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Reviewer99
Reviews
Mr. D (2012)
Hit and Miss
The main character, Gerry D, is a jerk and that's the intent, but in some episodes it just goes too far, to the point where you're wondering how the script got past whoever reviews it. The episode about staff secrets comes to mind, the one about the lurker and the one about throwing the girls volleyball game are all good examples.
However the supporting cast and characters are good, especially the actors playing the students and they carry the show. They could have dropped the Gerry D character and just used the staff and students in some episodes or for that matter dropped Gerry D the whole series.
Don't feel guilty about switching channels during the episode.
Saltburn (2023)
Reminiscant of ...
What's with the delayed opening titles in Gothic font? It's like I'm about to watch a Hammer horror film from the sixties.
The first part of the film, at Oxford, reminds me of Brideshead Revisited, the Et In Arcadia Ego section, where Charles Ryder first meets Sebastian Flyte at Oxford.
The second part, when Ollie arrives at Saltburn, is reminiscent of any Hammer horror film where sexually provocative vampires are involved - think Brides of Dracula. Was the Gothic font in the opening titles foreshadowing this???
After Felix dies the film turns something Stanley Kubrick would make ... Barry Lyndon meets A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.
I'm poking fun though. This was actually a very good film. One that held my attention for the duration, which is rare in these days of streaming entertainment.
Swung (2015)
Needed a few more scenes ...
Give it a look-see ...
Most movies could afford to be 30 minutes shorter, this one needed to be 30 minutes longer.
It was good up until the second swingers session where the male protagonist bails and goes for a walk. After this the movie seemed to rely on cliches to move the story along.
I liked the tantric sex guru character (Elizabeth McGovern) but she seemed to come out of nowhere and her time on screen was too short. The orgy scene was okay.
The views and opinions expressed above are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of Internet Movie Database. Feel free to use this text to meet the minimal number of characters required for a review.
Dire Straits: Tunnel of Love (1980)
Holds up
This video was released in 1980 in conjunction with the Dire Straits album Tunnel of Love. I recall a Rolling Stone critic at the time praising the album and in particular the song Tunnel of Love but he was critical of the video. I watched the video later on MTV and although it seemed okay I dismissed it too. BUT over 40 years later I see this video was very well done. It holds up when compared to other videos of the era.
The lyrics accompany the video in subtle, figurative and symbolic ways. You need to pay attention to notice. This was not well done in music videos then. Typically a hokey story line was interspersed with concert footage or scripted studio concert footage.
A rare gem in music video history. Time does indeed tell.
American Gigolo (2022)
Not bad ...
... but there are way too many flashbacks and the reliance on flashbacks to tell your story is an indication of sloppy writing or a tight budget. I hope as the series goes on the flashbacks will be fewer and far between. Other than that it's an interesting story with the Rosie O'Donnell making for a good detective although she seems out of place in Los Angeles and has more of a New York flare to her investigation.
I'll stick with it and keep watching until the end though.
Now I will add some more characters to the review so the IMDB editor allows it to to be posted - Thank You - The End ....
Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World (2022)
Superb documentary ...
... about a region on the planet that interests me yet I know so little about.
CNN should go around the world and use this format for other regions ... Australia, Appalachia, Cascadia, Tibet,the Aleutian Islands, etc. They could run it from 9 to 11 pm weeknights and drop CNN Tonight.
Music Box: Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage (2021)
Rename the documentary Altamont 2.0
I guess the organizers missed the Altamont concert a few months after the original Woodstock.
The most ridiculous statement was from Michael Lang, "There were a few a-holes in the crowd." No Michael there were a-holes organizing and running the event.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015)
Hijacked ...
Colbert has essentially taken the political "satire" of the Daily Show and hijacked the Late Show with it. The show has become tiresome, trite and unfunny and I don't like Trump either. Here's hoping his contract is not renewed.
The Phantom of the Open (2021)
Good for a laugh
A comedic dramatization that takes liberties with the real story. Still glad I watched it since it made me search out the real story. Go see it anyways.
Girl 27 (2007)
Good story but ...
I agree with the other reviews in that the Director / Writer got too personally involved in the documentary. It should have been the victim's story not the director's.
Chopped (2007)
Sous Chef Competition
Typically I like Chopped. It's cool watching chefs create something from an unlikely combination of ingredients. Unfortunately the new Sous Chef competition is coming off as contrived BS on par with bad reality TV, which is all bad. The judges are obviously scripted and as a result they are being pompous, maudlin jerks playing to the camera.
The China Syndrome (1979)
Doesn't hold up ...
After all these years the movie just doesn't hold up. The writers tied together incidents that had occurred at other nuclear reactors across the U. S., and the world, into a single story. The movie now comes across as trite and totally unbelievable. It was coincidence that Three Mile Island, an accident waiting to happen, occurred shortly after the movie was released. A similar incident occurred at the David-Besse reactor in Ohio in 1978 that I'm sure the writers incorporated into the story.
Colonization Road (2016)
Strange Brew
Was this suppose to be a comedy or documentary? It came across as neither.
The comedian-star, Ryan McMahon, does some Michael Moore style interviewing with people on the street and standup comedy. He comes across as glib rather than funny in these segments. This is interspersed with interviews of first nations people and academics making the usual talking points.
Portrait Artist of the Year (2013)
Dreadful choices ...
The semi-final episode with Nick Mason as the subject was awful. Two of the three judges selections should not be in the final. They picked the sensitive, flake who they fawn over and coincidentally lost out in a previous season and coincidentally they chose the Pink Floyd fan. The fix was in.
Triumph: Rock & Roll Machine (2021)
Watch it ...
A great story about the Toronto based band. This documentary will set them apart from Rush whom they were confused with at times. Individually they're great musicians too. Song writing was okay with straightforward hard rock lyrics of the period.
Corner Gas (2004)
Effing hilarious ...
I'm catching the reruns of Corner Gas daily and it's a constant laughing from start to finish. The guitarist in the Gin Blossoms, Jesse Valenzuela, co-wrote the theme song and that's what drew my attention to the show.
Dirty John (2018)
Season 1 ...
A frustrating series to watch. They allude to him being a con man but have the daughters are over the top with their suspicions. Then they add the flashbacks for even more confusion. I gave up watching during episode 2 and checked out the real story. This should have been a single episode on an Investigation Discovery series not a full season on Netflix.
The Tinder Swindler (2022)
Strange start but it works ...
Couldn't tell if this was a documentary or a faux-docs at the start. Hang in there and you'll find an interesting, unique documentary about chasing a conman around the real world and virtual world back to Israel.
Fatale (2020)
Beware ...
Hell hath no fury like an LA police detective scorned ...
Ignore the poor reviews. This is a good movie with ample plot twists that will have your head spinning. Good performances by Swank and Ealey in their respective roles as an LA police detective and pro sports agent / suspect / victim.
Ignore the glib closing remarks at the end of the film by the two radio deejays.
Run the Burbs (2022)
Uhm
Good job on the diversity, inclusiveness and equality and some of the acting. Bad job on the writing and story line and most of the acting.
Stick to news and documentaries CBC. Sitcoms and dramas are not your forte. I can't help but think CTV, Global or some other broadcaster or streaming service would have done a better job.
Hounds of Love (2016)
Taken from Headlines
I movie version of the Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka murders in Toronto, Canada in the early 90s. The movie jumps the shark at about 25 minutes in when the girl realizes she's been drugged and abducted. After this point the story becomes unbelievable.
The Sparks Brothers (2021)
What a Long Strange Trip ...
I first saw them on an episode of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in 1975. They were strange but you wanted to keep watching and listening. I should have been watching and listening since then as this documentary shows.
Great stuff!
Dare to Be Different (2017)
Parallel development ...
I echo the sentiment of the Southern California reviewers. "New Wave" music was introduced into North America in many locations in parallel. We had a local university radio station playing this music circa 1977-78. It took a while for the mainstream FM stations to introduce this music to their playlists but it was here and available for listening well before 1982 on FM radio, TV and album imports. I suppose it was a gamble for an FM radio station to go full New Wave in 1982 but certainly not pioneering as this documentary alludes to.
The documentary was somewhat confusing, jumping all over the place with respect to artists and dates. Information presented chronologically would have been clearer.
Population Zero (2016)
Not bad ...
... not bad at all. It had me believing it was a real documentary until about 50 minutes in when "Dwayne" showed up and talked to the librarian. Had to stick around and watch the ending.
On the Verge (2021)
A Show About Nothing ...
Could only get part way through episode 3 before I jumped to the end to see how it ended. All the way through I couldn't help but think about the Seinfeld, "show about nothing" comment.