redricoseoul Reviews

Time of Your Life (1999–2001)

Incredibly disappointing JLH spin off from Party of Five

[1/10 · 29 May 2017]

I have to say I hate this show. Not because of its content but for what it represents. They took a beautifully drawn character from Party of Five and ruined it, absolutely ruined it. And that is a crime for all of us fans of Party of Five, which was a much much much better show.

In the final season of Party of Five just as we're aching to see whether Sarah and Bailey will finally find lasting happiness, Sarah's character is ripped out of the show and sent off to New York in the 3rd episode without warning, never to return. This not only aborted one of the central romances of the show that had developed over 4 wonderful seasons, it also robbed us of Sarah's character just as she was really beginning to blossom and develop her independence and her own identity at the end of season 5. Yes, "Time of your life" was meant to continue her story arc, but the writing was just not nearly as good and Sarah/JLH was much better as part of an ensemble cast rather than trying to lead her own show (at least at that stage of he career).

I think a lot of us PoF fans feel like we were cheated out of 20 further episodes of this character in the final season. JLH was so wonderfully talented and beautiful and PoF is the best thing she ever did. Why do they always have to ruin something good?

Circle (II) (2015)

Forgettable and pointless

[3/10 · 23 October 2015]

Aliens abduct a group of 50 people, place them in a circle where they can't move and they can't touch anyone else. Each must anonymously vote for someone else to die every 2 minutes. The problem is that the votes are not only anonymous to the characters in the film, they're also anonymous to the viewer meaning that the viewer has no idea whether anything that any of the characters ever say in the film about their votes is actually true. When the racist cop reveals himself does everyone vote for him because if they have to choose someone the racist should be the first to go. Or is it that everyone thinks that because of political correctness that the cop is sure to be picked so might as well survive another round and play wackamole with anyone who speaks up? Ultimately we as viewers have no idea what is really going on and so once you've committed time to it you feel compelled to wait out to the end to see whatever hidden message the film is trying to convey. Well, here's the spoiler. There is no hidden message. You never find out why the people were abducted and forced to play this sinister game. You are entirely at the mercy of the filmmaker here. Trying to interpret anything the characters do is pointless. In a situation where morality doesn't exist, a situation contrived by the film maker, the ending of the film is everything because that is the only reason you keep watching. In the end, this film would not have been any different had the ending come down to a moral rather than an immoral one. Nothing the characters do matters so it's all just based on the arbitrary decision of the film maker.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Ironic to watch this during Obama's presidency

[9/10 · 28 December 2010]

This movie is a good education in the basics of washington politics. I'm not talking about the business of how the senate works but of all the things which happen outside the senate where real politics is carried on in backrooms. The film in fact only just barely skims the surface of the corruption but it does so in a way that we don't see in movies today. The beliefs and biases of the film maker, Frank Capra, are clearly shown. We can agree or disagree with what we see and therefore the audience was shown far more respect than what we get from films today. In today's films heavily effected by political correctness most filmmakers will go out of their way to blur the lines, grey out the divisions and seemingly anticipate every possible criticism so that you never know what the movie is really trying to say. I think this is partly a result of the McCarthyist witch hunts in the 1950s which did a lot to silence any kind of honest political culture in American film.

The result of this more honest kind of black and white (yes both meanings are intended) film making is that we can really laugh, perhaps maliciously, perhaps sentimentally at Mr. Smith's struggles. I doubt anyone living in the era of Obama Barrack really believes that politicians like Mr. Smith even exist. If Obama isn't Mr. Smith, then who is? But we can identify with his frustrations and the cynicism of his secretary and other political veterans in the film.

I like the fact that party affiliations were left out of the film. Even though this was obviously done to avoid anyone accusing the film of being biased towards one party or the other I think it has perhaps the unintended effect of criticizing the entire political system and not just the behavior of a few politicians.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Ironic to watch this during Obama's presidency

[9/10 · 28 December 2010]

This movie is a good education in the basics of washington politics. I'm not talking about the business of how the senate works but of all the things which happen outside the senate where real politics is carried on in backrooms. The film in fact only just barely skims the surface of the corruption but it does so in a way that we don't see in movies today. The beliefs and biases of the film maker, Frank Capra, are clearly shown. We can agree or disagree with what we see and therefore the audience was shown far more respect than what we get from films today. In today's films heavily effected by political correctness most filmmakers will go out of their way to blur the lines, grey out the divisions and seemingly anticipate every possible criticism so that you never know what the movie is really trying to say. I think this is partly a result of the McCarthyist witch hunts in the 1950s which did a lot to silence any kind of honest political culture in American film.

The result of this more honest kind of black and white (yes both meanings are intended) film making is that we can really laugh, perhaps maliciously, perhaps sentimentally at Mr. Smith's struggles. I doubt anyone living in the era of Obama Barrack really believes that politicians like Mr. Smith even exist. If Obama isn't Mr. Smith, then who is? But we can identify with his frustrations and the cynicism of his secretary and other political veterans in the film.

I like the fact that party affiliations were left out of the film. Even though this was obviously done to avoid anyone accusing the film of being biased towards one party or the other I think it has perhaps the unintended effect of criticizing the entire political system and not just the behavior of a few politicians.

Dollhouse (2009–2010)

First good episode is number 7 and keeps getting better

[3/10 · 20 March 2009]

After watching the first five or six episodes of this series I was on the verge of giving up on it. But I heard that cast members were saying it would improve dramatically after the 6th or 7th episode once Whedon was given full control minus the usually fatal interference from network bigwigs. They were right. The first 5 episodes are terrible. Boring writing, a lot of T&A in place of interesting plot or good dialogue. But episode 7 really turns things around and by episode 8 I was hooked.

I really can't get into Echo's character and I can't say much for her acting. But it certainly makes up for this with excellent writing and intriguing plots. They start to really do justice to the concept and it's implied subject matter by about the 8th or 9th episode. The episode where Alpha finally makes his appearance is to my mind probably the best (I don't think that counts as a spoiler). Anyway, you could easily skip the first five episodes and you really wouldn't miss anything important.