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lordkinbote
Reviews
The Help (2004)
IMHO, the worst show on TV
I was actually surprised that some people actually liked it. I'm not going to cut down those people 'cause everything is subjective, but I just thought that there was nothing to like about it except for the cleavage and if you don't like that, then there's nothing. I decided after watching the 3rd episode (for the cleavage) that it's best to watch this show with the mute on. I agree with the person that said that the characters are annoying. None of them are likeable, except for maybe Mindy Cohn's "the Cook". But the sad thing is that I find NONE of the jokes funny at all. I don't even crack a smile during 98% of each episode (most of that is rolling my eyes) and the other 2% is, at most, a chuckle. A sitcom that is not funny is not a comedy, it's a tragedy and it just makes you bored and annoyed. I'm gonna say the fault of this show lies solely on the writing. The actors and everyone else do the best with what they have but you can't make unfunny writing funny, no matter how good you may be. Of the actors I've seen before, I've seen them all do better elsewhere. David Faustino doesn't get to do anything but grunt so how can anyone say he's a good or bad actor from this? They give him nothing. But, it's a paycheck for the actors and good for them. I just think they all deserve work better than this. Like I said before though, to each his own 'cause some people obviously do find it funny. What really bugs me is that Wonderfalls is off the air and this show is still on. The world is topsy turvy.
Three O'Clock High (1987)
They NEED to put this on DVD
Not just 'cause I wanna see it pristine and widescreen but because there are two different versions out there and I'm hoping the longer one will be on DVD. I saw the one on video many times and got to love it that way and then I happened to watch some of it when it was on TV once and there were about 3 extra scenes that they ADDED on TV, which is unusual! Some small lines and reactions made more sense with the extra scenes. Some things only made reference to in the video were actually shown. I only watched the first half of that one and there were, like I said, at least 3 added scenes, just in the FIRST HALF. I wasn't sure with the first one. I thought that maybe I just didn't remember this one scene but then there was another, and another and I said, "I practically have this movie memorized and I've NEVER seen three of these scenes so far! DAMN! I wish I was taping this!" Some people have admitted here that they like this movie but then add that it isn't a good or great movie, but I disagree. This is a great movie. When I saw it the first time, my sister and I stated that it's like a teen version of "After Hours", another underappreciated movie of the 80s. It's a better comparison, IMHO, than the one the other person said combining Rocky, The Karate Kid and Shootout at the OK Corral 'cause none of those were comedies and this one is nothing BUT a comedy. Tongue is planted firmly in cheek throughout. So many hilarious things in this movie including all the subtle facial expressions and inflections to the lines being said. Makes me wonder if they even watched this same movie.
"Don't f@ck this up, MITCHELL!"
Do Over (2002)
I was thinking about the music also
Along with some people who have stated before that the music doesn't match up to the year. That struck me also, but it didn't bother me since most of the music blurbs seem to be inside Joel's head as a memory in relating to a feeling. They're usually when he sees someone or remembers a situation and the content of the song relates to that. I don't think it's supposed to be anything more than his memory of the songs and since his memory isn't perfect, as in when he dressed up as a ghostbuster for Halloween and no one knew what he was, the songs in his head don't match up to the time exactly either, but no one can call him on it since it's only in his head. It's just used as funny accentuation. I like this show a lot 'cause it's right at my age point. I'm 35 and was a freshman in high school in '80 (started school a year early), so this show lines up perfectly with me and does make me consider "what would I do if this happened to me?" The prospect of it would probably drive me insane though. Having to go through all that again. It would be great to try things different but there is also the thing he stated in the first episode, "everything for the next 20 years is going to be a rerun." Ugh. Would drive me nuts. ;-)
Firefly (2002)
Actually surprised at how many reviews there are
For those of you who only care if I give the show a "yay" or "nay" vote, definitely a "YAY!". The reason I'm surprised was that most people gave their reviews after only seeing one episode. One episode is definitely not a basis to have a fully formed idea of what a show is going to be. I liked the first episode, but still could only give it an "interesting" and "let's see where this is going." After seeing the first three episodes (and the unaired pilot that I downloaded), I can say that I really like it. The characterizations are very good and the fact that they didn't air the original 2-hour pilot kinda cuts most people out of that although after watching the subsequent episodes, you definitely get a more well-rounded view. The pilot was about how they all meet and gives more of all of their motivations and personalities but still leaves you questioning about all of them. FOX should definitely air the pilot to give people the little more background that they quickly tried to give in the first episode of The Train Job. I actually laughed at how fast they'd give exposition and it wasn't nearly enough, so the characters came across, in that first episode, a bit flat although the dialogue being still pretty well-written. You can definitely see the Joss Whedon wit poking through in a lot of places. Also, if you look at Buffy or Angel, the first episodes of those shows were pretty good or okay, but nowhere NEAR as good as they are now and I remember a lot of people criticizing them from the beginning too. Joss Whedon is a "long haul" writer and he likes to build his characters and storylines. From what I've seen of this show, I can tell he's going to do that here also and I'm very interested to see where he's going. I knew, though, from the first episode, that a lot of people weren't going to give it a chance 'cause it doesn't look like much, but with most shows, especially sci-fi/fantasy shows, you have to give them time to build their mythos. Star Trek: TNG had a VERY poor start, opinion-wise. Most people I talked to (or read opinions of at the time) did NOT like it and criticized it up and down. Now most people say it's a classic and the best of the new Star Trek series. You have to give every series time to get it's legs. Granted, many networks don't do that and tend to cancel the shows quickly, but I think that Joss has enough clout at FOX that I think they'll give him some leeway. I see this show getting VERY interesting.
Also, the fact that this project is near and dear to Joss Whedon's heart should give anyone who is a Buffy or Angel fan an idea that he's definitely got something up his sleeve. As TV Guide said, "never underestimate this guy."
P.S. One thing I found VERY cool about the show is how it is the first space TV Show (and only a handful of movies have done this also) that truly depicts the fact that there is no sound in space. There are no sounds of ships flying or explosions or any sound pertaining to what's outside the ship since there's no air. I thought that alone was SO cool.
No Such Thing (2001)
I liked it, but not as much as his other movies
I'm not going to get on some high-horse about "intellectual" or wonderful "filmmaking" and how you have to be an intellectual to get this movie or go the other route and say that any learned person knowledgeable about "real filmmaking" would know that this is a banal piece of crap. I really like Hal Hartley's movies ever since "The Unbelievable Truth". "Trust" being one of my favorite films of all time. I don't put as many criteria on my viewing of the arts or entertainment media and say that if it doesn't meet them, then it's not good. It's all about what speaks to you personally or not, in my opinion. That being said, I liked this movie, but not a LOT. I think it's because maybe I was a bit unsure of the ambiguous message of it. Some might say it's obvious what the director was trying to say with it, but it could be any number of things, really. I give him a hand to be able to do that because it's not easy to come up with a story and not try to tell a moral or make a point, but it's also a bit frustrating for most viewers. Once I accept that it may not be trying to TELL me something, I can enjoy it more just for the execution. Some people may not like the execution and compare it to other movies they consider masterpieces but it's very odd, to me, to try to compare one movie with another that don't have similar stories. Even if they do, it's still really not particularly valid because every director, writer and viewer has different ideas of what type of story they want to tell. There is a pattern to all the Hal Hartley movies I've seen (and I haven't seen them all), but it's a type of detachment and vagueness of the characters. I like it. Many people mistake it for bad acting, but that's not it. It's how the characters are written and directed. They are meant to be how they are portrayed and they are usually either very odd, almost cartoonishly big characters, or very straight and subdued ones. I like this contrast of how he does this. I suppose it's not for everyone and I guess I never thought it was. Can I recommend this? Not to too many people. If you like Hal Hartley, you're going to want to see it but if not, I don't think you'll think much of it. I would suggest seeing some of his other movies first and see if you like his style. I really like his soundtracks that seem to be all written by him also. Very minimal and ethereal. Out of 10, I'd give this movie a 7.
P.S. By the way, I really liked "Dude, Where's My Car?" so it's not particularly a wise thing for people to stereotype and try to easily separate people into categories. We aren't that simple. Maybe that's what I like about Hal's characters. They all seem simple, but there's usually something going on under the surface that is never fully said.
Tenchi Muyô! In Love 2: Haruka naru omoi (1999)
Understandable why some Tenchi fans don't care for this, but...
I really like this movie. I had mixed views about it when I first watched it because it was so different than what I was used to. But, I just recently watched it again (over a year after I first watched it) and I REALLY got into. I'm a huge Ryoko fan so it really is her movie and, from my point of view, it was a great way to end the series. Someone commented about how Mihoshi wasn't very ditzy in this, but I was never a big fan of the ditzy Mihoshi. I was totally with Kiyone on this one and found her EXTREMELY annoying. I don't know why they made her that unbearable after the first series. She was pretty cool in the first series. A bit spacy but still capable. They sort of combined her and Kiyone for that one because she has a reputation as a very good Galaxy Police officer (solves more cases than most officers), yet she tends to cause a lot of havoc where she goes so her career has slid because of it. This I liked 'cause she was a bit more complex. All the other versions of her later made me wanna strangle her. But, I digress. I really liked this movie especially upon a second viewing. I like the first movie best and this one a close second. Didn't care that much for the second movie. As the series go, I like the first one the best (I'm rewatching it now). It had the best animation and the much less annoying Mihoshi. The second series, Tenchi Universe, is my second favorite. I wasn't sure about it when it first started 'cause I was confused about why the relationships were different. Once I got used to that, and especially when they got to the Time and Space Adventures, I REALLY got into it and found that pretty funny. A friend of mine, when I explained the series to him, described it as kind of an anime Blackadder because the characters are the same but the settings change for different series. Interesting idea. Tenchi in Tokyo was my least favorite of the three but I still liked it. There were some things, like the girl in Tokyo, that kinda creeped me out though. I have to say, in closing, that this movie moved me emotionally which is something this series hasn't really tried to do before and, to me, they did it very well...if you're a Ryoko fan. If, like one person said earlier, the fight between Ayeka and Ryoko is getting old for you, this is also a good movie 'cause they work together and you see how they respect one another. They're both more mature.
P.S. While not many people mention her, I'm going to, Washu is my second favorite character. "WASHU! YOU'RE THE GREATEST!!" She has some of the best lines.
Robinson Crusoe (1997)
Haven't read the book, but I liked it
It's probably BECAUSE I haven't read the book that I liked the movie. I'm not Scottish or even British so I can't really comment on Pierce Brosnan's accent, but I don't think his acting was bad like some have said. I thought he was quite good, but I wasn't distracted by the accent like some were. That could be a deterrent. Overall, I liked it though. After reading some of these reviews, it makes me want to read the book though. Sounds very interesting and I do agree that they shouldn't have advertised it as James DaFoe's Robinson Crusoe if it wasn't faithful to the book. I give it about a 7.