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The Viewing 2022 ★★★★
The viewing was a quite enjoyable trip. A rich old man invites four media personalities for a “viewing” of an object. Four characters who don't have much to set them apart. Charlotte is an Asian scientist with a Velma-like haircut. Randall is a music producer with an afro. Guy is a guy with a bit of a seen it all arrogance and Targ is a British sounding fella who dabbles in the psychic.
Together, they are invited by Lionel Lassiter. Performed by Peter Weller, giving off a bit of David Carradine and some Christopher Lambert at times as well. After they get together under the watchful eye of Lassiter's vague henchmen and some obvious foreshadowing, they do a variety of drugs.
It takes it's time to set up for a finale that pays off. With solid special effects and nods to Scanners, Raiders of the last ark and The blob.
In short: more style and pretty visuals than a coherent, original story. But I was totally on board for it.
JFK 1991 ★★★★˝
Sure glad this one popped up on Netflix. Talk about an ensemble cast: Costner, Matthau, Rooker, Bacon, Sutherland senior, Spacey, Pesci, TLJ, Metcalfe, Newman from Seinfeld,... did I recognize HalHolbrook at one point? The list goes on and on.
This epic masterpiece fills your entire evening. Only at the start, Oliver Stone floods you with names and traces and it's hard to keep track. But once it's warmed up, it really sucks you into the intense ride that is the Kennedy investigation.
Even while knowing the historical background and what came of it... Halfway through the movie, you will find yourself rooting for Garrison.
You want him to catch the killers.
You want Pesci's character to live long enough to tell his tale.
You want Clay Shaw to be convicted.
You empathize with the gang (when Rooker's hothead character snaps and leaves) and Garrison's family (please let them make it through this).
All the actors are great, but two scenes stand out, even above these. Of course, there is Costner in the court, particularly his ending speech. And the scenes where Donald Sutherland makes Costner realise just how far this thing really went. This type of monologue puts the cherry on top of epic.
A movie made for those people who still get a lump in their throat on november 22nd or when thinking of the figure JFK and what he stood for.
And for cinephiles in general, it's worth going out of your way in order to see it. Just keep in mind that the running time is 3.5 hours.
Don’t Look Down 1998 ★★
My DVD blocked somewhere in the middle and I was no too motivated to go on.
Billy Burke delivers a decent performance, so he gets the movie its second star. And I'm sure the director did what he could on this budget.
But the green screen during the death scene was a bit too obvious and the flashbacks/hallucinations were the same levels of silly as the truck in the Nicolas Cage version of The Wicker Man.
Maybe I'll pick up later to see if it picks up. Hopes are not all that high.
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