Reviews

This movie tried too hard. The idea for the story is compelling, but the dialogue is so forced and unnatural. It smacks of a 70's episode of Barnaby Jones or Mannix.

This is a movie that I would have turned off within the first 20 minutes, but I was sick in a hot bath and leaving the bath was not an option. The premise was good, but the mixture of humour and crime drama was not a good one. It reeked of indie pretentiousness. It was supposed to be the 70's, but it didn't seem like it to me.

I know Adam Sandler has become a very rich man by aiming low. However,this is worse than a punch to the balls, which I am sure Mr. Sandler and the amazing number of people who actually liked this movie would find rather amusing.

The humour is so weak. It is a "nerd's revenge" movie that is so far fetched that your brain must take a two hour vacation. First of all, what 40 year old would play competitively against a bunch of 12 year olds? Secondly, there is no way that the dweeby character David Spade plays is going to interest that hot 25 year old Pizza Hut chick unless she has a loser fetish. Thirdly, they have to get moralistic in an attempt to make this more than a fart and nerd joke movie. Also, with so many ex-Saturday Night Live performers, you don't even have to watch it to know it will suck.

Avoid at all costs, unless movies aimed at immature 12 year olds appeal to you.

I had the misfortune of having only one English language channel at my Croatian hotel. It was either another game of rummy with my wife or a reality show I hadn't seen before. Flavor of Love is a cynical, contrived and utterly useless show. Anyone with half a brain (obviously not their target audience) can see that the scenarios are faked, scripted and unreal. One show has a contestant serving Flavor Flav a raw chicken with vegetables stuffed out of its orifices and feigning innocence and ignorance. This show is an insult to Americans and women. I watched this on MTV Europe as were millions of other Europeans. The message we received was that Americans are insincere, vulgar, materialistic and phony among other things. Where is the pride of the contestants ? They made American women look shallow and willing to do anything in the pursuit of celebrity. Seemingly, their ten seconds of fame is worth the indignity of parading around like gold digging sluts.

I have to say yes. The Rockford Files had it all. It had a hugely likable and believable protagonist, Jim Rockford. The supporting cast, particularly Stuart Margolis as Angel and Noah Beery as Rocky, was excellent. Prior to Rockford, all the private detective shows had little use for humour. Think Mannix, Cannon or Barnaby Jones. Maybe there was something funny; invariably, it was unintentional. The brilliance of Rockford Files is the mix of action, suspense, humour, pathos and humanity. You truly grew to love the characters and their foibles. The show was consistently good each year and it has held up very well. The only downfall was its short run due to Jim Garner's health problems. Oh how I'd love two more seasons of the Rockford Files.

Geographically and historically speaking, Hawaii Five 0 was very lucky. Aired from 1968 to 1980, anti colonialism, revolutions, student uprisings, racial issues, Asian communism and many other current events made compelling topics. Hawaii Five 0, with its stoic leader, McGarrett, tackled all these issues with fairness. Mc Garrett, despite his fierce devotion to law and order, was no old school ideologue. His political convictions were kept to himself; he loathed extremism on both sides of the political spectrum. Although a bit sexist, he had a multicultural team that must have been quite alien to audiences used to lily- white police shows. This show, although almost forty years old, is still highly watchable. The first six seasons are worth hunting down.

While I understand the appeal of escapist television, I never understood the fact that this show was ever aired. Utter tripe. Rubbish. A show that prompted bowel movements of such severity that the the sewage pipes cried "NO MORE RENEGADE....LAMAS IS KILLING ME !" Cannell really went downhill after his brilliant Rockford Files. It amazes me that the same human being could create both. Was he slumming ? Was this an attempt to appeal to those people in Spittle County, Arkansas who preferred Barnaby to Jimbo ? Who knows. Lamas is a pathetic actor and the dude that played his sidekick was even worse. This makes Quinn Martin Productions seem like works of Shakespeare.

I noticed a lot of Australians jumping to this film's defence in

earlier postings. Rest easy, Aussies, there are plenty of people

like me who seek Australian films whenever they are available.

This film has the right mix of comedy and sweet-heartedness that

seem to be a trademark of Australian films. My in laws were quite

happy when I returned with "The Castle"

This gem captures early 80's life brilliantly. As a grad '83 boy

myself, I must say that Valley Girl (along with Fast Times at

Ridgemont High )stands out as the class of the teen sex film

genre. The characters are accurate representatives of the era; the

vapid mall chicks, pseudo punk rebels, preppy jocks are all

represented here.

I have seen this over ten times now. The music in the film was top

notch. Unfortunately, these tunes could were never as popular in

their era as those by arena cockrockers like Journey, Styx or

Loverboy. Before the soundtrack existed, I searched out records

and tapes (it was the 80's after all !) of Josie Cotton, Sparks,

Plimsouls and Modern English.

This movie deserves respect. It isn't just a good 80's teen flick. It is

a great film. Period.

I spent 50 cents renting this thing. 50 cents Canadian, that is ! Even that was way too much. Wooden Keanu must do something for the ladies as his acting in this film was as brutal as ever. The movie was boring and moved so slowly that I longed for the end. I felt sorry for the Replacements, whose '80's classic "I Will Dare" was butchered by Reeves and Diaz in one of those cliched bonding moments Hollywood loves. Don't waste your time with this movie.

The supporting role by WKRP lead and Maytag repairman Gordon Jump cannot be unrecognized. His comic timing, so woefully unappreciated, was evident in his role as the victim of bad timing. Entertaining flick, but cheesy in the way most '70's films are.

Although interesting and generally well acted, this film must have provided the impetus for Jerry Falwell to drop his popcorn and rush to start the Moral Majority. Scenes of pseudo incest and Margot Kidder masturbating to a memory of being raped by her husband lead the viewer to feel a bit squeamish and nauseous.

The soundtrack, with its irritating synthesized sounds, makes one glad the '70's are long gone.

An absolutely brutal movie. A gang of teenage hoodlums harass a disabled man and his family in the desert. Dana Andrews, as the lead,has a buxom sex kitten for a daughter who is intrigued by the thugs. Pointless moralizing about drunk driving and the evil nature of disaffected youth offer a bit of a message, but the real point of the movie seems to be to terrify Republicans about the moral decay of American life circa 1967.

This is a touching and incredibly funny movie which shows what American filmmakers who who haven't succumbed to Hollywood money can do. The characters, even the oddball Buck, seem real and believable. It is slow moving, but you do not want it to end. Anybody caught up in a midlife crisis should watch this moving as its message is a good "battery recharger".

Although flawed, this is a physically beautiful film that deserves to be considered to be one the best films of its era. I saw it on New Years Eve, 1986-87 and it began a love affair with the region. I eventually worked in two Central American nations and travelled in all. This film inspired me to go to a then dangerous place and find a beauty beyond the physical beauty of the landscape.

This is a moving film that shows what evil the USA would align themselves with in the name of anti-communism. The American influence in a CIA sponsored coup of the democratically elected government of Chile is clearly shown by the inaction and lack of sympathy of the US officials towards an American man seeking to find his political activist son in early 1970's Chile. Ace performances by Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek highlight this fine film.

A milk drinkin', clean livin' elderly man wants to avenge his son's death so he beomes a private dick. This show was humorous. A man older than 70 trying to apprehend evil younger men ? A bit of suspension of reality required for watching this piece of claptrap from Quinn Martin. Watching Barnaby chasing crooks is good for a laugh.

Unfortunately, telling the true facts of the Sandinista uprising would have required a less "Hollywood" approach.

The struggle was a long one and this movie does not touch on America's twisted obsession with this sorry land. The 20th century was a sad one for Nicaragua and the US had a great deal to do with its misery.

While the action is fast paced and the actors do a credible job, the liberties with the truth do a disservice. There was no real Sandinista messiah like Rafeal and other stretches of the truth make it less the movie than it could have been. It is basically a romantic movie in a foreign land. Salvador , another Central American themed movie made in the same period, is a much better film as it involves the watcher in the the pitiful lives of the Salvadorans.

Spielberg should have asked Weir how to make a moving war movie. The characters in this haunting tale of war are well drawn out. You feel for the lads as their impending date with death comes closer. Weir's decision to show how each of the characters got to Turkey was a good one as the viewer is able to see war through their naive eyes. Brilliant.