Disc Reviews

“The oil and gas industry makes $3 billion a day in pure profit, generates over $4.3 trillion a year in revenue. It’s the fourth largest industry in the world, ranked ahead of food production, automobile production, and at $1.4 trillion the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t even crash the top 10. The industries ranked ahead of oil production are all completely dependent on oil and gas. The more they grow, the more we grow. That’s the scale. That’s the size of this thing, and it’s only getting bigger …” 

If Taylor Sheridan does not own a big chunk of stock at Paramount+, then he should be a major shareholder, because he’s bringing in more bucks than everything else combined except for Star Trek. I’ve enjoyed every one of his shows to date, some more than others. I think that Landman has to be the best of them yet. Yellowstone has been the great amber-captured jewel of the kingdom for over five years, but his split with Costner brings all of that to an early end, with the exception of spin-offs. I think I’ve found the new champ, and it’s Landman. Landman is absolutely as good as television gets or has ever gotten.

"It's always the same in any orchard. You plant your trees. The trees grow tall. Then sooner or later they begin to get mangled, and before you know it the apples start to rot. And that, Harry, my son, is pruning time."

There's nothing like a good mob drama on television/streaming. Sometimes there ends up being some drama that wasn't quite scripted but gets plenty of a show's attention. That's exactly what has happened with Guy Ritchie's attempt at the long form of television/streaming. This one has to do with the cast. It's a pretty big deal ... unless it isn't. Mobland has had some of the best streaming numbers in the history of Paramount +,  but that's not what brought it to the attention of the news cycle. There has always been talk that Tom Hardy is a difficult actor to deal with. The talk was intense after Mad Max Fury Road when Charlize Theron made some accusations and will reportedly be unwilling to work with him again. No one really gave it much mind, because feuds happen in this business all of the time. But when word came out that Hardy was being fired for the upcoming third season of Mobland, it was noticed.

"I hold a grudge. I really do. Back to you. You did 25 years. You didn't rat, but you also didn't learn anything. You get out here. You move west. But the killing spree continues. Bikers. Chickies. We know everything. Everything you've been up to since you got out here. But as of right now I'm not going to charge you for mass murder ..." 

Maybe the heat has finally caught up with Dwight. It's Season 3, and where are we going from here? Let's back it up just a bit. Sylvester Stallone plays mob guy Dwight "The General" Manfredi. It's his first television role, and he couldn't have chosen better than to appear in a Taylor Sheridan show on Paramount+. Sheridan pretty much owns the streaming service, all of it except maybe the Star Trek shows. He knows how to create characters and to then put the right actor in that role. I've seen it happen a thousand times now, from Yellowstone to Mayor of Kingstown and a couple of Yellowstone spin-offs. The part appears made just for Sly, and he makes it worth everything he has, all the while making it look effortless. That's Sheridan's magic, of course. Create and cast well, and no one has to really work at all. Yeah, that's a bit of an oversimplification, but it sure looks that way, doesn't it? That ain't workin'. That's the way you do it.

"Dearest Rebecca, I know you have many questions. So do I. After all, life is a mystery. But if there's one answer to all of the riddles of the universe, one secret to happiness, I promise it would be simply this ... sheep. No, seriously, it really is sheep."

It really is. The Sheep Detectives is exactly what it sounds like. No. it's not detectives investigating sheep. OK, so it might not be exactly what it sounds like. It's the sheep that are doing the investigating here, so move over, Monk. Move over, Sherlock Holmes. Move over, Columbo. This one is going to be solved by the sheep. No, seriously. It's going to be solved by the sheep. It all started with a German book for the kids called Three Bags Full written by Leonie Swann in 2005. The screenplay is by Craig Mazin, and it was directed by Kyle Balda and is his first live-action film after directing popular animated titles like a few Minions films as well as being co-director of The Lorax. So now he's taking a stab at live action ... but that's not completely true. Yes, I'm talking about the ... sheep, which are all CGI. It's now out on Blu-ray from MGM/Amazon studios, and it's going to be a rare (these days) real family treat.

Well, this film features a pretty stacked cast of talents with the likes of Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, Mayam Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, and Indya Moore coming together in this triptych divided into chapters set in New Jersey, Dublin, and Paris. Not only is it a stacked cast, but it’s also a lot of repeat business, as this film marked the second collaboration between actress Cate Blanchett and director Jim Jarmusch after Coffee and Cigarettes, the third collaboration between actor Adam Driver and Jarmusch after Paterson and The Dead Don't Die, and the sixth collaboration between actor Tom Waits and Jarmusch after Down by Law, Mystery Train, Night on Earth (Waits composed it), Coffee and Cigarettes, and The Dead Don't Die. So obviously, Jarmusch has fostered some great relationships with impeccable group of actors and vice versa; the actors have found a creative storyteller with whom they wish to continue collaborations. This triptych is a example that creative storytelling, as the three chapters, or better known as movements, are narratively independent but thematically interconnected.

"Do you want to know if I'm innocent? The last time I was innocent was 15 years ago in court. Innocence doesn't exist in prison. It doesn't matter. Nobody cares. If you care, stay away from me. Don't ask me out to dinner. I get confused."

In January of 1992 at the Sundance Movie Festival the world was discovering a new filmmaker who brought his first effort, Reservoir Dogs, to the festival where it was highly celebrated and acclaimed. The world knew Quentin Tarantino. But that wasn't really his first film credit. Three months earlier at another film festival in Vancouver, Jan Eliasberg's Past Midnight with Rutger Hauer and Natasha Richardson was having its own place on the screen. So what's the connection? Screenwriter Frank Norwood was struggling with the film's script, and an unknown writer was brought in to give it some life. He was so unknown that he didn't even rate a writing credit, but the buzz is he wrote most of what appeared on the screen. Instead he gets a throwaway associate producer credit, and that might have been the end of a short career. Of course, it wasn't, and there are obvious Tarantino staples in the film, which might make a great drinking game if you're up for spotting them all.

"Solitude can be a little dangerous. So can being a Dutton. Violence has a way of finding the Duttons."

Hit television shows have a way of finding Taylor Sheridan, and Yellowstone became one of the biggest in recent years. He has an ability to attract major talent, and getting Kevin Costner for Yellowstone was a huge get and cemented Sheridan's hold on the modern drama by adding a little bit of the old frontier. Of course, his relationship with Costner soured over Costner's attempt to create the ultimate western epic four-part film series. He threw Sheridan under the bus to do it, and the result was a half season of Yellowstone that was rushed and built around the fallout and ultimately unfulfilling to the audience. But one relationship that hasn't soured is Sheridan's relationship with Paramount. He was ready to walk away until he set his sights on a huge ranch that was going to cost him $300 million. That love affair means that he's in for the long haul with Paramount, and we can continue to expect these shows for some time to come.