michaelr-07217

This project was doomed from the outset. The framework of the story was simply not sufficiently "meaty" to warrant a production of any kind. Therefore, the writers created two ridiculously overwrought characters (the sisters) who behave like no one does - ever. This, predictably, leads to some of the worst, over-the-top performances I have ever seen. It's simply a festival of anguished faces and absurd reactions from two actors who are, quite frankly, better than all this stagecraft drama.

There is nothing that could have saved this disaster; the story simply was not interesting or compelling, and the opportunity for developing some relationship between the sisters was entirely missed. Another PBS "Masterpiece" that is anything but.

George Lucas crafted an interesting narrative. Nope. The film is a disconnected series of vignettes that never converge or land with any impact.

Lucas' direction was skillful and interesting. Nope. There was nothing in the direction that felt connected or special. The scenes seemed to be blocked for ease of shooting and little more. If the movie hadn't been set at night, it would have been a visual bomb.

The characters were compelling and realistic. Nope. It was a series of tired archetypes.

The film was emotional and dramatic. Nope. I didn't develop any sense of empathy or sympathy for any of them.

The film was genuinely funny. Nope. How this was billed as a comedy is a total mystery.

The music was appropriate and woven well into the story. Nope. The music, while time appropriate, was overbearing and disconnected from the "story" (there wasn't one).

But there was a LOT of Wolfman Jack (for what that's worth).

If American Graffiti was ever considered a good film, it has lost its appeal over the years. I'm glad it scratches the itch for 75 year-olds as a trip down some mythical memory lane, but a good movie it is not.

How many movies hold up for 35 years?! The plot structure is complete perfection. At 2 hours and 20 minutes, there is absolutely no fat in this production anywhere. Every character is plausible with no stupid tropes (OK, the "super b**ch" references are a tad dated, at least in my home where today's psychotic misogyny has no place). Ed Harris gives the performance of his life - complex, emotional, conflicted, and even evolving as the story gets deeper. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is equally brilliant and utterly genuine. James Cameron's better known blockbusters, while still excellent, feel a bit overdriven at times. I saw the Abyss when it was released, again in 2005, and today. It remains a perfect film, even without the aliens. What a joy!

First of all, anyone who has ever had surgery (let alone from on of the most eminent surgeons in the world) knows that surgeons are NOT part of the aftercare of their patients. That is why there are many other medical professionals that are specifically trained for and assigned to these roles.

Secondly, what does this reporter's love story with this guy have to do with his surgical or research skills. This is a completely superfluous element to the documentary. If character assassination was the filmmaker's goal, then bravo. But...no.

This documentary was far too long and off point at least 40 percent of the time.

The story was certainly worth telling. Anyone's journey to becoming an astronaut would be, but Hernandez's unlikely journey from his humble roots is noteworthy. The problem with the film is the length and pacing - it simply does not contain enough meat for 2 hours of film time. While the production team attempted to chronicle the personal and emotional struggles of Hernandez as he strove for admission to the NASA program, it was just miserably paced and frankly, mostly boring. Of course it was a struggle! Of course it was a sacrifice for his family! Honestly, the entire story could have been told in 75 minutes, but here we are at 1:45 and he finally gets to see outer space. The quality of the performances was adequate, but the entire project just became cumbersome and dull.

How did anyone ever greenlight this project? Even a cursory reading of the script would have revealed the skinny premise, the hollow wooden dialogue, and the lack of any logical or reasonable behavior amongst the principal characters. Somehow it got through this (obviously) sham of vetting, and on it went to casting where every member of the team was obviously visually as well as fully hearing impaired. The acting was just awful upon awful. Clearly police officers never get along with one another to the degree that they obviously question and undercut every observation anyone else makes. PLEASE! This was a colossal waste of time, and I didn't even make it to episode two.

I don't know that I have ever seen a darker film. By that I don't mean that the subject matter - I mean the lighting design of the film. I lived through the seventies, and I don't remember it ever being this dark anywhere? Why did they make this weird choice? Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey were very good in their roles and were quite believable. The pacing is incredibly slow for what is actually a fairly fascinating set of events. To see this story told VERY well, see Elizabeth Olsen in Love and Death. All the 1970s tropes are still there, and the filmmaking (as well as lighting) are far superior to "Candy."

This was a terribly mistitled project. The Atlantic crossing was barely an asterisk in the overall arc of the story. The story was razor-thin as well. Against the backdrop of world war 2, it seemed even less significant. If the producers intended to intimate more than a friendly relationship between the crown Princess and Roosevelt, it was rather pointless. Further, if the fact of their friendship easing the burdens of the war, I'm not certain why the audience would or should care. The jealousy of the Crown Prince notwithstanding, all of this is little more than castles made of sand. While beautifully filmed, it was no masterpiece.

Elle Fanning is simply incredible! I had no idea she was such a talent. While the writing is peerless, in the hands of a lesser actor, I suspect it would ring as simply silly. Ms. Fanning not only delivers her lines with the self-assurance of her character, she shows human frailty, uncertainty, and ultimately personal growth. Add to this her obvious personal radiance and natural beauty, and "The Great" is simply, great. Nicholas Hoult is wonderful as the maniac, Peter Pan-esque Peter III. But it is his interplay with the brilliant Ms. Fanning that brings the story together. This is one of the most enjoyable period pieces I have ever seen.

I believe this film is yet another example of the over-proliferation of biographical documentaries in recent years. Unfortunately, there is just no meat on the bone of this one. I loved Donna Summer's music (excluding the title track of this movie), and she was a gigantic talent. However, there was absolutely nothing in her life that was so eventful to demand retelling. Additionally, the producers/director chose some of the most useless, terrible film footage of her early life. My partner (who rarely criticizes anything) remarked after an interminable sequence, "this is just stupid." And so it was. Nothing to see here, folks.

Here is another "documentary" in the era of Trumpian ethics. There is no attempt to represent the truth, only obfuscate and build false tension by repeatedly using a seriously disturbed and tragic man who got in over his head. The absurd and constant time shifts were intended to confuse the audience. Pushing this nonsense into nearly six hours of content was unnecessary and destructive to the overall content and pacing. As the adage goes, opinions are like "....." Every weirdo pseudo-"Christian" in this mess was more than willing to show their stupidity and vindictiveness. If this is what Indiana is about, I'll be happy to avoid its borders. Twisted content for twisted people. What a colossal waste of time.

There is no doubt that Jared Fogle is a pedophile and that he broke the law repeatedly. Such behavior is reprehensible, illegal, and damaging to children. As to the matter of how he was investigated and eventually prosecuted, this documentary brought to light some very troubling issues. Firstly, Rochelle Herman's behavior was illegal and atrocious. She was clearly intending to entrap Fogle and her tape recordings of these clearly entrapping phone conversations. Her salacious tone and leading questions were beyond the pale. As a work of film, far too much extraneous information was given which created lethargic pacing. This was another attempt to create content where this is little.

Firstly, the producer, Jeff White, has proven himself to be no "journalist." A journalist is a person whose job is to collect NEWS (emphasis added) and write about it for newspapers, magazines, television, or radio. The content of "MH370" is almost entirely hysterical hypotheses of what happened to an airplane that clearly crashed into the ocean. White's explanation of the events leading to the crash of this airplane were based in NOTHING - because there is no factual information (news) available to him. It appears that this Netflix special was not created to bring any news to light. Rather, it was created to simply whip up hysteria and add to the cacophony of endless and senseless "content." Jeff White should be ashamed of this production.

As the brilliant comedian, Geoff Tate, observed about the Bible, "In a book filled with...unlikely events...," so go the story lines within "Big Little Lies." Beginning with the ridiculous scene of the teacher asking a small child to identify her attacker in the presence of every child and parent in her class, the contrived (dare I say, "unlikely") drama centered on the behavior of young children spilling over into the lives of their helicopter parents began. While absurd, it did allow the principal actors to showcase their considerable skills.

Season 2 drove into totally absurd territory with the ridiculous custody battle between Celeste and her mother in law. This would NEVER happen, and no court (even in the, again, contrived world of crazy California) would even hear such a case.

The producers went to the well too deeply in choosing to go on with season 2.

The acting was tremendous, but the story line became utterly unbelievable.

The suspension of disbelief threshold was violated far too often and without restraint.

The Bay has lost much of its luster with the departure of Morven Christie. I fear the producers have also lost a number of key writers, as season 3 has become one dimensional, and tediously slow. The Muslim family element seems trite and unnecessary at best. Every new character introduced is full of attitude and nothing more. The new lead detective is not a strong character in any way - her personality is depicted as tentative and ineffectual. Why?! The story arc is incredibly shallow and the dialogue is boring at best. Not a single character has any depth or convincing emotion. Finally, what kind of community serves "shots" to teenagers at a social club. It's a shame this show has declined after two promising seasons.

How could this have been so bad?!?! Stephen King wrote the screenplay! Granted, the acting was nearly universally atrocious (excepting Fred Gwynn and Blazer Betdahl as Ellie). The magic of Stephen King's stories is the level of believability he brings to the people and the story. Perhaps it is the length of the film that leaves no room for adequate exposition. The direction was certainly adequate, although it did delve a bit too often into horror tropes that were totally unnecessary. However, the budget apparently did not allow for realistic human and animal effects. The pacing was fine. Overall, it was a disappointment for such an incredible tale.

I have no idea what the director intended to achieve with this project.

If it was to help us get inside of Elvis - to understand him more deeply - just a total swing and a miss. The first 90 minutes of an excruciatingly long 150 minute experience felt like a comic book. Every scene felt utterly staged and lent no insight into his youth and early career. The final hour was equally unsatisfying; there was nothing in the storytelling that has not been known in popular lore for more than 40 years.

If the director intended this as an homage to Elvis' music, strike two. At best, the music was in the briefest of snippets until his (ultimately unimportant) Vegas shows.

Finally, if this was intended to be a showcase for Tom Hanks' range or skills - strike three, you're out of luck. Hanks was also no more than a cartoon.

The only bright spot was Austin Butler who did all he could do with a terrible production design and awful script.

This movie really did have potential at the outset. The alien abduction narrative is an ongoing and intriguing concept for many of us, and the events and visual effects used to create this story line were well done and generally plausible (although I do why the writer chose the homage to the 1950s spinning flying saucer). Our hero's efforts to go public with his story were entirely predictable, as were the responses of the "evil mainstream media." At this point the story began to go off the rails. The underground Costa Rican government facility secured by comically voiced androids was entirely trope ridden and silly. By the time we make actual contact with the aliens, the story is completely destroyed by the alien's search for Jesus Christ. Really. Seriously. I'm fairly certain that a major source of funding must have been Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. What a hideous waste of time and energy.

Quite understated and (thankfully) lacking all of the traditional 1950s sci-fi silliness, the film still remains fascinating. It didn't need flashy effects or over-the-top performances. While the pacing was a little belabored, it actually seemed to build some real tension. And, of course, Bernard Hermann's score (and the groundbreaking theramin) added a great deal of mood, texture, drama, and ultimately believability. Of all the 1950s science fiction, only "Forbidden Planet" stands with "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Other than the stupid, "almighty spirit" line, it remains a nearly flawless film.

Julian Fellowes must have knocked out the screenplay over a long weekend. Between the servants' hi jinx and the razor thinnest of premises, this was only for Downton heads. Nothing original or marginally interesting. Beautiful cinematography though.

While the outdoor cinematography is stunning, it looks nothing like the Texas in which it is supposedly set. The script is truly atrocious and John Wayne is predictably terrible. I found no evidence of character growth and absolutely no redeeming message. I only watched it because AFI had it in their top 100 movies list. I wish I could get the time back I spent watching this tripe.

This production is an absolute joke. The book was excellent, but someone destroyed it along the way. Cush Jumbo is absolutely awful, but the script was so bad it might not have been entirely her fault. This is so badly edited that it takes precision levels of attention to even follow the many story lines. Coven should have never allowed this. Simply awful.

What do you get when you combine a badly written script, massively over-emoting cliched characters, unnecessary human and animal brutality, and a contested will? 15 days. Thank the stars it was only four episodes.

How do I begin to describe how completely terrible this program was? The writers must have been enamored with American soap opera television to come up with this terrible script. Anna Friel should have never taken the role in this poorly executed production. Not worth the watch.

I am so sick of filmmakers producing government propaganda films. Keep the false narrative alive so that those responsible will never be held accountable. Predictable nonsense.