hartgh Reviews

Manifest (2018–2023)

Never A Lasting Happy Moment

[7/10 · 23 May 2024]

I started watching this based on my fascination with aviation late at night after my wife had gone to bed. After the first couple episodes it became apparent that the show had very little to do with aviation, and much more to do with the 828 passengers reintroduction to life five years in the future and their "callings." I recommended that my wife might like it and after watching just the first episode she really got into it. It was all we could do to NOT just binge-watch through the whole show.

However, we're now in the last few episodes of season three (of four) and it just seemed that every episode had multiple life shattering problems cropping up, often because of from the idiotic acts of the main characters, particularly the Ben Stone character. For a guy that is so intelligent at figuring out what the "callings" are and mean, he does a lot of really dumb things! We are often frustrated that there never seems to be a lasting happy moment in which we can relax, so to speak, and we've commented about it to each other.

(If you ever watched the series, Downton Abby, you might remember that the first several seasons were like that. I was ready to quit watching, but stuck it out and it gradually transitioned to more lasting happy moments, and I was sorry when the show ended.)

Lastly, the surrealistic aspect of the show - which we expect - aside, there's MANY aspects of everyday life that are technically wrong. Like the fact that cops can shoot people in their capacity as law enforcement, and then go right back to work! Anyone who's paid attention to the local news of LE involved shootings knows that the officer(s) are put on paid leave and extensive, rigorous investigations are carried out for months sometimes even more than a year or two before the investigation is completed.

Then there's a character who is working at a secure top secret government facility who does something that goes completely against the mission, get fired, but is allowed to stay for a while before being permanently shown the door. REALLY? Even in ordinary businesses when you're given notice, THAT'S IT! You gather your personal things and leave right now! If there's security at the place, they will accompany you and escort you out.

An other all-to-easy aspect of the normal-type life is the way bad guys always seem to be able to find the good guys with no trouble and cause a lot of trouble.

There's more cases of "that's not how it really works" that I've seen, I just can't remember them all

RECOMMENDATION! We kinda "leap-frog" this series with another one every other night that we like more, Killing Eve, with Sandra Oh and Jodi Comer. 2018-2022, IMDB 8.1. It's NOT for all tastes! It's a dark comedy, how dark, charcoal! If you have a taste for black comedies this show will grab you! It's irreverent, captivating, touching, funny as anything I've seen, and has enough twists and turns to keep you paying attention. Check it out.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

A Two Hour Nineteen Minute Movie That's One Hour TOO LONG

[2/10 · 6 March 2024]

Everything Everywhere All At Once is two hours nineteen minutes long, but should have been, could have been one hour shorter.

The premise is that every time we make a decision in life, a possible different decision results in our life in an alternate universe, that using some tricks allows us to access ourselves in that alternate universe. While the premise is interesting and clever the concept is lost in hyperbolic overkill. There's SO MANY alternate universes from the multitude of decisions we've made in life that the original reason for accessing ourselves in alternate universes is nearly lost. In many, if not most of the too many alternates, the CGI-ed fights where people are trying to kill the protagonist are too fast, too blurry and too long. (BTW, I really, as in REALLY HATE the overuse and excessive use of CGI in scenes! It's too cartoonish.)

There's two reasons I didn't give Everything Everywhere All At Once just one star.

Reason one, Jamie Lee Curtis nails her role as the frumpy, overweight, pot bellied (with belly button showing under her shirt) heartless IRS agent. I love the fact that this actress who starred in so many very glamorous roles had the self confidence to take this role.

Reason two, the movie has a sentimental, heart warming, meaningful and inspirational ending.

Everything Everywhere All At Once was suggested by our adult son and watched it with us after coming over for dinner, and my wife had heard from our other younger, but adult son, that it was a great movie and she wanted to see it. At the end of the movie adult son says, "Wasn't that a great movie, to which we both lied and replied yeah. But after he left, we both lamented what a horrible and way to long movie it was.

If you like a LOT of CGI almost meaningless, blurry scenes it may be for you, but discerning watchers . . . BEWARE!

Jingle Smells (2023)

Sorry To Say . . .

[24 November 2023]

Sorry to say, but I REALLY wanted to like this movie, I really did. I am a conservative talk show junkie and an ardent fan of the Sean Hannity shows and was looking forward to the release of this movie and bought it to show my family after Thanksgiving dinner. Before the family (four of us) arrived, I previewed the first few minutes of the movie and liked what I saw so far.

After we finished Thanksgiving dinner I put the movie on. My 38 year old son paid close attention while my wife and daughter kinda chatted paying less attention.

There were a couple laughs, but not many. Before long my son went to the girls and the thee of them chatted while I watched the movie.

The guest hosts on the Wednesday'S Hannity show really, REALLY, hyped the movie having several of the stars of the show on to talk about their experience making the movie. They likened the movie to Nat. Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (which the wife and I watch TWICE every season) and Home Alone (which we also watch every season).

I kept waiting for the movie to "take off." But it just kept plodding along with very little sense of it being a Christmas movie. If it was on TV when you're changing channels and came across it part way through, you'd be hard pressed to know it's a Christmas show. The only clue, most of the time, was Jingle Smells, the main character, wearing a Santa hat.

Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, etc., all give you a sense of traditional Christmases, Jingle Smells doesn't.

Since I bought it, own it, I might watch it again and see if there's something I didn't get the first time, but my wife won't watch it with me, SORRY TO SAY!

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

Why The Title?

[1/10 · 5 April 2015]

I've loved the original 1951 version of this movie since first seeing it and being mesmerized by it as a young kid in the '60s. I make it a point to watch it every 3-4 years.

I am always very hesitant to see remakes of great movies that I love, I'm almost always disappointed. This movie was no different. I wonder why someone would venture to presumably improve a Mona Lisa. As a stand alone movie, I might have rated it a three to four stars, but given that it's a poor remake of a masterpiece, it only rates one.

(I'm going to complain about what they left out from the original, is that a spoiler?)

They took a great story, filled it up with CGI, and then left out the two best parts of the story, one of which is the title, ACTUALLY having the Earth stand still for a day--for crying out loud--and Klaatu's great line, "Klaatu, barada nikto." What's the "logic" behind having this vastly superior being, Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), even interact with the humans, and then be moved by inferior human Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly)? (Reminds me of Star Trek where the giant-cranium-aliens think humans are worthless warmongers, until Captain Kirk passionately shows them the "wonderful" human qualities that they've lost pursuing intellectual growth.) Klaatu kills, then heals a policeman, all the while preparing to wipe out the humans--the reason for which is never really well explained. The stretches in logic are stunning.

Gort (the name of that fabulous robot in the '51 version, played by the 7'7" Lock Martin) is just about wasted as a character in this movie. Making him bigger didn't make him better. (Wasn't it handy, though, that the Army just happened to have a cage that fit him!) Is it necessary for every child portrayed in TV/movies to be uppity know-it-alls? I will toss two bones to the "movie makers," the reason behind the opening sequence is somewhat clever, and casting the always stunningly beautiful Jennifer Connelly in the lead made it almost bearable to watch, but that hardly makes up for the rest of this mess.

SKIP THIS MOVIE, go directly to the 1951 version, IF you can get past the fact that the 1951 version is in black and white (gosh, you'll have to use your imagination!) has no CGI (use that imagination again) and uses arcane concepts like great story telling and character and plot development.

Maleficent (2014)

Another Overbearance of CGI

[3/10 · 28 September 2014]

Not caring for remakes, I was taken to Maleficent somewhat reticently by my wife who was anxious to see it.

I rarely go to theatrical releases of movies these days because I find that most lack two seemingly old, outdated concepts, plot and character development. And often WAAAY too much reliance on CGI! ("We have a special effect, let's make a movie to go with it!")

Maleficent had good character development for the main players in the beginning, but a bit less for later characters. Having been a fan of Disney's classic fairy-tail movies (Pinoccio, Dumbo, Snow White, Cinderella, etc.) I was somewhat curious to see how Maleficent would be portrayed as a sympathetic character and that was well done.

The plot kept me guessing as to how this movie might turn out. Accustomed to the "fairy-tale" endings of the classic Disney movies, I thought I had it figured out, but was (disappointingly) wrong about the ending.

I will say that it was a fanciful story that kept my mind constantly busy trying to guess the ending for the whole movie, but it was an uncomfortable wonderment.

As is sadly too common with modern movies, the special effects guys often overwhelm the story in Maleficent with tooooo many unnecessarily fantastic, blurry, over-the-top CGI scenes, which are so crammed full of action that one can't possibly take in a tiny fraction of it, and hence--I say--the effect is wasted. (For the longest time, I had no idea it was Stefan dangling at the end of the chain.)

Spoiler! (I'll try to spoil it as little as possible.)

I would have much rather that Stefan had ONLY taken the wings, rather than the struggle which immediately proceeded his decision to take them. I would rather the story play out that he did so to save a life, rather than for a selfish motive.

I would have much rather that the movie contain less violence, and frankly, wouldn't take a child younger than 10-12 to see the movie. Couldn't the soldiers have been scarred off by Maleficent's powers rather than killed??? I would have much rather that the story stayed truer to the original by having the prince (after better character development) show true love.

I would have much rather that Aurora would have saved the one who truly loved her with an "in-the-nick-of-time" scene. While Stefan and Maleficent's motives for being bitter and angry were understandable, I would have liked to see that after good doses of begging forgiveness, understanding, forgiving and making up, Stefan and all involved would have lived happily ever after.

I mean really, isn't that what Walt would have given us? Frankly, I don't think Walt would have ever allowed the Disney name to grace a "fairy-tale" that was so often this dark.

Lastly, I find it curiously amusing that Disney is, in effect, telling us with Malefecent that they lied to us when telling the story of Sleeping Beauty the first time.