Change Your Image
bruce-samuelson
Reviews
I'd Prefer Your Problems Princess (2018)
A Screwball Romantic Comedy - Cute but Shallow
5 stars. The movie makes it clear from the outset that it's a screwball romantic comedy. The male lead must soon pay $10K to some bad guys who threaten him. The female lead, a wealthy spoiled brat, is running away from an engagement she broke. They meet, and her father hires the man for $10K to return his daughter.
Thus starts a series of adventures and misadventures that follow the standard romcom formula: they start out quarrelling, their personalities clash, and she traipses around with him through the countryside in high heels - de rigueur for this genre.
The outline is very similar to the Mother of All Romcoms, It Happened One Night (1934), which deservedly gets an IMDb rating of 8.2. If the current movie had an IMDb rating, it would be much lower. It's kind of cute, kind of fun, watchable, and clearly low budget, but the romantic chemistry is weak, the characters are poorly developed, and the dialog is superficial even for this genre. I watched it to the end but couldn't give it more than five stars. You're taking a chance when you select these low cost productions without IMDb rating that your movie streaming provider licenses.
Tôkyô Joshi Zukan (2016)
Bleak, materialistic, melancholy, shallow, glittery
6 stars. This is the first IMDb review, and is essentially the same as my review on Amazon Prime, which currently offers Tokyo Girl for streaming in the USA. You can read many reviews there, all of which but mine assign four or five stars out of five, with many positive comments.
I looked forward to Tokyo Girl as a TV series that shows a slice of life I haven't seen before or personally experienced. It is entertaining enough, but what put me off was the shallow, materialistic pursuit of prestige and wealth over those values that give dignity to the human soul such as compassion, integrity, sacrificial love, patience, kindness, honesty, and courage. The actors portrayed their characters well enough, but I just couldn't relate to them. Their lives and struggles are a pale shadow compared to those in the great Japanese cinema from the late 1940s to early 1960s from directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita, and Masahiro Shinoda.
The Florida Project (2017)
Profane, dysfunctional, monotonous, repetitive, repulsive
2 stars. The film starts with a torrent of profanity from little kids. It jumps repetitively and monotonously from one dysfunctional scene to another. After half an hour, I hardly knew the main characters any better than at the beginning. There was no plot arch, character development, or anything else to draw me in. There was a lot to drive me away. It's a 92 Metascore, 7.6 IMDb film, so clearly I missed something. The ten star reviewers found beauty where I couldn't. "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din."
A Touch Away (2006)
A gripping romantic drama
Ten stars. This short TV series, by its gripping drama, pre-empted the other shows I was watching from episode one onward. Zorik, a secular Jewish immigrant from Russia to Israel, is instantly captivated by his young orthodox neighbor Rochale. In faltering efforts, she tries to resist his magnetic draw. Zorik's father, mother, and sister move into his crowded apartment while coping with personal disappointments: a doctor without an Israeli medical license, a frustrated stage actress in love with her Russian impresario, and a young woman uprooted from home. Zorik's family is 'too Jewish' for anti-Semitic neighbors in Russia and 'not Jewish enough' for Orthodox neighbors in Israel.
Rochale's father has conflicts with his younger rabbinic brother, her mother is approaching menopause, and her younger brother hates his new secular neighbors. Despite their religious differences, Zorik's and Rochale's parents become friends. But she's conflicted between her uncertain fascination with Zorik and the efforts by her family to arrange a proper Orthodox marriage. When none of Rochale's trusted elders will intervene for her friend whose new husband becomes abusive, Zorik risks his own safety to help. This melts Rochale's romantic defenses, but she must still respond to the constraints imposed by her family's severe religious expectations. Any contact between her and her secular neighbor is forbidden. As conflicts come to a boil, a new 'born again' candidate appears for Rochale's arranged marriage. Because he is Jewish via conversion rather than inheritance, most Orthodox treat him as a third rate outcast, but Rochale respects him. The final episode must resolve several tense personal threads and familial threads into tragedy or happiness.
A Touch Away masterfully weaves all this drama into eight short episodes. It's brilliantly written and naturally acted, and I 'wish there were another season. My only criticism is that the cinematography is ordinary and the Amazon Prime version I saw in the USA is low resolution. Curiously, the other superb Israeli TV series I watched recently on Amazon, Srugim, used a low resolution camera. These two, along with Heartland, a multi-generation family drama on a Canadian horse ranch, are the top TV dramas I've seen. The title of A Touch Away perfectly captures its theme on multiple levels. Amazon Prime has an excellent review by Andy Orrock.
Zhen ai hei bai pei (2013)
delightful and even gripping despite its initial silliness
Nine stars. Warning: may contain spoilers. As of now, there are just 43 IMDb ratings, and this is only the second IMDb review, with the first on 12 Dec 2017 giving three stars. I need to explain my nine stars.
Like the first reviewer, I considered quitting early. It wasn't so much the formulaic, unrealistic story elements that bothered me. I've come to accept those, if greater qualities outshine them, in this genre of shows from E. Asia. Even the best TV series and movies have significant shortcomings. What put me off at first about Love Around was the show's sugary sweetness and the excessive silliness of some characters, such as Zhou Zhen's grandmother and his younger sister. Also, Xiao Shu's father seemed like a meaningless wallflower.
The episodes improved dramatically in the series' second half. Delightful side romances of support characters emerged. Family histories, secrets, tensions, and dynamics disrupted Zhou Zhen's and Xiao Shu's romance and threatened to split their families apart. Major conflicts arose between most main characters. They had to decide between revealing the truth or concealing it to protect those they loved, and between loving a person through open affection or feigned disaffection for a higher cause. Zhou Zhen and his ex-girlfriend both faced this choice, and his father and Xiao Shu's father each had to make agonizing decisions. Would they be petty, selfish, and deceitful, or noble, generous, and honest? I know that these are formulaic questions, and that an Asian TV series that starts as a shallow romantic comedy couldn't possibly answer them. But somehow, for me at least, it did. I also appreciated how each romance was understated physically, although Zhou's and Xiao's rare kisses were a bit too much so.
The Duchess of Duke Street (1976)
ambushed and disgusted by episode 2
One star. Warning: contains spoilers. I write this review as a warning to viewers who might react similarly to me.
I'm the only reviewer so far giving the bottom rating, so I better explain why. The series got off to a great start in episode 1 and immediately drew me in. I was willing to overlook the very poor video quality of the version I watched in the USA from Amazon Prime. The characters were engaging, and I looked forward to the story unfolding.
But I quit after episode 2, which completely blew me out of the water. The motivations and actions of the main characters disgusted me. I couldn't relate to them, respect them, or watch them any longer. Louisa, Augustus, and the Prince engaged in a corrupt relationship, supported by those surrounding them. The cumulative weight of the following events overwhelmed me, all in just one TV episode.
1. Louisa Leyton, the assistant cook, married Augustus Trotter, a man she didn't love, with the intention of also becoming mistress to the exploitative Prince of Wales, just to further her career ambitions. Had she no respect for marriage, love, or the human soul?
2. Augustus Trotter, the butler, married Louisa, a woman who didn't love him, and agreed to her becoming the Prince's mistress. How could any husband demean his wife like this and stoop to such depravity?
3. Louisa's mother, Mrs. Leyton, was more interested in her daughter's social status than happiness.
4. Louisa's father, Mr. Leyton, was a complete wimp. He let his wife and daughter walk all over him regarding Louisa's marriage, even though he suspected wrong motives.
5. The Prince of Wales used his dominating position to satisfy his lusts at the expense of ruining the lives of Louisa and Augustus, lower level people. He schemed to get them married in order for him to take Louisa as his 'respectable' mistress. What about adultery is respectable?
6. Monsier Alex's housekeeper, along with an upper class man, both of whose names escape me, cravenly joined in the plot to marry off Louisa to Augustus, knowing its corrupt purpose.
Goodbye, The Duchess of Duke Street. I sadly deleted it from my watch list.
Bonusfamiljen (2017)
lipstick on a pig
8 stars for the lipstick, reduced to 2 because it's on a pig. Warning: many spoilers. This review only covers episodes 1-6. I quit after that.
The lipstick: interesting premise & script, good acting, and engaging characters. See other reviews for details.
The pig: rampantly corrupt values. These include parental delinquency and promiscuity.
Another reviewer warned that "sexually liberated themes may not sit well with more prudish audiences." I'd call them "sexually corrupt themes." The highest values embraced by this modern, extended, Swedish so-called 'family' are to communicate with each other. Granted, this is important, but don't these values count anymore: fear of God, marital fidelity, respect for life, responsible parenting, childhood obedience, childhood respect for elders, and parental discipline of a child when needed? Granted, many people in Sweden and other countries have rejected these bonds that hold together families and civilizations, but a TV series that embraces this lifestyle has no appeal to me. We've all heard of "family values". What might "bonus family values" be? Here are a few examples. Spoilers start here.
Lisa, still married to Martin, is committing adultery with Patrik, her boyfriend, in full knowledge of her two children.
Lisa, after learning that Bianca, her young teen daughter, is sleeping with Bianca's boyfriend, does nothing to restrain her.
Lisa and Eddie consider her getting an abortion because she becomes obnoxious when pregnant and might spoil their relationship. Although she doesn't end up getting one, they would place their own happiness above the new life they have conceived.
Eddie, the son of Lisa and Martin, is an obnoxious, out of control, spoiled brat. He constantly insults Patrik, his pseudo-stepfather, and at least once kicks him in a painful place. Yet Lisa, Patrik, and Martin do nothing to restrain Eddie, discipline him, or teach him how to respect his elders. Instead, they rejoice when Eddie expresses himself, however obnoxiously.
Katja, who is Patrik's self-centered ex-wife, sleeps with two coworkers and obsessively favors her work over caring for her son, William. She's even willing to leave him alone at night, even though he's only seven years old.
Martin, a nervous wreck, only gets around to sleeping with one coworker, at least through episode six.
Jan and Ylva, the married 'family' counselors, are dysfunctional in their own relationship and hate each other's guts. This comes out clearly in episode six. How could they possibly be effective counselors?
TangerineLAnd (2015)
nice plot but weak acting
4 stars. Most IMDb and Amazon Prime users are giving this movie strong ratings, but I'm unable to. Although the plot was appealing, the acting seemed on par with a high school play, and the script, audio, and cinematography were weak. I only made it half way through; perhaps the second half was better. For those who liked this movie, I appreciate your gift for seeing its beauty.
Makimi (2013)
Well scripted and substantial, with somewhat elusive characters
As a way of reviewing the Israeli TV series Makimi (2013), it's interesting to compare it with its predecessor, Srugim (2008). Both narrate romantic relationships of youngish single Israeli Jews. On Amazon Prime, where I viewed each series, Makimi's video is higher resolution, while Srugim's is barely adequate. Both have similar IMDb ratings. Makimi is more dramatic; Srugim is a mix of drama and comedy. Secularism and religious life play an equal role in Makimi, while most Srugim characters are Orthodox Jews. Srugim is much longer, with more characters and plot twists. Questions of faith and unbelief are central to Makimi, while Orthodoxy is mainly, but not entirely, just the background in which Srugim's characters interact.
From this comparison, I would expect to like Makimi better. Although it was good (7 stars from me), Srugim was great (10 stars). The reasons are the elusive factors by which I related more strongly to Srugim's characters than to Makimi's. In Makimi, Alma's instant attraction to Ben seemed implausible and unmotivated. I couldn't distinguish her made-for-TV facial expressions from her genuine ones. I never really understood or related to Ben. Despite these shortcomings, Makimi's story line was strong and well scripted in the latter episodes, and they were nicely acted.
I hope we get to see more series like Makimi and Srugim.
San ge wei hun ma ma (2012)
artificial, melodramatic acting with potentially interesting story
4 stars out of 10. The acting is too melodramatic, and the music amplified this artificial tone. I couldn't engage in the characters and gave up after 15-20 minutes. The story line seemed interesting but was a bit complex for a 93 minute movie. For viewers more open minded or gifted than I, the movie might be worth watching. It had fewer than 5 IMDb ratings before I added mine. Two other Netflix reviewers liked it, assigning 4 stars and 5 stars out of 5.
Gui tu lie che (2009)
Gritty depiction of hardscrabble lives
It's easy in the West to picture Mainland China rising in prosperity and comfort, but that's not the country you'll see in this documentary. The parents left their children in grandma's rural village hands to do factory work in a faraway city. The teen daughter resented their long term absence and didn't appreciate their sacrifice to earn money for her education. The Chinese family values of loyalty, sacrifice, and parental respect still rule the lives of the two elder generations, but have broken down in the youngest. The movie's best scene is the dense, desperate throng waiting for five days in the station for train service to be resumed after a snowstorm knocked out power. Parents get separated from children. Police try to maintain order. People are close to fainting. Where will they get food? How can they relieve themselves? (This wasn't covered in the movie, but I wondered.) Their grueling ordeal gave perspective to the times I've complained about rush hour traffic or a crowded airplane trip. There is no comparison. I give this documentary 8 stars for opening my eyes to the family stresses brought on by genuine hardship and sacrifice. More star(s) would have come with crisper editing to cover the personal lives of this family more deeply.
1,000,000 yen no Onnatachi: The Mysterious Million Yen Women (2017)
meaningless escapist drivel emptier than styrofoam
2 stars. I have no idea how I made it into episode 4 before quitting this absolutely shallow drivel. It's empty escapism devoid of substance. Many viewers apparently enjoy this genre per the IMDb rating and the reviews on Netflix, but I'm unable to, despite trying. The script and acting have less content than styrofoam.
Sunday (2014)
Gentle romantic drama - is part time love enough?
8 stars. A lady living in Christchurch, NZ after the earthquake has tentatively started a new relationship. She also invites her ex-boyfriend back for a day to see whether they can resolve the conflict that caused their breakup. Although they're still in love, she won't have him unless he will give up his job driving trucks in Afghanistan to be with her full time along with his baby whom she's carrying. The job pays well, and he needs the money to cover mortgage payments for his house in Melbourne, Australia. Will he sacrifice his chosen livelihood to meet her needs? Does she love him enough to only see him one quarter of the time? They'd like to marry if they can find a way. Many couples grapple with these questions. I appreciated the simple story line with stark choices, the realistic script, the natural acting, and writers' confidence to convey the story without violence, sex, or dysfunction. The two lead actors wrote the script, along with the director.
Atypical (2017)
Entertaining, but dragged down by promiscuous values
***This review has spoilers.*** 8 stars for entertainment, reduced to 2 stars for promiscuous values. I started out enjoying this entertaining series but ended up feeling empty and let down. Despite the natural acting, well written script, and poignant moments, the characters' promiscuous behavior and values spoiled everything. The only character I ended up liking was the dad. He was humble and sensitive, a sort of gentle giant. The mom was committing adultery while feigning devotion to her family. The sister was rude and abrasive. The first thing she did after catching her mom kissing the bartender was to jump into bed with her boyfriend. The redhead whom the autistic boy met tried to seduce him almost immediately. The talkative girl who awkwardly became his girlfriend planned to sleep with him while her parents were away. His friend at work was coaching him in how to conquer women rather than on life skills and work performance. At least the mom's deceit was uncovered at the end, but that satisfying event was not enough to redeem the TV series from the trashy values it portrayed. Netflix should consider that some of its viewers still believe that sex is meant for the marriage bed, despite the direction that so much of the world is taking.
With Child (2014)
cloistered lady implausibly loves obnoxious widower
5 stars out of 10. As I write, this movie is getting an 8.3 IMDb rating, two favorable reviews from critics, and one favorable user review. Count me blind, but I couldn't see what they did, and I think 8.3 is way too high. Here's the review I submitted to Amazon Prime after viewing it there.
The movie's interesting premise was of a relationship developing between a widowed construction worker with a baby girl and a reclusive single lady who hires him to redo her basement. But I couldn't relate to either main character. Up to the very end, the man was obnoxious, rude, careless with his child, and selfish in not putting her interests first. His tender moments with the baby did not overcome this. The woman was robotic and mechanical, almost devoid of visible emotion, and the movie did not make a case for her attraction to such an obnoxious man. Even her physics experiment was misconstrued, being in optics rather than particle physics, and her claim that it proved that she could change the past (presumably her sad, cloistered childhood) by taking action in the present is not how a quantum physicist would interpret it. The most admirable character was the man's sister in law, because she showed genuine concern for the baby and was willing to pay a steep price for her welfare. But the movie portrayed her as somewhat of a villain for threatening legal action to gain custody, along with her husband. Details in movies don't have to be completely plausible, but when the main relationship has such little plausibility or chemistry, that's going too far.
Like a Fish Out of Water (2007)
light, charming romantic comedy
8 stars. I recommend this charming little movie. It cleverly packs all the elements of a romantic comedy into 51 minutes. It's light, funny, goofy, tasteful, and suitable for the whole family. At the time of writing, it's available in the USA from Amazon Prime Video. More reviews are available there.
A Jewish widower from Argentina and his 11 year old daughter emigrate to Israel. He's pumping gas while looking for an acting job. Visiting a park with his daughter, he's instantly charmed by a lady doing a power walk, but she's standoffish, and also more religiously observant than he is. He enrolls in Hebrew class, and coincidentally, she's the teacher. She reluctantly agrees to tutor his Hebrew pronunciation for an acting audition, even though it's for a soap opera, a genre she hates. Complicating the situation are his scheming daughter, his ambiguous family relationships, a 'religious' skullcap that won't stay on his head, her matchmaking mother, her dad's furtive love of soap operas, and an obnoxious soldier who just won't give up trying to date her. How could an easy going guy and religious lady navigate these perilous waters?
Srugim (2008)
Tasteful, engrossing romantic comedy & drama with substantial, natural acting
10 stars. My only other 10 star TV series is Heartland from Canada.
The Srugim TV series is for those more interested in character and relationship than plot and action. Mature adults navigate the turbulent waters of belief, ritual, feeling, disappointment, and joy. In Srugim, God's creatures relate to each other in the context of their faith, which forms the impetus for their friendships without being praised or criticized.
As a non-Jewish American male, I'm not in the target audience for this Israeli romantic comedy and drama. But I quickly became engrossed in the characters, their personalities, and their struggles. In contrast to most romantic comedies, the actors are substantial, mature, and not frivolous. They cajole, comfort, and criticize each other, as the occasion demands. The script grapples with serious issues, striking a perfect balance between light hearted humor and deep seated feelings. Today's cinema has so much shallow, trashy dysfunction, sustained by titillating props. Srugim has none of that. Lacking violence, explicit sex, car chases, explosions, or CGI animation, it must carry its weight by subtlety, charm, wit, sincerity, heartache, and redemption. The characters are wonderfully cast for their assigned roles. The acting is natural and believable. The clothes are modest and the makeup is minimal. Srugim reminds me of Jascha Heifetz playing violin, and of Joan Baez singing, presenting their music on its own merits without theatrics.
The requirements of Orthodox Judaism impose surprising constraints on the characters. Single men and women are not supposed to even touch each other. The men wear skullcaps (hence the title, Srugim: Hebrew for knitted skullcap), and the women's demeanor is likewise modest. Turning lights on or off on Sabbath days poses special challenges. These constraints make the series more interesting than the largely unconstrained lives portrayed in modern cinema because the characters must respect them in all their romantic encounters. A runner who wins the race by following the rules is more inspiring than one whose muscles come from banned drugs. A redwood tree, whose growth is constrained by God's laws of physics and biology, still reaches the heavens. The characters' faith is not all prohibitions, though, because it brings them into warm fellowship over Sabbath meals and celebrations, with wonderful readings from Scripture.
Srugim is good enough to get 10 stars despite its negatives. The online streaming version I watched in the USA on Amazon Prime was low resolution, with weak colors and modest cinematography. I was surprised by the infrequent profanities, expecting that Orthodoxy would prohibit them. I was disappointed by how many 'white lies' were spoken in awkward situations. I assumed that Orthodoxy would demand truth telling at all times. Apart from these foibles, I was not disappointed when the characters suffered temptation, with their faith sometimes faltering, because to portray otherwise would deny our universal human condition.