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Lost in America (1985)
Guess I'm not a Brooks fan.
Despite having lived through the 80's and seeing practically every good 80's movie ever made, I only saw Lost in America for the first time last night, and... I don't get it.
It's not actually a comedy, and it's definitely not slapstick/farcical, but it keeps using those elements in weird ways. It's obviously meant be a reality-based movie with characters tackling realistic situations in hopefully humorous ways.
But at key moments they force the characters to act in completely and utterly over-the-top ways to move the plot along. It's disconcerting, because nothing about the previous "reasoned and realistic" depictions of those characters would lead you to believe they would or even could act that way, and nothing that's happened to them up to that point would explain such a major shift.
If it was a farcical comedy, that would be fine... but it's not. So it just kind of ends up being mediocre and occasionally annoying.
New Amsterdam: Maybe Tomorrow (2022)
Talking real situations in a fantasy world?
I find it hard to enjoy a show that attempts to be dramatic and poignant with a real situation, but then sets it up with completely false facts. Roe vs Wade did not change the abortion laws in NY, which allowed it before RvW. So the SCOTUS decision had absolutely no effect for medical practices or abortion rights within NY, making the whole episode farcical.
Second, the idea that this is completely ignored for a show that is purposefully trying to be "real", destroys all credibility for any message they're trying to say. If they can't get a major fact correct, then why should anything else they say be given credibility? It's just crappy writing.
And then the nurses refusing to hand a surgeon a scalpel and complaining that it was a "waste of hospital resources"? In what world would that occur or be allowed, or has ever happened on this show for far more outlandish and risky procedures?
New Amsterdam has always played fast and loose with creating even vaguely realistic situations, but having a gigantic leaky vat of toxic substances on the top floor of a hospital is one thing... and screwing up major legal details on an episode purporting to deal dramatically with real-world legal things, is another.
Futurama: Jurassic Bark (2002)
It never fails to hit me hard...
I've surely seen this episode more than a dozen times over the years, and I just finished watching it five minutes ago... and I still can't stop crying. And I'm a grown-ass 44-year-old man!
"Luck of the Fryish" tweaks at the heart strings. But "Jurassic Bark" simply reduces me to tears... it's that freaking last half second at the end that just pushes me over the edge, and as the credits roll and a swell of emotions swirls around my mind... waterworks.
I don't even dare show this one to my dog-loving wife, because I can guarantee she won't sleep a single wink that night. Sure, it's shamelessly emotionally manipulative - but it's done so skillfully and lovingly you don't even care. Brilliant all around.
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)
Great nostalgic cheese that holds up!
Having taped this off TV sometime in the late 80s as a kid, Spacehunter became one of my regular plays - and it's a lot like The Ice Pirates and Mad Max 3 in overall vibe. And, like those two, I think this hidden gem also holds up pretty well, even as an adult too many decades later. Certainly a lot better than some of my other childhood gems, which turned out to be rather slow and boring upon layer viewing.
Memorable scenes, fun characters, cheesy if effective practical effects, plus a lot of atmosphere and humour make this a great rainy day, feel good sci-fi romp.
Sadly, my eclectic taste in movies doesn't seem to extend to anyone I know, so this continues to be a rainy day flick... but at least I now have it in widescreen HD with surround sound!
Luck (2022)
Talk about strong-arming a theme...
Most movies like to approach their subject matter with subtlety and tact. To skillfully weave a theme into normal everyday events and show us how the chosen subject matter affects the characters lives. Luck, on the other hand, ensures that within the first two minutes the word "luck" has been said 10 times, that we know the older girl is the unluckiest person in the world, and that the younger girl is huge into collecting good luck charms and just needs one more in order to have her dreams of a good life come true.
There are good moral values related to family, but as regards the actual aspect of luck... what was the moral again?
That luck is real but random? That bad luck clumps together so the unlucky are just going to get ever unluckier... but you should suck it up and make the most of it, because bad luck has the occasional good use? Or, that without a good dose of actual magical good luck you really AREN'T going to ever get adopted? Because she sure didn't seem to be getting adopted when there was no good OR bad luck in the world. I think something along the lines of "you make your own luck" and show us how would've been more meaningful.
The actual storyline is quite involved and keeps going and going, maybe one act too far even. The artwork is good, the animation is somewhat stiff and unnatural, with seemingly weak lipsync on the human characters but much better syncing on the animals and monsters.
Overall it was worth a watch, but doesn't feel like it's going to be a treasured classic.
Replicas (2018)
This movie annoyed me....
It's not that Replicas was boring, or that it was overly poorly acted, or that the special effects were unwatchable, or that I couldn't just accept the basic premise and go with it. It was, however, the major plot holes and basic questions of logic that not only didn't occur to the supposedly brilliant characters, but were never commented on or even addressed during the film, that absolutely drove me nuts.
It's like if you were watching a racing movie, and at one point they ran out of fuel and poured ketchup into it the tank... and it worked. And no one mentioned it. Or a bank heist movie where they played animated cartoons over the security cameras, and the security guards just watched the cartoons and never triggered the alarm. You would go... what? That makes no sense. Why is this happening? How is this happening? Is this some alternate universe where logic and consequences have no meaning?
It's as if the writer/s were either incapable of writing their way out of the corner they painted themselves into, or just didn't care to bother. And that's simply a bad screenplay that should never have been made without more development and rewrites.
Kronk's New Groove (2005)
I had hoped that at least one Disney direct-to-video sequel would be watchable...
...but of course I was wrong.
Now, I never expected to like the first movie. I'm not sure what's up with Disney's marketing group, but it seems that every trailer they make for an animated film ends up turning me off as too childish, or silly, or stupid, and yet the movies themselves are usually anything but. And no movie looked worse to me in the trailers than The Emperor's New Groove, which is why I was quite surprised to actually find myself quite enjoying that film when I finally broke down and saw it. I entered with zero expectations and came out pleasantly entertained.
Despite Disney's track record with direct-to-video sequels, I had nonetheless hoped for a better experience with Kronk here... but in the end I was nothing but disappointed (and unfortunately not exactly surprised that I felt that way). There's almost no humor targeted towards adults. The original songs are uninspired and sickly cute. The animation, while not bad, still doesn't come close to Emperor (which was no Lion King to start with).
The main plot, as such, is astoundingly "minor" and is comprised mainly of a sequence of mini-plot flashbacks - in fact the while thing felt more like a sequence of pilot episodes for a Saturday morning cartoon series than a well conceived single entity.
David Spade gets about four lines throughout the entire movie and there isn't exactly a lot of John Goodman either, so overall we're just left with far too much of Patrick Warburton's Kronk - who was entertaining as a secondary character in the first movie but is completely inappropriate as the main lead here.
Although kids might find it somewhat fun, the only thing Kronk's New Groove managed to do for me is make me want to go back and watch the far superior original.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
One of my favorites!
This is one of my all-time favorite films. I love the action, the under-water adventure, the great Russian music, the great cast and the story. To the original poster, you're missing the forest because of a tree!