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Hawthorne (2009)
This Dog Can't Hunt!!
What a disappointment! The cable networks have been programming some excellent shows over the last couple years, but this ain't one of them. What was TNT thinking? TNT has a superb handful of original series, so my anticipation of Hawthorne was pretty intense. What a waste of an hour, what with the bonehead writing and mechanical acting; I shoulda gone to bed. The Christine Hawthorne character is way beyond belief. Her queen of the hospital role is extremely annoying, especially since her crown is just her halo turned upside down. She's infallible, unstoppable, feared, loved and respected by her fellow badly acted cardboard characters. Everything has a too-well scrubbed, artificial look to it. When looking from inside the hospital toward the emergency entrance, the outside looks so fake, it reminds me of the "outside" on the Soupy Sales show or General Hospital. Seal up this smelly mess and shove it in the dumpster. It can keep "Mental" company.
Mental (2009)
Very weak
Just another TV show; nothing special or original. It seems to attempt to be a "nutHOUSE", but it's pretty flat. The writing is mediocre, at best; you can predict all or part of every line of dialogue. There is no sexual tension between Nora and Jack, ex-lovers, though there obviously is supposed to be. The secondary characters are all bad clones of familiar TV types and add almost nothing to the show. Compare this stinker with other FOX dramas and it's not even in the same league.
This is basically a good idea gone bad. Clean "house", and hire a major league staff behind the camera. These actors work hard and deserve better material.
This show misses the mark on almost all fronts...a LOSER!
Sling Blade (1996)
A Simple Love Story
This movie is a 15 on a scale of 10. It is, far and away my favorite movie of all time. It's the only flick I've enjoyed more than Night of the Living Dead (original), and, for me, that's really saying something.
The performances are, to a man (and woman), stellar in their ordinariness. These are all just plain folk, living plain lives in a plain little town. This, like Night of the Living Dead, is one of those movies in which the people interact just like you and me. No Hollywood dialogue or over the top flash; just people being people.
Underneath the shroud of abuse, mental illness, homicide, incarceration, retardation, homophobia, et al, there is, at the film's core, a simple love story between a man and a boy who are victims of an unfortunate series of events. The depth and sweetness of their friendship had me in tears more than once, and even after screening Sling Blade a few dozen times, I still cry.
The soundtrack by Daniel Lanois is so spiritual without being sappy religious.
The whole presentation is simply phenomenal.
I Love to Singa (1936)
There are little things in this world that stand out and this is one of them
This was and is one of the hippest cartoons I've ever seen. My dad, brother and I would laugh and sing along with Owl Jolson, mimicking the body moves. I think I was about 6 or 7 when I first saw this amazing takeoff on the Jazz Singer. It got me asking questions of my old man and resulted in my being hip on Jolson and his impact on show biz. Pretty heady stuff for a first grader. Thanx Tex Avery for getting a little kid to love jazz and get a little smarter in the process. This isn't just any cartoon. This is a little piece of heaven on earth. Anyone doubting Avery's genius (a word I use very sparingly) should check out this gem and show it to your kids. They can never be too young.