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rrodscott
Reviews
Queen of the Damned (2002)
Call it a derivative of Rice's novels
Alright, most of the bad reviews are linked to the fact that this movie isn't an attempt by a studio to duplicate a single Rice book on film. However, this film takes some of the more interesting aspects of two Rice books and uses those elements as the basis of a movie.
If someone made accurate movie representations of "The Vampire Lestat", and "Queen of the Damned," and then released a two-hour enhanced highlights feature that described both movies, this movie would be the highlights version.
Fans of the books will remember that Lestat was a kind of musical trickster who didn't agree with how he was described in IV, and this movie shows a completely different aspect of his character, while at the same time introducing viewers to some of the more interesting characters in Rice's Chronicles.
Aaliyah, Townsend, Moreau, Perez and especially Lena Olin all managed to use their screen time to create memorable and mostly genuine representations of Rice's characters, which wasn't easy in a movie that as as free-form as this one.
I think people who watch this movie will be drawn to Rice's books in an effort to better understand these characters, instead of the other way around, and that's not a bad thing.
Northern Exposure (1990)
Great way to experience the nineties
Although many viewers consider NE an eclectic show full of eccentric characters, people who experienced the eighties loved the show becauseit championed character, honesty, and acceptance of the differences among people The show celebrated how Jews, African Americans, Native Americans and people of all opinions were as valued by society and not regarded as weirdos. Remember when "greed (was) good", and Charles Bronson was a hero because he killed anyone who didn't look like Ronald Reagan. In the eighties, social Darwinism and trickle-down economics caused people to look for something more fulfilling than a life dedicated to money and conformity. In the nineties, The show helped me and millions of searchers to believe that being different wasn't just acceptable, it was valued. Maurice the homophobe learned to accept Ron and Eric as valued members of the community. This show, more than anything else, was the cure for the sleaze, hate and vapidity that plagued eighties' society. How else could a little replacement show become the phenomenon it was? The only problem I found with show was the writers' penchant for what I believed to be "ruralizing" the show by offering moose burgers the same way "The Beverly Hillbillies" ate possum and hawk eggs. I was shocked to discover while reading Guy Grieve's book years later that people who lived in the same area as the show's fictitious setting regularly ate moose and other wild meat because transport during the winter was impossible. Great acting. I felt that Corbin, Cullum, Corbet and Geary were made for their parts and were the real core of the show. Morrow and Turner could have been in half of each season's episodes and the rest could have been dedicated to Fleishman's mother who became a bird; Leonard who taught Joel how to connect with patients; Ed who cried (with me) when he met his father and spoke of how fortunate he was to be left with such loving people; Ruth Ann who decried her son's choice to abandon music to become a banker; Chris the seeker, who came to Alaska in search of Whitman and found the loving, supportive family that we all sought. This show never ended for me. I have all six seasons and whenever someone calls this ex- Marine a wimp for crying when I read poetry, or a sucker when I give money to a homeless person, or a wimp when I don't refer to Asians as "gooks", I can watch Maurice as he learns that he has a Korean son, or Chris when he gave me the idea to write a paper on the Hegelian Dialectic. This show has heart. Thank you to everyone involved for this gift.
Live Free or Die (2014)
interesting characters and great scenery
This show isn't a survivalist show. Live Free or Die refers to how the participants choose by different degrees to simplify their lives in a way that allows them to be free from debt and free from the anxiety caused by reliance on a consumer lifestyle. In 2008, the participants probably watched the world's economy almost collapse because lots of people bought lots of things that they really couldn't afford. Millions of people lost their jobs and all they owned because the bankers wouldn't loan unless we consumers (the government) agreed to assume the banks' "toxic assets." There isn't much difference between these people and more "normal" people who strive to be debt free by repairing a car instead of buying a new one, or raising a few chickens and putting in the equivalent of a victory garden. Fun, informative and entertaining.