Brian's Thoughts on Movies

                                                         Recently the twelve episode miniseries 24: Live Another Day concluded with a final episode so  devastating it took me a few days to gather my thoughts about it.  I enjoyed having 24 back and feel that Live Another Day is one of the strongest seasons.  There was enough plot for about seventeen episodes so the series ended up lean and fast paced with none of the usual filler, while staying true to its dark roots.  There is a change of setting to London and several characters from earlier seasons returned at different points in their lives.  I thought the first couple of episodes were solid enough but the series really took off around episode four. Kiefer Sutherland brought Jack Bauer back after four years on the run in an angered state.   Please not...

                                                “My name is Jack Bauer and this is the longest day of my life” Next week 24 returns in the form of a miniseries named 24: Live Another Day.   In light of this I wanted to offer a few comments on each season the old series, which I was a fan of from the day it first aired in 2001.   Please note, as always I will discuss some major spoilers so if you have not seen the series yet it may be best to read this after you have done so, for free if you have an Amazon Prime account (or you could even borrow the DVDs for free at a local library. Season 1 (2001-2002) I read the reviews of the pilot and knew, though I usually don’t watch a lot of television series, a real time thriller a...

                                   I have an interest in films about dreams as they are one of the few things that people cannot protect themselves from.   Vanilla Sky was a fascinating film to me about how the power of the subconscious and how it can affect you.   Vertigo is a film that functions almost as a living dream. Vertigo, based on a French book by two authors called “De Entre Los Morts” by Pierre Boileu and Pierre Ayraud, is my favorite of Alfred Hitchcock’s many masterpieces.   While Vertigo has a murder mystery as part of its plot, at its heart it is really a dark film about the dangers of romantic obsession.   James Stewart gives an amazing performance as a retired detective, John “Scottie” Ferguson and Kim Novak and Barbara Del Glades are very memorable as the two main women in Scottie’s life.    As always I will discuss the film’s plo...