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rgarfiel
Reviews
Arrivano i titani (1962)
ads were better than the movie
This was meant to be a serious sword-and-sandal epic. However, in NYC, the TV ads for the film were made, believe it or not, by Mel Brooks! Mel made it seem like a quickie satire of the genre rather than the more-or-less straight story it was meant to be. The ads were hilarious; sample voice-over while showing scenes from the movie: "See hand maidens, foot maidens, all kinds maidens (this with a Yiddish accent). See the crazy lady with snakes in her hair; see a nice Cyclops. See 'My Son, the Hero'." The movie is long forgotten, but anyone who heard Brooks' promos have never forgotten them. It was a preview of the inspired lunacy to come.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Angel One (1988)
bad show, bad acting
Even for Star Trek, this is a preachy and obvious episode. O.K., we get it, any "---archy," matri- or patri- is bad. No need to belabor the point. But the show undermines its own premise by having the problem almost solved when Riker gets it on with the ruling female, Mistress Beata. In other words, as long as the guy is great in bed, nothing else matters. Shades of Captain Kirk. And, just to be clear, the actress playing Beata, Karen Montgomery, seems to have the acting skills and emotional range of a fourth-grader. Its no wonder then that, according to the IMDb, she's made only two other shows since this one. All in all, not one of ST:NG's better efforts.
Star Trek: Voyager: False Profits (1996)
how not to get a stranded crew home.
Yes, they have to keep the show going, but this episode shows one of the great flaws in "Voyager" as a concept. Janeway should be doing everything she can to get her crew home; after all, she was the one who got them stranded in the Delta Quadrant in the first place. So, with the wormhole almost upon them, and the way home there for the taking, Janeway instead plays games with an alien planet and two miserable Ferengi, and almost literally misses the bus. Even so, once she transports the Ferengi to the ship, shouldn't they be tied up like cattle and guarded by several well-armed crewmen, who would realize that keeping the Ferengi on ice is their ticket back to Earth? Janeway's sympathy for the inhabitants of the planet must take a back-seat to her primary mission. This episode, like so many Trek shows, in all the series, could be sub-titled "liberals in space." Great morality back on Earth, no so hot when exiled 75,000 light-years from home.