After 4-month hiatus between the first episode, second one aired on a cold February day in 1995.
And it does not disappoint. Completely different to the first one, it's fantastic to see so many interesting small story archs and developments crammed into 22 minutes runtime. It's awesome.
We have Spencer Smythie and his wheelchair bound son Alistair, working for Norman Osborn and trying to capture Spider-Man using their tech savviness and their robotic spiders creations.
Behind the scenes of this main story arch we learn that Norman Osborn works in fact for the Kingpin (nice to see him introduced so soon in this series).
Alistair, Spencer's son not so happy that dad is working for Osborn, neither is dad but his motivation is crystal clear here - new wheelchair for his son will be the ultimate reward for capturing Spider-Man.
The main fight takes place during a charity event hosted by J. Jonah Jameson, that's financially backed by Felicia Hardy (also great to see her introduced here). Spider-Man manages to take the fight out of the city however and to the factory/lab where both Spencer and Alistair are operating.
This is where the first death of the series occurs and it sets-up next episode fantastically, with a strong undertones of revenge driven hatred from Alistair towards Spidey.
If first season will manage to maintain this pace and storytelling then I am in for a treat.
Strong and solid first episode to what's shaping up as a very interesting series based on The 1619 Project book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones (also the creator of this show).
The first episode introduces a topic of democracy so deeply rooted in freedom, ironically for black people a virtue they always had to fight for (and still do to a certain extent). An eye opener on a current state of American democracy, especially for someone who lives in Europe, the amount of laws and rules introduced very recently to actually make it harder to vote is shocking, as much as De Sanctis' fraud vote shenanigans.
It's directed well, very competently paced - good amount of historical facts and footage on American democracy mixed with current opinions and just hard to believe situations (like the one where a group of black people (some disabled) have blatantly denied their right to cast ballots due to an alleged admin mistake.
Great conversation with a member and one of the leaders of SNCC, emotional and true to the core.
Also, fantastic conversation with two political scientists which really puts in perspective the current state of democracy in America. Sadly too short, I'd love to hear more from these two gentlemen.
It is a solid 7 - I feel like there are other crucial topics that have been omitted that could have contributed to this episode's theme, but Nikole chooses to focus and delve more on her family history - which is understandable and gives more of a human touch to the narrative - it's just not very beneficial to the topic of democracy in general.
I am currently going through a boxset of six Al Pacino movies and this is the 2nd one I've watched, previous one being Scarface. I should have gone the other way round, because coming to this after Scarface is like drinking a good whiskey first, and then having a glass of bad apple juice. The drop in production quality and direction is huge.
This movie is not something I envisaged it to be. Plot is based on a real-life story of Brandon Lang - NFL player who ends up having a cruel injury, which essentially eliminates him from the game for good, doesn't matter how hard he tries to get back on the field, someone or something slams the door shut. He decides to use his unparelled knowledge of the professional football game to get back to the top, by plying his skills in the lucrative sports betting industry. His talent is eventually spotted by Walter Abrams (Al Pacino), the owner of the extravagant sports network. He sees Brandon as somewhat a successor & starts mentoring him. And then there's Rene Russo who plays Walter Abrams' wife as she tries really hard to protect him from detrimental lifestyle.
Premise is fine, there is a lot of potential here, especially having Al and Matthew as a lead cast - but D.J. Caruso takes you in all sorts of directions and pulls you apart piece by piece, so by the time the movie ends you have no clue what it is that you've just watched. The biggest problem I have with this movie is that it doesn't know what it wants to be, so it ends up being multiple things at once, which completely doesn't work here. There's absolutely no chemistry or dynamic between the main leads, a rather crucial element in a movie where plot is fuelled by their relationship.
The idea to observe both Brandon's and Walter's transformation into emotionally different human beings by the end of the movie was good, but execution was lacking - things are happening virtually at the snap of director's fingers - there is no build-up, no convincing story archs. Same goes for the ending, just bland. As much as I adore Rene Russo, she was miscast here - it's not really a role that suits her forte & thanks to misguided direction her character ends up just being boring and stereotypical.
Whilst betting other people's money means big rewards, there are also big risks which brings me to a story arch with character called Novian (played wonderfully by Armand Assante). Walter, using Brandon's reputation that certainly precedes him at this stage in the movie, manages to convince Novian to bet big money. Biggest in the history of Walter's sports network. However every winning streak comes to an end, and unlucky for Brandon and Walter, that's when they start losing. It's only a matter of time before bad people start knocking on their door. Or is it? It's such an underplayed story arch, it ends before it even has a chance to properly develop - Novian finds Brandon, tells him something about how he visited his mom, punches him, points a gun at him and then literally pisses all over him. That's it - you never see the guy again, he's not even mentioned in the rest of the movie, it's like it never happened.
There are plenty moments like this in "Two for the Money". That's why it was such a disappointing watch for me. Hoping for portions of at least good acting & some on-screen chemistry, all I got was undercooked performances from Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo completely missing the cues and a few underdeveloped story archs. Good things? Armand Assante for sure, Jeremy Piven enjoying himself and some golden quotes to remember. Here's one:
"You're a lemon. There is something inherently defective in you, and me, and all of us. We're all lemons. We look like everyone else, but what makes us different is our defect.”
Dito Montiel - author of an autobiographical book that this movie is based on also directs in his full-screen directorial debut. His direction is evident in every frame. The care with which he portrays his story is humbling, care that wouldn't have existed if "A Guide..." was to be directed by someone else. Rough neighbourhood of Queens, N.Y. with its Italian culture is so raw that it's a genuine pleasure to watch. Usually I am not a great fan of narrative jumps - here story jumps frequently between 2005 & flashbacks from 1986 - but the way they are done didn't seem to bother me at all.
It is a strong picture with heavy topics being put to the forefront - one of them being a resentment towards father. Pure emotions are pouring out from the senior cast - every confrontation between characters played by Robert Downey Jr & Chazz Palminteri caused goosebumps on my arm, that's how electric both of them are - great, great performances. Dianne Wiest also at the top of her game as Dito's mother. Young cast contributes well to the whole - Shia LaBeouf in particular as young Dito.
It is a shame that this movie is not being talked about very often - it should be, because it delivers on every front. Powerhouse performances from the cast, clear and strong direction from Dito Montiel makes this a powerful and compulsory viewing to everyone who loves a good but heavy story.
It is one of those hidden gem titles. I recommend you give it a go. Even if it's only for Robert & Chazz on-screen dynamic - that warrants a great viewing on its own.
This is how you butcher a perfectly good book story.
I like Doug Liman's movies - I thoroughly enjoyed The Bourne Indentity, Swingers & Edge of Tomorrow. Jumper, on the other hand is the worst movie I've seen so far, that was directed by Mr Liman. Ended up being very disappointing. It is a very mediocre Young Adult flick at most. And it could have been much more than that.
The whole cast really struggles to hold this thing together, it's really boring in places - the premise is great, but that's only due to the source material being great. Hayden Christensen never really acts, he just pulls 3 or 4 different impressions throughout the whole movie, adjusting accordingly to a scene that plays out. Rachel Bilson really underperforms here, which was rather sad to watch & the only positive I can come up with is Jamie Bell and his portrayal of Griffin (who's not even in the original book... that tells a lot about this picture). Sam L Jackson does his usual... he can be enjoyable even when playing in the daftest of movies.
Generally, a rather disappointing experience from a director I appreciate. I guess that's what script rewrites and filming in 20 cities & 14 countries does to your movie. It's all over the place.
