bobbynear Reviews

The Dick Van Dyke Show: It May Look Like a Walnut (1963) Season 2, Episode 20

Brilliant is too mild a word

[10/10 · 2 February 2015]

If only there was a word to describe this historically and hysterically funny episode. A once in a lifetime laugh fest that belongs up there right next to classic Seinfeld episodes like The Contest and The Soup Nazi.

It is hard to imagine that as reported in the trivia section Sheldon Leonard hated this story since he really was a brilliant producer. It would have been tragic had anyone listened to him.

So funny that it is hard to believe the cast kept a straight face during this. The one take at a time closet moment is TV history to say the least.

A must see for young people who wonder what we old folks are always complaining about when we say that TV comedy is dreadful today compared to fifty years ago

If the current appalling edition of Saturday Night Live did a parody today like this, it would make headlines around the world and convince people like myself that we were transported back to a glorious comedy past in some sort of time machine.

a 9.4 rating? Get serious..this one is off the charts.

bob near The-Fugitive-Views-And-Reviews

Hawaii Five-O: Odd Man In (1971) Season 4, Episode 14

not even close to the original

[3/10 · 30 July 2013]

the lesson to be learned is obvious. once you trap magic in a bottle don't let it get away and most of all don't try to recreate it. this episode does not even come close to the original filer story. virtually no humor at all, a small bit of original music but most of all too much of a story involving drug money. The original worked because it was more about the Filer character and less about the money. He delighted in taunting McGarret and we delighted in watching it. The original is an all time TV classic. No story and certainly not this one will ever come close. Nice try but no cigar. Stick with the original. You will never ever forget it.

Hawaii Five-O: Over Fifty? Steal (1970) Season 3, Episode 11

maybe the best TV episode of all time

[10/10 · 30 July 2013]

not only the best five o episode hands down, but possibly one of the best TV episodes ever. Funny and imaginative at the same time. I could literally watch this everyday and never tire of it. Perfect writing, perfect acting and a whimsical background score that adds as much to this episode as the classic music from Psycho added to that film. Hume Cronyn is perfect in this role. For a TV series as grim and dark as Five o to do an amusing story like this is amazing. If only anything anywhere on TV today could or would do a story even close to this I would never be able to take my eyes off the screen. As far as a rating..that is off the charts...10 or 100 ... even that is not enough

Lincoln (2012)

Right movie but wrong title

[3/10 · 5 May 2013]

To say this is boring is beyond obvious. I stayed more interested during my history classes in high school. But beyond that is the fact that the title of the film is simply dishonest. As many people have posted, this is not the life story of Lincoln and Spielberg certainly never intended it to be. It really is about the fight for passage of the 13th amendment and Lincoln's part in it. It should have been titled "Lincoln And The Battle For The Thirteenth Amendment"

It's obvious why it was not titled that way. How many people would have gone to see it with that title? You have to be interested in political history to want to see it. Calling it Lincoln surely got it a much wider attention before it played for even the first time and people knew little about it. From a marketing standpoint that was a brilliant decision. But the fact is that this should have been on TV on cable's History Channel and not on the Biography Channel.

The Fugitive (2000–2001)

a very worthy sequel

[5 September 2011]

I too was very skeptical when a series that had an ending was brought back. It seemed unwise at the time, but good acting and interesting new twists on an old theme made it work. It is very unfortunate that CBS had no faith or patience with it. It might have run at least as long as the original had it been given a chance.

Many of us do remember it. In fact, there is a Yahoo group that I own and moderate dealing with both series that has been around for years and recently has gotten renewed interest. We reviewed all of the original stories from the first series and would be interested in having people review the 2000 version. We also have two members who extended the series by writing fan fiction...and extending the story.

Check out...

http://TV.groups.yahoo.com/group/THE-FUGITIVE-VIEWS-AND-REVIEWS/ and feel free to join and be part of the discussion.

bobbynear owner/moderator

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

pitiful sequel

[15 July 2011]

SPOILER WARNING

I'm afraid I have to add my voice to the others who have made negative comments on this film. I finally got to see it on HBO and just barely got through it. An absolutely dreadful sequel.

The story should have picked up where the first left off. I actually felt sorry for Bud Fox at the end as he walked into prison. Now I find out that everything just went swimmingly and he's now a multi millionaire after selling the airline that was so much a focus of the original story. A huge insult to all of us and an embarrassment to Charlie Sheen, as if he needed another one, in a cameo that had no point other than to wreck the character from the first Wall Street.

Don't like any of the actors here. Really miss Martin Sheen who always adds something in whatever he is in. Have no interest in the main characters this time around and I agree that Michael Douglas looks as if he can't stay awake and I don't blame him.

Sequels are virtually never any good. Once you catch lightning in a bottle, you don't go out and stand in a field in a rainstorm hoping you can do it again without getting electrocuted. Oliver Stone did himself and his reputation nothing but harm in this pointless, witless and uninteresting tale.