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Adam Ruins Everything: Adam Ruins Weight Loss (2017)
If Only We'd Listen
History is proving Adam correct, as more and more summaries of the American diet are proving that sugar, not fat, is the true poison causing mass obesity. This episode can steer the populace to other, more detailed documentaries of how the sugar lobby bought the endorsement of the U. S. government in 1980 and has become one of the most damaging villains to ever confront true science.
News of the World (2020)
Bring Your Binoculars
For a film with so many scenes which required translation (usually from Kiowa to English), it was irritating to have to read subtitles so tiny. Beyond that, many of them were displayed as white letters on white scenes. Otherwise the film was a 9.
Man Up (2015)
I'm Usually a Silent Viewer
... but this one popped me out of my shell 4 or 5 times! This was pretty much my ideal of how a rom-com should play out. A little cursing to make it realistic; not totally-unreasonable yet unexpected twists to surprise me (I've read that unisex public bathrooms are more evident now); and good acting to make it all plausible.
I would have given it 10 stars if I didn't have to watch with subtitles to understand the accents, etc.
The Great New Wonderful (2005)
I guess you had to live there.
This film seems to use 9/11 as clickbait. I was going to write that I couldn't determine what this had to do with the tragedy until another review reminded me of Jim Gaffigan's character, Sandie. And another said every shot of the skyline was a reminder. I haven't memorized the skyline, so I guess every reminder went over my head. This was a soap opera; most interesting scenes were Sandie running and a no-nipples sex scene.
9/11: One Day in America (2021)
Some New Footage
I haven't yet viewed all 6 episodes (NatGeo isn't necessarily presenting them in time order), but I'm sure the remaining scenes will still pull my tears. This series' best feature is that it has scenes I've never seen before, such as showing some documentary interviewees in shots from that day compared to today, and another escapee who was trapped outside an unbreakable window on street level.
My rating took away 1 point for some subtitles which couldn't be read against the background.
Frog Catcher (2020)
Confusing But Well-Acted
I chose to write my first film review here because this film had no others (as of February 2021). Frog Catcher was confusing to me due to the lead actress' costuming and quiet voice, although that voice was the first hint that she was playing a female character. It appears that playground children's chanting was supposed to set up the story, but I couldn't understand them. The too-brief prologue and subtitles were too small, although I was impressed that those subtitles were not in the usual frustrating white-on-white. I tried to resist, but in the first 5 minutes I had to resort to my television's subtitles and rewind to be able to understand the story.
The cast and sets all seemed to be professional, especially for a short. The last scene seemed out of place unless it was meant to be an off-angle soliloquy to the audience.
Weakest Link (2020)
Fluff and Repetition; Best seen on DVR with Fast Forward
Similarly to Wheel of Fortune, a fan of game shows soon learns what 70% of a show to skip. Bringing the whole WL show down to one player who probably had little right to get all the money takes away all my interest in who votes how. If the players would coordinate at all they would realize that the most money comes from banking more often when the (early) chains' money jumps are unchanging, and delaying banking in later, longer chains with their super payoffs. Until that happens, the host's endless admonitions about how much potential money was lost are repetitive fluff.
Other than that, good trivia questions being answered quickly is very entertaining.
H2O: The Molecule That Made Us (2020)
I wish more documentaries were like this one
Regardless of the beautiful content, I hope all documentary filmmakers will take a cue from this series and STOP using "fuzzy" subtitles. With the viewing experience in mind, these producers chose to place white lettering in shaded boxes, making them ALWAYS legible. Thank you, thank you!