critic-2

As of now, the rating for this film stands at a mere 2.2, which is quite low, and there is one aspect that makes the low score highly suspicious. There has been some known controversy about the film. Some in the disability community were quite upset that more disabled actors were not used in the film, and may have tried to influence the voting. They perhaps were unaware, or perhaps deliberately ignored, the fact that the leading female character begins as an able-bodied dance teacher. The idea that actress Leah Pipes is unqualified to act the role simply because she does not really use a wheelchair is truly ludicrous. (I am disabled myself, so I understand where the objections are coming from, but I disagree strongly with them.)

It is time this film received more exposure and that critical comment on it honestly reflected how well it is made, rather than reflecting biased attitudes. Films like this one, which has as its background the world of wheelchair ballroom dancing, are too important to let petty resentments get in the way of their appreciation.

This is, without a doubt, one of the worst short films ever made with a Christmas theme. The story revolves around a beautiful Fairy Snow Queen who brings some of Santa's toys to life as a practical joke because -- wait for it! --Santa fell asleep and didn't give her the sugar cookie he promised. (No, I am not kidding.) The acting is so awful it has to be seen to be believed, and according to IMDb, the actor who plays Santa Claus incredibly went on to better things, unless he is being confused with another actor with the same name. The film looks as if it were made in somebody's basement, although it was shot in color. Come to think of it, it probably *was* made in somebody's basement.

The film's only saving grace is that it includes music from Tchaikovsky's ballets "The Nutcracker" and "The Sleeping Beauty", but two of the pieces are so badly danced that poor Tchaikovsky and his choreographers are probably rolling over in their graves.

If you are a connoisseur of bad films, you will probably love this. It makes "Plan 9 from Outer Space" look like "Hamlet".

I tuned into this show last night thinking it would be one of those "so bad it's good" guilty pleasures we all love to watch. It is nothing of the kind. This may be the cruelest television series I have ever come across. The producers think nothing of taking a likable young woman, confronting her with evidence that her boyfriend / hubby has been cheating on her with another woman, and then showing that poor girlfriend / wife reduced to a helpless, sobbing mass of humiliated grief as she discovers what her significant other has really been up to. (There are no re-enactments here; we get to see the real thing.)

"Cheaters" isn't even one of those reality shows in which you feel a sense of satisfaction at seeing the cheater get it stuck to them in the end. It is just pure exploitation, without a shred of compassion for the people who have just had their personal lives shattered by what they discovered. There is no buildup of suspense as one would find in a filming of a "sting" operation, just pure, unadulterated, "peephole"-style viewing of other people's anguish.