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John Doe (2002)
Good start
I love shows that are original and can surprise me. John Doe was one of those shows, Very original and very well written. But two things doomed it for me. It premiered back-to-back with Firefly, an even better sci-fi show, which was canceled before the end of the first season. FOX replaced Firefly with Fastlane, a show so bad I couldn't finish one episode, but while avoiding Fastlane it became easy to miss John Doe. Sadly also at about the same time John Doe took a deep dive into a long, convoluted, conspiracy theory arc that lost my attention. Too bad. It was a good show with good actors.
Cop Rock (1990)
The most daring and innovative show ever to air on broadcast TV
When I talk to friends about the dismal failure of most TV execs to break out of their cookie-cutter molds which produce nothing but hours of so-called "reality TV" or another reworked movie-of-the week, I can still point to this show as the boldest idea I've ever seen on TV.
I was stunned that someone had the guts to create a show this different. I watched the first show and was blown away - it was excellent! My only worry, even before the first episode aired, was that it would be nearly impossible for them to keep up the schedule of creating entirely new music week after week, even with the great talents of Randy Newman, (writing music has to be 20x harder than writing dialog). I don't remember if I saw every episode but I was greatly impressed with what I saw - something completely new and original on TV.
So, I knew the show was doomed from the start but I still continue to applaud the attempt - it turned out better than I was expecting and I will be looking for it on DVD to add to my very small collection of must-have TV shows.
[ The only other TV show which comes to mind that I'd call groundbreaking was the short-lived series, Firefly, (first in my must-have collection); a space Western, literally, but even Joss Whedon didn't dare try to have his characters SING every week! (He did however create a single musical episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" which was also outstanding). ]
Black Moon (1975)
What the ?
[ possible spoiler(s) - although I think I could dictate exactly what I saw in this particular movie from beginning to end without really giving anything away. It's that peculiar. ]
I'm not sure what movie the last reviewer watched - I have no idea what all his comments about cherubs and seraphs are about. Perhaps he saw heavenly references in the naked children chasing/wrestling the hog. But that doesn't explain the sheep; the turkeys; the huge talking rat; the short, shaggy, talking unicorn; the war; the WWII radio; the mother, brother, and sister's relationship; Lily's actions from beginning to end; the costumed houseguests; the black eagle; eating the ant infested cheese; nursing granny; etc, etc, etc...
I suspect the movie may be full of symbolism and hidden references but all I saw was one long surreal visual nightmare (with surprisingly very little dialog). Even if the writer explained exactly what each symbol meant to him I think that each viewer would get something different. Me? I got confused and more than a few unintended laughs. But I did find it somehow compelling enough that I watched it all the way through (after falling asleep a couple times because there are long stretches with no dialog or "action"). Perhaps that's the best explanation; I fell asleep early and had a very strange nightmare instead of watching the actual movie.
Unless you've seen and enjoyed movies like "Eraserhead" and "The Naked Lunch" I can't recommend this movie to anyone except as a way to recalibrate the low end of your movie rating scale.