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The Verdict, a review by Jon

The Verdict
4 out of 5



Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) is a boozy washed-up attorney with a losing streak a mile long. So when he is handed a lucrative out-of-court settlement, everyones expects him to take the money and run. But Frank is tired of running. In a desperate bid to reclaim his self-respect, he recklessly brings the case to court - only to discover that if finding the whole truth is a little like trial and error, then finding real justice is a lot like trial by fire.

I love a good courtroom drama and The Verdict is one of the best, directed by Sidney Lumet who gave us the definitive 12 Angry MenSerpicoAnatomy of a MurderTaxi Driver

(From Jon's Alphabet Marathon 2010 on July 23rd, 2010)

The Second Track, a review by Danae Cassandra

Where We Are: East Germany
wikipedia

What We Watched:


Das zweite GleisOverview:
Filmed in menacing black and white, this rare noir classic from the legendary DEFA Film Studios is the East German answer to Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed's The Third Man. A train station inspector witnesses a robbery, and recognizes one of the thieves - but hides this fact from the authorities. Meanwhile the thief sets his partner after the inspector's daughter, setting in motion an explosive unearthing of dark secrets from the Nazi era.

My Thoughts:
This is a tightly scripted little film noir mystery.  The mystery isn't the usual sort, like a murder or crime, but the mystery of secrets and the past.  Why would a man not identify a man he recognizes as a thief?  What is he hiding, and why?  The film keeps you on the edge, wondering what it is until the reveal, though knowing the background and the years gives one a suspicion of what might be involved.  This is a thought-provoking film, and a film that wrestles with guilt - both the guilt of the individual and society, of what is done and what is not done, and how we cannot escape our guilt by burying it with lies.  Truth needs the light of day to conquer guilt.  Beautifully filmed in black and white, with excellent use of light and shadow, and with an eerie, dissonant soundtrack, Das zweite Gleis stands up nicely with the best film noir, and is recommended for any fans of the genre.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 4/5

(From Around the World in 86 Movies on November 12th, 2013)

"Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009), a review by DJ Doena

                   


Synopsis: Many years ago the Humans in the Twelve Colonies of Kobol build themselves advanced machines that would work for them. But these machines developed and one day they began a war against their masters.
40 years has it been since the war has ended and the Cylons disappeared. Now they are back and they want the total annihilation of mankind. They have hacked into colonial defences and disabled it. The attack comes swift and deadly. Only a handful of ships under the lead of the Battlestar Galactica survives this holocaust. Now they want to find the mystical thirteenth colony of Kobol: Earth.

My Opinion: When I heard that there would be a new Battlestar Galactica series, I was excited. This series is nothing like the old one except for the basic story. Some of the characters have changed gender and/or skin colour, their names have become call signs and Adama is no longer the lone leader of the fleet. He's now a military commander who was about to retire. The role of the civilian leader was taken by President Laura Roslin who is a counterpoise to Adama. Also, the characters aren't so upright anymore: Lee "Apollo" Adama dislikes his father because of what happened to his brother, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace hits "superior assholes" once in a while, Colonel Tigh is a drunk, Baltar is the egocentric scientist who inadvertently let the Cylons into the defence mainframe and Sharon "Boomer" Valerii is a Cylon sleeper agent. Ah yes: And some Cylons look like Humans now. Of these 12 human models we know 4 so far.
What I like about this mini-series and the following series was that they didn't overdo the Sci-Fi elements. When they use FX it looks great but they decided to don't make everything futuristic. The interior and the normal stuff looks pretty much normal. No fancy laser pistols, no communicators, no spacy music instruments.

(From "Battlestar Galactica" Marathon (1978-2009) on April 25th, 2009)