Top of the Lake

Written and directed by Jane Champion (director of The Piano) this mini-series which takes place in New Zealand was addictive. A sex crimes detective (Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men) from Australia is home in New Zealand visiting her dying mother when a call for help comes in. The local police headed by Wenhan (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) needs her help when a 12 year old girl comes up pregnant. The girl soon goes missing which leads the detective to delve into her past as a rape victim. Mullan (War Horse) plays the young girl's father. It is a small town in Paradise, New Zealand with a lot going on and a lot of sleeping around. Ryan (Beauty & the Beast) plays one of the older brothers of the 12 year old girl. Hunter (The Piano) makes an appearance as a sort of profit caught in the middle. All in all, I say: STREAM IT form Netflix - it was decent.

The Paperboy

This movie is narrated by Macy Gray the singer. She plays a housekeeper for a newspaper man in Florida during the 60s. He has two sons: Efron (17 Again) who gets kicked out of college and McConaughey (Dazed & Confused) who is a gay reporter out of Miami. McConaughey's character comes back into town at the request of Kidman's character who is in love with a convict (Cusack from Say Anything) on death row and wants him released because they are in love. Efron's character falls in love with her and this leads to the death. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - very disturbing.

Hemlock Grove

So, I watched season one - it looked intriguing - with the werewolves. It is actually more of a murder mystery. There is a werewolf in town, but he isn't the one killing all the young girls. It turns out there are also a couple of vampires in town - they aren't killing all the girls either. In fact, one of the vampires doesn't even know they are one. By the end of the season - the science experiment is gone and probably dead, the werewolf loses someone very close and leaves town, someone discovers they are not only a rapist but a vampire, and every young girl in town is dead leaving all the men behind to grieve. Very odd and not completely sure it was ever worth my time - still debating with myself. I only know three people in this: Scott (Ever After; without his accent though) who plays father to a girl who believes she was impregnated by an angel, Janssen (X-Men) who play mother to two creatures, and Taylor (Say Anything) who plays the werewolf's mother. All in all, I say: SKIP IT unless you like things that are warped & disturbing.

Killing Them Softly

This is a dark mobster film. Brad Pitt (World War Z) is brought in to handle a sticky situation. The mobs card game is hit not once but twice. Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) plays a mobster, Sam Shepard (The Right Stuff) plays a retired hit man, James Gandolfini (Sopranos) plays a depressed hit man, and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) plays the local mobs lawyer. Things go wrong for everyone - except for Bread Pitts character. The entire movie itself was kind of a metaphor for America's economic situation - if you can believe it. All in all, I say: RENT IT if you like mobster films.

Oblivion

Tom Cruise (Minority Report) is a world famous astronaut. He and his crew are sent to check out an alien object while on route to one of Saturn's moons. What he encounters changes everything for the people of earth. Morgan Freeman (Seven), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones), and Melissa Leo (The Fighter) all co-star. The special effects are good, the plot is solid, and the although the ending is cheesy it was a very happy ending. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Defiance (TV series)

I couldn't have written a better summary than this one from IMDb, "The series is set in the near future, where aliens known collectively as Votans have come to Earth seeking a new home after their solar system was destroyed. However, when they reached Earth, they discovered despite a prolonged negotiation with the government on Earth, they were not welcome. Rather than turn away, they began a war with the humans as they are determined to make Earth their new home. During the war, the Votans drop terraformers on the planet and transform the surface of the planet; scorching the earth, opening chasms in the ground and covering the surface of the planet in dust and debris. After decades of war, a ceasefire is declared when both sides realise they must focus on survival on this new almost alien planet. The series largely revolves around the character of Jeb Nolan. Jeb was only ten years old when the Votans arrived and he served in the military during the war. With the war now over, he returns to his hometown of St Louis to find it's is no longer the city he left; it is little more than refugee camp. Deciding his services are needed, Jeb takes up a position as the Chief Lawkeeper in Defiance, so he can protect the town from dangerous clashes between humans, aliens, military scavengers and other dangerous visitors who occasionally enter the town."

You'll recognize some actors like Graham Greene (Dances With Wolves), Julie Benz (Dexter), and Tony Curran (Captives).  The cast comes from New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, England, and the US. All in all, I say: SEE IT on Sci-fi

West Wing - The Bible and Homosexuality (Speech)

Sorkin sort of modeled Jenna Jacobs on Dr. Laura if I remember correctly, or someone else from the religious right. In this scene, Sheen's character has just entered the room. The character Jacobs is sitting - she doesn't like the President because even though he is Catholic, he's a Democratic and she has come to the White House to chastise him. I literally gasped when this scene started - the nerve of an American citizen to not respect the office of President and to remain seated when he entered the room - boiled my blood.

President Bartlet (Martin Sheen): I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.
Jenna Jacobs: (still sitting when the president has entered the room) I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President, the Bible does.
President Bartlet: Yes, it does. Leviticus.
Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.
President Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore  speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about that, will you? Oh, and one last thing. You may have mistaken this for your meeting of the ignorant tight-asses club but in this building, when the President stands, nobody sits.

I screamed yeah! And my dog started barking - man oh man - I miss Sorkin's writing.

Why is America the greatest country in the world? Speech

From Newsroom Season One, Episode One written by Sorkin and performed by Daniels.
Why is American the greatest country in the world? It's not. But it can be.
"And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

Later in the show...It can be.
Season Finale the same girl that asks the question at the top is interviewing for an internship. Daniel's character asks her to repeat her question.
"What makes America the greatest county on earth?"
He says, "You do."

The Five Year Engagement

Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) and Emily Blunt (Your Sister's Sister) get engaged after only knowing each other a year. Unfortunately, they aren't able to marry for another five years. Michigan and graduate school get in the way. Chris Pratt (Parks & Recreation) plays the best friend of the groom. Mindy Kaling (The Office) is one of the fellow graduate students. Rhys Ifans (The Amazing Spider-Man) is the the professor. There are some funny parts, but mainly it's just boring. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - it's playing on HBO.

Jack Taylor

Before Game of Thrones and Prisoner's Wives, Iain Glen (Scottish) appeared in a tv movie series in Ireland called Jack Taylor. He plays an ex-Garda (police) who has become a private detective. The series takes place in Galway. All in all, I say: SKIP IT it is kind of boring. I watched it on Netflix Instant

Dreaming of Joseph Lees

IMDb writes, "Somerset, 1958. Eva enters adulthood with good humor, keeping house for her absent-minded father, letting her younger sister Janie in on the secrets of growing up, working at a furniture factory, and dreaming of Joseph Lees, her second cousin who's off in Africa and Italy as a geologist, but has lost a leg in an accident. She's also considering the advances of a local farmer, Harry Flite, ebullient and head over heels for Eva. She agrees to live with him and seems happy, then at a family wedding, Joseph appears, she asks him to dance, and her fantasy begins to clash with Harry's obsession." Henry takes his jealousy too far and in the end Eva must decide between a man she feels an obligation toward and a man she loves. All in all, I say: SKIP IT it was a little slow. Eva is played by Samantha Morton (Minority Report) and her cousin is played by Rupert Graves (Death at a Funeral). I watched this on HBOGo

Inescapable

Alexander Siddig (Sudanese), who was also in Ruba Nadda's other popular film Cairo Time, is a Toronto banker. When his oldest daughter goes missing his past quickly catches up to him. She takes a detour to her father's homeland of Syria. He wasn't truthful with his daughters about why he left, so she finds herself in a lot of trouble. A Canadian embassy worker played by Joshua Jackson who really is Canadian (Fringe) helps locate her. While in Syria the daughter discovers her father was wrongly accused and convicted of being a spy for Israel. The real spy (Oded Fehr from Covert Affairs who really is Israeli and not an Arab) will do anything not to be discovered which works in favor of the girl and her father. Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny) is the banker's former fiance that he left behind when he fled; her Arabic is really good. All in all, I say: SEE IT - I rented it on Directv.

The Expatriate (Belgium) Erased (America)

It's in English. IMDb writes, "An ex-CIA agent and his estranged daughter are forced on the run when his employers erase all records of his existence, and mark them both for termination as part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy." Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking) plays the ex-CIA agent. Olga Kurylenko (Hitman,2007) is also CIA and gets involved when things get bad. All in all, I say: SEE IT - I rented it on Directv.

Day of the Falcon

IMDb writes, "Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law." The conservative father is played by Mark Strong (UK) from Zero Dark Thirty and the liberal father is played by Antonio Banderas (Spain) from Desperado. Freida Pinto (India) from Slumdog Millionaire is the young Prince's wife. Strange I know - not many that headline the film are from the Middle East. It was rather unnecessarily long in my opinion. I think editing could have fixed this film. All in all, I say: SKIP IT. I watched it on Netflix Instant.

The Scapegoat

IMDb writes, "Set in 1952, as England prepares for the coronation, The Scapegoat tells the story of two very different men who have one thing in common - a face." The rich one wants away from his life and responsible. The poor one just wants a job after he is let go from a teaching position. When the poor one falls in love with his life and the other guys wife - the rich one becomes jealous and tries to end the charade. In a fight to the death, who will win - the poor guy we have come to love or the rich guy who has become the bad guy. The poor teacher is played by the Welsh actor Matthew Rhys from the Americans. The mother of the rich guy is played by Eileen Atkins from Beautiful Creatures. All in all, I say: SEE IT. I watched it on Netflix Instant.