john_michaels_97501 Reviews

The Heiress and the Handyman (2024 TV Movie)

This movie is the turd that will not flush

[1/10 · 15 September 2024]

The title sounds like a porn movie. That would actually suggest more of a plot than this movie actually has. The main character is the biggest Karen ever, who is stupid to 6 decimal places. No man would go a mile of her. The only way this character June would plausibly is if someone said her name in the mirror three times. She was clad by the wardrobe person strait out of Goodwill. The rest of the characters are flat and demonstrate the personality of a crayon. It would help this script if the main character, June, would move away from her gingerbread house.

Whoever wrote the script should have their pension revolked.

Monsieur Spade: Episode #1.6 (2024) Season 1, Episode 6

Disapointing ending to a fun series

[5/10 · 2 March 2024]

Episodes 1 through 5 were fine but it was obvious that the writers had no clue how to end the story. They ending was a rushed mess. Too many characters to make a real plot ending twist. They needed to shorten the cast by half to keep the ending cogent. The character of Virginia Dell was pull out of an orifice to try to explain something, not sure. Father Morgan could have been a good character but obviously that was edited out. I'm guessing the plan was to have more episodes, but then those got cut and they needed a episode 6 McGuffin to rush in and try and explain it all. Shame because I really enjoyed episodes 1 through 5.

Wednesday: Woe Is the Loneliest Number (2022) Season 1, Episode 2

Very well done but with one annoying thing...

[8/10 · 27 November 2022]

Ok overall. I've enjoyed the.series, the writing and all. Wednesday's natural snarky sense of humor is not explored in this series as I would have expected. Woe Is the Loneliest Number reminds me of 1991 Addams Family movie's depiction of summer camp life with the depiction of the canoe race.

That said, the sound mixing must have been done by Christopher Nolan because just like in the movie Tenet, the dialog is lost in the sound track. Many times I had to turn to my wife and ask "what did she just say." It just needs to be dialed down so that we all can understand all those great witty lines coming from Wednesday's mouth.

A Christmas Star (2021 TV Movie)

Were special effects ever award

[3/10 · 2 January 2022]

OK I know Hallmark movies are not synonymous with high production value, but the shooting stars were the worst special-effects ever. I drunk in high school senior could have done better.

Surprised by Love (2015 TV Movie)

Surprisingly decent Hallmark movie.

[7/10 · 8 June 2020]

Ok, I'm a guy who finds Hallmark movies boring, predictable and of course formulaic. This movie is a surprising one-off. I actually looked it up to see if Hallmark actually produced it as a fluke!. Tim Conway really is great. There has to be more original scripts out there,

Allied (2016)

Decent movie with at least on tired trope

[7/10 · 27 November 2017]

This is an overall decent film with admittedly one tired trope of the babysitter played by Marion Bailey who starts off as a sweet Britsh lady, who when she is discovered as a spy suddenly lets go with a Geman accent. As if she spent all that time perfecting a perfect British accent that once caught, decides she can be herself, This is an old an tired old cliché from 40's movies that I had hoped would never again happen. Oh well.

Yesterday Was a Lie (2009)

Interesting but fell short of potential

[4/10 · 19 May 2010]

I had been waiting for quite a while for Yesterday was a lie. Modern noir is rare and I hadn't seen anything of note since 2005's Brick. Despite going into the film with high hopes, Yesterday was a lie fell short of it's mark. Their seemed to be such an heavy emphasis on the stylistic elements of the classic noir film that it over did it. From the swanky Jazz to the high-contrast black and white, it all was just too much. This over-the-top noir style seemed to ease by about the halfway point of the film which helped. The character Hoyle, with her hair flowing out from under her Fadora wasn't believable. Hoyle along with the singer, played excellently by Chase Masterson, were easily confused since both were so close in appearance. Since this was a movie about moving backwards and forwards through time, one was left wondering if Hoyle and the Singer were meant to be the same person. Also, noir works when we see that point when the main character either makes a bad decision of has one thrust upon them. That is the turning point of a great story. This story didn't seem to have that. If it did, it was lost, relying on sexy women and dress to carry the day. Also this film missed the mark in great dialog. One usually hopes for those great comeback lines and expressions (that we all wished we had said) to carry these films. All and all the acting was fine but this film failed in the directing and editing. It was fun to see the effort but this fell short of it's mark.