man is obviously crazy, which he is, and that he shouldn't stand trial but go to the mental hospital. Only the court appointment shrink fines him competent to stand trail and Strang's got to defend him again. Around this time Strang finds out that the shrink is having an affair with his wife. So he goes home to kill himself, and we learn that the man's brother was also a suicide, only before Strang can pull the trigger he is interrupted by his wife. Which is counter productive for her because she and her lover have been trying to push Strang to end his own life. 

Upon realizing this Strang decides he wants revenge. He aggress to take the case of a man who killed a police office, having some inside information that will allow him to get this killer off on a technicality. Now Strang knows that volunteering to defend this man will cost him what is left of his reputation. Only he doesn't care, tells the killer that he will defend him for free in exchange for an unnamed favor to be called in after he is acquitted. Now it appears that Strang wants this man to kill his wife and/or lover. But he actually has that man kill HIM, after planting evidence to make it look like the court shrink was his murderer. That is how this movie ends, Strang is dead and the man he framed is executed. This is a trippy picture, especially for its time, I don't know how I'd not heard of this before, and how it doesn't have a cult following. 

This movie was a big surprise to me, it's not great but it's just so strange, a real 'how did this get made' mystery of a movie. **1/2

Pig (2021)

'Pig' is a film in which Nicolas Cage's prized truffle sniffing pig is abducted, and he will stop at nothing to get said pig back. So right away your probably thinking this is basically 'John Wick', but it's not. This isn't some stylized action, revenge caper, but rather it's a reflective indie. 

The back story for Cage's Robin "Rob" Feld is parsed out gradually. When we first meet him he is a heavily bereded hermit living out in the Oregon woods with only his pig for company. Once a week Amir (Alex Wolff) comes over to collect the truffles which he supplies to high end Portland restaurants, but the two's relationship is strictly business, until the pig is abducted. 

Having no other options, his own car long un-operational, Robin hikes to the closest place with a phone, a road side restaurant, and calls for Amir. A reluctant Amir agrees to take him to a nearby hippie camp where they learned that the abductors sold the pig to someone from the city. So Amir takes Robin to the city and we plunge into the unexpectedly dark underworld of foodies and the competitive gourmet restaurant business. 

You see Robin was of that world once, celebrated in it, a local chief still spoken of in reverence 15 years after starting a self imposed exile following the death of his wife. Robin returns to his old haunts and visits the few people still around who really knew him. Amir gains increasingly respect for Robin and we slowly learn his back story, which is also a sad one. 

One of the things that makes Robin such an interesting character is that he is a man of few words, but every time he speaks it is to say something to the point, or emotionally penetrating. This movies premise seems like parody on the surface, and certainly Cage comes with baggage, but he manages to give one of the most quietly affective  performances of his career. In fact 'Pig' currently has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomato's, making it the single best reviewed movie of Nic Cage's career. Which says a lot. I highly recommend. ****

Cruella (2021)

The current fad of Disney live action remakes of their animated classics I have largely ignored. For one thing I'm really not their target audience, and for another the originals can't be surpassed. A straight forward retailing of these stories holds little interest to me, but if the material or characters are approached in a off center, revisionist way I may be interested. 

Such is 'Cruella', an origin story for the classic villain of '101 Dalmatians'. Set in the 1960's and 70's this is not a prequel to the 1961 animated movie, the 1956 novel it was based on, nor the 1996 live action reboot with Glen Close. For one thing Anita is played by actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste and the other incarnations of this character are all white. For another Cruella is played by Emma Stone, and you just can't hate Emma Stone. 

While I know what it's not, I'm still not exactly sure what this film is. For one thing, while generally kid friendly it's not particularly a kids movie. I mean how many kid's movie's do you know set in the competitive world of high fashion? Telling the tale of petty thief and aspiring fashion designer Cruella's grappling with her origins, the film is part heist feature, part revenge flick, and part Greek myth? 

A darker reimaging of Disney tropes then one might think Disney would allow, I'm not kidding when I say that 'Game of Thrones' came to mind when I was watching this. The film boasts a fine cast including Emma Thompson, Mark Strong, and Paul Walter Hauser, the latter being one of the most intriguing and surprisingly versatile youngish actors to come along in a while. The period sound track to this film is also particularly strong. 

This is such an odd, unusual, authorial piece for Disney. Directed by Craig Gillespie of all people, who did 'Lars and the Real Girl' and 'I, Tonya', playful movies with hart, but very non Disney. I frankly marvel a little that this even exists, but I'm glad that it does. I think this is easily the most interesting of the Disney live action reimaging's.  ***1/2

Absolution (1978)

 'Absolution' would have been a very different film had director Anthony Page gotten his first choice for the lead role, Christopher Lee. If Lee had helmed this film it's vaguely 'Hammer Horror' subtexts would have been front and center, but with Richard Burton in the lead his seriousness and gravitas gives the film a weight that allowed it's twist to work in a way that it wouldn't have with Lee. 

Burton plays Father Goddard, a priest and teacher at a Catholic boys boarding school in England who has apparently been doing that job too long and has lost much empathy and patience. He neglects a cripple boy desperate for his attention, in favor of a charismatic one he hopes to steer towards the priesthood. When that favored boy starts to evidence signs that he may be a psychopath, and a threat on the life of the cripple, Father Goddard's very sanity may be at stake. 

A solid film, notable for a troubled release history, it didn't American distribution until 1988, this movie is also Billy Connolly's feature film debut, he plays a hippie drifter. ***

Nobody (2021)

 I went to see 'Nobody' in the theater and nobody was in the theater. This is that Bob Odenkirk action movie, a mild mannered man with a mysterious past finds circumstances reawaken a self that he thought long since gone. Such a perfect concept, Odenkirk taking an off kilter try at Willis and Neeson territory, I thought for sure they'd screw it up. Action film are generally so disappointing anymore, but 'Nobody' manages to walk it's fine line and not lag, though the ending is perhaps a little over done. 

To begin with this is a very efficient movie. The post title sequence where we see in montage two weeks of Odenkirk's very repetitive life, very effectively conveys all we need to know. Coming in at an hour and thirty two minutes the movie is both briskly paced and not in a hurry.  We get everything we need from the characters arc wise, and many fun and engaging sequences, the soundtrack as well is stand out. This movie also has a great, somewhat complicated villain (Aleksei Serebryakov) who is a satisfying counter weight to Odenkirk. You also get to see an octogenarian Christopher Lloyd shoot at stuff. 

This movie really exceeded my expectations, the plot itself is nothing that special but it's all executed so well. I left the theater with a smile on my face, and not just because I got a private showing. ***1/2 

Of Mice and Men (1939)

 'Of Mice and Men' is produced by comedy impresario Hal Roach of all people. The film is an adaptation of the 1938 play based on Steinbeck's 1937 novel of the same title. Unlike John Ford's adaptation the next year of another Steinbeck classic 'The Grapes of Wrath', this movie lacks the quality and sense of awe that makes that later film one of cinema's all time greats. Though both novels and films are very much works of their time, 'Wrath' has a timelessness that 'Mice and Men' lacks, which is not to say there is not good stuff in it, it's just dated in a way the later production isn't. 

Good performances from Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr., the latter's being subsequently much parodied, and a little uncomfortable now. The old man and his dog, well that could have been very saccharine, but Steinbeck's pathos here seems just about right.***

The Star Trek Project: Next Generation Season 3 Highlights

Curated selections do attempt to take into account, characters, races and subject matter that Rob has expressed some interest in. 

Episode 4 "Who Watches The Watchers"

Episode concerns prime directive and cultural interference issues on a primitive planet.

Episode 6 "Booby Trap" 

The Enterprise must escape an ancient alien booby trap. 

Episode 10 "The Defector" 

A Romulan defector to the Federation comes with warnings of an impending attack, but is he telling the truth? 

Episode 13 "Deja Q" 

Because Q. 

Episode 15 "Yesterday's Enterprise"

A time rift displaces the Enterprises immediate predecessor, vastly changing history.

Episode 17 "Sins of the Father" 

Worf faces formal censure, dishonor, and possible death for the alleged treason his late father. 

Episode 19 "Captain's Holiday" 

Picard's vacation turns into a vaguely Indiana Jones style adventure. 

Episode 26 "The Best of Both Worlds" 

The Borg incursion on Federation Space Begins. 

===========

The next two episodes, from season 4 constitute a direct continuation from the season 3 final, I recommend you watch both. 

Episode 1 "The Best of Both Worlds Part II"

The Borg ship makes its way to Earth for a final battle. 

Episode 2 "Family" 

The crew reconnect with family on Earth while The Enterprise is being repaired from it's encounter with the Borg. This episode is in form different from every other episode of Next Gen.