boettcher30259 Reviews

Hollywood Homicide (2003)

Someone Missed The Boat

[5/10 · 30 December 2008]

This movie would have worked better as a serious cop drama with the comic relief but instead it was a comedy that drew more laughs from embarrassment then humor. Josh Hartnett does a good job as an Ashton Kutcher mimic. And Dwight Yoakam was a surprise, as was Lou Diamond Phillip as the hooker/decoy. I did have to look at the credits to identify Gladys Knight because I was thinking she was maybe someone else I couldn't quite put my finger on, but there was no mistaking Smokey Robbinson. This movie also has a lot of other cameo shots throughout, such as Eric Idle, Martin Landau, Robert Wagner, Frank Sinatra Jr., and for those that are into hip-hop and rap, (sorry, I'm not) many an artist from that gene had cameos. Harrison Ford gave a good performance and had the only true laugh in the movie when he was in the interrogation room and did the "hip motion" while up against the two way glass. My feeling is that this is a good dollar rental or a movie for Spike TV. This is not the type of movie I'd spend a lot of money on, (I got my copy at Big Lots for $3) but I wouldn't avoid it either.

The Poseidon Adventure (2005 TV Movie)

Not as good as it could have been.

[3/10 · 24 October 2008]

I picked up this copy of The Poseidon Adventure as part of a four pack for five bucks. I was curious because of so many of the almost great actors that was listed that I've haven't seen in a while.

First of all, I'm not going to compare this to the original 1972 version. Nor the recent remake. I think that any movie should be critiqued as a stand alone for its own merits. So, as far as the acting goes, I enjoyed it. Rutger Hauer, Adam Baldwin, C. Thomas Howell, Steve Guttenberg, Bryan Brown and even Peter Weller put on an enjoyable performance. I like the fact that it was set in a more modern times with a more modern ship, the Poseidon of 1972 was an older ship on her last legs with a host of mechanical problems, and even with the element of the terrorist. But where this one fell short was; 1. The blast would never have caused that ship to capsize. Their explanations in the film were very weak and untrue.

2. All modern ships have water tight integrity. While the ship was underway the water tight integrity would have been set and even if that ship capsized it would have stilled floated for weeks to come.

3. Little incidentals like the Naval Captain that wore Commander Insignias. Chief Petty Offices that looked like that still had to rub cream on their face and call the cat in to "shave".

The blast though that capsized the ship was the biggest blunder. I was laughing at that. If the director has used the terrorist and those blast to cripple the ship and the steering and then use a handy tsunami to capsize the ship then the movie would have been more believe able and enjoyable.

So to any one that wants to watch this movie, watch it for the actors; but not for the plot.

Eli Stone: Waiting for That Day (2008) Season 1, Episode 12

First time watching this series.

[7/10 · 14 April 2008]

This episode was the first time I've watch this series, and I only did so because of John Billingsley having a guest spot. I have been following the craft of John Billingsley since his days of playing Dr. Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise. I liked this episode but I don't believe I'll be a follower of the series. One thing I'd like to point out that I think is a major goof but I see was necessary for the plot was that the characters of Eli Stone and Marci Klein, being from the same law firm, would not have been opposites of each other in a court room, hearing or otherwise because this would have been a conflict of interest. Other then that it was a pleasant way to spend an hour on a Sunday night.

Lost in Space (1998)

Well, I for one was a little surprise at the low rating this movie got.

[6/10 · 5 April 2008]

Now, I don't think it was IMDb Top 250 material, not by far but it still should have been up in the "6"s. First let's look at the basic for the movie. Lost in Space was a television show from 1965 that was very low budget. I. Allen had to work from a shoestring and it showed. The show was a "kiddies" show, something that the kids enjoyed while Mom and Dad was able to snicker at the goofiness of it, (but not too loudly or the kids might get mad). Then the show progress into one that centered around three characters, that of Will Robinson, Dr. Smith, and the Robot. Mr. And Mrs. Robinson, Major West, and the girls were just so much window dressing and fodder. This is what the director of the movie, Lost In Space, had to work with. Either he kept as close to the original show as he could or he struck out in a totally different direction, such as what happen when they made Wanted Dead Or Alive for the big screen. It's not high drama, but then neither was the original show. Comparing it to the TV show, I believe that the director keep to the same spirit and I say it's not a bad rendering.

Dracula (1974 TV Movie)

That release date is not right.

[8/10 · 20 January 2007]

The reason why I say that is because I remember the apartments we were living in in Atlanta, Ga. at the time I seen this movie on television. My father was working at the Television station and called home to tell me to watch it on the afternoon, "Dialing for Dollars" show. We moved yearly when I was in grade schools and these apartments were the ones we lived in when I was in the third grade. The third grade was 1970-1971. I dug out my VHS copy of this same movie and it shows a 1970 Copy-right. I wonder how anyone could double check this? But anyway, this has to be the best Dracula yet. Jack Palace snarling like an animal and seemed to have that aurora of evil about him. Then there is Dan Curtis only wanting to do one take of each scene so that the actors had to recover from their goofs like normal people would in a normal conversation makes this a very enjoyable event.

Insight (I) (1960–1984)

Need to be on DVD

[9/10 · 16 September 2006]

This is one of those shows that need to be put on DVD. It has been over twenty years since I have seen an episode but if I remember correctly it was like a stage play and the camera would follow the actors. I don't remember any real close-up, but then I could be wrong. The stories were simple but compelling. No special effects, so the story and the characters had to carry each and every show. It worked. Those of us who grew up learning to read movies and characters would love to be able to have copies of this show. That is one of the things I believe that is missing so much from Television now is readable character. So much of what is on now is one dimensional character. No surprises, it takes less then 60 seconds to have most of the character pegged. Hopefully, within my lifetime, we will start going back to that age of more complex characters and intriguing plots.

Bill Cosby: Himself (1983)

One of the funniest Comics ever.

[10/10 · 21 January 2005]

I first watched this on HBO back in the early 80. It took me about seven tries before I could make it through the film. The first time I laughed so hard I blacked out and fell over. Scared those whom I was watching this with. And each time after that my sides would be so sore from laughing it would take a couple of days for the soreness to go away. Bill Cosby is one of the few Comic out there that hasn't resorted to Filth and Foul to make people laugh. His skits of his family were later used in the The Cosby show and were just as funny seeing them acted out as to listening to him tell about it in this film. His insight of families are "Right On". I recommend this film for families. I wouldn't be scared of having little children watch it. Or maybe I would. They might pass out like I did.

The Mummy Returns (2001)

aka: Indiana O'Connall and the temple of camel dung

[1/10 · 19 July 2002]

I'm glad I borrowed this movie. The only reason I finished it was because of the others watching it with me. This is about as bad as it gets for a second movie. Shouldn't the actors have acted scared at some point?