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Reviews
The Dresden Files (2007)
Weak beginning, improving every episode
I watched the first episode. Where was the magic? Where was Butcher's quirky and unique mixture of comedy, horror, sarcasm and weirdness?
I will watch at least one episode of any fantasy or sci-fi series, but I was not at all impressed with the pilot; and although the second and third episode seemed better, I still was not hooked.
However, I've been very pleasantly surprised in subsequent weeks and would now recommend the series to anyone who has not read the booksor who is open to different ideas more suited to a visual setting.
If you watch from the beginning, which should soon be possible when the first year is finished, by following reruns or buying DVDs (if they are to be released), expect to be surprised at the way ideas are introduced, It seems as though the producers, who were timid at first, became more and more eager to develop ideas and less concerned about playing it safe.
Bob, who begins as a "side-kick" and a cliché, has become as interesting as Harry. The plots are more involved, dialogue is snappier, and everything has more depth. Any character introduced early in the series has been fleshed out, given more dimension, and characters from earlier episodes are carried over into new ones. Things that did not work for me at all in the beginning I am now enjoying, and the hockey stick is a good example.
A hockey stick instead of a staff or wand? I didn't like it, but now I do. This is just one example of touches that I second-guessed in the beginning and have changed my mind about.
"The Dresden Files" will be one of the best TV series ever produced if the quality, complexity and chemistry continue to improve as year one ends and the series moves into another year of episodes. Unless you are fanatical about the show having to stick very closely to the books, I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you start at the beginning and give it a fair chance.
A Perfect Day (2006)
Surprisingly good film
I was pleasantly surprised after watching A Perfect Day. I expected clichés and something rather "cute", although reviews had warned me that the film has a dark side.
The names Rob Lowe and Christopher Lloyd are very well known, but Frances Conroy, known to many as "Ruth Fisher" of Six Feet Under, was a bonus, playing a key role.
The plot itself was not particularly original, but the treatment of the story was quite ingenious, and I was quite pleased with the acting.
Robert Harlan (Rob Lowe) is fired at the beginning of the story by a man who says, much in the manner of Scrooge, "It's only business." This theme is repeated throughout the movie, very effectively.
Allyson (Paget Brewster), Harlan's wife, is completely supportive of him and encourages him to write a book. We discover that he has already begun this book but has little confidence in his ability to do anything with it. He completes the book and is soon contacted by Camile (Frances Conroy), a literary agent who gives him his first big break, soon catapulting him to unexpected, incredible success.
This is where the story really takes off. Michael (Christopher Lloyd) plays a mysterious role in Harlan's new life; the exact nature of that role is not fully revealed until the end of the movie.
While many events are fully predictableit is soon clear that Harlan's life is becoming increasingly unhappy as he becomes more and more successfulthere are major plot twists that will leave many viewers quite surprised at the end and perhaps even eager to see the movie again.