Rich_Dee Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Long Distance Call (1961) Season 2, Episode 22

Finally, one act of selflessness after death

[8/10 · 24 May 2023]

The impression of the Grandma we have as we watch this, from the birthday party to her death within a few hours afterwards, is that she is selfish and not willing to share her love for her grandson Billy with his parents.

Unfortunately, she wants to continue this possessiveness even after she dies and uses the toy phone to convince Billy to join her on the other side.

She would have succeeded, but her son, Billy's dad, makes the point to her in the end, over the toy phone, that if she really loves her grandson, she would let him live out his life as a normal child would, who experiences school, sports, friends and everything else. His impassioned plea melts her cold heart, and she allows her grandson, through her power "from the twilight zone", to be resuscitated by the paramedics.

Hence the title of my review, which gives us a happy ending.

The Spencer Sisters (2023)

The parental disdain is hard to take

[8/10 · 26 February 2023]

I like the quick moving detective work between Darby and Victoria, and rubbing each other the wrong way seems to inspire them to discover the hidden truth,....buuuut...

Darby seems too entitled for my taste in her dealings with her mother. She almost seems irrational in her anger, and ungrateful for Victoria's help, financially and in the sleuth work. I wish the writers would create a bit more balance in Darby's character.

I like yesterday's episode BTW, because I can relate to it from my own experience. I develop Android apps, and I'm always careful to have well hidden backups of my code and to keep my home address private. I scratch my head when someone like the developers in this program do not take these precautions. It's their livelihood!

Madea's Witness Protection (2012)

Funny until the last 20 minutes

[4/10 · 30 September 2021]

I enjoyed the down to earth character of Madea up until the trip to New York. It was funny and nice to see the grounding effect "she" had on the family until then, but her over reacting to stupid things like the airport metal sensors, the pretensions of being one of the Jacksons at the hotel and the fuss about tipping $20 was just plainly annoying and made her look idiotic. I watched patiently the last 20 minutes just to see the happy ending.