Crime Time... "Spenser Confidential"

Spenser Confidential (2020)

Rated R

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Winston Duke, Alan Arkin

Directed by Peter Berg


The Story:

Spenser (Wahlberg) is a former cop who has spent the last 5 years in prison for beating his commanding officer. On the day Spenser is released from prison, his old boss winds up dead. Spenser's alibi checks out, but now he's got to figure out who killed his boss and why, putting him in the cross hairs of the bad guys and the Boston Police Department, which may be one and the same!

Your mileage could definitely vary with this one.

Truth be told:

I've never read the Spenser books by Robert B. Parker.

Aside from casual memory of my dad watching Spenser For Hire back in the day, I barely watched any of those shows either.

So I cannot rend my garments and gnash my teeth for how Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg have destroyed the character and tromped on my childhood.

Instead I can say that I had a pretty good time watching the film, and hope enough of us have tuned in since the Netflix Original premiered last Friday to green light further sequels.

:)

Looking around online, it seemed that many critics hated it, while audiences have pretty much given it a thumbs up.

One review said it harkened back to the dumb action flicks of the 80s.

Buddy, that's my bread and butter, and I consider that an endorsement, not a detractor! :)

Winston Duke fills out the role of Hawk really well, using his considerable size as both a weapon and that there is more to Hawk than just brawn.

Alan Arkin does his usual splendid routine as the put-upon father figure who just wants his boys to get along.

As with all Peter Berg action flicks I've enjoyed over the years, it's a fairly fast moving affair that keeps you buckled in and enjoying the ride from start to finish. This is his 4th collaboration with Mark Wahlberg, and perhaps they have finally found a franchise that can keep them partnering up for the foreseeable future, until Mark doesn't want to play action hero any longer.


Good job all involved!

Let's Go "Pocoyo"!!

Pocoyo (2005)

TV-Y

Created by David Cantolla, Luis Gallego, Guillermo Garcia

The Story:

Pocoyo is a curious little 4 year old boy who enjoys hanging out with his best friends Pato and Elly. The narrator (Stephen Fry) guides us through each episode as we wonder what exactly will Pocoyo be up to this time.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I've never been one to be first to the party, but I'm one that happily tells you how great the party is once I arrive.

Which leads us to Pocoyo.

Clearly, having started in 2005, I'm a little late to the adventures, but flipping through Netflix earlier this month, there Pocoyo was staring back at me while I was looking for something to watch with Remy.

And isn't he cute?

That's what I thought, so I figured what the heck, how back could it be?

I was greeted with adorable 3D animation with minimal (normally flat out plain white) backgrounds but some of the cutest characters ever to grace an animated series. These are roughly 7 minute episodes that are packaged together to make one full show that runs less than 30 minutes.

So, do you have children? Grandchildren? Just like fun animation? Then this is the show for you!

Okay, it's for your kids, but you're totally going to enjoy having it on in the background.

The music is good. The animation is adorable. The narration is soft and charming. The characters themselves absolutely charming.

Dialogue, aside from the narrator is minimal.

That said, the narrator will ask once or twice if the viewers can help Pocoyo (or whomever) if we can help solve the problem, and you will hear a few children voices chime in with assistance to get the story back on track.

Then 7 minutes later, the next segment begins with the theme song and the character introductions.

The writing is rather clever, and the characters all have very distinct personalities.

Given a choice of hundreds of animated shows that you can be forced to endure alongside your children, I would easily place this one in the Top 10 shows you could watch and enjoy on repeat viewings.

You might even find yourself watching along after the kid leaves the room...

Just saying...

:)

Viewer Discretion Advised:

The episode "Elly's Doll" darn near killed me.

I started laughing so hard, I could not catch my breath.

I thought, "this is it, I'm going to die...at least I'm going to die laughing..."

Thankfully I did manage to recover, though my wife's continued laughter kept triggering me to laugh again.

I was beginning to think she was after the insurance money!! :)

Needless to say, I did come back the next day to watch the episode from start to finish.

I did indeed still laugh, just not as hard, or as life-threatening as the previous evening.

Thank goodness!

Pocoyo is currently streaming on both Netflix AND Amazon Prime.

There are 4 seasons available on both. The 4th season introduces a new character and changes narrators. Still enjoyable, but not quite the same as the first 3 seasons.


"Bye bye, See you soon!" ~ The Narrator

A Who Dunnit For the Ages... "Knives Out"

Knives Out (2019)

Rated PG-13

Starring Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson

On the night of his 85th birthday, Harley Thrombey (Plummer) gathers his family at his home to celebrate. However before the night is over, Harley is dead and everyone in his family is a suspect!


You can start with the old standbys when discussing Hollywood:

They're out of new ideas.
They don't make them like they used to.

Then Rian Johnson effectively says, "hold my beer" and dusts off the all-star murder mystery of days gone by and sends you on a twisty turvy ride that grabs your attention and doesn't let go.

Will you solve the whodunnit before the reveal?

Quite likely.

Will you still remain engaged throughout?

Absolutely.

I would almost dare to defy a movie lover to not enjoy this film.

I've bemoaned bloated running times and how many movies could/would have been much better if they had left 30 minutes (or more!) on the cutting room floor.

This film is precisely the opposite.

So well paced, it never feels like it stretches over the 2 hour mark, and I don't think I would have been bothered if there had been more scenes left in or extended.

It's a testament to Johnson's script and the assembled cast that they flesh out every character from the leads to the bit players and give everyone on a screen a fully realized three dimensional person.

The movie never cheats the audience or itself in the slow reveal of the entire story, and that in itself is worthy of praise.

A sequel is reportedly in the works, most likely centering on Benoit Blanc (Craig). If it's half as good as this first adventure, it will be a rollicking good time.