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Gee_Cee
Reviews
Real People (1979)
Discovered on Amazon Prime and I jumped into the wayback machine
As soon as I found this on Amazon Prime I knew I had to binge this. I was just a kid in the 80s but this was one of those shows that I enjoyed watching. Never mind the fact that it was a lot of adult humor that I was too young to understand, but it was shows like this that had that fun and innocent comedy that even appealed to kids like me. I remember watching this nightly when it went into syndication with its companion show, "That's Incredible" (another lost gem I would like to rediscover).
Prior to reliving my being an audience member the show, the only personalities I remembered were Sarah Purcell, Byron Allen, and Peter Billingsley. As soon as I started watching, I remembered the rest of the cast such as Skip Stephenson, John Barbour, and Fred Willard whom I completely forgot was on the show. I was like, "Oh yeaaaaah. So-and-so was on this show, too!" It felt as if I have seen these actors (among some of the others not mentioned) in a bunch of other things over the years since, but I was surprised to find that (with the exception of Fred Willard), they didn't do a lot gigs since the show. But I tell you. It all seemed like just yesterday that I was watching these people on TV.
Nowadays, audiences would yawn at the material but for me, it was a wonderful trip down memory lane. The nostalgic value alone was enough to keep me smiling throughout my binge.
Thank you to the cast (and production and crew), both living and departed, for holding a place in my memory and my heart and for being a part of this aging guy's life.
Cold Souls (2009)
Brilliant and underappreciated
I am utterly amazed to see what the box office take for this film was. I know it did not get any promotion prior to its release but even in independent theatres, I would have expected a bigger draw. Nonetheless...
I thought this movie was marvelous. The premise is more than novel, there is a bit of truth to the idea of qualifying and quantifying the human spirit. But not to spiral off on a cosmic tangent, with existential abstractions aside, the idea of the "harvest" and transference of souls from one person to another is intriguing. The story and screenplay was imaginative and geniusly written.
Packed with a star-studded cast whose performances were all brilliant. In usual form, Giamatti delivers both a comical and tragic yet heartfelt performance.
I remember seeing this movie when it first came out on video, and now having just watched it more than ten years later, I was prompted to write this review. When I think about the cost of this production in just talent salaries alone, and I see the box office returns, I wonder what more could have been done to promote this movie better. Not that it would have been a blockbuster, but it surely could have made more money.
Needless to say, this is a truly underappreciated movie and though I won't be watching it again too soon, it is definitely one of those movies I will watch several more times in my life.
Clarkson's Farm (2021)
I'm a just a city boy who yearns for a rural lifestyle
I love watching every farming show and documentary that gets produced. Clarkson's Farm is no exception. I've already binged the series 3 times since its release and I'm certain I'll watch it a few more before the year is through. I really hope Clarkson stays on and decides to farm (and film) another year. The people/contributors/characters are all wonderful and I hope to see them all again.
Unlike other farming shows, this one has all the big equipment. I fancy playing Farming Simulator (the video game) and have played it for years. It was exciting to watch the show and see all the farm equipment in action up and close. Though I have never farmed before and my only "experience" was from a video game, it was thrilling to watch Clarkson make the same mistakes I did in a virtual game. Only difference is, he gets the joy from a real experience.
I do have one question though... why doesn't the lady who helped him in the first episode get any IMDB credits? She was very helpful with getting him going and I think she should at least get some recognition.
Fuller House (2016)
Why, oh why, did it have to end?
I had canceled Netflix for about a year and I come back and find out Fuller House had filmed its final season. I've binged the series at least 5 times since its inception (reboot). When it first came out, I watched a few episodes of season 1 and it just didn't take. When season 2 came out, I decided to give it another go and halfway through the first season, I was hooked. After giving it a fuller consideration (pun), I couldn't help but appreciate the writing, the characters (both old and new), the talent, and the overall chemistry.
Even after I having binged the show a few times, I actually binged the nostalgic 90s Full House, but with a new appreciation as a grown adult. Corny as it was, it was among one of the last wholesome family shows on network TV before dysfunctional family TV became en vogue.
While Fuller House may no longer be in production, it's certainly a show that I will binge several more times as long as it's on streaming.
77 Minutes (2016)
A Tragic Story that Should Not Be Forgotten - Bad Production/Direction, though
I never write IMDB reviews but this film compelled me to do so. The filmmaker did not know what the real story was. Tried to pick an angle more or less portraying himself as a champion for the victims. It's not as if he had actually been there and had been armed that he would have charged in himself to be the hero. For him, it's easier to play advocate 30 years after the fact and to do so from behind a camera and an editing bay. He neither truly cares for the victims nor the work law enforcement does and he seeks only to improve his own profile.
I remember watching this on the news. I was 10 and my family had just moved back to San Diego from overseas. I wouldn't realize until years that this had happened in my own town, not 15 minutes from where I lived. I had never forgotten the phrase "McDonald's Massacre" and what had happened since first hearing about it in 1984.
Many of the scenes were heart-wrenching and as I watched, I kept sending up prayers to those rested souls. Since learning about this event when I was a child, I had never known the magnitude of the carnage until seeing the images in this documentary.
I really find it upsetting that this director was trying to be some kind of "victim's hero" by attacking the law enforcement. Don't get me wrong, I have a good many criticisms about some things (bad) police do but I have the utmost respect for them and their profession. But it seems that the lack of insight this filmmaker had in understanding how officers have to really assess a situation. Going in guns a-blazing seems like it works because they make it look so easy in the movies, but this director is so disconnected, he doesn't understand that that's not how it works in real life.
The real story here is not what took officers so long in taking this man down. Here is the angle by which the story should have been told...
The angle of the story should be about racism and I am saying this as a white man. The shooter was deliberately picking Latinos as his targets. I think the shooting of the couple of Caucasian kids was purely accidental on his part, which is why he didn't proceed to finish murdering them. And it was clearly stated that the shooter had that particular prejudice against Mexicans. You can find the names of all the victims who were murdered are on Wikipedia, all were Hispanic.
I think it was unfair for the director to persist with criticizing law enforcement and try to make them look like the bad guys. While he was trying to playing the hero for the victims himself, I think it is absolutely terrible that he should be the one to reap glory for telling this story. Because really, it is the licensed footage that he uses in the film which really tells the story. The filmmaker has capitalized on the losses of the victims and survivors by trying to come off as their champion.
I think this story should be told by a competent filmmaker who will do with the footage and the stories of the victims a real justice. And really spend time writing and editing a truly beautiful and eloquent "In Remembrance" segment.