davidemartin

Oh man..... Just watched the nail-biting season closer of PENNYWORTH on Epix. Quick background on the series-- It's set in a alternate timeline Great Britain. A young Queen sits on the throne, WW2 seems to have never happened, and a Britain torn by secret societies has a draconian legal system (their capital punishment is nightmare fuel). Enter Alfred Pennyworth, newly resigned from the SAS and bush wars across the Empire. Alfred dreams of using his skill set to start a security consultant business. His father wants Alfred to drop that nonsense and become a butler like he is. Alfred's first client is Dr. Thomas Wayne, an American looking for his hard-partying sister. Turns out she's involved with Aleister Crowley's cult. Alfred's second client is another American Martha Kane, supposedly a photo journalist. By associating with them Alfred is targeted by the two main secret societies. And the homicidal Sykes sisters.......

The actor Jack Bannon as Alfred plays him as a cross between '90s Jude Law and '60s Michael Caine in a Charles Bronson role. GOTHAM devotees will see him as the early days of the Alfred played by Sean Pertwee.

Be warned this is probably one of the most violent TV/web series based on a comic book. Less violent than THE PUNISHER, more about the level of DAREDEVIL. But the violence in PENNYWORTH is more shocking because of its suddenness and its realism. This is not formalized combat between costumed foes, this is a resigned "Eff it" and shooting someone in the forehead.

This is NOT a show for kids !!!!!!!!

While enduring an awful night of shivers then insomnia, I found a movie channel and let it run. In the middle of the night I ended up watching film DARLING LILI for the first time. It is set in the final year of an incredibly sanitized version of The Great War. Andrews plays a famous singer who is actually a patrician version of Mata Hari. She does not seem to do much in the way of actual espionage. Mostly she just passes along to her uncle (Jeremy Crabbe) stray bits of gossip from officers she entertains in her sumptuous mansion. One of them is Rock Hudson. They have zero charisma together and he looks like he just walked thru the part. Heck, he does not even appear into the film for quite a while. The film must have cost a fortune, even for big budget musicals of the time. Several times we see Lili performing to a packed opera house. That's a helluva lot of extras in period costumes. Throw in a Hallmark Channel version of THE BLUE MAX. Gotta give Hudson something to do. Julie Andrews' voice was at the top of her game. Honestly she and Blake would have been better served just doing a concert film. One thing to note is that Andrews and her husband/director Blake Edwards were chaffing at Andrew's usual screen persona, a mix of Mary Poppins, Maria von Trapp, and Emily. In all but one of her performances Lili wears incredible gowns. But when she learns her lover (Hudson) has been seeing a stripper, Lili decides to do a striptease number. Oh, and the film earned some salacious publicity at the time because Andrews did a topless scene. Nothing was visible on US screens of course. But there was always "the European version." Did I mention she and Hudson had zero charisma together? The film was Ms Andrew's first bomb, although not as bad as her next project STAR.

When the film ended and the credits began, I looked in disbelief at the timer. 72 minutes ???? Who makes a live action big budget film that is only 72 minutes long? I haven't seen such a short flick since 1963's DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS.

Admittedly the film is not padded. While the filmmakers could have come up with something, anything to give the film some bulk, the scenes that are there all briskly move the action along. The deleted scenes on the DVD would have added nothing to the film aside from a few extra minutes.

The film seems a "Western Noir" version of 1999's WILD WILD WEST. The plots are similar-- a special government agent with ties to the Civil War is sent by President Grant to seek out a renegade ex-Confederate officer who now possesses a super-weapon that he'll use to kill Grant and conquer the US. And the hero is aided by a heroine who appears to be a "soiled dove" but whom can handle herself in a fight. At least JONAH HEX does a better job at explaining the title character's background.

The main difference the tone of this film. Where WILD WILD WEST was an action comedy, this is a very dark film. Jonah Hex is not a jokester and the few light comments he makes are in character and still very dark.

The acting is negligible. Megan Fox continues to show she looks great but can't act her way out of a paper bag. Malkovich is pretty much phoning in his performance as a generic terrorist leader. Fassbinder chews the scenery as his psychopathic Irish assassin. Lance Reddick (from FRINGE) plays a Noble Black Man. But Josh Brolin does a very good job with his title role. He plays Jonah Hex with a weariness and dedication that befits this character. He may seem to be underplaying here but in fact he's struck just the right tone.

The geographical sense of the film is pretty bizarre. Folks seem able to ride their horses fairly swiftly between points like the West, New Orleans, and Washington DC. Somewhow the villains are able to transport swiftly and unseen a multi-barreled cannon the size of an M1 Abrams tank. And Washington DC is now apparently on the southern shore of a bay.