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Reviews
Salesman (1969)
Great Idea, Poor Execution
I found this movie to be in desperate need of narration and editing.
I don't think there's a single scene that lasts more than 2 minutes, so you have a bunch of short moments all over the place - salesman in car, salesman in someone's home, salesman in meeting, etc.
But there's no real narrative to the story. It's just moments, and a string of moments doesn't make a movie.
The makers should have picked one man and followed him, given us some background, etc. Instead there are many faces and it's hard to remember one from the other. There is no start, middle, or end to the story - just a bunch of short scenes and then we're done. So what was the point?
They should have introduced these men, told us their challenges, interviewed them and let them speak to the camera, etc. Some men were fired, we're told in passing - why? Poor sales? How about taking one guy who's on the bubble and following his story?
Just boring. The "moments of desperation" are kind of meaningless because we don't know the people.
I really wanted to like this movie but it's a mess.
Rollover (1981)
Miscast + Clichés = Boredom
It's impossible not to giggle every time Kristofferson opens his mouth in this movie. It's not like he's playing a cowboy turned banker - rather, he's playing a stereotypical New York banker and it's just ridiculous. It's like casting Miley Cyrus as a nun or Justin Bieber as a nuclear scientist.
Jane Fonda looks stiff and bored. Their romance is also hilarious.
The movie filled with clichés: the omniscient assassin, the busy trading floor, the tape Fonda finds at just the right time, etc.
Overall, it's a very slow-moving, dull drama. The first two thirds of the movie are irrelevant. "The Arabs pull out their money out" is a single event at the end, following by a couple minutes of "the sky is falling" and that's it. The first 90 minutes of all the corporate maneuvering are a completely different plot that turns out to be irrelevant.
The scenario, by the way, is silly. So what if the Arabs withdraw all their cash? Where would they put it? In a different bank in a different country. And what would that bank do with it? Lend it out. Who would borrow? US banks needing liquidity. So the money would move around but the idea that the entire global financial system would collapse is ridiculous.
And of course, if it did collapse, the Arabs would have no one to buy their oil, so they zero motivation to do this. This is also not covered in the movie.
Meh...it's a couple hours to put on the TV in your garage while you're working or something but I wouldn't sit down with your special someone for an evening of excitement.
BTW, "Tarriq Afifi" - you're completely wrong. I'm offended by your comments that this movie is racist. It's not. It's about Arabs pulling their money out of US banks. Racism would be saying "all Arabs are (some negative stereotype)" not saying "in 1981, Arabs had a lot of financial power". There was no Arab bashing (or bashing of Islam - the asr prayer is shown accurately).
Elementary (2012)
Why bother?
This show really has zero to do with Sherlock Holmes.
It's not a clever reimagining like the BBC production. There is small lip service to Holmes - but really once you get outside of the names, not much.
It's a very stereotypical American crime drama. The only significant link to Sherlock Holmes are the lead characters' names. Seriously! Why even bother with the Sherlock Holmes premise?
The show is not badly written, but you might as well watch any other crime drama.
One star because this show just reeks of some used-car-salesman cigar- chomping American producer saying "hey, let's take that Holmes guy with the pipe and make Dr. Watson a woman! gimme those Criminal Minds scripts we passed on - perfect!"
Hardcore Pawn (2009)
Dumb.
Dumb show, because
(a) So much is obviously scripted.
(b) They try very hard to create/find drama that just isn't there. If your idea of high drama is a a disorderly customer, then party on.
A lot of people here talk about the Golds "ripping people off". Well...maybe. That $500 engagement ring was never really worth $500. It's worth some small margin over the melt value. If the gold is only worth $70 and the Golds offer $35, people here cry "ripoff! paying $35 for a $500 ring!" But it really isn't - they'll pay $35, sell for $70. Keep in mind a lot of that stuff sits for a long time, overhead is high, and many things that people bring in are in gross oversupply. $10 for a microwave doesn't surprise me. Also remember some percentage of your inventory will just vanish because it'll turn out to be stolen.
However, the "I'm glad we could help" is just BS. Les Gold & family have never "helped" anyone. They are in business and are not a charity. That smugness wears thin very fast. I wouldn't trust Les Gold any further than I could throw him.
Anyway, it's a show full of poverty-level people trying to get a few bucks for junk. There could actually be a good show - take two or three of those people per show, interview them, show how they got where they are, followup, all with the pawnshop as a backdrop. That could be interesting...but as it is, we only know customers for 3 minutes at a time and they quickly become a sea of sameness.
"You never know what to expect!" Actually, we do - every episode has a few people who get mad you won't give them much, a few people who've lost their receipts or messed up their transactions, and A LOT OF SETH AND ASHLEY ACTING LIKE THEY'RE IN 8TH GRADE.
Who cares about Seth and Ashley? Seriously.
Pawn Stars is the Antiques Road Show compared to Hardcore Pawn. Pawn Stars is also pretty fake but at least you get to learn about cool old stuff...Hardcore Pawn is just bottom-fishing for fake drama.