Reviews

The Practice

I have just finished watching all eight seasons of “The Practice“. Getting through all of it took me longer than usual, but I still did.

The way I watch TV series is pretty much the way I watch movies and read books – from cover to cover and, hopefully, in one go. If I want to watch a single episode, chances are I will watch the whole season. If I want to watch a season, I will probably watch all available seasons. I don’t know why I am like that and that’s not really important right now.

What’s important is that I found out about “The Practice” after watching all “Boston Legal” and wanting more. There were no more, but there was “The Practice”, which was pretty much a prequel to “Boston Legal”. It was created by the same David Kelley and even featured some of the same characters. The character that I was the most interested in – Alan Shore – was introduced in the last, eighth season of “The Practice”, and initially I wanted to see just that season. But how could I? What if I miss something? What if there is more to be had? I just had to watch all eight seasons.

I can’t say that I regret it. “The Practice” is a very good TV series. There is everything I want from my TV – entertainment, interesting stories, good acting, humor, drama, and characters I can associate with. “The Practice” offers all of that and more. But it wasn’t until I actually got to season eight, not until Alan Shore (played by the excellent James Spader), that I recognized why it took me only a few days to watch “Boston Legal”.

“The Practice”, as good as it is, takes itself a bit too serious. There is a lot of realism and drama. “Boston Legal” is a much lighter TV series. There is more humor, it’s easier on the audience. Both of the TV series provide plenty to think about. But “Boston Legal” does it in a more suggestive way, while “The Practice” pretty much slams you with an idea and demands you make up your mind about it before the episode is over.

Overall, as I said, it is still a very good TV series. If you like good quality TV, that’s something to watch. Especially if you enjoy legal context to your stories. But if you really enjoyed the lighthearted way of the “Boston Legal”, than I suggest you just watch the last, eighth season of “The Practice”. It is very similar to “Boston Legal”. Prior seasons are very different.

Rating? I’ll give it a solid 4 out of 5.

The Way Back

The other day I watched “The Way Back” – a movie, allegedly inspired by real events, about a group of people who escaped a Soviet Gulag camp in Siberia back 1940s and walked their way to India. I’ve heard nothing of this film until a friend recommended it – no trailer, no nothing. When I read the brief plot description at IMDb, I got slightly worried that it would turn into one of those anti-Soviet propaganda movies. My wife shared the worries and even decided not to watch the film with me.

She turned out to be right. While there is plenty of breathtaking scenery shown in the film, and there is plenty of good acting, the propaganda makes it totally unwatchable. The film basically pictures the Soviet Union as one huge prison, where the government is after every single person, be he innocent or not, old or young, male or female, Russian or not. One doesn’t even have to know history to understand that that is a huge exaggeration.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining because the film pictured Russians (or Soviets) in such a bad light. It has nothing to do with whether they were Russians or not. Even if they weren’t of my own nationality I’d be complaining. I’m not even too sensitive to propaganda in the movies – Hollywood uses it all the time to praise the United States. The problem is that in this movie, propaganda is the primary objective. Everything else comes second. And it’s really a pity. Level down the propaganda and you’d have an excellent film on your hands.

As it is, I’d give it a 2 out of 5. It’s difficult to watch and it leaves a dirty aftertaste.

Boston Legal

I just finished watching all five seasons of “Boston Legal“. As it often happens with me and good TV series, when I start watching I don’t stop until I’ve seen all of it. Too bad there won’t be any further episodes. However, now I am interested in “The Practice” which were TV series preceding “Boston Legal”.

While I got hooked from the first season, I’d have to say that the second and the third seasons are the best of all. Fourth and fifth are pretty good too, but they vary from episode to episode. Second and the third seasons don’t.

“Boston Legal” is about lawyers. I do realize that law system in real life is probably very very different from what is shown here. But the purpose of this TV series is entertainment, not precise documentation. And as far as entertainment goes – “Boston Legal” does splendid. There are many characters, picturing a variety of human quirks. There is plenty of humor. And what I consider even more important – there is plenty to think about. The setup provides for a plethora of cases, which can be argued both ways, and in this TV series many many problems are explored from a number of different viewpoints. Really, anything goes – abortion, capital punishment, corruption, politics, family values, religion, racism, disabilities, and more.

On top of that, there is something in here that is rarely seen in other TV series – examples to follow. Not one, but several characters show what a decent human being is, what friendship, loyalty, and humanity are; how one should behave oneself in difficult situations, and how one could correct own mistakes.

With all of that, I can’t rate it anything less than 5 out of 5. Highly recommended.

Rango

Just return from the cinema where watched “Rango“, a cartoon that I’ve been waiting for a bit after seeing the trailer. I have to say that trailers for this animation are slightly better than the final result, but not by too much. It is a rather brave take on westerns with way more blackness and drama than most other kid’s animations allow.

It was a bit slow at places, and for Maxim’s taste there was a bit too much talk, but the story was good, the characters were interesting, and the whole feel to it was … unfamiliar. If it was a movie, it would probably be one of many. But being an animation, it stand on its own.

Music deserves a special attention. There was as much of it as you could squeeze into a film without making it into a musicale. It helped with atmosphere, entertainment, and more. It changed from Mexican el mariachi to classical orchestra and back. It faded from background to foreground and back. And it was by my movie measures exceptional.

Overall, I’d rate the animation as 4 out of 5. Recommended for adults and for older kids mostly, but anyone would probably enjoy it.

P.S.: If you are watching it in K-Cineplex Limassol, make sure to pick up your portion of nachos with cheese sauce at the cafeteria, which are a special served for this movie only. Helps with the whole Mexican atmosphere, and they are indeed yummy.

Despicable Me

The other day I got my hands on a copy of “Despicable Me“. Maxim watched all of it and somewhat enjoyed it. For me though it was a disappointment. One of the biggest setbacks were the characters. I think that characters are one of the main things that separate animations from movies. Movies are more or less forced to cast actors. And the best actors are only a few. So movies have to rely a lot more on the acting talent in order to create unique characters. In animations, the characters are drawn. And while that is not an easy job either, I think it is much easier to draw a new character than to create one in the actor. In this animation, all characters were carbon copies of characters from other cartoons. And that alone is enough for me to disregard this cartoon.

On top of that, the story was anything but engaging and original. And to add insult to injury, I personally thought that the voice of Steve Carrell didn’t match Gru’s character. Every time Gru spoke, I had a feeling that there was someone else in the scene, someone who was actually speaking, someone that I could not see.

As a result of all that, I got bored and disgusted by the animation and left the room about 20 minutes into the story. And that is, I assure you, not something that I do very often. Hence, my overall rating is 1 out of 5. There are so many beautiful animations out there, and this one is not one of them.