Rock of Ages

What defines good music is so personal and subjective.  So much is based upon what we listened to as youngsters.  I grew up in the 80’s.  I started high school in 1980 and graduated college in 1989.  I think the greatest music was produced in that decade.  In those ten years, my tastes evolved from Country Western, to pop music, and finally, to good old Rock and Roll.  I ended up loving what we called at the time Heavy Metal.  Now it is termed derogatorily as the Hair Bands.

While I am not a fan of musicals, I have been anticipating the film Rock of Ages for several months now.  Even the trailers gave me goose bumps.  Despite the poor box office showing in its opening week, I was excited to go today.  I was rewarded with a clever, whimsical celebration of the music and culture of the 1980’s.

I am of the opinion that music in general has been in a creative coma since about 1994.  That isn’t to say there hasn’t been some exceptional, original acts in the past two decades.  There certainly has been some terrific music made in the past several years – just not very much.  The stodgy editors at Rolling Stone magazine seem to think very little great music has been produced since about 1977, according to their recent, ridiculous list of the top 500 albums of all time.

People seem embarrassed by their love of 80’s music.  They seem to not want to admit they ever listened to the radio or bought a record.  I just don’t get this attitude.  Some of the biggest selling records all time were made in that era.  For years, MTV (when they still actually showed videos all day) had a daily program where they counted down top 10 most requested videos of the day.  For years, that list was consistently filled with Heavy Metal bands, or if you prefer, Hair Bands.  In the last six years of so of that decade, rock and roll ruled.  Then, of course, the quality did a nose dive and it became more about the image than the music, and the writing was on the wall. 

Rock and roll answered back to all of the glam, color, and hair of the 1980’s with the grungy look and sound of Alternative Rock in the early 90’s.  After four or five years of incredible, creative, destructive music and behavior, rock and roll just kind of faded away and has been on life support ever since.  It’s like rock and roll still hasn’t recovered from the death of Kurt Cobain.  Sure, there have been many, many rock stars who have died young and tragically over the past sixty years but Cobain’s death seems to have been the final straw. 

I also think the musicianship and song writing of the 80’s is vastly underrated.  There were no “singer, song writer” types like in the two previous music generations.  There were not great causes or cultural changes to rally around.  It was about looks and excess but sometimes the quality is overlooked.  There is no decade that has produced more terrific sing along songs; songs that make everyone who hears them feel good - the type of music you want to turn up when it comes on the radio.  Even though there were some talentless hacks that were in famous bands and acts in the 80’s, there were also plenty of incredible musicians.

Enough of my pontificating.  Let’s get to the actual film.  I had a blast.  I was the weird guy tapping his toes and singing along with every single song.  That was the music I loved.  I knew the words to every tune.  The two lead characters, played adequately by Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta, were likeable and believable.  I must say though, that Catherine Zeta-Jones stole every scene she was in, portraying a Tipper Gore-type harridan.  The always stellar Paul Giamatti was appropriately sleazy as the self serving talent agent.  Additionally, Tom Cruise was surprisingly believable as the over-the-top, self centered, quirky rock and roll god.  Cruise acquitted himself quite well vocally.  Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand provided the humor, and in the process, forever changed how I will remember REO Speedwagon’s classic “Can’t Fight This Feeling”( I think I even spotted Kevin Cronin in a crowd scene).  The ever sexy Malin Ackerman, the brilliant Bryan Cranston, and the vocally versatile Mary J. Blige fill out a deep and talented cast. 

The story was a parody on a popular 80’s theme and the music was absolutely stellar.  I am astounded the reaction to this film hasn’t been more positive.  It is a titillating smorgasbord for the music lover of any generation.  As a parody, it cannot be taken too seriously.  As someone who grew up in the 80’s and read Circus magazine (much less stuffy than Rolling Stone) religiously, the story was based on a real theme of the decade but it really is just about the music and the rock culture.  Do yourself a favor.  Go see this film.  Show Hollywood that we get it and we get tired of the same old crap week in and week out.  Treat yourself!

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those who follow my blogs, read my opinions, and give their support.  I have not been writing quite as much over the past month but I still have over 4000 hits since I first started posting sixteen months ago.  I will try to do a better job getting more posts up.  Please be patient with me and keep reading.  Thanks for all your support.

Fond Reflections on Friends

Friends debuted in the fall of 1994, nearly eighteen years ago.  Eighteen years – that’s pretty hard to believe, isn’t it?  It just can’t have been that long since Ross, Chandler, Joey, Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe entered our living rooms and our hearts.

I have been watching the show from the beginning on DVD.  What a great innovation it was to put our television favorites on DVD so we could enjoy them years later.  What is even better is when the re-watching is so much fun.  Friends is still holding up well after all these years.  I still laugh at the antics and I find myself anticipating the future episodes and storylines.  One would think knowing what is going to happen would damper the enthusiasm of watching this show multiple times.   That just isn’t the case for me.  I find that I am eagerly waiting for the great things to come yet still reveling in each episode.

Seldom has television had the stars align so perfectly for a program.  Everything worked.  The cast was brilliant and had incredible chemistry right from the beginning.  The writing was terrific and allowed each actor to grown into the unique quirkiness of their individual characters.  The dialogue was never strained or forced.  When things didn’t work, like Marcel the monkey (my least favorite storyline of the whole ten year run) in the first season, the writers quickly realized the error of their ways and fixed the situation.  The powers that ran the show also did a great job with their big name stunt casting (a NBC staple in their heyday).  Superstars like Julia Roberts, Tom Selleck, Brad Pitt, and Bruce Willis were among featured guest stars.  This show even had a near perfect theme song in the Rembrandt’s “I’ll Be There for You.” 

Of course, the cast all became stars with varied degrees of success outside of Friends.  David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Jennifer Aniston, Coutrney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow are all still working.  In hindsight, sometimes it is hard to believe David Schwimmer was the first star of the show.  There is an old story that when their contract negotiations first came up, the powers were willing to pay Schwimmer more than his co-stars.  Schwimmer, in a very unselfish and farsighted move, insisted his cast mates all be paid the same and they negotiated as a group.  This probably gave us at least two more seasons than we may have enjoyed otherwise.  This eventually gave the group of six the power in the end. 

I am almost finished with the second season.  It is about midway through this season that the show really hits its genius stride with incredibly creativity and hilarious plot lines and the rest is history.  The show is funny, touching, and charming.  The characters really become our friends and we as viewers come to care for these people in a way that shouldn’t be considered totally sane.  I just don’t know if we will ever see a television program that will ever capture our collective hearts in quite the same way. 

If you ever get the chance, revisit Friends.  Time and distance (from the characters) have not tarnished this gem in any way.  If you loved the show the first time around, these Friends will still be there for you.

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Snow White and the Huntsman

I have no idea how many incarnations of the fairy tale featuring Snow White there are in literature, television, and film.  Some are modern takes of the old story, some offer an old setting for the old tale, and some like ABC’s Once Upon a Time serve up an intriguing combination of both.  Snow White and the Huntsman is definitely an expanded adaptation of the old medieval tale.

This version may be the darkest portrayal yet.  There is nothing cute or cuddly here.  It is dark and brooding with very little comic relief.  The filmmakers take the familiar characters and events of other beloved versions and fleshes those characters and events out.  Evil Queen, the dwarfs, and the huntsman are much, much more than animated caricatures.  These characters in particular are given soul and depth. 

Charlize Theron really played Ravenna the Evil Queen to the hilt, her taunt face flashing back and forth from a stunning beauty to an aging crone as she sucks the youth and vitality out of the people that stumble into her path and her dark soul blackens the landscape.  There is no humor in Theron’s Ravenna, only dark, selfish evil and she makes you believe.  Chris Hemsworth (Thor and The Avengers) is subtly scarred and haunted as the Huntsman and further advances his hero persona.  I have a feeling we will be seeing Hemsworth more and more in the future.

Ironically, the biggest void in the film was from the title character and our leading lady, Snow White.  Kristen Stewart was her normal morose heroine that she has perfected as Bella.  She seems to be stuck in that brooding, unsmiling, dolorous rut and I have seen little from her that tells me she can play anything else.  Only toward the end, when she donned the shiny armor, did she breathe much life into the all important role of Snow White.  If all director Rupert Sanders was shooting for was a dark, lifeless version of the lead character, then his casting choice of Stewart was perfect.  She certainly fit into the mood of the film well enough.  I just didn’t see any depth there.

All in all, though, I enjoyed this haunting adaptation.  Most of the characters were much more realistic and fleshed out than past versions.  My whole family liked the film and it was appropriate for most audiences over ten years old.  There were some dark and disturbing scenes that might upset more sensitive younger viewers but there was little graphic violence.  The movie as a whole was pretty good, with only a slight downgrade for Snow herself.

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Dark Shadows

I saw an interview some time back where Johnny Depp admitted whenever Tim Burton calls with an idea, he doesn’t need even need to hear it.  He just agrees.  Burton is a one of a kind director with a taste for the macabre and the quirky.  If Depp is in fact his muse, Depp is a willing one who can match Burton quirk for quirk.

Dark Shadows is a perfect forum for these two brilliant but weird talents to collaborate on for the eighth time.  Depp is a terrific actor whose sometimes gets lost in his idiosyncratic characters.  Sometimes we can forget that he isn’t actually Captain Jack Sparrow or Willy Wonka.  I have a feeling Barnabus Collins may just join that pantheon of eccentric characters.  I think Burton revels in producing roles in which his muse can shine.  The weirder the better seems to be his motto.  I don’t personally like everything these guys make together but I admire their originality and their dedication to the strange and unusual. 

Depp is at his witty best in Dark Shadows.  As Barnabus Collins, a two century old vampire on a quest to restore his family’s reputation and fortune, Depp’s clever fish-out-of-water observations are numerous and chuckle worthy.  Depp often takes his characters over the top but he reins Barnabus in, doling out the humor in just the right dosage.  A young star on the rise, Chloe Grace Moretz steals most of her scenes.  Displaying a barely stifled intolerance of the adults around her, Moretz portrays the perfectly melancholy teen.  Her attitude toward Barnabus seems natural and realistic.  Eva Green continues to build her resume with evil villainesses as the witch who curses Barnabus to his shadowy existence.  It is always nice to see Michelle Pheiffer grace the big screen, even if here character was under written.  Burton’s secondary muse, wife Helen Bonham Carter, rounds out the entertaining cast. 

To be honest, Dark Shadows isn’t an award winning effort.  The story falters and lulls about in a couple of places but if you enjoy the Burton/Depp tandem, then you will enjoy this movie.  It is a chuckle fest with a dark side (pun intended) and is set up for a sequel.  A number of the better lines are already delivered in the myriad of trailers used to promote this film.  Still, I enjoyed the picture and chortled throughout.  The film is also appropriate for all but younger children.  The violence is insinuated and the monsters for more funny than scary. 

Unless you are a huge Burton/Depp, you could probably wait to see the picture on DVD if there are other movies (Avengers, Battleship) on which you would rather spend your theater dollars.  It is an entertaining couple of hours but probably can be enjoyed in your living room as much as the big screen.

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Girls

GIRLS (HBO, Sundays, 9:30pm, Eastern)

This wasn’t a program I was prepared to actually like.  I was pleasantly surprised with this seemingly real show about four young women in their early to mid twenties.  It is sort of on the opposite end of the social spectrum portrayed by Sex in the City.

This is the struggle of these four young women dealing with the day to day grind of living life in New York City.  Paying rent, finding jobs, searching not just for love, but for solid, comfortable relationships, are all themes that transcend not only life in the big city but the life of many college graduates around the country in an economy that isn’t quite healthy. 

Girls is served up on a platter of acerbic wit, piled high with realism and topped off with just the right amount of satire.  Most of the work is due to the real life observations of one talented person – Lena Dunham.  This young gal is a busy person.  She created this gem and writes, directs, produces, as well as holds down the lead role.  HBO and co-producer Judd Apatow have shown great faith in Denham and as far as I’m concerned, she has delivered.

The writing takes into the lives of the four friends played by Dunham, Allison Williams (Brian Williams’ daughter), Jemima Kirke, and Zosia Mamet.  Dunham and Williams as best friends and long time roommates show great chemistry.  The ultra talented Mamet, who played a worldly Bohemian in Mad Men, goes completely opposite here as the innocent, naïve virgin.  Kirke’s character (Jessa) was my least favorite right from the beginning but she may actually be the most complex character as the series moves along.

Girls is funny and bawdy without relying on cheap laughs.  The humor and wit is seldom laugh out loud funny but I chuckle throughout each episode.  It is subtle, sexy and smart, and at times, sweet and innocent without even trying.  It is a premium cable program and therefore is not appropriate for all audiences.   I can tell you that I can’t wait for the next episode. 

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My All Time Favorite Movie Scenes

The following is actually a copy of my most popular post ever on jawssportsandstuff.blogspot.com before I started this blog dedicated to movie and television.   If you have already read, I apologize but enjoy it if you haven't.  Thanks for reading!

 

While I think Hollywood has been churning out a whole lot of crap over the past two or three years, I haven’t always believed that was true.  I have been a huge fan of the movies since I first started going to theaters on a regular basis in the early 1980s.  Before having a child, and before other life activities curtailed the opportunities, I went to the movies almost every single weekend, sometimes 2 or 3 times a weekend.  I know, that is a lot of popcorn.  Let’s just say I love movies.  Most of the movies on the list are since 1980.  These are the movies I am most familiar with.  I am sure there are many great moments I have left off.  As it is, I have already extended the list from 10 to 15 because I couldn’t narrow it down.

When someone makes a list of their favorite anything, it is purely subjective.  This list is no different.  In compiling a list of my favorite movie moments, I did not consider the greatness of the movies themselves.  Some of the scenes on this list are long, some are short.  Some are the climatic scenes, some aren’t.  Some are based on the emotions they stirred up in me, and some are just brilliantly conceived and/or executed.  In all cases, I feel the movie makers hit on just the right formula to capture their audiences.

A couple more notes before I get to the list.  I must give a general spoiler alert.  If you haven’t seen any particular film, you may want to just skip that entry and move on to the next one, and let it be enough that the movie was on the list.  In some cases, in due course of explaining my reasons for including a movie, I may reveal some key plot information.  If I ruin anything for anyone, I apologize beforehand.  Also, the names I have given for the scenes are unofficial.  I have tagged them as I have for my own purposes.  Here goes:

15. Brian’s Song – “Brian Dies” – This is the first tear jerker I ever remember seeing.  It requires very little explanation as to why it is on my list.  If the life and death of Brian Piccolo doesn’t bring you to tears, you have to question your own humanity.

14. Saving Private Ryan – “D-Day” – The opening sequence of this terrific World War II film is absolutely brilliant.  It takes a very strong stomach to watch it because it is brutal and graphic, gruesome and realistic.  I can’t imagine any other film capturing the horror of the Allied landing in Normandy any better.  It may portray as much realism as can be watched by the average person but it was filmed with the respect necessary to honor those who fell on those bloody beaches that day.

13. Ferris Buehler’s Day Off – “Twist and Shout” – This is by far the most frivolous entry on my list and I make no apologies.  Who had more fun than Ferris Buehler and when did he have more fun than when he thrust himself onto a parade float to karaoke “Danke Shoen” and “Twist and Shout”?  The crowd choreography is a little silly but that's part of the fun of this sweet scene.  Who didn’t want to sing along with Ferris in this comedy classic?

12. A Few Good Men – “You Can’t Handle the Truth” – With the long history of parodies of this scene, you only need to go back and watch this powerful scene again to appreciate the tension and drama of this terrific movie.  It is maybe Jack Nicholson’s most famous scene as his arrogant Colonel Jessup explodes under Tom Cruise’s Lieutenant Kaffee pressuring questions in this taunt military courtroom drama.   Kaffee has little courtroom experience, little confidence, and little respect.  Jessup really loathes Kaffee but the lawyer prods the volatile colonel into a very dramatic confession.  This movie has a terrific cast and is an underrated film.  Keep an eye on Wolfgang Bodison as Lance Corporal Dawson.  Bodison was unknown at the time but gives an awesome performance.

11. The Cowboys – “The Duke is Dead?” – The best John Wayne westerns were always those that got away from the cookie cutter formulas.  This movie qualifies.  Wayne seldom died in his films, you know, because he was the Duke.  In this western, Wayne hits the trail to take a herd of cattle to market, with only teens and pre-teens as cowhands.  Far fetched premise you say?  It is but it doesn’t matter.  Wayne pushes and prods the youngsters kicking and screaming into manhood and as the end of the trail approaches, cattle rustlers, led by a charmingly evil Bruce Dern, attack the youngsters and their bovine charges.  The young cowherds fight off the bad guys but lose their fearless leader.  It was such a shock because the Duke just doesn’t go out like that.   It is one of my favorite John Wayne movies and its unexpected twist provides reason enough.

10. Good Will Hunting – “No Goodbye” – I think the subtle but touching ending to this movie is ultimately the reason why it won Damon and Affleck the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.  It was fore shadowed earlier in the film when Affleck’s Chuckie quietly rails on Damon’s Will for not taking advantage of his opportunities.  Chuckie tells Will he would love to show up at Will’s house some morning to pick him up for work and just find Will gone.  No goodbyes.  In the end, Will does just that, to the wry satisfaction of his best buddy.  I love this movie and this ending is the whip cream and cherry on top. 

9. The Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers – “The Battle for Helm’s Deep” – This is my favorite battle scene of all time.  I don’t care it was mostly CGI.  Back then, this type of special effects was still relatively new and wasn’t being overused by every hack film maker.  Peter Jackson is a genius and nowhere is it more obvious in this incredibly detailed battle.  It is climatic scene in the second installment in this legendary trilogy and Jackson is patient with it, drawing out beautifully.  Big fan of the books, the films, and this scene.

8. Big – “Chopsticks” – Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia playing “Chopsticks” with their feet on a giant keyboard on the floor of a toy store – just imagine.  A terrific scene in a movie that showed off Hanks at his sweetest and most innocent as a young teen trapped in the body of an adult.  Sometimes we forget, because of all of his dramatic work over the past twenty years, Hanks goofy, comedic beginnings.  This is the best of Hanks’ pre-Forrest Gump efforts and well worth a revisit.

7. Million Dollar Baby – “Mo Cuishle” – Make sure the tissue box is close at hand for this deathbed scene.  Maggie Fitzgerald (played by the gutsy Hilary Swank) convinces hardened trainer, Frankie (Clint Eastwood), to become her boxing mentor.  The always brilliant Morgan Freeman rounds out this top notch cast.  The character development is steady and patient and it pays off.  Fitzgerald works her way into Frankie’s heart, leading to the tragic, soul wrenching key scene.  No exaggeration – I cried for several minutes after the film ended.  It is a scene I will never forget.

6. Glory – “The Whipping” – This is the Civil War movie that made Denzel Washington a star and the scene that thrust him into super stardom.  Who will ever forget Private Trip stoically, yet rebelliously, glaring over his shoulder as he is whipped on order of Matthew Brodrick’s Colonel Robert Gould Shaw for an army indiscretion?  The sight of Trip’s old scars on his back, from the way of life from which he escaped and was fighting against, is gut wrenching.  The irony of the punishment commanded by Colonel Shaw is not subtle but Washington and Broderick handle the scene beautifully.  Morgan Freeman, Adrian Braugher, and Cary Elwes add their considerable talents to this terrific film about the 54^th Massachusetts, the first black regiment recruited in the north during the Civil War. 

5. Apocalypse Now – “I Love the Smell of Napalm” – Robert Duvall’s brief, yet memorable, scene is incredible.  Blaring Wagner’s “Flight of the Valkyries” from speakers mounted on helicopters, Duvall’s not quite sane Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore leads an aerial attack on a riverside Vietnamese village.  After the attack, Kilgore strides across a smoldering, body strewn battleground, oblivious to any danger.  He squats, waxing philosophically.  He utters the famous, and much parodied line “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.  It smells like…victory.”  In the course of a film over two and a half hours long, this brief appearance garnered Duvall a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and it is most deserving.  Duvall played the not-quite-right Kilgore just right.

4. The Empire Strikes Back – “I Am Your Father” – I have always felt this is the most overrated of the six-episode Stars Wars saga.  Most people think I’m crazy because it is also the most favored.  Sit down and watch it sometime.  The story line is barely advanced.  If it weren’t for one of the biggest, if not the biggest, reveals in Hollywood history, I wonder if it would still be the favorite of so many.  Villainous Darth Vadar’s shocking revelation that he is hero Luke Skywater’s father saves this film.  It has nearly nonstop action and fun but until this incredible scene unfolds, the plot nearly fails.  I’m sure George Lucas set it up that way.  I remember, as a youth, when I first watched the movie, I was like, “No way!” upon seeing this cinematic shocker.

3. Dead Poet’s Society – “Captain, My Captain” – This is my favorite Robin Williams movie.  I know, it is sappy and slow but the last half hour is dramatic and terrific.  When Williams’ John Keating is made the scapegoat for a tragedy that is in no way his fault and he forced to resign his teaching position at a private school, shy, reserved student Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) pays homage to his fallen mentor.  In a touching reference to an earlier scene in which Keating pushes Anderson to emerge from his shell, Anderson strides to the top of his desk to honor his teacher by quoting Walt Whitman.  His “Captain, my captain” stops Keating at the door.  Classmates join Anderson on their desktops, repeating the phrase as the school dean tries to restrain them.  I have watched this movie a dozen times.  I know what is coming.  I tear up in anticipation of the upcoming moment every time.  I’m so attached to this scene, my wife knew it was going to be included on this list.

2. A Time To Kill – “Now Imagine…” – This is a great adaptation of John Grisham’s first, and best, novel.  Matthew McConaughey’s Jake Brigance is hired to defend Carl Lee Haley (Samuel L. Jackson), who, in front of a dozen witnesses, killed the two white men who raped and beat his young daughter.  During the public murder, Haley also shoots and cripples a police officer by accident.  The facts of the case are undisputed, yet Haley pleads with Brigance to get him off.  Set in Mississippi, in a volatile area where the Ku Klux Klan is still active, Brigance must convince a jury of Haley’s white “peers” that a black man was justified in killing two white men in cold blood.  Brigance’s closing argument, which was even more dramatic on film than in print, is shocking, breathtaking, and right on.  This all star cast includes Kevin Spacey, Sandra Bullock, both Sutherlands, Chris Cooper, Oliver Platt, Brenda Fricker, Charles S. Dutton, and Ashley Judd.  I love this movie and I love this powerful scene.  Jackson has the best moment of the movie as he realizes what Brigance’s argument is.  Now that is how an actor shows surprise!

1. The Godfather, Part I – “Do You Renounce Satan” – This scene is so powerful and so perfect.  What a way to end one of the greatest movies ever made.  As Michael Corleone stands in a Catholic church, before an alter, before his God, and swears to renounce Satan, his minions are taking out his enemies throughout New York City.  The scene bounces back and forth from the church, where his family has gathered for his son’s baptism, to the various bloodbaths.  Corleone swears another oath and another rival criminal dies.  The music hauntingly crescendos as the scene builds and builds as more oaths are sworn and more people die.  It is brilliant in all of its violent glory.  I don’t know if another scene will ever be shot to match this one’s absolute brilliance and power. 

I hope everyone enjoys reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Feel free to blast away at my choices and feel free to submit your own in the comment section.  Thanks for staying with me.  I know it’s a long one.

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Magic City

Magic City (Fridays, 9pm Eastern, Starz)

A beautiful locale, an exciting time, and a fascinating theme should all add up to a very intriguing television program.  Unfortunately, Magic City comes up just a bit short on the intrigue and has an I-think-I’ve-seen-this-before vibe.

This Starz effort looks stunning in its 1959 Miami setting.  The story revolves around Ike Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), owner and proprietor of a new beach front luxury hotel.  Evans’ biggest problem is that to get his hotel built, he had to take on a partner, namely Ben “The Butcher” Diamond (Danny Huston).  With a nickname like The Butcher, are there any guesses on what kind of guy Diamond is?  You got it – a mobster.

In the background, Cuba is falling to a young rebel leader named Fidel Castro.  Diamond’s Cuban business interests, as was all of the mafia’s Cuban interests, are under duress.  Diamond has moved to Miami, looking for a way to cover his expected losses, hence his desire for a bigger piece of Evans’ hotel.  Diamond does not stray far from the gangster stereotype – he is a violent, entitled killer. 

Although Huston’s portrayal of Diamond is chilling and realistic, the character and storyline are unimaginative, right down to the union leader anchored to the bottom of a quarry lake.  Huston dominates each scene he is in.  I just wish he had better material to work with.

Morgan is fine in the lead role and is believable but again, I feel he was little meat to gnaw on.  He saunters through his scene in a nice suit and the iconic fifties cigarette smoldering between his lips.  Evan rushes around trying to figure out a way to escape Diamond’s domineering and threatening shadow.  Evans has two grown sons and these characters have yet to find footing with any interesting storylines.  Evans does have a sexy, younger wife played by Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko.  Just like his sons, Kurylenko’s Vera has made no established contribution as yet.

Magic City could certainly improve as more episodes unfold.  The writing has got to improve if this show has even a chance of success.  Starz is a premium cable movie network, so maybe it can give the show a little more rope in hope of getting better.  They need to take advantage of the characters already in place and the built-in storylines.  The Mafia is a big part of this time and place but I would like to see more depth in the writing here.  Please give us more than the surface story and superficial characters.  The idea has merit but the execution has been poor thus far.

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