SOME STRANGELY NASTY MOVIE FANS

SOME STRANGELY NASTY MOVIE FANS

I know people can often have strong (often completely uneducated) opinions on things they like or dislike, but it seems that discussions on movies can get as heated as any political argument. I used to be appalled at the comments left on imdb.com (Internet Movie Date Base) on various movies before imdb wisely shut this section down. I mean, if someone disagreed with another's opinion of a movie, they would write the most hateful things, attacking them, their politics, their sexuality, even their mothers to a degree that made one wonder if these people were playing with a full deck. On Facebook, one guy left a comment on another guy's post, saying that he thought a movie that the first guy liked was over-rated, and the original poster replied "You're an idiot!" I mean, the guy who left the comment wasn't nasty, it was just his opinion, but the first guy was obviously on the maturity level of an eight-year-old. It's true -- we live in an Internet world where even the most childish, stupid, most uneducated person can have access to forums, and the result is unbridled nastiness. I believe people over-react in this way for several reasons. They are insecure, wondering if perhaps their opinion is not the "correct" one or unsure of how much they really know about movies (especially film history). They are, obviously, very immature, regardless of their actual age. And they have a weak sense of self. If you dare say that you don't like -- or conversely admire -- a film they love or don't care for, you are attacking them and they feel a need to strike back, like a child who feels insulted and has to immediately say something nasty or give another child a whack.

Sad, really. . 

HOUSE OF CARDS (2013) Season 1

Kevin Spacey as Congressman Francis Underwood

HOUSE OF CARDS (2013 Internet series). Season One. Various directors.

In this re-imagining of the British mini-series, House of Cards (and its two sequels), Francis Urquhart, who becomes prime minister, is replaced by Francis (Frank) Underwood, a Washington congressman who hopes to become vice president and who plots, schemes and murders to achieve his goals. His wife, Claire (Robin Wright of Message in a Bottle), is similarly ruthless in her dealings and is not afraid to go up against her husband when she needs to. The biggest problem with this American version is that the British series' main thrust -- that Urquhart applies the murderous ruthlessness of olde English politics to modern times -- is completely lost, and what you're left with is a fairly typical look at Washington wheeling and dealing with a rather sociopathic lead character. House of Cards takes thirteen episodes to wrap up its first story arc, whereas the original took four, and therefore was more concise, tense and to the point. Whereas Urquhart, as portrayed by the magnificent Ian Richardson, was an almost mythic force of evil, Underwood is more human; Kevin Spacey (Swmming with Sharks) is quite good, but he can't compare to Richardson. A lot of changes have been made due to the change of country and locale, but some things remain: the young female reporter (Kate Mara) who enters into a professional and sexual relationship with Underwood; and the coke and booze-guzzling fellow (Corey Stoll) who is cruelly used by Underwood when the latter backs the former's attempts to become governor [this character was actually a publicity man in the original]. Urquhart's wife didn't appear much or have much to do until the final episodes of the British series, but in this she's front and center from the first. Initially Claire seems like a much warmer person than her husband, but when she has a colleague fire eighteen employees, and then fires her immediately afterward [instead of firing all nineteen of them herself[ you get the sense that something's rotten in this gal as well. The acting is first-rate throughout, and I was particularly impressed by Al Sapienza as a union leader, Constance Zimmer as a reporter, and Gerald McRaney as a billionaire nuclear power plant guy. The sex scenes between Spacey and Kate Mara are kind of gross because Mara generally looks like she's twelve years old. Episode 8 [scripted by Beau Willimon] hints at some homoerotic hanky panky engaged in by Underwood in military school, but it seems dragged in, and somewhat homophobic, as if homosexuality is something you grow out of. If the character is gay or bisexual it isn't explored in the first season.

Verdict: Whatever its flaws, this is undeniably compelling and very well acted. ***.