Reviewing Movies

It's a good thing the American Navy is the largest such service in the world. Now in its 14th year the original NCIS alone has killed off a ship load of 300 and arrested an equal number. Unlike the show JAG we rarely get to see these cases come to trial. Mark Harmon who helms the crew is no longer a matinee idol but he has finally shed the mousy hairdo. In his late eighties David McCallum as Duckie refuses to retire though he has acquired a side-kick in the person of Brian Dietzen dubbed the basement gnome by Tony who is probablly jealous after the one episode Jimmy took his shirt off. I've never liked DiNozzo who comes off as a condescending strutting peacock. He departed next season. As the Jewish Daughter of the head of Massod Ziva David was an interesting diversion. In her basement lab Abby provides comic relief as a caffeine main-lining mad scientist who performs forensic and electronic computer miracles that enable the brass to overlook her many eccentricities.

Other members of the team come and go as well as Directors and Secnavs--their political boss. Acronyms are popular here, POTUS anyone, for The Prez himself, Obama when these episodes were shot. Although the Navy obviously exists within the political arena the leanings of our cast do not come up. Shows that run to 300 episodes over multiple years in the cut-throat world of movie studios, TV Networks, and Online Streaming owe a great deal to their production team: the writers, location scouts, costume and make-up. The line-up of guest stars is tribute to the vibe on set that makes regulars want to stay and drop-ins want to visit. Ralph Waite, the former John Walton Sr as Jethro Gibbs' father was a welcome diversion, both the actor and pops have died.

A cross promotion with the less popular NCIS: New Orleans demonstrates Southern Drawls so thick they seem almost laughable. Also we get to meet Abby's brother, a chef so niave he borders on being an idiot savant.

The season ends with a rather dramatic twist but without the typical cliffhanger though in supplements we learn it got a two-year renewal.

The Boys are back in town, well Nebraska actually as the season starts. Same good ole boys, same muscle car, sinister evils, cheesy music, arsenal of weapons, working class wardrobe, tacky taste in food, brotherly banter, villains and good guys, essentially business as usual. Dean catches Sammy wetting his wick and congratulates him on finally losing his cherry. The rock 'em sock 'em slug fests make it hard to believe nothing gets broken or no one suffers severe concussions. I still wonder how they avoid speeding tickets.

The script writers managed to work the legend of Lizzie Borden into the storyline.

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Is prayer a supernatural shopping list and do we expect God to use divine drones to deliver? Just how actively involved is god in the day to day operation of his universe or did he set the principles in motion and then sit back to let nature take its course. Is God removed from his creation or does he inhabit every part of it. Did he in fact have a hand in the big bang?

Is man god's greatest creation of his worst mistake? If Putin and Trump push their respective buttons releasing global Armageddon would God intervene? Given a crucifixion how effective has God's interference in human affairs been in the past?

Some might call it blasphemy but the TV Series Supernatural assumes that god abandoned Heaven and chaos ensued. Of course the show has angels, demons, the king of hell, and Lucifer in a cage. God is above concepts of good and evil, right and wrong. He does not have a soul. He puts in an appearance as Chuck who inhabits a night club while he writes his autobiography. His scribe criticizes his writing style but offends God when he calls him a coward. How an omnipotent being could experience cowardice begs the question.

The show does not have a monopoly on anthropomorphizing God, George Burns anyone? Man has long created god in his own imaged. Nor is evil personified a new concept. I may not believe in angels, ghosts, haunted houses, demon possession, but it fun to suspend disbelief and sit back and watch how the show confronts its issues. That the two main characters dress like hicks, guzzle beer, eat junk food, listen to crappy music while tooling around in a muscle car loaded with an arsenal is all part of the fun. How they avoid speeding tickets, get away with the arsenal, dig up graves, engage in brawls that rival ultimate battle royals, impersonate the FBI....

In the end the show is grounded by the love that exists between these two brothers. Amusing that Dean's little baby brother towers over him, and that Sammy is the nerd who specializes in high tech but we've seen hi with his shirt off though the show doesn't specialize in beefcake. And after 11 seasons Dean got to tease Sam about losing his virginity.

Spoiler Alert

In the end love conquers all though the idea that God could die.... The season ends with a cliff-hanger involving the brothers though I feel confident that the producers are not going to kill off either of their leads. But it does set us up for the plotlines for next season

This one on DVD rather than i-Tunes download. Adding to the disgusting trend this season is issued in two parts to boost revenue at the viewer's expense. For your money you get very few extras.

This may be Scott's starring role but it is the friendship shared between Styles and Scott and the love between Styles and his father that grounds the show. Like so many relationships involving single parents the line between adult and child is often blurred here, the same goes for Scott and his mother. And although he is definitely part of the pack Styles is not a werewolf.

The show has gone through a considerable amount of eye-candy. The bodybuilding Carver twins who morphed into an incredible hulk have departed as has much of the old lacross team. The solid and dependable gay Danny no longer flexes in the change room and the dimpled chinned Colton Haynes whom Scott described as a pretty boy is gone.

As Deputy Parish Ryan Kelley spends more screen time flexing his naked chest than he does stretching his tightly taylored uniform. By contrast save for lifting his shirt to show off his latest wounds Tyler Perry has been keeping his clothes on.

At best a B-movie priced to sell. Given prestige packaging in deference to its producer and a host of extra supplements on the DVD. Why do movies one will probably never watch again often supply download links?

No name a5ctors, save for Hemsworth, here but two solid football jocks and their girlfriends are inexplicably joined by a roach-rolling nerd for a motorhome journey to a remote cabin in the woods. Again, no idea why the RV for a trip to a cabin. We are privy to the fact that an extensive collection of middle-aged suits run a suite of controls that activate a bevy of nightmare creatures that will haunt the vacationers. Joins an extensive catalogue of teenage horror/slasher films distinguished only by the addition of the voyeurs/horror effects co-ordinators who appear onscreen.

Let's be honest, ogling Daniel Newman's body is a major motivation for watching this movie. [The plot line is somewhat thin.] It's what he uses to earn his living as a rent boy here. Sex is not something he does for pleasure but a job he does to earn a living. Not a thing he does but something that is done to him. Dominating and brutalizing an unresistant powerful 6-2 young man is an ego trip for a John who at 5-10 must stand on a platform to tower over him.

He has a metaphysical discussion with his female rescuer about his inability to feel loved by another for who he is rather than the service he provides, though she dies for him. In the final scene we see that he has returned to pattern living with a sugar-daddy. It's the only thing he knows. Having been shunted from place to place as an orphan has left him with no feeling of self-worth, as he declares, his case worker paid him 50 P at 10 to service her. Being a cute boy is not necessarily an asset.