Reviews

After four episodes, the plot keeps thickening, the tension is building, and I've got a general idea as to what set everything in motion. I don't need anything more than that to hold my interest, but there is more to this limited series.

I find it odd that so many of the negative reviews center on a teenager whose cloistered existence is suddenly disrupted by the adult world she can't comprehend. She's a kid acting like kids do, so I don't see the problem.

Garner is at her usual best, as this tale is right in her wheelhouse. She is versatile, but dramatic action is where she shines the most.

With all the superhero junk that's being forced on the public along with the depressing message 'dramas' I'm always on the lookout for good storytelling. That means relatable characters, not capes and car chases.

I'm writing this after watching over half the first season. Before reviewing, I read some of the negative takes on this show, and from what I read, those reviewers watched a few minutes, decided this wasn't a 'woke-disney sci-fi Star Wars' retread, and didn't bother giving this show a chance.

Yes, the 'Lost in Space stranded on a spacecraft' plot is a cliche, but there isn't much new out there that isn't a creature feature. What this series does present that's new is a mix of characters like the old Star Trek series in all it's permutations presented. There's something for everyone here.

Getting hung up on things like cafeteria trays, logistics, and other nit-picky things tells me the negative reviewers weren't looking for characters the viewers could identify with, rather they had a predetermined checklist this new show didn't measure up to. I have news for you, that's the definition of creative. This one doesn't check the boxes, and that's a refreshing thing.

Give this one the chance it deserves.

Funny and thought-provoking. The audience's reactions throughout, and the ovation at the end says it all.

The country needs more fearless comedians like Chris, Dave Chapelle, and those like this pair who haven't sacrificed creative comedy for political expediency. The former, brave artists. The latter, cowardly sell-outs.

We used to enjoy comics like Chris on late-nite TV, but since those shows fell in line with Hollywood, that venue has lost millions of viewers. That's a shame. Remember when Jimmy Fallon was funny?

The few negative reviews I've read came from people who clearly only watched clips, or they would have understood the point of the bits about family and other aspects of life Chris found humor in. A joke has a setup, and an ending. You have to experience the whole joke to 'get it,' and it's clear the naysayers dn't because they didn't want to.

This could very well be an excellent series, hard to tell because the dialogue, especially in the flashback scenes, is overwhelmed by droning sound effects.

In the present-day scenes, the dialogue is easier to understand, but one has to work way too hard to pick out the spoken word from all the extraneous sounds. One can generally figure out what's going on because of the acting, and the plot and characterizations are clear.

I watched the first episode one the regular TV which is hooked up to a surround sound receiver, and compared that with the episode played through a computer that has a simple sound and speaker system. That cuts out the droning bass and all the garbage sound, and that's how I'll watch the final two episodes.

Whoever produced this needs to get their act together.

Okay, two thugs with machine pistols in a narrow hallway can't hit a guy in the back at a distance of around twenty-five feet. Really?

The only guy who can hit anything is the guy who's just been in a major car wreck, got beaten up, several times, been injected with a sedative, and he mows 'em down. Meanwhile, the bad guys can't hit anything but each other.

Don't get me wrong, all I was looking for was an action flick, and not high cinematic art, some deeper meaning, or some uplifting message. This is an elongated shootout. The problem here is that this wasn't a shootout. This was just silly.

No point in giving away the ending, because I doubt very many will get that far.

Don't be misled. This isn't a Western. This is Hollywood's glossed-over version of what contemporary city folk think a Western is, complete with an Apache Indian who looks nothing like an Apache. The actor would fit it quite well in any story that features modern Italians, but a Native American from the Southwest? Nuh-uh.

You don't open a period Western with a mix of contemporary pop music, then morph into stereotypical banjo twang with some fiddle thrown in, add dialogue written for a modern drama, dress the women up with makeup and coifed hairdos and then expect to be taken seriously.

This is a show geared toward the under-thirty crowd who need flash and glitter to maintain focus. The plotting, the dialogue, 'something borrowed, nothing new.'

I wanted to like this. I tried. Watched the entire pilot, but that's enough for me.

This storyline has more places to go than I could count. Complications, opportunities for tension, both slow-growing and the blow-up kind, several interesting characters, and dynamic scenery.

Fire country is another throwback to the time where dramas were developed and built around the theme of family. Our times have changed, but the human desire for closeness hasn't.

Max Thieriot brings a lot to the palate. The part requires depth of character, but his athleticism adds the required realism as well. I've always liked Billy Burke and Dinae Farr. There complicated relationship, with each other, and Bodie, will add conflict and interest as this series develops.

My only gripe is that Hollywood stuck it's nose into this one and included the 'check this box' character that's completely unnecessary. Adding characters because of what they are, not who they are, is the current trend, but that's not storytelling, that's not creative, that's filling an artificial requirement. One star deducted for allowing political correctness to hold sway over creativity.

I read the poor reviews, and I think I saw a different movie. Either that, or those who don't like Westerns because . . . They're Westerns, decided to vent their frustrations after junk like Batgirl, The 4400 remake, the Bros flick, and the other Hollywood trendy junk people don't want fell flat. Who knows?

This is Walter Hill being Walter Hill. Gritty, realistic, devoid of Technicolor fluff. The landscape is unpleasant, uninviting, because that's what it is in this area of the southwest. People are living on the hard edge, because there isn't much else.

This tale, in the mold of The Professionals and The Wild Bunch, is not in the same category as The Undefeated. There's no sweetness and light, just the reality people of this era faced.

The acting is fine, the script is good, and the directing, that's Walter Hill. My only knock on this one, the same lighting and filtering used in the exteriors was applied to the interior shots in a way that's noticeable. That's not something one should notice.

Like a train wreck in slow motion, we've been witness to the potential demise of a once stellar center for the arts. Recent attempts to 'update' the classics took a hard turn into Neverland after Beauty and the Beast. Hard to believe they could have performed poorer than the recent Cinderella, but they did.

Any adult watching this flick has to wonder who the writers thought their audience might be. Certainly not children. Many of the 'jokes' would fly over the heads of young adults.

This movie gets four out of ten for the initial CGI work and cinematography, but that degraded into B movie territory near the end, as if they ran out of budget and farmed the work out to a local High School AV club.

When Tom Hanks can't save you with a valiant effort, it's time for some soul-searching.

I haven't read the book, but now it's on my list. The story is often heart-wrenching, but at other times, affirming. For most of the film, the audience can guess what's happening, and the stellar acting by 'The Marsh Girl' makes her naivety entirely believable.

The landscape and wildlife are co-stars in this story of survival, so consider focusing on that aspect as this journey toward discovery unfolds. The comparisons to 'Mockingbird' are inevitable, but be assured, this is a very different story.

Watching JoJo Regina, who plays the young Kya, and Daisy Edgar-Jones, the grownup, is worth the price of admission. Everything else, icing on the cake.

Watch this one for the children and the 'grandparent' characters. They carry the lion's share of the storytelling in this one. The plot points aren't new, but that doesn't matter when it's easy to identify and sympathize with the characters.

The lead acter, Chris Russell has been around for some time, and this familiar face performs well. His counterpart, Caitlin Clark is believable in all her scenes except those with Russell, which I found a bit odd.

That's probably a knock on the director who failed at finding some spark of chemistry between these two leads. Clark is believable with every actor but becomes wooden when she's with Russell.

This movie is still worth the time but would have been so much better with just a dash of chemistry. That missed opportunity cost this rating two stars.

I've read several of Linda Lael Miller's books and had high hopes for this one. If Vaugier had been able to show the same depth of emotion in her scenes with Smith as she did with her step-daughter, or the two sons of Smith's character, I'd have added a couple more stars.

When Vaugier and Smith are alone in the scene, she's not doing much more than reciting lines. Not so with the child actors, who do quite well in this tale, especially their scenes with Vaugier, so I suspect there was something going on there between the actors.

There's enough general conflict and tension to keep up the pace. The scenery could have been developed a bit more, but other than that slight nit-picky comment, the production values are good.

This story combines an expansive landscape with an intimate cast and portrays the struggle of a talented and driven young geologist who seeks academic achievement.

She's living in a 'me first' world where there are no rules other than the ones made by those who hold the power. The portrayal of the antagonists in this movie is stunningly accurate, as I've encountered many of them in my working experience. The 'me first' crowd view character traits like trust, honor, and personal dignity as weaknesses to be exploited. Lying and cheating aren't evils, they're useful tools.

At the core, this movie is all about character, or the lack thereof. What personal sacrifice will you pay to achieve your goals, and what price will be exacted from you by your peers if you choose to play by the rules?

Watch this movie for the landscapes, and for the journey of personal discovery. You won't be disappointed.

I was surprised by the depth of character Sylvester portrays in this slam-banger. He's still showing his wryness when humor is called for, but the tragedy that seeps through is quite believable.

This isn't your typical superhero flick, so don't watch it for that, you'll be disappointed. The arch-villain, portrayed by Pilou Asbaek of Game of Thrones fame, (Euron Greyjoy) oozes evil, and diminutive Moises Arias, who danced about the set of Hanna Montana as a boy, now scurries across the set like a rat on meth.

This is a story about people living on the edges of society, some surviving with dignity, others surrendering to their base instincts. I think it's worth your time.

Change the setting from a remote ramshackle farm to the African landscape, change the cast from a group of dull-witted young people to a doctor with his two teenaged daughters and a surrogate game warden uncle, and change the crazed homicidal maniac to a crazed homicidal lion, and you get 'BEAST.' Don't go looking for something new, or creative, or . . . Whatever. Go with a scorecard and count the tropes. You will have a good time.

I'm thinking all those who've left negative reviews have just lost their sense of humor. If they had one to begin with. All things considered; this is what summer releases have been like for some time now. Expecting anything else is simply delusional. Go see this movie and have fun. That's what summer releases are for.

This is top-notch entertainment, contrary to what the low-rated and obviously contrived reviews state.

From the first to last episode, the tension remains high, the acting excellent, and the storytelling engages at every plot twist and turn.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the original book was written with Pratt in mind. He's come a long way in his career, and I hope he gets the opportunity to do more of these thrillers.

This is what I go to see movies for, to be entertained. I've never given a flick a 10 before this one, might never do so again, but this one earned all ten stars. Whoever cast Miles Teller as the son of Goose deserves an award of some kind.

This movie will get placed into the 'blockbuster action' category, but the reason for my top mark is that the script and the acting balance out the 'hold onto your armrest' thrills. The views from the cockpit are incredibly realistic.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill superhero flick, a reference made directly by the admiral played by Ed Harris in the beginning. The heroes don't wear tights and capes, just G-suits and regulation helmets when appropriate. The opening credits, another classic scene with classic Kenny Loggins.

Seeing 'Iceman' and 'Maverick' on screen together again, that's pretty special. Thanks for that.

Okay, let's all say it, this one doesn't live up to the original. There, that's out of the way. Now, on to reviewing 'Dominion.'

The clear intent of this wrap up was just that, to wrap it up, and that task has been accomplished. Several screen moments harkened back to the original, fitting because of all the returning stars. There was even an oblique Indiana Jones reference that many in the audience laughed at, and the laughter could be heard over the ear-splitting IMAX sound.

The sets, the special effects, all the nuts and bolts get a ten out of ten. As far as originality goes, I don't think that was ever the point.

Dominion succeeds as a final chapter, does so with nostalgia and good humor, and let's hope those who make movies understand that this story is over.

A few minutes in, you know how this tale will end. When film makers choose to do that, they kill a great deal of the tension, the suspense that keeps us watching, so they need to replace that tension with something else. In this case, they didn't.

Slow, dark, brooding, morose, pick one, or pick them all. There really isn't much here. Some good portrayals of culture and history, but they could have accomplished that in a short documentary, if they presented something new, which they didn't.

They could have spiced this slog through the first century with some well-crafted presentations of Viking mythology, but they choose the artsy weirdly disconnected imagery one can find in a Malick film. They had an opportunity to weave in the deity-driven culture of the time, but again, they didn't.

What a wasted opportunity.

This move received Oscar noms? Why? Like so many of the trendy Hollywood 'We're all terrible humans' junk that's being produced, one must force oneself to sit and watch something with an entirely predictable ending.

The soundtrack, screeching, atonal, discordant stings is there to keep the viewers awake. If 'fingernails-on-a-blackboard' is your thing, go out and buy that soundtrack today, otherwise . . .

Bleak, angry, brooding, sadistic behavior rules the day in this flick. It's candy for the clinically depressed. How on earth does a film like this get anything above a five rating? I'm being generous with three, only because the actors did an exemplary job in portraying characters I wouldn't watch again if someone paid me.

What an utter waste of time, and good talent. If you long for a Western that includes harsh reality, seek out anything made by Taylor Sheridan. Avoid the trendy junk like this one.

I don't understand why Hollywood thinks movies such as this are entertainment. There are only victims and victimizers here, and everyone loses.

After a few minutes in, I predicted the ending, watched a few minutes more, maybe just over half the movie, the fast-forwarded to the end and confirmed my prediction. I don't believe I massed anything, and I'm certain my time was better spent elsewhere.

Top shelf actors, cinematography, all the technical elements are beyond reproach, but the story itself, what's the point of this? It can't be to entertain. Who seeks out depression as entertainment?

This movie isn't easy to watch, but I recommend you do just that. Unlike the movies people want to categorize this story with, one witnesses the unvarnished evil that men, and women do to their fellow man.

The life many women and children are still being forced into today is one that grinds most people into a hellish existence, and this movie pulls no punches in the portrayal of such depravities.

What you won't find here is gratuitous sex and violence, just a realistic view into the lifestyle no one would wish on themselves. That's a fine line to tread, and the writers and director have done an excellent job of getting the point across without bludgeoning you with it.

Abigail Cowan shines as Angel, and Tom Lewis is a believable Hosea in a story that's inspired by the Biblical tale.

Eric Dane and Famke Janssen are the self-serving inhuman villains in this tale, both frightening characters easy to despise.

I would have liked to have one extra scene before the finale that helped fill out the end, but overall, an excellent job has been done by all.

I've watched the entire first season, and no, I didn't binge-watch. That's a bad way to absorb things like nuance and subtlety, especially when it comes to character.

I read some of the negative reviews before writing this, and they have something in common: an inability to see the difference between the story, that's the character, and the plot. They're decidedly different things.

This Reacher is far more character-oriented than the Cruise movies. Those two flicks were Cruise vehicles, where this series is about the character created by Child.

Do yourself a favor. Watch an episode, maybe two at most in one day. Let that sit for a day or two, then go back. You'll see everything the low-mark reviewers missed.

This is top-notch entertainment, and I'm pleased to see Reacher has been renewed for another plot to unwind, one angry step at a time.

Everyone, that is, except for those who, should they get to heaven, the diamonds will be too bright. Gabriel will be blowing his trumpet too loud, etc etc etc.

I'm writing this review after the start of season three, now three episodes in, and the series has gotten better as it progresses. I read some of the negative reviews. Why rate a romantic fantasy if you aren't into this genre?

The casting is perfect, having read the books, and the production values on all counts are top notch. I can't find anything negative to say, other than I wish each season had a few more episodes.

The tension remains high from episode to episode, and the story arc is heading for an end, but who knows where the series writers will take us?

This could have been good but for the miscasting of the lead actress. What were they thinking? Had they cast Milano as the teacher, switched the roles and made Ullerup the writer, this flick would have been watchable.

Milano drags through every scene as if she's pulling along an over-packed four-suiter behand her. The possibility for a good characterization is there in the script and direction, but Milano can't seem to get out of her own way and just let the character out.

The other disappointment, they didn't just telegraph the ending, they erected a neon-lit billboard illustrating 'who-dun-it' so early on, the ending was anticlimactic.

Add to these deficiencies, there's zero chemistry between the leads. Take a pass on this one.