Observations About “TIMELESS” (1.01) “Pilot”

 

In an impulsive move, I decided to do a re-watch of the first episode of “TIMELESS”, (1.01) “Pilot”.  And I noticed a few interesting things:

OBSERVATIONS ABOUT “TIMELESS” (1.01) “Pilot”

*Carolyn Preston was a seriously ill and bedridden patient when the series began.  Garcia Flynn’s changes to the timeline not only improved Carolyn’s life but also produced a currently active soldier for Rittenhouse.  Talk about irony.

*There was an interesting scene between Mason Industries founder Connor Mason and Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher, in which the latter chastised the former for creating a time machine behind the U.S. government’s back.  Mason had called in the government after the newer time machine was stolen by Garcia Flynn.  I had no idea that Agent Christopher and Mason had clashed before the Season Two episode, (2.02) “The Darlington 500″.  I wonder if there will be future clashes between the two.

*Wyatt Logan had been heavily drinking at the time when he was first summoned to Mason Industries for the first time.  His wife had been dead for at least four to five years at the time, which means he was still in a state of grief.

*Another example of Wyatt’s continuing grief over Jessica was his instant attraction to fictional journalist, Kate Drummond, who strongly reminded him of his late wife.  In fact, this led Wyatt to attempt to save her from the Hindenburg’s original crash and save her from the revised crash, even though she was destined to die.

*This was a rather interesting scene to me.  One, I noticed that Rufus Carlin was kept in a separate cell from Lucy and Wyatt in order to maintain the racial status quo in 1937 New Jersey.  I also found the scene both funny, thanks to Rufus’ insults to the cop, and scary at the same time.  Instead of rushing the cell to hurt Rufus, the cop deliberately left the cell room and returned with a fellow cop with the intent to beat Rufus with batons (probably to death), especially since Wyatt was having difficulty unlocking the cells with the underwire of Lucy’s bra.

*This episode also introduced Flynn’s possession of Lucy’s diary.  To this day, I have always wondered how he managed to acquire it, if the time machines cannot travel to the future.  Or can they?  The page featured in the image above hint the team and Flynn’s activities in the episode, (1.08) “Space Race”.

*I was surprised that Lucy and Flynn had their first meeting so soon in the series.  What is interesting is that Flynn displayed no hostility toward her.  Instead, he told her about the diary and his personal knowledge of her.  He also revealed his knowledge of Lucy’s aspirations to follow in Carolyn’s footsteps, warning her that would be a bad idea.  This last remark struck me as a foreshadow of the Season One finale’s revelation of Carolyn as a Rittenhouse agent.

*This episode also revealed that Mason, had instructed Rufus to record the team’s mission and to continue doing so in the future.  This made me realize that Rittenhouse had been interested in Mason’s time machine from the beginning and foreshadowed Rittenhouse’s use of the newer time machine in Season Two.

*For a long time, I have wondered why Flynn wanted to prevent the Hindenburg from crashing the first time.  But when I noticed that he had planted a bomb on the airship before it was due to return to Germany, I eventually speculated that he had discovered someone connected to Rittenhouse was scheduled to travel on that return journey.

"PERIL AT END HOUSE" (1990) Review

 

"PERIL AT END HOUSE" (1990) Review

I just realized something. I have never read Agatha Christie's 1932 novel, "Peril at End House". I find this ironic, considering that I have seen the 1990 television movie adaptation of this novel at least three or four times. One of these days, I will get around to reading Christie's novel and comparing it to the television adaptation. Right now, I am going to focus on the latter. 

Directed by Renny Rye and adapted by Clive Exton, "PERIL AT END HOUSE" is the first full-length television movie aired on "AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT". It is also about Belgian-born detective Hercule Poirot's efforts to prevent the murder of a young socialite, during his vacation in Cornwall. The movie begins with Poirot and his friend Arthur Hastings arriving at a Cornish seaside resort for their vacation. While conversing with socialite Magdala "Nick" Buckley on the resort's grounds, Poirot notices that someone had fired a bullet into the brim of her floppy hat. Poirot exposes the bullet hole to Nick, who finds it difficult to believe that someone wants to kill her. She points out that aside from her house - End House - has no real assets. Poirot decides to investigate her inner circle, who includes the following:

*Charles Vyse - Nick's cousin and an attorney
*Mr. and Mrs. Croft - an Australian couple that has leased the lodge near End House, who had suggested Nick make a will six months earlier
*Freddie Rice - a close friend of Nick's, who is also an abused wife
*Jim Lazarus - an art dealer in love with Nick
*Commander George Challenger - a Royal Navy officer who is also attracted to Nick

Poirot eventually advises Nick to invite a relative to stay with her for a few weeks. Nick invites her distant cousin Maggie Buckley. Unfortunately, someone kills Maggie, after she makes the mistake of wearing Nick's dress shawl during an evening party. Even worse, the killer eventually achieves his/her goal by sending a box of poisoned chocolates to Nick, while she was recuperating at a local hospital.

"PERIL AT END HOUSE" possessed a certain plot device that Christie had used in several of her novels. I would describe this plot device. But to do so would spoil the rest of the story. It took me years to spot this plot device. And I should be surprised that I have not come across anyone else who has spotted it. And yet . . . I am not. The fact that it took me several years to spot this particular plot device only tells me that Christie has utilized it with great effect in some of her more interesting and well-written mysteries. Thankfully, "PERIL AT END HOUSE" proved to be one of those well-written mysteries.

I must admit that Clive Exton did a pretty damn good job in adapting Christie's novel for the television screen. He stuck very closely to the original novel's plot . . . with a few changes that did no harm to the overall movie. Both Exton and Rye presented a well-paced production to the audiences. They set up the story with Poirot and Hastings' arrival to Cornwall and continued on with without any haste or dragging feet. The only time the movie threatened to put me to sleep occurred between the story's second murder and the revelation of the killer . . . . when the story threatened to ground to a halt. I have one last problem - namely the appearance of Chief Inspector Japp. I realize that Japp did appear in the novel. But his appearance merely dealt with Poirot's request that he investigate the Crofts, whom the Belgian detective suspected of being forgers. The cinematic Japp immediately appeared following Maggie Buckley's death as the main police investigator. And Cornwall is not under Scotland Yard's main jurisdiction. 

The production values for "PERIL AT END HOUSE" proved to be top-notch. Rye shot the film's exterior scenes in Salcombe, Devon; instead of the county of Cornwall. I found that curious. However, both he and cinematographer Peter Bartlett certainly took advantage of the movie's setting with Bartlett's photography of Salcombe's charming, Old World style. This was especially apparent in the movie's opening sequence that featured Poirot and Hasting's arrival by airplane. Actually, production designer Mike Oxley did an excellent job of recreating an English vacation resort in the early 1930s. The production practically reeked of the Art Deco style of that time period. However, I was especially impressed by Linda Mattock's costume designs. I was especially impressed by those costumes worn by actresses Polly Walker, Pauline Moran and Alison Sterling. My only complaints about the movie's visual styles were the actresses' hairstyles. No one seemed capable of re-creating the early 1930s soft bob. The actresses either wore a chignon or in the case of Sterling, a Dutch Boy bob made famous by actress Louise Brooks in the late 1920s.

"PERIL AT END HOUSE" featured some solid performances by the cast. David Suchet gave his usual excellent portrayal of Hercule Poirot. I was especially impressed by the on-screen chemistry he managed to produce with Polly Walker. The latter gave a standout performance as the killer's main target, Madgala "Nick" Buckley. Walker did an excellent job of transforming Nick from the charming "Bright Young Thing" to a wary and frightened woman, who realizes that someone is trying to kill her. Alison Sterling was also excellent as one of Nick's closest friends, "Freddie" Rice. Next to Walker's Nick, Sterling gave an interesting and skillful portrayal of the very complex Freddie. Hugh Fraser, Pauline Moran and Philip Jackson were also excellent as Arthur Hastings, Miss Lemon and Chief Inspector Japp. All three, along with Suchet, managed to re-create their usual magic. The movie also featured solid performances from Paul Geoffrey (whom I found particularly convincing as an early 30s social animal), John Harding, Christopher Baines and Elizabeth Downes. I found the Australian accents utilized by Jeremy Young and Carol Macready, who portrayed the Crofts, rather wince inducing. But since their accents were supposed to be fake in the first place, I guess I had no problems.

For some reason, "PERIL AT END HOUSE" never became a big favorite of mine, despite its acclaim. It is a well done adaptation of Christie's novel. And I found it visually attractive, thanks to the movie's production team. The movie also featured some excellent performances - especially from David Suchet, Polly Walker and Alison Sterling. Naturally, it is not perfect. But that is not the problem. I cannot explain my lack of enthusiasm for "PERIL AT END HOUSE". I can only assume that I found nothing particularly mind blowing or fascinating about its plot. To me, it is simply a good, solid murder mystery that has managed to entertain me on a few occasions. Perhaps . . . that is enough.

"THE ARTIST" (2011) Review

 

"THE ARTIST" (2011) Review

I must have been one of the few people who had been unaware of "THE ARTIST", when it first hit the American movie theaters in late 2011. To be honest, I was not paying much attention to that particular awards season. I had been unable to find a movie that aroused my interest. When I discovered that the French-American film had overcome George Clooney's "THE DESCENDANTS", to become the Academy Awards Best Picture winner . . . well, color me surprised.

Michel Hazanavicius' ode to Old Hollywood told the story of a successful silent film star named George Valentin, who seemed to be at the peak of his fame in 1927. At the premiere of his latest hit, he meets a young fan named Peppy Miller outside of the movie theater. She eventually catches the eyes of the press, when a photograph of the two appear in the newspapers, the following morning. It does not take long for Peppy's career as a movie actress to rise. But when George's studio boss, Al Zimmer, announces the end of Kinograph Studios' silent movies production, the actor dismisses the news, claiming that sound is nothing but a fad. George decides to finance, produce and direct his own silent film. Both his new silent movie and Peppy's new sound film open on the same day as the 1929 Stock Market Crash. While audiences flock to see Peppy's new movie - making her a major Hollywood star - George's film becomes a flop . . . and he finds himself financially ruined. Because his rejection of talkies remain steadfast, it is not long before George becomes a broke, Hollywood has been.

Within a few months, "THE ARTIST" managed to acquire near universal acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Not only did the movie win five Academy Awards - including Best Picture, Best Director (Hazanavicius) and Best Actor for leading man Jean Dujardin; the movie also won seven BAFTA awards, six César awards, three Golden Globe awards and two awards at the Cannes Film Festival. I have not encountered a movie this universally acclaimed in years. And if I must say so, it did not deserve a single award.

That is correct. I consider "THE ARTIST" to be one of the most overrated movies I have seen in years. In fact, I find it even more overrated than 2010's Oscar winner, "THE KING'S SPEECH". Perhaps I had exaggerated a bit. There were a few awards that I believe it deserved. I found Ludovic Bource's score surprisingly impressive. I was also impressed by Mark Bridges' award winning costume designs and Guillaume Schiffman's nominated cinematography. And I cannot deny that I was more than impressed by Jean Dujardin's performance as the ego-centric George Valentin. Did he deserve the Best Actor award? Personally, I would have given Gary Oldman's performance in "TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY" the award. But I still believe that Dujardin gave an above-average performance. The movie also featured supporting performances and cameos from Hollywood veterans such as John Goodman, James Cromwell, and Penelope Ann Miller. I thought they all gave solid performances, especially Miller and Cromwell.

Despite my feelings about the costumes, photography, the score and Dujardin's performance, I still believe that "THE ARTIST" is an overrated movie that did not deserve most of the accolades it received. For me, it was a charming little movie with gimmicks about Old Hollywood. I would equate it at the same level as Blake Edwards' 1988 Hollywood mystery, "SUNSET". Okay, perhaps I am being a little cruel. Even "THE ARTIST" is a lot better than Edwards' film. But I find myself unable to view it as a cinematic masterpiece. For me, it was simply an entertaining, yet near-mediocre film.

One of the problems I had with "THE ARTIST" was that Hazanavicius' script never explained why Valentin had refused to do a talking picture. Why? Unlike Charlie Chaplin, he was not originally described as a multi-tasked Hollywood talent. Valentin was never regarded as another Emil Jennings, whose Hollywood career ended due to a thick European accent. Granted, Dujardin's French accent struck me as somewhat thick, but it was never pointed out. And if the Valentin character really had a thick accent, his Hollywood career would have never been revived as a song-and-dance man at the movie's conclusion. Even Fred Astaire needed a decent voice. Nor was Valentin portrayed as a another John Gilbert, whose career was destroyed by a studio boss that hated his guts. Granted, Valentin managed to annoy Zimmer in his refusal to accept talkies. But Zimmer merely regarded Valentin with mild contempt, not hatred. In the end, Valentin's refusal to do talkies was never really explored. And this strikes me as bad writing on Hazanavicius' part.

The movie earned a good deal of controversy when Hollywood icon Kim Novak accused composer Ludovic Bource of incorporating a portion of Bernard Herrmann's score from Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film "VERTIGO". Since I have never seen "VERTIGO", I cannot comment on Novak's accusation. However, I have seen "A STAR IS BORN", "SUNSET BOULEVARD", and "SINGIN' IN THE RAIN". I noticed that "THE ARTIST" incorporated a great deal of story ideas and scenes from these movies. Unfortunately, I believe that Hazanavicius did so in an unoriginal way. Even the happy-go-lucky "SINGIN' IN THE RAIN" had ten times the biting wit and a more in-depth, if slightly fictional looking into Hollywood's transition to sound. Perhaps the reason I found the story hard to accept was because Hazanavicius decided to film the movie without sound. All I can say is . . . why? What was the point? I wanted a look at Old Hollywood during the late 1920s and early 1930s, not a gimmicky ode to the era.

"THE ARTIST" possessed other aspects that did not sit well with me. Hazanavicius cast his wife, French-Argentine actress Bérénice Bejo, to portray rising star Peppy Miller. Bejo received numerous nominations and a César Award for Best Actress for her performance. I cannot deny that she gave a first-rate performance. Unfortunately, she seemed like a 21st century anchorism, stuck in the early 20th century. Bejo simply looked out of place in period movie like "THE ARTIST". Valentin's Jack Russell terrier, Uggie, was so cute that I found myself in danger of a sugar overdose, just by simply watching. After viewing the scene in which Uggie saved Valentin from a burning house by summoning a police, I either wanted to throw up or put a bullet in that mutt. As much as I enjoyed Mark Bridges' late 1920s costumes, I was not impressed by the costumes for the movie's 1930s setting. Looking at Bridges' costumes for the early sound era, I found it hard to believe that the film's second half was set between 1930 and 1932/33. Many people enjoyed Dujardin and Bejo's dance routine that marked the film's conclusion. I cannot deny that I found their performance impressive. But it was also a jaw-dropping moment for me . . . and not in a good way. My mind kept reminding me that I should be applauding. Instead, I found myself silently chanting - "What the hell?" And what was the point of this?

Look, I am not claiming to dislike "THE ARTIST". How could I? I thought it was an entertaining film about Old Hollywood. It seemed a lot of fun. But a fun movie does not automatically it make a great one. And despite the awards and accolades that it received, I cannot agree with the prevailing view that "THE ARTIST" was a great film. Not by a long shot.

"PERIL AT END HOUSE" (1990) Photo Gallery

 

"PERIL AT END HOUSE" (1990) Photo Gallery

"THE ARTIST" (2011) Photo Gallery

Below are images from the 2011 movie called "THE ARTIST". Directed by Michel Hazanavicius, the movie stars Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo:

"THE ARTIST" (2011) Photo Gallery