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carabiner86
Reviews
Just Deal (2000)
Good to watch if you are half asleep
Ok so it's not OMG OMG the BEST show EVER, but it's not trash either. It's a low-budget, low-rated early morning dramedy that is much more realistic than half the teen shows in its genre. The actors/actresses are decent and the messages are always good without being too sappy. As my summary said, a good show to watch early in the morning when you aren't really fully awake yet. Kudos to the people involved in it for giving some good messages out too.
Horizon: Life Story (1987)
Interesting, amusing film
I find it amusing that the only poor reviews this movie gets are from people (I will assume teenagers or college students) who watch it in biology class.
Well my AP biology class watched it and I found it quite intriguing. Like previous commenters have said, Goldblum brings to life a very interesting character, almost exactly as I imagined it from the book. The writing/directing was a little tedious at times, but overall it was a very educational and often amusing movie. Rosalind Franklin was (in my opinion) portrayed as a good mixture between how Watson depicted her in his book (a little skewed!) and how she probably was in real life. I liked Crick and Wilkins and the atmosphere of, as someone else commented on before, cameraderie, with a touch of competitiveness as these brilliant men (and women) race to find the biggest mystery nature has to offer.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
Well-crafted well-balanced television
I disagree with the user comment that CSI choses individual plots over character development. Though it heavily relies on individual plots, a great deal of the draw to the series comes from the balance of character interaction and development. Each character has his or her weakness (Grissolm's deafness, Catherine's past, Warwick's gambling addiction, Sara's social problems, Nick's tendency to get involved with women) and there are many references in most episodes about these.
Though there are never entire shows, and rarely entire segments, focusing on the individual lives of these characters, it is included in a well-balanced manner so as not to focus only on the characters themselves.
Additionally, the show is forming excellent relationships between the characters themselves that add more to the show. Sara & Grissolm's mentor/mentee relationship, Greg's crushes on Sara, Warwick & Nick's brotherly love and always competitive nature, and Catherine & Grissolm's sexual tension are just a few examples.
I think this is one of the most well-done series on today, partly due to the producers' and writers' ability to stay focused on the actual cases and still create real, three-dimensional characters.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
good, not great
I think hailing this movie as a classic is a bit too much, but bashing it as a dud is also too extreme.
The movie hoped to be one of those absolutely outstanding, feel-good flicks that changes peoples' lives. It isn't that, and sometimes the stretching it does to try to be so great makes the audience squeam.
It has some good points, good lines, and in my humble opinion, excellent actors portraying the boys in the Society. I am not a big fan of William's casting as Keating though.
The script is a little cliche and the fact that a bunch of fairly popular boys would want to gather and read poetry together is also a bit extreme. I guess what I'm saying is their portrayal of the boys themselves is overall unrealistic (When Neil grabs a cape and runs up and down, excited he's going to be in Midsummer Night's Dream? Teenage boys would not typically do that).
However with all that said, the message of the movie is fabulous. The teaching style of Keating is impressive and, contrary to what most people would think, there are teachers out there who approach teaching in a very unorthodox way and reach their students like no other can. I am a high school student and have seen some of these teachers.
I liked the ending, however bombastic some may call it. Definately watch it, maybe even buy it, but don't expect *too* much.