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Diagnosis Murder: Rear Windows '98 (1998)
WRITER HAD THE MAIN CHARACTERS ACTING STUPID
I usually like Diagnosis murder but this episode had the detectives yelling about the murder in a crowded public restaurant and broadcasting their next move. One of them is a police lieutenant who would never do that. Naturally the serial killer was sitting at one of the tables listening. Then the doctor-detective who the killer has been stalking and terrorizing happily works alone in her dark basement office after hours and leaves her door wide open - with her back to the door. I understand that this was written in 1998 when people were just learning about the internet but there's no excuse for making your lead characters look like idiots. Hard to care about a murder mystery when the characters are too stupid to live.
Veronica Mars (2004)
Season 4, ZERO stars, season 1-3 and movie, TEN stars.
SPOILER ALERT
I first watched Veronica Mars in reruns and loved it! I loved the humor, intelligence & integrity of Veronica & her Dad, her angst-filled relationship with Logan, her friendships with Mac & Wallace, the quirky, original guest characters, the California beach town setting, the class warfare, the way the plots explored important issues like child abuse, rape, corrupt politicians and addiction without being preachy or saccharine. Did I mention I loved the humor? As a mystery fan, I especially loved the complex plots and the fact that I almost never guessed who the perp was before the big reveal.
When I heard last week that a Season 4 was being released I bought the first 3 seasons on DVD and binge watched them and the movie (also great) as prep for watching Season 4. I signed up for a free preview month of HULU just to see VM season 4 and figured I'd keep up the subscription afterwards since it's only about $5/month. Now I plan to unsubscribe. If Hulu convinces RT to bring back Logan from the dead (and there are many possible ways to do this) I'll gladly subscribe again.
Killing off Logan was completely unnecessary. It ruined Veronica Mars for me. I won't even enjoy rewatching the old episodes because I know what's coming. If Rob Thomas wanted to create a sexier, darker more violent "Murder She Wrote" character (as he said in one interview), why didn't he do a spinoff and have V's evil twin or cousin play the lead? He could have hired some writers who aren't bored to continue the original VM based in Neptuen, with Veronica's friends, family and most importantly Logan. (More work for Kristen Bell who would get to play both characters!)
After watching the Director's commentary on the DVD of episodes 1 to 3, I think Rob Thomas doesn't really consider women as people. He doesn't seem to like or respect them. Maybe it's just that he doesn't notice them except as scene fillers. He lavished praise on all the male actors (even the 2ndary characters) and never once praised a woman - except KB. He did mention that the "little girl" in a scene with Logan was a "great little actress". But he didn't bother to mention her name. In fact whenever he described a scene that contained a female actor he couldn't seem to remember their names (with the exception of Kristen Bell). Once he said "the blond in that scene" then turned to his sidekick and asked "what was her name? Mindy? Cindy?" Of course he managed to mention the names of all the male actors over and over and over again. (BTW, maybe he should have included one of the female directors or writers in the commentary session. She might have been able to mention a few highlights from the females in the cast.)
I was struck by RT's attitude toward women in the Director's commentary because he did so well with the Veronica Mars character. How could he write such a strong, intelligent, complex woman and then ignore all of the other women on the show? Did he consider Veronica an exception? Did he write Veronica as a man in a woman's body? When he picked out his favorite scenes the parts he loved were all the men. Favorite guest stars? All men. Was it that he didn't bother writing compelling scenes for female guest stars? If none of the females did any exceptional work, who directed them? Rob? Couldn't he find anything in the performances of Amanda Seyfried, Alyson Hannigan, Tina Majorina, Carisma Carpenter, Erica Gimpel, Krysten Ritter, Lisa Rinna, Laura San Giacomo, Jane Lynch, Lucy Lawless, Joey Lauren Adams - all experienced, accomplished actresses who other producers and directors thought enough of to hire and star in hundreds of tv shows & movies. But Rob Thomas didn't notice them.
So, no, I won't be watching any more Rob Thomas shows. Thank god for "Big Little Lies". I'm going to go binge watch that now with my 7 day free Amazon/HBO subscription.
Christmas Land (2015)
This movie is an insult to Hallmark movie lovers
I couldn't believe the "heroine" who is supposedly a smart, sophisticated business woman would sign a contract without reading it. And then her lawyer and new love interest who was supposedly #1 in his class, couldn't figure out a way to get her out of the contract? In most states you have 3 days to rescind after signing. Are we supposed to root for these two "too stupid to live" characters? I looked up the writer so I would know not to watch any more of her movies. I see that, until she wrote this one, she was an editor & director-not a writer. She may do better with more practice but this one is a loser. there are so many good Hallmark movies, please stop showing this one.