brenda_loves_to_freecycl Reviews

Night Moves (1975)

Did I see a different version of the film than other reviewers?

[5/10 · 11 June 2024]

In the version I just watched, virtually nothing happened until the last 15 minutes of the movie (and even then, what did happen seemed to involve a different character than the one that would have been consistent with the first part of the movie).

Yes, Gene Hackman was good, as always. It was fun to see a younger James Wood and an unrecognizable 17-18 year old Melanie Griffith.

But the movie was way too slow moving to hold my interest. I only finished it because Gene was in it and I wanted to see what happened to Melanie's character.

It felt like a low-budget TV movie, which was particularly odd as Gene was coming off 3 Oscar nominations (with one win) at the time.

The Rookie: The Hammer (2024) Season 6, Episode 2

Oops, it seems as though the writers forgot about

[6/10 · 5 June 2024]

The storyline from at least the previous 2 episodes.

In the previous episode, as you will recall, one of the main perpetrators of the daring Federal Reserve Bank heist was shot and killed while on a prisoner transport.

That entire storyline was left unaddressed in this episode ... perhaps they felt they had to as they were focusing on the upcoming wedding of John and Bailey..

Personally, I had been looking forward to this episode to find out what was happening next in that heist investigation ... for example, who the "bad" lawyer was talking to on the phone (implication being that she advised her client indirectly to do the killing).

I hope they come back to this storyline in a future episode.

JAG: The Killer (2002) Season 8, Episode 10

Lt. Manetti tries out a new accent -- it's a bit distracting

[6/10 · 30 May 2024]

For some inexplicable reason, Lt. Manetti tries out a new accent (southern US) in the second half of this episode.

As no explanation is given for this change, it is VERY distracting. I even came online to check out on IMDB to see if the actress herself was from the south (or lived there for any significant period of time). That does NOT appear to be case.

I would expect a hit series like this would have a dialect coach to help with various characters that are supposed to be from various locales.

At the very least, I would have expected SOMEONE associated with the production to have noticed.

JAG: Need to Know (2002) Season 8, Episode 7

Interesting casting

[6/10 · 27 May 2024]

I know watching a tv show or movie requires a certain degree of "suspension of belief."

AND we (the viewers) are not supposed to "do the math." But really. The video at the beginning was ostensibly shot when the congresswoman was 4, 34 years earlier. Basic math would put her at 38 in the present. However, her appearance and facial wrinkles would put her north of 50. Hard to imagine there wasn't an actress who was (or at least LOOKED) 38 available to play the part.

I guess this is no worse than TV shows set in high school (like Veronica Mars or Hardy Boys), where the actors playing the "kids" are in their early 20s to early 30s.

For All Mankind: Glasnost (2023) Season 4, Episode 1

Oops, did the writers forget something ... AGAIN?

[7/10 · 24 May 2024]

It is intimated in this episode that SOMETHING happened to Danny. But the specifics are never revealed.

Given how central a character he was in season 3, this seems like a VERY large oversight.

At the birthday party for Danny's daughter, one of the characters asks Amber (Danny's wife) how she is dealing with "that." The implication being that Amber is either divorced now, or a widow;

There should have been some closure for his character (namely them saying outright what happened to him).

It is certainly easy to speculate, based on the end of season 3, it just would have been nice for the writers to be more explicit and have filled this glaring plot hole.

The Conners: The Dog Days of Christmas (2022) Season 5, Episode 10

Strange casting

[5/10 · 12 May 2024]

When it looked like it was probable, at the beginning of the episode, that we were finally going to meet Louise's mother, I wondered what actress they would get in her mid 90's to early 100's to play Louise's mother.

Unexpectedly (to me), they cast an actress who would have been 5 or 6 when Louise was born (ouch!!).

Like most people, I watch this series because of my strong affection for the original Roseanne series. It's a shame that none of the writers from the original season was available for this "reimagining."

The Conners is sometimes entertaining, but almost never funny, like the original series was.

Rizzoli & Isles: Seventeen Ain't So Sweet (2011) Season 2, Episode 13

Aren't High School reunions NORMALLY for people who

[6/10 · 8 May 2024]

All graduated in the same year?

I only ask, as people at the high school reunion appear to be 30-50+ ... that's quite a spread.

One would EXPECT that someone in their 50s would have graduated high school in a year when the 30 year olds had yet to be born.

I personally find this sort of thing to be very distracting (and easily fixed (by hiring actors/actresses who all at least appear to be the same age)).

I am one of those people who find it really distracting when high school students are played by actors who are obviously in their early 20's to early 30's.

Other than that, I found the story to be pretty good.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Pilot (2000) Season 1, Episode 1

Did Susan Gibney's scene(s) get left on the cutting room floor?

[8/10 · 9 April 2024]

As a fan of the Star Trek franchises, I am something of a fan of Susn Gibney's.

I went through this episode with a fine-toothed comb and could not find even a glimpse of her.

The closest I could find to age/gender/appearance, was the lab tech (?) that had appaarently been on a date with Grissom, but that's not her.

I know sometimes actors' names are still left in the credits, even if their scenes were cut from the episode.

Does anyone know if that is the case here?

For those that watched the various Star Trek episodes, but don't remember Gibney, she played Dr. Leah Brahms in a couple of episodes of TNG, and in at least 1 or 2 other Star Trek franchises.

Profiler: Tsuris (2000) Season 4, Episode 20

Plot inconsistencies and/or episodes aired out of order

[5/10 · 8 April 2024]

Where do I begin. In the previous episode, it is revealed that Danny had died in the "as previously seen on Profiler" section (even though it wasn't previously seen).

And in that same section, it was revealed that the ME had her baby (even though she was pregnant at the end of the previous episode).

It's a miracle. Danny is alive again in this episode. Apparently, his death in the previous episode wasn't as serious as they first thought, lol.

And the ME appeared to be bleeding from her pregnancy in this episode (which I assume is the same pregnancy they showed as having resulted in the birth of a baby in the previous episode).

Not sure how the series finale' could have been aired out of order.

Also, they said in the previous episode that the VCTF had been shut down ... now they are saying that is a possibility (perhaps they hoped for a last-minute renewal).

Profiler: On Your Marks (2000) Season 4, Episode 19

Were these episodes aired out of order?

[6/10 · 7 April 2024]

In the "previously seen on the Profiler" scenes at the beginning of this episode, there were scenes of multiple incidents that had not yet been seen/shown.

Was there an unaired episode or an episode aired out of order?

For example, the medical examiner was shown still pregnant in the previous episode (Pianissimo), but in the "seen previously" section, she already had the baby.

Rachel's brother had gotten a job in the "seen previously" section, but WE never saw that.

I have to assume it's either an unaired episode that is missing, or the missing episode is not included in the DVD release.

Would be interested to see another review of this episode.

Profiler: Mea Culpa (2000) Season 4, Episode 17

Truly a master class in how to turn a 45 minute episode

[5/10 · 3 April 2024]

Into one that FEELS like it is over 2 hours.

Wow, this was one slow-paced epsiode. I paused the playback after what I thought was about an hour and a half to shockingly discover that I was only 30 minutes into the episode (and it only FELT like I had been watching for over an hour and a half).

I would assume that the director is somewhat responsible for the pacing of an episode. He/she sure dropped the ball on this one.

This kind of shows SHOULD be taut and well paced. This one was the complete opposite.

While I found Ally Walker's Sam to be a more appealing character than Rachel, the stories were generally better in season 4. Not this one.

Roseanne: A Second Chance (1997) Season 9, Episode 18

Poor Darlene must have been terrified

[5/10 · 31 March 2024]

Season 9 is the one where they took a stab at drama, rather than comedy (though I don't THINK it was intentional ... from the laugh track, it appears they were GOING for comedy, even if they didn't succeed).

As I said above, Darlene must have been terrified: her first doctor featured used to be Becky's principal.

The specialist that they had flown in was Leon's ex-boyfriend (guy who owned the failed book shop).

I wouldn't want either to be MY doctor, that's for sure.

I don't know if season 9 was such a failure (not funny) because Roseanne was listed as the writer or co-writer for most of the episodes.

JAG: Miracles (2001) Season 6, Episode 13

I was sure this was a 2-hour episode

[5/10 · 30 March 2024]

It was SO slow moving, I went to pause it about 90 minutes into watching it (without commercials!) and was shocked to find that I was only about 30 minutes into the episode (that turned out to be a standard-length episode).

It is certainly not a good sign when an episode FEELS like it is twice as long as it actually is.

Still, it was fun to see Gerald McRaney (playing a military man, as he so often did). As most know, he is the husband of actress and plus-sized model Delta Burke.

It was also nice to see Lieutenant Bud Roberts, Jr. Finally come into his own as an attorney (this time, up against Rab).

Roseanne: Homecoming (1993) Season 6, Episode 9

Mark receives a major upgrade

[6/10 · 8 December 2022]

I know in a future episode, in a B&W scene, they sing of "nearly identical Becky's" ... but in reality, they look NOTHING alike.

Yes, they are both blonde and about the same age, but Sarah is significantly thinner, and is much prettier. Other than being blonde, they bear no resemblance.

And so far, the newer Becky seems much nicer than the old Becky.

This episode wasn't one of the funnier ones.

If you have seen Sarah on Scrubs, you know that she is capable of very good comedic acting and timing.

Alicia has done very little since Roseanne (exclusive of The Conners), while Sarah has remained steadily busy.

Big Little Lies (2017–2019)

Great show, weak plot

[8/10 · 7 December 2022]

This was an amazing show. Even though I am watching it 3 years after it went off the air (for the first time), I eagerly awaited the each "new" episode.

However, there is what seems like to me, a huge plot hole. Bonnie did nothing legally or morally wrong.

I know if I were her, I would not be agonizing over what happened. I would take solace in knowing that I had done the right thing.

"Murder" is considered justified (legally) if it is in the defense of self or another (when one has a reasonable expectation of being murdered (or the other person has a reasonable expectation that they are witnessing a murder or attempted murder)).

The worst that the Monterey 5 would be facing is making a false statement to a police officer. While that is a class 1 misdemeanor, under the circumstances it seems highly unlikely that they would be prosecuted.