joepm28

If you want to watch a movie that gives you a real feel for the grit, mean streets and sheer moxie that was NYC at it's nadir at the end of the 1970's - Night of the Juggler is the film to see!

Sure, the plot is ridiculous. Sure, the action scenes are preposterous. Sure, the characters are more cartoons than real people. Yet, the who film is just so over the top and so full of the grittiness and filth and in your face life that was NYC back then that most viewers will just be dumb struck watching the film! And take it from me - someone who moved to NYC in 1980 to go to college - the film is a true snap shot of the way it was back then in NYC!

Sean Body (James Brolin) is an ex-NYC cop let go during the budget cuts and is now driving a truck. He's raising his daughter Kathy (Abby Bluestone) on the UES. Going to school, Kathy is mistaken for a little rich girl and is then kidnapped by a sleaze bag played by Cliff Gorman. The whole movies rollicks in to a long, unbelievable chase scene all through Manhattan. Brolin is there to play a hunk cop and does a workman like job. The rest of the cast are above average with standout delivery by Gorman, Richard S. Castellano and Dan Hedeya (looking like a maniac!). There are a number of cameos of actors who went on to bigger things.

While Night of the Juggler is not a great film, it is worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of old New York.

The Gilded Age is a frothy, enjoyable series that falls in the categories of a mishmash of Brit like melodramas from the likes of Trollope and Elliot (yet not nearly as literary or done as well), then throwing in elements of romance novels and historical melodramas. It is not awful, yet is far from great. IMO, The Gilded Age falls a star short of Downton Abbey, mainly because it is trying to shoe horn in way too many story lines in to the series than Downton Abbey did. As a result, the character development is lacking, many of the cast just giving cookie cutter performances. Other than the Russell family, who are really front and center in S3, the series has moved to giving much less screen time to the Van Rhijn family. And even when the Van Rhijn's are shown, it is more as a comic relief element than any real drama. I get why The Gilded Age is popular, yet it could have been so much more.

I'll try to write my review of Saltburn without any spoilers, yet with enough information so viewers know what they're getting themselves into when watching this creepy, cringy film.

First off, the biggest, biggest, BIGGEST flaw of Saltburn is that there is the barest of character back story as to what is motivating the 'hero' of the movie, Oliver Quick (an above average performance by Barry Keogh). I mean there are bits and then there are some twist and then there is the shocking ending, yet I was left asking at the discordant finale 'Why?'.

That then gets to the second fault of Saltburn - it is just totally unbelievable and preposterous as to the entire story line. Sure, we can say that there are foibles to the upper class that have inherited their wealth. Yet, to think they can all be as dense and unaware as the Catons and their set makes the whole film's premise fall apart at the slightest examination.

Finally, and most disappointing, for a purported 'gay' film, Saltburn does not fall in to that category, other than some lurid sexual longings and some unrequited love. Which to me, never came off since there was so little chemistry between the characters of Oliver and Felix Caton (Jacob Elordi delivering a rather wooden performance).

The best part of the film is the setting, the eponymous English manor house (Drayton Hall in real life), which is absolutely spectacular and to die for. But, even that is way too little to cover for the thin plot, poor character development and unbelievable ending.

I wouldn't say don't watch it Saltburn, just be prepared to be let down from the hype.