The Lion in Winter: The November Man, reviewed.

Did you happen to notice that the 12-year interval between The November Man, which I review for NPR today, and Brosnan’s final appearance as James Bond, 2002’s (lousy) Die Another Day, matches the span of time that elapsed between Sean Connery’s final “official” Bond performance, in 1971’s (lousy) Diamonds  Are Forever, and his return in 1983’s out-of-canon Never Say Never Again?

Well, I did. I also note that it was during the Brosnan era (1995-2002) that the Bond flicks ceased to be early summer releases and started coming out in November. That’s got nothing at all to do why this thing is called The November Man, but it’s a better rationale than the one character actor Bill Smitrovich, whom I recall so fondly from Michael Mann’s 1960s-set 1980s cop show Crime Story, gets to articulate in the movie.

 

 

A Matter of Wife and Death: Shining City and Molly, reviewed.

Lee Ordeman in “Shining City” (Jae Yi)

Danielle Davy in “Molly” (Jae Yi)

My reviews of Scena Theatre’s repertory of Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s acclaimed Shining City and the world premiere of George O’Brien’s Molly are in today’s Washington City Paper. You are alerted.

The Spirit of 77: To Be Takei, reviewed.

I am acquainted through DC theatre with Marc Okrand, the man who developed the Klingon language to for Paramount Pictures. I was surprised to seem him make a very brief appearance in Jennifer M. Kroot’s documentary To Be Takei, which I reviewed for The Dissolve.

Hikaru Sulu and George Takei at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

Bulgarian Holiday: The Expendables 3, reviewed.

I reviewed The Expendables 3 for NPR, because their audience demanded it.

This movie made me weirdly nostalgic for the days when martial artists or athletes like current MMA champ Ronda Rousey or retired MMA fighter Randy Couture might be deemed worthy of their own low-budget action flicks. No, I can’t explain, really.

 

 

Pop Culture Happy Hour #203: On Guardians of the Galaxy and So-Bad-It’s-Good

I was thrilled as always to fill the fourth chair on this week’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, wherein we discuss the latest — and funniest, and unlikeliest — Marvel Studios blockbuster, Guardians of the Galaxy. Even I had no idea who any of these characters were when I sat down to watch this thing.

We also discussed the curious, evergreen phenomenon of Things So Bad They Are Good, a complex topic that did not in this case stray too far from the TV movie that inspired this latest iteration of it, Sharknado 2. 

The Jerk from 20,000 Fathoms: Deepsea Challenge 3D, reviewed.

The Deepsea Challenger (Mark Thiessen/National Geographic)

My review of Deepsea Challenge 3D, the new National Geographic documentary about James Cameron’s historic March 2012 dive to the bottom of the deepest part of any ocean on the planet in a one-of-a-kind sub he co-designed himself, is on The Dissolve today. When he isn’t busy being a real-life Steve Zissou, Cameron is still one of my favorite filmmakers. And I didn’t even like Avatar all that much.