Aug 17, 2022·edited Aug 17, 2022Liked by Mark Finn
I don't usually watch Netflix, because its CEO is one of the primary movers in the program to privatize public education, but my Roku died and the only channels I can get on my Blu-Ray are Amazon and, yep, Netflix.
That said, I was curious to see what was done with the Gray Man, and was suitable quashed and disappointed to discover it had been diluted into just another excuse for impossible stunts and lots of flash/bang. The underlying theme of the novels—a man betrayed by his country after doing his country's dirtiest work—was barely visible; and without that you got nothin'. My recommendation: read or listen to the books.
I was debating The Sandman, because I've never really gotten the whole "Neil Gaiman is a god" mindset. I mainly passed it off as my normal immunity to the whole Cult of Personality movement. I'll maybe give it a look now, since you recommend it.
As for Hitchcock, I'm also too old-school to throw out the creative baby because they're discovered to have s*** in their bathwater if their body of work has a sufficient level of quality. I don't read two well-known SF writers because they don't meet that criterion, but when I'm looking for actual suspense, I'm always happy to find something by Hitchcock. It's not just the stories, or the directing, but what seems to be a superb instinct for casting just the right actor for the part. As a once-aspiring thespian myself, that's important to me.
Which reminds me I need to see if the "Presents" series is still available on streaming somewhere…
Janice has assured me I will love the Grey Man books, so I am getting the hook-up there. Jamaica Inn is on Amazon Prime, if you like Laughton. I found it quite lively for a period drama. That opening scene, though...very brutal. But really great to look at. Ahhhh, Hitchcock!
Jamaica Inn, if memory serves (and as we know at my age there’s no guarantee) is based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier, and I do believe I watched it back in the late neolithic when I was a teen addicted to historical drama. I adore Laughton, and if you haven’t seen his Quasimodo, you must try and do that ASAP.
About "The Sandman" - haven't seen it yet. In no hurry to see it. The comics were a perfect fin de siecle storm about a god wondering if he should go on, even as the millennium drew to a close. And yes, the previous adaptations of Gaiman's books were all ... meh. Even "Coraline", which should have been hard to screw up.
About Hitchcock - haven't heard about his personal evils and don't really care to since he's dead. As for his movies, I think my favorites are "The Lady Vanishes" and "The 39 Steps". (And I think the Bill Murray comedy "The Man Who Knew Too Little" was a fantastic send up of Hitchcock movies, even moreso than Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety.")
"They may be trying to steal some of John Wick’s thunder."
The John Wick franchise is doing that all on its own with its "Continental" prequel - the whole point of the Wick movies (aside from violent combat) is learning a little bit at a time about the portal world Wick inhabits. Give us a whole movie or miniseries about a central setting and it's like the magician telling you how he did it. (And don't get me started on the mistake of casting Mel Gibson. Talk about the sins of the artist.)
I am so fascinated by Wick's world that I really want to watch The Continental, but I'm worried that it will take the best part of the movie away. You are spot-on with that.
I don't usually watch Netflix, because its CEO is one of the primary movers in the program to privatize public education, but my Roku died and the only channels I can get on my Blu-Ray are Amazon and, yep, Netflix.
That said, I was curious to see what was done with the Gray Man, and was suitable quashed and disappointed to discover it had been diluted into just another excuse for impossible stunts and lots of flash/bang. The underlying theme of the novels—a man betrayed by his country after doing his country's dirtiest work—was barely visible; and without that you got nothin'. My recommendation: read or listen to the books.
I was debating The Sandman, because I've never really gotten the whole "Neil Gaiman is a god" mindset. I mainly passed it off as my normal immunity to the whole Cult of Personality movement. I'll maybe give it a look now, since you recommend it.
As for Hitchcock, I'm also too old-school to throw out the creative baby because they're discovered to have s*** in their bathwater if their body of work has a sufficient level of quality. I don't read two well-known SF writers because they don't meet that criterion, but when I'm looking for actual suspense, I'm always happy to find something by Hitchcock. It's not just the stories, or the directing, but what seems to be a superb instinct for casting just the right actor for the part. As a once-aspiring thespian myself, that's important to me.
Which reminds me I need to see if the "Presents" series is still available on streaming somewhere…
Janice has assured me I will love the Grey Man books, so I am getting the hook-up there. Jamaica Inn is on Amazon Prime, if you like Laughton. I found it quite lively for a period drama. That opening scene, though...very brutal. But really great to look at. Ahhhh, Hitchcock!
Jamaica Inn, if memory serves (and as we know at my age there’s no guarantee) is based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier, and I do believe I watched it back in the late neolithic when I was a teen addicted to historical drama. I adore Laughton, and if you haven’t seen his Quasimodo, you must try and do that ASAP.
You are correct about du Maurier, and oh yes, I've seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's fantastic in its grotesqueries.
About "The Sandman" - haven't seen it yet. In no hurry to see it. The comics were a perfect fin de siecle storm about a god wondering if he should go on, even as the millennium drew to a close. And yes, the previous adaptations of Gaiman's books were all ... meh. Even "Coraline", which should have been hard to screw up.
About Hitchcock - haven't heard about his personal evils and don't really care to since he's dead. As for his movies, I think my favorites are "The Lady Vanishes" and "The 39 Steps". (And I think the Bill Murray comedy "The Man Who Knew Too Little" was a fantastic send up of Hitchcock movies, even moreso than Mel Brooks' "High Anxiety.")
"They may be trying to steal some of John Wick’s thunder."
The John Wick franchise is doing that all on its own with its "Continental" prequel - the whole point of the Wick movies (aside from violent combat) is learning a little bit at a time about the portal world Wick inhabits. Give us a whole movie or miniseries about a central setting and it's like the magician telling you how he did it. (And don't get me started on the mistake of casting Mel Gibson. Talk about the sins of the artist.)
As always, thank you for your insights.
I am so fascinated by Wick's world that I really want to watch The Continental, but I'm worried that it will take the best part of the movie away. You are spot-on with that.