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Mandy999
Reviews
Elvis All-Star Tribute (2019)
A good try, but....
At first I wondered why there was so little of Elvis himself in this tribute show, but the answer became apparent as the show went on. While I appreciate the effort by modern artists to introduce Elvis to younger audiences, it was painfully obvious they simply couldn't compete with the King.
That said, there were some standout performances. Probably the best of the night was Adam Lambert's "Blue Suede Shoes"; he really captured the spirit of the original song. Ed Sheeran did an interesting take on "Can't Help Falling in Love," although it was a little show for my liking. Carrie Underwood and Yolanda Adams did a creditable job with the gospel segment, although I'd say Yolanda's voice outshone Carrie's, whose tone gets a little screechy when she tries to power it up. Why they didn't have Lisa Marie sing "Where No One Stands Alone" with her father escapes me.
And speaking of Elvis's surviving relatives, both Lisa Marie and his granddaughter, Riley Keough, sounded like wooden puppets. And Riley's an actress! You'd think at least she could do better. Perhaps it's just as well Priscilla wasn't there.
Most of the other performances were okay, if weak, but a few fell completely flat. Keith Urban and Post Malone tried to recreate the laid-back blues of the sit-down show with "Baby, What Do You Want Me to Do?" but it failed miserably. "Jailhouse Rock" was butchered by (of all people) John Fogerty, who just doesn't have the voice at his age to carry it off. And Dierks Bently produced a weird, countrified version of "Little Sister."
Maybe the younger crowd enjoyed this tribute better than I did (a woman in her 50s), but frankly, I think NBC would have done better to simply rebroadcast the original '68 special.
Californication (2007)
Shock value you can't ignore
I started watching this because I loved the X-Files and Kalifornia. David Duchovny has a charisma that's hard to ignore, even when every other sentence out of his mouth is either profane or bizarrely obscene. Frankly, no man gets women falling all over him the way Hank does, and no one is as thick-skinned or quick-thinking as the characters in this show, but you don't care because they're so much fun to watch! But the thing that ties the whole show together, that makes it more than a foul-mouthed, oversexed, booze- & drug-infused spoof on modern living, is Hank's serious attempt to hold his family together while he's falling apart (as Rob Lowe put it in the 4th season). Just when you think, how stupid is this?, one of the characters (usually Hank) will rip open his heart and bleed all over you. What woman can resist that? And to the reviewer who thinks this show is only for men? Think again!
Doctor Who: Music of the Spheres (2008)
Entertaining
As a new piece of Who, it's a bit so-so (frankly, the Graske storyline could not have been less interesting and whoever was dubbing in his voice was seriously lacking), but as a treatise in interactive acting, it was fascinating. David wasn't even there and he had the audience eating out of his hand. His timing and intonation couldn't have been more exact than if he'd been in another room piping his performance in live. The interaction with the orchestra and conductor was well done, especially the trick of sending the music though the portal. And the little speech at the end about music being for everybody, not just musicians and people with albums, was a nice message for the kids.
The Deputy (2004)
Light-hearted look at politics
I thought this was charming. From the left-out-of-the-loop, well-meaning, but ultimately political creature that was the Deputy PM; to his clumsy and lackluster staff; to the exasperated press secretary trying to cover his public blunders; to the behind-the-back political maneuvering of his enemies; to his subversive son with ties to an anarchy group; to the heart-breaking despair of one of his constituents with an autistic child; it was all beautifully played by a wonderful cast. I originally watched it because I'm a David Tennant fan, but it was the Deputy himself that made the show. A wonderful performance by Warren Clarke.
Nine 1/2 Minutes (2002)
What was this?
This made absolutely no sense. Okay, so I'm American as we're not exactly renowned for our high-brow film choices, but this was rubbish. Was it a date? Was it part date, part alternative reality? Did it happen all on the same day or were we skipping around? Did Heather actually like Charlie, but was so messed up about dating she let him get away? I couldn't even tell if they had sex or not! This little writing adventure was way too clever for its own good. It was trying so hard to be surreal, it lost itself in its own narrative. The acting was fine; it's just too bad the artists were thrown away on such unsatisfying material.
Bring Something Back: The Making of 'The Quatermass Experiment' (2005)
"Making Of" more interesting than broadcast
I found this making-of special more interesting than the actual production. While I appreciated the nerve and technical coordination necessary to pull it off, the story itself was dated and pretty boring. Oddly enough, the cast and crew talking about how it was developed and dealing with the limitations of a live broadcast was much more riveting. Seeing how relieved and proud the cast members were to have pulled it off relatively flawlessly made me happy for them. Unfortunately, that's little reason to watch the film itself unless you're strictly interested in checking out the flubs and performances. I'm way too young to remember the days of live television, but I'm assuming it was more gripping than this.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Disappointing
Two words can sum up this movie: ponderous and tedious. The plot wandered around for all 2.5+ hours, finally ending up no where in particular and collapsing under its own weight. The villains and heroes changed roles about every 10 mins, and when the characters eventually ran out of things to do, the movie just... well, ended. Finally. Thankfully. It's not that it was actually bad, just incredibly boring. The effects were good but, as we saw in Spiderman 3, spectacular effects don't carry a dull movie.
If you're hoping this last film manages to recapture the charm of the first, I'm sorry. Stay home, rent it, have your friends tell you about it, but please don't encourage Hollywood to churn out more of this crap by actually going to see it. I feel like I just supported something worthless.
The Hitcher (2007)
A decent bit of fun
I haven't seen the original, nor do I intend to, so I can't comment on how sacrilegious it was to remake such a "classic" nor how wonderfully fresh and invigorating the new take on the story might be. I suspect it's neither. I saw it because I like Sean Bean. And I still like him, although I'd rather he didn't appear in a movie like this again.
Don't get me wrong, the movie isn't bad. It's entertaining, fast paced, and about the right length (short). The action gets your attention and the effects are good enough. Yes, some parts are predictable, but I thought the story itself believable (well, in a horror film sort of way). Some reviewers have pointed out the dimwittedness of the protagonists. I didn't think so. What do you do when you think the cops not only don't believe you, but can't protect you from the real killer? Some reviewers thought Ryder should have finished Grace off when he had her in the motel. Obviously he didn't want to; it wasn't part of his game. Others thought the ending was unsatisfying. I thought it was sad. Here Ryder had invested something of himself in trying to get Grace to understand him, at the very end he even gives her his life, and still fails. Grace loses her boyfriend in a traumatic event that will probably ruin the rest of her life. The rest of the cast is dead, even the bunny. Everyone loses. Perhaps it's not so much a horror flick as a tragedy.