Reviews

A very inspiring, and lovingly made, testament to humanity and the literary alter at which we are able to embrace our being in all of the faults that make up our perfection as a species. Based on Chris Belden's novel "Shriver", writer-directer Michael Maren, and the entire cast and production staff through their hard work, have brought a bountiful feast of food for the soul to the motion picture screen (be it a cinema screen or on a laptop). If you love how words can be turned into music, or even if there is not enough time in the day to read much, the characters in this film and their predicaments certainly resonate with all of us. My hat is off as I bow to this troupe of filmmakers to offer my gratitude. Thank you. And as a final note to my long lost friend Lynn, who has spent her entire life avoiding putting her words on paper, it is never too late to put ink to quill. Catharsis for writer and reader awaits. ***NOTE*** I did not mention the amazing actors by name in this picture because every one of them in all of their roles empowered this picture with their truly heartfelt and well tuned performances, no matter if they worked for just one day or the entire run of the project. In short, the actors are great across the board, one and all bringing life to this work of love.

Mike Colter and Gerard Butler, as usual, deliver dynamite performances with an equally energetic and talented cast. If you're looking for a well crafted action movie, Plane will not disappoint.

However, It is beyond me why the majority of movies where a plane plays a role, and a real world aircraft is chosen, it seems to be by aesthetic design rather than the real world limitations of the machine.

In the movie Plane, the aircraft sets out on a 3,300 mile (5300km) non-stop flight, but the aircraft chosen to play the role, a DC-9 (aka MD-80 / 717), has a maximum range of between 1,100 miles (1760km) and 2300 miles (3700km), well short of the planned trip. Absurd to anyone who recognizes aircraft makes and models.

It could be argued that the average viewer wouldn't know, or care, about an aircraft's real world limitations compared with its on-screen role in the movie. But for those who do recognize such things, it puts a major ding in the entire experience, immediately suspending belief in an otherwise excellent story.

If Plane were a movie called "Car", the absurdity would be equivalent to loading an electric Smart Car, which has a maximum range of 85 miles (135km), and pretend it will make a non-stop journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco, or Paris to Zurich on a single charge. Not any where near possible, and most audiences would pick up on that right away.

Plane is an excellent action movie experience. But it is high time that professional filmmakers make aesthetic choices based on reality, or create a non-real world design to play a role. Otherwise, aware audiences will have a less than a complete experience, and some may even feel filmmakers think of the audience as idiots. Please change your ways.

Thank you.

Alert is a cop show that follows dysfunctional detectives beleaguered by their own conjugal chaos while working missing persons out of Philadelphia. If this dumpster fire of a drama were presented as a sci-fi comedy, maybe we could believe these gumshoes are able to instantly follow a lead to Las Vegas and be back in the Philly office before their left-behind cheese steak lunch gets cold. On another case, a clock of impending death is literally ticking on screen. With barely 30 minutes to go, legs akimbo, Philly's finest run down a lead across town, stop for fast food, bicker about divorce, have a chase scene, drag a suspect back to interrogation, and there's still 17 minutes left on the ticking clock to solve the case!! But I'm rambling about the most plausible parts of this burnt offering on the alter of the absurd. The title, "Alert", doesn't seem to be a word used much around the script writing office, because it seems nobody was alert to how insanely unraveled the script work product was becoming...On the other hand, maybe this show WAS written as a sci-fi comedy featuring time and space folding law enforcement, BUT the scripts accidentally got shuffled into some other production on the other side of the reality universe. Full transparency: I may not be the most reliable reviewer resource because, undaunted by the mocking throngs, I've actually watched THREE episodes of Alert. Who in their right mind would do such a thing? In summary, if you're like me and you've recently had a bilateral lobotomy, this may be just the show for you. The surprisingly high IMDB star rating, that is totally out of sync with the resounding thumbs-down response from the viewer reviews, smacks of organized crime.

This movie is a great watch. The filmmakers created a motion picture to be proud of. All departments were tapping on all 8 cylinders delivering awesome imagery traveling at the speed of light to a driving beat. The players take all of that to the next level. Ukrainian actor Olga Kurylenko is a full throttle, pedal to the metal, gear jammin' action hero, as well as a very talented actor with a massive screen presence. The rest of the cast is great too. What I don't understand are the very bad reviews across the "professional" critic spectrum. I'm not even sure any of those critics actually saw this movie. Whether or not they watched the movie, they did the public and the makers of this fine picture a disservice by herding movie goers away from enjoying Momentum. It may sound conspiratorial, but I wonder if somebody with influence in the reviewer world for reasons unknown wanted to sink the movie right out of the gate; and went so far as to gather and convince other so called experts to Xerox a boilerplate negative review, change a few words, and put their names on it. Cinema critics are not to be trusted. They only come out after dark. Up to no good. Or, maybe in October of 2015, when the movie premiered, there was something going on the world that cast a unsavory shadow on doomsday, power-broker, end-of-days, action thriller movies. Whatever derailed Momentum back then won't stop the movie from pleasing viewers who view it now. Maybe with enough grassroots buzz from fans over social media the movie could gain a large enough cult following to grab the attention of a major streamer who sees the potential of a "chapter 2". Meanwhile, if you like action films, and haven't already seen Momentum or / and you're not yet an Olga Kurylenko fan, please give it a look.

All of the comedians in the lineup are great talents and I'm eager to experience their stories.

But personally, I'm disappointed that there is not a more diverse representation of America's ocean of great comedians. Maybe future seasons will balance things out. But if it ends up being a single season show, and the first season is limited to the ten episodes currently listed, an important opportunity to experience the challenges, hardships, and successes of comedians from wider representation of America's rich diversity will have been lost.

There are ten comedians presented...among them: 8 White people 7 Men 3 Women 1 Black 1 Latin 0 Asian 0 Native Americans 0 Anyone else

In defense of the makers of this series, in the real world the majority of standup comedians are white males. So in that sense the lineup is as real as it can possibly be.

Having lodged my complaints, I still want to thank the makers of this series for their hard work and the opportunity for us as an audience to learn more about some of America's greatest laugh makers. And I'd like to express my sincere hope for the success of this series so that future seasons will provide an opportunity for the makers to present many more comedians from all walks of life.

Aloha! Apparently this is a remake (reboot?) of a well loved late 80's series that I never saw, so I didn't have any expectations. The first episode is well written, heartfelt, and endearing. I love the cast! Lot's a amazing talent portraying the story with a rich and colorful culture as background.

Cudos to the cast and crew for the nice work! It's beautiful and you make it look soooo easy! I'm looking forward to your future episodes!

The title is the only thing that bothers me. It makes apparently nostalgic reference to the original series. But I think the title should celebrate what we're seeing here today, now. I'd propose either "Lahela Kamealoha, M. D.", or maybe "Kamealoha, SHAKA SHAKA M. D.". Just thinking out loud. After all, what's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet!

Please have a look at this show. Maybe you'll enjoy it too!

• A.

Music supervisor Susan Jacobs stuffed Cruella with the longest list of hit songs I can remember. Suitcases of cash must have changed hands to license this picture. Non-stop, wall-to-wall heavy hits from the sixties through the eighties and beyond. Barely ten seconds goes by before another memorable tune carries the picture forward. Great music most of the time, occasionally annoying in its panoply.

The Costco size can of music is tempered by the phenomenal animal animation and a cornucopia of visual effects that are breathtaking in their subtlety created under the supervision of Max Wood.

A mountain range of hair, oceans of costumes, and a predictable, yet charming, parable of a script pitting good against evil, and black against white as the production's color palette goes, conspire to sweep away our imagination.

While black and white lead by default in Cruella, it is not for one second meant to detract from the production design and camera department's symphony of stunning imagery that provides a world in which black and white can truly rule the rainbow.

Consistently and appropriately over-the-top performances from an awesome cast of great actors provide the foundation for this remake (Reboot? Reanimation?).

Working on a picture like this must have been exhausting for the performers (and everybody else for that matter). But their finished product makes it look like it was a breeze and a laugh.

Cruella is a technical masterpiece with a soundtrack that would span four CDs if such things were still widely sold. Digital downloads of the complete playlist I fear will run in the GBs rather than the MBs. Please budget accordingly for a worthy music purchase when made available.

Please allow me to try my review in just three words: Disney on crack! Mmmm...not sure. Still workin' on the review in "X" number of words thing.

Meanwhile, when you're in the mood for some fun and laughs from the lighthearted dark side, please give Cruella a look. Might be a bit scary or emotionally scarring for the wee little ones though.

PS - Can't wait to see how the theme park division will interpret this one...

Great writing, great cast, great story. If you need some laughs with plenty of food for thought, this is the right series to catch!

This movie is like the love child of a milk-toast action movie and a Hallmark card.

The silver lining here is that a lot of people got jobs working in this juggernaut. So not everybody walked away from this movie with little to show for it.

Gentle, unassuming, touching, heartbreaking, uplifting, just lovely! Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience. This glimpse at the talent and passion of filmmaker Yoshida Mayumi only hints at what this director, writer, producer, actor has in store for us in the future!! I can't wait to see what comes next!

The "Social Dilemma" filmmakers are definitely concerned about our best interests.

The movie is well made and provides very well documented arguments.

But unlike a documentary by definition, this is a movie presenting arguments to support an opinion.

An opinion I happen to agree with: We, and our children, need to become strong in exercising our critical opinion. We MUST consume all digital media with skepticism and questions in order to determine its value, and in turn to protect ourselves and to keep truth and its value alive.

Computer algorithms can teach themselves to guess and eventually almost certainly predict our behavior. That is what generates the money needed to keep the social media websites afloat.

When presented with those AI induced results on our social media favorites it is our duty to ourselves and humanity to question the results as a matter of daily life. The fact of the matter is that the rather crude and remarkably stupid A.I. results of our social media activity loses its hold on our hearts and minds when we immediately question EVERY thing it presents to us in reaction to our online actions.

Western World Proverb: If it smells like a chunk of rancid pork, then it is a chunk of rancid pork.

It is in the most deepest sense in the best interests of our children, our children being the messages we send to a future we will never see, that we teach them to defend themselves with critical thinking.

Our children must be taught to question everything; not because paranoia is a healthy way of life, rather because we do not want to feed our brains poison anymore than we'd want to feed your body poison.

A.I. results presented to us in social media in my opinion are really pathetically bad, but some day will eventually be razor sharp to the point of being more dangerous to humanity than they already are. In the meantime we must not allow ourselves to fall prey to them.

Whether or not you agree with the opinion presented here in this not-a-documentary opinion piece movie presented in our best interests, it is well worth watching all of the way through.

If you love your family and your offspring, you'll start looking for ways to strengthen your own critical thinking and most importantly that of your living messages to the future.

It feels weird to say, but we must arm our children to the teeth with critical thinking skills to insure that they do not fall prey to a zombie apocalypse.

To the "Social Dilemma" filmmakers: Message received! Thank you for your hard work and heartfelt passion to address an enormous dilemma.

And to the great minds that in all innocence and good faith created this beast who now recognize the problem AND have come forward to share a call to action to fix it, I'm most grateful for your sense of responsibility and assistance.