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Hackintosh
Reviews
Reacher (2022)
Muscles, guns, death and more muscles
Has anyone noticed Ritchson gained about 40 lbs of pure muscle for season two? Where does a guy who's always on the road, walking no less, manage to gain that much muscle mass---without a gym membership? His only companion is a toothbrush, not a nationwide gym membership.
In the books, the character is well-honed with a fit body but this guy looks like he's trying to outdo Schwarzenegger. And his amorphous body has changed multiple times in the first three episodes of season two.
In one scene he looks bloated and overweight, and in another he looks much slimmer and toned. In still another scene he looks like the Hulk, and the next he's back to normal.
That's because they don't film scenes in order so the discontinuity is off-putting. Why hasn't a producer told him to cut back on the protein shakes? His caloric intake is way too high for the energy he's expending, a common mistake that weightlifters make.
As for acting, I rely on the other characters to provide dramatic relief. Ritchson is an okay actor but if he spent half as much time in acting class as he does working out he'd be downright Shakespearean.
While I do like the plot lines, and the developing backstory, the action scenes are too few and far between. And they should never put Ritchson against an accomplished actor like the detective in season two (amazing performance).
But all in all I like it. The new more muscled look of Ritchson in season two will make you do a double take. It's more distracting than useful.
Stargate Universe (2009)
Underwhelming and Overrated
Since most reviews seem to love it or hate it, I'm going to split the difference and call it a so-so endeavor. I loved SG1 and enjoyed SG-Atlantis, plus the spin-off movies (except Catherine Origins), all of which had some interesting plot lines (I give SGA an 8, SG1 a 10), and then SGU came along and I immediately felt like I was in the dank, dark Battlestar Galactica (as others have rightly noted).
Even the soundtrack was BSG to the max. The fluffy pop music introduced at random intervals was generic enough that it served no purpose. But the soundtrack was very off-putting. All queasy atmospherics.
I have a theory that the morons who destroyed the Sci-Fi channel gave the producers/writers instructions to make a BSG clone but using SG material. What a 9-chevron mistake.
The main problem with this show after watching it twice now (when it aired and now on Amazon Prime) is the lack of continuity and action. It wasn't until episode 5 or 6 when Rush has his breakdown that we learn many of the crew are going through caffeine and nicotine withdrawal (no tobacco or coffee grounds in space, folks). Even I forgot about that.
It's also hard to get excited about a show where they're hanging onto their laptops for dear life in every situation and using algorithms to fire weapons. It seems the real heroes of the show were those laptops that somehow found 120V plugs to charge the batteries (oh wait, they didn't get enough power until episode 6). In season two they discover the Bridge, which in my mind was 20 episodes too late.
Halfway through season one, we learn Destiny is about to exit the galaxy when some members are trapped on a planet. Except Destiny never does! They don't leave the galaxy until the last episode of season two. What happened to that whole plot? Did the writers realize that if Destiny left the galaxy they wouldn't have any storylines left? I assume it's because they gained control of the ship once they found out Rush had cracked the master code and they were able to travel the galaxy at will. It was all quite confusing.
Every character had their flaws but Rush was a very unlikable protagonist. Or maybe he was the show's antagonist. Either way, his melodramatic acting and barking out the most inane lines was a missed opportunity for such a talented actor. The love scenes with Rush and his long-lost love were just sloppy.
The most intriguing aspect of either season was when a duplicate crew, through a misguided attempt to use a star's energy to power the Stargate back to Earth, went back in time 2,000 years and populated a few worlds reachable by Stargates. That's about how long it took humans on Earth to develop our planet. These folks also had a head start as they were mostly scientists and military and didn't have to deal with the pesky Dark Ages, which ground technology and science to a halt on Earth. They literally began with the shirts on their backs as they couldn't bring anything with them on the billion-light-mile journey to Earth.
But the best line in the entire series was when Rush tells Eli in the last episode how much he's grown as a person since boarding Destiny. Eli looks at him puzzled and says (paraphrasing), "Funny because you haven't changed at all." Rush just smiles and gets in his Popsicle pod.
Is it worth a viewing? Sure, why not? The second season is much better if you can get past the sluggishness of the first. I give the first season 3 stars, and the second season gets 8. Split the difference and we get 5.5. In this case, I'm rounding down.
Most Dangerous Game (2020)
Awful plot, terrible protagonist
I've never seen a movie, action no less, where the protagonist is such a wussy. He's given multiple opportunities to fight back, to punch, to kick, to do anything other than run but he chooses not to. Instead he spends the first 20 minutes of the hunt with a ballpoint pen and looking like a complete moron during the rest of the film.
This is a despicable non-action movie. And the wife is quite possibly the dumbest woman on the planet.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being deposited into a bank account and she's got no idea where it's coming and spends much of the film calling his cell phone. And not the bank for answers!
The rules of the hunt don't make sense as Christof tells Liam he can't have any weapons but then all the hunters apparently have guns, knives, hidden accessories, etc. There's no rhyme or reason in this movie. Hard pass.
The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself (2022)
Let's Hear It For The Chubs!
Is it me or are there more streaming shows featuring leads that really aren't leads? I look at Nathan and all I kept thinking was: who cast this wimpy, unattractive, buck-toothed 'kid' to be the protagonist? His whiny voice, his petulance, his lousy acting, the pimply face and the horrible dialogue did him no favors.
His girlfriend Annalise wasn't much better. Who thought it was a good idea to cast a chubby girl to date a rail-thin guy who runs around the entire show in her camel-toe jeans? Blech.
And then there's Harry. Poor beautiful Harry with the awful dye job, Old Navy outfits, who can't handle commitment unless it's with a blood witch who is 10 years younger than him but whom he falls in love with anyways over the course of a day (?).
He's handsome, but then they had him take off his clothes and out popped his pot belly, scrawny arms, and flat chest. Do they not have gyms in France? No "cuts" leading to a Planet Fitness?
Seriously, if you want to save money by hiring unknowns to have groovy CGI effects, find a better balance. It took me days to power through this dystopian story that just got worse and worse. Even I figured out that Saul was the Wolf and his chubby daughter would be the one to kill him.
Nathan a murderous killer? He can't even get out of his own way. And then all belief was buggered when Harry and Nathan kiss. Why? Who knows. Made no sense. Nathan could've pushed him into the cut at any time without using a kiss as a pretense. Such woke garbage. Just couldn't leave well enough alone. Worse, I saw that scene coming shortly after they introduced Harry.
My favorite: Harry the potion master doesn't have a potion or talisman that protects him from getting his memory wiped despite him wiping the memory of everyone he sleeps with. You'd think that be the first thing he would make: an antidote. But no matter! That kiss was so strong it allowed him to burn through the memory potion the evil witch Mercury blew on him.
The entire big final scene at Wolfhagen was so confusing I had no idea who was killing who or why. I think I yawned. So much potential wasted on subpar actors. I give it 3 stars for the CGI effects and for Saul's acting (he was really good as he slowly turned into the murderous Wolf). Everything else was a miss.
Inside Man (2022)
Good story but whacky plot holes
After watching all four episodes, including the after credits segment in ep4, we learn throughout that the imprisoned maths teacher is a loner, has no friends, no love life, no clubs, no dating, no mention of a husband, a rather sad person with no personal life.
In the segment after the credits in ep4, she shows up to meet with Tucci's character to figure out a way to kill her...husband? Where did that come from? I wish I didn't watch that last part.
We also never learn what was so special about Tucci's wife's head. He made a big spiel about how after finding her head, everyone will understand why he had to chop it off. Her face was just so horrible. Was she a vampire or something? Maddening.
Sending the authorities to the Vicar's house because he figured out she was being held captive there was utterly ingenious (especially after he got a confession beat out of him).
There are other plot holes that could've been rightly fixed, but I thought this was one of the better shows by Moffat. Not as good as his Dracula limited series, which I recommend everyone watch on Netflix. I can understand it's not to everyone's tastes, but I found it mesmerizing. Watched it twice.
I hope Netflix does more shows with Moffat. He's very talented but needs a good story editor before it gets filmed. I see Netflix didn't get all woke with this limited series and just focused on the basics.
I didn't appreciate the cracks about Christianity, calling Jesus' rising on the third day a "fairy tale" and other insults. That's the Vicar's wife saying that. Talk about a Jezebel. Completely unnecessary.
Some will hate it, some will love it. But it's not as bad as many people are making it out to be and the dialogue is so much better than the crap on any channel or service. That seems to be Netflix's new motto: hire better writers, get better products. Well, duh!
A.M.I. (2019)
Making cat torture the new normal
This movie features an absolutely egregious scene in which the main character finds a healthy stray cat and after lovingly holding it and petting it, she puts the cat in a choke hold and starts to squeeze the life out of it, as the camera lovingly zooms in on the cat's terror. Many seconds later (it felt like over a minute) she realizes what she's doing, stops and releases the cat.
This was the most despicable depiction of animal torture I've ever seen in a movie. It wasn't needed, or they could have panned away while she commited the atrocious act. Netflix should have had a warning before the movie started that there was cat torture in the movie. Yes, I know it was fake, but it was still a sick, unwarranted scene in an otherwise awful movie that will only give the crazies out there a blueprint to work from. Disgusting.
Another Life (2019)
Every awful trope in one awful series
As someone who loves sci-fi, even bad sci-fi, I found this show deeply disappointing. The writing, the plot, the CGI, the characters, everything was dreadful from the get-go.
When they first introduced the crew, I thought Niki (Katie Sackoff) was dreaming (again). Teens/twenty-somethings on the most important space flight in the history of space flights?
The very worst part was that the writers apparently watched Netflix's reboot of "Tales of the City" and incorporated all those awful characters into this series. Anyone who saw the 1990's Tales of the City series knows what I mean.
A transgendered medic that prefers the pronouns ze/hir (what does that even mean outside of San Francisco?), a gay crewman, a lesbian, threesomes, an unwanted pregnancy, a straight guy who falls for the aforementioned trans medic, and poor Niki looking very old around this very young cast. She really needs to quit smoking. She looked 50 y.o.
Maybe that's why they made William (a male holographic computer that helps the other computer, which has a female voice, run the ship) closer to Niki's age. I have watched a lot of B sci-fi shows and learned to like them. This doesn't even arise to that level. It's a pure F straight down the line.
For those that saw the movie The Fifth Wave, you'll recognize the creature that attached itself to a host's brain. The CGI is identical to the movie's. For those that watched Star Trek Voyager, you'll recognize where they stole the idea of a holographic character. For those that watched StarGate: SG1, you'll recognize a whole host of episodes, but mostly the whole Replicator story line (the aforementioned mechanical creature).
They cribbed from so many other shows and movies that the screenwriter's guild should take away the writer's credits and replace them with one word: Various. It's a mash up without meaning. An ending that was awful and a cheat.
If they had spent less time virtue signalling that this show was cool and hip, and more time actually thinking about the story line and characters, they may have had a chance. They blew it. Did anyone care when some of the crew members died? Or when Niki said goodbye for 20 minutes to her cloying husband? The only time I felt sadness was when were told those weird alien bat-like species were wiped out by the replicators. And we know that because the bat aliens had a universal translator in the cave that explained what happened to them. Really?
Netflix must've given them orders to round up every cliche on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, throw them into the not-too-distant future, blend, and hope it all works out. It doesn't.
This was pure pandering to the smartphone generation. Maybe because subscribers are dumping Netflix because they don't offer any good movies. As a Millennial, I found it insulting.
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Great movie thanks to Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg saved this movie.
He's solely responsible for making this a must see movie.
He brings to it what Shia never could. Great acting and maturity.
Playing the doting father was a stroke of genius.
He's like every father afraid for his daughters well being.
I never laughed so hard in my life watching this.
Plus the story was playful without all the angst off the previous films.
A fun movie with great special effects.
Looking forward to the next installment and what they come up with.
Michael Bay outdid himself.
Hank: 5 Years from the Brink (2013)
Really pathetic movie to repair Paulson's image
Hank Paulson, who was named as one of the top 25 people who plunged the world into an "Economic Meltdown" in 2008 by Time magazine, gets a face-lift in this movie produced by his buddy, Michael Bloomberg of Bloomberg Businessweek. Not only have other documentaries shown he was the catalyst that drove the recession in 2008 onward, it was his idea to bail out the banks that proved to be the worst, possible decision ever made. Now that Paulson, Bloomberg, and Thomas Steyer are all on the same page with their global-warming mambo-jumbo, the first thing that needed to be done was repair Paulson's terrible public image by making this movie. For a more accurate view, watch Inside Job or Too Big to Fail for a more critical, truthful portrayal of this windbag. This movie is nothing more than nanny Bloomberg's shallow attempt at giving Paulson a public do-over.
It's also no secret that when he became treasury Secretary, he sold nearly $500 million in Goldman Sachs stock without paying a single penny in capital gains taxes (or any taxes for that matter). In July 2006, "Henry Paulson liquidated 3.23 million shares of Goldman, roughly 1% of the entire company, in a one-time public sale." That left Paulson with a tax-free gain of $491 million. Read that again: $491 million free and clear. Without this loophole, Paulson would have been liable for more than "$200 million worth of state and Federal capital gains taxes." Why? In 1989, the government created a "one-time loophole that gives the political candidate the ability to liquidate his or her entire portfolio without paying a dime in capital gains taxes." The loophole only applies to the President, Vice President and cabinet Secretaries. Congress does not qualify. The rich DO get richer, as did Paulson, who is now parlaying his fame (infamy?) by teaming up with nanny Bloomberg Productions and scare-tactics Steyer, the phony triptych of the modern world.
Monday Mornings (2013)
Great Show, Great Writing, Too Many Commercials!
This is another one of those David E. Kelley's shows (Chicago Hope, Picket Fences, The Practice, Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, and the death-by-a-thousand-network cuts Harry's Law) that features great casting, plotting, and above else, wonderful writing.
It has just enough gallows humor so it's not over the top, and while some compare it to Gray's Anatomy, this is definitely not soap-opera fare. This is like a cross between Chicago Hope and Boston Legal.
And with Kelley's pension for inserting legal drama into all his shows (he was, after all, an attorney), it didn't take long before a recurring "shark" started popping up on the show suing different doctors (Anthony Heald). Sadly, using Heald repeatedly to sue different doctors beggars belief. If anything, they should have made Heald a hospital lawyer as a regular as he is too good an actor not to utilize.
I'm not particularly fond of the title (though I get it), and even though it's based on the titular book, I think they could have come up with a more catchy title to lure in more viewers.
Other than that, I think anyone who hasn't had a chance to watch it should give it a chance. It's also nice to see Jamie Bamber again (on U.S. TV) after his long-term stint on Battlestar Galactica and some short-term series.
My hope is that one day Kelley will write a show for Showtime or HBO where his talents can really be unleashed. Even on TNT, you can tell that he's holding back in what people can say or do (thanks to onerous FCC regulations). Just look at the Netflix-only series House of Cards to see what I mean.
Note to TNT: Too Many Commercials!!! I have to use my DVR for this show because the commercials are endless. I think the show is actually 35 minutes long sans the commercials. Just when they start getting into a few good scenes, they cut to commercial.
Redwoods (2009)
Why they named it Redwoods
The dialogue is wooden, the ligneous plot is all bark and no bite, the sylvan setting only highlights the hopelessly timbered characters, and the beams of a promising story can't penetrate the dead growth that riddles the entire movie. Like the giant Redwood in a copse of trees, it stands out as quite possibly the worst film of its genre, or any genre, I've seen in very long time.
If you do watch it, do so with people who have a sense of humor, and you have to take a shot of your favorite liquor every time there is an unneeded pause in dialogue longer than two seconds or a character says "um."
Falling Skies (2011)
Frakkin' Great
Whilst others have noted that Falling Skies isn't "breaking" new ground with its premise and some of the plot holes you can drive a truck through (they decimated the human population with neutron bombs but for some reason no one has radiation poisoning, food & water aren't contaminated, and so on), it's still a fun mid-summer show to watch.
There are actual puzzles in which you are looking forward to the answers, and a few subplots that are intriguing, all-the-while not confusing the viewer with mystery upon mystery.
The writing is very good, and the special effects are what you'd expect from an exec producer like Steven Spielberg. It's also fun to watch the introduction of new "alien" creatures, though the "master" aliens looks remarkably like the ones in Close Encounters. They also resonate pure hatred in the way they look at other humans.
The Skitters are creepy but not scary, almost sympathetic. And the Mechs are like the Daleks on steroids.
I'm looking forward to finding out: a. why are they still on the planet after wiping out most of humankind? b. is there an actual "working government" somewhere? c. do the harnesses eventually convert you into some other type of creature?
Prometheus (2012)
Great movie that leaves you guessing
While the movie wipes out the notion that we descended from apes, it does something I've seen in a few Outer Limits episodes: that other aliens seeded our planet with human DNA so that we would eventually reach out to the stars.
As I thought about the movie more, I realized that they were planning an invasion of Earth about 2,000 years ago. According to interviews with one of the writers, this may leave one to believe that Jesus was an Engineer, came to see our progress, and we crucified him. This writer said this was not out of the realm of possibilities. It also makes a lot of sense based on other comments the characters make throughout.
The star map in the alien ship's pilot room and hyper-sleep chamber showed thousands of worlds in hundreds of galaxies that had been seeded by the Engineers. If you're a patient race, what an ingenious way to grow and enslave another planet for your own purposes. And if they don't turn out to be formidable as the engineers are, start over again.
As for the planet being LV-223, and not LV-426 as in the original Alien movie, others have theorized the alien at the very end of this movie stowed away on the Elizabeth's ship and they crash-landed on LV-426 looking for the Engineer's creator. Or that Weyland industries, knowing what the Nostromos would have this trillion dollar expedition in it's ship's database, so it changed the planet's demarcation. Also remember, LV-426 had a toxic atmosphere, was freezing cold, and had a much different terrain.
The goop in the canisters was basically bio-chemical warfare the Engineers used to seed planets (or start over). It left a lot of questions for the viewer, which I generally like.
Definitely see it in IMAX 3D. That was the most awesome part of the film. The effects, visual and otherwise, were absolutely stunning. And it moved along at a clip that will leave your heart beating. Enjoy! I would certainly recommend anyone seeing this.
Dallas (2012)
What a mess
What a huge disappointment to start watching this and become utterly bored from the get-go. Not only are the characters one-dimensional, but they are knock-offs of other characters we've seen in much better shows.
The whole "alternative" energy story line could've been ripped from the Wikipedia page on methane hydrate (clathrate). Except Dallas' writer makes a mess of the whole premise, and then makes it worse by using statistics on methane's global warming potential by using them in the wrong context (and also using the now-discredited IPCC's faulty models). That whole scenario raised the hackles on my neck because I'm sick to death of writers getting it all wrong or trying to sum it up in a sound-byte.
The line about the "drilling" for MH causing an earthquake is another fiction propagated by another now-discredited story that was on the news (frakking causes earthquakes!). I appreciate good shows with good information and reliable data. This has neither.
They'd have had better luck in suspension of disbelief if they wanted to turn Southfork into a giant wind farm or solar panel array. And contrary to what Christopher did on the show, you can't "light" a piece of frozen MH pulled out of a cooler on fire with a match. It needs to be melting or heated up first to allow the gas time to escape. It's like trying to ignite liquid propane/methane. Ain't gonna happen. Has to be a gas first.
All in all the whole story, plot, backstabbing, and petty bickering were un-witty and wholly unsatisfying. Reruns of Dynasty are better than this.
Harry's Law (2011)
One of the Best Shows this Fall (2011)
Having received a major facelift from last season (which was a 12-episode mid-season replacement), with better exterior sets, a new, modernized office, less emphasis on the "shoe store," and the addition of lawyer Tommy Jefferson as a regular cast member, Harry's Law has come a long way after it's summer hiatus.
The show is a combination of the gravitas you found with The Practice and the silliness of Boston Legal, and it should move ever so quickly toward being more like The Practice and tackle tough cases as it did in the three-episode story arc that kicked off season two.
Anyone familiar with David E. Kelley's other shows (like the two mentioned above) and his writing style, Harry's Law won't be that much of a departure from his previous efforts. He created and wrote most of the episodes for Picket Fences, Boston Public, and a few others that lasted 4+ years. I'm hoping Harry's Law's ratings give it a chance to continue a good 5-year run (at least) if the writing/plots remain top-notch.
Character casting this second season has been superb, with Jean Smart and Alfred Molina guest starring in the first three episodes. Having just left as a regular cast member of L&O: Los Angeles as it was prematurely canceled and was doing great as far as ratings were concerned, even the repeats, it was good to see Molina again in a character-driven role.
Kelley's writing is top-notch as usual, with only the occasional stumble, though I think that has more to do with editing the show down to 40 minutes as Kelley is a proficient writer who's characters can have five-minute polemics at a stretch. Maybe one day they'll release uncut versions of Harry's Law before the network editors took an ax to them.
I gave it 8 stars because I really can't stand the music as it reminds me too much of Boston Legal and '70's porn. :) I also knocked off another star because Tommy Jefferson is basically a clone of Denny Crane (William Shatner) of Boston Legal. He even introduces himself and says his name repeatedly just like Denny Crane used to do (and which grew tiresome after a few episodes) on the aforementioned show.
I hope the writing continues to be great, and that we get to see Harry spend more time in the courtroom where Kathy Bates is at her best (as is Kelley's writing). And if Jean Smart comes back, that would be icing on the cake as her character was pure evil cloaked in a genteel southern accent.
I also hope they get rid of the B-roll shots of Cincinnati after every commercial break. They are a waste of time and most shows don't use them and just jump back into the episode. This gives the viewer more actual story time and dialog.
Bones (2005)
Interesting but formulaic
As someone who appreciates any show that relies on intelligent dialog, factual information, and intriguing characters, Bones has all of the above.
I was hoping this past season they'd retire the rotating intern's theme and just pick one, so perhaps next fall they will. Hopefully not like they did on House.
Because you can watch repeats on TNT almost every night of the week for hours at a time, I've seen each episode multiple times and have come to a surprising conclusion: the guilty party is, 99.9% of the time, a minor character introduced in the first 10 minutes of the show. By the time the guilty party is revealed in the last 10 minutes you've completely forgotten about that minor character as Booth and Bones have been busy interrogating all the 'wrong' people for 50 minutes.
That is my only real complaint with the show. Unlike Law & Order (in all its myriad iterations), you usually get a lot of false arrests but rarely is the guilty party a minor character in the first 5-10 minutes. Sometimes I'm amazed how L&O keeps the story straight as it leads to the eventual person.
When I watch new episodes of Bones I can usually pick out the guilty party just by the lack of attention they give to some person in the first 10 minutes of the show. It's too bad it's so formulaic so hopefully in Fall 2011 they'll shake things up and actually try a different way of exposing the 'perp.' I'm also looking forward to the Brennan pregnancy plot with Booth (which I hope doesn't end in her having a miscarriage or the two of them getting into a fight over a woman's right to choose). Booth + Catholic + Brennan + atheism = here we go again.
It'd be great to see the two of them finally get married in secret so they can continue to work on cases together, but I doubt that will happen. I don't see Brennan getting an abortion as they really don't actually do that kind of stuff on TV and it would alienate too many viewers. I also can't see her doing what she does while caring for a child (isn't that another character's story arc now?). But who knows as the writers are pretty clever.
I also enjoy the thematic seasons like the gravedigger or the Gorgomon plot-lines. I'm still not sure why they got rid of Zack, but he used to make me laugh out loud by his naivety. Maybe he'll get cured and they can bring him back since he didn't actually "kill" anyone as everyone thinks and become Brennan's 'manny.' :)
Law & Order: Los Angeles (2010)
New Re-Tooled L&O: LA Regains lost Stature
Having suffered through the first half of the first season of L&O: LA, and now watching the re-imagined second half of the same season, I'm pleasantly surprised they actually pulled it off. That is, it's becoming more like the original L&O and not some sunny disposition on life in LaLa land and rampant medical marijuana.
They are also scouting out and actually using more locations as they did in N.Y. so you don't feel confined to the same old places or inside a studio's back lot. In the last episode, I counted about 15 non-studio locations which really upped the ante as far as quality of story and realism of plot.
I also noticed they brought in some veteran screenwriters from the recently canceled L&O and are starting to "rip from the headlines" more. Not to mention adding the beautiful Alana De La Garza to the ADA's office (they never did explain her transplantation to L.A. but that's par for the course with this franchise). We just need the extraordinary writer Rene Balcer to pen a few scripts and we're halfway home.
As for Alana, they desperately need to give her more lines. She's not just a pretty face but a very good actress. She was always one to get up in someone's face or talk back to some pushy witness or suspect (or cop!).
A guest visit from Linus Roache or Lupo or Anderson or Epatha would be gimmicky but a lot of fun. Who cares? It's T.V. Does anyone really believe a murder trial starts and ends in less than a month? Real murder cases take years. But on T.V. you have to speed things up or you end up with a show like Murder One or viewers changing the channel. Too bad they can't find an L&O franchise for Lupo.
The East Pasadena episode is a perfect example of "headline ripping" that actually happened to one Calif. principality, then utilizing another incident that actually happened in Florida where a man went to a city council meeting waving a gun and finally shot himself, and then tying it all together with a murder mystery.
I'm especially glad to see Mr. Ulrich gone (shot! killed! never to return!) and Molina taking his place. Whilst Ulrich is an O.K. actor, half the time his eyes were bloodshot and he looked very tired and fatigued. I don't think the pace of T.V. sits well with his move schedule metabolism.
Molina is a veteran actor and it shows. He is literally the anchor for the show now. Let's hope he doesn't depart prematurely. And they need a prominent out gay character other than a shrink like on SVU.
And Corey Stoll looks so much better without the 'stache it's amazing. He'll be one of People magazine's hottest men of the year in no time (barring the show's cancellation). Having played second fiddle in so many shows, it's about time he was recognized for his talent.
Rachel Ticotin, who still looks great since Total Recall, makes a tough but charming Lieutenant. Still haven't figured out the role of the DA played ephemerally by Peter Coyote. He's simply not memorable and not sure what his function is other than to bark at his subordinates.
With all the above being said, I'm very excited about the rest of the season and hope it continues to deliver above-excellent scripts and performances to make up for the horrible first half of the year. Worst
Episodes
Ever
I doubt L&O: LA will have the staying power of the original L&O, and NBC (now owned by Kabletown), is infamous for putting garbage on T.V. or doubling-up on what they consider a good thing (read: the Today show went from 2 hours to 4 to 5 to ?). Maybe Katie Couric can do the sixth and seventh hours! I'd like to see more episodes about the intricacies of Calif. law and business practices as they've done in a few episodes and on the original L&O. I always thought New York was a nanny state but Calif. makes N.Y. look like their babysitter's dead (don't tell Mom or Bloomberg!). I can now understand why so many businesses are fleeing CA for points East, and why people are moving to other states where the cost of living isn't so crippling.
So if you gave up on the show, give it another shot. I don't believe you'll be disappointed and like me will look forward to next week's episode. Who knows, maybe they'll shoot a couple of episodes during California's rainy season for a change of outdoor atmosphere. Flooding, rampage, riots, and of course, a floater.
Law & Order: Los Angeles: Hollywood (2010)
Bored out of my Gourd
Sadly, the premier episode, which is a story by Dick Wolf with the screenplay by Blake Masters, was so silly I almost stopped watching. In order for the show to say it was created by Dick Wolf, he needs to have written the first episode. Total ego trip.
And if you go back to the first L&O: SVU, you could pretty much give it a 3-star rating as well. Dick Wolf just isn't that imaginative. I'm holding off final judgment until I see more episodes, but so far it's off to a lousy start.
All the actors are good, even Skeet, but the premier episode was poorly written, cheesy, full of clichés, lacking in plot, and much too brightly lit. I hope it gets better.
I miss the original L&O. Even after 20 years, that show was actually getting better. The person at NBC who made the decision to cancel it should be fired. It may not have been a rating's giant like it was in its heyday, but the revenue from syndication more than would have compensated for it not being a top-ten show.
They should have done what they did with L&O:Criminal Intent and let USA pick it up as an original series. Bad decisions all around.
Star Trek: Voyager: Workforce, Part II (2001)
Summary
In Workforce: part 1, The crew of Voyager carry out their normal lives as workers on an industrial planet called Quarra, totally unaware of their time on Voyager or their situation in the Delta Quadrant.
Chakotay, Kim and Neelix, return from their trading mission on the Delta Flyer to find the ship abandoned and adrift in a nebula, with only the Doctor on board.
The Doctor informs them that the ship fell into a trap which forced them to abandon ship in the escape pods, allowing them to be captured. The Doctor has heard nothing from them since.
After going undercover on the planet, Chakotay, Kim, Neelix and the Doctor must now find a way to return the crew and restore their memories, while evading local authorities who have uncovered their plan.
In Workforce: part 2, Chakotay must convince Janeway and the other crew members of their past lives on Voyager. Matters are complicated when Chakotay is exposed and taken for interrogation.
Star Trek: Voyager: Workforce (2001)
Summary
Stardate: 54584.3
The crew of Voyager carry out their normal lives as workers on an industrial planet called Quarra, totally unaware of their time on Voyager or their situation in the Delta Quadrant.
Chakotay, Kim and Neelix, return from their trading mission on the Delta Flyer to find the ship abandoned and adrift in a nebula, with only the Doctor on board.
The Doctor informs them that the ship fell into a trap which forced them to abandon ship in the escape pods, allowing them to be captured. The Doctor has heard nothing from them since.
After going undercover on the planet, Chakotay, Kim, Neelix and the Doctor must now find a way to return the crew and restore their memories, while evading local authorities who have uncovered their plan.
Star Trek: Voyager: Friendship One (2001)
Summary
Stardate: 54775.4
As we see on Enterprise, the Vulcans established a presence on Earth since First Contact, and supervised Earth's progress with warp technology and space exploration. Shortly thereafter, Earth sends the "Friendship One" probe to pre-warp civilizations.
Fast forward to the present: With regular communications to the Alpha Quadrant established, Starfleet sends a mission to Voyager: retrieve the 21st Century probe sent from Earth.
Once the probe is located on a nearby planet the away team is shocked to learn of the non-friendly impact it has made.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Darkness and the Light (1997)
Summary
Stardate: 50416.2
One by one, members of the Shakaar resistance cell are murdered, and Kira becomes increasingly worried that she will be next. Kira is taunted by the killer every time a member of the cell is killed, all-the-while being very pregnant. She finally works on her own to find the killer and save her life.
All told, six members of the Shakaar resistance cell have been killed: Latha Mabrin, Trentin Fala, Mobara, Lupaza and Furel.
It's the first time we learn that Kira officially joined the Shakaar resistance at 13, and that Lupaza made Kira's earring from a piece of metal from Kira's first skirmish.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Empok Nor (1997)
Summary
The episode opens in Quark's Bar that seems strangely not to be very crowded. We quickly understand the reason when hearing a horrible sound. It is actually Miles O'Brien and Nog doing some conduit repairs. However, the repairs are heavy and O'Brien soon realize he will need an entirely new plasma distribution manifold. Worse, they are of Cardassian making and cannot be replicated. It is then decided to go scavenge manifolds from the abandoned station of Empok Nor. Because of the Cardassian way of planting booby traps everywhere when they leave a place, a Cardassian expert joins the mission to play as the minesweeper: Garak. The rest of the crew comprises O'Brien, Nog and 4 other Starfleet crew-members: Pechetti, Boq'ta, Stolzoff and Amaro. They soon arrive at Empok Nor. However, their presence sets off an old booby trap that put all their lives in danger.
Dead Birds (2004)
Dead Birds Movie Explained
The link below will take you to an article on "Dead Birds", a definitive guide to clearing up any misinformation or confusion about the movie, which was compiled by Elaine Lamkin with the assistance of the Director and the Writer of Dead Birds. Remember the small piece of jewelry Todd takes out of his shirt while sitting alone in the Hollister house? Find out what it was, plus the real meaning behind the title and other bits you may have missed or didn't understand.
WARNING!!!! Here there be many spoilers if you haven't seen the film! Stop now and watch the movie first!
http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_3871.html
Centipede! (2004)
I thought I'd seen 'em all...
This was on the Sci-fi channel, on a Saturday night (11/7/04), at 9 p.m. What a waste of prime-time real estate. I'd thought they had dusted off and aired just about every horribly movie ever made, but this one was a new one to me. It was so terrible that any negative adjective would adequately describe this mess. Do not watch it, don't rent it, email Sci-fi channel for even airing it, and consider yourself lucky if you missed it. Possibly the worst character development, acting, dialogue, and plot devices ever used on an audience. I can't even compare it to another movie because it was so dreadful. Trust me that I'm being nice because of the IMDb filters with certain words. It was like a car wreck that you just can't take your eyes off of; which I should have, but I wanted to be able to say that at least I saw it in full.