4418. janjon - 2/14/00 8:38:20 AM
Homicide:The Moviesucked. Big Time.
The police work leading to finding the shooter was somewhat
interesting. The interplay of views and attitudes between the
medical examiners was good, too. The scene when the big boy
humiliates Big G's successor was ok (and, has Jason Priestly sunk
so low to roles no longer or substantive than the one last night?)
So much for the high points. The rest of it was just nothing more
than a parade of the various cast members, most for nothing more
than just a moment to say hi, I'm here. (The montage showing
their locations and reactions when learing of G's having been
shot wasn't bad.) And the one reunion that lasted throughout the
movie (Pemberton and what's his name) was just stilted in my
opinion, including the true confession. Ycch. And, has Jon Seda
really aged that much in only a year of so? Or is it just that he
seems to have lost 30 pounds. And I found the final reunion at
the poker table to be just ridiculous. Not needed at all except
as a way to justify having the two dead characters show up. Not
effective at all.
What a waste of two hours.
At least I can forget about Baltimore now.
4419. CalGal - 2/14/00 8:50:13 AM
About the only thing of real note in the movie was the ME scene (Pendleton
and Forbes wanting to dig right in) and Secor's performance. I
agree that the interaction between Braugher and Secor was
stilted, but Secor himself was fantastic. His yearning was
palpable. I guess Pembleton turned him in, huh?
I also expected Bayless to fill in the last chair.
4420. janjon - 2/14/00 8:55:18 AM
Well, having Bayless show up in the last scene probably would
have been effective, actually.
And for this I missed The Sopranos. Oh well, knowing HBO
it is bound to be repeated a few times this week.
4421. 109109 - 2/14/00 8:55:57 AM
I did not think the movie was very good, but it was more of a
valentine to fans of the show.
I also did not think that pembleton turned Bayless in. I thought
his statement about staying home for dinner, not offering Bayless
absolution, and the symbolic writing of the name in blue (I just
don't see Pembleton saying, "Hey, anyone have the blue magic
marker?") suggested that he would not turn him in. But it
was ambivalent.
I did think he would take the fourth chair.
4422. theDiva - 2/14/00 8:58:57
AM
blue marker is used when an old case is put down.
4423. theDiva - 2/14/00 8:59:21
AM
and I loved it. If they don't renew this show, I may hurl myself
off my desk in despair.
4424. janjon - 2/14/00 9:00:24 AM
Just what does blue mean on those lists, anyway. I was confused
about that one. I also thought that Bayless's giving his badge to
Pembleton might be a sign that he was going to off himself, which
then made the fourth chair seem obvious.
I wonder if they had to snip a minute or so from the final cut. I
can think of a lot of other things that they could have snipped.
4425. 109109 - 2/14/00 9:01:07 AM
Diva
Whoops.
I thought it was when a cop did the killing? He he he.
Scratch ambivalence.
I guess he did turn him in.
Making the ending a little much. Then again, I was mad at Lewis
and Stivers for breaking down on Kellerman after he waxed Luther
Mahoney. I don't have much patience for Bayless' angst and
Pembleton's righteousness.
4440. harper - 2/14/00 10:32:48
AM
Re: "Homicide"
The blue marker is used when a "Cold case" is closed.
In previous seasons, it indicated the solution of a 40-yr. old
murder and a 25 yr old. case where a woman was told that she
killed her little brother when she was about 3. She persuaded the
cops to reopen the case and it turned out that her father did it.
I was profoundly disturbed by the movie. First of all, that a
MAJOR character should be killed off like that and secondly
because the trailers promised that loose ends would be tied up.
To me, the major loose ends are:
Who killed Edina Watson (Bayliss' first case)?
Why did Crocetti kill himself?
Did they catch Beau Felton's killer? (They knew who it was, but
he got away)
None of that happened. The scene with the coroners was a hoot,
but then I've always liked Austin Pendleton -- he's always a
little twisted.
But most of the characters were wasted & just there as cameos.
Plus, after all that time, why would Bayliss feel he needed
absolution? The circular nature of the first/last episodes (especially
noticed when viewed back-to-back) was deliberate and needed no
further elaboration.
I felt they could have played up the various character's
strengths by, for example, having Brody analyze the videotape. I
also knew within 5 minutes of the start of the show how the
shooting was done and by whom. The writing wasn't the best.
4441. harper - 2/14/00 10:36:39
AM
I am currently reading the book that the series is based on Homicide:
A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. I highly
recommend it. It's interesting to see the real people on whom
various characters were modeled and the real cases (some of the
weirdest are ther real ones) the series writers used. Truth is
stranger than fiction.
4449. glendajean - 2/14/00 12:14:02
PM
I watched the Homicide movie today. Enjoyed seeing the
pathologists hover over G at the hospital like vultures. I think
Pembleton did turn Bayless in...he tell's G's son that he caught
two bad guys in one day. I'm with Diva. The characters are
interesting as hell, and even on bad days, much better what used
to be considered a cop show.
4450. theDiva - 2/14/00 12:20:39
PM
'...he tell's G's son that he caught two bad guys in one day.'
I'd nearly forgotten about that. I thought that was sad. And
didn't Jon Seda look good enough to nibble?
4451. glendajean - 2/14/00 12:23:52
PM
Not as good as he used to... He was more appealing when he was
cocky and pouty.
4453. theDiva - 2/14/00 12:26:51
PM
GJ
Cocky and pouty is good....I loved his first appearance where he
opened that bottle with his teeth. grrrrrr........
4454. janjon - 2/14/00 12:31:33
PM
"He was more appealing when he was cocky and pouty.
Is there some medical news about Seda that I missed?
4455. CalGal - 2/14/00 12:32:23
PM
I hate Seda and he looked awful. Most of them did, in fact.
I missed the Pembleton line about putting away two bad guys, but
that just makes it sadder.
I particularly thought that Braugher's total dismissal of
Bayless's earlier comment ("I really loved....working with
you.") was depressing.
4456. janjon - 2/14/00 12:36:25
PM
I go back to one of my earlier comments. At least, for some of
them, they had been away for a few years. But Seda was a regular
at the end and the end was only last year. He's either aged
quickly or just lost weight and looks a lot older as a result.
Considering we are all going on a bit about what was a really bad
movie, it just shows that the series itself had a lot of pull.
4457. CalGal - 2/14/00 12:42:52
PM
Oh, the decline of Homicide in the last season was tragic--one of
the great artistic declines in all of television history (she
says, with a touch of grandiosity).
Starting in the second season, it was continually brilliant and
it hasn't aged a bit in reruns.
So the discussion is more about the characters the show created,
rather than the movie itself.
4458. janjon - 2/14/00 12:52:28
PM
We're saying the same thing, only differently. But, again a
reprise of earlier comments, the only two characters who got even
a bit more than just a whiff of "I'm here, look me over but
quickly because I won't be saying anything substantive or maybe
even in any later scenes" were Pemberton and Bayless.
4460. EricCartman - 2/14/00 4:17:11
PM
As for Homicide, it was more of a family reunion than
anything. Priestly should fire his agent; being cast as a schmuck
in a prestigious series just makes you a prestigious schmuck. But
he did what he could with what he was given. Some interesting
moments with Secor and Braugher, but you could see it coming way
up the road -- Bayliss was going to revert to his usual weenie
self, and confess his "sin" to Pembleton. Same as it
ever was. Just when I was pleased to see Bayliss finally grow a
pair (when he whacked Ryland), he goes back to his hand-wringing
jerkoff mode. Still, Secor is a very fine actor. I'm surprised
that he hasn't done movies yet; maybe he's afraid of contracting
a bad case of David Caruso-itis.
I assumed that the blue ink on the board indicated that IAB would
have to get involved, because of a cop committing the crime. And
Pembleton clearly turned Bayliss in; Bayliss didn't have the
nerve to do it himself, and Pembleton was obviously distraught by
this final confession.
All in all, a rather ham-fisted attempt to couch the drug war in
familiar rhetorical terms, with a story loosely flung over the
shaky framework.
BTW, Cal, I also expected Bayliss to take the final chair at the
poker table, after G walked in. He was obviously suicidal, and
wracked with guilt (though God knows why, Ryland was nothing more
than an animal).