Reviews

This is a very funny episode. The Wronko family parks next to Jim's trailer in Paradise Cove one morning. The family immediately starts annoying Jim, whether it's the teenage son riding his dirt bike or the family patriarch Carl Wronko running his outboard motor etc....

In one LOL scene, Mrs. Wronko asks Jim if their teenage daughter can use his bathroom. Mrs. Wronko tells her daughter, right in front of Jim no less, to be sure to "spray everywhere." By the way, a previous reviewer stated the mom told her to spray after she used the bathroom. That's incorrect, she's suppose to spray everywhere BEFORE she uses Jim's bathroom!

There's also some funny interaction between Jim and the actor George Wyner who plays an insurance agent. There is also some funny "CB" dialogue. Overall, just a very funny episode.

Basically, Jim becomes the unwitting subject of a behavioral psychology experiment conducted by Dr. Eric Albach played by the great Larry Linville. As an interesting aside, I'm pretty sure this is the first work Larry Linville did after leaving M*A*S*H.

Fortumately, Linville gets a lot of screen time and is really the costar in this episode. As was often the case, Linville plays the opposite of what he was like in real life. He plays a cold, unlikeable man to perfection. It's too bad Larry Linville never really got his due as an actor.

Some other highlights of this episode are two running gags. One of the gags is Rocky wants Jim to sit down and eat the fish dinner he prepared, but Jim is so preoccupied with the case he's on he keeps starting and stopping eating and eventually leaves to continue on the case. The other gag is Sgt. Becker wears a funny looking nose bandage throughout the episode.

This episode is another great example of the combo of humor and serious drama that is The Rockford Files. I like how this episode leads us one way, but then has a twist at the end.

It is obvious looking at this episode of Rockford, and Chases' other productions (Sopranos) (Northern Exposure) that Chase is interested in spirituality and philosophy. However, this episode of Rockford makes it clear he is not a "New Age" fan or a fan of any quick fix when it comes to spirituality. I'm certain Mr. Chase considers spiritual enlightenment to be a long arduous process, and there is no "Quickie Nirvana," and there are many spiritual frauds out there.

I found this episode to be very funny with all the New Age dialogue. However, the end of the show turns serious. The swami that the New Age character Sky Aquarian has been following ends up being a fraud. Furthermore, Sky ends up following a Christian fundamentalist TV evangelist who supposedly has the answers. In the end, Jim tries one last time to talk some sense into Sky, but to no avail.

This is the only episode I know of where the audience gets a glimpse into Jim's spiritual beliefs. Sky asks Jim if he is familiar with "Jesus." Jim states he has been for quite some time, but does not elaborate. I think Jim via David Chase thinks spirituality has to fit into a pragmatic framework to be valid.

This episode starts out with a man suspended in a pool wearing a bizarre looking suit. The suit makes him look otherworldly, really. It was kind of scary when they took the mask off him. Some of the highlights are Khigh Dhiegh playing the evil Wo Fat. He basically reprises his role of Dr. Yen Lo from The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

Some other interesting aspects of the pilot are when McGarret assaults one "intelligence officer" and threatens another. Moreover, McGarret makes out with a hippie Hawaiin college girl on the beach!

The pilot also has a James Bond feel to it with a spy story and McGarret as the "super agent" and Khigh Dhiegh as the super villain. There is also some interesting camera work including utilizing a mirror to create a fish eye lens effect.

A corporate private investigations firm named Waterbury is trying to put the competition in the Los Angeles area out of business by setting them up resulting in their PI licenses being yanked. Fellow PI Billy Merrihew played by Cleavon Little comes to Jim for Help. Furthermore, fellow PIs Vern St. Cloud and Marvin A. Potemkin, played by Simon Oakland and Val Bisoglio respectively, also seek Jim's help.

What really stands out in this episode is the humor, in particular Simon Oakland as Vern St. Cloud. Vern's dialogue is very funny. His scenes where he is forced to work at a shoe store because he lost his PI license are a highlight. Another highlight is a car chase between Jim and his Pontiac Firebird, and a Corvette.

Some highlights include a funny scene with Jim talking to the very attractive Camilla Sparv (Evelyn Stoneman / Maggie Donnegan) with Jim in the guise of an art expert. Jim's irritated banter with William Daniels (Thomas Caine) is also pretty funny. A young Ron Silver (Ted Haller) makes a fine appearance as an art friend of Jim. There's a scene at the police station where Becker is chagrined to be seen with Jim because the other cops don't like Jim. Jim threatens not to leave the station until Becker tells him the information he wants to know. Becker then whispers the information to Jim who thanks him and loudly states his goodbyes to his good buddy Dennis Becker for all the cops to hear.

Roy's house is being fumigated so he spends the night at John's apartment,this results in John and Roy doing a lot of arguing over each other's personal habits. The guys respond to a car fire and John singes his leg. A drunk driver hits the ambulance Roy is riding in. However, I think some of the highlights of this one include a fire in an abandoned refinery. I always enjoy the scenes in Emergency that involve industrial areas. Jack Garner, James Garner's brother makes an appearance as a member of a poker game. Furthermore, one of the players has a heart attack and will not leave the game unless John agrees to stay and play his hand.

Sergeant Major Zack Carey is in a local bar when a corrupt Deputy Sheriff starts slapping around a prostitute. The Sergeant comes to her defense and ends up beating up the deputy. The Sheriff sees this as a reflection on him and attempts to persecute Carey. When Carey stands up to the Sheriff, the Sheriff plants drugs on Carey's son and tells Carey he will send his son to a prison camp if the Sergeant Major does not give him a large sum of money in a payoff. Sergeant Carey pays him off, but the Sheriff reneges, takes the money and sends the Sergeant's son to the prison camp. The Sheriff also hints that Carey's son will be raped in the camp. The Sergeant Major has had enough and takes off in his restored Sherman Tank in order to break his son out of the camp and cross the state line so he can get fair justice.

This is a strange movie. It has some very dark moments yet it has some laugh out loud moments due to some very funny dialogue. The film has a rousing, silly ending.

It's hard not to like any movie with the great James Garner in it. G.D. Spradling is very good as the evil Sheriff. The WWII era Sherman Tank is also fun to watch, especially when the Sergeant Major destroys the Sheriff's office.

The Rockford files returns after a fourteen year absence. I was not disappointed. The audience gets to see the same great casting and characters that made Rockford Files a great show. Notably absent however are Gretchen Corbett as Beth Davenport and Noah Beery Jr. as Joseph "Rocky" Rockford. Joanna Cassidy takes over as Jim Rockford's lawyer and now ex-wife. I don't know why Gretchen Corbett didn't reprise her role, but Cassidy gave a solid performance. Unfortunately, Noah Beery was not able to appear either. However, Stuart Margolin returns as Angel Martin and is his usual hilarious self.

"I Still Love LA" covers, in an oblique way, the Menendez Brothers case. Furthermore, it deals with the Rodney King Riots, California wild fires, LA carjackings, and finally earthquakes. However, through it all, Jim Rockford and James Garner, still love LA.

Jim gets into another small town jam. Being this is a character driven show does the plot really matter that much? As usual, the characters and the acting are top notch. Some of the highlights are an attractive (nice mid-riff)young hotel clerk (Rita) played by Smith Wordes. There is a very nice stunt near the end of the show when Jim rigs up a cable to slice the top of a police car off! I like how the RockFord Files portrays a good share of law enforcement and the criminal justice system as being corrupt. This gives the show a more realistic feel. Having lived in a rural area myself, the small town portrayals are also pretty accurate!

A family of murderous hillbillies come to Hawaii and take off where they left off back on the mainland. I found this one to be something of a dark horror comedy. Slim Pickens is hilarious as the patriarch of the fiendish Fergusson family. Barbara Baxley is his equal playing his wife. An interesting twist, the Fergusson's young daughter who is quiet, simple, and stays to herself. However, she does get the family caught when she steals the cover of a hotel phone book because she likes the design on the cover. A highlight of "One Big Happy Family" is when they're in McGarret's office and he asks the family how they feel about killing 150 people. Sadie, played by Barbara Baxley states, "It don't count because they wasn't kin," and "we never stole noth'in cuz they was already dead." Wow, I guess the Fergusson's have morals!

Andy Griffth is the patriarch of a grifter family that accidentally rips off the mob. A very interesting episode that is funny, but also has a well played bad guy. A Cadillac is blown up in impressive fashion in this one. A door is given the St. Valentine's Day massacre treatment. The child actor also did a solid job playing the Lovejoy's pride and joy. I like how you could tell that McGarret liked the Lovejoys even though they are crooks.I saw this episode for the first time today on MeTV and it's an episode I could watch over and over again.

Andy Griffith in the 1970s, Joyce Van Patten playing his wife, an episode with some real humor, gotta love it.

I will start out writing that I never read the books or watched the original movie. I'm writing this based just on the film that was presented and nothing else. That being stated, this film was a tedious, convoluted mess of nonsense, graphic rape-torture, and mostly stereotyped uninspired casting.

I am not going to give a detailed synopsis, you can get that elsewhere. All I will say is the plot has something to do with an industrialist who hires Daniel Craig to find out who killed his niece.

The graphic rape-torture scenes make you feel like you are watching a snuff film. The casting of the rapist was almost laughable. A fat, creepy looking Yorick van Wageningen plays the rapist. The reality is rapists look like everyone else. I'm surprised he did not have an eye patch and a scar on his face.

Another point, what predator (Wageningen) would pick a would be victim who he knows has a history of unpredictability, violence, and works for a security company! Totally unrealistic.

I really do not understand the people who love this film. I think their positive reviews say more about them then it does the movie....

Some young teens in 1979 America are making a Super 8 film for a contest. They decide to utilize a passing train as background for their picture. The train is purposely derailed. One of the teens finds a strange cube like object amid the wreckage and strange things start happening.

There is a subplot of one of the character's mother dying in an industrial accident, and the resulting conflict between the boy and his father and the man the father blames. The subplot slows the film down slightly, but not enough to distract from the main story.

The film has many facets. A nostalgic look at the late 1970s, an adventure story, a mystery, all perfectly blended together. The film has some elements of Spielberg's past films, such as, outside authorities invading small town America, the raucous camaraderie of young teenagers, and a persecuted alien who wants to go home. So, leave any cynicism at the door, sit back and enjoy a good film.

Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) becomes so lonely in his own little world that under a delusion he orders a high-priced sex doll that becomes his "girlfriend." While at first glance this sounds like a raunchy sex-farce, it is anything but. Lars treats his new latex girlfriend as he would a real girl, because to him she is real.

His family and the town's folk wonder what to do about this new situation with Lars. Do they reject Lars and his new girlfriend, or do they accept the new situation and let it take its course? Happily, they take the "What would Jesus do" course and let the situation play out.

Bianca, the latex Real-Doll, ends-up not only being considered real by Lars, but becomes personified by the people of the town! In a sense, Bianca is real, for she has taken on the qualities of Lars and has become a part of Lars.

Lars and the Real Girl is a touching, original film that also has plenty of laughs. Furthermore, if you live in the North, you will get some extra satisfaction from this film. The cold, snowy winter is almost a character in itself.

The basic plot of the film is that there are monsters on the loose trying to kill everyone. However, there is so much more to this film. The deeper meaning of the film is fear.

This film is very allegorical. I would argue that the grocery store and the town are a microcosm of America. The monsters represent terrorists. Mrs. Carmody represents conservative republican fundamentalist Christians. David Drayton represents the liberal Hollywood elite. The conflict between Mrs. Carmody's group and David Drayton's group represents the divide in America between the red states and blue states. Mrs. Carmody tries to sacrifice David Drayton's son. This represents young soldiers being "sacrificed" for the war on terror. The symbolism in this film goes on....

The actors are excellent and unknown to most people. This helps the viewers lose themselves in the film. People will either love or hate the ending. I like the ending because I think it is in keeping with the film's message of what fear can do to people. I also think it symbolizes how America may destroy itself with fear. As President Roosevelt stated, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

The movie is how the Simpsons episodes are now. Only worse. You get to see Homer give the "finger" and hear Marge say "Goddamn." Big deal.

I am a huge fan of the first five years of The Simpsons. However, the last five years have been awful. The series should have ended years ago. Jerry Seinfeld is right about quitting when you are on top. I know The Simpsons is a money train, but give me a break.

I think it boils down to if you are a huge fan of the first five years of The Simpsons you will hate this movie, if you are a huge fan of the last five years of The Simpsons you will like the movie. Or, in other words, if you have a simplistic sense of humor you will like this movie. For example, if you like America's Funniest Home Videos you will probably like the movie.

I thought the original Clerks was very good. I also liked Mall Rats quite a bit. However, Clerks II is terrible. The only funny scene of the movie was the "porch monkey" scene where Randall Graves can't seem to understand why the term porch monkey is offensive. Some parts of the movie are actually stomach turning. Clerks II is actually more effective as a drama! I don't know what the deal is. Kevin Smith seems to think Clerks II should win Best Picture at the Oscars or something?! I actually heard him say this is the best movie he's ever made! Furthermore, Smith seems to be on mission to intimidate any film critic who doesn't like Clerks II.