The Odyssey of Homer

No, not the movie.  However, I did read the book because the movie is currently in theaters.  When I was in college, I read The Iliad and enjoyed it immensely.  The book included The Odyssey and I started reading it next.  Amazingly, I lost interest about halfway through.  That was in 1993.  I picked it up last week.

The story opens with an argument among the gods.  Athena wants Odysseus to be allow to return to Ithaca after 20 long years.  Zeus ascents and Poseidon is not around to veto.  While Athena ushered Telemachus - Odysseus's son - to travel abroad in search of news about his father, Hermes informed Calypso that she was the release Odysseus; she had him sequestered on her island for the last 7 years.  Odysseus sailed toward home but was once again shipwrecked.  He found himself on an idyllic island of Scherie where the residents treated him with the greatest of honor and eagerly heard his tale of woe.  Interestingly, virtually all of his adventures from departing Troy until arriving on Calypso's island are detailed here as he narrates them to the credulous folk.  There are sirens, a cyclops, giants, divine bags of wind, a sorceress who transformed his men to pigs, a journey to the underworld, the wreck that killed the last of his men, and so on.  Here is all the crazy adventures and it is all told by Odysseus.

The folk of the island sailed Odysseus back to Ithaca and bequeath him with tremendous wealth, far more than he had - and lost - from Troy.  No sooner has he set foot on Ithaca than he met a young man - Athena in disguise - and he spun a tale of being from Crete.  Athena brushed away his needless deception and sent him to Eumaeus the Swineherd.  Disguised as a beggar, Odysseus told a tale of being a prince from Crete who had fallen on bad times in Egypt and was now reduced to begging.  When he went to his palace and mingled with the suitors who sought to marry his wife, Penelope, he again spun a tale.  Penelope asked to meet this stranger and Odysseus lied through his teeth, testing his wife.  Soon thereafter, he dispatched the suitors, though he was aware his vengeance would not be appreciated by the families of the suitors.  Next he went to his father's farm.  Laertes was an old man who looked more like a laborer than a former king of Ithaca.  Of course, Odysseus went up to him and... spun a tale of being someone who had met Odysseus some years before.  When the suitors' families arrived at the farm to kill Odysseus, he and his coterie of loyal men slew several before Athena intervened.  She said, effectively, 'knock it off.'  They did and peace returned to Ithaca.

Odysseus is a larger than life type of fellow who demonstrates impressive combat prowess and great feats of strength.  However, he and honesty have a tentative relationship.  It is peculiar that the only folk with whom he does not assume an alias was on the island of Scherie.  Were the adventures he told true or just another fantastical tale?  It all depends on whether Odysseus is a reliable narrator.

Odysseus is not a particularly likable fellow.  He spoke with pride about sacking a random town on his way home from Troy.  He's just a roving pirate, a band of coastal raiders.  Then there are the suitors.  Penelope led them on, giving the indication that she might marry one of them, using a strange stratagem to hold off when she would make a decision.  And regarding that, why are these men trying to marry a woman who has a 20-year-old son?  It appears that the estate should be Telemachus' and that Penelope would move to the home of the winning suitor.  It felt like she was a tease who wanted the attention.  Then again, it has been 20 years!

The translation was done by Samuel Butler in 1900.  In his preface and throughout the endnotes, he refers to his previous book, The Authoress of the Odyssey (1897), where he posited that the poem was written by a young woman on Sicily.  Initially, that sounded preposterous, but the more I read the more I thought he might have a point.  The frequent weeping and moping of Odysseus and several other male characters struck me as odd.  Penelope has spent the majority of the last 20 years weeping.  Maybe that is just a Mediterranean thing.

There is a lot more to the book than any movie could ever cover.  It tells all sorts of tangential stories from Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles, Hercules, and more.  It was a good read and recommended.

Appointment with Death (1988)

Before the will can be read, Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie) blackmailed the family lawyer, Jefferson Cope (David Soul) into using an older will that gave her complete control over the estate.  She was the 2nd Mrs. Boynton and step-mother to all but one of the Boynton children, all of whom were adults.  They mostly knew there had been a new will but could not prove it.  Soon afterwards, the family went on a world tour and everyone pondered how to kill Emily Boynton.  On a cruise from Trieste to the Levant, the family revealed all unwittingly in earshot of the eminent Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov).

While on a day trip to an archeological site in Palestine, Mrs. Boynton was discovered to be dead!  Poirot quickly deduced that it was murder!  But who could it be?

Was it Lennox Boynton (Nicholas Guest), the oldest of the Boynton children who was forced to live with his step-mother despite being married?

Could it be Nadine Boynton (Carrie Fisher), Lennox's wife?  She was Mrs. Boynton's nurse and had met Lennox by way of that occupation.  She was tired of her oppressive mother-in-law.

Maybe it was Jefferson Cope the lawyer who was having an affair with Nadine.

Perhaps Raymond Boynton (John Terlesky) killed her so he could run off with Dr. Sarah King (Jenny Seagrove).  Speaking of Dr. King, maybe she killed the old bat to clear the way to marrying Raymond.

Then there is Carol Boynton (Valerie Richards), who had plotted with Raymond while on the cruise ship.

Of course, there is no reason at all to suspect Lady Westholme (Lauren Bacall) who just happened to be on the same trip and has an alarming amount of screen time for a character with no link to the plot.  Really, it is a complete mystery why she is even included.  What possible motive could she have?

The story is half-baked but the scenery is great and the acting passable.  The cast is impressive.  In addition to the above, John Gielgud played the local military commander, Colonel Carbury, Hayley Mills appeared as an archeologist.

Just okay.  Fun to see Ustinov in his final appearance as Poirot.

Perry Mason (Season 2)

It has been some months since Perry (Matthew Rhys) won the Emily Dodson case.  Well, it was a hung jury, but the DA declined to try the case again, so essentially a win.  Despite that, Perry has avoided criminal law.  He and Della (Juliet Rylance) have acquired a litigious grocer (Sean Astin) as a client who allows them to pay the bills and even hire a receptionist.  Though his legal career was on an even keel, his emotional state was a wreck.  His farm was sold, so he lived in an apartment and was reduced to riding a motorcycle.  Emily Dodson had since drowned herself.  Yes, time for more drinking and feeling sorrowful.

Then a big case arrived.  Two Latino brothers were arrested for the murder of Brooks McCutcheon, the son of the wealthy wheeler-dealer Lydell McCutcheon.  Though Perry was approached by the family of the brothers, he initially declined the case.  However, Della pushed and he investigated just enough to think they might be innocent.  And so began his latest case.

Much of the cast from last season is back.  Detective Holcomb (Eric Lanuge), who killed his partner in the last season, has returned as a shady business partner to the murdered Brooks McCutcheon.  Pete Strickland (Shea Whigham) had split from Perry at the end of last season and now works for the DA's office, a fact which Perry proves oblivious despite it hearing about it repeatedly.  Assistant DA Hamilton Burder (Justin Kirk) has been elevated to DA, but he is being blackmailed for being gay.  Paul Drake (Chris Chalk) was the prime investigator for Perry, but also had outside jobs, including one for the DA's office.  Then there is Perry's ex-wife and son, who move back to Los Angeles.  His son is enrolled in a private school where Perry soon finds himself involved with his son's teacher, Miss Ginny Aimes (Katherine Waterston).  Della Street's love life also so a change, where he abandoned Hazel (Molly Ephraim) for the more exciting & wealthy Anita St. Pierre (Jen Tullock).

In order to fill 8 episodes, it had to be a more complicated case than expected.  Of course, that also means that all the introduced characters are probably linked to the crime.  Yes, that proved to be the case.  Brooks' antics were small time but, if investigated, could reveal much bigger crimes related to his father and his father's business partners.  The murder was strategic, to prevent something worse.  Are the Latino brothers just scapegoats or assassins for hire?

Perry proved to be mostly an idiot.  In an early episode, he took measurements about the murder scene and of the two brothers.  This convinced him that they were not the shooters and that he should take the case.  He never brought this up in court and it proved to be bogus.  So, he was an idiot then, but you should have forgotten that from episode 2 by the time we reveal evidence in episode 5.  Right.  Later, the DA somehow learned of critical evidence in the defense's hands.  How could that possibly be?  Well, the obvious solution is that Pete Strickland - who had been in the office many times before and was now working for the DA - might have done some snooping.  This is even more likely when you consider how Pete and Perry have had a falling out.  What does the brilliant Perry Mason deduce?  It must have been his son's teacher, Ginny Aimes!  He confronted her immediately.  Ugh.  When Pete later admitted to it, Perry was dumbfounded.  What?  The DA's investigator investigated my office?  Duh!

By contrast, Della was on the ball.  She gets to have the final confrontation with the main villain and she gets to do much of the strategizing.  She not some depressed drunk, but a mostly well-adjusted lesbian whose life and career are looking good.  And just to battle those rumors, she and Hamilton start attending events together and hint at marriage.

The season ends with Perry Mason in jail!  Yeah, his withholding of key evidence - accessory after the fact - put him in the klink.  Is it any surprise that the series was cancelled after this?

Skip

The January Man (1989)

Bernadette Flynn (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and her friend, Alison Hawkins (Faye Grant), headed home after a New Year's Eve Party.  They shared a cab to Alison's apartment building.  Drunk and happy, Alison stumbled into her apartment and said hello to her fish.  Then, a figure appeared behind her and strangled her to death with a blue ribbon.  This was the 11th murder in the last 11 months with the same M. O.

Mayor Flynn (Rod Steiger) was furious and vented his anger to Police Commissioner Frank Starkey (Harvey Keitel).  Bernadette is his daughter, so this struck alarmingly close to home.  The mayor demanded that Nick Starkey (Kevin Kline), who happened to be the commissioner's brother, get reinstated as a police detective to solve the case.  Frank was less than keen, but obeyed orders.  Nick had been with the fire department since his scandalous departure from the police.  Nick's methods were unorthodox and his choice for an assistant - an artist named Ed (Alan Rickman) - raised eyebrows.  Captain Alcoa (Danny Aiello) was apoplectic that Nick was reinstated and that he was required to provide whatever the crackpot needed.

Despite the setup, the murder mystery is almost secondary as far as the plot is concerned.  A great deal of time focused on Nick's obsession with his brother's wife, Christine (Susan Sarandon).  Indeed, it would seem that they were an item before his exit from the police.  He even accuses her of marrying the wrong brother.  Oddly, Nick's one requirement for returning to the police was that he could have dinner alone with Christine.  Bizarre.

Later, Nick clumsily followed Bernadette, only to be spotted by her.  Okay, so he's not that good at tailing someone.  Then, rather than talk to her about the case, he convinced her to go to a hotel and hop in the sack.  She agreed!  Um, is this a murder mystery or a romance?  Bernadette moved in with Nick and became his Girl Friday for the remainder of the film, with relatively little pushback from her father, the mayor!

The movie has no idea what it wants to be.  None of the relationships are sufficiently developed.  The brothers more or less hate one another and it was Frank who was guilty of the crime that got Nick kicked off the force.  Christine rejected Nick at the dinner but later returned to find Bernadette at his apartment; now she was jealously incarnate and couldn't wait to leave Frank.  Huh?  Ed is an artist and computer whiz with a Maynard Krebs view on life; kind of a wasted use of Alan Rickman.  Rod Steiger is just a blowhard with a bad perm.  So, is this a romantic comedy, a murder mystery, a thriller, a whodunit, or what?  All of the above in a hodge podge fashion.

With such a great cast, this is an astonishingly mediocre film.  Skip.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

In the post-apocalyptic world, two young girls were picking fruit in a garden-like oasis in the middle of a vast Australian desert when they spotted a band of bikers.  Furiosa (Alyla Browne) sneaked through the brush to investigate but was grabbed by a biker.  She fled and blew her whistle but was soon slung across the bike - bound hand and foot - which raced into the desert.  Her mother (Charlee Fraser) gave chase, picking off members of the band, but the last one successfully returned to the camp of Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).  Furiosa became the faux-daughter of Dementus and never spoke.

Dementus was an ambitious man, eager to secure more power in the Wasteland.  When he came upon the citadel of Immortan Joe, he immediately sought to capture it.  That didn't go well.  However, he was a crafty fellow and soon had an 'understanding' with Joe.  The understanding cost - among other considerations - Furiosa.  For the next decade, Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) quietly - almost entirely mute and posing as a boy - earned a spot for herself among the mechanics.  Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) - a noted road warrior - recognized her talents during a mission and apprenticed her as a road warrior.

A prequel to Fury Road (2015), this movie gives the story of Furiosa's rise.  I preferred the vague backstory from Fury Road rather than this detailed chronology.  Initially, she was brought into Joe's harem to eventually be one of his brides, but she ran off before she was of age.  Where did she go?  Down to the garage.  Clearly, Joe's efforts to find her failed.  Rather than explore this transition, the story just jumps forward a year or two with her already established among the laborers.  By the time she is Praetorian Jack's apprentice, it is clear she is a woman and no one seems to care.

The movie has some great road combat, very like those of Fury Road.  However, it was harder to be invested in the characters.  Praetorian Jack gets a lot of screen time but not so much character development.  Throughout his time with Furiosa, he's the leader but at the same time he plays like her sidekick.  Yeah, it didn't quite work.  Imagine a Batman movie where Robin was the main character.  Furiosa's mission is to get revenge against Dementus and then return home.  This movie tells her revenge story - mostly - while the next one is her return home story.  Early on, Dementus is an impressive villain and it is hard to believe that dainty Furiosa could overcome him.  By the last act, he's easy to kill, a mouse to her cat.  He's no threat to her at all, having destroyed himself and his gang in a futile war against Immortan Joe.

As far as the acting, the only stand out is Chris Hemsworth.  His Dementus dominates any scene he's in, being a loud-mouthed braggart who is supremely confident in his abilities.  He's clever and daring.  If not for his cruel villainy, he might be a fun fellow to have over for dinner.  By contrast, Anya Taylor-Joy is stuck being mute for most of the movie, offering the occasional glare to mar her otherwise expressionless face.

Just okay.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Mildred (Frances McDormand) wanted justice.  Her daughter was raped and murdered six months ago and the police have made no arrests.  In order to remind Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) that the case is pending, she rented three accusatory billboards with the chief's name on the last.  Unsurprisingly, the news media reported the billboards.

Chief Willoughby was a competent police chief and well-liked by the citizens.  Though he would like nothing more than to solve the crime, there were no leads and no evidence to follow.  He has nothing but compassion and understanding for Mildred's point of view, but there isn't anything he can do.  On top of that, he has terminal cancer.

Deputy Dixon (Sam Rockwell) was a racist bully who was completely loyal to Chief Willoughby.  He was more offended by the billboards than the chief and intended to do something about them.  One thing was to confront the man who rented them to Mildred: Red Welby (Caleb Landry Jones).  This visit involved beating the man and tossing him from a second story window.  This clearly criminal behavior was witnessed by a senior officer who did nothing more than fire Dixon from the force.  Yeah, that's some justice for you.

Mildred, Willoughby, and Dixon are the three main characters and each is surrounded by support characters.  Mildred has an ex-husband (John Hawkes), a son (Lucas Hedges), a man eager to date her (Peter Dinklage), and Father Montgomery (Nick Searcy).  Willoughby has a wife (Abbie Cornish) and daughters.  Dixon has his mother (Sandy Martin).  The movie revolves around them, initially with Willoughby standing between Mildred and Dixon, but later with Mildred and Dixon coming to an accord.

Of all the characters, Dixon has the most dramatic character arc.  He begins as quite detestable but ends as a man who is seeking redemption.  Still, he should be in jail for tossing Red out the window and smacking Red's secretary in the face.  Willoughby is the only one who was likeable throughout, a really decent man who was dealt some tough cards to play.

Both Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell won Oscars for their performances.  Rockwell did an impressive job of bringing Dixon to life and making him both a terrible human being but also one who improves through adversity.  By contrast, McDormand is just a grieving mother who is acting out.  She is the same person at the end as at the beginning.

Just okay.

Convoy (1978)

Rubber Duck (Kris Kristofferson) was a trucker when the speed limit was changed to 55 miles per hour.  Between the new speed limit and the regulations on how many hours per day could be spent driving, some truckers were having trouble staying solvent.  This was made all the worse by sheriffs like Dirty Lyle Wallace (Ernest Borgnine).  Dirty Lyle used CB chatter to set up speed traps where he would let the truckers go for a bribe; that way their insurance premiums wouldn't increase.

Rubber Duck was at an Arizona truck stop when Dirty Lyle started rousting Spider Mike (Franklyn Ajaye) and threatening to arrest him.  The Duck moved to intervene and a fight broke out.  Soon, all the truckers joined into a brawl against three police officers.  The truckers skedaddled, disabling the police cars on the way out of the lot.  Soon, a line of trucks drove east across Arizona and into New Mexico and Texas.  Many others got word and soon more trucks joined.  It was a convoy!

The movie doesn't make a lick of sense.  Somehow, the states are powerless to stop the convoy and the governor of New Mexico (Seymour Cassel) wanted to negotiate with Rubber Duck.  Negotiate about what?  When Spider Mike heads home - leaving the convoy - he got arrested and jailed.  Well, he did participate in that brawl.  In response, many of the truckers went to the town where he was jailed and flattened buildings, destroyed a police car, and crashed through the jail.  Um, okay.

Now they knew they were in big trouble.  Duck suggested crossing into Mexico.  So, he led the way but all the other trucks were cutoff by an ice cream man accident.  Alone, Duck approached the dinky bridge that crossed a river - presumably the Rio Grande - but Dirty Lyle was waiting on the other side with an armored vehicle.  In Mexico?  Huh?  Nonetheless, Duck raced across the bridge and the machineguns opened fire.  The wreckage plunged into the river.  So much for Rubber Duck?

Melissa (Ali MacGraw) was a traveling photographer who had a run-in with Rubber Duck in the opening and then encountered him again at the Arizona truck stop.  She needed a ride.  Despite the brawl, she climbed into Duck's truck and became part of the convoy, often nagging Duck about the ongoing events.  She repeatedly declined offers to get out.  Like most of the other characters, she also acts like some great injustice is occurring and Duck should make demands.  Huh?

Amazingly, this was Sam Pekinpah's most financially successful movie.  Of course, trucker movies were all the rage in the mid to late 70s (e.g., Smokey and the Bandit) and CB culture was everywhere for a time.  However, the movie has not aged well.  It's thin on plot and often inexplicable.  Why are the police so stymied by the convoy?  It feels like a chunk of the movie that explained the grievances of the truckers ended up on the cutting room floor.

Mediocre.  Skip.