planktonrules

Ken Burns' documentaries for PBS have almost always been terrific...and "Benjamin Franklin" is certainly one of his best.

The style of the film is pretty much what you'd expect apart from a bunch of black and white woodcuts used, primarily in the early part of the film. Apart from that, paintings, interviews with various experts, and lovely music make up the film.

What I liked about it is that because it was nearly four hours long, the film didn't rush through his life like other documentaries often do. Well crafted and never dull, this is about as good a film on Franklin as you can find.

If you want to see it, it's currently posted on the PBS website, though you need to make a donation to receive access to this and many other films on their app.

Reggie (Terry-Thomas) is an adventurer and world traveler. However, he doesn't do it for fun...he does it because he is a writer and media celebrity whose adventures are eaten up by an eager public. What they don't know is that many of these 'adventures' are highly exaggerated and staged. But something unusual happens with his latest adventure, trekking across the desert...he gets lost and loses his handlers. As a result, he's stranded and stays with bedouins for some time...and comes back a changed man. Gone is the nice but egotistical guy. In its place is a sexist jerk who has learned from the bedouins 'how women should be treated'...which is essentially like property and drudges. Naturally, his wife is NOT thrilled when he eventually returns becasuse of his sexist attitudes. What's next? Well, the wife decides to write a book about the fathead...and Reggie is not pleased, as it will talk about the REAL Reggie!

While I liked the first portion of the film, what follows is VERY cliched...like something you've seen too many times in sitcoms. For example, the scene where Reggie cooks breakfast is dopey...sort of like something from a very bad sitcom. I would say more, but it would provide spoilers. Suffice to say, the story starts well but just doesn't manage to work overall. It lacks subtlety and is done very heavyhandedly. I blame the script mostly though the direction isn't especially good. Not a terrible film...but one that is really just a time-passer and it should have been so much better.

"Kill or Cure" is an unusual film. While the plot is that of an Agatha Christie story about her recurring characters, Tommy and Tuppence, the story has been altered to make it a comedy. So instead of the husband/wife duo, you have Terry-Thomas as the Captain...a private detective AND photographer (it seems being a private eye doesn't pay well...so he takes photos to make ends meet).

The story begins with a rich elderly woman hiring the Captain over the phone. She wants him to stay at a health clinic and investigate some crime...and she'll tell him about it when she sees him at the clinic. As for the clinic, it's a place which believes in taking all the fun out of life and replacing it with vegetable juices, physical therapy which is akin to torture, and keeping the residents freezing 'for their own good'...and, naturally, the Captain hates it. However, before he can meet the old lady, she's murdered...and there's a large reward for solving the crime. However, it's not as easy as all that...as he'll soon find out for himself.

Terry-Thomas could be very funny. However, apart from the potentially funny setting, not enough is made of it when it comes to laughs. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film...but it certainly isn't exactly a comedy though it is supposed to be. An okay offering...very watchable but missing what it needs to be a must-see.