mannix-6 Reviews

Saul of the Mole Men (2007)

Land of the Magic Shrinker Bugaloos

[4/10 · 2 September 2007]

This show is brilliant. Never have I seen this era spoofed so well. I've seen many unfunny improv parodies of old 70s shows lately but this show hits it all just right. The likes of Land of the Lost, the Kroft Supershow, Bugaloos, Sigmund the Seamonster, Dr Shrinker, Magic Mungo, WOnderbug! They are all here. Every bad-acted, soap-opera-music, scary costumed, teens-in-trouble one of them.

I love the cast. There are a few onenote performers but some hilarious standouts. And the furry suits with big eyes are the best! As a child I was terrified by these kinds of suits in those children's shows on Saturday morning and this show brought that fear back! Run Away! Run Away!

...and that theme is so catchy! Johnny Tambourine is such a funny character. I laugh my a$$ off every time I see him. Even the name is funny.

This show can take the parody even further with more seasons. There is a wealth of material for them.

Meet the Santas (2005 TV Movie)

Plot? What plot?

[1/10 · 23 December 2006]

I can understand the appeal of a joyous Christmas movie. I can understand the appeal of having a man become Santa Claus. I can understand the appeal of the Christmas magicbeing saved by the unity of the new santa to the new mrs claus.

So where was it? They seem to like to just randomly skip from scene to scene without care for letting the audience know why. What happened? Why are things a catastrophe one minute and all fixed the next? I still have no idea.

For out of work B-listerers like Steve Guttenberg and Crystal Bernard I can understand this as the next logical career choice. But Mariette Hartley....you used to have so much class.

She must have been crying at the end because her agent couldn't get her a better movie to be in.

It takes more than a red suit and a forced ho-ho-ho to make Christmas Magic.

Water (I) (2005)

The most important movie to see this year!

[10/10 · 5 May 2006]

It doesn't weigh you down with a lot of Hollywood drama, phony at every turn and predictable in its every dramatic chord. THis is a simple telling of the lives these women are subjected to and how the power men hold can lead to a nationwide manipulation through faith. This doesn't just speak about India but every country.

I've never seen a film in this time period either. Granted "Ghandi" spanned this period, but this is more showing his effect instead of him. THis isn't a grand-scale multi-billion dollar epic film. But you'll get more out of it.

The performances are great. Seema Biswas, especially. Very subtle yet experiencing the greatest doubt and greatest change throughout the film, her eyes opening as ours do.

It is unbelievable that the picture the film paints still goes on today.

Open All Night (1981– )

I remember this turd!

[2/10 · 19 July 2005]

The plot: A family runs and lives in a convenient store. Hilarity ensues. I must admit it has one of the most addicting theme songs I've ever heard (which isn't necessarily a good thing). The wife wasn't bad, but reminded me a lot of Selma Diamond from Night Court (probably on purpose) and the "son" looked like he was in his late 20's.

The "hilarity" I remember: Biker dude: Wow, I love pain! I just love pain! *hits himself with something* I just love pain. Whoa that was great!

More hilarity: Son: Mom, I have a stomach ache, can I have a chili dog?

I only wish I could get this crap out of my head.

Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Typical bad 80's horror

[1 November 2004]

For the most part, the movie is all over the place. Terribly written (co-written by Tommy Lee Wallace who wrote/directed the bad ending for the TV movie IT). Poorly cast and acted. The whole family just didn't read well. The brother sister seemed to be a married young couple and this was really confusing. I liked the priest's turmoil over the whole situation and his renegade way of going about it but there was a lot of cliché "priest against the darkness" stuff as well as cliché "mean ole priest's boss" stuff. The few parts I liked was when they concentrated on "haunted house" types of things like the thumping on the door. (although this wasn't really scary to the viewer how it was directed). The demon at the end was pretty frightening how it came out.

Spoilers here. Don't read below this unless you have seen it or don't care

Also at the very end, the priest alone with the demon inside him I liked their choice of fading out with the priest in torment of now having a demon inside him asking God not to forsake him and showing the demon already starting to take over the priest's body (the hands and neck bumpy stuff. It's nice they didn't resolve what happened. It is however the ONLY thing in this movie that leaves the scariness up to the imagination of the viewer.

Mostly this whole film weeds out bits of the exorcist to make its "plot".

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

The clips speak for themselves

[10/10 · 2 July 2004]

A very touching film. It reminds me of the bureaucracy I had to go through to close my bank account. (that took two years) Michael Moore lays out situation after situation of incredible footage, commentary, interviews which completely paint a picture of how a poorly run situation sprouts into more and more bad situations for the wrong reasons. The footage speaks for itself. There isn't that much of the guerrila interviewing from his past films. (Although he does that with members of congress for fun to ask them to enlist their kids in the army) The footage...which we've all seen in one form of another on TV and in the paper...is just amazing. To sit through this in well-ordered fashion. Reminds how blatant a horror it was that this country has suffered under incompetence.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Fanfiction at best

[3/10 · 21 June 2004]

After seeing the net flooded with Harry Potter fanfiction I can honestly say that the stories Rowling writes seem like nothing BUT fan-fiction. (Perhaps she plays too much fluffy dungeons and dragons) Harry Potter and the Plot of Holes perhaps. A couple neat innovations and the filmmaking was good but the story and characters are barely watchable with the exception of David Thewlis who absolutely shines as Lupis. He seemd to be the only one given any meaty acting things to do. But when he's not there, there's little else of interest apart from the CGI creatures. (The Grim is probably the best of these)

There's so much deus ex machina in the stories however because everything is solved by these really powerful magic items that these kids just "happen" to find or be given. Now I can accept that I suppose, but the thing I still can't buy is the illogic that hese young wizards, in all the history of Hogwart's, acquire these really powerful items yet all the adults who are all really powerful wizards and witches not only don't have any of these kinds of things but they are absolutely oblivious to items such as this and that the kids are using them. This is impossible to swallow. Since the entire plot is based on magical gadgets solving all the kids' problems, obviously there isn't much to see except special effects.

Save your money and go see Shrek 2 again.

Beast Machines: Transformers (1999–2001)

Much much more than meets the eye

[9/10 · 19 June 2002]

Everyone remembers the cheesiness of the old Transformers. The honorable heroic good guys. The Mean powerhungry bad guys. It was one of the Transformer's trademarks of the original series (that and to sell toys). Thus it was Very Very suprising to find an entirely computer-generated cartoon on Saturday morning with a completely new Transformers premise: transformers no longer were cars and planes, but beasts. Even better were their writers who dispensed with the melodrama and came up with some really intricate plots, which kept you guessing. There =were a lot more action sequences in this series and they were always varied (not the standard Robot A shoots robot B with laser and misses). The one fault I think was that the action sequences always took up so much of the 24-26 minute episode that the plot advanced VERY slowly. I guess this is a compliment to the humor, drama, and suspense used in the series to make you want to tune in next week. A welcome surprise!

Scooby-Doo (2002)

Rooby-Rooby-Roooooooooooooooooooo!

[9/10 · 17 June 2002]

It's time to get silly! I wasn't sure what to expect. Just a fun little movie with CGI Scooby in it, but I haven't had such a good time in a movie in a long time. I definitely consider it the best movie I've seen this year. Anyone who's a fan of the series or even used to watch it will get a big kick out of everything here. The characters are all here. I was a little annoyed that Freddy and Daphne weren't really much like their cartoon alter egos but at least it didn't get in the way. Matthew Lillard was SPOT ON as Shaggy...and what a cool surprise to find Rowan Atkinson in here too! And the cool thing is...the movie was frequently really creepy. All the imagery and monsters and spooks were totally in line with the series and were legitimately "spooky". Even the plot wasn't boring. It kept moving at a really fast pace so you didn't have time to get bored which is important. Overall a great comedy for an old scooby-snacker like myself! ROOBY ROOBY ROOOOOOO!

Scream (1996)

I want to know who I'm looking at.

[8/10 · 17 June 2002]

By far the scariest and coolest of any horror movie that's come alone in along time. So deep is this movie that it spoofs horror movies, it talks about horror movies, the characters quote horror movies, there are horror movie references throughout...and still it IS a horror movie. There are so many times you are laughing your head off and then follow it up immediately by a frightened jolt. Excellent film! Top notch cast! Especially Kennedy and Lillard.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Sleek and stylish

[9/10 · 5 June 2002]

Awesome movie. Such a sleek and stylish build of characters in an intense supercharged plot of a bank heist gone horribly wrong. And the detail of what happens to each member and how their distrust of each other spirals out of control is edge-of-your-seat terrific! Full of classic Taratino lines. Although the only problem with the film is that Tarantino is in it and at the beginning gives one of his typical self indulgent idiotic monologues Once you get past that the movie is a gem! Better than Pulp Fiction at times.

Hudson Hawk (1991)

Blech! Simple 80's crap brought into the 90's

[1/10 · 5 June 2002]

Only Bruce Willis could come up with such a self indulgent tale where he gets to sing. In fact the "singing thieves" bit is in fact the best part of the movie. The story is a mess, the characters are forgettable, the performances are ridiculous. One might think they were GOING for laughs and absurdity here but that's not exactly the case as at every other turn they try to dazzle us with action and effects sequences. (explosions that go boom. whee.) It isn't funny. None of the over the top performances are funny. The plot has enough loopholes to make you think that the script was written by an 80's sitcom writer, and all of it smacks as bits left over from Willis' Moonlighting days. Thank God he eventually learned how to act three years later with Pulp Fiction. The only interesting thing about this movie other than the timed singing bit is that a very young David Caruso is in it.