milliesdad Reviews

Zane Grey Theatre: Medal for Valor (1958) Season 3, Episode 12

The premise is bogus

[6/10 · 6 December 2014]

The premise of this episode is that a man (Richard Basehart) is hired to take the place of another man (Richard Anderson) who has been drafted into the Civil War. In reality, that was not unusual at all. In fact, wealthier men, who could afford to pay a $300 (equivalent to $5,746 in 2014) commutation fee to hire a substitute to go to war in their place, were spared from the draft...This is what led to the Draft Riots (July 13–16, 1863) in New York. At least 120 civilians were killed, and at least 2,000 people were injured...The Draft Riots were a major part of Martin Scorsese's film "Gangs of New York." So, the entire premise of this episode is phony. There would have been no reason for Basehart to use Anderson's name when taking his place in the military. It was perfectly legal (and even expected among the wealthy) for this to occur.

As usual for this series, the episode is entertaining, but its lack of historical accuracy is more than a bit annoying.

McCloud: The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street (1974) Season 5, Episode 1

Just a note about the running time on this episode

[18 November 2013]

Although IMDb has 'The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street' listed as a 90-minute episode (73 minutes without commercials), it's actually one of the two-hour episodes...Now, I'm going to copy and paste this several times, so I can post it because IMDb has that stupid rule requiring a minimum of then lines...Although IMDb has 'The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street' listed as a 90-minute episode (73 minutes without commercials), it's actually one of the two-hour episodes. Although IMDb has 'The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street' listed as a 90-minute episode (73 minutes without commercials), it's actually one of the two-hour episodes. Although IMDb has 'The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street' listed as a 90-minute episode (73 minutes without commercials), it's actually one of the two-hour episodes.

N.Y.P.D.: The Peep Freak (1968) Season 2, Episode 8

Rare performance by John Cazale

[10/10 · 4 July 2009]

"NYPD" is one of the great forgotten series from the 1960s. This episode features what may be the only television series appearance by John Cazale, who appeared in five classic films before succumbing to cancer at the age of 42. "NYPD" featured many great guest stars in its 49 episodes, including Al Pacino in his only TV guest shot. Shot on 16 mm film, this half hour series was smarter and better written, directed, produced, and acted than anything Jerry Bruckheimer offers viewers on his numerous schlocky programs. (Jack Warden, Robert Hooks, and Frank Converse can out act David Caruso any day of the week.) "NYPD" paved the way for "Hill Street Blues," "Law & Order," and "Homicide: Life On The Street." In addition to a rare performance by John Cazale, viewers also get to see Martin Sheen playing a Peeping Tom...And there's a great fight scene between Sheen and Cazale.

Hawmps! (1976)

F Troop: The Movie

[7/10 · 18 June 2009]

I love this movie. I know that it's not the greatest film ever made, but it's just so much fun. My older brother took me to see this when it came out in 1976. Ever since then, I've thought of this as "F Troop: The Movie." It even stars James Hampton, who was the bugler, Cpl. Dobbs, on "F Troop." It's a shame that Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Ken Berry aren't in this film, but Christopher Connelly, Slim Pickens, Jack Elam, and Denver Pyle are always great...And when that band starts playing in the saloon, I laugh every time. This is of those movies like "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and (the original) "That Darn Cat" that entire families can watch together and get a good laugh.

Legendary Champions (1968)

Superb documentary is available in a longer version

[10/10 · 31 May 2009]

I bought a VHS tape of this film at a library sale in the early 1990s. I had repeatedly checked the video out when it was in circulation, so I was thrilled to see that it was available for purchase. It covers the early years of professional boxing in America, the period from 1882 to 1929. I was first attracted to this documentary by the name of its writer/director: Harry Chapin, who is one of my favorite singers from the 1970s. This is Chapin's only directorial effort, and it was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary. The boxing footage and the narration (spoken by Norman Rose) are so entertaining, I never tire of watching this film. Tom Chapin's musical score is fun, too, even if his theme song is rather dated. The oddest thing about the print that I bought from that library is that it runs 101 minutes. I've come across a couple of other VHS tapes of this film over the years, and they were both 77 minutes in length, as both the IMDb and Amazon have listed as the running time. . .I'm not sure why there is such a disparity in the running times of "The Legendary Champions," but I strongly recommend seeking out the longer version of this excellent documentary. It's just a shame that Chapin never directed a followup.

Adam at Six A.M. (1970)

The title makes perfectly good sense

[9/10 · 9 July 2008]

The person who made the comment that the title of this film makes no sense is incorrect. Of course, the title makes sense. The main character, Adam, is a young college professor who spends the summer working at a blue collar job. Thus, he gets up at 6 a.m. to go to work. The entire movie is about the summer that he spends working at this job. I first saw this film when I was about twelve or thirteen, and I absolutely loved it. It's now a period piece, but it's an excellent period piece. The last shot of this film--which I won't reveal here--is wonderful. I've described it to many, many people over the years as being one of the funniest things that I've ever seen in a movie. I can still remember watching this on television with my brother and my father, and we all laughed hysterically at that final shot.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Michael Moore loves America

[2 July 2004]

"Fahrenheit 9/11" is,indeed, a propaganda film. All documentaries are propaganda. Filmmakers can not prevent having a point of view. However, this film is by no means a deceitful and vicious attack on the United States of America. Instead, it is an expose of the deceit that characterized the Bush administration from the very beginning. As Moore has frequently stated, he wants to rid America of this administration in order to make the nation a better place.

The film begins with the 2000 U.S. presidential elections and Moore shows how Bush and his cronies stole the election. In fact, 1.9 million Americans cast ballots that were "spoiled" (i.e. thrown out). About a million of those votes were cast by African-Americans. Florida's Gadsen County has the highest percentage of black voter in the state, and it has the highest rate of ballots that were thrown out. One in eight votes cast there in 2000 was never counted. Many voters in that county wrote in "Al Gore." Optical reading machines rejected these ballots because the word "Al" was counted as a "stray mark."

In contrast, in Tallahassee, there were almost no ballots that were thrown out. In Tallahassee's white-majority county, voters placed their ballots directly into optical scanners. If they added a stray mark, they received another ballot with instructions to correct it.

"Fahrenheit 911" has been criticized for showing Bush and his staff having makeup applied. This is shown during the opening credits. I feel that the purpose of this is to show the players in this con that has been perpetrated by this incredibly corrupt administration. In other words, "Here are the faces you see on television all the time. This film will show you what's behind those faces."

With regards to the war in Iraq, Moore does NOT portray American soldiers as bloodthirsty killers and does NOT imply that U.S. troops intentionally kill innocent men, women and children. Instead, he questions why these brave young men and women are being sent to fight an unjust war.

Moore shows a former associate of Bush's named James Bath who had become the money manager for the bin Laden family, saying, "James Bath himself in turn invested in George W. Bush." The implication is that Bath invested the bin Laden family's money in Bush's failed energy company, Arbusto. While Moore doesn't mention that Bath has said that he had invested his own money, not the bin Ladens', in Bush's company, anyone with a brain in his head must ask, "Where would the money manager for the bin Laden's get his money?" Do you suppose it could have come from the bin Laden's, perhaps? Isn't that where Bath's money would have come from?

The bin Laden family was quickly shuttled away after 9/11, back to Saudi Arabia. Richard Clarke, Bush's former counterterrorism adviser and holdover from the Clinton administration is shown testifying in the film that he was the one who allowed their departure.

It is especially important that this film be seen by Americans while our nation is involved in an unnecessary war against a nation that has NEVER attacked us. How many Americans were killed by Iraqis prior to this war? I believe that would be NONE. During World War II, Hollywood supported America and the cause of freedom. The difference was that America had been ATTACKED by Japan.

Hopefully, this film will help rid America of the disease that IS George W. Bush. Our nation will be all the better for it.

The Pretender (1996–2000)

Did you ever see that episode where Jarod made the bad guy confess by pretending to threaten his life?

[8 November 2001]

Hey! Did you ever see that episode of "The Pretender" where Jarod left cryptic clues for Miss Parker, and she ALMOST caught him? Meanwhile, Sidney provided him with information to help that week's victim of circumstances. Then, at the episode's climax, Jarod tricked a confession out of that episode's bad guy by making him think that he was going to kill him. . . .Oh, wait. That's EVERY episode.

Oh, well. Episodic television is nothing, if not formulaic. (Did I mention the episode where Jarod becomes obsessed with some element of pop culture and/or junk food?. . .Or, the one with the "Kung Fu"-inspired flashbacks?)

The Last Seduction (1994)

I don't think I have ever despised any movie as much as this one.

[1/10 · 27 August 2001]

Okay. I know that there are very few roles in which women can really shine.. .And it's admirable that this movie gives a fine actress plenty to do. But go back and watch it carefully. To steal a phrase from Leonard Maltin (in reference to another movie), "The Last Seduction" has plot holes that Hannibal could have marched the elephants through.

Also, it's pretty repulsive the way this movie encourages the audience to cheer on the cruelty of this woman. Think about it. This film has been lauded for its main character's lack of hypocrisy by being totally cruel. ..Using that same logic, I have an idea! Let's have a movie where Hitler is the hero because he never deviates from his murderous plans. He defies all sense of morality and logic to get what he wants. He murders, and he puts the blame on others.

Nah. It would never sell. I guess critical acclaim all depends on who's doing the killing.