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Into the Badlands (AMC): Season 2, Episode 2

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NOTE: This review contains SPOILERS. New episodes will be airing Sundays (10PM EST) on AMC.

Episode 2: Force of Eagle’s Claw

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Daniel Wu as Sunny, Ivan Kostadinov as Mouse – Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Antony Platt/AMC

Sunny and Bajie (still chained together) have to fight their way out of the pit. That huge/tall warrior they’re forced to fight ends up defeated in a VERY bloody way. Body parts are flying… and this ep is about to get MORE bloody! 

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 Waldo (Stephen Lang) passes on his knowledge to Tilda (Ally Ioannides).

For people like us, there is no place that’s safe. -Waldo explains to Tilda, who is Regent to The Widow

Waldo, now dressed in blue, chides Tilda re: going after those Clippers in E1 (after The Widow let them go). Tilda says that she’s NOT a “mindless killer”- she was doing what she thought was right. Waldo explains that Sunny was the best Regent b/c he “boxed up his feelings.” We can see the respect that Waldo has for his former protege, Sunny, while he’s recounting this story. 

Tilda and The Widow are practice fighting; it looks like Tilda still has more to learn. After Tilda leaves, The Widow admits to Waldo that she’s NOT one for politics; he tells her that “politics is war by other means.” They speak of an upcoming “conclave”- meeting of Barons. The Widow wonders if she can kill them all, since they’ll be assembled in the same place. She and Waldo drink a toast. 

Killing is a privilege left only to the gods. -Lydia’s father tells her (w/ disapproval) after she defends herself and other Totemists from the Nomads

The Totemist community’s simple wedding reception in the woods is interrupted by two violent/murderous Nomads. The groom is speared through the chest; the bride is almost carried off my the Nomads. Nobody fights back (which was quite shocking), except Lydia. This lady knows how to fight- what a surprise! This segment of the ep reminded me of Braveheart and Game of Thrones. 

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Orla Brady as Lydia – Into the Badlands _ Season 2, Episode 2 – Photo Credit: Antony Platt/AMC

Half of your Cogs worship the same gods we do. -Lydia drops some truth on Ryder 

Did you see how badly Ryder treated his mother!? I felt VERY bad for Lydia, though we now know she’s a tough cookie. Even though Ryder is now dressed like Quinn, he’s NOT able to fill his father’s shoes (as many viewers have commented). The Nomads attacked b/c they knew that Quinn was out of the picture, so the Totemists were left unprotected. Lydia hoped that Ryder would help out her people, BUT he refused in such a nasty manner. He didn’t forgive her for what she said re: his ineffectiveness at the end of S1.

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MK (Aramis Knight) learns about a new part of his training from The Master (Chipo Chung).

Unless you master your past, you’ll always be a slave. -The Master explains to M.K. after his first vision in the room of mirrors 

The Master continues MK’s training, this time is a room filled w/ mirrors. The young man is pulled back into his past; he sees the bodies of the MANY people he killed on the ship. Suddenly, his alter ego appears (w/ black eyes) and tells him that he doesn’t belong there. MK is upset when The Master pulls him out of it.

I killed people- good people. -M.K. says w/ disgust

We all have. -Abby reveals 

Later on, M.K. has an intense fight w/ his alter ego in another vision. There is some cool choreography. Also, the body double for Aramis Knight looks/moves VERY much like him. It was shocking that the alter ego was winning, nearly choking MK to death! Hmmm… will MK be defeated by “the dark side” or learn to reign-in those destructive urges? I don’t think this will be easy work from the looks of concern on The Master’s face. 

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Quinn (Marton Csokas) training his (would-be) Clippers.

In West Avalon (a secluded/underground training area) Quinn is working w/ a group of Cogs who show promise in fighting. Inside a dusty room, Veil is breastfeeding her newborn son; a Clipper is watching her intently (creepily). The former Baron notices this and let’s him know it. 

Veil tells Quinn that the baby needs sunshine and fresh air. He says he’ll get her sun; after all, she’s the one who found him and patched him up. Quinn gives off some creepy vibes in his interactions w/ Veil, too, BUT I think she can handle him w/ her clever/calm personality. It turns out that there is a little room where one can look up and see the sun!

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Quinn (Marton Csokas) holds a baptism ceremony for Henry, the baby son of Sunny and Veil.

The Clipper who’d been eyeing Veil gets killed by Quinn before he baptizes Veil’s son (named Henry after her dead adopted father). There is a decorative bowl that Quinn drinks deer’s blood out of, then smears a bit of that blood on Henry’s forehead. This ritual reminded some viewers of the naming ceremony in The Lion King. Marton Csokas “just brings this intense gravitas,” as J.B. Zimmerman said on the Afterbuzz TV. 

Bajie is able to snag some food- a rather large rat. Sunny says he’s NOT going to eat that (LOL). It seems like Sunny is out of his element; he hasn’t had to survive outside the Badlands before. Bajie may turn out to be VERY helpful, since he was a wanderer who traveled to different places looking for “opportunity.” 

At the very end of the ep, they come upon a long, tall wall. (Donald Trump would probably call it “big” and “beautiful.”) This barrier separates them from the Badlands, but Bajie perks up and says there MUST be a way to get to the other side. This scenery is quite different than what we saw in S1; the filming of S2 is in Ireland. 

Kiss Me Kate (1953)

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Lilli (Kathryn Grayson) and Fred (Howard Keel) talk about their past marriage and work in her dressing room.

[1] This is my favorite musical, not for the dancing alone, but it is the best. The dancers, not just Ann Miller and Rall, but Bob Fosse, Bobby Van, and Carol Haney!! What more could any dance fan want? There is always something new to see, no matter how many times you have watched it. The lyrics are magnificent, tricky and intriguing. I will admit that the music is great, but folks, catch the dancing!

[2] Keel, with his big big voice and untrained natural talent, fills the screen (and his tights!) with his masculine presence. He struts, swaggers, and yet shows his vulnerable side believably enough to make us *like* his character, ego or no ego. Grayson… really comes into her own here–she’s excellent as Lilli, swooning at the right moments, strident during the rest, and actually bites out ‘I Hate Men’ with conviction…  I’m also partial to Tommy Rall, whose soaring athletic ability just crackles off the screen. It’s such a thrill to see Miller get matched with someone who can dance circles around most everyone else alongside her. They make the cutest couple in their two numbers together, with the energetic, exuberant dance to ‘Why Can’t You Behave?’ definitely making one of my favourite film dance routines of all time.

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

I became a fan of this musical after seeing a version of it on Great Performances (PBS) several years ago; it stars Brian Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie, two VERY well-respected Broadway veterans. I bought the soundtrack (released in 2006). Seriously, WHO can resist Stokes’ voice!? 

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Marin Mazzie (Lilli/Katharine) and Brian Stokes Mitchell (Fred/Petruchio)

I saw this movie on TCM two weeks ago; it was pretty fun, though NOT as fabulous as the Broadway version. Fred Graham (Howard Keel) and Lilli Vanessi (Kathryn Grayson) are a divorced pair of actors who are brought together by Cole Porter, who has written a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Lilli, recently engaged to a Texas oilman, is reluctant to act w/ Fred, who is involved w/ Lois Lane (Ann Miller). It’s obvious that the tap dancing ingenue (Lois) and more mature leading lady (Lilli) resent each other. 

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Katharine (Kathryn Grayson) and Petruchio (Howard Keel) fighting during the play.

We soon seen that Fred and Lilli act a LOT like the mismatched lovers they play, Petruchio and Katharine. A fight between them on opening night threatens the production. Also, two thugs w/ thick New York accents (who are BIG fans of the theater) think that Fred owes their boss a LOT of money, so insist on staying next to him ALL night. Lois (who is cast as Bianca) is in love w/ another of her co-stars, Bill Calhoun (Tommy Rall), who forged that IOU. 

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Three suitors woo Bianca (Ann Miller) during the Tom, Dick, or Harry number.
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Bianca/Lois (Ann Miller) and Bill (Tommy Rall) talk in the theater’s alley.

…Keenan Wynn and James Whitmore, who get into the play and later get to sing one of Cole Porter’s best satirical numbers and a personal favorite of mine, ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare.’ It’s their own ode to their theatrical experience and also advice to the lovelorn that if you want to win the mate of your choice, learn the classics so you can wow them with rhetoric. Wynn and Whitmore are priceless.

–Excerpt from IMDB review

If you’re a big fan of The Bard, you will definitely enjoy the thugs’ song (Brush Up Your Shakespeare); it’s a combo of high culture and naughty wordplay.

I esp. like Lois’ signature song Always True To You (In My Fashion). Here is the (updated) song from the 2006 Broadway play, sung by Amy Spanger.

 

 

The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017) starring Jessica Chastain & Daniel Bruhl

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NOTE: This review contains SPOILERS for the film (now playing widely in U.S. theaters).

Diane Ackerman’s non-fiction book was greatly inspired by the unpublished diary of Antonina Zabinska and Jan Zabinski, the director of the Warsaw Zoo in Poland. The book was published in 2007. While the real life events occurred in Warsaw, the movie was filmed entirely in Prague (w/ real baby lion cubs). This film also has a woman director (Niki Caro) and woman adapter (Angela Workman). 

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[1] It is still possible to find love and comfort in the darkest of times. Love is all around us. We must be the vessel through which hope and love spreads. Antonina believed this with her whole heart which is why she and Jan did what they did. There are brave people all around us: fighting for our rights, fighting for theirs, their family, their country – bravery comes in so many forms. This film reflects this: there is bravery in combat and ‘silent’ bravery. One is not greater than the other.

[2] One of the key messages seems to come from an early monologue delivered by Antonina where she compares the purity of animals (their eyes tell you everything) with the propensity to deceive and commonplace of ulterior motives in humans.

[3] Caro is able to reflect humanity, sincerity and earnestness in her films, which captivates and entangles the viewer. Caro’s directing prowess brings to mind the ideology of the male gaze vs. the female gaze in films… I feel as though I’m witnessing a life lived, purely, rather than someone’s perspective of that life. 

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

We first see Antonina (Jessica Chastain) as a happy figure riding her bike through a zoo with a young camel trotting beside her. She helps rescue a newborn elephant, interrupting  a dinner party. But soon German bombs begin dropping on her city (Warsaw) and this zoo she runs w/ her zoologist husband, Jan (Belgian actor Johan Heldenbergh). 

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…she is undeniably captivating as the eponymous lead, channeling grit and vulnerability in equal measure as she fleshes out her character’s fears, anxieties and convictions. Among the supporting actors, Bruhl and Haas [the teenaged Israeli actress who plays a pivotal role] are the standouts, the former exercising admirable restraint in what could have been a traditionally villainous act, while the latter surprisingly nuanced in her portrayal…

-Excerpt from IMDB review

The scenes between Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl) and Antonina are tense; as he disarms her with his affinity/experience w/ of animals, BUT later scares her (and us) with his unwanted advances and desire to cross-breed animals in hopes of creating a new type of bison/bull (superior beast). 

Holiday (1938) starring Cary Grant & Katharine Hepburn

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A poster for the movie.

Set in NYC, this film stars Cary Grant as Johnny Case, a 30 y.o. businessman working at a “financial house.” While he takes a skiing holiday to Lake Placid, he meets Julia Seton (Nolan); the two fall in love (in ONLY 10 days). They get engaged!

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Johnny Case (Cary Grant) is amazed by the size of the Seton family’s home.

It turns out that Julia comes from a VERY wealthy/influential family. Johnny is surprised and bemused, BUT then finds himself taken w/ Linda (Katharine Hepburn), Julia’s free-thinking/dramatic older sister and her little brother, Ned (Lew Ayres), a musically-gifted alcoholic. (Linda Seton was loosely based on Gertrude Sanford Legendre, a former débutante who left high society to become a big-game hunter and later spied for the OSS during WWII.) 

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Sisters Julia (Doris Nolan) and Linda Seton (Katharine Hepburn) surround Johnny (Cary Grant).

There are a lot of humorous little episodes. I tried to get Father to let me take a nursing course at a hospital. Oh yes, and I almost got arrested trying to help some strikers over in Jersey. Well, how was I to know that Father was on the board of directors at the company? You see, Case, the trouble with me is I never could decide whether I wanted to be Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, or John L. Lewis. -Linda talks about her past

It turns out that Julia is NOT that different from her father; at some point you wonder WHAT Johnny saw in her in the first place! Her siblings are discontented with being under their father’s thumb. Mr. Seton is NOT a bad guy, BUT has strong feelings about how things should be done to keep the family on the up and up. 

You’ve got no faith in Johnny, have you, Julia? His little dream may fall flat, you think. Well, so it may, what if it should? There’ll be another. Oh, I’ve got all the faith in the world in Johnny. Whatever he does is all right with me. If he wants to dream for a while, he can dream for a while, and if he wants to come back and sell peanuts, oh, how I’ll believe in those peanuts! -Linda explains, revealing her true feelings for Johnny 

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Johnny (Cary Grant) with his friends, Professor Nick Potter (Edward Everett Horton) and his wife, Susan (Jean Dixon).

[Quoting an imaginary society column] ‘Miss Linda Seton – on New Year’s Eve – entertained a small group of Very Unimportant People.’ -Nick jokes 

In the original play, Nick and Susan Potter are wealthy socialites. Due to the Depression, the plot was altered so that Johnny (“the common man”) would have more ordinary, down-to-earth friends. Johnny’s friends, the Potters, were intellectuals and funny- great combo. They added a LOT of fun to this film! 

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Johnny (Cary Grant) thinks about his future while his fiancee Julia (Doris Nolan) and her father (Henry Kolker) look on.

[1] Hepburn, clearly the star of this production, acts each scene with an emotion and charm that is almost unheard of in the mainstream cinema of the present. …I found myself becoming so endeared to her character that I probably would have been completely devastated if she didn’t get some sort of happiness in the end, probably one of the highest compliments that I can give to an actor’s performance… He [Grant] is such a fresh and passionate character… 

[2] Cukor takes a lighthearted approach to this story, which keeps it upbeat and entertaining, and he laces it with warmth and humor that’ll give you some laughs and put a smile on your face. But beyond all that, Cukor shows some real insight into human nature and the ways of the world. And it makes this film timeless. 

-Excerpts from IMDB reviews

The Brothers Karamazov (1958) starring Yul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, & William Shatner

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A poster for the film.

Alexi was the young monk who personified what it means to be a generous and forgiving Christian; Ivan the spiritually conflicted and deeply honest man of science; Dmitri the tortured deeply human soul who takes on suffering…

I just happened upon this film- had never seen it before. William Shatner is VERY young (and cute) here; he plays Alexi, the youngest brother in the family who is a monk. This film is about money (particularly inheritance), sibling rivalries (and alliances), forbidden love, and honor. Yul Brynner is perfectly cast as Dmitri, the oldest brother in the dysfunctional family. He is a Lt. in the Russian Army whose favorite hobby is gambling. Of the two female leads, Claire Bloom (Katya) and Maria Schell (Grushenka), I thought Bloom are more effective.

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Alexi (William Shatner) and his father Fyodor (Lee J. Cobb) have a serious talk.

Brynner is very charismatic and gives the right emotional intensity and vulnerability, while Cobb gives his patriarchal role so much juice and life, his demeanour sometimes even quite intimidating (the role is a problematic one due to being one that could easily fall into overacted caricature, Cobb admittedly does overact but enjoyably and the character still felt real). Richard Basehart brings many layers and nuances to Ivan… William Shatner does suffer from a greatly reduced (in terms of how he’s written) character, but surprisingly this is Shatner at his most subdued and moving, most of the time in his acting for personal tastes he’s the opposite.

-Excerpts from IMDB review

At the start of the film, Alexi convinces their wealthy father, Fyodor (Lee J. Cobb) to give him some money to pay off debts run up by Dmitri (Brynner). Fyodor is reluctant, knowing of Dmitiri’s irresponsible spending; he is also tyrannical and lecherous. Dmitri should be getting some money (which comes from his deceased mother’s side). 

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The brothers is the Karamazov family with their father.

Alexi is in the role of peacemaker in the family; while Dmitri is the “black sheep.” These two brothers are tight, though they have opposite personalities. The other brothers are Ivan (Richard Basehart), an atheist writer and Fyodor’s unclaimed bastard/servant, Smerdjakov (Albert Salmi). 

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Katya (Claire Bloom) is engaged to Dmitri- he’s NOT that into her though!

The daughter of Dmitri’s captain, Katya (Bloom), falls deeply in love w/ him after he helps her father out of a difficult situation. Dmitri admits that he wanted Katya, BUT didn’t love her. She explains that she doesn’t mind that. Some time later, when she becomes an heiress (thanks to a grandmother), she proposes that they get engaged. Dmitri agrees to it; after all, she is a beautiful, respectable, and wealthy woman. Katya goes to his town and meets his family, impressing them w/ all her charms. She and Ivan spend a LOT of time together; he falls in love w/ Katya, BUT she only sees him as a friend (and future brother-in-law).  

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Fyodor (Lee J. Cobb) has dinner with his mistress, Grushenka (Maria Schell).

So, why is this engagement taking SO long? Dmitri stays away (gambling and drinking), so there is no time to get to know and (maybe) fall in love w/ Katya. Back at home, Ivan and Smerdjakov are getting impatient to inherit; they’re waiting for their father to die. Fyodor shows no signs of slowing down; he has a young/blonde mistress, Grushenka. Though he’s NOT the sentimental type, Fyodor proposes marriage. 

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Dmitri (Yul Brynner) plays a song for Grushenka (Maria Schell).

For anyone interested in family dynamics and love relationships “Brothers” presents a web of triangulated rivalries and unrequited, seething passions — fiction that rings powerfully true.

I am embarrassed to admit I haven’t read this great novel — although the movie makes me want to — so I wasn’t familiar with the story. 

-Excerpt from IMDB review

Grushenka, who owns a tavern and has made some money of her own, buys Dmitri’s debts (on behalf of Fyodor). When Dmitri learns of this occurrence, he insults her servant (a former soldier), and then sets out to find the mysterious woman. He sees Grushenka at a skating pond (where she is having fun w/ another man, not Fyodor). It’s basically love at first sight (at least on his side); Dmitri is a VERY passionate man after all. Grushenka seems VERY taken w/ him, too, BUT she is also a professional (who knows how to survive in a man’s world). Check out this film to find out what happens next!