mazzella-62377 Reviews

Benson: What a Revoltin' Development (1982) Season 4, Episode 3

Outdated Episode

[1/10 · 4 August 2022]

One can't help but wonder-in light of the Grenada operation a year after this episode aired-why Uncle Sam didn't simply send in the Marines to rescue Benson and Pete.

Robert Mazzella.

Dillinger and Capone (1995 Video)

Historical Fiction

[5/10 · 26 July 2022]

This movie, while mildly entertaining, is definitely historical fiction--in 1934, when the FBI shot and killed John Dillinger in Chicago, Al Capone was in a distant prison.

The Two Popes (2019)

Wrong ABBA Song Used

[5/10 · 18 July 2022]

This movie uses the ABBA song "Dancing Queen" to make a point about the future Pope Francis--however, I can't help but think that he'd prefer a song like "Fernando".

Robert Mazzella.

Prime Cut (1972)

No One to Root for

[1/10 · 23 June 2022]

The characters played by both Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman in this movie were both hoods--nothing redeeming about either one--and, quite frankly, there's no one to root for here.

A Family for Joe (1990)

High Adventure

[5/10 · 18 May 2022]

I remember only one line from this show: A divorced woman complaining about her ex-husband--a dentist whose "idea of high adventure was using unwaxed dental floss".

The Twilight Zone: A Penny for Your Thoughts (1961) Season 2, Episode 16

Pop Culture History Moment

[5/10 · 17 March 2022]

This episode presents us with an interesting moment in TV history, when a character played by Hayden Rorke comes up to Dick York's Poole in the bank to ask for a loan--"Darrin Stephens Meets Doctor Bellows".

227: Country Cousins (1988) Season 3, Episode 23

Unlikely Kin

[5/10 · 10 February 2022]

In this episode, Lester discovers that he has white cousins, on account of an Irishman named Jenkins marrying a black woman in 1882 in Arkansas-never mind that an interracial marriage at that time and place would've been illegal.

Mr. Belvedere: The Letter (1985) Season 2, Episode 9

No Need to Explain Thanksgiving to an Englishman

[5/10 · 23 December 2021]

In this episode, George explains Thanksgiving to Mr. Belvedere--which doesn't make sense, as the holiday can be traced back to English colonists--and the latter, being from England, would've learned about it in school there.

Robert Mazzella.

The Dick Van Dyke Show: There's No Sale Like Wholesale (1965) Season 4, Episode 32

An Italian-American Furrier?

[5/10 · 4 November 2021]

I saw this episode some time ago, and was perplexed to see an Italian-American furrier--I've always thought that most people in this line of work were Jewish.

Robert Mazzella.

Casablanca (1942)

Rick's Surprising Fantasy Line

[5/10 · 2 November 2021]

"There are parts of New York that I'd advise you not to try and invade"--this Rick Blaine line sounds like a fantasy, surprising from a man otherwise hardened to reality. I find it incredible that Hitler's army--men expert in brutally efficient warfare--could've been put to flight by a few street gangs.

Robert Mazzella.

The Enforcer (1976)

Stupid Mayor and Aide

[5/10 · 17 September 2021]

In the scene where the mayor and his aide are in the limousine, after leaving the baseball game, they're wondering how it's going-it didn't seem to occur to either one of them to have the chauffeur turn on the radio to find out!

Robert Mazzella.

M*A*S*H: Give 'Em Hell, Hawkeye (1981) Season 10, Episode 4

Colonel Forgets Army's Purpose

[5/10 · 30 August 2021]

In this episode, one Colonel Ditka complains about the "combative" attitude taken by the M*A*S*H staff when he tells them they should beautify the camp in exchange for a water heater--he seemed to forget that being "combative" is an army's purpose.

Robert Mazzella.

Barney Miller: Examination Day (1982) Season 8, Episode 9

Carmen Miranda Warning

[5/10 · 20 July 2021]

I think that this show's supposedly expert comedy writers missed their chance at a joke with Inspector Luger--what they should've done here, instead, was have him say something to the suspect like, "Oh, a Miranda warning--you have the right to wear fruit in your hat".

Robert Mazzella.

The Flying Nun: Wailing in a Winter Wonderland (1967) Season 1, Episode 16

Aren't The Norwegians Lutheran?

[5/10 · 29 May 2021]

The plot for this episode revolves around an elderly Norwegian nun who yearns for Christmas snow like in her native country-the flaw here is that Norway is a Lutheran country, and thus unlikely to produce many nuns.

Robert Mazzella.

It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951)

Hungarians Hate Greeks? I Don't Think So!

[1/10 · 19 May 2021]

I saw this movie once years ago, and I distinctly remember when the Hungarian-American girl told her Greek-American lover that Hungarians hate Greeks, it struck a nerve--my late mother was of Hungarian stock, and I never once heard her--or any of my maternal relatives--speak an ill word of Greeks.

Robert Mazzella.

Murder, She Wrote: Murder, Plain and Simple (1991) Season 7, Episode 20

An Amish Tartuffe

[5/10 · 3 April 2021]

I can't help but wonder no one's having noted that the murder victim. Jacob Beiler (Michael Sarrazin) turns out in the end to have been an Amish Tartuffe--that is to say, someone who seemed to be the most pious man in the group, but was actually concealing a slew of character flaws.

Robert Mazzella.