bleat13 Reviews

ABC Afterschool Specials: Alexander (1973) Season 1, Episode 6

I finally found it!

[8/10 · 12 February 2023]

I saw this After School Special when it first aired (I was seven), and it stuck with me. I don't remember all the details, but whenever I think of it, it's poignancy.

I don't remember many of the details, but it was a lovely story of a man who moves to a big, imposing house and becomes friends with the children in the neighborhood. They paint his house, with is like a tiny Tara, all different colors. I can still picture it.

The poignancy emerges at the end, when the man goes away (I don't recall if he dies or moves), and a couple of days later, the children watch a work crew repaint the house white (and dull).

Naturally, it is about loss but also about children learning that an adult can be a real friend, that some adults can be child-like-and that these adults are not always accepted by other adults who can not reach their child selves.

The Happening (2008)

Had some good points

[6/10 · 7 January 2021]

I watched this film several years ago (while suffering from food poisoning). While much was silly (why did people walk backwards before killing themselves?), it had a few good points. One is when Elliot speaks respectfully to what turns out to be a plastic plant (and notes that he's doing it). The other is the message that nature can turn on us if we continue to do as we want with it; consider all the changes noted, especially with regard to 2020's massive forest fires and unusually heavy hurricane season.

Streets of Fire (1984)

Silly but fun

[6/10 · 12 May 2012]

I haven't seen this movie since 1984, when it first came out and I was 18 years old. I loved the music and have been listening to most of the soundtrack since. Then the atmosphere really disturbed me—and I thought Michael Paré was the hottest.

Rewatching it now, I can see how awful the dialogue is but appreciate that the actors (quite a few of whom have had good careers) seemed to realize this. The atmosphere remains creepy-ish but more intriguing because I can see that many are just painted backdrops and not meant to look "real." "Another time, another place" is a little much as the described setting for this movie, since it looks like NY (Brooklyn?) in the '50s.

But Willem Dafoe is just about as disturbing as he was with his leather overalls (what was with that?), odd hairdo, and creepy smile.

Path of Destruction (2005 TV Movie)

Tongue firmly in cheek (I hope!)

[5/10 · 25 September 2005]

"Path of Destruction" seems to gently mock sci-fi horror movies, although it took nearly an hour of the movie for me to discover this. The characters are generally almost caricatures: the geeky scientist who can't talk to women with his boozing, unreliable (except when it comes to danger) assistant; the Army personnel not listening to the experts but coming through in the end; the wanna-be reporter who (somehow) ends up as both a suspect (framed, of course) and as a hard-hitting network reporter.

The special effects were mediocre, apart from the last shot and line of the Colonel(?), and the writers/directors certainly glossed over distances and how access (for instance, Seattle's Space Needle is not downtown, and I doubt that a civilian could just walk into a tent holding the dead with no one questioning her). Further, finding a ride out of the chaos of destruction might not be so easy.

The many deaths and destruction are also glossed over—mentioned but not labored over (except for the death of the protagonist's friend). And the two protagonists are remarkably lucky, despite being in danger frequently.

Still, it's a fun film, if only to see Chris Pratt play the opposite of his character on "Everwood"!

Love Actually (2003)

Not!

[12 June 2004]

I'd heard such wonderful things about this film-and now I'm relieved that I didn't even pay for the DVD rental (a friend lent it to me). Maybe you just have to see it in the theater close to Christmas. But I don't think so.

The movie has a wonderful, star-filled cast. The problem is none of them are used enough. There are just too many stars and stories and not enough depth. Consequently, not only viewers sometimes confused, they don't care enough about any of these "people."

Another problem is the time period; in five weeks all these people recover from betrayal, death, etc. and find (new) love?! This aspect might have worked had there been, as said above, few story lines. This many people-whose lives all intersect (isn't that just so cool?)-finding true love? No, way.

The few humorous moments don't make up for the drudgery. Don't bother with this movie.