mdonln
Joined Jun 2007
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Reviews6
mdonln's rating
I finally got a chance to watch this show recently & was so disappointed. Actually, my reaction was WTF?
Game shows prefer upbeat, outgoing contestants but this is just way too much - to the point it seems fake. The host is a perfect fit for the absurdity of the show. She puts out the a lot of fake energy but I guess that's why she was chosen. She seems the exact same way, overly emotional & emoting, in everything I've ever seen her in, which isn't much - a commercial on talk shows, but this is even more hyped up. Perhaps she'd actually get acting gigs if she toned it down some. I'm talking visually too. She's an unnecessary distraction.
Jimmy Fallon, okay now here's the main problem. He is just ridiculous & not in a good way. I know he's supposed to be funny but it's not funny what he does. Whoever the guest celebrity is has obviously been directed to behave like Fallon & Keke - with fake excitement but it's not believable at all. Actually, I suspect they go for a laugh more than they actually try to help anyone win. Are the contestants even real? They too seem fake, forcing reactions that don't fit.
It seems much more like a bad sitcom of a game show - the way some shows make it seem like they're being filmed for a documentary. If that's what they were going for, it's fallen flat.
I had such a negative reaction the first time & turned it off I tried watching a couple more times to see if maybe I had misjudged the show or saw it on an off day. NOPE! It was exactly the same & just as bad.
Someone's review said it was all the game show reboots but I disagree. This one's especially awful. I do enjoy the $100,000 Pyramid reboot with Michael Strahan. It's a similar show just not absurd. Some of the others, like the one Alec Baldwin used to host seemed like just a way for 'celebrities' to get air time. Some came on & were good. They had their laughs but still played well. Others not so much. They seemed like they'd never heard or seen the show & were suddenly on, not knowing what to do. They just said dumb things for laughs. I'm usually not a big fan of shows with celebrities on to win for a charity because if i don't like their charity I don't root for them. Family Feud, for instance is great with real families. Steve Harvey is always funny. I love to see the real families even the ones that are kooky, usually it's one family member or they've coordinated some antics. That's okay. It's fun & I laugh a lot because Harvey plays off them. When it's the celebrity version, some are good, some not. They either try to over do Harvey or they try too much not to embarrass themselves & are too uptight for it to be fun.
I digress, to improve the Password, take it down several notches, stop all the fakeness & remove Fallon. He doesn't need to be on every show. It might work if it were treated like a real game show instead of a bad joke.
Game shows prefer upbeat, outgoing contestants but this is just way too much - to the point it seems fake. The host is a perfect fit for the absurdity of the show. She puts out the a lot of fake energy but I guess that's why she was chosen. She seems the exact same way, overly emotional & emoting, in everything I've ever seen her in, which isn't much - a commercial on talk shows, but this is even more hyped up. Perhaps she'd actually get acting gigs if she toned it down some. I'm talking visually too. She's an unnecessary distraction.
Jimmy Fallon, okay now here's the main problem. He is just ridiculous & not in a good way. I know he's supposed to be funny but it's not funny what he does. Whoever the guest celebrity is has obviously been directed to behave like Fallon & Keke - with fake excitement but it's not believable at all. Actually, I suspect they go for a laugh more than they actually try to help anyone win. Are the contestants even real? They too seem fake, forcing reactions that don't fit.
It seems much more like a bad sitcom of a game show - the way some shows make it seem like they're being filmed for a documentary. If that's what they were going for, it's fallen flat.
I had such a negative reaction the first time & turned it off I tried watching a couple more times to see if maybe I had misjudged the show or saw it on an off day. NOPE! It was exactly the same & just as bad.
Someone's review said it was all the game show reboots but I disagree. This one's especially awful. I do enjoy the $100,000 Pyramid reboot with Michael Strahan. It's a similar show just not absurd. Some of the others, like the one Alec Baldwin used to host seemed like just a way for 'celebrities' to get air time. Some came on & were good. They had their laughs but still played well. Others not so much. They seemed like they'd never heard or seen the show & were suddenly on, not knowing what to do. They just said dumb things for laughs. I'm usually not a big fan of shows with celebrities on to win for a charity because if i don't like their charity I don't root for them. Family Feud, for instance is great with real families. Steve Harvey is always funny. I love to see the real families even the ones that are kooky, usually it's one family member or they've coordinated some antics. That's okay. It's fun & I laugh a lot because Harvey plays off them. When it's the celebrity version, some are good, some not. They either try to over do Harvey or they try too much not to embarrass themselves & are too uptight for it to be fun.
I digress, to improve the Password, take it down several notches, stop all the fakeness & remove Fallon. He doesn't need to be on every show. It might work if it were treated like a real game show instead of a bad joke.
Interesting movie! I stumbled on it one day at a hotel. I had no idea what I was watching when it came on so I looked up the name in the listings. I never read plots or reviews before watching a movie, especially one I'd never heard of. I rely instead on the title & early scenes to keep me watching or to turn me off.
I was getting drawn in then at the beginning but there seemed to be an abrupt & complete shift. It seemed like a totally different movie for a while. I almost stopped watching at that point but it didn't last long & everything started to tie together. I'm glad I stuck it out. It turned out to be enjoyable & well worth my time, even though I found the ending a bit formulaic & predictable.
I was getting drawn in then at the beginning but there seemed to be an abrupt & complete shift. It seemed like a totally different movie for a while. I almost stopped watching at that point but it didn't last long & everything started to tie together. I'm glad I stuck it out. It turned out to be enjoyable & well worth my time, even though I found the ending a bit formulaic & predictable.
Some movies deliver a ton of banter and idle chatter but fail to 'say' much of anything. This movie tells an interesting tale and touches on important topics (ones that can make some people uncomfortable) - all using very few words.
That's my interpretation.
I must warn, Valhalla Rising is not for everyone; it's definitely not for the young or the faint of heart. The opening scenes are especially brutal, gory and explicit. The violence does lessen a bit but the bloodshed continues throughout the film. I came very close to bailing out a few times but curiosity got the best of me so I stuck it out.
I'm so very glad I gave the movie the chance it deserves. It's worth watching; it's impressive; it's well-made; and it's much more than it appears to be at first glance. What does it all mean? That's open for discussion. This story is likely to have as many interpretations as the movie has viewers.
That's my interpretation.
I must warn, Valhalla Rising is not for everyone; it's definitely not for the young or the faint of heart. The opening scenes are especially brutal, gory and explicit. The violence does lessen a bit but the bloodshed continues throughout the film. I came very close to bailing out a few times but curiosity got the best of me so I stuck it out.
I'm so very glad I gave the movie the chance it deserves. It's worth watching; it's impressive; it's well-made; and it's much more than it appears to be at first glance. What does it all mean? That's open for discussion. This story is likely to have as many interpretations as the movie has viewers.