skard42 Reviews

Ally McBeal: Angels and Blimps (1999) Season 2, Episode 13

A poignant tale

[9/10 · 20 February 2021]

This was a beautiful and poignant episode. It'd take any viewer with a heart on a emotional roller-coaster. That anyone could consider this even remotely anti-Christian, as the sole other reviewer did, is beyond ludicrous, just because it shows some people wrestling with their faith in the face of tragedy. Who wouldn't in their shoes? It actually has a serious pro-Christianity bias, given that there is an implicit assumption that if there is a deity at all, it's the one of the three Abrahamic faiths, and that the Christian church is the best representative of those three. And, while it's human to ask, "is there a god" in circumstances like those shown in this episode, the writers clearly lean towards the answer of yes.

There could be some fair criticism, arguably the episode was a bit maudlin and overly dramatic, I don't think so, but I could see someone thinking that. The actual trial represented, while it had its moments, was less interesting than most of the trials shown in other episodes, that wasn't a great subplot, which is why I rated it 9. Plus, it seemed like in that trial, the defense's closing arguments were first, which isn't how it normally goes (although it wouldn't strictly count as a goof, since possibly they simply didn't show the first closing argument, and when the ADA speaks, it could be the allowable rebuttal, not the actual closing argument). But only someone who was incredibly insecure about their religious beliefs, and couldn't stand to see anyone questioning their faith even under the toughest circumstances, could see even the slightest hint of anti-Christianity in this episode.

Category 7: The End of the World (2005)

Spend your time better - go watch some paint dry...

[1/10 · 6 November 2005]

Just terrible. A total waste of time. There were a surprising number of actors and actresses that I had previously thought were at least half-way decent, but for each of them, this is clearly their worst performance. Sadly, though, as bad as the acting was, it was the best thing this "movie" had going for it. This is doubly bad, as I am pretty sure the producers were banking on special effects to save the movie. But they were very disappointing, despite being the obvious focus of the film. In addition to their technical flaws, they fall into the recent trap of thinking that every big disaster scene must have some famous landmark in it. One or two can give you a sense of setting, constantly using landmarks gets really annoying. Worse, the special effects were poorly used, distracting one from the story, instead of adding to it. Which might have bothered me if the story wasn't so weak. The plot had holes you could drive a Mack truck through. And the worst part of the whole thing was the stupid lines they had. One prime example was one where a meteorologist was saying that he used to be able to count on certain things, like the fact that anything above a Category 5 storm was impossible. Well duh! The category 6 and 7 hurricanes that he talks about are impossible. You don't even have to know a thing about science beyond what the classifications are to know that. Category 5 hurricanes or tropical storms are anything with wind speeds above 155 mph. So no matter how strong the storm, it's still only Category 5 by definition. This is but one example of the bad dialog in the film. It's also an example of the science in the movie that is as bad as "science" in the presidential reports on global warming that this movie seems to be trying to satirize. An easy target, but it manages to fail miserably. Almost makes you wonder if they have the opposite agenda...

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Could have been great, but wasn't

[4/10 · 8 May 2005]

I saw this movie yesterday, and I was disappointed. It could have been a really good movie, but it fell quite short. There were flashes of brilliance, and the overall message and plot line were good, but the details bogged the movie down.

The fault lies in the directing and the editing. Many scenes, especially early in the movie were either trimmed too much, so that they jumped around in a very confusing way, or else they dragged on too long, adding unnecessary details, although mostly the former. The jumps in scenes came at bad places, too, with no transition at all. Worse still was some of the horrible lines in the dialog. They stretched plausibility and insulted the intelligence of the audience. Furthermore, I am really not a fan of the camera weaving around the until you feel queasy, get a head-ache, and have no idea what is happening. The rest of the battle scenes are actually quite good, but when they start moving the camera wildly, it detracted too much from them. Finally, the character development left quite a bit to be desired. Balian killed a priest just for making crude comments about his dead wife, but won't allow himself to be a part of the death of a man he knows deserves it, even though that death will benefit Balian and everyone he cares about greatly? This is one of many parts of the movie that stretch credulity too far. I don't need complete verisimilitude in my movies, but it would be nice to not make the stretches too obvious.

The flaws aren't completely fatal, but they are disappointing, considering that with a few better decisions, this could have been a truly good movie. The main geopolitical, ideological, religious, and social points are relatively good, and well expressed, although somewhat anachronistic for the time. Some bending of history is to be expected, it is Hollywood, after all. But, the premise of how the self-interest of the major players can impact the lives of "little people" is accurate. If only the flaws hadn't gotten in the way of those points...

Cold Creek Manor (2003)

very disappointing

[3/10 · 15 September 2003]

Put it this way, the best comment we heard from anyone as they left the pre-screening was, "it was alright, but I've seen better." "I am glad I didn't pay for this" was another comment, closer to the general view of it, and my personal opinion. Now, I have seen worse movies, but this is not worth spending money on. It is one of the most bland movies, which only has a couple scary moments, and those are not deep fears, but momentary startles, or the scene with snakes, and that one is scary only because of a personal fear of snakes. I do like Juliette Lewis alot, but I wish she would find movies that explore her talents better than this weak movie. Every plot move makes you either go duh, I saw that one coming a mile off, or huh, that makes no sense at all, why in the world would the character do that. Either of those does not a good movie make.