imgod2u Reviews

United States of Tara (2009–2011)

A very entertaining and promising show

[9/10 · 22 September 2009]

I'm unsure as to why there's so much negative reaction. Perhaps people are burnt out on the whole Sundance-is-hip thing and have form a I'm-even-more-obscure crowd. The dialog is clever, the acting -- especially by the magnificent Toni Collette -- is surprisingly good, the plot has been interesting so far and nothing seems forced. There are few shows on TV nowadays -- including the ever declining Weeds -- that I think have such merits going for it.

Toni portrays her personalities wonderfully; a very broad range of personalities. There's so much articulation in the portrayal of mixed happiness and stress in her family -- portrayed wonderfully by the cast.

It's only been on for one season but I can definitely see this being a show I will hold onto.

Pushing Daisies (2007–2009)

The Importance of Being Ned

[10/10 · 9 July 2008]

Wonderfalls is possibly my favorite show of all times. It was unique in its own way but borrowed obvious things. The Joan of Arc story, the Wildean style of dry and ironic humor and the age old story of boy meets girl.

Pushing Daisies retains much of the same qualities. The dialog is witty; the script light-hearted; the characters odd-ball and extravagant. But what sets it apart from Wonderfalls is the atmosphere. Just as Wonderfalls borrowed from the theme of Joan of Arc, Pushing Daisies borrows from Scooby Doo. It's silly and playful and doesn't take itself too seriously.

The rest of the show matches this perfectly. The bright and cartoony colors, the sometimes flat, wordy and fast dialog (a throwback to old detective films), and the diabetic coma inducing cuteness.

I love it as much as I love my copy of The Cat in the Hat. An open and uninhibited expression of the joy of fantasies with an added twist of adult wit and sarcasm.

Just as Wonderfalls was for the young adult in us struggling with growing up, Pushing Daisies is for the child in us who thinks of true love and fairy tales.

Wonderfalls (2004)

Warms the heart, tickles the brain.

[10/10 · 19 December 2007]

After all of these years, this show is still a favorite of mine. The DVD is probably the most watched material I have anytime I feel witty and whimsical. It's a modern day The Importance of Being Earnest. There are simply so many reasons that this show resonates with me (and I suspect others). The witty dialog, the clever plot-lines, the social commentary (Jen Why?), the absolutely adorable acting and the little hidden details here and there that tickles the inner nerd when noticed.

I feel that it's impossible to express my adoration for this show in words that would convey it properly. To those who have not seen it, even if you don't watch TV, this little gem is something that you should not pass up.

Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005)

A notch better than what replaced it, but still fairly boring.

[2/10 · 19 September 2007]

While it's of infinitely better quality than the T&A show that is Ghost Whisperer (who would've thought skimpy outfits + ghost mysteries would actually be boring), I still was not impressed much by this show. It's just....too full of cliché's. The tough, honest cop father, the hippie gypsy mother, the star athlete brother (who's facing a crisis that interrupted his perfect life), the nerd super-genius brother, etc.

While all of these caricatures would've been great if this were a Monty-Python-ish tongue-in-cheek show, I get the feeling that they (the producers) are actually serious! It's long, drawn out and slow like a typical CSI-ish drama with just a not-so-subtle hint of religious preaching now and then (discounting testimony's from "God", since we'd expect that, but the "it's only logical to believe in God" speech from the nerd-brother?).

All in all, it's not a badly produced show, per se. One can tell that it's got a good crew behind it. But there's something missing amongst the decent acting (mostly), good props, set, lighting, cast, etc. It needs an interesting story.

Closer (I) (2004)

I now hate Jude Law with a fiery passion

[1/10 · 6 March 2005]

This was the most god-awful movie I've seen in quite some time. Don't get me wrong, I like all of the people in it (Natalie Portman, and had previously liked Jude Law, and I suppose Julia Roberts is OK). But this movie was like 90210 on steroids. It was border-lining incoherent at times, with a plot that inspires nothing and seemingly random turns for no other reason than the dramatic effect. Now, I like a good love story (or heartbreak story, this seems to be both) as much as the next guy, but this tried to do both and ended up doing neither all too well. It's not that the dialog wasn't good or the acting was bad (when in fact, it's probably the silver lining of the movie), but the turns of events in the movie occurs so often and so seemingly randomly (with not enough build-up in between) and the characters just seem so unrealistic that it's difficult to either sympathize or empathize with them. It then makes it much more difficult to find these events interesting. About the only event that I truly found interesting was at the very end when it is revealed that Alice's (Natalie Portman's character) real name was Jane Jones, which she had originally told Anna's husband when he was trying to get some honesty from her. That was the only time she truly let her guard down. However, that one part of the plot does not make up for poorly implemented parts of the rest of the plot. The movie was borderline boring and the lack of coherency and realistic characters just makes it unbearable. It was like an entire season of 90210 compressed into 2 hours.