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TKBlackburn
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Silent Witness (1996)
Diversity Schmirsety
Most of the shows still have some edge & surprises, but Nikki can be overly sanctimonious & frankly somewhat woke. Mostly palatable, though, & still an overall good show. Just 5 episodes for a whole season is pretty slight, but typical Brit fare to have zero consistency & call 5 stories a "series."
However, a dull person in a super dull role (deaf without anyone every speaking aloud) is not exactly great TV. At least let the actors who can speak aloud do so. Very dumb storyline & really bad casting. Makes me hate the girl (Cara) because she inserts herself into a stressful, busy atmosphere uninvited & instead of doing what every deaf friend I've ever had does, which is LIP READ, she makes all these busy, stressed people learn HER language.
If this is a character who stays, I'm out.
Zombie House Flipping (2016)
Orlando Rocks - the others, meh
The original concept & crew were what made this show so fun. Glad Keith is still involved, & that Duke is back, but they've added a blah designer whose personality & facial expressions really grate. A lot. No humor.
The original concept that makes it fun to rewatch episodes from the first seasons may have had scripted moments, or setups, but they were hilarious & very visual. Who can forget the hippies camping in the yard, the many gators, the crazy drone? Classic stuff. Keith using his truck as a battering ram everywhere.
In 2023 it's just another show with the same formula as others' shows. And the "zombie" aspect is all but abandoned. It isn't the same, & anything not in Orlando is just not worth the time to watch, so it's just another before/after fast-forward if you watch at all, & it's gone the way of House Hunters by adding other locations so we don't have an anchor to give the show personality.
24 Hour Flip (2023)
Better TV than Flips
Putting all these contractors on top of each other is a recipe for disaster, which of course is a recipe for good reality TV. Not sure the houses are as good as I'd want as a buyer, but still better than I could do myself.
I like the show's concept. It does seem a little short-sighted for so many other flips to last for months, with or without permits issues. 24 hours is deceptive, however. It's two days of 12 hours each, which is more reasonable.
I think they're all good people, but the stress brings out the worst in personalities, so it makes the husband especially not likable as a boss. If I'm working 12 hours straight & all I hear is complaints before I'm even done, I'm not going to be inspired to work harder. The harsh NJ personalities can grow on you if you binge watch, as I did. Maybe that's why my rating is so much higher than others'. Gotta give it a chance.
Studio C (2012)
This review is through Season 7
Because BYU TV has made this available from day 1, commercial free, & FREE, there is no excuse to not at least try this show. In Season 1 it's clear that these freakishly talented kids weren't 100% sure what they had, because it needed testing.
And they created magic! Thankfully, others agreed & gave them money to really make something of it.
Season 2 finds its stride. They introduce "off-set" stuff in Season 3 I think (can't remember), which is grammatically confusing with the hyphen in the transitions, but the skits themselves are great.
I hate to be a killjoy to even bring this up, but if you have the interface to do so, use the fast forward button whenever there is a creepy "Jeremy" segment. It is not until around Season 6 that he finally develops some talent & is not an annoyance on screen. The cast seems to know this, but as they're all/mostly friends since childhood, no one ever had the heart to take Jeremy out of the picture. For him, it paid off with self esteem, slow skill development & eventual fitting in. What's really weird, is that he would probably LOVE this review. If you like awkward humor, you'll love him as much as they do.
Well, I did give it a 10 for the seasons in which he participates, so touché.
An experiment with "off-set" only skits in Season 8 changes the feeling, plus their need to add 3 more cast members, which is inevitable for a long-running show. It is not a failed experiment, but from what I've heard, they bring the audience back in Season 9, which I've also heard is **SPOILER** the last season for the original 10 cast members.
Not to worry. They are still going strong with other endeavors on YouTube & Angel Studios.
**SPOILER** The show is reported to have gone downhill with the original 10's departure, but I can't attest to that, & I'm only at the start of Season 8, so...
Lee'd the Way (2021)
Anyone Who Can Solve Those Problems Gets a TEN
Regardless of any of the usual things we look for in a movie, Lee'd the Way gives us something we rarely see: solutions to big problems.
Nothing is left vs right. It's all about politics, yet nothing is political.
If you're looking for big Hollywood production values and movie-star casting, this won't be your cup of tea. If you're looking to be both entertained and wowed with some unique perspectives on life and how the world works, this will satisfy you 100%.
I learned new things, saw new perspectives, and fell in love with the characters. If you can watch a good movie and overlook budget, you will get a lot out of this too.
Echo 3 (2022)
Endings Matter, & This STINKS
8 great episodes should get 8 stars maybe, but the ending, & the fiasco of the open-air stadium kidnapping, really cost this series its credibility. So it only gets 2 stars DESPITE those 2 episodes that ruined it.
HATE the last episode (start to finish) enough to seek out a way to express it to the world here without any spoilers.
Just know that if you want a satisfying ending, watch Episode 9 & STOP. You get all that you'll want from how that episode ends, & you'll walk away with some hope & fodder for a worthy ending's imagining. It sets up a great international dilemma that doesn't even get resolved, so don't worry about that aspect. Fill in the blanks yourself on what should happen to Venezuela & Colombia. That seems to be the creator's desire anyhow.
I have never been so angry at a show for wasting my time & upsetting me so much as I am at Echo 3!
In episode 10, aside from TERRIBLE writing, they seemed to have decided to leave the directing up to...no one. Not a chance that a person was in charge of this. Great actors should be very upset they were duped into being a part of Episode 10. Shame on every person who allowed it to go to post without objection. If they objected but got ignored or fired, at least they can live with themselves.
Yep - it's THAT bad! You've been warned.
Counterpart (2017)
Make me CARE
Great premise. Some great acting by Simmons, of course, considering the script he's given to work with.
The ONLY character worth caring about is the "original" Howard we meet, but he's so lacking in curiosity it's impossible to stick with him.
And clarity is a huge issue. I'm past halfway in Episode 4 but it wasn't until I just read the logline on IMDb that I learned it's a UN thing. We're never told where he works (unless I missed it while rolling my eyes at the lack of emotional progress).
A story needs to compel. I was compelled to stop watching by the end of Episode 2 but gave it another shot with the revelation of a PANDEMIC (very interesting considering I'm watching in 2022). If you can't hook me by now, you've screwed up. I'm surprised it made it to a Season 2.
Watch Night Sky instead. At least you'll feel something.
Silent Witness: And Then I Fell in Love: Part 1 (2012)
Should have been 1 hour
Like all episodes this season, this brutal story would have been much more compelling, less repetitive & more engaging if changed to a one-hour format.
This entire season is a downhill momentum for the entire series, & is the last season I could force myself to watch after loving the show through the previous 10+ seasons.
The hardest thing for an American watching the series all along has been the full nudity of live & dead people. In the very first episode of season 1, we saw a full-on sex scene with a 7-year-old watching it. Now we get Americanized PG versions of sex, yet we still see up the wazzoos of dead people. Incongruent & weird.
The new trajectory for the series has too many cooks in the kitchen probably. It's feeling like the American series "Revolultion" which changed tone & character personality each week with different writers until it finally was taken off the air. Yet, for some reason, this show just keeps going inexplicably.
Silent Witness: Death Has No Dominion: Part 1 (2012)
The beginning of the end of the series
This show has been a Covid saver for me to watch each night from about Season 3 forward (the 90s stuff was too old/outdated to suffer through).
But after BLOODLINES in season 14 upped the ante & kept us breathless with Harry & his fate, every episode since has been a slow roll downhill.
While this episode was good, it was drawn out to meet the show's long-held format of two 1-hour parts. As has every episode that follows.
The awesome pacing that always kept forward momentum has been replaced by brooding "actor moments" stretched beyond their limits.
And the new format of ending the first part with "NEXT TIME" really ruins whatever momentum the story has in the explosive last moments of part 1. The music swell into the credits was one of the best format things going for this show. Now it's trampled on with a sales pitch.
And there is clearly a change in behind-the-scenes writing & leadership starting with this season. It shows in the ever darker storylines & SLOW PACING that is now ruining the show from this point forward.
I suffered through this entire season & must now sadly abandoned the series as it gets even worse in Season 16 with abrupt cast changes.
Forever (2018)
who are they paying to "like" this?
After SUFFERING through the first, awful, slow, NOTHING HAPPENS episode, I started episode 2. After all, it's acclaimed. Supposedly funny people star in it. But when the same, awful pacing went on, I had to fast forward until finally we're on the plane... OK, now we have a story. Why it takes 2 full episodes to get to something even close to interesting eludes me. But then we have to meet the new "neighborhood" & here we go again - unfunny, slow, somewhat predictable & BLEH. I fast forwarded to the end of episode 3 & gave up.
TERRIBLE.
Two stars because the stars themselves have earned at least that. I don't do GROUP THINK, so I can't force myself to find this funny just because a lot of other not bright people do.
Absentia (2017)
Um - there are no orphanages in the US
I'm surprised to see that one of the writers is American. The other has no info. Neither name appears very Americanized, so it's hard to know where this storyline came from, but it's a stupid premise, & apparently all the good reviews come from people who've suspended disbelief enough to overlook the obvious by the time this comes up.
An entire "American" series premised on an evil organization that cannot exist, treating it like it's typical, is ridiculous.
When Calls the Heart: My Heart Is Yours (2018)
Deja vu from last week
This felt like the backup script to the week before. With an overwhelming list of things to do for the wedding get everyone to pitch in when it's too much. Last week it was bride angst, this week a wrench thrown in the works that didn't really change anything at all.
I grew up on Janet Oke's books, and I'm so glad there is family programming on Hallmark. But the milquetoast flavoring from all things Canada homogenizes every series. This episode felt especially convoluted to eke out an extra week of programming.
But it's still way better than everything out there, so by comparison it's a 10. But for what it could/should be, it's barely a 4. I settled on 6 as a compromise.
Fargo: The Law of Vacant Places (2017)
Weird (like psychedelic drugs weird) & Disgusting is not always entertainment
Hooked me with the first episodes. After the air conditioner incident (which was awesome) everything went downhill.
After the weird L.A. episode to the weirder Peter & the Wolf episode, the hook has ripped free.
Unwatchable after this week's "drink from the mug" episode.
Yes - we got more plot, but this writer is full of himself & his own perception of what is poetic & artistic. I've taken it off my DVR after this week's over-the-top episode. OVER THE DAMN TOP.
When Duty Calls (2015)
Not worthy of the Hallmark stamp.
"You're not going to get away with this"
With this kind of brilliant & very predictable dialogue & a lead character who does everything wrong but somehow we're supposed to believe she's meant to be a cop, it's not much of a leap to figure out why this gets a low rating.
It doesn't help that there's probably about 60 minutes of story here...tops. The editor seemed to have to use every moment of footage to fill out the 2-hour timeslot.
There's a cute idea at the core, but very little actual conflict. Just a bit of made-up conflict to try to make it feel like a story.
It comes down to bad writing & directing.
Pirate Master (2007)
Time to bring back this HIT!
This was the most fun reality show ever. It had everything. The problem...a mentally unstable contestant who committed suicide shortly after her departure from the show (more related to her boyfriend's death than leaving the show apparently). They quietly took the show off the air & showed the final episodes online only. Buried it completely. No one ever talked about it.
It's been 10 years since the unfortunate off-camera drama unfolded, & while it can have a different name & new host to give it a fresh start, it was set up so well that I can't see it failing.
I hope they bring it back.
The Birthday Wish (2017)
Good & not deserving of its RASPBERRY
As these kinds of movies go, it's pretty good with good casting.
At 1:10 the lead character kisses her boyfriend & there's an inappropriate, unacknowledged FART NOISE in the bg. It's as if the sound editor was giving a big raspberry to the filmmakers. WEIRD!
Other than that really big oddity, it's got good momentum & though a little predictable, there are few HM movies romances that are completely unpredictable.
Night Will Fall (2014)
Very good but WHERE'S THE FILM?
If you're looking to see the actual film, it's not here & there is no clue to where it is.
"German Concentration Camps Factual Survey" is the film. Where is it? Don't bother clicking on anything on YouTube. Nothing there but ads & still shots of studio logos.
Other than that HUGE letdown, this is a wonderful documentary. The very end is most poignant to SEE the apathy of Germans who lived down the road throughout the atrocities.
Uncle Hitler (2009)
Zero editing skills RUIN what could have been revolutionary material.
The subject matter is so fascinating, and this filmmaker has completely thrown the opportunity away with poor planning, poor filming (REALLY bad) and terrible/nonexistent editing.
It's very confusing with the interviewer doing all the talking (off camera) with an entire family of Hitlers sitting in the kitchen with the camera only pointing at one person who never speaks!
No one is ever clearly identified, so nothing makes sense.
WEIRD.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
Twists & turns galore
The only reason it doesn't get a 10 is that the overall emotional concept is a bit scattered. It's such a big team that the central character's personal stakes are not all that riveting. It's sort of a romantic tease for things to possibly come for Ethan though, so the fun factor overrides any lack of emotional angst.
The theme is very interesting & very clear, though words are seldom used to convey it: loyalty can be fickle.
Such a theme lends to great twists & turns. EVERY single character (except one minor bad guy) flipflops at least once in their loyalties (or seems to). It's a very complex roller-coaster that provides a really fun, knucklebiting ride as betrayals are followed by victories which are then undone by more betrayals, etc.
After several viewing it never gets boring.
This is how an action film should be. Well done. Definitely my favorite in an ever improving series, which is rare. The biggest dud in the series is the first film, which in its time was a wonderful breakthrough & still very watchable despite a very slower pacing.
The trademark alternative realities given in flashforwards & flashbacks continue to stand out as a fun element that keeps the mind engaged.
Not sure how they'll top this one without getting formulaic.
If Looks Could Kill (2016)
What was LMN thinking putting this on the air?
The only semi-good things about this were the original idea & the lead actresses' competent acting roles. The crazy female lead is pretty good casting, & she gives it all she has, but with bad writing it's not really savable.
Bad everything else: writing, casting, acting, cinematography (how many CUs can there be of bad makeup?), directing, & the editing - wow - the editing is stellar in its AWFULNESS. Blackouts in the middle of scenes, weird cuts that make you think they've gone to commercial when they haven't & a choice of song at the end with slow mo that never ends... It's just so bad it might be fun to watch for a laugh.
If these really are true events, it would be better served with a commitment to the comedic aspect or to the drama. Not both.
Abducted Love (2016)
The TV ad SPOILS it
On my cable DVR there's a photo of the perp holding a weapon to the wife's throat.
9 minutes into the movie this perp shows up as a biz partner concerned that the husband didn't show up for work. Well DUH.
This is about a mundane family in a mundane town (always in Canada pretending to be the US). The mundane dialogue TALKS about what we see - she wears scrubs & lectures her eye-rolling teen about flossing because she's a dental hygienist. MUNDANITY at its worst.
If there had been a hint of good writing, clever dialogue, good casting, good acting, or anything interesting for those first 9 minutes maybe I would stick with it. Instead, I hit pause, posted this review & will go on to watch the news.
DUMB ads RUIN movies. And bad writing without even a hint of cleverness or at least INTERESTING nails the coffin.
Wakolda (2013)
Chillingly Good Film
Normally I don't like to "read" movies. But this is an exception. It takes place in a Spanish-speaking country with German-speaking characters. It would have been spoiled by Americanization with all English. The subtitles are large & clear enough, but I have a 65" so I can't speak to normal TV size.
It's so well done with story, writing, characters, casting, cinematography, etc. The only reason for 9 out 10 is due to a bad musical choice at the end. I didn't even notice or think about the music throughout. But at the end, the out-of-place music removed me from the otherwise emotionally charged moment. Swelling strings would have enhanced the epic emotions we share with the young lead character. Stomping guitars just stomp on emotions. But even that couldn't ruin it.
Watch it. Learn something about a frightening part of our world history while being moved.
Who Killed JonBenét? (2016)
One-sided Bias - The Prosecutors' Fantasy Project against the Ramseys
The logline talking about "revisiting" the case is accurate. It's just a rehash of everything we already know put in script form.
This filmmaker sides with the foolish cops who NEVER considered that a crazy person did this horrible crime. They were out of their depth, & by the time they started acting like professionals, they had tunnel vision & all outside leads were nuisances they worked to discredit with gusto.
All this movie does is rehash & dramatize the bits of info already well known to the public since very early on. What it does NOT do is go back to the weeks before the murder.
FACTS NOT CONSIDERED: This family paraded their child proudly & naively all over the place, literally. She was in a parade with her name on the float just days before the murder (vaguely mentioned in the film). A couple days before that, the newspaper published that John's company had just made $1 billion in profits (never mentioned). She sang at a mall a couple days before Christmas (never mentioned). She was obviously seen on stage in pageants as well.
The movie gave about 4 minutes' screen time to the "intruder theory" - just like the cops.
Like the cops, this movie is too blind with bias to look at the obvious - a crazy person stalked them, found a way in, killed the girl & played head games with the family - because he was insane. He got away because of the most sloppy police work in history complicated by despicable political kowtowing.
There is still an "unidentified male's" DNA unaccounted for (not familial). Patsy was right...there's someone out there.
No matter who really did this, the movie/story should be a cautionary tale of how to protect your child from predators, not a botched procedural covering ground we've been over ad nauseam for 2 decades.
Hopefully someone will make THAT movie someday.
The Night Stalker (2016)
Dark story filmed in the dark
Writing & Directing sounds fun, but you control too much. You are blind to your own weaknesses without checks. This is why it takes a team to make a film.
Story is definitely dark, & the tone is appropriately dark.
However, much of the film is so dark it's not watchable. Pivotal scenes. I changed the settings on my very good TV to brighten up as much as possible. Didn't help enough. No idea what was happening in a few scenes.
Well told true story with a couple twists & turns. But there's too much dialogue in light scenes, & too much action in dark scenes.
One ominous note underscores nonstop from start to end.
Lou Diamond Phillips delivers as usual. Good performances, just a bit overshadowed by bad production decisions.
The Bridge (2015)
This is only PART 1 out of ?
The only "spoiler" here is that the movie is a spoiler. It's not a movie! It's an EPISODE.
It's pretty good when it comes to production & characters. But it's not a complete story! To blindside viewers with a "to be continued in 2016" is unforgivable. This is billed as a MOVIE - not a show. Not a series. Not a part 1 of ___. And now the resolution is a YEAR away?
You MUST tell your viewers what they're getting into. NOTHING happens & nothing is resolved in this 2-hour setup.
There's more story in the first 2 minutes than the entire rest of the 2 hours until the continuation blindside. Those 2 minutes were what kept me watching to the "end" that isn't an end.
Not cool.
Rather than upset viewers, be honest upfront & then maybe the entire thing wouldn't feel like 2 hours wasted. Might even help create anticipation rather than letdown.
log line posted on the day of airing 12/6/15: When Molly Allen finds out that The Bridge, a beloved bookstore back in her hometown of Franklin, TN, is in jeopardy along with the bookstore's owner, she returns to help, only to come face to face with her old flame.
The log line/description provided here on IMDb is completely bogus - probably matches the book, but not the movie. Even if Part 2 does resolve it to match the storyline somewhat, it isn't & never was the lead character's "hometown." And her name is not Molly Allen. So everything about this production is false advertising.
In other words, someone really screwed up here, ruining what may turn out to be a nice little series, but not when it's doled out like this.