TV review - "Parks and Recreation Season 3" (2011) *****

The show totally clicks into gear now they've got the cast right - the one sore thumb aspect, getting Rashida Jones into stories, is solved when she gets a job with the department. Some great arcs - the harvest festival, Andy and April's romance - and ends with a great climax, Lesley being offered to run for office.

TV special - "A Very Murray Christmas" (2015) **1/2

Sure, whatever. Some charm of Bill Murray singing tunes in a hotel room - Sofia Coppola's direction doesn't always mesh neatly with more stock in joke material, like Michael Cera as an agent and Amy Poehler as an assistant. The cameos feel a bit "grab bag"-y: George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Maya Rudolph... It's a bit different, I didn't mind it, but... sure, whatever.

Movie review - "Gangs Inc" (1941) **1/2 (aka "Paper Bullets")

Unpretentious, lively little C movie which clocks in at barely over an hour, was shot in six days for $20,000 but proved profitable and launched the King Brothers as producers. It shoves an awful lot of plot in its tiny running time - within the first 15 minutes the female lead has seen her former gangster father gunned down, grown up in an orphanage, gotten fired, and taken the rap for her useless boyfriend having killed someone while drunk driving. She becomes an arch criminal after getting out of prison but still has a heart of gold - as shown by her wanting to donate money for a park, and ultimately take down some gangsters.

In case there wasn't enough plot, there's two boys who grew up in the orphanage with the girl, one who is a decent engineer, the other who is a gangster - plus Alan Ladd as an undercover agent being a gangster being in love with the girl's best friend, who has time to sing two songs.

The acting is very strong - Joan Woodbury is solid in the lead, Jack La Rue impresses as the gangster (I wish he'd had more screen time), Alan Ladd is a little stiff but has charisma in the sort of role that would become his bread and butter (he's got the looks and the voice already). (When Eagle Lion re-released it as Gangs Inc - they gave Ladd top billing.)

It's no classic and they really shoved in a lot of plot. Also some key emotional moments are missed - I feel they lack a La Rue-Woodbury love story and the ending is very abrupt. But it certainly moves and to not have affection for films like this feels just plain mean.

TV review - "Parks and Recreation: Season 2" (2010) ****

It's fascinating to see the show finding its feet. Amy Poehler, Rashina Jones, Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman were all very strong - this season sees the blossoming of Chris Pratt and Aziz Ansari, both of whom have been made a lot more positive and active in their goals, whether it's to get Jones back (Pratt) or become a tycoon (Ansari). Paul Schneider's character is sidelined into a solely romantic plot with Jones and given minimal screen time; a harsh decision but the right one because in one or two eps he spills into wacky storylines and threatens to bring the whole mood down. He simply didn't fit. 

There's cute romantic arcs with Justin Theroux and Louis C.K. Natalie Morales is cute but I feel the role of Ansari's long term girlfriend could have been really special. Some stunningly good guest characters. And at the end for the last two eps when Adam Scott and Rob Lowe join you go "yes, they've got the combination right".

Script review - "A Safe Place" by John Sayles (1993)

I've got the feeling that the script I read was rewritten by hands other than Sayles - something about the style (lots of exclamation marks and excitable action descriptions as well as quoting "Art of War" and the script is clearly tailored for Dolph Lundgren) didn't feel solely his work. I could be wrong. But this draft felt very close to the final film, which was worked on by two other writers.

I enjoyed reading this script more than watching the film. Maybe I was in a more forgiving mood or something, but I liked the swiftness with which the characters were created (tough Nick, Aussie Ocker, the wise colonel, female merc Grace), and the logic of the story. I wish they'd found more for Loki the beautiful village girl to do i.e. that she'd been more involved in the fight.

Book review - "The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down" by Andrew Young (2010)

I read this because Aaron Sorkin has announced his intention to make a film out of it and I hope he does because it's a great yarn. It lacks a sympathetic hero and all that crap but its a fascinating look at the John Edwards story, the glamour boy who wanted to be President. He had self made wealth, a dead son, looks, Southern connections, charisma, a smart wife. He also had flaws - a lack of desire to be any sort of politician other than President (he was a one term congressman), lack of focus on policy and at heart seems to have been dumb - so dumb as to have an affair with a woman while his wife was dying of cancer and think he could get away with it. To make things worse he got Young to claim to be father of his mistresses baby. Did anyone think that would work? Ever?

There are other terrific characters too: devoted, bright Young; his womanising, social rights preacher dad; the driven, smart Elizabeth Edwards who goes kind of mad via the actions of her husband and Young, but would have been a far better president than her husband; Young's long suffering wife; billionaire Bunny Mellon who was devoted to Edwards; jovial trial lawyer Fred Barton who also helped Edwards; new age mistress Rielle Hunter, prone to tantrums and over sharing about her sex life; Hunter's spiritual adviser.

The book is well written and feels as though Young tries to be fair. It's full of moments which would make great scenes and great little details. Young seems happy to portray himself as an idiot as much as Edwards.

A "what if" - if Edwards had resigned from politics when his wife fell ill and nursed her, he would have been a very strong chance in 2016. But he couldn't wait.

Movie review - "Men in War" (1994) **1/2

A decent Dolph Lundgren actioner which benefits from a script by John Sayles but is actually a little dull. Dolph plays a mercenary recruited to help take over an island on behalf of a company who want to harvest the guano.

Some neat touches: beautiful location photography; a local who keeps playing up "wise native" cliches; a female mercenary (Catherine Bell); a hot love scene between a topless Dolph (he's topless for most of the film) and topless Charlotte Lewis; a strong cast (including Perry Lang and Kevin McTighe who have made several films with Sayles); an Aussie mercenary called "Ocker".

There are OK characterisations too among the various fighters. But it was a bit flat and not particularly well directed. There wasn't that much action - a lot at the end admittedly. Dolph is stiff.