Reviews
Corner Gas (2004)
Arguably, Canada's best sitcom
Pretty good series.
A well-written series with a lot of obvious chemistry between the characters, a surprising amount of laughs and a pretty smooth narrative flow that manages to use of all of the major performers in each episode and wrap things all up at the end. One of the best sitcoms that I have ever seen and I have been television for nearly 50 years.
While Brent Butt holds his own, after the first season he drops back and allows the other characters to get more airtime. This helps the series as actors Fred Ewanuick (Hank Yarbo, Eric Petersen (Oscar Leroy) and Lorne Cardinal (Davis Quinton) more than pick up any slack. While two of the female four actors are attractive, unfortunately none of them are strong enough comedic actors to hold their own in individual episodes, especially after the first season. Which BTW, is ironically, the BEST one.
The Good:
1) Funny episodes
2) Is self aware (Oscar pointing out how many different jobs the characters have had, etc.)
3) Few continuity errors
4) Doesn't rely too much on topical Canadian issues for its humor.
5) Pokes fun at all of the characters
6) Doesn't always have a "no wiser, no worse ending."
7) Never disparages the people of a rural area too badly. The residents are shown to be as intelligent as urban dwellers.
8) Has some excellent cameos (Kiefer Sutherland for one)
9) Doesn't "dumb things down" for the audience too often
10) Characters aren't complete idiots like many other sitcoms.
The bad
1) The first season is the best. The remainder have good episodes, but often have too much filler in them.
2) The female characters rarely get the best lines. This becomes even more apparent after the second season.
3) Janet Wright (Emma Leroy, the protagonist's mother) apparently suffered from some sort of illness/illnesses during the later episodes as she's shown often sitting down, and her character often seems more bitter than funny.
4) For a show whose entire main cast is adults, it clearly was toned way down after the first season. The rest of the episodes don't have much as far profanity, sexual tension, adult humor, etc. which, considering that the series is aimed at adults, is odd.
5) Tara Spencer-Nairn is the weakest link in the cast. She's very attractive; however her acting usually consists of talking loudly, mugging for the camera and walking around stiffly. And nobody seems to notice that she is the most attractive female in the small town. Umm...huh?
6) Gabrielle Miller is great in the first season, but kind of becomes a "one-note song" in most of the remaining episodes. Worst of all, her makeup is so poorly done she looks like a ghost in most of the episodes after Season 2.
7) Gabrielle Miller #2 - Her reaction shots to the characters are noticeably out of "sync" with the narrative flow. it appears as if she is delivering her lines much later than the character she's speaking to. If this was a once or twice thing, then it wouldn't be noticeable. However, it's virtually ever episode after the first season.
8) Goes heavy on the stock footage. The Leroy home's exterior is shown multiple times per episode and it's often the same stock image. Again, like Miller's acting if it was once, it wouldn't be noticeable. It's not...and it is.
9) The cameos get old.While I can understand that the series was a source fo pride to Canadians, unless you are Canadian, most of the people who appear will be complete unknowns to you. Worse, the dialogue introducing the person in the cameo is often "clunky" and more than a little trite. The first few, and several later in the series, aren't bad. The rest are varying degrees of terrible.
10) Nancy Robertson - She's the star's wife and her airtime will let you know that. While she has her moments, she's not one of the major laugh getters in the cast and that doesn't jibe with the exposure she's getting. Also her physical comedy gets tiring, as does her mugging for the camera which begins in Season 2.
Overall a decent series and again, in my opinion, the best Canadian sitcom ever.
Delirium (2018)
WTF????
Terrible film with good actors in it.
The film kind of starts...then some things happen...then there's sort of a climax...and then it ends.
No...I'm short selling it. That's the whole film.
Topher Grace shows up. So does Patricia Clarkson.
They interact and time passes.
Anyway..whoever wrote the film knows next to nothing about house arrest as you able to walk outside of the house when you are on it. You just can't go too far from it without permission.
If you are fan of Grace, then see it.
If not...then skip it.
The Lodgers (2017)
Equal parts dull and slow
Gothic apparently equals dull in the minds of the filmmakers who created this yawner.
Blah blah blah Ireland.
Blah blah blah Ghosts
Blah blah blah Something happens.
Unfortunately for the viewer that something is 85 minutes after you stopped caring.
Could have been a lot better if it had been a lot faster paced and scarier.
It isn't and it wasn't.
Totem (2017)
Stupid, stupid film.
Slow,poorly written and tiring.
And that's just the first few scenes.
It gets worse from there...
Father moves his emotionally needy girlfriend in with his two daughters and things go to hell from there. This was like a bad episode of a Lifetime drama series, except for it lacking drama or cohesion. It just gets worse as the minutes drag by.
Not going to spoil the "twist"...but let's just when you get there you wonder what took so long. It's a surprise; however, it's like winning the lottery when you are 90. It could have happened earlier and you'd have been more pleased if it had.
Dull film.
Silly premise.
Not worth the 96 minute run time.
Deep Blue Sea 2 (2018)
Not the worst film that I have seen this year....but that's not saying too much.
Just....awful.
Michael Beach is a journeyman actor, but even cannot save this POS.
Let's review:
1) A shark scientist who looks like a stripper (Or the director/producer's girlfriend)
2) Assorted people around to get eaten by sharks.
3) A billionaire who travels alone
4) A billionaire who apparently has only a single attorney
5) Zodiac boats used for traveling to locations way offshore
6) A shark trainer who doesn't seem to understand sharks.
7) A shark scientist who's also a pain in the a*s whiner
8) Zero suspense
9) Nobody who understands science working at the facility (You know...like physics)
10) Not a single character who you can care about.
Terrible film that would have been better on Syfy as an Asylum project.
Avoid,avoid,avoid.
Lost in Space (2018)
Not very good. However, "PC" has nothing to do with that fact.
This was simply terrible science fiction.
The acting was subpar, the writing was trite and inane and the special effects were only "special" if you didn't look too closely. The only watchable parts were those that didn't have live actors in them and even those were so few and far in between that they don't allow the viewer to enjoy the series.
Despite all of the reviews on here which complain about (read:whine) about the "PC" concerns on the program, that's the least important part of the of series. Even if this Lost in Space had the same dynamics as the 1960s series or the 1998 film, the problems with the narrative would make it nearly unwatchable. The facts that woman are in charge or that one character is biracial are irrelevant as the program is so dull and so poorly done that those things simply do not matter.
This should have been sold as a completely new series using entirely different characters, rather than the re-imaginationing that it is presented as being. As it is, if you are a fan of the Lost in Space franchise of old...or even the 1998 film...you should avoid this one like the plague.
Children of the Corn: Runaway (2018)
Nice looking lead. Terrible film
Not much to say: The ninth installation in the long-running Children of the Corn series, Stephen King is getting richer and the film world is growing poorer.
An endless stream of stereotypes running together as a feature. They include:
1) Prejudiced rednecks
2) Cool Black guy..almost
3) Religious nuts
4) Sunglasses wearing deputy
5) Corn children
Basically, a Syfy channel film with profanity and adult themes...and that's about it.
If you like horror and there's nothing else in the RedBox, then OK.
Other than that...give this one a wide pass....
Jessica Jones (2015)
Season 2 is so terrible it's embarrassing
Imagine if Jessica Jones hadn't recently undergone the entire adventure with The Defenders...or had...but learned absolutely nothing from it. That's what Season 2 consists of: A poorly written character demonstrating no growth as a human being. And that's the first episode.
The new season is simply bad. The first episode does nothing to draw you in, and the rest of them simply drive the viewer farther and farther away. There's no real villain, the protagonist has grown even more self-pitying and annoying, and the supporting characters seem to exist simply to draw attention away from how weak the overall narrative is. They could have done this with a 2 hour film and not extended the series as they did.
I would advise only fans of the lead actress to watch this program as anyone seeking a superhero Marvel film (especially in the wake of Thor:Ragnarok and The Black Panther) will be hugely disappointed. When you finally get to the end of the series, you ask yourself why you even bothered to take the trip.
Not good at all.
Camera Obscura (2017)
Decent film ruined by bad actors
The actress portraying Claire in the film is untalented and unattractive making it a two-fer. And things get worse from there.
The plot isn't too bad (haunted camera) but film was ruined by mediocre to terrible acting by the leads. You just never believe the protagonist and his girlfriend are really couple or that his problems are really driving his motivations. They just seem to "show up" stand around and repeat their lines,
I rented this RedBox which is how I would advise people to watch , if they care to. Better yet...see if you find it on a streaming site and watch it there. It's not worth a purchase if you looking to do that.
The 13th Friday (2017)
Meh. Not good. Not Terrible. Just...Meh
Great special effects strapped to a dull story.
There are some interesting technical aspects to this film that are unfortunately weighed down by weak acting, a terrible script and some choppy editing. The film wouldn't have been too bad if it has fewer characters and a shorter run time.
A plus?
An entirely Latino cast, which is a rarity for a US-made film.
Unfortunately the director does not much with them and things get boring pretty quickly.
Not good.
Not terribly bad.
Just...meh
Lycan (2017)
Silly film from beginning to end.
If it wasn't for the attractive females who are nude in the film, there would be no need to watch this POS.
Let's see:
1) Rife with anachronisms.
2) Apparently college professors can insult student's family members and not get censured.
3) College-aged adults act like high schoolers
4) Working in shorts and a mid-riff shirt are comfortable in Southern heat.
5) Werewolves aren't that scary.
Slow and tedious film with numerous scenes of a main character riding her no-speed bicycle apparently across dozens of miles of Georgia backroads. Again, without the nudity, even this becomes unbearable.
Got it from RedBox.
Should have left it there.
Pottersville (2017)
WTF??? Really???
Oddly a sizable number of decent actors somehow got roped into (read: paid) to star in middling quality (read: terrible) film. It's sort fo a comedy, but one where they forget to tell jokes and where the humor is slightly less sophisticated than a Scooby-Doo cartoon ( the ones with Scrappy Doo, that is)
The films starts off with protagonist motivated by the hoariest of "life changing event" tropes and gets sillier from there. Basically, you watch the film for slightly longer than 90 minutes and the film's ending is telegraphed about 10-15 minutes. If you can't figure out what's going to happen, then you haven't seen a Hollywood film. EVER.
Not sure where the good reviews on here come from because this film is six different types of terrible. It could be more...but it is saved (just barely) by the presence of several very good actors. And npo...Judy Geer isn't one of them.
Bonejangles (2017)
Abysmally stupid.
If I could give a film ZERO stars then that would be too many for this particular outing.
Look...low budget films don't have to be bad. What they lack in funding they can make up in acting, story or tone. The producers of this gem apparently either forgot all of that (or never learned it) and the result is the WORST film that I have seen in 2017. The year isn't over, but this may be one of the worst film that I ever will see.
Let's review
1) No suspense 2) No frights 3) Bad acting 4) Terrible sound 5) Insipid plot 6) Dull characters 7) Truly offensive gay stereotype. 8) Truly offensive Black gay male stereotype 9) Truly offensive law enforcement stereotype 10) Truly offensive bearded guy stereotype
Bad film. Avoid it.
The Dark Below (2015)
Brief, but terrible, film.
Where to start? This resembles a bad television film more so than an actual feature. Thin plot, weak characterizations, no explanation of the characters motivations and minimal exposition.Toward the end of the film you start to realize what is occurring; however, by that point, you just don't care.
Basically for nearly 90 minutes you watch characters who don't care about do things that don't make much sense. Coupled with the near total lack of logic in the plot, this film is like watching a documentary about a subject for which you have no interest.
Bad film that can easily missed.
Scream of the Wolf (1974)
Another Dan Curtis "classic"
For those who might not know, Dan Curtis created the classic Dark Shadows and Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Basically he "ruled" televised horror films during the 1970s and he influenced a number of directors whose work is popular today.
This film, however, was not one of his better works. Joann Pflug (at her most radiantly beautiful) is under-utilized as the love interest. Clint Walker and Peter Graves play a surprising pair of nominally straight hunters who engage in a bromance that is slightly less homoerotic than Brokeback Mountain, Slightly.
Everyone else is just along for the ride.
Slow (even at 80 minutes, dull and predictable. If you cannot guess who the "killer" is after the first 10 minutes, you need to go back to Hardy Boys novels. When the end finally comes, you'll wish that the film had end 10-15 minutes earlier when your interest in it did.
I'm Dying Up Here (2017)
Just Not Funny
Aren't series about comedians supposed to be...funny? This show is like the Tom Hank's film Punchline: A narrative about comedians with very few actual laughs. The sad part is that this show has several REAL LIFE comedians who should be able to make you laugh. Unfortunately, they don't.
Melissa Leo, as always, is good. And the show has a keen eye on how life was during the 1970s (one noticeable flaw is that all of the vehicle are of 1970s vintage instead of the range from mid-1950s until the early 1970s that would have been on the road at the time) although many of social and political attitudes are that of its 21st century filming period.
Not a bad drama. Just not a funny series about comedians.
Moontrap: Target Earth (2017)
Starts bad. Gets worse
The only reason that I didn't give this one star is that it isn't a complete waste of time. It just SEEMS like it is.
If you gave a pre-school class typewriters, lots of cookies and promised to take them Mickey D's afterward, they would almost come up with a better. Weak plot, thin characterizations and without a doubt some of the worst acting that I have ever seen in a straight to DVD film that wasn't a Troma property.
If you have NOTHING else to do, it'll kill 90 minutes. If you have a wall with some paint drying on it, you might want to entertain yourself with that.
The Snare (2017)
What would happen if dumb people were trapped in a building?
That's the question that this film answers. And it even answers that one badly.
This is a stupid film that just never gets better. The characters get trapped in an obvious situation and then they never manage to do what would be the MINIMUM to free themselves. It was if the film decided to follow the lives of three incompetents to determine just how incompetent they could be. The answer is very.
After 30 minutes, unless you were already doing something else , your attention will start to wander. After an hour, you'll either turn this off or simply bide your time until the end. By the end, you'll realize that unless you saw this on cable or an Internet bootleg, you'll have wasted money that could be better spent elsewhere.
Dull. Ponderous. Silly. Pretentious. Not scary at all.
Probably want to take a pass on this one.
Eloise (2016)
Bad "horror" film with a completely illogical premise
*** This review may contain spoilers *** When a film starts with a premise that is both legally and technically incorrect (that you'd have to go to a hospital where someone may or may not have died to retrieve a death certificate)then you know that you are in trouble. When you have then have to believe that someone would have to commit a a series of felonies just to get something which is readily available at any state's department of vital records (for a small fee) then you know that the film you are watching is a dog.
This is very little suspense in this film and almost no real "horror." The "disturbing scenes" are actually quite tame in comparison to most films out on the market. And the protagonist and his cohort are not interesting enough to distract the viewer from the numerous inconsistencies and plot holes which which this film is replete.
Other than to see the always exceptional Eliza Dushku in form-fitting clothing and perhaps to enjoy a vintage Cadillac convertible being shown, there's really nothing here to recommend this film. It's another dull and forgettable low budget offering whose trailer is far more interesting than its entirety.
A League of Their Own (1993)
Poorly-structured movie to TV remake
Mediocre movie-into-TV show creation. It seemed like the people who made this show read the names of the characters and a treatment of what it was about and then decided to make something else. There also seems to be a disconnect between the fact that women's baseball during the 1940's only lasted four years and what they intended to do w/ this program.
I don't which was more sad...the fact that the baseball was uninteresting or that for a show about women,starring women,its dialogue sounded like it was written by a man who'd never MET a woman.
Cary Lowell's presence in this makes it tolerable,but other than that,this show could be used as a classic example of why movies should remain movies and not be made into television programs.
Gunpoint (1966)
Mediocre Oater
This movie might have been serviceable entertainment had it been released in the early 1950's. However, by the time that this came out in the mid-1960's, the Spaghetti Western was taking hold and the Revisionist Western making is debut.
The overly dramatic acting and score...the anachronistic clothing (Murphy's shirt has buttons along it's entire front as does his female costar's) and general "cleanliness" of the outdoors have been largely removed from Westerns by this point Basically, this movie came out 10-12 years too late.
If you are an Audie Murphy fan, then you'll get what you are expecting.If you are not,I'd suggest that you pass on this one.