tmartin-15 Reviews

Back to You (2007–2008)

Comes up a bit short...

[5/10 · 19 September 2007]

I was looking forward to seeing this show, but I wasn't sure when it was coming on. Luckily, I happened to scroll by it just as it was starting up. It has a great cast, a good premise, but the writing fails to impress. Many of the jokes are obvious one-liners that aren't even funny. Kelsey Grammar can't even save any of the lines. There is no originality, no cleverness; I could have written this show. The only good parts are when it is dramatic; the "humor" makes my head hurt. I need a good, original sitcom besides the shows that I watch on NBC, and this doesn't do the trick. It should be canceled soon. However, I'm giving it a 5 because the cast could possibly be able to save it.

House of Payne (2006– )

It Has Potential to be Very Funny...A Surprise to Me as Well

[1/10 · 27 June 2007]

I saw this tonight for the first time, and contrary to other reports, I actually think the writing is very good. Before anyone asks, I'm not a Tyler Perry screen fan (his plays are good), and I'm not racially biased whatsoever. But anyway, the characters are very funny (even if I don't think it's possible to have Allen Payne as a character to build around), the stories are believable. But there are a few IFs to the show. NUMBER ONE: The LAUGH TRACK IS AWFUL. They need to somehow positively advertise this so they have enough people to fill up a studio and produce some real laughs. And NUMBER TWO: Too many cocaine references. I like to classify this as an African-American type of "Everybody Loves Raymond", a show that stayed clear of drugs. I realize that many people find African-Americans to be more associated with drugs (not a stereotypical comment, but statistical), but it would be better if they were left out of the show. IF you do anything with drugs, it has to be detailed or else it wont be believable, so there is no point in getting involved with them in this show. It is supposed to be a comedy, not a drama. BUT, Give it a chance! I think it can be very successful and very funny, just like Tyler Perry's plays.

Pride (2007)

Why Can't People Be Honest Anymore?

[5/10 · 24 March 2007]

I'm giving this movie a 5 out of 10. Sorry to those that think every movie that doesn't win an Oscar deserves less than a 3 on a scale of ten. But seriously, why can't people be honest or think rationally anymore? I don't care how much this movie lacked, whether in acting or script, the feeling that I felt leaving the theater may not have left me in complete satisfaction, but I felt happy and good inside. Is there something wrong with just feeling good now? I understand where the criticism comes from, which is why I don't rate this higher. The script was all over the place; sometimes you didn't know what was going on or why. Tom Arnold was more annoying to watch than anyone else, the fact that Mainline scheduled no-name recreation centers for their opponents sounds unbelievable, Franklin's so called gangster status was unconvincing (not to mention seeing what he did to pool was disgusting), and even Terrence Howard sounded way too corny at times. But COME ON! This isn't a 1.7 out of ten kind of movie. Bernie Mac was hilarious for the first time in a while, the setting and music was very accurate and good, and the swimming scenes were real and believable. People need to think about what they saw before giving movies such bad reviews. It doesn't matter how bad some of the recent movies have been, but there are about 10 movies from the last two years in the bottom 100 movies of all time! WHAT? Be honest. Give some of these movies a chance. And for some of those who are wondering, I'm white, so I'm not "defending by race" either. I think this movie is somewhat worth it, definitely watchable and, although I would not recommend this overly, I think that someone could get a lot out of this movie.