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Susie Searches (2022)
Well, there's two hours of my life I'll never get back
This must be one of the most painful movies I've watched in a long time.
First, the actual kidnapper is revealed much too early in the movie, but then the writer of the script, despite this, continues to throw in twists and turns as though the viewer is a complete and utter moron with no short-term memory at all.
It became obvious exceedingly early in the movie the director was trying to make an arthouse film and failed magnificently!
The only reason I watched it to the end was the hope against hope it would get better, but alas, I was denied any sense of enjoyment at all.
The characters, every single one, speaks slowly and methodically with each word. The dramatic pauses are overused and the abstract colors in the background, with the cliche and requisite low lighting everywhere, are CLEARLY there to set the same cliche mood every avant garde mystery movie has present.
I don't know where the positive reviews came from, unless they're friends of the writer, director, or one of the people in the movie.
Seriously, folks, don't waste your time. You'll regret watching this movie with every fiber of your being. This is a review coming from an avid mystery lover. Murder She Wrote has better acting and writing than this movie.
Somewhere in Queens (2022)
I'm not at all Italian, but this felt SO real!
I'm glad I stumbled across this movie on Hulu and gave it a try. Seeing Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf as the leads clinched it for me, and it's totally worth the watch.
I'm not going to give you a recap like a lot of other raters do, because, hey... The description of the movie does that.
However, I could easily imagine something like this playing out in homes around the world, where we all can (sometimes) try too hard to make something happen, even if it means stepping on some toes.
I mean, don't ALL parents want to help their children achieve greatness in one form or another?
And the wedding where it all comes out? Who hasn't had a family reunion like this at one time or another?
Romano and Metcalf were both fantastic in this and believable as a married couple. The family members, always in their business, were also just as real.
This is a really good way to spend a couple hours to escape.
Newhart (1982)
SO happy to find this streaming on Prime!
I watched both The Bob Newhart Show and this show during their first runs and loved both of them, though we get two different Bobs.
Where Bob was dry and staid (but hilarious) in The Bob Newhart Show, the Bob in this show wasn't afraid to smile, make his little dry and funny observations of the crazy characters of the town, and then go on loving the place.
I've been checking for this on every streaming app I have for months and it finally appeared in Amazon Prime! I started watching it immediately and love every second of it!
Television isn't like this any longer and that's sad because we need more like this. Clean, funny, not afraid to make fun of itself and well-written, with a stellar cast.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
Wonderful movie, if not overthought
I just finished watching this movie and was left at the end feeling so happy for Mrs. Harris.
This movie isn't meant to represent any deeper meaning and it should be taken at face value; a nice feel-good movie meant to entertain and give us all a little bit of hope that things can always get better.
After reading thru some of the negative reviews, I have to say... If you're watching this with the critical eye of a first-year film student looking for mistakes and "this is how I would have done it" then don't.
But, if you're looking for a sweet, entertaining movie, then this is the one to watch, even with the kids. The entire movie, from beginning to end, is enjoyable and sweet, even giving my heart a bit of a lurch whenever things went her way.
I could even foreshadow the dress being destroyed the moment she said she'd lend it to the spoiled girl. I wasn't even surprised by the spoiled girl leaving her a thoughtless note and 20 pounds to cover what was obviously a beautiful and expensive dress. That's what shallow, spoiled people do - undervalue the people and things in their lives to mere nothingness.
I was so happy to watch Mrs. Harris triumph in the end, and even get the man she should have had all along.
Alaska Daily (2022)
It takes a lot for me to give a 10
But this show is definitely worth the 10.
Hilary Swank is nothing short of believable and stellar in this role. Her supporting cast has me believing this is an actual news room.
I'm not usually someone who watches serious dramas like this but the idea there's a justice system out there that ignores the murders of women? I started watching it out of curiosity about that and the fantastic story telling in conjunction with the superior acting have me hooked.
As a former journalist, one who got out of the business because I saw the truth didn't matter as much as sensationalism, I love seeing a newspaper that is devoted to the truth. This show being based on an actual paper has me wanting to apply to the real paper in Alaska just to feel the rush again of writing a news article that makes a difference in the lives of the readers, instead of writing headlines that skew the story for the sake of clicks.
I hope this show enjoys a long, long run. It's definitely one of the good ones.
Reboot (2022)
How did this even get cancelled????
This is a really smart and funny show with some really great characters.
The usual sitcoms out there are just kind of Meh, but this one is actually worth watching every week!
The characters seem real, the interactions between the variety of characters is outstanding. My favorite scenes are the ones in the writing room. The interplay between them is actually really funny because they simply don't understand each other and really don't care to!
As much as I like all the characters, Johnny Knoxville is the BEST! He is typical Knoxville and does so unapologetically. Paul Register and his gang of comedy writers crack me up everytime they hit the screen.
Too bad Hulu cut it short. Big mistake. I hope someone else picks this up because it's worth it.
Sam & Kate (2022)
Definitely not a Rom-Com
Based on this starring Dustin Hoffman and Sissy Spacek, I watched the movie.
The basic premise is nice, but the movie moved a little too slowly for me.
Given the level of talent in this movie, I think I expected more, but I can't quite put my finger on just what exactly was missing.
I liked both Jake Hoffman and Schuyler Fisk and the characters they played, who were both likeable people, too.
Given it was classified as a Rom-Com, shouldn't there have been more laughs in the movie? From what I saw, it was pure drama, with no real rom or com in it, other than the potential of a relationship between Sam & Kate and Bill & Tina.
Maybe it was the full-on arthouse feel to the film that kind of turned me off, I guess? I'm not sure.
This story had the potential to be a really great movie/story and somehow, it just kind of fell flat with me. And I wish I could have loved the film more because so much of it is entirely relatable to most people.
Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)
Such a great movie at a time when we need it
Sadly, we now live in a world where people couldn't care less about each other. Then, here comes a wonderful movie to remind us people once did care, and took care of each other.
Bryan Cranston and Annette Benning are wonderful together in this sweet and light comedy. Rainn Wilson is the perfect excited foil to the originally sad and tired couple trying to figure life out once they get to "a certain age" and time in their lives.
Jerry's is such a loveable and wonderfully thoughtful person throughout the movie, with his Harvard mind for math inside a factory worker body/life.
Best line in the whole movie, to remind us all of just how selfish and narcisstic the general public has become... "But, what are you doing for them?"
Some folks are leaving reviews calling for sex, violence, and the drama of someone treating the rest of the world like dog doody or that the wife should have cheated on the husband. They are the best examples of just what's RIGHT about this movie.
No one kills anyone else. No one cheats on anyone. It's a bunch of people who love and care about each other and it's fantastic. It's an amazing reminder of how the world used to be, and how it can be again, if people would just worry less about themselves, and more about doing the right thing.
In short, just be kind and take care of each other, instead of worrying so much about yourself or about taking advantage of other people to get ahead in the world.
Extreme Paranormal (2009)
Ugh... Bad doesn't even begin to describe this train wreck
I made it to 22 minutes into the first show before I turned it off.
I started watching this because I thought it was a legitimate ghost hunting show. After a couple minutes of watching it, I decided it was a parody of the ghost hunting shows. I came here to IMDB to find out who the actors were.
Not only is it NOT a parody but the people in this show actually believe they're ghost hunters!
Really bad how with a really bad script with really bad actors.
All the "evidence" occurs off camera. The "shadow figure" they saw? Nope, didn't believe it for a second. Then, there was a laughable moment where one of the guys slit his wrist to do a picture on the floor? Really?
This show is an incredible joke and don't waste your time.
Turned it off so I could watch a show with good actors in it.
Murder House Flip (2020)
I love this show SO much more than the other reno shows
You can watch any other reno show and they're all doing the same things: granite counters, white walls, shiplap slapped up to cover a variety of ills, and well... The homes in these are pretty much interchangeable.
What I like so much about this show is nothing is cookie cutter at all. The accent wall they did in one home, where they tacked wood strips onto the wall was nothing short of fantastic! And to use black paint in the dining room and foyer? I didn't think that would work at all, but by the time they were done, it looked so darn great!
I also like it when they ask the owners of the home what THEY want, rather than telling them what they want.
The other reno shows can learn from this one. How about NOT using Carrera marble? How about NOT using shiplap on every wall in the house and ceiling? How about NOT painting every wall either white or beige?
I live in a smaller home and am always on the lookout for ways to work with my space and this show does such a GREAT job of renovating based on the space, rather than what THEY like.
Murder House Flip: Laura Purviance House (2022)
This one really bothers me
I'm not at all bothered by the hosts/decorators. They really seem to care about the people whose homes they're re-doing and to give them a space in which to live peacefully.
This family, though, just rubbed me the wrong way. Given this was a well-known murder in the area, given they professed to know SO much about the murder... I can't help but feel as though they were less than honest with the hosts about the rooms.
Every news article about the murder clearly says the mom was shot and killed in the daughter's bedroom, but the mother in this show clearly shows them a family room and declares "that" to be the murder room.
The hosts did a GREAT job on all the rooms, I just wish all that hard work had gone to a family who did it with honesty and a real wish to change the vibe in the house, rather than take advantage of the hosts and their desire to help others.
The 7 stars are for the fantastic job the hosts did on the house.
Conjuring Kesha (2022)
I didn't know a paranormal show could get this bad
I have no clue who Kesha is. I have no idea who her guests are. I decided to watch this because I really like paranormal shows.
The first show was pretty bad, but a lot of the first shows of a series can be bad as people try to find their way into a groove. And when Cindy Kaza made an appearance in one of the shows, I was excited because she's the real deal when it comes to psychic mediums.
And that's where it ends.
Kesha tries to make herself appear as some sort of spiritual, deep person when she is in fact definitely not. She has no idea what she's doing in this show and stops short of doing any actual investigation. Whenever something does happen, she turns tail and runs.
If Discovery would get her a partner who knows what they're doing, this might get better, but until the happens, this show is going to continue to be bad.
It Feels Evil (2019)
I really wanted to like it, but couldn't.
I'm a big, big paranormal shows fan so watch whatever I can, when I can.
This one, though... I'm about halfway thru the shows that are streaming and I'm done.
The drama in this is off the charts, as in really bad and obvious.
Let's start with the "psychic," Montana. I mean, she say she's a psychic, but her psychic ability involves "feeling" the spirits there? She doesn't communicate with them, she just "feels" them, the spirits. How did she get enough credibility to be part of ANY paranormal group, much less one on the Travel Channel? And the "binding" ceremonies she does? It seems more like Ooga Booga than anything else.
The other two members of the team, Scott and Patrick, are just kind of along for the ride, from what I can see. I mean, they do actual investigating, but Tim and Montana are the main cast of this circus.
Tim is the real PT Barnum in this. He's just always so dramatic and serious. And I'm sure people will use the explanation, "But... But... He's out there looking for demons! And that's serious business!"
Yes, yes it is. But Tim sounds SO scripted, all the time. The bulk of the "evidence" they collect is subjective. We don't see any shadows, or objects moving, or anything tangible, like we might see in other shows.
Oh, wait.. There's the "psychic" who talks to the spirits using a Ouija board. If she's psychic and can talk to the spirits, why does she rely on the same tool people who don't say they are psychic use?
There's only so many investigations a person can watch that gives you pretty much nothing BUT "I feel something." or "Something's touching my back" before you've had enough.
Vera (2011)
I wish I could rate it higher
From the moment I discovered Vera on BritBox I've been hooked.
The mysteries are well told, the cast was chosen wisely, Brenda Blethyn plays an endearing Vera, with more than a little bit of a temper, but not afraid to show those around her how much they mean to her.
I also love Vera's not afraid to put her heart on her sleeve while solving a murder. In fact, the angrier she gets about not solving a murder almost immediately, the more it touches her heart.
Definitely a great show and I can't imagine anyone but Blethyn playing Vera.
I was a little disappointed when her right-hand man was changed, but I grew to like him a great deal and can't imagine her partner being anyone BUT Kenny Doughty.
Haunted Homes (2004)
The only scary bits of this show are in the imagination of the people who live in the homes
Having just finished watching the first one, any hope of seeing anything more than a good theatre show is dashed.
IN the very first show, the three girls are taken around the house after dark and each and every one of them experiences "something."
All I saw were three young women who were scaring themselves to death simply with their imaginations.
No evidence whatsoever in the home. No bumps in the night. No falling objects. No voices. Nothing. Just three girls in their 20s scaring themselves to death by thinking about what "it" could be, even in the face of no evidence of anything at all.
Mia spins a good tale, for sure. She would make a great mystery writer, I think, and in the end, she did a ceremony to rid the home of ghosts?
What ghosts????? However, much like a placebo calms pain in a patient of a doctor, so does the placebo of a ceremony "ridding the home" of spirits allays the fears of the young women living there.
And, OF COURSE they feel better two weeks later. The sugar pill of a ceremony did what it was supposed to do, which is to help the girls think Mia did her job and all was right with the world again.
Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq (2007)
Extremely well done and moving documentary
Having sent two sons to Irag for the invasion, this one really got to me and had me thinking, "There but for the grace of God..."
I'd have liked to have seen the names of all the soldiers who shared their stories in the credits here on this site/page.
The Witches (2020)
Cute kid's movie
I've never seen the first adaptation of this movie so am only going to speak of this one.
Dahl being a much-loved children's author means a cute little movie for kids to watch.
If I were a child, I'm sure I'd absolutely love, love, love this movie, much like my kids loved James & the Giant Peach, and other Dahl movies.
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996)
I liked it more a few years ago
However, after divorcing an abusive husband and no longer being under his gas lighting spell, I like it a lot less.
What changed? I just w see how emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive Debra is.
She constantly calls Ray names. She throws things at him. Once she even threw him into a bookcase, all the while yelling at him to hug her. Ray said what a lot of us were thinking, "What about this is huggable?" Or something along those lines.
In one show, she even went so far as to try to convince Ray she was a better writer than him, ridiculing him for his writing and laughing at him when he tried to make the VALID point that he did it for a living.
Even though he was a traveling sports writer when she married him, she complained he was gone too much and made him ask for permission. To work from home. So he starts to work from home, then she complained he's home too much.
Throughout the show, Ray always tells himself he's not good enough for Debra. The truth is, he's plenty good enough. It's just that nothing he does is right in her abusive mind. No matter what he does, it's wrong, according to Debra.
She finds ways to make everything Ray's fault, she refuses to apologize a lot of the time and Ray walks on eggshells whenever he's home.
Yep, sounds like Debra's an abuser and people laugh at her being one. We're the roles reversed and Ray treated Debra this way, the show wouldn't have lasted even a full season.
American Masters: Laura Ingalls Wilder: Prairie to Page (2020)
It was great, until we got to the politically correct part of the show
God save us all from a liberal American.
While a great deal of the show was great, hearing the thoughts and opinions of scholars who have studied the Ingalls and Wilder families extensively, they lost me at the end.
Like all true liberals, let's not take the book and its contents at face value, using the context of the times to better understand the book and the woman. No, no, no! We have to have it parsed to death, declaring Laura Ingalls Wilder, and anyone who lived in that time horrible, racist person.
There are actually people who wish to sanitize the Little House books until there's nothing left but a couple paragraphs, to be sure. Why do people feel the need to remove all traces of the history of this country?
Instead of disparaging someone who brought a great deal of joy to a generation, awakening in children around the world a strong desire to read, how about we use the books as a teaching tool? How about discussions about how far we've come as a people?
When the documentary got to the point of people saying they wanted whole swaths of the book removed, they lost me. It's okay for "artists" to hang a picture of a cross sitting in a jar of urine and the world embraces the "artist." But let's allow a writer, who's been long dead, to be vilified for something she thought as a child and probably didn't believe as an adult.
God save us from a liberal American. They won't be happy until every single person in the world thinks exactly the same as everyone else.
I don't recommend this documentary. It really became a propaganda tool for progressives.
American Ghost Hunter (2010)
Icl couldn't make it past the narration
I don't know who this lead guy is but his telling of his story is so bad and sounds so scripted and acted I couldn't stand it.
It's easy to figure out he's BSing is because of all the long pauses as he works to remember the lies. If I were sitting next to him in a bar and heard him telling this story, I'd call shenanigans about two sentences in and walk away.
And anything with Ryan Buell is crap. Sorry but most experienced ghost hunter at the age of 26? Again, I call shenanigans.
Don't waste your time unless you go into it planning to get a good laugh at all the fabricated drama. I'd put this on the same level of funny as Scary Movie 1,2,3, and 4.
Bob Hearts Abishola (2019)
I'm torn regarding this show.
While I like the cast, overall, and really like Billy Gardell in this, I'm on the fence about it because of how Abishola treats her son.
He definitely has no autonomy and he seems to be there to fulfill Abishola's failed dreams, not as a child of hers.
When he went to live with his father in Nigeria, I was sad for Abishola, but was happy he was being removed from being crushed under her thumb as much as he was. When she took away his credit card, given to him by his father, which allowed him to think for himself, I was pretty angry about that one. Dele is so micromanaged by Abishola, if he continues on like this, he'll never be able to make decisions on his own as an adult.
Then, there's how Abishola treats Bob. Again, she doesn't try to be in a relationship with him as much as she tries to control him, up to and including his career, or how much she doesn't want him to have one so he can support her and her career plans. Once again, there is someone in her life to be a fixture in it so she can move forward while everyone is required to dance around her and meet her needs.
The best part of this show is Bob and his family. They crack me up every show and whenever they're on screen I'm laughing, especially when we see Matt Jones as Douglas Wheeler, Bob's brother, and his nonsense! I loved him in Mom, I love him in Bob Hearts Abishola.
I'm not to the point, yet, of no longer watching the show, but if Abishola isn't made a softer, more relatable, less abusive character, I'll be removing this one from both my DVR and my streaming services.
At some point, it has to stop being all about Abishola and what she wants and she needs to start showing an ability to compromise or I'm done. As a survivor of an abusive spouse, whom Abishola reminds me of a great deal, this hasn't triggered me yet, but I can see it coming if Abishola isn't softened up.
Closed for Storm (2020)
Not great, but not bad either
I'd often wondered what happened to this amusement park after Katrina destroyed it. I was glad to see this documentary. I enjoyed seeing the abandoned park and the destruction Katrina heaped upon it.
I was not happy to see what's stalling anything at all happening with this abandoned park is typical Louisiana politics.
My dad was stationed in Louisiana back in the 60's and my mom would regale us with tales of the crooked politics of the state. She once told of a parish sheriff so bad the national guard had to remove him for his illegal activities. After he got out of prison, he was re-elected sheriff. My mom overheard someone she worked with telling another person the reason they voted for the criminal sheriff: "I felt sorry for his mama."
And that's Louisiana politics in a nutshell.
Katrina's storm surge, which is what actually happened to NOLA, not a hurricane, could have been held back had the powers that be in the local and state governments hadn't insisted on the Corps of Engineers NOT do the upgrades to the levees they wanted to do.
What this documentary does, more than anything else, shines a light on the cesspool of Louisiana, more specifically NOLA, politics.
It's been 10 years since an RFQ was issued, and three contractors were chosen for further review, but it never happened. Why? Oh, because it's just the poor people in NOLA East who are suffering under the neglect of their city's government.
Sadly, nothing will come of this documentary's major point, which is... There is 140 acres of blight in the city and no one in a position to do so will do anything about it.
I saw buildings that could be converted to housing. I saw buildings that could be retrofitted to be restaurants and stores, making for a beautiful outside shopping experience.
The bones are there to do something wonderful. The politics of NOLA is what's holding it back.
Lucky Dog (2013)
I used to love this show
But, since the new hosts came on, it all seems so phony and scripted, whereas under Brandon, it all felt natural and filled with a love for animals.
The new hosts are obviously in it for the money, and not for the animals, given all the air time allowed for the "sponsors" of the shows and various kennels.
I won't be watching this any longer. The joie de vivre the show once had is gone and now it's like watching a really bad scripted show.
God Friended Me (2018)
Easily one of the best shows to come out in a long time
I wish this show had been given more of a chance to grow because it was such a great show!
Hollywood, unfortunately, has a real problem with God and religion, so... This had to go.
The characters were wonderful, the scripts fantastic, the actors extremely skilled and the show, overall was great.
Colors of Love (2021)
Cute little movie for a formulaic romance movie
I watch a lot of these movies and, yes, they're very much one like the other, but that's part of their charm.
However, what is it casting directors see in Jessica Lowndes that I'm not seeing?
She's so stilted every single time she delivers her lines and is so flat and emotionless. She delivers her lines, most of the time, as though she's remembering them as she goes along, as though someone is feeding her the lines via an ear piece.
I've seen actors in high school plays deliver lines better than Jessica Lowndes.