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juanmoorebeer
Reviews
Royal Pains (2009)
Mostly OK
Though formulaic, there were many things that were endearing about this program.
And all around good cast with some very special occasional players. It was easy to form a connection with each.
Having never been to the Hamptons, I found the visuals very interesting.
I don't know if this was ever on broadcast TV, but if it was, and especially in the days before DVR's, I would never have been able to watch more than a half an episode.
Imagine it's just me, but, I absolutely can't stand the theme music. I find it discordant to end grading to the point where I have never been able to sit through the hall thing.
As a matter of fact, having just watched an episode on Netflix, where I had the misfortune of not having the remote nearby, I was forced to listen to much more than the typical one to two seconds.
I don't have a deep musical knowledge, but I am left to wonder what were they thinking?
Abbott Elementary (2021)
Earliest to Jump the Shark
The show started out OK and appeared to be a passable middling sitcom which might survive depending on the shows supporting it.
Many of their characters play their parts well and are believable in their roles, likable, and fit well with the rest of the cast. In this one area I would have a hard time picking a weak link, but the writing has proven to be not up for the task.
I'm not sure which episode this was perhaps season two, episode three and already the premise was so weak it was impossible to continue watching. I'm not even sure if I can describe it well because it was so boring. I think the whole school was thrown into a state of wild turmoil because the juice bottles were 2 ounces bigger. Seriously?
I think if any of the writers had gone to school there would've been no problem coming up with a better fit.
Independence Day (1996)
Overal decent entertainment
I am not a big fan of shallow blockbuster rehashes but this one was tolerable.
Casting was fair with the combination of Will Mith, Jeff Goldblum and Randy Quaid. Their choice for President was a real stinker, though. That guy couldn't be a leader any more than he could give Meg Ryan an orgasm in her prime.
Of course, since we've had a real stinker as President, so what do I know.
The Last Champion (2020)
All in for any wrestling story
Good story
Adequate acting
Terrible wrestling with unnecessary attempts to add drama that has nothing to do with the real thing.
They should have used Gable as a consultant rather than a prop.
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Late to this
I never saw this movie when it came out 16 years ago, though I've been curious about it since then.
The fact the Nicolas Cage won a best actor intrigued me because I have not always been impressed with his performances. I assumed maybe they weren't the right vehicle for him or he was skating.
Watching this movie now made me realize how wrong I was. It seems now that he always sucked. At least from my perspective.
This Christmas (2007)
Surprised me
I first saw this movie on a day I had a few spare hours and this was the only movie starting at the right time.
A lot of good stories woven into a cohesive view of an extended family. I would have a hard time finding fault with the actors or casting.
The girl fight was stupid though.
Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)
Task accomplished
The girls, writers, directors and all of the others involved except the producer to loudly exclaim "We are going to collaborate to put the final touch on the franchise, and in this case, the final touch is the last nail in the coffin"
Wonder Woman (2017)
Not worth the price of admission
I wasted about 45 minutes before I had to leave. That says a lot for me because I am a cheapskate and had paid for a double feature. I couldn't bear to wait through this one for the other.
It was a pretty film, but as with many others in the current generation, fell way short in content. Kind of a beauty is only skin deep kind of thing. My daddy always told me that it was the heart and soul that counts, and this movie has none of that. It was full of tired clichés, presented in a way that made me feel somehow like the director was a cheesy 1950's misogynist trying to make a buck off of girls and women for which he had no real respect.
It is a wonder women allowed themselves to be represented this way, but hey, maybe it redeemed itself in the second half. I just could not waste the time to find out.
Avatar (2009)
Uninspired
This film has nothing worthy of the box office receipts is has garnered. Any third grader can predict the outcome after the first ten minutes. The plot, characters, and themes are either one dimensional or blatant rip offs of earlier tales. Even those parts of the movie that are rehashing some of the great movies of history are delivered without any depth or structure. Consider the poorly constructed moral and it can be seen that it could have been stolen from "Dances with Wolves" and others before it, but taken without the bones to support it.
Special effects were interesting, but again lacking in any thought to character development. Creatures of this other world were clearly developed in an attempt to make them look "cool" without any thought to the evolutionary challenges that may have helped to shape them.
It is possible that there is an intended message relating to the tension between science and religion, but it is hardly worth trying to evaluate the directors message. There is so little substance to this movie that the only possible conclusion that one could come to is that the analysis was not worth the effort.