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musicmike702
Reviews
Knowing (2009)
I wish I had saved my $8.00
I wish I had a way to give this movie a rating that would show how awful I think this movie was. I ended up seeing it yesterday after a friend and I went to see "Taken" and it was sold out. I haven't gone to a theater to see a Nicolas Cage movie for a long time and now remember why. I truly detest his on-screen movie presence. The beginning of the movie, with the time-capsule premise, was intriguing--I've always liked the idea of time capsules and what gets found in them. This movie was a bad mix of awful acting, sloppy story-telling, mixed metaphors, really bad acting, pseudo-Christian propaganda, 2nd-rate CGI, and really awful acting--yes, I know I mentioned the acting several times but it was just that bad. Nicolas Cage gets increasingly difficult to watch the older he gets, using his stern face to express emotion and his "puppy dog" eyes to show his sadness. How an alcoholic atheist(cue the laughs) is converted to believing in something more than randomness and then willingly gives up his son just made me groan with disbelief. When I saw the house that this morose professor lived in, with it's peeling paint and wallpaper, I knew it was supposed to represent something but never did figure that part out. This is a bad mix of the "Left Behind" movies and every other bad science fiction movie in the last decade. Please, Nic, you've certainly made enough money in the last decade making bad movies...don't make any more.
Poirot: Cat Among the Pigeons (2008)
Very well done....
I don't think I've seen ANY of the Poirot series with David Suchet that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed, although some of them early on that were only an hour long left something to be desired in regards to production values and truncated stories. They were still fun to watch and Suchet's portrayal of Poirot is one of my favorites of all time.
I liked this one a lot...mostly faithful to the book which I have to admit I haven't read in years. The photography and set design were outstanding and it was great to see Harriet Walter again, and especially Susan Wooldridge, a favorite of mine since "Jewel in the Crown." I do admit that I miss Capt. Hasting, Miss Lemon and inspector Japp.
I sincerely hope that the rumors I hear of this series ending have no basis in truth.
Our Town (2003)
A great version of a play full of memories
41 years ago, in 1967, I was involved in a production of "Our Town" at my high school. I was a "student director" which meant I helped do all the menial work that the director didn't want to do. (That's a whole 'nother story).I also played one of the "men in the audience" and can still recite my lines to this day. I remember loving this play and have remembered with great memories the time we spent doing this. I have seen a few live versions of it over the years and remember seeing another filmed version with, I think, Eric Stoltz. I watched this tonight, borrowed from county library, and being damned near 60 years old now, memories of being involved in this play sort of flooded back over me. It's only now that I understood the whole speech that Emily gives in the cemetery (I don't think that's a spoiler?) and how it applies to life as we live it. The casting here was stellar, from Paul Newman on down; some of them as someone said earlier a little "actory" but after all it is a filmed version of a stage play. I loved this and highly recommend it.
Sparkling Cyanide (1983)
Not bad to kill a couple of hours..........
......but, wow, are there any movies or TV shows that are more dated nowadays(in 2008) than movies made in the 80's? Dated hair, clothing, home furnishings...I was cringing at the bad hairstyles and clothes in this movie. It truly has little to do with Agatha Christie but the title and while it wasn't bad to watch, I just can't figure out why the producers had to transport it to Pasadena in the early 80's. Was it cheaper to film? What it reminded me of was an episode of Murder She Wrote, with the same types of actors etc. I've read lots of Agatha Christie's writing although I have to admit it's been a while and I'm sure this would have been a better movie with more period correct settings. It was nice to see Deborah Raffin, though--she did some great work in her career and I'm sad not to see her doing much acting lately.
Murder in Three Acts (1986)
If you had cast Angela Lansbury in this movie................
........it could have passed as an episode of "Murder She Wrote" in the 80's. They could have made the movie with her in the lead and it would have played just Murder She wrote. Jessica solved mysteries sort of like Poirot does here and this movie was populated with B-movie TV stars like most of the Jessica Fletcher eps. Marian Mercer-Frances Lee McCain-Diana Muldaur and Dana Elcar.
What was the point of trying to update Poirot to the 80's? Were Agatha Christie's stories not elegant and well written enough that a movie could have been made of the original story instead of set in the 80's.
Tony Curtis? What a bad acting job--although I'm not sure he was really ever any better than this--sort of hamming it up as he did in most of his roles. Sorry, Tony. I'm sure you're a nice guy.
The only saving grace was watching Peter Ustinov do his thing--but sadly, doesn't make the worth watching. Good thing I got it from my local library and it didn't cost me any money.
Midsomer Murders: Shot at Dawn (2008)
In total disagreement
I have to disagree completely. I just watched this episode here in the US and thought it was as good as any. I liked the story although I think I guessed who the killer was early on. There was humor in it too, more than many of the eps I've seen have had. I hope MM goes on forever. I also love the production values that this series uses. Makes it almost like watching a movie for each episode. And being from the US and a car lover, I love watching of the interesting automobiles that we don't see here in the US, although some of them are imported here. I just wish some network here in the US would start running these from day one. I felt betrayed when Biography channel dropped it, along with Poirot.
Long Live Midsomer Murders.