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The Bear (2022)
Back to square one with Second season
I almost stopped watching after the first episode of the first season, because most of it consisted of people yelling disagreeably at one another, non-stop. But, as I'd hoped, things calmed down for most of the ensuing episodes, and we got to know a little bit more about the characters, and most importantly, got to see them and their relationships start to develop.
Then came episode one of Season two, and we're back to the yelling again, all character and relationship development having apparently plunged down the terlet. Some of the relationships, in fact, having having gone backwards from where they'd ended at Season 1.]
I'm sorry, but I don't want to have to watch a show where there's going to be so much backsliding...and nearly all of it unpleasant to watch...with each season beginning.
Cinderella (1965)
Kind of sluggish
Nothing like color television in the 1960s. :) Just gorgeous, but I'm finding this production kind of sluggish. Apart from Leslie Ann W. As Cinderella and Stuart D. As the prince, the cast is either overdoing it...the stepmother and her daughters...or sleep-walking thru their parts...everyone else. Celeste Holme as the fairy godmother acts like she couldn't care less that she has a part to play. But the two leads shine.
Borgen (2010)
I kept looking at the clock...
...hoping the end of the first episode was near. How people could rate this show so highly boggles my mind. What's left of it anyway after that first episode. No more, thank you very much.
Vera (2011)
Okay, but...
...after having watched two episodes, I find it kind of bland. I'm finding it difficult to get engaged with the characters, and I find an hour and a half length stretches the story kind of thin. As to "Vera," I find her voice a bit too much on the chirpy side, and her use of endearments like "luv" and "pet" with just about everyone she interacts with gets a bit old after a while.
Disappointed, because from the high ratings the show has received, I'd hoped I'd found another series to watch.
Blake's 7 (1978)
8.1 stars; really?
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am giving my rating after having watched only the first two seasons. I feel I've been almost criminally misled by the high rating this series currently has (8.1 stars), as my feeling is, after beginning with a bang, the series has sunk in quality ever since.
I can at least give thanks that I live in a country where I'm not forced to watch tv show, since to have to watch two more seasons of this one would do me in.
Midnight Mass (2021)
I ran out of gas...
...halfway through the first episode, 'cause it's so doggone sloooowwww. Glad other people here seem to have enjoyed it, but not my cup of tea.
The Explosive Generation (1961)
A series of scenes, but a movie?
Full disclosure: I've watched only about fifteen minutes of this title, because watching more of it would have be unbearable. Really, if the people involved were trying to drain every bit of energy out of a movie, they've succeeded admirably. As is often the case, the actors are not to blame, but when they're given such dreck to work with, there's only so much even they can do. Kudos to Shatner, McCormick, Kinsolving and Gray. You deserved better.
What We Do in the Shadows (2019)
First two seasons excellent; third one not so much.
My star rating is based on the first two seasons being excellent overall, and the 3rd season being a major fail. Lots of emphasis on masturbation and human feces that's supposed to somehow be funny, and a lot of coarse language thrown in that's also supposed to be funny, I guess. I found both episodes too embarrassing and painful to want to watch any more.
Topper (1953)
An 8.3 rating? Really?
I'm sorry, but even though I've only watched three episodes...I couldn't get through any more...I don't see how any one could realistically rate this series at 8 stars or higher. Whatever the reason for doing so, such an outrageously unrealistic rating is doing a disservice to other viewers who take imdb ratings as a serious barometer of quality.
Only Murders in the Building (2021)
Who's giving this show so many stars?
Must be people involved with the show, hoping to up the ratings and get people to watch. Not a good tactic, I'd say.
I tuned in because I'm a long-time Martin Short fan, but I found Short's energy and charm to be brought down by Steve Martin's character, who seems aloof, and by Selena Gomez's, who seems uncomfortable, not to mention rude.
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
A nice frame but not much of a picture
The "frame" is beautifully wrought, adorned with intoxicating camera work, evocative sets and costumes, and a sumptuous--if a little too often played--musical score. But the "picture" is a story that seems unlikely and that makes the main character seem flighty and a tad bit selfish.
Joan Fontaine pretty much plays the mousy roles she played in "Rebecca" and "Suspicion" for the first half of the picture, then switches to sophisticated mode for the rest of it. Somewhat actress-y, she's nonetheless got a quality that's captivating.
Louis Jourdain (sp?) is adequate as the leading man, but the script has him prattle on quite a bit, especially towards the end.
All in all, an enjoyable watch, but again--mainly for the "frame."
Chernobyl (2019)
Takes a while to build up steam
I wonder how many people gave this high ratings before watching it all the way through. I made it through episode 3, and, while I've found it to be well-acted and atmospheric, I find I'm having to spend way too much time with characters doing very little to move the story along. In fact, I'm really not sure what the story is supposed to be about. Is it about what can be done to contain the damage from the explosion? Is it about getting to the bottom of why the explosion occured in the first place. Whichever, there doesn't seem to be much at stake in the way the stories are being told.
Libeled Lady (1936)
Lots of talking and lots of it loud
Starts off promisingly, then stumbles. A protracted scene with Wm Powell trying to impress Myrna Loy and her father as a fly-fisher or something, taking pratfalls in the water, getting pulled over backwards by a fish and other associated hi-jinks started making me regret my decision to watch this. Followed by comic "bits" that I didn't find nearly as funny as the movie seem to think they were, and all of them very loud. All of which just may appeal to you as top-notch screwball comedy. If so, be my guest!
Atlanta (2016)
Starts off strong...
This review is based on the first nine episodes of Season 1. The first six really hit the ground running, I thought. Well-acted, packed with quirky but believble and engaging characters, and social commentary that was subtly entertwined within the character interaction. The scene in the prison waiting room in episode 2 (I think) was a master class in character portrayals as well as in the poignant ways that humans sometimes try to connect with one another.
But then the next three episodes came along and the spark seem to have gone out. Character development pretty much came to a screeching halt and social commentary that had been subtle and touching was now heavy-handed and preachy.
I may give Season 2 a try, but right now am afraid to be disappointed.
A Discovery of Witches (2018)
Very slowly paced, and an-appealing main character
This review is based on having watched the first two episodes of the first season. I find the main character to be bland and uninteresting, and I find I really don't care much about her. And if I don't care about the main character, it's hard to care what happens to her. In addition, the story keeps cutting back and forth between scenes that seem to have little to do with one another. Add to that cliches' such as no one being around in downtown Vienna at night. And people speaking English in Austria. Not my cup of tea, but apparently I'm in the minority, given how highly it's been rated.
The Promise (1979)
Camp classic
I'm giving this title a 10, but not the kind of 10 I'd give to a movie like, say, "Wizard of Oz," or "Casablanca" or "Double Indemnity." No, I'm giving "The Promise" a 10 for its camp and for its camp alone. It's a mother-lode of camp is what it is. From the beginning through the middle to the end. And for that, I believe it deserves a 10.
That's all I'd need say about The Promise but that IMDb.com insists my review have ten lines of text? Really? Why? Five lines, sure; but ten? So what am I supposed to write about now? Well, let's see, this movie "Stars" Stephen Douglas and Karen Quinlann (sp?) and a woman who really had some acting chops but somehow found her self in this dreck: one Miss Beatrice Straight. Okay, is that ten lines yet?
American Psycho (2000)
Uneven.
I think the main issue I had was that most of the actors seem to have been directed to talk in a flat, monotone-like voice. I'm guessing this was done in order to make the characters show that they are cool and sophisticated...or at least to make other characters *think* they are such. Thing is, when you have to hear movie characters talking this way for most of a movie's running time, it becomes boring itself after a while. Or so I found.
Then there were at least two contradictory moments. The main character is supposed to be a hygiene freak, yet he seems to have no problem 1: having sex in his work clothes; then 2: hitching up his pants up without showing the slightest interest in cleaning his private parts. Really? Later on, after having made it clear what a clean freak he is, he flicks a cigarette ash on the floor of his office. Really??
These may seem like trivial moments to some, but I found them distracting.
What did I like about the movie? Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon and Willem Dafoe. They were the only actors/characters who seemed to act like real people.
So, I give it a 6 out of 10. At the same time, however, I have to give props to any movie that's older than fifteen years that's as highly rated on IMDb as this one is.
The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)
A camp classic? Really?
Disclosure: I only watched about one third of the movie; I couldn't stomach any more.
Now, while I was hoping for a camp classic, what I discovered was to me just a sadistic, amateurish attempt to...I don't know what exactly...maybe to capture the spirit of "Vertigo" or a Svengali-type story?
Rather than camp, however, what I got from it was a oppressive and depressing sense of mean-spiritedness, the dictatorial director at one point calling the Kim Novak character a "cow." Charming.
And then the accent that Kim Novak was required to lip-sync to; yikes. Not only grating but hard to understand. And then the slowness of some scenes. I found myself yelling at the screen to "move it along, already!"
In case you're wondering what I might consider camp, I'd suggest "The Big Cube." It's also from the 1960s, behind its time like "Lylah Clare" is (as opposed to ahead of it), and starring old-time glamour gal Lana Turner. That casting in itself provides for gallons of camp.
Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007)
Be sure to walk along this "Trail"
How anyone could give this amiable parody of a old sci-fi movies less than a grade of 7 is beyond me. Even if it's not to your taste, it's clear that the movie makers knew exactly what they were doing, and they never cheat.
I've seen all four of Larry Blamire movies (he directs, writes and produces them), and, while they're all sublime, I think this is my favorite. In addition to the wit and affection that's part and parcel of these movies, there's a cheerfulness and joy of living that I find is maybe the most appealing quality of all.
So don't miss "Trail of the Screaming Forehead" on DVD today!
Kings Row (1942)
Did I see the same Kings Row that everyone else here saw?
I guess I should preface whatever remarks I'm going to make with the admission that I did not watch the whole movie. I got as far as maybe the first ten minutes after Ann Sheridan's appearance. I didn't finish it because I just didn't have the patience for it; didn't have the patience for the musical score, beautiful as it was, because I found it intrusive in so many scenes; didn't have the patience for Robt. Cumming's wide-eyed, little-boy line delivery; didn't have the patience for the stereotypical ladies' maid breaking down in tears at the death of her mistress; nor for the histrionic performance of Betty Field. Less is more, Betty, a lesson she learned and put to use more than effectively fourteen years later in "Bus Stop." What else didn't have the patience for? How about for the stilted dialog and the stilted way the performers would respond to each other, as if they were thinking, "Okay, my line's next; I'll deliver it now," rather than making it seem as if they were really listening to one another. In fact, The only character I really believed in was Claude Rains's (sp?) Dr. Tower. Sorry, guess I'm a crank, but I found the whole thing overwrought and amateurish.
The Set-Up (1949)
Be prepared for a long boxing sequence
I was surprised to see this movie rated so highly, but there ya go. A problem for me was that Robert Ryan was the only actor in the movie whose characterization I bought into. The other actors all seemed not only to be playing stock characters, but doing so in a style typical 1940's movie-acting. Even Audrey Totter, whom I like, seemed "actory." Ryan, however, was in a class by himself. He seemed to be playing without technique, as if all the events in the movie were all really happening to him.
AS to the fight sequence, while completely believable, it just went on too long for my taste. And it was not helped by reaction shots of various characters that were so numerous as to become repetitive.
I give a it a 7, but primarily for Robert Ryan.
Small Hotel (1957)
a gem
I pretty much agree with the comments made by the first reviewer here.
I watched this movie mainly because I'm a Janet Munro fan (this was her first movie). It was clear from the first few minutes, however, that being a Munro fan was not the sole reason for watching, as it's a well-observed, well thought-out little gem, filled with fun and completely unpretentious.
As to Miss Munro, she did not disappoint, more than holding her own with seasoned actors such as Gordon Harker and Marie Lohr, themselves absolutely delightful in their roles.
This one should be made more widely available in the U.S.
No need to read this last line; I'm just adding it, since IMDb now insists that our reviews contain at least ten lines. Sheesh.
MGM Christmas Trailer (1937)
This delightful clip only gets a 6.7? ???
The imdb ratings continue to boggle the mind, my mind anyway. Seven people gave this number a 10, two people gave it a nine, one person a 5 and one a 4. Yet it ends up with only a 6.7 rating? Come on imdb, we love you and no offense, but is your calculator in working order? I don't get it.
That was all I was going to say on the subject, but it seems that any comment being submitted to imdb must include at least ten lines of text to be considered for acceptance. Okay, I'll just add that I can't see anything to dislike about this clip of Judy Garland singing "Silent Night" and everything *to* like.
Well, there's eleven lines of text but I'm still getting a message that I have to have ten lines of text. Come on imdb, what's the holdup? :)
The Dreamers (2003)
"Tiring..."
...so my friend Rene described this movie as we stumbled out of the theater where I'd just spent two hours of my life that I'll never get back. "There's nothing worse than a bad art film." How true. I kept hoping it would end, but since Rene wanted to see how it was going to end, and since one of my beliefs about going to a movie with a friend is that unless we both want to leave, we stay, we stayed. And stayed...and stayed. Lor' that thing was long.
Oh well, given the overall positive tone of the comments here, I guess we were just not the audience for this movie. Indeed, I found myself wanting to be an audience for any one or more of the films whose clips "Dreamers" was interspersed with, delights such as "Top Hat," "The Girl Can't Help It," etc., or, since the boys were talking about Chaplin and Keaton, any of their films as well. Just not this one!
Dillinger (1945)
Terrific
I continue to be amazed at the ratings some movies get here. I just saw this snappy little movie and thought sure it would get a higher rating that 6.3. I agree with the another viewer's description of it being a "lean, mean, cheapo." A cheapo yes, but one where not a penny is spent on extraneous scenes. A nice antidote to higher-budgeted (and more highly rated) movies where we're made to spend hours watching actors doing virtually nothing in never-ending, story-killing close-ups. I'd watch this one again in a heartbeat.