Change Your Image
tamiks
Reviews
Peaceful Warrior (2006)
Missed the most important point made in the book
This movie is a poor adaptation of the book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior". For one thing, Nick Nolte fails to express the essence of Dan's spiritual guide, Socrates. In the book, Soc is a youthful, lively older man with a sharp wit and sense of humor, but Nolte's performance shows Soc as rather sullen and uninspired. Soc's personality is important to the story because he represents the energy of enlightenment, and Nolte's performance fails to give that energy to the story.
Also, the movie ends where the most important part of the story begins, which is after Dan's gymnastics victory. A major part of the book's message is knowing that the most important accomplishment is realizing how our sense of self is an illusion. Ending the movie at the high point of a sports victory completely degrades the message that Millman wrote about.
The Brady Bunch: The Cincinnati Kids (1973)
A good set of wheels
Most episodes of The Brady Bunch are pretty believable. The predicaments the kids and sometimes the adults get into bring back those "Oh no, how'm I gonna get outta this?!" memories we all have. But a responsible person such as Mike Brady losing important plans at an amusement park? Then there's only 30 minutes to search the whole park for them, and the family members happen to keep running into each other to set up the Pony Express relay run scenes? Cute but kinda lame.
I gotta say though that Ann B. Davis had a good set of wheels. She was around 47 when this episode came out in 1973 when running and other exercise programs weren't too popular with people her age. But she puts in a good sprint, even leaping over a couple low chain barriers. Bravo Alice!
Adam-12 (1968)
Great vintage entertainent!
"Adam-12" depicts professional and compassionate police work that's based on actual police cases in the LA area. The main characters, officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, are well-developed through the series with screenplays that present a good balance of action, human interest, and humor that engages you with the sincerity of the two men and how they carry out their duties. I love the way Reed and Malloy sometimes tease each other. The fact that Reed is a married man and Malloy a happy bachelor creates plenty of opportunities for humorous jabs. At the same time, the two actors adeptly portray officers that clearly have a great deal of respect for each other, for the public, and for their jobs.
Equally enjoyable are the vintage scenes of LA, with the 70s cars, mild traffic, unimproved lots, uncrowded public areas, grubby beer joints, greasy spoons, and depictions 70s fashions that are sometimes lovably corny, as in the portrayal of long-haired hippy troublemakers with their headbands and mod vests.
In spite of the crime and suffering depicted, the series conveys the comfort of simpler times when criminal behavior didn't seem so deeply engrained in American culture that two hardworking, upright officers couldn't make a difference.