stormy724 Reviews

Night Court (2023– )

Awful

[2/10 · 25 March 2023]

The only reason I didn't turn this off half-way through the first episode is that I was working on a painting, my hands had wet paint on them, and I didn't want to get paint on my iPad. (Watched on Peacock.)

I stuck it out through 2 episodes, but when the 3rd episode started, I washed my hands specifically so I could turn it off.

I loved the Big Band theory. And I love to see actors who had a successful run on a popular show, turn up on new shows.

However, this just doesn't seem like the right venue for Melissa Rauch. I found her acting stiff. The other actors were not any better and the slap-stick comedy lacking.

Maybe its too difficult to portray (or even create) a believable character who is supposed to be tough on crime, humorous, and compassionate at the same time.

Or maybe writers and producers need to come up with new ideas instead of rehashing old shows years after their time has come and gone.

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976)

My favorite Brazilian novel and my favorite Brazilian film

[9/10 · 25 March 2023]

I read Dona Flor before I saw the film. It is both my favorite Brazilian novel and my favorite Brazilian film.

Others have written about the plot and the story, but here I want to attest to the film's spot-on reflection of the culture of the time & place the story occurs.

I lived in a small town in Brazil in the late 1960s. The small town where I lived had a similar ambiance to 1940s' Salvador where this film is set, including the costumes, hairstyles, and makeup. Men often dressed in drag during Carnaval. The mourning scenes were typical of the time. The actions of the characters also seem appropriate to the time and place. Most Brazilians were Roman Catholic but many also believed in orixas, minor gods from African religions brought to Brazil by slaves and the supernatural happenings practitioners believed were caused by them. I once stayed in a small inn that was so similar to the one where Flor & Teodoro honeymooned, that it could have been the exact room i stayed in.

Some details are subtle and those unfamiliar with Brazil wouldn't catch them. For example, if I stopped by someone's home --no matter how long I stayed --when I chose to leave, my host would protest with, "It's early." In the film, I laughed out loud when I heard that exact line in the film.

Also the movie follows the Jorge Amado novel well. Amado's books are wordy (but beautifully so) so are much longer & would cover far too many hours for a film, so, of course, some scenes and details are missing.

Most of Amado's protagonists are women. Many of his characters are from the seedy side of life. And many of his books contain recipes. Dona Flor includes all of these typical Amado characteristics. I had read most of his books in English (the original Portuguese uses so many regional colloquialisms and slang that even native Brazilians have a hard time understanding some of them.)

The film isn't perfect, but for me who grew to love the country, the culture, and especially Brazilians, it was a joy to watch.

_____ Warning, there are some explicit sex scenes, if that bothers you.

The Cisco Kid (1950–1956)

Watch it for Pancho's famously-zany verbal expressions.

[8/10 · 25 March 2023]

I remember these shows fondly from when I was kid and Saturday mornings were filled with cowboy shows until the Sealtest Big Top Circus aired at noon.

When I found The Cisco Kid online, I watched every episode, then started over. Many of the secondary characters are played by the same actors. In one episode an actor is a sheriff, in others a minister, victim, or outlaw.

In my childhood, I'm sure I missed a lot of the humor. Pancho, played by Leo Carillo who was a very intelligent man, was always mixing up a metaphor, simile, or adage, or using a wrong word for comic effect. I started to write them down. There are more of these in every episode:

When Cisco asks, How can you get so mixed up? Pancho responds: Well, it takes lots of practice.

Pancho: I'm so cold, I'm freezing. I'm gonna get ammonia.

Pancho: This fellow here will steal the pants right off your back.

Pancho: Never count your chickens before they cross the bridge.

Pancho: That's the best plan I never think of.

Pancho: What happened to those bandits? Jimmy: What bandits? Pancho: The ones who kidsnapped you.

Pancho: I will keep my eye on him like a peeping Tomcat.

Pancho: I didn't do nothing. I swear on a stack of tortillas.

Pancho: Don't sit there like a log on a bump.

Pancho: Maybe you got that sleeping sickness they call magnesia.

Artists and Models (1955)

My Dad was right

[2/10 · 25 March 2023]

When I was 10 in 1955, my family saw this at a theater. My Dad complained during the entire drive home about how stupid it was.

My 10-year-old self thought it was pretty funny. I still remember Jerry Lewis not-so-daintily carving up 2 or 3 beans (the only things he had for dinner) and his running up and down stairs in the apartment building freaking out about the Bat Lady and the fat lady.

Many years later, I watched it on TV as an adult, sure that I would still be laughing and that my father's Puritan sensibilities probably objected to Shirley MacLaine's skimpy Bat Lady outfit rather than the slapstick comedy.

My Dad was right.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Great spoof of 1950s sci-fi films

[10/10 · 22 February 2019]

This movie is one of my guilty pleasures. I first watched it with a bunch of Mensans who all knew the specific films being spoofed in various scenes. I wasn't a big sci-fi fan, but their laughter was infectuous. I watch it about once a year and even knowing what is coming, enjoy every minute. My husband has a theory that the quality of a film is indirectly proportional to the number of big name stars. So, in a way, this one is so bad that it's good.

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012– )

Loved it

[10/10 · 17 February 2019]

I started to watch this a few days ago and couldn't stop watching. I laughed and I cried while learning about people I never knew existed and had no relationship to me.

Another reviewer complained that the program is not telling the whole story about slavery and our founding fathers. No historical record can tell the whole story. We get bits and pieces from various sources.

When I studied U.S. history in school ---I'm 73, as I write this ---no one mentioned that many of our founding fathers had slaves. I learned that information during the intervening years because I've read a lot of history and watched many documentaries. But for many, who don't read history, this may be new information.

I learned much myself from the episodes I watched. For example, I didn't know that freed slaves were often captured and placed back into slavery. I didn't know that some free slaves bought their relatives and had to keep them as legal slaves so they could not be put back into slavery by someone else. I also learned heartwarming stories of slave owners who freed their slaves and gave them property before the Civil War, which I assumed was extremely rare.

I was impressed at how many people were willing to give DNA samples that could possibly prove that their slave-owning ancestors fathered the children of slaves, thus completing some stories about certain branches of a family.

The one thing that everyone can take away from these episodes is that our genetic makeup is rarely pure. We are mostly a combination of ethnicities and races, and therefore racism is not only harmful but stupid. Most of us don't know where all of our ancestors began their lives and under what hardships they lived in order to make life better for their heirs. No matter where they cam from, they contributed to who we are now.

Small Crimes (2017)

Confusing and not in the least comedic

[4/10 · 6 May 2017]

The summary states this is a black comedy, but I found nothing at all funny in it. I don't think I even cracked a smile. For me, it was a tragedy about a man released from jail determined to make amends and live a better life, but no matter what he does, it all goes wrong. Everyone is determined to undermine him, including his family.

The back story seeps out a tiny bit at a time, but I still found it confusing. In the end I wasn't sure what exact crime had put him in jail. I admit I found it less than engaging, so maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention.

I also couldn't figure out why, after a couple of bad incidents and threats, he didn't just leave town and start a new life elsewhere. Thomas Wolfe was right ---"You can't go home again" - --especially not a former cop who spent time in jail.

If you're looking for a a fun comedy, this is not it.

Sniffer (2013– )

Great premise, poor execution

[5/10 · 6 May 2017]

This sounded like it would a fun show, but it is totally unbelievable. I think it would be better if it were a comedy played mostly for laughs.

I can see where it might have some appeal, but frankly I had a hard time staying awake.

The scene settings are all futuristic and mostly gray ---so, visually, it is uninteresting.

WPC 56 (2013–2015)

Predictable, but the acting, plots, and details make up for that

[8/10 · 22 December 2016]

The negative of the show is that much of it is predictable. The powerful men have to act macho and the woman is not respected as an equal. The woman has much better instincts as a copper than the men who've been on the police force for years. The worst of the coppers is, predictably, almost a 2-dimensional character, at least through the 2 seasons I've seen so far.

The positives include that there are some sensitive male characters who give Gina a chance. The supporting cast is excellent. The plots are interesting and appropriate to the times. And the attention to detail (sexism, racism, brutality, repressed sexuality, clothing, sets, hair styles, makeup, music, dialog) makes me almost believe it really is 1956 on the set.

Having lived through the 1950s (age 11 in 1956) I can attest that much of what we see on this show was very much like this. In many work places women were considered to be either eye-candy or efficient old maids who had no life outside of their employment, This continued well into the 60s until the women's movement had some clout. It would have been even more so for Gina who would have been about 10 years older than I was in 1956.

Gina's character has to be independent enough to take on a nontraditional job, tough enough to be a cop, yet still have a sensitive side. I think Jennie Jacques manages to pull it off well.

Saudade Do Futuro (2000)

a slice of rural Brazilian life in the big city

[10/10 · 8 May 2015]

"Saudade" is a Brazilian Portuguese word meaning longing, missing or nostalgia, often bittersweet. "Saudade do Futuro" roughly means "Longing for the Future."

This 2000 documentary centers on the lives of nordestinos (north-easterners) who have migrated to São Paulo, a city of 16 million, looking for a better future. Most nordestinos are considered to be unwelcome hillbillies who ought to stay in the drought-prone sertão (hinterland).

Some are successful in São Paulo, including Dona Erundina who became mayor (1989- 1992) and Emanoel Araujo, an internationally-known sculptor who is a respected member of São Paulo's art scene. Many end up as street vendors, laborers, or the musicians who are the heart and soul of this film.

Clearly related to rap, the musical style featured in the film evolved from African rhythms ad is called "repente."

Repentistas tap out music on tambourines, guitars, flutes, or drums while improvising verses, often saudades for the simpler life in the Northeast, the hardships of the big city, or humorous (& often sexually suggestive) insults hurled at each other or audience members who gather to listen and donate money.

Interspersed between the music are everyday nordestinos who work long hours at mundane jobs for little pay in São Paulo. Their lives are enriched by their social events, dancing, and the repente music which is both humorous and a celebration of their lives.

I lived in the Northeast of Brazil in the late 1960's. I saw, in the varied nordestinos of this film, the faces I had lived with every day during my time there. The faces are filled with the combination of warmth, despair, optimism, and humor that creates the wonderful improvised music that infests the film with rhythmic beats that are uniquely Brazilian.

There is no narration. The characters tell their own stories through words or verses. The stunning photography of bustling São Paulo makes New York traffic look like a rural joy ride. The film may not be for everyone, but for those who would enjoy seeing a unique slice of Brazilian life, it is "maravilhoso!" Marvelous!

Secret of the Incas (1954)

The Secret is Out

[1/10 · 11 September 2008]

For those who have suggested that Indiana Jones was based on Heston's character in this movie, you are wrong, but not that far off. Jones was loosely based on Hiram Bingham, the Yale explorer who rediscovered Machu Picchu in 1911. Bingham, a very interesting character, later became a U.S. Senator.

I don't know what movie everyone else was watching, but this one is on my short list of worst films I have ever seen. I have been to Machu Picchu and Cuzco ---and I thought this was an insult to Incan/Peruvian culture. The plot is predictable, the acting mediocre, and as someone else pointed out, Steele turning into a good guy at the end is a cop out.