K Street: The Complete Series (2003)

K Street is a documentary style, fictional series populated by real-life political figures in Washington DC, largely unscripted so filled with improvised dialog. Its story follows the fortunes of a bipartisan lobbying firm, headed by real-life bipartisan political operatives James Carville and Mary Matalin. (I have read the co-written story of their courtship and marriage.) Carville is a loud, cantankerous, Cajun country crazy man -- quite the loose cannon -- but Matalin knows how to contain him, so their verbal antics can be interesting, though your mileage may vary. Mary McCormack comes off as a placating professional who bobs her head to everything others say, while the two male staff members are inscrutably tight-lipped in how close they hold their cards to their vests. (John Slattery's wife discovers his new porn stash after marital counseling the previous year, and his weaseling denials say more than his words. Roger Smith is almost a complete cypher as to where he is from and what he is really up to, esp. in the face of an FBI investigation of the lobbying firm, so he may be the most watchable character. Elliott Gould appears as the reclusive agency owner who holds his secret leash.) The dialog is articulate, fast-paced, and dry as lobby lingo can be, so you need to be smart and politically savvy to appreciate this show, which ended suddenly (though with closure). I would have liked the series to continue. Enjoy! 4 stars. (9-14-2016)

A Perfect Murder (1998)

Some kvetch and kibbitz that A Perfect Murder does not show a perfect murder, whereas I see the title as ironic: Murder does not follow a neat plan, so Michael Douglas's financier character is scrambling to tie up loose ends (even as some of those loose ends are trying to tie him down). How much suspense could a clockwork murder bring, with airtight alibis and a successful escape? Instead, it is the unforeseen developments and twists of fate that make for edge-of-the-seat drama here. This movie is no Deathtrap or Fatal Attraction, but I thought it was very good and held together quite well, from the acting ensemble (Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen, and David Suchet) to the staging, editing, and soundtrack. I am divided between giving it 4 or 4.5 stars. On reflection, I guess I will give it 4.5 stars. Enjoy! (9-4-2016)

After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

After Dark, My Sweet is a low-key con movie about a shady trio that goes in together on a plot to kidnap a wealthy family's young son. Former boxer Kid Collins (Jason Patric) is on the run from his past, speaks slowly but may not be as stupid or crazy as he seems, and unleashes his lightning fists when necessary. He tries to hustle Fay Anderson (Rachel Ward) in a roadside bar, but she draws him into the scheme masterminded (ha!) by "Uncle Bud" (Bruce Dern). Ultimately, none of these three trusts the other, and things gradually unravel, but the tension and verbal jousting, oh boy! Every one of these three characters is great in their extended tete-a-tete confrontations. Even the sexual tension between Kid and Fay took forever to boil over (four steamy times!). This movie is not as good as Fargo or U Turn, both which I give 5 stars, but it surprised me and held my interest better than expected. Roger Ebert called it a "great movie" and it scores 82 on the Rotten Tomatoes scale (that is, pretty good). Enjoy! 4 stars. (9-2-2016)

The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993)

Running more than 3 hours, it took me a while to tackle this film, and to be honest it was interesting but often quite dry, so I nodded off a number of times over one late night and the next morning. However, watching it made me appreciate the exemplary career and technical skills of what some call the greatest woman film director ever (preceding and exceeding Orson Welles in techniques, logistics, and esthetics), even if she was at worst a Nazi sympathizer who agreed to produce three films for Hitler and the Nazi party, including Triumph of the Will, which won international awards before the war and is still considered the greatest propaganda film ever made. Leni is clearly a force of nature, as this documentary reveals through conversations and interviews filmed in all the locations significant to her career, interspersed with generous footage of her work, some of it never seen before in public. At age 90, she still speaks in great detail of every aspect of her film making, including the development of new camera and camera-mounting technologies for the 1936 Olympics that became standard for the profession. Most interesting, though, are her extensive responses to questions about how close she was to the Nazi agenda and leadership, and how she feels about her fall from grace over the intervening 50 years. The documentary lets us discern her psychology for ourselves, though giving her every benefit of the doubt, it seems inescapable to conclude that some denial as a defense mechanism is involved. This documentary is a must-see if you are interested in WWII (esp. German) history, cinematography, film directing, or exceptional women. Even at age 90, after fibbing at age 70 that she was 50 in order to get her certification, she is scuba diving to apply her techniques to filming underwater life. Certainly, this documentary could have been shorter, but given its peripatetic approach and this woman's 70-year career, I appreciated having the whole thing to watch. If you feel tepid about viewing the full length, the menu breaks her career into a series of chapters from which you may freely choose. Enjoy! 3.5 stars. (9-2-2016)