TomRMD Reviews

It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown (1977 TV Short)

Not that bad, but not that good

[5/10 · 7 April 2008]

I'll hail for the traditionalists that love to see The Little Red-Haired Girl as an unseen entity. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this would have jettisoned half of the show's plot of Charlie Brown trying to impress his heart's desire. Pedestrian, but not bad.

The other half, concerning the football game, is where a golden opportunity for karmic payback was missed for comedic effect. Lucy, on the last play, decides to pull the ball away *yet again* from Charlie Brown trying for a field goal. Savvy football fans should know that that ball is *still* alive, in the case of this being a *fake* field goal. In Lucy's case, she would be the target of the defenders trying to sack *her* with the ball. My humble rewrite would have Lucy, in full panic, run up and down the field in sheer terror, and despite herself, still end up scoring and winning the game! Lucy the hero, after all this? Well, it *is* still a Charlie Brown world.

Open Water (2003)

At one point, I was rooting for the sharks

[22 November 2004]

New Millennium Yuppie Couple goes on a spur-of-the-moment scuba diving vacation and finds themselves neck deep (at least) in trouble.

This was scary enough to be seen on the big screen, but the bickering between the twosome proved to be tiring.

Will this have the same effect on the smaller screen? At 79 minutes, this could have been shortened to make an above-average "Outer Limits" episode on Showtime (especially with the gratuitous you-know-what, which will probably propel DVD sales, thank you, Blanchard Ryan), complete with the "Saki" twist ending.

But in the end, it's all about how long you remain sympathetic to the protagonists which will keep your interest to the end.

Fridays (1980–1982)

Oh my God! Khomeini Killed Fridays!

[26 July 2001]

Fridays was a wonderful late-night comedy show which filled the void left by SNL after the original cast and crew left. Each show had the potential to be outrageous, side-splitting, and memorable. Michael Richards' Reagan is the most dead-on satire during his presidency.

Remember how every show opened with a musical sketch? Remember Nat E. Dred? Remember Richard's "cool guy". This show deserves to resurface in full and uncut.

The only thing to kill this piece of 80's culture was another icon from the 80s: The Iranian Crisis. Koppel's nightly updates evolved into Nightline, which expanded into five nights a week. *sigh*

Farscape Undressed (2001 TV Movie)

Brilliant Primer or condensing 2 years into an hour

[10/10 · 9 July 2001]

My wife and I saw this previous to the intro of the 3rd season debut. Thanks to this primer, we were able to jump into the series without any confusion. There was another airing of this primer in Summer of 2001, but I am unsure if it was updated since the *last* viewing of 'Undressed'

"Undressed' should be a boilerplate for other long-running arc-driven series who want to capture new viewers.

Special Unit 2 (2001–2002)

Cheezy, Popcorn Fun!

[30 May 2001]

The cleaning store front to the SU2 Station is a tip o' the lid to "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", and that's how to consider this show, with the same tongue-in-cheek slyness at the detective/horror/paranormal genre. Indeed, this show succeeds where "The Lone Gunmen" fell flat.

The Public Eye (1992)

Wonderful Score, Definitely a Hidden Gem

[9/10 · 3 April 2001]

Movies should be able to transport you to the time and place without much effort. "The Public Eye" does so. I saw this in -- of all places -- a redeye bus trip from New York to DC, and this only enhanced the viewing enjoyment. This is definitely a movie to "get into the mood" for 40's noir, down to the gritty life of the City After Dark.

This one keeps getting overlooked as one of the best of the 90's. See this one.

Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1991)

Instead of a Dead Teen Flick, we have a Dead Priest Flick.

[8 November 1999]

Recommended only for MSTing, especially for fans of Nicole deBoer. Otherwise, this is your run-of-the-mill slasher film that (hopefully) wraps up the "dead on arrival" Prom Night Series. This one involves four teens on Prom Night who stumble across a vengeful zombie priest.