Dani-62 Reviews

Cold Case (2003–2010)

Never ceases to amaze me

[4 January 2004]

"Cold Case" features fictional cases that have been unsolved for years. The stories are touching, even though we know these situations are not real. The show never ceases to amaze me and touch me in ways most television shows cannot. Somehow it seeps under your skin because you know thousands of people in the real world live with the things that go on in the episodes. Kathryn Morris gives a stellar performance each week and always has the audience rooting for her to kick some butt. The editing is unique, as well, and I think the strongest tactic the show uses is how they always wrap up the case and the episode by arresting the person as they are now, but never failing to cut to show what they would look like if they had gotten arrested when they first committed the crime. The victim almost always appears vindicated at the end. This of course works best when they go back to cases some ten or more years earlier. This is a new show, and it has certainly broken out of the mold. It is not just another formulaic crime drama. The fact that each episode is about the individual case and not the saga of the detectives makes it easy to tune it at any time and get heavily involved. CBS has done it again - their demographic is no longer just middle aged middle class individuals. With shows like this they are proving they can reach a wider, savvier audience. Jerry Bruckheimer is back on top to stay,

Face Value (2001 TV Movie)

Strong acting, beautiful camera work, awful script

[6 March 2003]

Basically my title, one-line summary sums up how I feel about this film. The acting was strong for all of the characters involved. At times James Wilder was a bit over the top, and SCott Baio's accent didn't work for me. Krista Allen was good- not her best work, but she wasn't given a whole lot to do. The cinematography was beautiful, especially the establishing shots of Santa Monica. The camera work was obviously thoughtful and with great care, and I just wish the writers had taken the same passion and interest to the script. There were ridiculous amounts of summary dialogue, and the script had the character of Syd calling Barry "Cowboy" every other word out of her mouth. If they stuck to the golden rule of showing and not telling, the film would have been great. It's especially fun to watch in french, with the dubbed language over the picture

Totally Blonde (2001)

A Surprise Hit

[25 January 2003]

The title of this film might not seem appropriate after you watch the movie in it's entirety. Meg Peters dyes her hair blonde within the opening credits, and she never looks back. Only a few comments in the beginning are made about her change of look. After that, it doesn't really affect her as a person or in her relationships. She never wonders if the men she meets are only after her for the stereotypical image of a blonde bombshell. In fact, in the last scene, when her hair is back to her natural color, the guy she is with (I don't want to give it away) doesn't say anything about it at all. He never even noticed her look; it was the cheesy Hollywood romance of her physical appearance may have caught his eye in the beginning, but he loved her for who she was inside. Other than that, the film was a throw-back to the 1950s style - swing dancing and an attempt at physical comedy. Krista Allen doesn't match Lucille Ball in that respect, but she gives it her all and delivers a performance that is just exaggerated enough to make you laugh but groan with the thought of "what if there really are people this ditzy in the world?" at the same time. Her chemistry with her costars is great- she and Maeve Quinlan appear close, just like best friends. Michael Buble was a surprising talent. I was impressed at how well he could sing, and Brody Hutzler was the typical surfer dude- pretty to look at and that's about it. Colin Mochrie's cameos were great, but I think the best one was the one that was left from the movie and just shown during credits as a blooper. The film was beautifully shot, with only one continuity error and a few instances of an oddly large amount of headroom (nothing that keeps from enjoying the piece). Andrew Van Slee is a very talented guy, who seems to me to be a newcomer, but after this he's sure to go far. Plus it was nice to see Krista in a starring role. It's definitely a better film than Legally Blonde!