stephenebrey Reviews

Once Upon a Tour (1972 TV Movie)

So awful it might be worth watching

[5/10 · 10 January 2010]

This vanity project for the wife of the owner of Solo Cup was just screened in LA as part of a Frank Sinatra, Jr. tribute. Jr. is the only person in this who isn't completely embarrassing, though the songs he has to do are pretty bad.

The host, Dora Hall, is a 70 year old grandma with little entertainment experience, and she's not even the worst singer. No, that would be Oliver, an annoying nobody who mumbled through his songs. Phil Harris, in his late 60s, was also painful to listen to.

But worse than the bottom tier musicians and horrible song selections were the backup dancers. They almost never danced in sync, and sometimes appeared to be laughing at the show.

This is really, really bad, but it's worth watching if you're a big fan of Frank Sinatra Jr. or terrible TV specials.

Undeclared: God Visits (2003) Season 1, Episode 8

A very bad episode that isn't nearly "controversial" enough to be interesting

[4/10 · 29 July 2008]

This episode is terrible, and it has nothing to do with any "controversial" content (it's too shallow to skewer any religion properly). It presents a simple and unrealistic view of Christianity: that just reading the Bible will turn you into a brainwashed, mindless Christian. And it's even worse when it comes to Existentialism, which this episode portrays as meaning that nothing matters, so you shouldn't try. That's about the OPPOSITE of existentialism. Existentialism was all about trying to find a reason to live (they were anti-suicide!).

Even if I wasn't insulted by the way Christianity and Existentialism were portrayed, I would still dislike this episode because the sudden character changes that Steven and Lloyd go through are boring and don't develop the characters.

Angel: Home (2003) Season 4, Episode 22

The best episode of a great season

[10/10 · 28 December 2007]

Season 4 had no weak episodes and some extremely strong ones: like the season opener, the start of the main plot arc (Apocalypse, Nowish), and all the Angelus episodes. But Home packs more emotional punch than the rest of them, and is perfectly written and directed.

In "Home", Lilah shows the heroes around the Wolfram and Hart facilities, forcing them to decide whether to join the company, and Angel deals with Connor's madness once and for all. One thing that throws people off about "Home" is that it sets up season five with the tour of Wolfram and Hart, THEN resolves season 4. It seems like the opposite order to do things, but it's the only way that would have worked. If the Connor storyline been resolved halfway through the episode, then the tour of Wolfram and Hart would have been anticlimactic. Connor has been a problem for Angel all season, and it was only fitting that it would conclude with Angel finally fixing him.

And what a fix it is. Angel has to make a huge sacrifice to save his son. Although I don't like the Angel/Connor storyline of season 4 as much as the Buffy/Dawn one in Buffy season 5, this one is wrapped up perfectly. Dawn's character was trivialized in season 6 and 7, which was a shame because her original story was so good.