Change Your Image
outlawyr
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
Why oh why did I listen to Roger Ebert?
Let's start with the obvious. This is a sequel, so already you go into it with diminished expectations. But I read Ebert's review and thought it was actually going to be good. Nope. Here are a few of the most annoying things about this movie.
1) Break dancing gets very tiresome after a while. It's really not that many different moves. Yes, it looks hard to do, but it also can be hard to watch after so many similar routines.
2) Kelly is not very likable. Given that she's the main character, that's a problem.
3) Why is there a secret Fight Club hidden inside the break dancing Miracles palace?
4) Why was Turbo on the ceiling redoing a routine from a Fred Astaire movie?
5) If they had just taken the father's deal Kelly could have gone to Paris and had a successful career, and they would have gotten the money they needed to save "Miracles".
6) Why are they spending $200,000 to fix a building owned by the City? Why don't they buy their own building? Then the rich dude can open his mall and there will be jobs for these broken break dancers to take when they decide they want to eat some day.
7) Why have they kidnapped Cindy Brady and forced her to join their break dancing cult?
8) In the credits they mention a Michael Jackson impersonator, who apparently was so bad I didn't even notice that there was one. Well played.
9) The rival gang is actually much cooler than the break dancing gang. They have a car. They have a cool underpass that no one is going to steal by building a mall. When asked to help with the fundraiser they defy all expectation and say no. They remain true rivals.
10) The mime.
Yearbook (1991)
Reality TV before it was called that
This show closely followed the lives of several high school students, showing the stress and problems they dealt with. It wasn't called reality TV back then, it was called documentary. The show was well done and gave an honest look at life in a suburban high school in the early 90's.
The show was primarily shot by one small video crew that spent every day for several months at the high school. They also followed the kids to their sporting events, hang outs, and visited their homes to give a full view of their lives. The first Iraq war began about two episodes into the series, and the reaction of draft age students, including one who was joining the marines, were followed.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Heavy Handed Pro-Christian Propaganda
I grew up watching this show and loved it as a kid. But as an adult I find it a bit heavy handed. Charlie Brown is upset with all the commercialism that has ruined Christmas. So far so good. But the resolution to the conflict comes when Linus takes center stage and reminds Chuck (and us all) that the "true" meaning of Christmas is the birth of Christ. Well, that's fine if you're a Christian. I thought this was a national holiday. What about everyone else. Where is their true meaning of Christmas. What about good will toward man, peace on earth, all that. Why must it be about Christ.
But hey, the music is nice.
All the Vermeers in New York (1990)
Great, beautiful, deep and rewarding film.
This is a great, beautiful, deep and rewarding film. Jost sets a slow pace that might frustrate some, but this film rewards patient attention. Jost understands the film medium and uses it to convey not just a story but a depth of meaning that could not be as effectively conveyed in another medium. The themes of love, loneliness, money, and art intertwine as the characters try to find meaning and break through barriers. Give this film the attention it deserves and you'll be glad you did.