jonathanconti

Is the Gorge an instant classic? No, but it's well worth the watch. Not every sci fi movie is Interstellar, nor do they need to be. Sometimes you just want something to entertain both you and your special friend without making your brain break. And that's what The Gorge is. The plots simple, there's monsters and guns and future tech. The pacing is solid. The real charm of the movie is the romance between Teller and Joy. It's cute and unique and interrupted by monster battles. So guys can dig it, the ladies will like it. A tip of my cap to Apple TV. Which seems to have taken an HBO approach to streaming with more quality over quantity. The world needs more movies like these. Original, sometimes cooky, fun ideas. Not everything needs to be big IP run into the ground. Sometimes we just want to see movie stars flirt and shoot monsters you know!?

Most remakes are bad. But what about a remake of a bad movie? If you're honest with the original, it's not good. It's ridiculous. Yoga guy afraid to get in fights goes to a bar and cleans up town as a bouncer?! It was a stupid plot from the beginning, but the campy, ridiculous, over the top testosterone made it a cult classic. And rip Patrick Swayze, but don't tell me he was a good actor in that movie. He's a movie star doing movie star stuff.

Cut to the remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal and of course it's bad, but actually better than I expected. The plot makes more sense than the original. The fighting is ridiculous and over the top but why not? McGregor is so crazy and I'm here for it. People think it's bad acting (it is), that he's over the top crazy (he is), but I think it's brilliant. "Is there a world class UFC fighter out there that's over the top crazy? Like a guy that starts fight with buses full of other fighters?" Ya they found the craziest fighter ever and had him be crazy. It's hilarious and gives the fighting a touch of authenticity. I mean the guy was a two division champ. He can fight. It's like the writers were like, "let's have a movie star and a ufc star take a bunch of roids and fight each other everywhere. In a bar, on a boat, in the ocean." And that's the movie. Don't take it too seriously and if you're not a fight fan I'm guessing you're gonna hate it. But if you like watching fighting and not thinking for two hours, hey you might like it.

If this show was made by HBO it would've won every award and be considered a classic. Instead it came out on NBC, way ahead of its time when shows like CSI and Law and Order dominated prime time TV. And because of that no one watched it, and it was cancelled in the middle of its third season.

I watched this show when it came out and thought it was outstanding. And given the reviews it seems to have lasted the test of time artistically. It finally made it to Prime and of course people liked it and finally watched it. The Hannibal Lecter story is an old one and one with a lot of commercial success. On a platform like Max today I think the trailer would attract the right crowd, a younger crowd eager for a darker Lecter story. The biggest hurdle would be casting Lecter himself. A character Anthony Hopkins made so iconic, it's hard to imagine someone else as him.

Boy did Mads nail Hannibal. I'm one of those weirdos that read the books and he seamlessly brings some of Hopkins iconic mannerisms together with how Hannibal was originally in the books, and wow... Again, had this come out on HBO I think he would've won every award. I don't want to blaspheme, but he's probably better than Hopkins. Written perfectly as a background character to Will Grahams story which is exactly how Hannibal should be.

The one Hannibal flop was the Hopkins driven sequel to Silence of the Lambs, "Hannibal." In it, Hannibal is the main character, with his every move detailed. What happens is Hannibal takes on a comical unbelievability. Seeing him cut off a guys skull and eat his brains. Come on. Hannibal Lecter works better in the dark background. Letting the audience imagination fill in the details of his grisly crimes. And that's how the TV show portrays him.

The cast is amazing, truly superb. I give it a 9 because I can see where it could've been better if not made for network TV. And because of the early cancellation season 3 is definitely weaker than season 1 & 2. I'll save my ten in hopes they can continue this story somewhere. But it has to have Mads.