TheSnappySneezer Reviews

An Encounter with Simone Weil (2010)

This movie is not about Simone Weil

[1/10 · 5 November 2012]

This film is about the filmmaker and her own personal issues. I felt mislead. It does not seem that she has much of an understanding about Weil, well a denial, she rejects and neglects a great part of her life; tosses it aside as such trifle. This film is more about the director/ narrator coming to terms with depression and suicidal tendencies which I guess can be seen by some as a worthwhile exploration but this was not the movie the title suggests. My biggest knock on this film comes early in it. The director bemoans the fact that she has to read a pile of books by and about Weil as if it is a chore. If I felt compelled enough to seemingly make a documentary about a person, I would have probably read all of these book numerous times and made substantial investigations into the thinking of the time, her peers, rivals, protégés and influences. She didn't want to read them, she isn't really interested. The notion made her sick. I believe the director is in love with the idea of Weil, what her professor at university told her about Weil but lacking in the interest and skills to fully explore the woman.

I do commend the interviews of a few elderly people associated with Weil and the places and times she came from. Unfortunately the questions asked were not substantial.

The Revolution (2012– )

Complete and udder rubbish!

[1/10 · 24 January 2012]

One of the worst concepts in television. This program is an offense to all senses. Lord almighty please free us of this awful muck filed with know it all fake people that think they are better than the people they are trying to train to like and worship them. This show is disgusting. Look at yourselves! You should be ashamed. This is the degradation of television the ruination of our society. They have set about to debase their audiences, destroy narrative television and eventually the end of broadcast television. How do these people find work? Are there really people stupid enough to like this? I can't believe it. I have a higher faith in the brotherhood and sisterhood of man and woman kind. This evil shall be wiped off the face of the planet! So mote it be!

Curiously, the ability to rate this trash is not working but all in all it gets a 0.

Get Smart (2008)

Very Poor Remake of Johnny English, not Get Smart

[1/10 · 1 October 2010]

Pound for pound, ounce for ounce, a dreadful remake of a slightly better film called Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson. While the title, character names and ads might try to attempt to make you think this is a remake of Get Smart, it has none of the charm or characterizations. It is like they took the US office and put them in the Johnny English film with a bigger budget. IT does not work. It is an insult to fans of Get Smart, comedy films and fans, spy films and fans and even Rowan Atkinson. Carell is OK in other films but fails miserably here, not a funny moment, the office character does not in any way fulfill the character of Maxwell Smart.

The real original character of Maxwell Smart is not a low raking agent trying to prove himself and win respect of the girl. He is already the top and most trusted agent because he gets the job done despite his bumbling tactics. 99 is suppose to be blindly devoted to him, hero worship him even, despite her superior knowledge. They got 99 wrong, they got Max wrong, they got everything wrong here. It is a carbon copy of the film Johnny English, they took Maxwell Smart down from the top and put him in the bottom, in the same position, attitude, personality, failings, neediness, lazy daydreamer as Atkinson character. It is a shame, I am not afraid of remakes, I had hopes for this film but the second I heard Carell had the job, I knew it would be the Office meet Johnny English. I was right, hooray I guess... I hope, as time goes by when people remember Get Smart, they will not remember this dud but rather the classic series with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon.

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (1972)

The best of the animated teen mystery genre with a bonus for classic Chan fans.

[10/10 · 28 July 2004]

This series stands out from the rest of the teen sleuth cartoons that dominated Saturday morning in the 70's. The focus is primarily on the 10 children of Charlie Chan as they interfere with his cases by trying to solve them. Charlie Chan is in control all of the time and makes the key conclusions in the manner one would expect him to make but as for the children their antics lead them to hilarious encounters with the multiple suspects during undercover work. Often times these acts may hold Charlie back some in solving the case but in their acts they manage to find various clues relevant to the cause. The 10 kids tend to take a lesson from the old JSA/JLA comics where they split up into groups generally age specific. The groups are generally broken up into three. The kids perform many slapstick type routines when pursuing the criminals placing this in the lead in humor. A Few of the kids perform in a band, as was the rage in the day and the viewer is treated to a nice period pop song that still appeals to the modern ear. As for Charlie Chan, he is handled with full respect as to the character and any Chan fan should be glad to experience this wonderful take on the characters.The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan still stands out from other shows of its era and is still featured Prominently on Cartoon Network's Boomerang. Can a DVD release be far behind?

Hägar the Horrible (1989 TV Short)

A Classic that should have been a series

[10/10 · 29 June 2004]

This version of Hagar The Horrible captures the spirit of the comic in a half hour cartoon that has great potential as a prime time animated series. The humor, while keeping with the comic and not being overtly dirty does have the feel of a family sitcom with a few jokes aimed at the older viewing audience. I have heard this compared to the Flintstones, but I think it is a different beast. While Hagar is a primitive sort of being his family dynamic and social situation are quite different. Fred Flintstone is much more of a modern man happy and accepting of the time he lives in. Hagar is on the crux of change, his son is reading and his daughter loves a man who is not a proud viking warrior but a wimpy musician. As society is growing more intelligent in it's behavior Hagar struggles to come to terms with all of it.This makes for good comedy. This is on DVD along with 10 Beetle Baily Shorts and a Betty Boop TV special called Beetle Bailey / Hagar The Horrible / Betty Boop. Buy it today, you will not regret it.