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Reviews
Little House on the Prairie: Gold Country (1977)
Charles Ingalls is the real villain
Charles Ingalls endangers his family, lies to Laura, brings the entire town including violent thieves right to their claim, and tries to guilt an entire congregation because of the Gokd fever he fully took part in.
Laura needed to know that what she said caused the hermits death. She trusted strangers and Charles dragged non family members to the assayer after he found gold. The Italian who got shot was running around screaming about his winnings and Charles led them right to the river and his family. It's not surprising how one of the families he met were dishonest.
Charles should not be shielding his daughter from the consequences of her behavior. What if the person killed as a result was his own family? Or his friend Edward's? And why not carry a gun to protect them? Luckily Edwards was smart enough to use the shotgun to protect them. He has a poker face too or he wouldn't have been able to bluff the thieves. Charles was lucky to have him.
And why would the kids have to go to school during summer? They had year round school on the prairie? I feel like it was just a plot device.
At the end of the episode, Charles admonishes the congregation about having a bit of honesty (what right did he have as a newcomer who made his own fortune to admonish people he didn't know?) right after lying to Laura about the old man forgiveing her and "going away". He does that throughout the series so much it's shocking that she believes anything he says to her. She in her narcissistic nature is just happy SHE doesn't have to feel guilty anymore. She is more entitled than Nellie Olsen.
And shall we talk about stranger danger?? Talking to strange hermits, strangers on the trail? That's another thing Charles failed to protect her from.
Charles should have changed himself before rebuking the congregation. He got his money, lied to his daughter yet rebukes others for pursuing their own fortune in gold. A disingenuous man and episode all around.
Not to mention I wonder how they could travel after 2 straight months of rain? There would be flash flooding, treacherous river crossing and mud runoff. On the first dry day everything is just miraculously dry then? I don't buy it. Oregon Trail anyone??
There are decent episodes but this one defies reality and should have been scrapped before it aired while still in screenplay form.
Little House on the Prairie: The Cheaters (1978)
A butt whipping never felt so good.
Seriously, let's cut to the moral of the story. Andy's mother pressured her son because of how his performance made HER look. When her husband suggests she spend extra time helping him study she refuses stating she was too busy. Enter Nellie who blackmails and pressures Andy into cheating. He is a good boy but he is trapped between his mom openly shaming him in front of the class and Nellie's threats. He blew the whistle on himself. Parents say they know they msssdd up with their pressure and shame but still punish Andy with a whipping. What punishment did the parents get? None?! Seriously, why would they make mistakes that put the pressure on Andy, and Andy does the right thing by telling the truth, and his parents see how they caused the issue, but they get off Scott free with a lesson learned and he's dragged to the barn for a whipping designed to cleanse his conscience. Both sides should have shown mercy to each other. Andy apologizing to the whole town and refusing I'll gotten undeserved reward is punishment in itself. Period. Laura can defy her parents, run off or break things when she disobeys and her parents coddle her every time. At least you see Nell's or Harriet actually disciplining Nellie and Willie when things go to far but Laura is straight up spoiled brat.
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Nothing beats Kubrick, but this is great!
This movie reminds me of Alien and it's sequel. They are both incomparable to each other.
Doctor Sleep is different to the Shining. Just like Ridley was changed by the events of Alien, so was Dan Torrance. His story and it's change of genre into a straightforward thriller from the visceral terror of the Shining are both valid, validated by the author King, and it threaded the needle between the books and movies, which is brilliant.
The casting was also brilliant. The recasting of Wendy, Danny, Dick, and even Jack were amazing. How hard was that to fill legendary characters?
Also must give credence to Rose the Hat. Incredible performance there.
All in all, this movie is great in a different way. I loved it! I just let go of the Kubrick comparison. Nothing can add up to that and this movie doesn't even try to.
The Boy (2016)
They missed an opportunity to make this extraordinary!
****CAUTION: THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS****
There was a point in the movie, at the Big Reveal, that this movie could have become something unique and masterful. They had great actors, a promising premise, and an actually believable story arc. But the screenwriter and director decided to make it a pedantic horror movie rather than explore Brahms' psyche or Greta's choices.
I also like that they didn't make the doll demonic in and of itself. That trope has been done to death with Child's Play, Annabelle, and Monkey Shines. Instead, the mind of Brahms plus his parents and his backstory was very interesting or compelling.
Gretas choice in calling out to Brahms for help, and then attacking him for doing just that made me upset. I was actually sympathetic for Brahms and believed that he was a victim of his parents abuse and pressure.
I would have loved to have seen this as a redemption story for both Greta, whose own backstory left a hole in her heart that Brahms could ultimately fill, and for Brahms, who was both inwardly tortured and imprisoned by his parents who only loved him through his avatar- the doll.
There was a movie back in the 80s called The Boy Who Could Fly whose relationship between the institutionalized boy and his caretaker/companion were similar to each other, and even when that Boy revealed his powers to her, she wanted to know him more. I would have loved to have seen that here instead of what happened.
The true failure in this movie was her abusive ex that she spent the entire movie running and hiding from only to attempt to kill Brahms for attacking him in her defense when he found her and got abusive. What was the point?? That didn't fit at all in the movie!
I haven't seen the sequel to this, but I understood that they rewrote him and the protagonists and everything from the ground up. What a complete waste of what could have been an incredible human condition story.
If this was the fault of the studio stepping in and interfering, shame on them. If this is the screenwriter losing his nerve when it came time to explore the inner workings of the characters, then I lament for what this movie could have been. The Boy Who Could Fly touched more on depth but its ultimate shortcoming was that it was a Disney movie catered to per-teenagers and had to be tempered. This movie could have truly been great!
Hopefully they'll make a new movie in afraid to explore a relationship like this!
The Slap (2015)
A great argument for never marrying. Or having kids. Ever.
Okay, is it me, or is everyone in there committing adultery on everyone else?! Seriously, no married person on here (with the exception of the Greek parents, and since there's still an episode left as of my review, that's still debatable) can keep it in their pants! Hector, Aisha, Connie, Harry, Gary, the lawyer, and I'm sure that I'm missing someone - good God almighty! Marriage vows get trampled on like they're nothing, and if people aren't slapping, they're rutting like zebras!! Even Aisha, when Hector told her he kissed an underage babysitter (hello?! Statutory rape anyone?!?), she calls it a "petty" offense and that he shouldn't have told her...never mind she had just gotten done getting busy in the hotel room with a colleague.
As for the slap itself, Rosie is using her kid to fill emotional needs and it's really sick. She's mainlining alcohol and breastfeeding her 5-year old?? Ew. No wonder he's a holy terror. I was already cringing as she was reading a book to the kid and all cuddling with him and such...I thought she was going to make out with the kid! And who lets her husband drive drunk everywhere?
Many people should get the taste slapped out of their mouths for wrecking this show, but I give it a 5 because I actually *do* want to see what happens next, so the 5 is for the car-wreck-rubberneck effect it's having on me.
As for Hugo getting slapped, I don't believe in slapping a kid. Harry should have slapped the parents instead, over and over again. They couldn't be bothered to stop him from almost knocking another kid's teeth out with a bat, but boy did they run when the kid got slapped for kicking Harry in the shin.
On second thought, I'll give this a 6, not a 5. In honor of Mr. Spock's anointed new-generation actor. Zachary Quinto is outstanding. His portrayal of Harry actually had me flinching when he rounded on his wife.