Category: movies

Meru – climbing the Shark’s Fin

On By Rick McIn hiking, moviesLeave a comment

My goal in hiking is to ENJOY the experience as much as possible.

High altitude mountaineers suffer — the opposite.

I finally got around to watching Meru, the 2015 documentary film about climbing the Shark’s Fin route in the Indian Himalayas.

Mainly because I really admire Jimmy Chin, the best climber of all-time who can ALSO film his adventures.

In 2008 Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and new guy Renan Ozturk almost made the first ascent of the infamous Shark’s Fin. It was harsh. They suffered physically and psychologically.

Before their next attempt in 2011, both Chin and Ozturk (separately) suffered horrific climbing falls. Somehow Jimmy popped out of a monster avalanche suffering barely a scratch.

Watching the movie, everyone agrees Renan should not be going back to Meru. He suffers a minor stroke during the second climb.

Jimmy’s master work was the Academy Award winning Free Solo. (2018)

This one is no Free Solo. But it did keep me gripped from start to finish.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

“Meru is the anti-Everest,” says mountaineer and author Jon Krakauer. “This climb has seen more attempts and more failures than any peak in the Himalaya.”

Krakauer commentary throughout was a highlight for me.

Dopesick (miniseries)

On By Rick McIn economics, government, movies, things getting worse, TVLeave a comment

Dopesick is based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy. …

At the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, the series received fourteen nominations …

Dopesick focuses on “the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction” across the U.S., on how individuals and families are affected by it, on the alleged conflicts of interest involving Purdue Pharma and various government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Justice, and finally, on the legal case against Purdue Pharma and their development, testing and marketing of the drug OxyContin. …

Michael Keaton is great as Dr. Samuel Finnix.

Rotten Tomatoes 88% approval.

It’s non-linear but — happily — not confusing as the years flip past as it switches on the timeline.

There’s no question the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma are EVIL.

House Dems, GOP Agree: Sacklers, Purdue Pharma ‘Sickening’
— “I’m not sure I’m aware of any family in America that’s more evil than yours”

Purdue / Sackers EVIL

On October 21, 2020, it was reported that Purdue had reached a settlement potentially worth $8.3 billion, admitting that it “knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet” doctors dispensing medication “without a legitimate medical purpose.” Members of the Sackler family will additionally pay US$225 million and the company will close.

Some state attorneys general protested the plan. In March 2021, the United States House of Representatives introduced a bill that would stop the bankruptcy judge in the case from granting members of the Sackler family legal immunity during the bankruptcy proceedings.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I read half of another book on the evil Sackler clan — Empire of Pain by Patrick Keefe.

Arthur Sackler (born 1913) was an impressive person in many ways. The eldest son of Jewish grocer immigrants in New York.

“No single individual did more to shape the character of medical advertising than the multi-talented Dr. Arthur Sackler. His seminal contribution was bringing the full power of advertising and promotion to pharmaceutical marketing.”

He did many, many things. But the Sackler empire was mostly built on how Arthur popularized dozens of medicines including Betadine, Senaflax, Librium, and Valium through direct marketing to physicians during the 1960s.

Elvis (2022 film)

On By Rick McIn movies, musicLeave a comment

I never loved Elvis. Never listened to his music.

I did go to Graceland once — but only to make fun of the kitsch. 😀

Due to great reviews, I finally did see the new film ➙ Elvis.

Austin Butler did channel Elvis well.

At times it was edited more like a YouTube video than a Hollywood blockbuster. That was a brave choice. A modern twist on an American icon.

It is long at 2-hour-and-39-minutes. But they started with a four-hour cut including scenes of Presley with his first girlfriend, Dixie, and his meeting with President Richard Nixon in 1970.

I suspect the next future Elvis biopic will be darker. More realistic. And the role of Colonel Parker will be less prominent.

Thumbs up from this critic.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Coco (2017 film)

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

I finally saw Coco.

Fantastic.

The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and to reverse his family’s ban on music.

The concept for Coco is inspired by the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. …

97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Pixar truly is the best in animation.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

CBGB – 2013 film

On By Rick McIn movies, musicLeave a comment

I had a PUNK stage.

It was ME New Year’s Even crashing off the dance floor, knocking down the drums at the Calgarian Hotel. The pogo dancing was fierce.

I threw up in a Volkswagen Beetle — woke up in a closet atop all the winter boots.

CBGB is a 2013 film that follows the story of Hilly Kristal‘s New York club from its concept as a venue for Country, Bluegrass and Blues (CBGB) to what it ultimately became: the birthplace of underground rock ‘n’ roll and punk.

Opened 1973, the dive became a famed venue of punk rock and new wave bands like the Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, and Talking Heads.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

From the early 1980s onward, CBGB was known for hardcore punk. …

The club closed upon its final concert, played by Patti Smith, on October 15, 2006. …

CBGB’s two rules were that a band must move its own equipment and play mostly original songs …

In 1978, new wave songwriter Elvis Costello would open shows for The Voidoids, while The Police played at CBGB for their first American gigs. …

Hilly Kristal died from complications of lung cancer on August 28, 2007. …

wikipedia

This was one of Alan Rickman’s last films. He died unexpectedly of pancreatic cancer age-69.

OMFUG stands for Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers.

PERFECT Hollywood Blockbuster – Top Gun 2022

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

Increasingly critical of Hollywood, I couldn’t have been more impressed with Top Gun: Maverick.

It’s one of the few films I was happier to see on the big screen rather than streaming.

Jennifer Connelly is gorgeous.

Ed Harris awesome, as always.

In fact the entire cast is made up of beautiful people. Stars.

Special effects were totally convincing for me.

Fans love it. 97% of 431 critics on Rotten Tomatoes like it.

YES it’s cornball and over emotional at times. But I cried, so didn’t feel it weakened the film for me.

In the end, this is a Tom Cruise film. He’s onscreen most of the time.

And Tom Cruise has never let me down before. This might be his best movie yet.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Death on the Nile – 2022 film

On By Rick McIn movies2 Comments

Thought I wasn’t all that impressed with Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express (2017), this film with the director playing Hercule Poirot is excellent.

Death on the Nile has a great cast of characters ALL of whom have a good motive to have committed murder.

Of course the fantastic Egyptian landscape helps.

In addition, I really liked Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne, jazz singer.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

On By Rick McIn books, moviesLeave a comment

East of Eden is a novel by American author and Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck. Published in 1952, the work is regarded by many to be Steinbeck’s most ambitious novel  …

Steinbeck stated about East of Eden: “It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years,” and later said: “I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this.”  …

I liked it less well than the author, but am still pleased to have made it through the lengthy, rambling saga.

Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. In fact, he appears as himself as a small boy in this novel.

Racism is a fact in this era. But one of the two smartest and best characters is Lee, an American born Chinese servant.

The other character you want to spend time with is Samuel Hamilton, the patriarch of one family.

Steinbeck books frequently explore the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists. For example, Of Mice and Men.

The female characters are not nearly as important or well drawn as the men and boys.

The title comes from Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16. The story of Cain and Abel.

Two sets of brothers are the main characters in this book. And one of the four is named Adam.

There are weird love triangles complicating both sets of brothers.

There’s something of a reimagining of the biblical story woven into a history of California’s Salinas Valley.

My two highlights reflecting back on this epic:

  • the STORY telling is memorable and entertaining
  • the philosophical discussions

James Dean played in one of the movie adaptations.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Belfast – Kenneth Branagh

On By Rick McIn movies1 Comment

I’ve always had mixed feelings about Kenneth Branagh — brilliant, but sometimes too self-important.

But his recent semi-autobiographical film is fantastic.

Belfast is a 2021 British coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. …

Branagh’s “most personal film“, follows a young boy’s childhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the beginning of The Troubles in 1969. …

The film received seven nominations at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning for Best Original Screenplay. …

The film chronicles the life of a working-class Ulster Protestant family from the perspective of their nine-year-old son Buddy during The Troubles …

Wikipedia

Jude Hill as Buddy is by far my favourite character.

Ciarán Hinds as “Pop”, Buddy’s grandfather, is wonderful too.

Jamie Dornan and Caitríona Balfe are fantastic as Buddy’s parents. Caitríona so beautiful.

Judy Dench, of course.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Cloud Atlas 2012 film

On By Rick McIn moviesLeave a comment

This movie is either BRILLIANT. Or a disaster. I’m not sure. 🤔

It’s included on various “Best Film” and “Worst Film” lists.

Cloud Atlas is a 2012 epic science fiction film written and directed by the Wachowskis (Matrix) and Tom Tykwer.

 Based on the 2004 novel by David Mitchell, it has multiple plots occurring during six eras in time, with the cast members performing multiple roles.

I watched mainly because it was one of the only Tom Hanks films I’d not yet seen.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.