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Reviews
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV (2024)
not truthful - leaves out important details of Drake Bell story
Watching this one-sided quasi-documentary reminded me of "Leaving Neverland" (the widely discredited MJ hit-piece from 2019) where the "accusers" were both later shown to be pathological liars seeking attention. The smoking gun here is one of the letters of support that the judge received in 2003 at the sentencing hearing. Actress Kimmy Robertson writes revealingly about Drake Bell and his true intentions: "I noticed this young man kept asking me about Brian, and generally being 'sleuth-like'. I also noticed that NO gay males (i.e. Makeup/hair or personal assistants) would ever be alone in a room with Drake. I believe with all my heart that Brian was pressured and pushed beyond belief before he caved in with Drake: an outrageous, overtly gay, oversexed person with no idea what he is doing to Brian." That's a pretty suspicious testimonial. Why did the makers of "Quiet On Set" not address this other side of the story?
Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End (2016)
misleading, unethically deceptive depictions
What a morally bankrupt show. Extremely dishonest, I couldn't believe this could actually be aired. They're showing these scenes of disaster and narrating them as if they ARE happening in the world at this moment in time, using the present-tense! I don't know if the show's writers perhaps didn't speak English as a first language. But it's incredibly unprofessional and sleazy to speak phrases like "tens of thousands have already died!" and showing a flood at Fenway Park in Boston, while narrating it as if it's breaking news. It's not. It's a hypothetical scenario. None of this imagery or narration is real. So phony, so misleading, it makes me sick to think something this dishonest could actually be produced.
Besides all the mass deception, we also see a bearded morbidly-obsese tattooed man with gaping holes in his ears cheerfully prattling on about these doomsday scenarios, also mistakenly using the present tense , as if these things have ALREADY happened! The crooked production company who staged this fake program "Flight 33 Produdctions" ought to be charged with false advertising and banned from the industry. This program "Doomsday: 10 Ways The World Will End" is an wildly exaggerated, grossly deceptive hoax of a program. Shame on the History Channel for sinking to such desperate unethical new depths of inaccuracy.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV: The Darkest Secret (2024)
misleading content & sensationalized hysteria
The kid's got serious credibility issues, let's not beat around the bush here. This quasi-documentary is just like "Leaving Neverland" from 2019, discredited after it was revealed both James Safechuck and Wade Robson lied to the filmmakers about Michael Jackson. Same thing here: Drake Bell is just another James Safechuck - minimizing his own role in the consensual relationship he himself initiated with Brian Peck. Why do I think this? Because I've known guys just like him in real life! Opportunistic, deceitful, ungrateful manipulators. Perfect at playing the martyr and always lots of drama and blaming others. Shame on the producers of "Quiet On Set" for not doing their due diligence to research evidence that would actually support Drake's side of the story.
Shaq's All Star Comedy Roast 2 (2003)
amateur-hour awkward production values
Ouch this was painful. By far the #1 worst comedy roast I've ever seen, and I'm a colllector who's seen dozens of these types of roasts before. The direction was bad here, the editing was bad, the on-stage director must've been a high-school intern, for letting other roast participants mumble "on mic" and talk amongst themselves right IN THE MIDDLE of the person who's at the microphone giving their speech! Why would you do this? I've never ever seen a roast that would allow such disrespectful distraction. Plus at least half of the actual content wasn't the least bit funny, and even boring in some spots. This is a roast that never should've been made, its bumbling cringey shortcomings are painfully obvious and a huge distraction. Could've been a 45 min long roast and would have been much better. Shame on Jamie Foxx for being so disrespectful to chatter away mindlessly aloud while other performers are trying to do their set.
The Swarm (2023)
slow, boring, long drawn-out drama
This could've been a 2-hour long movie. Literally. It is really that "padded" with painstakingly useless filler that doesn't contribute to the story. One and only one reason kept me watching "The Swarm" week after week on the CW here in fall 2023, episode after long boring frustrating episode. And that reason was the actor Joshua Odjick. Just a smoldering hot gorgeous human being he is. Some of the camera shots are nice, and of course the scenery is breathtaking in certain spots. But I was expecting more fast-paced action, like you'd normally see on TV. The plot and delivery of this series moves at a GLACIAL pace (see what I did there?) and just bored me to tears. I would never recommend "The Swarm" to anybody.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
absolutely bizarre way to make a movie + dialog too fast
This was one of the weirdest movie/shorts I've ever seen, such an unpleasant viewing experience because of the bafflingly illogical irregular way in which it was filmed/directed/written. The only reason I kept watching is becuase I was a big fan of Rolald Dahl's book growing up as a kid, I must've read "The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar And 6 More" a dozen times. But I never wanna see a movie like this again. To say it "broke the 4th wall" was an understatement. It broke down the 4th wall with a sledgehammer, blasted the remains to powder, then lit what's left on fire. Actors talking to the camera then to themselves? Who does this? And why were they all a motor-mouth super fast talking style, like it was a race to the finish? I was only able to understand around 60-70% of the dialog, due to the rapid-fire speech delivery of the actors. This was just an awful awful, unwatchable, artsy-fartsy movie through and through. If this is the kind of loony-toon "direction" from this Wes Anderson clown, then I would like nothing to do with him in the future, thank you very much. Please stick to the NORMAL way of making movies!
Snake Oil (2023)
cringey audience participation & audio editing problems
I feel like half of David Spade's dialog was artificially spliced into the show, after the fact, like re-recorded later with ADR and then added in "post production" or whatever. That and the absolutely awkward & phony audience gestures were the 2 biggest flaws of the show. Seeing these goofy audience members being forced (off-camera I'm sure) to make these ridiculous "snake" movments with their arm out, cupped hand, etc. It's like they're trying to parrot The Masked Singer and their unrealistic audience expressions and cringey gestures.
The humor in the first episode was hilarious though, I did laugh out loud several times during the premiere episode just now. But I probably won't tune in again, the editing is just so painfully obvious where they chopped out bits & pieces of the host's or contestants's speech, and clumsily tried to splice in re-recorded dialog. Very very noticeable, I'm surprised a FOX show like this can't afford a better ADR company who's been in business longer.
I can't speak for future episodes, but during tonight's prelimere show, I'd estimate that the words we heard from David Spade on our TV screens were approx. 60% genuinely uttered in front of the studio audience, there at the taping, and around 40% were recorded in a sound booth, weeks or months later, after everyone else went home. That might be the phony-baloney Hollywood version of "authenticity" but it's no way to run a successful TV show. Plus the deception of them hiding the 60-second countdown clock is as bafffling as it is suspicious. Do the producers REALLY think no one will notice their ethical lapse? Why not show the full sixty seconds ON SCREEN as they count down? Reputable game-show producers from a generation or two ago are rolling over in their graves over "Snake Oil" and its misleading dishonesty.
Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018)
the worst movie I've seen in years - AVOID!!!
How could a movie this badly-made even get released? Poor direction, poor sound (half the dialog is inaudible or mumbled), poor editing, poor casting (the 13 y/o boy's mother looks like a 16 year old girl herself), poor writing, poor acting, poor camera work. Enough plot holes to drive a truck through. I was in a dark mood tonight hoping that a nice briskly-paced 90 minute good old-fashioned horror movie would resonate with me, and take my mind off my troubles. Well let me tell you folks "Children Of The Corn: Runaway" is a bomb, a turkey, an embarassment of amateur-hour mistakes and shortcomings. You will not be frightened by this film, you will be frustrated and disappointed. Mark my words!
Weather Gone Viral (2015)
has nothing to do with actual WEATHER related stories
This show has become a feeble shell of its former self. At least 50% of the content from "Weather Gone Viral" literally has nothing whatsoever to do with actual WEATHER but instead are more like "viral videos" to laugh at. Tonight I just watched my very LAST episode of this "well past its prime" sorry excuse of a TV show, it was S7 E7 titled "Mudslide Devastation" and I was so disgusted by the irrelevant non-weather related dumping ground of miscellaneous video clutter, that I vowed to never tune in again. It's almost as if the producers have made a conscious decision to throw out the word "weather" in the show's title, and replace it with "nature videos" instead. Don't believe me? Here are just a few of the video segments from tonight's laughingstock of an episode, again, of the show that is titled WEATHER Gone Viral:
- a trapeze artist on high-heels walking across a canyon, on a clear sunny day
- a beached whale being rescued, in perfect sunny weather
- a man who dives into Lake Michigan every day for a year
- a bear being chased off a patio by a teenage girl
- a bridge & groom going on a wedding-themed jet-pack trip on a lake
- a daredevil bicyclist doing stunts on a dangerous cliff-side path
- a man who water-skis using ping-pong paddles for his feet.
Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)
good old-fashioned heartwarming story
Ten stars! I don't think I've EVER given a movie 10 stars before, but Jerry & Marge Go Large is exactly the type of movie Hollywood ought to make more of. Why? Because it's relatable! I found myself relating to these characters so closely, their lives, their families, and their town. And not just because I live in Michigan myself (and have visited Evart, MI often). This is a family-friendly flick, filled with good decent everyday folks trying to do good in the world, and have fun doing it. There are no car chases, no explosions, no alien landings, no reality TV stars, no CGI special-effects, no extremist agendas, no potty-mouth profanity....in other words NONE of the attention-getting cheap gimmicks that Hollywood loves to force down our throats nowadays. Zip, zero, zilch! Instead you have a movie that gets by on the strength of its STORY: heartwarming moments of tenderness, of triumph, where a cast of mainly senior citizens or "mature adults" (another thing the movie industry rarely shows!) all pull together to bring us a film that's an inspiration to us all. I could literally watch 10 more movies just like this, and be thrilled at every one. Hollywood studios, are you listening? Jerry & Marge Go Large is a movie that tugs at the heartstings, brought a tear to my eye it did, and I would absolutely give it 20 stars if I could. WELL DONE!!!
Web of Make Believe: Death, Lies and the Internet: Death by SWAT (2022)
the injustice and brazen evil here is simply terrifying
This episode "Death By Swat" is the single worst, most gut-wrenching, troubling, anxiety-producing TV show or movie I've ever seen in my life. Period. Without exception. The blatent injustice shown here is monumental - beyond description. The filmmakers who actually produced such a sickening maddening piece of sensationalism ought to be ashamed. This monster Tyler Barriss deserves a violent prison-death for his psychopathic destruction that will NEVER be cured. Why was he ever released from prison the first time, after serving only 2 years? It was obvious to ANYONE with a brain that a remorseless criminal like him would be a repeat offender! Soulless deranged trash like Tyler Barriss deserve to be locked away permanently, for the good of society, for the rest of their miserable lives, to prevent innocent bloodshed like this poor man Andrew Finch, who was killed over an internet prank. The criminal justice system in CA who released Tyler after only 2 years now have, quite literally, blood on their hands for their negligence and short-sighted errors of judgment.
I have literally never seen ANYTHING so disturbing as this "Death By Swat" program, over the past years and DECADES even, no horror movie or documentary has ever moved me to such anger, such despair, such shock just by watching it. I grieve for the human race, and what monsters we've become. I was crying my way through the last 1/3 of the program, hoping there would be some kind of happy ending, any sort of actual JUSTICE that was served. About the only good thing is that the irredeemable degenerate Tyler Barriss is locked up now, hopefully for good. Watching this made me not only want to NEVER see any other episode of this god-forsaken miniseries "Web Of Make Believe" but I was SO profoundly affected and SO disturbed that I'm actually thinking of canceling my Netflix account permanently. That's how grossly unfit for human consumption and tasteless this episode actually was, that they would glorify such brazen vicious evil all in the name of "entertainment".
Make no mistake about it, if you choose to watch this episode, you will NOT be entertained. You will be disheartened, saddened, deeply troubled, damaged, and aghast at what these criminals were allowed to get away with. Everyone whose name appears in the production credits, every single person, should feel a deep sense of shame and dishonor for lending their good name to such a ghoulish disturbing indecency as this program. I am much worse off for having watched it, and I wish I could turn back time so I never saw this "Death By Swat" episode. I will never again watch anything even approaching the "true crime/drama" type genre here on Netflix ever again, and this pointless exploitive program will probably haunt me for quite some time. Literally the worst thing I have ever seen in my entire life, that's 40+ years of movies or TV. Nothing even comes close. May God have mercy on us all.
The Future Of (2022)
very little substance, nothing but superficial nonsense
For everyone who thinks Netflix is too woke, this series is a perfect example why. Sometimes I feel like Netflix is trying to shove their "mandatory diversity" agenda down everyone's throats, no matter how cringey and tacky it seems. Forced multiculturalism at its worst. I mean let's be honest: this program is by millennials, for millennials. Leave it to the godless heathens Netflix to do an entire 1/2 hour show on "Life After Death" and not ONCE even mention the word heaven! People already think these coastal elite liberals are a bunch of atheists; its propagranda like this that perpetuates this stereotype.
OtherLife (2017)
this movie owes EVERYTHING to the 1996 episode of "The Outer Limits" starring David Hyde Pierce - S2 E22
I can't believe no one has brought this up in any previous reviews I'm reading. A great movie, but entirely deriviative of the 1996 episode titled "The Sentence" from the syndicated TV show The Outer Limits. The plot-line is literally exactly the same, even Ren's reaction upon waking up from her "time in jail" is IDENTICAL to David Hyde Pearce when he wakes up and realizes it was all in VR - smashing things, throwing a tantrum, etc. Am I really the only person to have seen both that TV show episode and this movie? Even so, OtherLife was a great movie - something I'd easily watch again despite it being a foreign flick.
American Dad!: Mused and Abused (2021)
silly but also makes you feel empathy
I liked this episode more than any other in recent memory because it made me think of a good friend of mine who's no longer in my life. Maybe I am better off without him, as Klaus is without Roger?
Urfin Dzhyus i ego derevyannye soldaty (2017)
VERY family-friendly & tame reboot/reinterpretation/sequel on The Wizard Of Oz
This movie contains many throwbacks, nods, Easter eggs, and meta-type references to the original 14 Oz books, some more subtle than others. The yellow brick road, Dorothy landing suddenly in the midst of the Munchkins, the Tin Man rusting because he didn't have his oil-can, the Nome King's underground tunnel leading to the Emerald City, the bearskin rug being sprinkled with Mombi's powder of life and suddenly coming to life, etc.
The Lazarus Effect (2015)
10 stars - ghoulish distressing terror
Not only was this the best movie I've watched in several months, this was also the SCARIEST most disturbing film I've seen in years! I had low-to-medium expectations going into it, since it was a movie featured on this free app called Kanopy (where you can watch free content w/ no commercials if you have a library card) but even from the first few minutes or so, I could tell I was going to like this. DAMN! I'm still shaking as I type this - no lie! This horror movie had moments that directly reminded me of other movies like Pet Semetary, Nightmare On Elm Street 3, The Shining, even Jurassic Park. (If you've seen the film, you can probably guess the comparisons....no spoilers here!) Plus it stars Donald Glover who is a total hottie. I 100% recommend "The Lazarus Effect" as gripping disturbing entertainment, in a totally manageable chunk of time too (83 minutes, another plus!)
Time Freak (2018)
a masterpiece! I cannot say enough good things about this movie
I had low expectations coming into this movie, after visiting its Wikipedia page and seeing how it had barely even grossed a half-million dollars or so, I was expecting another low-budget turkey like "Browse" (2020 sci-fi bomb I saw recently). But make no mistake: this movie absolutely felt like a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster to me! Seriously! It just had that FEEL of a well-made, professionally produced film, that a normal movie should seem like, even one that cost tens of millions of dollars to make.
I don't know how much the budget was for "Time Freak" but I guess in the end that doesn't matter. I laughed, I cried, I found myself immersed in the character's lives and situations, I thought a LOT about a failed past relationship I'd had myself. So yes, this movie made me THINK and made me FEEL, in addition to entertaining me. And really, is there anything more you can ask for in a good film? Please watch "Time Freak" (I caught it for free on Hulu just now) and I promise you will enjoy it!
The Secrets of Christmas Revealed! (2021)
perfect tongue-in-cheek parody "news story" type comedy
Absolutely hilarious mockumentary of Christmas & Santa Claus. One of the most clever and zany movies or TV specials I've seen in years, and VERY family-friendly! This could be like G-rated....nothing offensive or even borderline-inappropriate for young kids. And adults with a whimsical/smart sense of humor will be laughing along too at the irony of this "pretend" tabloid-investigative journalism piece on Santa Claus. I was like literally either smiling or giggling the entire 2 hours of this show. Again, HIGHLY recommended - the comedy is goofy yet subtle, I could easily watch this again. Merry Christmas!
Intersect (2020)
it's not THAT bad....really!
I'm sitting here laughing my a.ss off at these scathing 1 & 2 star reviews, and felt motivated to add my own two cents into the mix. I just got finished watching this for free on Hulu, and I'd say I got what I paid for. The middle section when the kids were in high-school (and/or middle school?) was way WAY too long and drawn out - easily 20-30 minutes could've been cut from that sequence. But other than that, the movie was pretty decent! I mean c'mon guys, what do you expect from a low-budget indie film? Don't have such high expectations - this is NOT gonna be a Terminator 2 or some big Hollywood blockbuster. Obviously was made on a shoestring budget, by a first-time director. I'd say cut the film some slack. I recommend watching "Intersect" but only if you don't mind flashbacks-within-flashbacks, and a bit of slow plodding drama in the middle of the movie, before the final few scenes of action-packed excitement.
Pandemic (2007)
great disaster movie! nothing wrong with any of it
I don't understand all the negative reviews here, I loved watching this movie Pandemic. As of today 5-10-20 it was included in my Amzon Prime membership to watch for free, so I did. I've watched a lot of disaster type movies lately, about the end of the world, societal breakdown, rampant viruses or disease, etc. And "Pandemic" was one of the best! Sure a couple of the plot-lines or even some characters' actions were a bit far-fetched or illogical (you want to yell at the screen....why didn't you do it this way?!?!) but overall I give this 10 stars!
10.5: Apocalypse (2006)
don't listen to all the nay-sayers, this movie ROCKS
I don't see what all the fuss was about, people hating on this movie. It's called FICTION folks, it's not supposed to be 100% grounded in reality. Do people also pick apart Friday The 13th The Series, and how it's not scientifcally accurate or realistic to see a hockey mask-wearing psycho rise from the dead in each new film? Of course not! Then why do people give such a hard time to this 10.5 movie franchise?
I enjoyed the first 10.5 movie (and it was NOT easy to find either! apparently only available on DVD as of April 2020, and none of the streaming services, not even one!) from 2004, and was excited to see this sequel. Lemme tell you it did NOT disappoint! Although it was weird watching it on Amazon Prime because they split it up into THREE parts (not TWO parts like the original televised version had it). I don't know why they would've done that (maybe cheaper for them to show 3 "episodes" that are 54 min each, instead of 2 episodes that are an hour-and-a-half long? who knows). But I heartily recommend this movie, judge for yourself if you like it, and don't listen to the debbie downers.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Loophole (2007)
Season 8 Episode 13 "Loophole"
This is a review + more info of the Law & Order SVU episode called Loophole, S8 E13. I was prompted to do more research after reading about it in the book "Law & Order Special Victims Unit - The Unofficial Companion" by Susan Green and Randee Dawn. They mentioned that the airing of this episode prompted a lot of discussion and even a bit of online controversy, where the US Environmental Protection Agency had to issue a "Response to Television Show Depicting Illegal Pesticide Human Study" on their EPA website, which is now long erased & taken down, but I did manage to find a cached copy online on the Wayback Machine -- here's the actual text, preserved here for posterity:
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A Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode with a story line about pesticide testing aired on February 6. The story depicted "research" involving intentional dosing of uninformed individuals, who were harmed by their exposure to an unregistered pesticide. The show was filled with factual inaccuracies. The kind of testing depicted on the show violates multiple requirements in EPA's regulations designed to protect all people from unethical research:
The show alleged there were loopholes for "observational research" in EPA's rules that would allow pesticide companies to conduct such a fictional study. The fictional study, however, clearly involved intentional dosing of children with pesticides (not observational research), and EPA rules categorically prohibit all intentional dosing studies with children, as well as with pregnant or nursing women.
While such a study would never be allowed, the fictional chemical company went even further and lied about the research and did not tell the subjects they were being exposed to dangerous organophosphate pesticides.
The study unnecessarily put the subjects' health at serious risk - a risk that would never be tolerated under EPA rules, no matter how fully risks were disclosed.
In February 2006 EPA issued a tough new regulation governing human testing for pesticides by pesticide companies and other parties not affiliated with the government. Our rule put in place the nation's strongest protections for subjects in third-party research, including:
- A prohibition against research involving intentional dosing of pregnant women, nursing women, or children;
- A prohibition against EPA relying on such testing in its decisions under the pesticide laws; and
- A requirement that all new intentional dosing human studies on non-pregnant, non-nursing adults be reviewed by EPA and a panel of independent experts for ethical and scientific acceptability.
For more information, see these Websites: EPA's Human Studies Web page; The Common Rule, a set of existing requirements that govern the conduct of all human research performed by EPA and 18 other federal departments and agencies.
There was also an entire scientific study published in (I believe?) 2011, that measured public response to the original airing of this SVU episode, Effects of a Television Drama about Environmental Exposure to Toxic Substances" lots more fascinating reading for hardcore Law & Order SVU fans, but far too lengthy to re-post here. I thought this episode was edgy, SUPER informative, crucial and important for people to see, and took so many twists & turns that you never knew what was going to happen next (thank goodness it had a happy ending!)