Ranking of "RIPLEY" (2024) Episodes

 

Below is my ranking of the episodes from "RIPLEY", Netflix's 2024 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel, "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Adapted and directed by Steven Zaillian, the limited series starred Andrew Scott in the title role: 

RANKING OF "RIPLEY" (2024) EPISODES

1. (1.06) "VI Some Heavy Instrument" - A grisly discovery leads the Rome police to American expatriate Tom Ripley's doorstep, beginning a game of cat and mouse with its lead investigator, Inspector Pietro Ravini.

2. (1.05) "V Lucio" - Tom's new comfortable life in Rome comes under threat by a surprise visit from Freddie Miles, a close friend of wealthy expatriate Dickie Greenleaf.

3. (1.02) "II Seven Mercies" - After befriending Dickie, Tom settles in the former's Atrani seaside villa, to the displeasure of Dickie's girlfriend Marge Sherwood.

4. (1.08) "VIII Narcissus" - After his close calls in Rome, Tom uses his real name and creates a life in Venice - despite the arrivals of Marge and Dickie's father, Herbert Greenleaf - in this final episode.

5. (1.01) "I A Hard Man to Find" - Tom's life of petty crimes in New York City is interrupted when he is recruited by the wealthy Mr. Greenleaf to travel to Italy and convince Dickie to return home.

6. (1.04) IV La Dolce Vita" - Following the events in San Remo, Tom returns to Atrani and informs Marge that Dickie has moved on to Rome. Using a false identity and a doctored passport, Tom also heads to Rome to begin a life of privilege.

7. (1.07) "VII "Macabre Entertainment" - While Inspector Ravini expands his murder investigation, an elusive Tom plots his next moves during a brief trip to Sicily.

8. (1.03) "Sommerso" - When both Dickie and Mr. Greenleaf begin seeing through his ruse, Tom resorts to drastic methods during a trip to San Remo.

"SUNDAY IN NEW YORK" (1963) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "SUNDAY IN NEW YORK", the 1963 adaptation of Norman Krasna's 1961 Broadway play. Directed by Peter Tewksbury, the movie starred Rod Taylor, Jane Fonda and Cliff Robertson:

"SUNDAY IN NEW YORK" (1963) Photo Gallery

"THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS" (2009) Review

 

"THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS" (2009) Review

Grant Heslov directed this comedic adaptation of Jon Ronson’s 2004 book about the U.S. Army's exploration of New Age concepts and the potential military applications of the paranormal. The movie starred George Clooney as one of the participants in this program and Ewan McGregor, who portrayed a journalist who stumbles across the story, while reporting on businesses with military contracts in Iraq.

One of the surprising aspects about "THE MEN WHO STARED AT GOATS" is that its story is based upon fact. According to author Jon Ronson, there was actually a similar unit actually existed within the U.S. Army called the Stargate Project. The film featured a different name for the units . . . and had probably changed some of the facts, but the Army did explore New Age concepts and military applications of the paranormal. "THE MEN WHO STARED AT GOATS" followed McGregor’s character, a journalist with the Ann Arbor Daily Telegram named Bob Wilton. After an emotional divorce from an unfaithful wife, Bob goes to Kuwait to report on the Iraq War. He stumbles upon an interesting story when he meets a Special Forces operator named Lyn Cassady during a trip across the Iraqi countryside. During the road trip, Cassady reveals his participation in an Army unit that trained to develop a range of par psychological skills by using New Age concepts. The unit ended up being named the New Earth Army. While the pair endured a journey that included encounters with a gang of Iraqi criminals, a kidnapped victim of the criminals, the head of a private security firm named Todd Nixon and two rival groups of American contractors who engage in a gunfight against each other in Ramadi.

During Wilton and Cassady’s journey, the latter revealed the story behind the creation of the New Earth Army and its founder, a Vietnam War veteran named Bill Django. The latter had traveled across America in the 1970s for six years to explore a range of New Age movements (including the Human potential movement) after being wounded during the Vietnam War. Django used these experiences to create the New Earth Army. Django’s recruits ended up being nicknamed "Jedi Warriors". By the 1980s, two of Django's best recruits were Cassady and Larry Hooper, who developed a lifelong rivalry with the former because of their opposing views of how to implement the First Earth philosophy. Cassady had wanted to emphasize the positive side of the teachings, whereas Hooper was more interested in the negative side of the philosophy. Wilton and Cassady’s journey ended when they locate a military base in the middle of the desert.

I must admit that I had not in a big hurry to see "THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS" when it first hit the theaters ten years ago. In fact, I never had any intention of seeing it. The only reason I went to see the movie in the first place was that I was desperate for something to watch. The Fall 2009 movie season had seemed pretty dim to me. Aside from "THE INFORMANT", I had difficulty finding a movie that appealed to me. And what about "THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS"? Did I find it appealing? Honestly? It was not the best movie I had seen in 2009. But I must admit that thanks to Grant Heslov’s direction and Peter Straughan’s screenplay, I found the movie rather humorous in an off-kilter manner. Some of the most humorous scenes featured:

*Wilton and Cassady’s flight from a group of Iraqi criminals

*The "Battle of Ramadi" between two American private security armies

*Bill Django’s six year exploration of New Age movements

*The results of Wilton and Django’s spiking of the Army base food with LSD.

At first, the movie’s approach to New Age religion and movements seemed inconsistent. The first half of the film treated the subject as a joke. However, once Wilton and Cassady reached the base housing the PSIC, Straughan’s script treated the subject with a lot more respect. It took me a while to realize that the story was told from Bob Wilton’s point-of-view. It only seemed natural that he would first view the New Earth Army and New Age beliefs as a joke. But after time spent with Cassady and later Django at the PSIC base, Wilton naturally developed a newfound respect for both topics. The movie also provided a slightly pointed attack upon the U.S. military presence in Iraq. Normally, I would have cringed at such protesting in a comedy. Fortunately, Heslov used humor – and very sharp humor at that – to mock American presence in the Middle Eastern country.

I think that Lyn Cassady might turn out to be one of my favorite roles portrayed by George Clooney. One, he gave a hilarious performance. And two, he also did a marvelous job in infusing Cassady’s role with a mixture of militaristic machismo and wide-eyed innocence. And despite his questionable American accent, I was very impressed by Ewan McGregor’s poignant performance as the lovelorn Michigan journalist (his wife left him for his editor), who traveled to Iraq to prove his bravery to his former wife . . . only to discover something more unique. Another joyous addition to the cast turned out to be Jeff Bridges, who gave a wonderfully off-kilter performance as Cassady’s mentor and founder of the New Earth Army, Bill Django. And Larry Hooper, the one man allegedly responsible for bringing down Django’s New Earth Army, turned out to be another one of Kevin Spacey’s deliciously villainous roles. The movie also featured performances that ranged from solid to zany from the likes of Stephen Lang, Robert Patrick, Nick Offerman, Waleed Zuaiter, Rebecca Mader and Glen Morshower.

"THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS" managed to earn less than $70 million dollars at the box office. Because it only had a budget of $24 million, it still managed to earn a small profit. However, it was not a hit film and it received mixed reviews. Perhaps the audience found the film's subject a bit hard to swallow. There is also the possibility that film goers found screenwriter Peter Straughan’s script use of constant flashbacks regarding the New Earth Army rather confusing. Personally, I rather enjoyed the movie. It never became a big favorite of mine, but I still found it entertaining and interesting.

"GODZILLA" (2014) Review

 

"GODZILLA" (2014) Review

"Godzilla again?" That had been my reaction when I learned about a new Godzilla movie to be released for the summer of 2014. The last movie about the iconic Japanese monster had been released some 16 years earlier and was met with a good deal of derision. Mind you, I rather liked the 1998 film, but I did not love it. But . . . I was willing to give this new film a chance.

"GODZILLA" 2014 begins with a montage of atomic test bombings in the Pacific Ocean by the U.S. Navy. In the last montage, a large creature emerges from the ocean depths. The story immediately shifts to the Philippines Islands in 1999, when a pair of scientists named Ishiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham investigate a large skeleton discovered inside a collapsed mine. They also discover two egg-shaped pods. The broken one leaves a trail leading to the sea. The Janjira nuclear plant in Japan experiences unusual seismic activity. The plant's American-born supervisor, Joe Brody, sends his wife Sandra and a team of technicians into the reactor to check the sensors. When the team is inside, an explosion occurs, threatening to release radiation to the outside. Sandra and her team are unable to escape and the plant collapses into ruin. The disaster is attributed to an earthquake. But Brody suspects otherwise and spends a good number of years investigating the disaster.

Fifteen years later, Brody's son, Ford, has become a U.S. Navy bomb disposal officer, living in San Francisco with his wife and son. When Brody is arrested for trespassing at the Janjira exclusion zone, Ford is forced to travel to Japan. Convinced of a cover-up of the true cause of the disaster, Brody convinces Ford to accompany him to their old home to retrieve vital seismic data he had recorded before the plant disaster. Father and son discover that Janjira is not contaminated with radiation, unlike the official report. After recovering the data, they are arrested and taken to a facility containing a massive chrysalis within the plant's ruins. As they watch, a colossal winged creature emerges and escapes. After Brody is wounded by the creature, he dies from his wounds. Ford, Serizawa and Graham join a U.S. Navy strike force led by Admiral William Stenz on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Saratoga to track the creature, which has been labeled as a MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). Serizawa and Graham reveal that only one creature can stop MUTO, an ancient alpha predator known as Godzilla. When the MUTO causes the wreck of a Russian submarine, Godzilla emerges to feed off the sub's radiation and pursue MUTO. More bad news arrives when Stenz, Serizawa and Graham learn about the emergence of a female MUTO in Las Vegas. The two scientists suspect that the MUTO from Japan is on his way to breed with his female counterpart.

Well, this was a first . . . at least for me. Godzilla as the main protagonist? That is exactly how writers Max Borenstein and David Callaham portrayed the monster. I suspect this has been done before in previous Godzilla films. Since I have never seen one, aside from the 1998 flick in which he was clearly the antagonist, this was news to me. Did I like the movie? Hmmmm . . . yes and no.

Let me explain. There are aspects of "GODZILLA" that I liked. The cast was pretty decent. Bryan Cranston chewed the scenery during his appearances in the movie's first half hour. Usually, this would bother me, but for once I welcomed his over-the-top acting for I thought it gave the movie a lot of energy. One would think I dislike the rest of the cast. Honestly, I did not. I enjoyed Aaron Johnson-Taylor's subtle portrayal of Brody's more reserved and equally intense son, Ford. Actually, I thought Cranston and Johnson-Taylor balanced each other very well and it seemed a pity that the elder Brody had been killed off after a half hour. Elizabeth Olsen, who portrayed Ford's more ebullient wife. Like Cranston, she also balanced very well with Johnson-Taylor. Unfortunately, the two younger stars spent most of the movie apart from each other. Ken Watanabe and David Strathairn gave solid performances as Admiral Stenz, who was willing to resort to anything to get rid of MUTO (and perhaps Godzilla) and Dr. Ishiro Serizawa, who believed that the only way to solve the situation regarding MUTO and Godzilla was to let them fight it off.

"GODZILLA" also benefited from some first-class photography, thanks to cinematographer Seamus McGarvey's stunning work. I was especially impressed by one sequence featuring the HALO jump of Ford and a team of Army soldiers into San Francisco in order to prevent a missing warhead from detonating, as shown in this image:

There were some sequences in the movie that I enjoyed, including the original accident at the Janjira plant, the first MUTO's emergence in Japan and especially the arrival of Godzilla and the first MUTO in Honolulu. Unfortunately, "GODZILLA" is not perfect.

I feel that "GODZILLA" had lacked two qualities that made the 1998 movie so likable for me - a more centralized story and more colorful characters. I hate to say this, but Borenstein and Callaham's story could have been a little more tighter. Actually, it could have been a lot more tighter. It seemed to be all over the map. Although the movie more or less ended in San Francisco, it took a long time for the story to arrive at that location. Gareth Edwards' lackluster direction did not help. Also, I was not that impressed by the writers' use of Godzilla as the main protagonist. It just did not work for me . At least not now. Perhaps one day, I might learn to embrace the concept. My problem is I found myself wondering why Godzilla went after the MUTOs in the first place. I doubt it he went after them for the sake of the human race.

And this movie lacked some serious characterization. Characters like Admiral Stenz, Doctors Serizawa and Graham were tight-lipped professionals, who struggled to keep their emotions in check. But I did not find them particularly interesting or found myself caring about their fates. I also felt that Juliette Binoche (who portrayed Cranston's doomed wife) and Sally Hawkins (Dr. Vivienne Graham) were simply wasted in this movie. I realize that many critics did not seem to care for Aaron Johnson-Taylor. I felt otherwise. I have always liked him a lot as an actor. But in this film, he had a rather subtle screen presence and needed someone more colorful to balance his quiet persona. He had the explosive Bryan Cranston and an emotional Elizabeth Olsen. But Cranston's character had been killed off after the first half hour. And Olson had very few scenes with him. In the end, the writers failed to provide Johnson-Taylor with more colorful characters to balance his style . . . something that Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich managed to do for Matthew Broderick in the 1998 film.
Did I bother to purchase a copy of "GODZILLA" when it was first released on DVD? Yeah, I did. It was far from perfect, but I cannot deny that I liked it. It was certainly great for a rainy afternoon.

"BACK TO HANNIBAL: THE RETURN OF TOM SAWYER AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN" (1990) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "BACK TO HANNIBAL: THE RETURN OF TOM SAWYER AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN", the 1990 Disney Channel television sequel to Mark Twain's 1876 novel, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and his 1885 novel, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Directed by Paul Krasny, the television movie starred Raphael Sbarge and Mitchell Anderson: 

"BACK TO HANNIBAL:  THE RETURN OF TOM SAWYER AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN" (1990) Photo Gallery