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A Chorus Line (1985)
Loved it in spite of all the bad reviews
Just watched the movie for the first time yesterday. I loved it. I thought it was touching and exciting and time flew by. I loved the dancing and enjoying the dialogues and the corny introduction scenes. I thought the dancing was good and it was like seeing Fame for the first time.
Then I read the reviews and discovered it's a very hated movie! I get why people who might have loved the original musical might not like the movie, but if you know nothing of the broadway show (like I did), why spoil yourself the pleasure of watching the movie. Besides I tried to watch the musical and for a show that boasts "the longest run in history", nobody seems to have cared to preserve a single video recording of it. What you find on youtube is a bunch of ghosts on the worst video recording ever made of anything. So there: if you want to enjoy A Chorus Line, now all you have is the movie!
The choreography might have been changed from the musical but it's still great. It might look more like Fame but Fame was awesome, and it sticks to the ensemble pieces and not interpretative dancing like I saw on the only extract watchable on youtube of the musical. The movie is extremely well filmed and no Michael Douglas is not a god like figure in the shadows, he's a pretty interesting character who becomes more personable as the movie progresses. When you read more about the original musical, yes, there are things in the movie that don't make a lot of sense, like the age difference in the dancers (no spoilers). And yes I agree we're supposed to take at face value that Cassie is much better than the others. But well she's pretty good and she has extremely long legs to prove her special status. And it's a movie! : ) It's fun. It's the 80s. It's sentimental. It's a one set nearly continuous real time action that is never boring or feels enclosed. Watch it! It's fantastic. If anyone has a video of the original musical, please put it on youtube for others to enjoy, since it's supposed to be "even better" than the movie ; )
Endeavour (2012)
I love you Miss Tuesday! And thank you to Endeavour
I love you Miss Tuesday!
Just wanted to say that. She is wonderful.
What a cute and charming character. She is heartwarming and sensitive throughout and we fear for her safety.
So nice to see her in the series finale safe and sound! It's sad to let all the family go. It's reassuring that after Morse series can still be made with intelligence, sensitivity and humanity.
No explosions, no frantic editing, no loud music out of context, no pointless chases.
Before Endeavour, I liked to think of The Sweeney as the prequel to Morse. And I guess that still works. Morse would have become a little less rough compared to his time in the mobile unit; and Morse would have become quite a bit more bitter and acerbic since his time as Endeavour...
Magnum, P.I.: Novel Connection (1986)
A writer's Magnum fan and Jessica Fletcher fan's episode
As a Magnum or a Murder She Wrote episode, this episode wasn't that great. The story makes no sense, nobody knows what happens, and it doesn't get resolved.
But I think that's the joke. The whole joke is about what a detective is, and how they work their deductions. I imagine the writers had a lot of fun writing this and it's just so much fun seeing Magnum and Jessica together.
Sure, they could have "worked together" and gotten along, but it wouldn't have been this witty TV Essay.
It's like the set pieces of an episode are there: pursuit, disparition, discovery, gun fight. But it's all running on empty. The real action is in the dialogues and each character alleging they are the victim.
And who Jessica Walter hitting on Magnum!!?? Amazing.
It's either a no so great episode or a brilliant TV crossover Essay. I'll take the second interpretation.
Fargo (2014)
Amazing Seasons 1 and 2 - Terrible Seasons 3 and 4
The show was absolutely amazing in Seasons 1 and 2. Everything rang right. It foiled all the stereotypes of the genre. It was emotional and interesting. And it progressed at an incredible pace over a whole season.
Season 3 decided to break the pattern and made a complete mess. The characters are implausible and totally boring. If it's a true story, it wasn't a good story to base a series on, if liberties were taken, why take liberties with creating a disgusting villain that is totally implausible but sticking to the "real story" which is totally uninteresting? There is no reason to care about what happens to any of the characters. The "good guys/girls" don't drive any of the action so it's just a series of events. There is no shortage of quotes and anecdotes and it's starting to become tedious. But really if you're going to do something outlandish, please don't be boring. There is nothing wrong with reproducing a pattern that works and a recipe that tastes good.
In Season 4 the writers decided that they didn't even care about the show being called Fargo and taking place in Minnesota or focusing on a series of unfortunate events that have murderous repercussions. Instead it's a mafia show with criminally incompetent mafiosi and gang members on both sides. Every one has their anecdotes and parables and it dilutes the effect. Characters are introduced that bring nothing to the action and the city is inhabited only by the characters with no real people around.
The moral of this is that I hope if they continue they remember why they created this show in the first place and to focus the energy on plausible characters that we can care about.
Creepshow (2019)
Good - especially compared to the contemporary Twilight Zone
Good actors, good production, good humour.
Some of the stories don't really have a point and don't have a strong punchline but i found it always enjoyable to watch - most episodes are not very scary. It's definitely not Tales from The Crypt and that's not a bad thing.
No cringy moments and some pretty good episodes.
I thought the spirit of the originals was respected and the atmospheres too - unlike for example the butchery that was perpetrated on the spirit and essence of The Twilight Zone.
Looking forward to Season 3.
The Twilight Zone (2019)
Brings the triviality of modern life into the 4th dimension
This series manages a tour de force; instead of bringing and the magical and eerie of the twilight zone into the world, it propulses the triviality and greyness of modern life into the twilight zone.
Congratulations for ruining magic with real life.
Agatha Raisin (2014)
Proof you can film a series with a script no thicker than 2 pages
The actors are pretty good and the decors lovely. But that doesn't make a series. Surprisingly, you need scripts and dialogues. Which are direly missing. The fake spontaneity and lightness is grating.
Desperate Housewives (2004)
How about not killing the best characters in the show??
With the show focusing very hard on such captivating and mysterious plots as "Will Susan's nice neighbour really make a panini for her son who doesn't want to stay with her because she can't cook and she's whiny and usufferable", the scriptwriters decided it was time to get rid of the best character who actually had a personality, wits and grey matter. They killed Edie.
I'm not watching the rest of the show. That season was already absolutely ridiculous but that takes the cake.
The show was fun when the characters worked together against actual mystery events, not when it became infighting for trivial suburban activities, or when there was a supposed mystery in which they weren't not involved at all.
CSI: Vegas (2021)
Dull shell of a show
This is such a disappointment. There must be better actors and better scenarists out there. It's like two parallel shows with Grissom and Sarah who are still interesting to watch and everyone else who are boring and dull.
The music creates fake atmospheres, the dialogues just paraphrase what's on the screen, the lab director is not credible and the cast is reduced. With the new comically huge lab set and a skinny supporting cast and the action taking place during the day this is like an empty shell of a follow-up to the old CSI.
None of these characters look they have any idea what they're doing - it shouldn't be too hard to build proper back stories to build their credibility.
Also the camera NEVER stops MOVING. Moving the camera doesn't make the action more interesting it's just barf inducing.
I guess they analysed everything that made CSI Las Vegas work and took their cues from Miami and Cyber.
Miami Vice: Hell Hath No Fury (1988)
You just don't make a good episode by having characters perform out of character
Terrible terrible episode. Not just because the story made no sense because nobody thought it would be a good idea to listen on to the phone of the girl, but because the writers commited the cardinal sin of tv: write every character totally out of character.
There is no way any of the guys on the team would not be going out of their way to protect the girl and nobody would have thought of requiring her protection...
And in the end nobody even disobeyed the stupid logic of the episode so the reprimand also made no sense.
Miami Vice: Heroes of the Revolution (1987)
Did Gina become Cuban overnight?
This was one of the worst episodes so far. Are we to believe that Gina suddenly wasn't Italian American but Cuban? Or that her mother was an Italian singer in Cuba? The whole thing made no sense. Gina was stunning and cute as usual nevertheless.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer (1990)
Wish they could edit Ken Malansky out
Wish they could edit Ken Malansky out of the whole series. He's the equivalent of Grady in Murder She Wrote except Grady was likeable and didn't distract and compete for screen time with Jessica.
In Perry Mason he's like a show within the show with repeated chases. Worse: He gets people killed by conducting very lousy investigations, doesn't seem too bothered by it and keeps in the same line of harassing witnesses by lying to them about who he is. What a creep.
He is a very awful replacement for Paul Drake who was competent and a neutral sidekick to Perry and Della.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception (1990)
So MANY clichés
Not a great episode. They could have spared us the long list of clichés about Paris, including a mime in the street...
Anyway, a murder is committed in Paris and obviously the French police is in no way involved... that was really absurd.
Aside from that, Ken Malansky is his annoying useless and charmless self, except he's now hitting on a girl when it's never been established that he is not engaged/married anymore.
His girlfriend was not in the previous episode but it was never established that she was out of the picture. She was the only good thing about the introduction of that incredibly bland character. It's in poor taste. She was beautiful, charming, funny, competent, courageous and intelligent. Too good for him?
Perry Mason (2020)
A sandwich mostly made of bread
This series is like a sandwich made of very thick stale bread, a LOT of mustard and ketchup, half a pickle and a very very thin slice of pastrami.
70% of the scenes have nothing to do with the actual story, the characters are paper thin and Perry Mason goes from incompetent investigator to lawyer by a sort of magic, the meagre elements of the investigation are not even used during the trial, every story thread stops at a dead end and it all culminates in a giant thud with nothing resolved.
A big waste of actors, costumes and ambiance. It's too bad.
From what i read from the other critics it's also got nothing to do with the real Perry Mason so that's another negative in my book.
The whole plot could have filled a single episode of Charlie's Angels - no pun intended. Two at a big stretch. Theyo laid it extra thin over eight.
This has all the marks of the XXIst Century. Hire more writers, and stop using film music composer to make up for lack of substance!
The Time Tunnel (1966)
Don't send idiots back in time
Two bumbling idiots try to violate every rule of time continuum and non-disrupting future events, while prioritizing their own families and personal experiences, while stumbling through one crisis event to the next through past time. Each time, they look just as surprised and angry at events. Meanwhile back in the present time, a group of powerless people watch and hear action on a screen even where those people are not in that location.
Poirot: Taken at the Flood (2006)
So bad they barely dared put Poirot in the story
Unintelligible story - a bad assemblage of scenes with no relationship, characters that come out of nowhere and say banalities, ominous horror film music and atrocious dialogue. Was this edited from scraps from other shows?
Poirot is absent from most of it at least they spared him the spectacle.
It should be remembered for that famous line by this woman leaving the room: "I'll just go and powder my 'You Know'"...
We don't know but at least that one sounded promising.
Marple: The Body in the Library (2004)
How dare you alter an Agatha Christie story?
Another case of scenarists who think they can "improve" upon an Agatha Christie story. Just like the stupid modifications in Poirot's Christmas.
It changes the whole story for the worse and adds nothing.
The whole thing is slobbering in overbearing music.
It's annoying because the cast is great although I agree with the other comments who point out the over abundance of smirking.
Less is more.
Lewis (2006)
Great show - infuriating use of music
The theme music from Morse was fantastic. It was use sparsely in the show. Also, it had a rhythm and development of melody that made it adaptable. For Lewis the same composer was used but the main theme is a very slow 3 note motiv, overflowing with tension and pathos and used absolutely constantly for the most trivial exposition scenes to the most dramatic moments. Either the composer provided a very limited number of variations as is normal in film music or the editors chose to dump in every second scene - was that for effect or laziness. It goes from clumsy to downright annoying and creates the sense that false drama is imposed on the viewer 90% of the time of the episode. One thing that made Morse so great was the dryness and the contrast between dry and sweet. Soemthing that was very 80s. Lewis is lathered in auditory syrup. Something that was very 2010s. I wish i could remove the soundtrack and get to focus more on the fine dialogue and acting.
The Outer Limits: The Origin of Species (1998)
What to say. Trivial at best
A group of unimaginative, untrustful and less than bright bunch of brats is chosen to repopulate a planet. Good luck on the new planet.
The Outer Limits: The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson (1997)
This is just pure joy
Best episode ever of anything. Well duh it's Stephen King i only found out afterwards. But everything was perfect and just enough over the top. Thank you!
The Outer Limits: Out of Body (1996)
Absolutely terrible
Worst episode of the series so far with a few in a row involving the military. How they got those actors to say those cheesy lines in this ridiculous plot is a mystery.
The Twilight Zone: The Cold Equations (1989)
This terrible episode should never have made it into the Twilight Zone series
I'd be really curious to know how this story made it in to the Twilight Zone. First it's straight science fiction so there is no twilight and there is no zone. Second it ends very badly with no salvation of the good character. And that is an absolute no/no in the series. The Twilight Zone is a morality tales story with a positive spin on life and the universe, and aims to uplift. Even if all episodes do not end well in all aspects, the good are never unnecessarily punished. This story was straight doom and unfair gloom with zero compassion all around. And even as a straight science fiction story it's a very bad one. Jettisonning someone into space because you can't find 120lbs of furniture or useless equipment to get rid of "or else the spacecraft is going to crash" is really lazy scenario. Even the usual trope of "running out of oxygen so someone has to be sacrificed" would have made it a bit more believable. Not to mention the spaceship doesn't have automatic landing capabilities apparently... Mmm maybe that's the spooky element? A ship that crosses light years into space but cannot land by itself? It should never have made it into the series. And that's pretty clear even from the narration where "Twilight Zone" has no place anywhere in the sentence and is just shoved there.
Elementary (2012)
Another awful betrayal of Sherlock Holmes
After having watched about 25 episodes and giving it a chance, I couldn't take anymore of the constant nagging, belittling, second guessing and moralizing of the character of Watson. Watson could have been a woman character but Watson could never get into Sherlock's emotions, intentions and actions. He is a trustful sidekick and a support to Holmes. That psychological babble of the XXIst Century says a lot about where society is now. The hero must be taken down, he must have regret for his superiority and his skills. Just as the BBC Sherlock, this does what soap opera do: delve into the emotional interactions of the characters. But Sherlock Holmes is not about Holme's turmoil, it's never about his relationship with Watson and how to sort it out. They act, together, they don't spend their time wallowing in their relationships with people, including Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, Irene Adler, Moriarty.
Btw Sherlock was NEVER an addict. He indulged out of boredom and independence. Finally: what have they done to Mycroft... From a mind even superior to Sherlock's to some miserable restaurant owner. A parade of pathetic characters. What a defamation of Conan Doyle's work.
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
Masterpiece of the 70s - Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones are fantastic
Not sure why so many deem this movie "forgotten" as it's a classic. I say masterpiece from a visual point of view, all the actors, the script, the music, the photography. The scenes are poignant and the violence of the reactions is always justified. New York in 1978 is quite a sight and the photographs are the stars of the show. Faye Dunaway is just magical as always and Tommy Lee Jones truly amazing. It's NOT a horror movie, and NOT a slasher so if you're looking for that keep looking. And the pace is the pace of when movies were great: when each cut was not less than 1 1/2 seconds and the camera didn't shake for no reason. So if you want hectic sea-sickening "action" watch something like The Bourne Identity instead. And the list of co-creators is truly amazing: Irvin Kershner, John Carpenter, and the song Prisoner by Barbra Streisand is one of her great ones - if you liked the Guilty era this one is for you.
Love & Mercy (2014)
Did he get the blue Cadillac?
I've been very puzzled by this movie. In the end, the central question of whether he got the blue Cadillac he comes to buy at the beginning, and which plays an essential role in the plot, is never elucidated. He never drives it, it's never delivered - actually he doesn't drive anything at all, he has a limo driving him around. So why did he come to buy a car in the first place. Somehow I feel I've seen this movie before, and it was called Rain Man.