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I have now watched 5 episodes of Transparent. I have no idea if I will keep watching. It is so 5.1 out of 10.

Big picture, it is like a PSA as much as anything. You hear that Jeffrey Tambor is playing a trans character and you think, omg, zany antics to ensue for sure. But it's not that. His character and all the trans characters are given unrelenting dignity. Which is fine except all the other characters are drawn to be realistic/flawed. They have many moments of human dickishness and whatnot. The trans characters are all minor saints. So far anyway.

But okay. It's not a situation I have dealt with so it's interesting to step into the world. Some stuff I wouldn't have thought of.

I wish the peripheral characters were not so weak and I could give a partial crap about any of them.

I also wish it was just a little bit funny.
 
Looks like Julianne Moore is the overwhelming favorite to win Best Actress, averaging around -2000 odds from what I can see. Similar to where Cate Blanchett was a year ago as I recall.

I'm a little surprised at the Best Actor numbers. I kinda thought Benedict Cumberbatch was more of a darling right now but he's a distant third behind Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne who are more or less neck-and-neck.
 
I enjoyed (The Imitation Game 2014) quite a bit. I seem to have a predisposition towards films/TV about awkward geniuses who prove useful.

It was unfortunately dragged down a bit by some really obvious contrivances. And on post-viewing reading, I learned it was even more inaccurate than I suspected. It's that old question of how much freedom should the words Based on a True Story afford? Also dragged down for me by Keira Knightly who was inexplicably given an Oscar nomination for it.

But I found it very absorbing. 7.4 out of 10.


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I found Inherent Vice (2014) just okay. It picked up steam as it went along but I found it muddled, not overburdened with any sort of point or coherent narrative. Uneven. Too long for what it was. But there were a good number of amusing bits, a few outright funny. Many good performances. I have arrived at the point where I consider Joaquin Phoenix right at the top of the biz along with Daniel Day-Lewis and he is always worth a watch.

5.9 out of 10.

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I thought it was very entertaining. Unfortunately it's one of these movies - and there are a whole bunch in the Oscar race right now - that can possibly be criticized for being based on a true story but leaving out or otherwise fudging very important details.

So it is up to each individual how they feel about that. Some shrug it off and say, "Fok it - no one is saying it's a documentary."

Me personally, I find I am getting more and more fussy and critical about that kind of thing.
 
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