Steve Peterson

Just binge watched season 1... While not Japanese, I have traveled there for business maybe 20 times and have done my best to see much of the country and delve into the culture. Tokyo Vice highlights the nature of the relationships between Yakuza, police, local press, and others that cross their path. Character development is strong and you learn to like and/or dislike the characters based on their back story, and how they interact and treat others, etc. Some are conflicted about their roles in Yakuza, others are just plain sociopathic, but in both cases, the Japanese hierarchical model is consistently there, whether it's at the paper where Jake and his female boss are constantly being oppressed, the police which control the spin to the press nearly flawlessly, or the Yakuza and their dictatorial relationships. The show gives you a peak into Japan's seedy underbelly and you are not disappointed with any aspects of the production. Script, acting, plot, etc. all really good... I've guessed the plot twists a few times, so there is a degree of predictability, but it doesn't take away much from the overall story, which is rich in those things which generally intrigue us "puny humans"... Things like family, love, sex, relationships, greed, and revenge kept me interested throughout. Even when the pace slowed a bit, there was such a strong storyline that I didn't do any of my typical fast forwarding stuff. Next up: Looking forward to the season 2 binge.

Just watched The Mauritanian for the 1st time tonight. Given what had come out previously around Gitmo and how associations and suspicions became rationale for torture in the name of safety... "nothing new here". However, don't take that as a reason not to see this movie, in fact, knowing the theme, helps with the baseline to more easily grasp the nuances of the moment and to reaffirm one's righteous indignation over the Rumsfield, Cheney, Bush clown show. Also, telling the story from the perspective of the protagonist (Salahi), was well conceived and even better portrayed. Overall the acting was believable and emotionally charged. Ultimately highlights the outcomes when "We give up on our rule of law" and become convinced that the ends justify the means. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely"... We only need to look at current events in Ukraine for next level examples of what happens when politicians are above the law. Poignant movie, well acted, and as far as I can ascertain, accurate in this specific instance and emblematic of a dark stain in US history.

Just binged watched. Well acted for the most part, with Carl Lumbly providing a poignant portrayal of a disenfranchised elderly black hero, who was persecuted, imprisoned, and experimented upon as a super soldier. Yes, that sounds silly, and being able to provide scene stealing performances amongst the plot silliness, highlights a perfectly portrayed character. Well done Mr. Lumbly! The rest of the cast did their jobs well and I enjoyed my mind numbing binge... Just pure sugar, directly into the my carotid artery... Not life sustaining in any way, but enough goodies to keep my appetite satiated for 6 episodes, and I'll watch season 2 when it comes our.

Very slow with characters that are so vanilla that they turn to "blah" in a stylized cinematic presentation. This version of Dune, just felt so "fakely emotional", as to make every scene an emphasis, and when every scene is an attempt to overemphasize, then it all blends into a heavy movie without much true emphasis at all. (original Dune did same). I paused the movie about 1 hour 20 minutes in, and haven't felt the urge to resume it again, and it's been about a week... That should be all one should need to hear when thinking of watching this banality, masquerading as a thriller. No clue why anyone would feel different after watching this movie, but I guess that can be attributed to, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". For me, this film is a complete dog!