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Firebird7478
Reviews
You Are What You Eat (2004)
Misguided
An interesting show, but Gillian McKeith's advice is often misguided and flat out wrong. Anyone who is obese and changes their diet to what she preaches will lose weight because of an absence of calories. However, she continues to stress the saturated fats in red meat as being the death knell. Well, red meat is NECESSARY for a healthy diet, and saturated fat has been proved to have no effect on heart disease. She often recommends meals that are meatless and have incomplete proteins in them. She's flat out wrong on these ends.
If you really want to know more about the proper human diet, check out www.westonaprice.org for more details.
Across the Universe (2007)
The Long and Boring Road
I thought his movie would never end. It took forever to develop any plot whatsoever, and when it looked as though the film was over, it kept going and going. If you aren't a Beatles fan, or even a casual listenerof their music, you'll miss the contrived dialog to suit the film's needs.
This film was very disjointed. It's almost as if Eddie Izzard (whom I love) went to the producers and demanded to be in the movie, so they created a scene with him as Mr. Kite...no relevance to the film at all, like wise Bono's appearance. It seemed that way with many of the songs, simply throwing them in there for the sake of throwing them in there.
Some of the songs were well done, I'll grant the film that..."Hold me Tight" (an understated gem by the Beatles) and "Let it Be" come to mind, although I think copying the Beatles rooftop concert from "Let it Be" was lame.
Some people went in to this thinking "Sgt. Pepper". I came out thinking "Tommy".
The Newsroom (1996)
Realistic portrayal of a newsroom
I work in broadcasting. This is a very real show to me. The ass-kissing, self-serving characters on this show hit home with me. There's not a character on this show that isn't like someone that I work with.
The show is hysterical. But, I think it's one that requires much attention, or you'll miss something. The actions and results are right on top of each other, from scene to scene. There is a lot of dialog, with no real punchline. It's totally played straight, which makes it brilliant.
The only thing I don't like about it is that there isn't a 4th season. What a pity.
Dead Famous (2004)
It's like watching a bad car accident...
...You know it's bad, but you have to watch, anyway. I'm totally into ghosts, paranormal stuff, past lives, etc. so the theme of the show is what really holds my interests. However, being in the broadcasting industry, this is one of the most poorly produced shows I've ever seen. This show has two camera persons, plus the mini-DV or HI-8 cameras that Gail and Chris carry with them. However, they never catch any activity! It's always, "Did you see that?!", while the cameras are trained on our hosts, not the subject matter. Case in point, while searching for Jayne Mansfield, they go to an old plantation. Chris exclaims that a door handle is moving, but 4 cameras don't pick it up? In that same episode, a door opens on its own. There is a camera with a wide-angle lens in the room where the door opens into, yet they never show what happens from that perspective.
I find interesting their choice of locations. Why go to Shea Stadium to search for John Lennon? He played there twice. Why go to a bar where Alfred Hitchcock once ate while filming a movie? Because Houdini was an escape artist, they naturally choose Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Houdini never went there. So why should they? There are bad location decisions, bad camera work, bad narrative writing. All the computerized special effects do not make up for any of this. But, for some strange reason, I keep watching. It's not "Ghost Hunters", which is more entertaining, but like I said, you have to stop and look at the wreck, even though you know it is bad.