GOTHAM – My rating: 8.5/10

The acting is a little funky but Gotham turned out to be a very good series.  The story starts with the killing of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wayne.  Master Bruce Wayne is still a young child played by David Mazouz (known for the series Touch) who is way ahead of his years.  His role is minimal right now but we all know that he becomes Batman with his trusted butler Alfred Pennyworth played by Sean Pertwee who is raising him, at his side.  Gotham is a complete mess.  Crime and bribery everywhere, cheating, stealing, murder, you name it, Gotham has it.  The police aren’t very effective because most of the cops are on the take along with most government officials.  A new recruit and rookie detective named James Gordon played by Ben McKenzie seems to be one of the few straight cops left.  He has vowed to find the Wayne’s murderer. Police Captain Sarah Essen, played by Zabryna Guevara seems to be on the straight and narrow but I’m not sure at this point.   Jada Pinket-Smith stars as a corrupt night club owner named Fish Mooney, who favors women over men.  There are 2 major crime families fighting for territory and James’ partner Harvey Bullock played by Donal Logue is far from 100% legit.  The show is very good and action packed.  There’s one other character named Oswald Cobblepot, played by Robin Lord Taylor, who I’m sure is going to corrupt things even more in the future and probably the most dangerous of all.  He’a work in progress.  The acting is a little premature — it will most likely get better with age.  Future villains include The penguin, the Riddler, Cat Woman, The Joker, Poison Ivy, Scare Crow, Hugo Strange, Havey Dent, Mr. Freeze and Victor Zsasz.  Gotham airs on FOX and is a very good series, worth seeing.

VERONICA MARS (2014) – My rating: 7/10

I’ll admit Kristen Bell is cute and as my grandson says, hot.  However, in my opinion, the movie Veronica Mars isn’t very cute or hot.  In this updated, modern day, version of Veronica Mars, a teen age semi-quasi private eye goes to college and earns her degree followed by law school where she passes with above average grades. After seeking a job as a lawyer, she is accepted by a prominant law firm in New York but she turns it all down for a private eye and CEO position along side her dad at their own detective agency called Mars.  Did I mention, she also gives up her gorgeous fiance (Chris Lowell), who is also a lawyer, in favor of her old high school flame, now a Lieutenant in the United States Navy?  So, Veronica travels back to her small hometown of Neptune, where she tries to solve a “who done it” murder case for which her old flame was accused and arrested.   Although Veronica strives to get the private eye bug out of her system, she just couldn’t,  no matter how hard she tried.  You could say the moral of this story is “once a dick, always a dick”.  Glad I waited for the DVD.  Not a waste of time but low on the entertainment grid.

OUT OF THE FURNACE (2013) – My rating 7/10

The best thing I can say about Out of the Furnace is Woody Harrelson who played notorious Harlan DeGroat, a drug addicted gangster who ruled in the Appellation Mountains and Christain Bale who played Russell Baze, a steel worker that’s down on his luck.  Their performances were outstanding.  Other than that, it was pretty much down hill.  This movie was oh so slow — even the music seemed slow except at the end when Pearl Jam’s “Release” permeated the screen.  There were no happy endings and no real message that I could determine.  The story takes place in North Braddock, Pennsylvania’s  steel mill  country and in the Ramapo Mountains of New Jersey.   The plot is basically about Casey Affleck’s character, Rodney Baze (Russell’s brother) who goes missing after he agrees to take a dive in DeGroat’s bare knuckle fighting event to even a debt between Willem Defoe, who plays Bookie, John Petty, himself and DeGroat.  Russell who lost his woman (Zoe Saldana) to Chief Wesley Barnes, played by Forest Whitaker, decided to go rogue while looking into Rodney’s disappearance.  This movie presented many questions for which I didn’t get many answers.  In fact, I had to read up on Out of the Furnace to find the truth.  I recommend Out of the Furnace on DVD if you have some time to kill, it’s interesting at best!

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THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS THAT PRETTY MUCH TELLS THE WHOLE MOVIE — IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW, STOP HERE — DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!
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Scene:  One night, Russell slams into a car backing out of a concealed driveway.  The camera zooms in on what appears to be the lower, lifeless half of a child’s body.  We know Russell had at least one drink before starting his journey home.

Question: Why is Russell in Prison?

Answer:  The child and the driver died in the car crash and Russell was arrested for a DWI.

 

Scene:  The movie opens with Russell and Lena (Zoe Saldana) in a loving relationship, playfully laughing and tossing around in their bed.

Question:  Why hasn’t Lena been to see Russell in prison considering how much she loved him?

Answer:  She left him for Chief Wesley Barnes.  One can only assume she thought this would be a more stable life — she also is pregnant by Barnes.

 

Scene:  John Petty reiterates the deal between  himself and DeGroat — (Rodney takes a dive which evens any debt between DeGroat and Petty).  DeGroat reluctantly agrees.

Question:  Why did DeGroat kill Petty and Rodney after the fight?

Answer:  You have to guess at this one because it’s not clear — I think he may have felt threatened by Rodney’s fighting skills.

 

Scene:  Russell larges two bullets in DeGroat.  While limping away, Russell makes a final shot from about 60+ feet away from DeGroat.  DeGroat falls.  We see no movement.  Chief Barnes is standing behind Russell shouting “don’t do it”, “put the gun down”, “let me make this right”.

Question:  Is DeGroat dead?

Answer:  Yes!

 

Scene:  The last scene shows Russell sitting in his dining room reflecting.

Question:  Did the chief not arrest Russell for murder?

Answer:  No he did not!

 

I was able to find out these answers via research, not the movie!

 

CRISIS – My rating: 7/10

Crisis is about the abduction of a school bus fully loaded with children, including the President of the United State’s son, while on a field trip.  The children are taken to a rather large and beautiful building where they are held captive.  The kidnappers make demands of the parents that include murder, extortion, resetting of satellites and much more.  The theme is “what will you do for your children”.  One newly trained Secret Service Agent, played by Lance Gross, was able to rescue one student and kill one of the captors.  Dermot Mulroney plays the master mind behind the whole plan and is also the father of one of the abducted students.

This series has the potential to bomb because the concept is absolutely ridiculous.  It’s saving grace is it’s so exciting and well acted that it may forge on to stardom.  There’s lots of drama and twist and turns amid the parents and the students.  One of the CIA agents working on the case is the mother of one of the students, only the student doesn’t know the women she calls mom is really her aunt.  This is so new, I can’t say much.  Watch it for yourself — it’s not bad! This series currently airs on NBC. Unfortunately, Crisis has been cancelled!

DANCING ON THE EDGE – (2013) – My rating: 8/10

This mini series takes place in the 1930s in London, England.  Blacks were still not accepted in the mainstream and many laws were still in place to keep them separated from Whites.  This story is about a jazz band and it’s leader Louis Lester (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) who became entangled with England’s upper class resulting in deceit, murder and love.  Most of this is brought on my one character who wasn’t going for a racial incident but who was a mentally disturbed person who performed out of sickness.  Dancing on the Edge has great entertainment through it’s music and divine singing.  John Goodman has a significant role as an extremely rich businessman who has an unusual obsession.  I thought this series ended leaving the viewer with a taste for more.  I really liked the series but I felt it should have given us more information at the end.  There’s a bevy of actors and actresses who make Dancing on the Edge a success.  It’s currently playing on HBO and is considered a mini series.  It’s aired in 6 parts.