johnrjohnson

First of all, I do not like having words put in the mouth of living people which they never spoke, or given behaviors they never showed. Far too much license is taken with these people, especially with Jerry West. I understand 'dramatic license', but some of this was almost cartoonish.

Second, the casting was mixed. Reilly and Brody are always good. Solomon Hughes was exceptional as Kareem. I had some problems with Quincy Isaiah as Magic, but he did have the smile down. Jason Segel made Paul Westhead sound like Capt. Queeg, although that may have been a direction choice. Jason Clarke is a terrific actor but, again, he did Jerry West no favors with his portrayal.

My biggest problem with this series was the finale. I don't want to spoil this for people, but the final episode does not pay off the title of the series, which is relegated to stills and titles before the credits.

By the way, I thought the sound track was just plain weird. Lots of needle drop. Anachronistic rap. Weird jazz. Often intrusive or inconsistent with the tone of a scene.

Having grown up watching "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", I pitched a new Rin Tin Tin series back in 2007 which had a loose connection with the original characters. I had partnered with the current owner of the Rin Tin Tin blood line and created a logo for the series using a composite image of Rin Tin Tin IV. The series took place in present day, and was intended for the young kids demo, but with story lines that would resonate with parents. After I had pitched it to a couple of production companies, I received a Cease & Desist letter from Herbert Leonard threatening me with a lawsuit if I continued to pitch the series. I offered to partner with him on the new series but he rejected it. By the time Leonard died a few years later, my partnership with Rinty's owner had gone sour for reasons I had no control over. So, we never got to hear "Yo Rinty!" again.

It should surprise no one that these kinds of so-called "Christian" films are saturated with mayhem and suffering. The Bible is filled with it. Viewing this particular film almost 15 years after its release was as painful as I anticipated. Not sure why COMET decided to air it. I'd rather watch X-Files reruns I've seen a dozen times. Christian-filmmakers get away with this sort of junk because their audience is pre-disposed to loving it no matter how amateurish or obscurant it happens to be. In fact, they like the insider-nature of these films and the little biblical nuggets they think heathens miss. In the case of "Countdown: Armageddon... orJerusalem" or whatever they want to call it, the grand finale of the film is an example of excessive artistic restraint, which depends way too much on the viewer to fill in the blanks left by a director likely adorned with a beret. The final scene actually looks like someone from another production has mistakenly wandered onto the set. Yeah. I'm not a fan of this film, or its genre.

The first 3 episodes were interesting, if you're into demons, possession, and satanic conspiracies. Subsequent episodes became increasingly annoying, especially the Mayor, Paco. The season finale, which co-starred swarms of flies, did none of the characters any favors.

By the way, I watched every episode yesterday, and Paul Giamatti isn't in a single one, despite being billed as having been in 8 episodes. He may be in season 2, which has yet to air, but using Giamatti to promote season 1 is misleading. If he is in season 2, it's a part he probably should have walked away from. He's too good for the material.

I would recommend taking a pass on this one. The fact that it airs with subtitles is the least of its problems.

"Babylon" is a stitched-together motion picture made up of wonderfully produced scenes connected to one another only by the presence of the same actors/characters.

Pitt and Robey are quite good, and there are a few terrific performances by lesser known actors, such as PJ Byrne and Olivia Hamilton. It's the schizophrenic plot that's the problem.

I wanted the film to have some connection to the historical Hollywood that I've read about. But, to say the film is "loosely based on" real events or people is being far too generous.

Any connection between these characters and the kings and queens of Hollywood in the 1920s is blurry to say the least. Pitt's character could be based on many actors of that era who couldn't survive the transition to talkies.

At the end of the day, "Babylon" jusst feels like a bad trip in a polished limousine. Beautiful period sets and props, beautifully filmed as the characters stagger through them.

This "movie" was written by three separate teams of writers working independently of one another. Each team never knew what the other teams were doing.

The first half hour of the film was written by a group of 8 year olds who all want to be astronauts when they grow up, but had to end up settling to be firemen.

The second half hour was written by a group of recalcitrant 10 year olds held captive in a Sunday School classroom until they could come up with a way to turn the first half hour into an old Bible story.

The final half hour was written by a hyper-kinetic group of recovering meth addicts during their first and only day at the recovery clinic.

The director then stepped in brought the three drafts to life with all the adeptness of Dr. Henry Frankenstein.

Then his creation turned on the audience.

This is a movie about relationships, and the toxic relationship between Ashlynn Yennie's and Diane Robin's characters is tense and explosive. They deliver some real fireworks in "Deadly Due Date". And, from now on, I'll be a lot more careful about how I load the dishwasher.

I worked on the promotional materials for "Goliath Awaits" and designed the cover of the promotional brochure with Emma Sams staring through the porthole, which was illustrated by Joe Spencer. I visited the Queen Mary set and was able to meet most of the cast, including Harmon, Sams, Christopher Lee, Gorshin, and Robert Forster. Must admit I was a bit star struck. Quite a collection of talented people.

If you like suspenseful thrillers, you'll enjoy "House of Deadly Secrets". Great watching Patty McCormack and Diane Robin square off. Both terrific actresses.