md-36-796209 Reviews

La La Land (2016)

This might have been ...

[5/10 · 2 October 2022]

... an excellent film if it weren't a musical, or a much better musical with leads that can actually sing and dance, not just sort-of carry a tune, and move awkwardly to all but the simplest ballroom choreography.

When not singing or dancing, Gosling and Stone are convincing, and as appealing as a guy written as rather a jerk and a gal written without much depth can be. While watching it, I dismissed the music as forgettable tunes with lyrics crammed in too tightly. However, given that Hurwicz composed "Start a Fire", the one song worth a listen, I imagine the others might have come off much better if sung with phrasing and breath control technique.

I love musicals, but I truly don't understand the accolades given this film. I found it extremely disappointing, and overly long.

America's Got Talent (2006– )

Worth watching only on DVR now

[3/10 · 12 July 2021]

This show has become increasingly lame .over the seasons. The amount of screen time devoted to staged interplay between the judges, contestant "sob stories" and other junk filler seems to grow each year - or maybe it's just increasingly boring because I've seen it all already.

I still enjoy watching the acrobats, aerialists, illusionists, etc. That are basically seen only on AGT and a reasonable number of the other acts, but I can only stand to do so by recording it and fast-forwarding to the introduction of each performer/group.

BTW, I did get a laugh from a tired question on my latest recording: Simon asked a group of some 35 dancers under the age of 18 what they'd do with the $million if they won. Duh, Simon, it's a million for the ACT, including the coaches, choreographer, etc. - and the adult pros probably get the lion's share.

Below Deck: Cool Your Jets (2013) Season 1, Episode 1

Episode plot makes no sense

[4/10 · 5 July 2021]

The start is promising. . The premise - what it's like to crew on a luxury charter yacht - is interesting, and the crew of 8 attractive young people and an older captain seemed generally personable and watchable. Clearly, some "made for TV" drama was afoot in the form of exaggerated conflicts between at least the first officer and captain, and the newly-promoted chief steward and her rookie stew (who has also been assigned a berth in men's bunkroom). Still, the impeccably high standards of service, cleanliness, cuisine, etc. Inherent to the business, and the relatively tiny amount of space devoted to crew quarters would seem to make for potential conflicts even in the real world.

However, the plot starts to falls apart when the first charter guests come aboard at the yacht's home port on St. Martin. Their destination is St. Barth's, some 20 miles away, a trip that takes about an hour by the slowest ferry. Maybe the client said "we're chartering the yacht to party and enjoy the experience, and we don't need to arrive for a day and a half, so just sail around", but why not explain that? Surely I'm not the only viewer with a rudimentary knowledge of Caribbean geography who thought, "what the hell is with the overnight+ trip?".

It seems the point was to set the stage for the "big issue". Senior stew Kat, while cleaning one of the guest bathrooms, saw what looked like a baggie of cocaine, and reported that to her boss, who took it up the chain to the captain. Given that law enforcement of any Caribbean country could have legally boarded and searched the yacht in their territorial waters (or within about 12 miles from shore) and, had they done so and found an illegal substance, there could have been severe consequences to the guest, the yacht, and its captain, it was probably the correct thing to do.

However, the captain's actions were beyond bizarre. Rather than confront his client, explain the possible legal ramifications for the guests as well as the boat and himself, and demand the immediate jettisoning of the substance, he returned to St. Martin without saying anything or allowing any crew member to do so. This would be a monumentally stupid way to proceed as the home port would be the worst possible place for a yacht with contraband aboard to be searched by coast guard or customs authorities . Unless, or course, the captain knew those authorities had been bribed/otherwise compensated by the show's producers to turn a blind eye to any shenanigans, which seems to me a distinct possibility..

Bottom line, while it took me 8 years to see this episode (on demand), and I'd have watched more of the series and its spin-offs had the plot been less far-fetched, I'm done with it.

Counterpart (2017–2019)

Time to re-broadcast this series

[8/10 · 3 June 2020]

This well-written, well-acted series would likely get a big audience now, as the underlying concept is of two parallel universes, one of which suffered a devastating pandemic from which the other remained unscathed. I'd have rated it higher if so many scenes weren't dimly lit to the point that it was extremely difficult to see the action. I mean, come on, directors - viewers realize when the subject matter and/or characters are "dark" without you literally making our screens dark.

Fixer Upper (2013–2018)

Gotten Boring

[4/10 · 28 February 2016]

I was originally a big fan because the projects include affordable homes, a sector largely ignored by other home improvement shows. A year ago, I probably would have rated it an 8 or 9. At this point, new episodes might as well be repeats. Every home gets similar "open plan" living spaces regardless of the age, style, and original layout of the house. Every home is "staged" with the same style of furniture and decor pieces, and will likely have a gigantic, expensive handmade wooden table that few people in America would use more than once or twice a year. There won't be a single TV in sight. Chip will act the buffoon, Joanna will indulge him, and the "kiddos" will be trotted out to "help". Boring.

Christmas Lodge (2011 TV Movie)

Save two hours and go to church

[3/10 · 2 January 2015]

Some of the plot elements aren't just impossible to believe, but send a mixed message about values. (See "Flatter than roadkill", which sums this up well.) The casting of Mary's parents and grandfather made it hard for me to follow the story. The mother looked liked the grandfather's age, and way older than the father, so I couldn't figure out how the grandmother could be dead. (What? Then who's the white-haired lady taking care of the grandfather, his second wife?) The least they could have done was have Mary clearly call her "Mom" from the second she was introduced and several times in her first scene. Maybe the intention was to say "it's okay to not dye your hair, work out, etc. if you and your husband share true love", but it was too confusing to work.

Castle: Montreal (2014) Season 7, Episode 2

Lame

[4/10 · 8 October 2014]

I can't believe the people rating this a 10 saw the same episode I did. The critical "Castle's wedding day disappearance" storyline was convoluted and totally implausible. He was abducted, but freed long enough to deposit farewell videos in a bank vault? Given some "miracle" drug that made him cooperative with things too horrifying to remember, but still completely lucid? And amnesia? Please. Either this is B.S., or "not my choice" means "my choice, but not one you'd approve of".

Even the "toy mogul" plot was predictable, but I'm giving it a 4 for the twist involving the makeup artist, a few funny lines and situations, and letting the secondary characters shine.

Hotel Hell: Monticello Hotel (2014) Season 2, Episode 2

Misleading

[4/10 · 28 August 2014]

It was revealed that the historic hotel, a huge, multi-story, 90-year-old building, had only 4 suites available for guests. A couple of rooms in which the owner stored excess furniture, art, and miscellaneous junk were shown, with the implication that so were the rest - and a good four floors of rooms were not producing any revenue. That made Ramsay's focus on the hotel restaurant seem senseless. If the profit from the most thriving F&B operation couldn't even cover the utilities for the building, why wasn't the #1 priority finding the most productive use for the wasted space? If there wasn't enough demand in the town for dozens of elegant, historic guest rooms and suites, surely the excess ones could be converted to, say, rental apartments. Well, guess what my post-viewing research showed? The hotel does have rental apartments AND offices. This episode had all the usual employee v. owner accusations, Ramsay shouting and sneering - plus an owner who's a raging alcoholic. There was no need to manufacture more "drama" that confused the business issues.

That's My Boy (2012)

Unwatchable

[1/10 · 16 July 2014]

No spoilers here, because I had to turn it off after about 25 minutes. That was literally as much waiting to see anything remotely funny or interesting as I could stand. And which makes me sad since I've liked, and even loved, other Adam Sandler films. When given a decent script with true humor and character development, he's displayed enough goofy charm and heart to overcome far-fetched situations, over-the-top, cartoonish, secondary characters, and a propensity for bad accents. This script wasn't even close to decent. The premise was totally unfunny at best, and probably takes the cake for sadness and sickness. Crudity substituted for freshness and humor, and not only were all the secondary characters cartoonish and undeveloped, but so were most of the leads. Sandler's character was totally devoid of charm, and his accent may have been the worst ever. Since his company produced it, he has no one to blame for a pathetic, crude, boring script but himself. And his choice begs the question: what was he thinking?