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crookdarron
Reviews
Chiefs (1983)
Not guite Mayberry
Anybody who thinks that small towns are like Mayberry will get a rude awakening after watching this mini-series. Small towns. Like big cities, have both good and bad people. There is corruption and dark secrets in these towns as anywhere else and years of unsolved murders are as good as a dark secret can get. Hugh Holmes could have just as easily been a tyrant rather than a kindly man and Foxy Funderburke was an unlikely murderer considering his military record and reputation as a dog breeder. Sonny Butts was as despicable as a person could be and no one was sorry that Foxy killed him. Will Henry Lee and Tyler Watts were decent and competent men who could have just as easily been big city cops. This is one of my favorite mini-series because it does not romanticize small towns. Sadly, the entire mini-series does not seem to be available on DVD.
The Waltons: The Achievement (1977)
Unanswered questions
John-Boy's decision to leave Walton's Mountain and try his luck in New York City as a writer left two major loose ends that he did not tie up. The first was Boatwright University. Did he graduate? If he did, then why was there no episode about his graduation? Did he drop out? We never learn if he did either one. After Season 5, Boatwright University is never mentioned again. The second was his newspaper, The Blue Ridge Chronicle. Did he sell it? Did he turn it over to Ben? Did he shut it down? We the audience never find out what he did about it. Like Boatwright University, it is never mentioned again. John-Boy must have been in such a hurry to get to New York that he did not take the time to close this chapter in his life, no pun intended,
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Woody Allen's nadir
This film did not nothing but show that Woody Allen's directing career is in decline. His heyday with Annie Hall and Broadway Danny Rose is long gone. Giving this point in his career, he can not afford to antagonize any of those who still watch his movies. But, he did when he attacked conservative political views by claiming that they are a result of brain damage. I am a political conservative and I was deeply insulted. I didn't believe that Woody Allen would sink that low. He kept politics out of his earlier movies and focused on relationships and careers. If Allen's goal was to sabotage his career by insulting people who don't agree with him, then he achieved that goal.