Reviews

I do not understand the negativity here about. I do have my suspicions but I hope I'm wrong. I found the movie wildly entertaining so maybe non-stop action is not popular. The family can get annoying with the chanting but they clearly do it out of love. I encountered Blue Beetle in the animated DC shows so maybe I just had a clearer idea of the origin story.

The whole Blue Beetle origin story is weird, true. There is a mystic element plus alien element that makes for an unusual mix in a comic book and maybe I had a head start with the story, so I can more easily appreciate the unique character. Also, I'm old enough to just let go when comic stories get crazy. Maybe some of the reviewers could stand to go back and watch the movie again, maybe without mentioning it to any of their friends who hated it. I don't know. But the reactions here don't make any sense to me.

I don't know the first thing about Brazil or Paraguay or the complexities of the region between the two countries, so I won't pretend to define this show as "authentic." But I was hooked from the beginning and all the way through the entire series because the characters were beautifully drawn and superbly acted and the complexity of the story was fascinating.

My only real confusion is what communication is like on the border of the two countries. It's a Brazilian production and naturally focused on that country and its language but Paraguay (I thought) is Spanish-speaking and Brazilians (I thought) spoke a version of Portuguese. I know a teeny bit of Spanish and Portuguese may as well be Greek to me. Yet there never seems to be any question of how the police forces of the two countries communicate. Is everyone in the region fluent in both, so that it's not an issue? I can only reference Nordic police shows when communicating with Finnish police requires anyone from a Scandinavian country to fall back on English (of all things) as a Lingua Franca. I may just be American Ignorant here but I wouldn't mind a little help.

I would definitely watch more stories with these characters and this production company. I do hope there is more in the pipeline and that I don't miss it if/when it appears.

This is not a show i had given much thought to and I was surprised there was yet another season (and probably one more). So I started Season 3 and it took about two episodes when I remembered: everyone on this show will always make the stupid choice. I was always willing to go along with the utter improbability of any of the plot elements because fantasy. How any of them have survived to this point is the truly unbelievable part. The ancient teens vs. Olds has been working since the 50s at least but the teenagers warning everyone about the giant spider people from the Moon didn't try to outrun laser beams. This crew, yikes.

There are legitimate complaints in the reviews about how much the story revolves around Fleishman, the man in the divorce. But it's a story that unfolds over time. There are multiple characters at the core of the story and they each have arcs to play out. I, for one, was fascinated to see how my perspective changed as each episode played out and the point of view shifted, and there were revelations. Oh, boy, were there revelations.

Put it this way, whoever produced this program did not spend all that money on Claire Danes to have her be defined by everyone else. And keep an eye on Meara Mahoney Gross, who plays the Fleishmans' young daughter.

I guess Nashville has been off long enough that someone thought this show was ready to pick up the slack. It's possible the writers missed a few cliches but I would need to watch it again and take notes in order to be certain. And I'm not going to do that. Ever. I actually enjoy some of the actors and I experience a mix of sorrow and contempt for them signing on to this incredibly bad program. And I feel like a dolt for watching even the pilot.

Apparently I haven't written enough to justify having my opinion recorded at IMDB. So I'm going to type a few (45) more words until I meet their mythical minimum (Oh joy!).

There was no need for this unless Hilary Duff is broke. Hire writers with new ideas, please. Cliche characters, bad jokes and a very lame attempt to recreate the charm of the original show. Which was charming, in its time and ignoring all the creepy parts.

Every John Wick cliché is soundly mocked with all sorts of bang bang shoot 'em up flipped on its head. For about 15 minutes I thought this was dumb and then I realized none of it was meant to be taken seriously and I just relaxed into it. Very fun cast, starting and ending for me with Karen Gillan, but with Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett in the mix. Oh, sure, Paul Giamatti but obviously is the women (and the little girl) that carry the weight.

Karen Gillan is *tall*!

Well, clearly they can't only be Charlize Theron, even with a suitcase full of wigs. Completely predictable story because it's been cobbled together from a score of really good international assassin stories. Chastain clearly has no martial arts training and the fight scenes are unbelievable and just bad. Ava clearly isn't John Wick, either, although we are meant to believe she is. Lots of decent actors working with a terrible script. I'm not sure if this was originally meant for theatrical release but everyone involved should be glad that didn't happen.

I was disturbingly caught up in this show, through two seasons. So many fascinating plot threads, unusual people and mysterious time shifts. I think it's best not to expect answers for everything that happens but perhaps it would be good to keep copious notes. Write down each character as you encounter them and make note of what they do and what happens to them. I would have liked a little file to remind me who X was because X hasn't been on screen for six episodes and now is critical to the story. None of my confusion was helped by the score, which is on occasion really creepy and surreal. And time is not linear. By all means, dive in!

Leaving aside the notion of retconning a well-known Swedish character, set in the present, filmed in Lithuania with a cast of British actors, this just isn't very good and isn't remotely suspenseful. A youthful version of Wallander would presumably be reasonably intelligent but someone waving their hand and saying "Poof! You're a detective!" doesn't work when the writers trot out a remarkably clueless Swedish dude who can't take simple instruction. "Do nothing to draw attention to yourself" seems simple, and probably shouldn't have led to Kurt being beaten even more senseless by a giant drug dealer. Most everyone is pretty, I'll give them that. They may have relied on the CW for casting. I was hoping for something entertaining enough to see through to the end but I was just bored.

First of all, you have to accept the fact that there is nothing, nothing at all, in Cursed that has anything to do with Arthurian legend. The writers grabbed familiar names and assigned them, seemingly at random, to characters totally unrelated to the originals (hint: Gawain battles the Green Knight; he definitely isn't himself the Green Knight). Initially I gave the writers a pass because it was so blatant it was clear they wanted to create an entirely different story. So, do that, go wild, be creative. But it's painfully bad writing that makes no sense in its internal logic. And the acting? Floki gave his mascara to a different character (one that's actually pretty original) and simply added excessive drinking to his Vikings character. At times, it feels like a high school drama club could have handled the scenes and dialog (admittedly lame) better than these professionals. I question my judgment entirely because I actually finished all ten episodes. I'm not getting those hours back.

I got caught up in this series and really engaged with the main characters and then did something I never do: I quit with only two episodes left. It's visually attractive and Holland is a fascinating place but I finally got fed up with the characters always, always making the stupidest choices.I'd like to see Karina Smulders in some other production but life is too short for me to stick with a story I can't be invested in.

I really gave this a shot because it seemed like it could be interesting. Made it through three episodes before i gave up. The show just feels to me like it was cobbled together from a lot of other (better) concepts all smooshed together. Nothing connected to anything else and the story simply did not progress. Lots of bits and hints but if nothing is working after nearly three hours, there's a problem. No issues with the cast; they were all doing well with what they had been given but the script and direction failed to move forward. I really hoped for something fresh but this is just tired.

Great cast, and I had high hopes for the show but someone is trying way too hard to be clever and edgy. Corny can be amusing when it's done with wit but Reprisal just doesn't get it done.

Is Edward James Olmos the only Latino actor over 40? He's great but throw some work at someone else!

The protagonist, Sophia, is not a likable person, something she herself is acutely aware of. She is smart, she's funny, she's got a huge ego and terrible self-esteem. She also has one amazing best friend and a bunch of very interesting and entertaining acquaintances. The pilot is weak, with a couple of outstanding moments but the show grew on me quickly. Yes, Sophia lashes out and hurts people, and appears to lack any moral sense at all, at least initially. Midway through the season her behavior makes a lot more sense, and she is a lot easier to empathize with.

The writing is really sharp, and frequently worth double takes. All of the acting, starting with Britt Robertson and Ellie Reed, is terrific and the supporting cast includes Jim Rash, RuPaul and others. There is some amazingly creative work portraying the virtual world of the Internet circa 2007-8. Don't expect Kimmy Schmidt and give it a few episodes.

I binged on this on Netflix and now I have to find some means of watching Season 2 when it airs. The first couple of episodes (especially the pilot) seemed pretty lame and I wasn't warming to any of the protagonists. Within a short time, however, I was thoroughly hooked. Wynonna actually takes time to hit her stride as a bad ass in spite of being The Heir--I mean it's not a skill set most people have, especially since she's been something of a screw-up most of her life. The take on the Revenants seemed fresh to me, even after years of zombie movies. Lots of plot twists, eye candy and gore really held my interest. Fun.

The television show You're the Worst has been described as a British comedy made in the US. It is very funny and filled with a lot of crude humor and insight. Catastrophe is much like that show (which I love) but with characters a decade older. Also very funny, with fewer quirky characters, and lots of insight. Grown up crude humor abounds.

The protagonists are extraordinarily likable people, with a terrific sense of humor and honesty, heavily larded with sarcasm and wit. And viewers who hate sarcasm and crude humor and grown-ups will hate it. Their loss, really. Frankly, if you don't relish British comedy, you will hate it as well.

Reading some of these negative reviews I honestly have no idea what those people watched, or whether they got past the first three minutes and quit. After reading those, I was dubious about even bothering to watch the DVD but I figured I'd give it a shot.

Holy smoke, batman, I've never seen such ridiculous comments and reviews in my life. This was a great action film, a great alien invasion film, a great Marines film . . . didn't like the characters? What the heck is that about? Didn't like the cinematography? What the ... ? Some of the commentary is so nasty and so ridiculously far off base that I have to wonder if there isn't some agenda driving them. Or, I suppose, those making the comments are twelve years old.

I admit I was amazed to read all the glowing reviews of this film, extolling it for being "real" and poignant. I didn't get around to watching it for 20 years, so there's no nostalgia involved. For me, the film was corny and endlessly tedious, even with all the potential of the pack of young actors involved.

There's really very little that's plausible about the film at all, from the particular geekiness of the lead to his relationship with the cute 16 y.o. girl (two years difference in high school? are you kidding?) to the corny gentle football player . . . it's loaded with sappiness and drags on unmercifully. Anyone looking for "real" high school drama would be much better off renting the series "My So-called Life" or even "Freaks and Geeks." Much better stories and far more plausible.

While this is clearly not in the same league as the usual SciFi Saturday night godawful piece o'junk, with much better production values (not Bulgaria? sonofagun!) and decent acting, the story itself was a complete snore. Not an original concept in the whole thing and it just dragged on for two hours without anything really happening. Yeah, she's cute, yeah, she looks nice in leather, but Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Ooops, sorry, dozed off.

I spent two hours waiting for something, anything, to happen. Oooh, goodie, a shootout. Now there's an original concept, and certainly one worth waiting for. And, ooooh, the suspense is killing me. Is she really dead? If this was a pilot, I'm not too curious about the show. If it wasn't a pilot, there's no excuse for the utter lack of story.

Comedy that isn't sitcom is a plus, in my book. In other words, a comedy that doesn't rely on gags, or on one-liners, or on snappy repartee. I started watching with very low expectations because I love Anthony Bourdain and couldn't imagine the show would capture anything of him. I'm still not sure it does, but it's entertaining on its own.

(I also tuned in because it's one of the three shows appearing with Buffy veterans; this one is by far the best of the three. Allison Hannigan's is a stinker and "Bones" isn't likely to last. It's also one of several shows with veterans from "Freaks & Geeks".) I'm intrigued by the characters and by the background of NYC restaurants. It's not yet "great TV" but there's enough going on to give it a chance to develop. Of course, there's also an inordinate amount of cleavage; I have to wonder how many NY restaurants can sport so much exposed bosom at one time.

I don't want to say that this is the stupidest movie ever produced, because it isn't. It is, however, in the ballpark. I recorded it from the SciFi Channel thinking, "vampires" "outer space". How bad could it be? I actually thought it was one of the SciFi Channel Saturday night filmed-in-Bulgaria stinkaroos that are the most fun to watch if you've been drinking heavily and it's very late at night.

This was considerably worse. Filled with stupid anachronistic language in a poor attempt at hipness, truly awful and stupid dialog, utterly nonexistent character development -- all of which would be forgivable if it was scary or funny or original or creative.

Truthfully, I'm embarrassed to admit I watched it all the way through.

Other than the occasional out-of-sync dialog (product of the usual Bulgarian shoot?), this is infinitely better than the typical Saturday night garbage SciFi runs as "original" films if only because no one is taking it seriously. Campbell does Campbell and he's probably the only one on camera who is having fun with the whole project.

Fantastic special effects (very very bad wigs, equally bad "beards"), absolutely no attention to continuity, green slime . . . And, when necessary, an infinite supply of giant bugs for Campbell to decapitate, stab, smash and eviscerate.

What more can you ask for in a stupid giant bug movie?

Ooops, almost forgot: the lovely young girl in the leather mini-skirt -- costume straight from Raquel Welch.

It's a classic!

I had extremely low expectations of this adaptation, although I had hoped that Le Guin was involved enough in the production to assure that something remotely akin to the novels emerged. I'm not one of those that believe every novel deserves a film adaption; on the contrary, my belief is that great books rarely make great films. We're lucky if they make good films, or even mediocre film.

Instead, we got a "Ged Goes to Hogwarts", whiny Star Wars clone with none of the grace, language or beauty of Le Guin's work. Blech.

It's possible, I suppose, that somewhere after the first hour the film "magically" improved. I wouldn't know, because I couldn't stand watching any longer.