michael1_4 Reviews

The Twilight Zone: The Mind and the Matter (1961) Season 2, Episode 27

One of the weaker episodes

[1/10 · 27 June 2018]

Not one of my favorites. The main character seems to just waste his superpower of being able to wish anything to happen. He wishes all humans to cease to exist except him. He continues to go to work though. Who would do that? Also, it seems he can wish any configuration of people so why not just make himself the only man in the world surrounded by just attractive women for instance? Instead he finally gets lonely and wishes for men and women that just look like him. Once again this makes no sense. Like I said one of my least favorite episodes because he just does dumb things that no one with that power would ever do.

ATM (I) (2012)

You could drive a car through the holes in this plot

[2/10 · 21 July 2014]

This whole movie doesn't make sense. First they go to an ATM out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of winter and decide to park far away from the ATM kiosk even though there are no other cars in the parking lot. Second, you have three people, 2 guys and one girl, all of them in their 20's--my guess in the best shape they will ever be in--afraid of one guy standing outside. At one point the bad guy goes in the back of the kiosk to fiddle with something where he can't see them. You can't tell me three people in their 20's couldn't either overpower one guy, or run to the car when the guy is behind the kiosk. Did I mention the guy is dressed in a big parka? Not exactly easy to run in, while the three victims are dressed in regular clothes. There are many other parts in the movie where the victims do incredibly stupid things such as offering the bad guy $500 and some earrings thinking he will let them go but this is after they have witnessed him kill some bystander that wandered into the parking lot. There's more but you get the idea.

Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005)

Not my taste but a lot of people liked it

[19 May 2010]

To be honest I always found the Ray character to be too wimpy to really relate to. I only watched the show when it was on and I couldn't turn it off like if I was at someone else's house or something like that and it was on in the background. So basically I probably have only seen maybe parts of 5 or 6 episodes. I'm surprised none of the other comments mentioned this though. The guy (Ray) never stood up for himself and was always pushed around by his wife for the entire show's run. I guess verbal abuse is funny to a lot of people. It definitely did well with middle America though because it was on for many years. Just not my taste. Actually Family Guy busted on the show at least once for exactly what I'm referring to.

Flannel Pajamas (2006)

Not bad, not great

[5/10 · 16 October 2007]

This movie tries and I liked it for that. I just don't think it succeeded. For instance one of my favorite movies of this type is Before Sunrise (and Before Sunset by the way) so I'm not turned off by talky relationship movies, but this one just doesn't seem to go anywhere. Both characters are authentic, although both a little strange. Usually strange is good in movies because it makes the characters unique and sometimes as the viewer you also share one of the characters strange quirks and that makes you identify with them, although here they are just strange for the sake of being strange I think. I wasn't even turned off that it didn't have a happy ending because that is fine as long as there's something to be taken away, some piece of knowledge or understanding I guess you could say, but this movie had neither. Both characters seemed interesting enough, just in search of a plot. He's careful with his money, but because of that has some, she's not responsible with hers, and because of that is broke. (She also doesn't seem real appreciative when he pays for her debts which made me not like her too much). He seems like a nice enough logical guy but like her mother says in one scene he is too sensitive. She goes against her friend's advice and marries him which made me like her more because she seemed to have a mind of her own, but then half way through the movie seems to lose all interest in him and decides to not to try and work it out. In the end he is left in the apartment by himself and really nothing is learned here for either of them. Like I said they were both interesting enough, just the plot was no good.

Hard Candy (2005)

Overall well done, but a few holes in the plot

[7/10 · 1 October 2006]

Spoiler warning This was a very riveting movie and it was done well.

There were a few times though that he had chances to escape or to kill her and for some reason doesn't. That always annoys me when the characters do things that I don't believe they would actually do and there's a few of those times in this movie. The first time is when he has the gun but he is still strapped to the chair. Instead of backing up to a wall and waiting for her to come in to the bedroom where he would have a clear shot, he decides to wheel himself out into the open of the living room (where she could be hiding anywhere) and call out her name. Why would he do that? Also in the end scene, if he is going to kill himself anyway wouldn't he take her with him? He has about 5 straight minutes on the roof where he can grab her and kill her (at one point she is leaning on him with no defense) and then he could kill himself after if he thought that was the best option, but instead he kills himself without touching her. It made no sense. He's supposed to be a pedophile after all, if he kills her then he is a murderer too, but either way he's going to jail for a very long time so why wouldn't he kill her and then kill himself? That made no sense to me.

Like I said it was done well in that it does keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the movie, and I would recommend it just for that, but it does annoy me when characters do things that I don't believe any person would ever do. It reminds me of all the horror movies where the person is being chased by some slasher type but then falls on the ground a hundred times and you wonder why would a person who seems to be able to walk and run normally in every day life all of a sudden become a stumbling fool when chased by a slow moving person in a hockey mask.

The acting was very good by both main actors.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)

Interesting portrayal of the late 1970s bar scene

[7/10 · 21 June 2006]

This was an interesting movie and it shows how the world has changed in the last 30 years. The attitudes (between men and women, gays and straights), the language used back then, the social atmosphere (bar scene) of the late 1970s, even the financial differences--she's able to afford an apartment in Manhattan on a teachers salary! (even though it has roaches this still isn't possible in 2006). All of these things made the movie interesting for me. I also imagine it must have been a very shocking movie back then. I was 8 years old when it came out so I didn't see it in the theater but I would have liked to see it in a theater just to see how people took it back then. I would have liked to walk out of the theater and hear the conversations going on as people walked to their cars. Did people like it back then? Did they think it was shocking? Did they think it accurately portrayed a type of person they maybe knew or were themselves back then? Also, Diane Keaton was very good in it and it's very interesting to see a young Richard Gere and Tom Berenger when their careers were just beginning.

Stay (I) (2005)

Interesting until the end

[6/10 · 11 May 2006]

I rented this movie last night. It was good until the ending I felt. I think the ending was a letdown really. It reminded me of those movies where you get really involved in the plot and then in the last scene you find out it was all a dream. I didn't quite get why there were all these doubles in the film or why all of McGregor's clothes don't fit. I just read in the movie trivia that his clothes don't fit because he was bending down when the guy in the crash saw him and I can only make a guess that maybe all the doubles are there because he hadn't seen enough people in the last few minutes of his life to make a whole world so he had to keep using the same people, but I kind of thought these were cheap tricks. Kind of like the writer or director saying, "look what I can do". Like I said it was really interesting until the end, but in the end I felt ripped off.

The Lonely Guy (1984)

Very funny movie

[8/10 · 23 November 2005]

This was a very funny movie and my favorite Steve Martin movie. This movie was from when Steve Martin still made funny movies (before he started playing PG rated sappy father characters). Charles Grodin was very good in it also. I haven't seen the movie in quite some time, but even after all this time when I think about the scene with the cardboard celebrities it makes me laugh. Also, the scene when Charles Grodin is going to jump off a bridge because he is so lonely and tells Steve Martin's character to give him three reasons he should live and Martin can't even think of one also cracks me up just thinking about it.

Interstate 60 (2002)

Decent flick

[25 October 2004]

This was actually a decent movie. It's sad that it didn't get promoted properly because I think if it had it probably would have done well. It leaves you feeling good when you're done watching it. Considering how many absolutely terrible movies come out each year and go on to make millions its sad when a movie that is pretty good goes unnoticed. The movie's not perfect, but definitely worth renting in my opinion. I rented it and I had never even heard of it, but the description on the back sounded intriguing. It turned out to be very interesting. Surprisingly, there are a number of cameos in this movie from some pretty big stars. This isn't promoted well on the cover of the movie either. Kirk Russel, Michael J. Fox, and Christopher Lloyd and of course Gary Oldman are all in this movie. The lead character, whose name I don't know, was good in it also. I'm happy I rented it.