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2008 Summer Video Roundup, Vol. I

7/2/08

"The Wire", Season Three (12 one-hour episodes)

My biggest fear with the end of the third season of "The Wire"?  Knowing that there are only two seasons left, you want to savor television this good for as long as you can.  The show's third season--which revolves mainly around politics in the Baltimore city congress, the mayor, and the chief of police, as well as the "Hamsterdam" drug zone idea by Major "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom)--is great for all of the reasons the first two seasons were great...the cops are fun, smart, and just really well drawn people, the crooks (thanks to Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell back together) are just as smart, and the mini-plots that pop up each episode are always worth it.  And, how great was the secondary storyline featuring former boxer-turned-con-turned-good guy "Cutty" Wise (Chad Coleman)?  Season Four is sitting on top of my DVD player...

Rating:  Opening Weekend

"Maxed Out"

I was chatting with my friend Brian "Hummer of Doom" Prenoveau earlier today about watching this film and realizing just how dumb (or possibly ignorant, or just plain stubborn) the majority of Americans appear to be when it comes to understanding credit card debt, credit card companies in general, and what it means to borrow money against a bank anxious to hit you with fees that run as high as 30% of your total balance...people, don't carry the debt and don't stick to minimum payments!  While "Maxed Out" profiles a number of stories of Americans hit hard by debt, it is really just an average film, but another in a series of wake-up calls that people are getting from sources trying to help people understand that a) $20,000 in credit card debt is WAY bad, b) Visa doesn't lend you money, banks do, and c) when you are in college, you should generally avoid credit cards, even as issuers hound kids at every turn trying to get them to sign up.  What a mess debt is in this country!!!

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"Lilies of the Field"

Man, that Sidney Poitier was something else back in the day.  His Academy Award-winning turn as a handyman/wanderer who happens upon a home of poor German nuns is good stuff then and now, but Best Picture-nominee good?  That is what makes the films of yesteryear so interesting to watch; somehow, the film stays away from race issues between blacks and whites and turns it into race issues between blacks (represented solely here by Poitier) and Mexicans (not Latinos, back in '64 when this film came out).  Lots of interesting stuff in this film, and while it is cool/uncomfortable watching Poitier teach the nuns how to sing soul/church music, the cinematography was great and I love the way the film gives us what it's got, and not a frame more...nothing is better here than the ending, when we get to see the result of the wanderer's attempts to help the nuns build a church from scratch.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

"The Wire", Season Four (13 one-hour episodes)

You can tell that a show is character-heavy and expansive when all of the main characters from a show just three seasons ago are ALL secondary characters on the same show now.  That's the case with "The Wire", which spends its fourth season following a different criminal (Marlo) with different enforcers (Chris and Snoop), different cops generally trying to catch those criminals (although all of the former regulars, like Daniels, Carver, Keema and McNulty, make appearances here and there), and two completely new subplots: following former council leader Tommy Carcetti in his run for mayor, and following a number of kids in middle and high school who are on the way to becoming hoppers and corner kids.  Strangely, "The Wire" is still excellent drama, but it's not excellent from the standpoint of the traditionalist (i.e., ME): I loved the wiretapping of seasons one and two, so until we get to the season finale of season four, we get zero crime work from the former group known as Major Crimes Unit...but the set-up for the fifth (and, final) season looks like a doozy.

Rating:  $9.50 Show

 

Comments?  Drop me a line at justin@bellviewmovies.com.

 

Bellview Rating System:

"Opening Weekend":  This is the highest rating a movie can receive.  Reserved for movies that exhibit the highest level of acting, plot, character development, setting...or Salma Hayek.  Not necessarily in that order. 

"$X.XX Show":  This price changes each year due to the inflation of movie prices; currently, it is the $9.50 Show.  While not technically perfect, this is a movie that will still entertain you at a very high level.  "Undercover Brother" falls into this category; it's no "Casablanca", but you'll have a great time watching.  The $9.50 Show won't win any Oscars, but you'll be quoting lines from the thing for ages (see "Office Space"). 

"Matinee":  An average movie that merits no more than a $6.50 viewing at your local theater.  Seeing it for less than $9.50 will make you feel a lot better about yourself.  A movie like "Blue Crush" fits this category; you leave the theater saying "That wasn't too bad...man, did you see that Lakers game last night?" 

"Rental":  This rating indicates a movie that you see in the previews and say to your friend, "I'll be sure to miss that one."  Mostly forgettable, you couldn't lose too much by going to Hollywood Video and paying $3 to watch it with your sig other, but you would only do that if the video store was out of copies of "Ronin."  If you can, see this movie for free.  This is what your TV Guide would give "one and a half stars." 

"Hard Vice":  This rating is the bottom of the barrel.  A movie that only six other human beings have witnessed, this is the worst movie I have ever seen.  A Shannon Tweed "thriller," it is so bad as to be funny during almost every one of its 84 minutes, and includes the worst ending ever put into a movie.  Marginally worse than "Cabin Boy", "The Avengers" or "Leonard, Part 6", this rating means that you should avoid this movie at all costs, or no costs, EVEN IF YOU CAN SEE IT FOR FREE!  (Warning:  strong profanity will be used in all reviews of "Hard Vice"-rated movies.)