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Reviews
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 (2023)
Scenery
Although it is nice to see many of the same characters again, this movie is more about enjoying the Greek scenery and coast. There's not much of a plot to hang it together, other than a visit to the Greek town where the patriarch came from. I did enjoy the scene where they visited the nude beach. There are a lot of pointless elements that seem to distract from the overall story. I am sure that they were simply added as storyline fillers. Greece is all about olive trees, and they showed plenty of those, including the oldest one on the island. Unfortunately, they did not spend any time at the Parthenon or other major tourist attractions.
Touched by an Angel: The Show Must Not Go On (2003)
Monica is missing
I can see signs of really great directing in this episode. I guess the whole point of this was to be able to have a solo by Tess. I have watched every episode of "Touched by an Angel"!
Some of them two or three times. I mainly like to watch it because of the smiles by Monica. It does make me wonder why they use such a variety of different actors to accomplish the dramatic purposes. Also finishing with the 42nd St., Broadway hit was a very poor ending. It was a good tie-inn at the end to show that they were soon staging "Jack and the Beanstalk". Most community musical theaters will have separate performances by children and teenagers. This was where the great direction and acting occurred - when Wally talked about his first performance in the afore-mentioned theater production.
All the Light We Cannot See (2023)
Amazing moviemaking!
A wonderful story with no end in plot twists. Once I started watching, I could not stop. I really enjoyed this movie and do not understand the negative reviews. I've not read the book, but I found myself looking up the siege of Saint Mallow. Afterwards the worst scenes were very realistic and not cheap. The story often told and flashbacks flowed well, and often felt the jeopardy of the two main characters, sometimes Netflix does not produce excellent material, but this was excellent. The viewer reviews are much stronger than the critic reviews which says it all I hope to see more like this from Netflix in the future.
Touched by an Angel: The Christmas Watch (2002)
My favorite episode of all.
This one has always touched my heart, because of the acting and sincerity by Austin Pendleton. This was a great ensemble performance, and had all four of the Angels in this episode. Since this was one of the few episodes to touch on the 9/11 tragedy, it gave face to the suffering by one of the families that suffered loss. Overall, it was a very authentic reproduction of a watch repair and clock facility. Very few episodes actually have Monica embracing someone to give them love which is what makes this episode special. There is such a joyous feeling, when the young boy sits on Austin Pendleton's characters' lap, and brings the episode to a close.
Touched by an Angel: The Feather (1995)
Angel of joy
This is an amazing continuation of the episode from season one, where Monica was able to fly over the congregation as a bright angel. In this episode, everyone is talking about what a miraculous event they had experienced, and Joey, in particular, was holding a feather from the dove that flew away at the end of that episode. The episode in season one was the only one where an entire flock of doves left at the end of the episode. Watching Monica (as an angel) fly over the congregation with the hallelujah chorus playing, left me with tears of joy streaming from my eyes, just like the con artist in this episode referred to the feelings that he had, even though he was not present for the time of the miracle on Christmas Eve the night before. I really like the way they place these Christmas episodes right at the week of Christmas each time.
Touched by an Angel: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (1997)
Angel of joy
This is an amazing continuation of the episode from season one, where Monica was able to fly over the congregation as a bright angel. In this episode, everyone is talking about what a miraculous event they had experienced, and Joey, in particular, was holding a feather from the dove that flew away at the end of that episode. The episode in season one was the only one where an entire flock of doves left at the end of the episode. Watching Monica (as an angel) fly over the congregation with the hallelujah chorus playing, left me with tears of joy streaming from my eyes, just like the con artist in this episode, referred to the feelings that he had, even though he was not present for the time of the miracle on Christmas Eve the night before. I really like the way they place these Christmas episodes right at the week of Christmas each time.
The Noel Diary (2022)
A dog named Ava
A romantic drama wrapped around "It's a Wonderful Life". You can see that the concept of him being a lonely writer comes from the fact that his dad is also alone in life. I especially like the fact that his dad is a social worker at the VA. This movie is a great way to spend a chilly day wrapped in an electric blanket. It is establishes very soon at the beginning that he has lost his brother. The acting by all of the actors and actresses was superb and made it a very believable story. It was a very good mix of simulated piano playing and singing which appeared very real. This was a very great feel-good movie for the Christmas season.
Touched by an Angel: My Dinner with Andrew (1997)
Believable
I watch "Touched by an Angel" every morning as my morning devotional. I have watched almost all of the episodes and this one seems to be the most inspiring, because it describes belief that all things are the work of God and not for individual credit by the ones that describe his works. This episode has particularly great acting by all involved, especially at the dinner, and leaves you surprised at the end as to the outcome. If you like to believe in angels being able to influence your life, then this is the episode to watch. It is not only Faith inspiring, but also faithful to the concept of divine creation.
Touched by an Angel: Operation Smile (1995)
Their art great mysteries in the world that we don't understand, only God does.
An outstanding episode directed by Nancy Malone with a great performance by the actress Terumi Matthews. The young girl with the cleft palette, Emily, played by Kelsi Copier also appears in the episode "The Sky is falling" where she plays a character named Amy. This is one of the rare episodes where supernatural events caused by the angels are presented. Monica causes gates to appear and then disappear to block the exit of the pick up truck. Tess causes the appearance of the hot air balloon in the middle of the field and then knows how to fly it to Nashville. Since "Touched by an Angel" comes on two times each morning, it is my daily devotional.
Touched by an Angel: The Sky Is Falling (1996)
Fools Rush in where angels fear to tread.
The young girl Amy (not Penny) is the same young actress that plays the child with a cleft lip named Emily in the episode "operation smile". I watch every episode very carefully to notice every aspect so that I can write good reviews. The local station that plays these episodes back to back every day has put them out of order in order to play the Halloween related episodes at the same time. I am not sure why the one related to the Orson Welles radio broadcast qualifies other than the Orson Welles radio broadcast was broadcast on Halloween night in 1938. I watch "Touched by an Angel" as my daily devotional but this particular episode was not as inspiring as all of the other episodes.
Touched by an Angel: Bringer of Light (2001)
The best episode of all!
Great acting by all. Notice the small appearance by Mena Suvari, who went on the star in "American Beauty". A truly gifted performance by Amanda Fuller who genuinely instills feeling into her character's turmoil. Her persistence in proving God allows her to bring peace to her family. It is nice to see ANDREW in an episode where death is not present in the existing moment. This is one of the few times where Monica is able to perform a true miracle for the people present. It is always inspiring to see the glow of the halo produced at the end of the show which causes a profuse flood of tears every time.
Touched by an Angel: An Unexpected Snow (1994)
God and marriage.
Tremendous acting by two talented actresses add depth to the usual angel story. There didn't seem to be any reason for the presence of Adam for the silly sub plot of the turkey.
Touched by an Angel: As It Is in Heaven (2003)
Heaven is real
The best of all of the "Touched by an Angel" episodes thanks to wonderful performances by everyone involved. It is very emotionally impactful to think that heaven is a place just like what we have dreamed.
Touched by an Angel: Lady of the Lake (1998)
Positive uplifting story again
This episode has a variety of tremendous performances by the supporting cast. Kathy Buckley and John McMartin were stellar. I especially liked the different way that they presented Monica when she became an angel at the end.
Ambulance (2022)
Not worth watching.
There was no semblance of a decent plot and relied entirely on unrelated action sequences in the car chases to provide some semblance of continuity. I walked out.
Father Stu (2022)
Impressive movie making by a stellar cast and first time Director
An incredible directing /editing job by Rosalind Rossi's as her first directorial debut. Mark Wahlberg as Father Stuart "Stu" Long, Jacki Weaver as Kathleen Long, Mel Gibson as Bill Long, and especially Teresa Ruiz as Carmen with Malcolm McDowell adding great weight to the production. I was especially impressed by the editing sequence during the injury to Mark Wahlberg. I was not enjoying the rude and foul behavior by his character at the beginning but by the conclusion of the film I was extremely impressed and glad that I sat through the entire movie without stop.
The 355 (2022)
Action deficient
Ridiculously slow during most of the movie with an unbelievable plot. If you're looking for a good action movie and this is not one. I actually fell asleep during to the very slow portions.
West Side Story (2021)
Amazing movie making!
Watching the craneshots and overhead lighting cinematography was simply amazing. I had not seen the original 1961 version so I obtained the DVD and watched it several times. It gave me a great appreciation for the fantastic dancing by Rita Moreno in the performance of "America". Ariana DeBose gave a similarly spectacular performance in this movie. Rita Moreno did not want to do a cameo but she was spectacular again with her solo.
Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers (2021)
Music or movie?
After about an hour of dialogue interspersed with boring songs I almost walked out. When I read one of the reviews that this show was 2/3 songs and 1/3 episode of The Chosen I decided to stay. The children's choir with strings was delightful.
Encanto (2021)
Miracle of Disney Animation
Such joy and happy expressions. The songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda are genius creations of Latin rhythms. A wonderful movie with delightful colors and both realistic human and animal characterizations through and through.
Under the Skin (2013)
Why?
Crazy pointless movie unless you are just watching it to see the nudity of Scarlett Johansson. I only watched it on DVD from the library because it was a science fiction movie and I had no idea about the content. It simply progressed entirely too slowly for my taste to get up to the end of the movie.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Classic Sergio Leone approach
Slow moving but can be appreciated after several viewings.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Feel good star vehicle
You can see why Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were so good in La La Land. The chemistry is definitely apparent between them. Julianne Moore and Steve Carrel are essential to this movie but paled in comparison to Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The coincidence with Marisa Tomei is a little bit unusual to be believable.
Behaving Badly (2014)
It ends with the character up-chucking. That is how I felt after having endured the entire movie.
This is one of the most absurd movies that I have ever sat through. I cannot believe what a waste of top talent went into this movie. I do not see what they possibly could've seen that was redeeming in the screenplay. This is for pre-adolescent teens who just want to see debauchery.
Big Kill (2019)
Standard western with filler
A spoof of westerns. "Silverado" knock-off without the originality or good screenwriting. Elements of the script pulled from "Rustler Rhapsody" and "Rango".