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Reviews
Broke (2020)
Not too bad
Pauley Perrette is awful but everyone else works. Too bad if you took her character out you'd have to take out her son, too. Turning this into Javier's show would fix it a lot. I know it's been canceled, but just an idea if retooling was considered.
Arrested Development (2003)
Netflix seasons not up to par
You know all the usual with how they filmed season 4 so I won't go there with this review. We all know Ron Howard is a hard liberal so no surprise that he adds a few potshots at Donald Trump (the wall), but by the time I watched this season in 2018 the jokes were old. This show is built on what is current and that doesn't stand the test of time.
It's not bad, but it's not great.
The Wonderful World of Disney: Ruby Bridges (1998)
Stereotypes of the South
This was a really great movie up until the part where they acted like the north didn't have slaves. Perpetrating stereotypes is wrong. This movie is trying to teach a message and it puts this in there? Give me a break. I know this happened in Louisiana as to why the movie is set there, but that doesn't mean the north is automatically some great place where everyone got along.
I still enjoyed the movie. I really feel for Ruby and her struggle.
Mulaney (2014)
Not Good But Makes Me Laugh
This is an exact Seinfeld copy. It really is. The plots are not so great and the acting is sub par. I didn't like John Mulaney's acting in the pilot, but I've gotten used to it and it's endearing. What keeps me coming back is this show makes me laugh. It's funny. When that goes then I go. Elliot Gould's character is unnecessary. Martin short wickedly weird and fun. This feels more like a show that would do well on TBS rather than on FOX. The only two good things about this show really are John Mulaney and the comedy, which is his comedy, so basically just one good thing, John Mulaney. The plots are thin, but they're not unbearable and this show is better than most sitcoms out there these days.
Parenthood (2010)
Decent, but not great by any means of the imagination
I caught this show as it comes on after The Biggest Loser. It's okay, but it's got many faults. I don't think the acting is done very well. I can't get into the characters portrayed by Monica Potter, Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Sarah Ramos, and Bonnie Bedilia. The only actors on this show worth anything are Mae Whitman, Miles Heizer, and Dax Shephard. Everyone else is average.
It's basically a badly done soap opera masquerading as a prime time family drama. Nothing seems to connect. At the end of the first season Haddie's boyfriend cheated on her with her cousin, Amber. Amber was very upset about things and wanted to run away with her old boyfriend. Haddie and Amber were not speaking. Her immediate family was involved in a fundraiser for Autism and since Amber wasn't speaking to Haddie, Amber's immediate family didn't show up. Season two starts with Haddie and Amber, both single, as best friends. There was no resolution. Amber's life isn't in the dumps. She isn't having problems. She isn't acting like she wants to leave. Amber's well adjusted all of a sudden. It just came out of the blue and the whole boyfriend issue never happened. Season two acts like Sarah, Amber, and Drew have been living with her parents for a while rather than just having moved back home in the past year. Amber, the girl who wanted to go back to her old home last year, is perfectly fine this year. Haddie is learning to drive or is she? We get one episode where she has her learner's permit. Her mom starts teaching her to drive, but is almost deathly afraid when she's in the car with her. After that episode no more do we hear or see anything relating to Haddie and her permit, like it's all forgotten. Is that normal? I'm not asking for plot lines to revolve around this, but a mention of Haddie driving or wanting to drive would be nice to show that it is happening as it did in episode 2.1.
What really bugs me is how they deal with Max having Asperger's. Asperger's is a form of Autism, but is very low on the scale. The symptoms they have given the kid jive more with a higher scale of Autism, but they pass it off as just Asperger's. It's also done very stereotypically, like there's a checklist of the symptoms and they have to make sure they show him with every single one. The disease is badly handled on the show. I cringe every time they mention or deal with it. For someone who suffers from Asperger's it's embarrassing. If they want to give him Autism, give him Autism. Having Autism doesn't mean he has to be shut off from the world. He can still be aware, awake, and alive like he is. It's not always the stereotypical kid who lives only inside himself and doesn't pay attention to the outside world. That is a severe case. There are different levels and what Max is portrayed as having is past the level of Asperger's. I feel that this show does a disservice to the disease. Now, if I tell people I have Asperger's do I have to explain that is not as bad as what is portrayed in this show? It's making a mockery of the disease.
The way family interacts with each other just seems odd. No one calls to discuss problems. They show up at each other's houses or places of work thinking the other will be home or in the office or that they'll be welcome inside. I don't believe there is enough time in the day for people to just pop over at everyone's houses instead of just calling on the phone. Do they think it is acceptable to visit their siblings or in-laws at work all the time? I know that would not fly at any job I've ever had. In the last episode, Kristina drives over to see her mother-in-law, but leaves almost immediately as she finds "disturbing" news that Haddie has confided in her grandmother rather than her mother. She could have saved herself a lot of time if she just called to talk instead of having to visit. This is the 21st century. We have this new fangled invention called a phone so you can talk to people while in separate places. Hey, the kids have cell phones, so it's not too far out of reach to think the parents have access to a phone!
This show is okay to watch, but it's not something I could fall in love nor would I care if it was no longer on anymore.
Rent (2005)
Don't Listen to the Critics!
Don't listen to the critics. From what I gather, they went into the movie expecting a movie and this is clearly not that. This is a musical placed on the big screen. They wanted acting and dialogue, a whole bunch of dialogue, but this is not that. This is acting through singing. This is a musical. Walking out of the movie, my sister said she thought the movie was awesome. We went into the restroom and two girls of middle school age said "That movie was the longest I've ever seen and it was silly." OK, the movie was more than 2 hours long, but Titanic, Gone with the Wind, Lord of the Rings...they were longer (to name a few) and I bet they have seen at least one of those movies (care to guess which?). The movie was not silly at all, it's just that some people don't understand what a musical is. A musical isn't a bunch of people reciting lines to each other. It's people singing the story. You rarely see musicals get good reviews and in my opinion, it is because people are not looking at them for what they are. The music was great. It wasn't "I'm going to tell you the movie through these lyrics." They were real songs that ended up telling the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the musical. I wanted to see the play ever since I saw the ad in Newsweek so many years ago. I couldn't make it to NY to do so, so this is the next best thing (Oh, I still want to see the play, but if I never get to I will be happy knowing that I saw the movie). It has that certain quality that has me walking out of the theater wanting to buy the soundtrack and I will.