michaeljhuman Reviews

Emergency!: Frequency (1973) Season 3, Episode 1

Better than average

[8/10 · 17 November 2023]

Emergency, like any show, has better and worse episodes.

And what a person likes, obviously will change what you like most.

Now, personally, I dislike too much Chet. So we are already ahead here, as his main appearance, was acceptable here.

I liked the story line with Gage's friend. It was human without being overly dramatic.

The biker gang part was well done in that it added interest, without being exessive.

The sculpture was fun, with a funny quote from Roy at the end of the segment.

In general, a little of everything was in this show.

Sometimes I think I like Adam-12 better ( similar in some ways being a Jack Web production,) but an interesting episode like this one, temporarily pushes the scale towards Emergency!

Radar Secret Service (1950)

So bad it's good

[6/10 · 3 October 2023]

Ok, I admit I first saw this on MST3K.

But I find it hilarious without their help. As someone who has worked on RADAR software, I guess it cracks me up more than other people. It's totes ridiculous what they say RADAR can do in this movie.

I also love a lot of B cops and robbers movies in general. So I have a weird view of this given my joy at laughing at all the things that RADAR cannot do, that it does in this movie.

This movie reminds me of why science education is important. It doesn't take much knowledge to realize RADAR could not do these things. Did the writers of this movie lack science knowledge, were the 1950s science classes behind the times, or did they simply not care. Did they not care and, think the public would not know better?

Kids, study some science, then you won't be a fool like these writers :)

The Silver Streak (1934)

Loved it, in spite of it's flaws

[7/10 · 30 December 2022]

First off, I have a love of railroading. Never worked in it, just love trains.

This is a B movie, at best.

But it's fun. It shows an actual historical streamline train. Show footage of the then Boulder Dam during construction. Has that Ralph of the Roundhouse plot ( an old juvenile series about steam railroading.)

Plot is contrived. Acting is flat. Dialog is basic.

But I like simple plots and B movies. Man loves woman, woman loves man, man loves engineering, old man hates newfangled things.

The one thing that bothered me was, one test run, and people wrote it off. That's dumb! That's not how engineering works! And I think a lot of people know this. But in this movie, apparently people think one failure is too many failures, lol.

I suspect the tail end of the movie, with all the impossible near misses will bother people. Just take it for what it is, a B movie ( programmer as some people would call it I guess.)

I was reminded of the fantastic murder on a private car at times, which is equally fantastic, but perhaps a better movie.

Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?: Lost Soles of Jungle River! (2020) Season 2, Episode 16

It seemed topically funny

[8/10 · 5 October 2022]

So I had zero knowledge of the guest star. I kept thinking I was probably missing out on some of the humor because of this.

I thought the plot was pretty funny though, there really are sneaker collectors.

I thought it was very funny how they kept saying his full name. Either that's some normal thing on guess who, or another "inside" joke. Still funny.

I really like how the show felt like classic Scooby Doo, but with more sophisticated humor than the Scooby Doo of my youth.

Some versions of SD have artistic values I dislike. I thought the characters all looked good here.

The voice acting was good, it didn't sound out of place like some versions do.

I am puzzled by one joke in particular. Why did all the male characters, including Scooby Doo, have beards?

Hamster & Gretel: Saturday Homecoming Fever/Dr. Eelgood (2022) Season 1, Episode 6

Hamster and Gretel is refreshing

[7/10 · 27 September 2022]

Having grown up in the 70s and 80s, when most cartoons were dumb, it's nice to see relatively intelligent cartoons.

This cartoon, doesn't seem dumbed down for kids. There's occasional meta humor. A kid in a classroom called crickets their favorite Arthropod. The father, an apartment manager tries to explain the cooling cycle on a fridge. Badly, but at least he made the effort.

The interactions between various characters is lighthearted, and pleasant, refreshing in this era of conflict. We got the mom, dad, brother and sister in a relatively functional family which is refreshing, as dysfunctional families are popular in so called entertainment.

For you 90s cartoon fans, there's even a Daria clone, I was a fan of Daria, so I can't help but love the Daria clone.

In this particular episode, we got disco, and an evil scientist. I found it funny and cute. I wondered how the target audience, probably preteens, would understand the disco related humor, that being ancient history. Maybe they wanted this show to be liked by adults too?

Check it out if you are tired of the "edgy" programming, and so called reality TV of the modern era. I get it, people like edgy, conflicts, drama, yelling, what have you. I just want something to watch that's light and entertaining.

Nancy Drew: Detective (1938)

Tolerable B movie, if you don't know Nancy Drew

[5/10 · 28 June 2022]

The Nancy Drew from the books is a calm, polite, level headed woman. Not an exciteable teen.

Her father cautions her, but mostly supports her activities. Bad stuff happens to her, and her father doesn't keep telling her to give up, in the books.

In this movie, Nancy is an exciteable teen. She faints in one scene, something she never does in the book.

Her father, not unreasonably, tells her not to get involved in dangerous stuff. That it's not her job. Not at all how her father is in the books.

Ok, so annoying cognizant dissonance for me, as I know some of the books really well.

But as a B movie, it's tolerable. Even funny at times. The books didn't spend much time being funny. I rarely turn down a B detective movie, so watched this movie, it was just painful at times, for the reasons above.

Murder in the Private Car (1934)

Enjoyable if you like quirky B mysteries

[7/10 · 22 November 2018]

I for one, love a quirky B mystery, but even I was taken aback by the zaniness of this movie, and the loose ends

I won't even try to explain the loose ends, because I am not sure if I missed key points in the movie, or a number of details were never explained. However, people seem to like some really confusing mystery movies, so I don't think it matters a lot. Just saying, don't expect coherence in this movie.

We have an idiot/genius deflector ( better than a detective, because he deflects the trouble before it does it's worse.) In this case, his deflecting is barely sufficient to allow for a happy ending.

We have an improbably circus train wreck, including an escaped gorilla that makes it's way onto the troublesome train.

We have dual, quirky romances

For railroad lovers, we have one of the best railroad action scenes in an old movie. Heck, if everything else fails, that should be enjoyable for fans of cliff hanger serials.

We have one rather annoying stereotyped black porter or whatever he is. Just ignore it, you are not going to build a time machine and fix problems like that in the past. Just be glad we have made some social progress.

In the end, due it being short, and due to it holding my attention while I continually either think: WTH or Really?!, and due to the very cool action train scene in the end ( I love trains,) I recommend it.

Stroker Ace (1983)

Some people will enjoy this

[6/10 · 2 June 2016]

You sort of have to like these Hal Needham/Reynolds movies to like this.

The plot is weak. The dialog is mildly amusing. I found the whole chicken sponsor thing pretty funny though.

Loni Anderson fans might enjoy her ridiculous role as the naive PR person for the chicken chain

There's cleavage shown from time to time which some will appreciate

I have read the book, and the movie is quite different than the book. The book is a series of stories, possibly tall tales, loosely based on the experiences of the writers in racing. It's mostly about sex, heavy drinking and wrecking/racing cars. I enjoyed it a lot. The book is better than the movie IMO

I think Nabors and Reynolds have some funny interactions.

Auto racing is rather limited, probably due to cost. But you do get to see some vintage cars and racing footage

Just remember this is a silly pointless movie, in the spirit of movies like Smokey and the Bandit and maybe you will enjoy it like I do

A Little Game (2014)

Impressive acting by the main actress

[6/10 · 7 February 2016]

I am very impressed by the acting of the kid

The movie is interesting, but not especially amazing. Above average. I believe it's quite enjoyable for people who like this style of movie though. It slightly reminds me of Matilda, maybe due to comedy elements and smart girl.

Garafalo is a bit under utilized. I have been a big fan for years and think she's great. But of course the movie is about the girl, so it's to be expected that she's under utilized.

There's some funny lines in the movie. For example the mentor remarks, in response to a question, 'Is it bigger than a breadbox?' And the girl says 'XBox"? And he says 'What's an XBox". And she says 'What's a breadbox'. Very funny gender gap commentary

It's not a good chess movie IMO. If you want more about chess, see something else, IMO. I feel like this movie misrepresents the game a bit and how one would learn about it.

American Ninja 5 (1993)

Mindless action movie

[5/10 · 2 November 2015]

Its obvious these movies are only enjoyable for what they are. You have to go into these movies knowing they are low budget, weak plotted movies with weak dialog

The movie has action, and fighting scenes. And a cute girl. And an annoying kid. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Mainly for the cute girl, and mindless action. I have seen far worse martial arts movies.

There's some hilariously bad scenes. The villain is just damn funny, for example. Enjoy it for what it is, or if you can't don't watch it. It's funny how bad this is rated, when you consider the plot is no stupider than Bloodsport. Admittedly the fighting is not as good, but it's funnier. I also love all the differently colored "ninjas". Like there's special ninja types determined by the uniforms

Torque (2004)

Hilarious

[6/10 · 30 July 2015]

This movie is SO bad it's good

Highlights- * Girl vs girl bike fight * Motorcycles on train sequence * Palm tree scene * Dialog so bad I could not stop laughing * Some good music ( if you like harder rock songs)

There's actually some good stunts in here. The plot is awful, the dialog is awful, the acting is pretty forgettable except for some really bad acting which is almost memorable :)

Watch this for mindless entertainment if you enjoy such things. Watch it for the totally unrealistic action scenes. Laugh at the awful, clichéd, macho dialog. Pop open a beer, or pour a good cocktail before hand and relax and enjoy.

The movie is actually underrated, because given the proper mindset when watching this movie, it's quite entertaining. People who underrated it, probably by people who expected it to be of a higher quality. Ice-T is in here, that should have been a clue of the quality :)

Now You See Me (I) (2013)

Interesting, but not great

[6/10 · 15 April 2015]

As I often am, I am shocked by a rating of 1. I have seen terrible, unwatchable movies - this was not that. So 1 ratings seemed out of anger for people who's expectations were poorly met

I can't really discuss the plot much, other than to say it's quite twisty. But hardly the incoherent mess some people claim. Heck, I know of a top rated detective movie who's plot makes less sense. If you are looking for a brilliant plot, this is not it, but it's interesting

I enjoyed the characters quite a bit. The acting was quite acceptable. There were some very charismatic characters, which I always appreciate.

There's a lot of cool effects. The tricks are not totally unreasonable. It's not as clever as say, Oceans 11, but I think they tried. Consider it a sort of weird heist movie, with some twisty stuff thrown in.

I watched it all the way through, and did not hate it. In fact, I would probably watch it again. I admit I like illusion and heist movies and a reasonable amount of plot twists so why not

This is neither the best or the worst movie ever made. Not even close to either probably, meaning it's average. Maybe even above average, because there's a pretty girl and some fun stuff.

Don't watch if you can't suspend disbelief. I have a friend, PHD in physics, super smart dude who can watch movies for entertainment KNOWING there are countless examples of illogical stuff. But if for some reason you can't, I guess this isn't intelligent enough for you ( so few movies are though :)

The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

Been there, done that

[6/10 · 13 April 2015]

If you have seen enough VR themed movies, you won't see much new here. I would say this plot combines a number of different VR themes including a bit of Truman show thrown in.

If you love the VR theme, and don't mind a movie that seems so similar to others you will enjoy this.

Acting is pretty good. I especially liked the main female character - she's has charm

The plot was...well, I was a bit disappointed. I thought, well maybe this will be a film noir, a bit like Dark City ( which is awesome, see that movie :) Well, no, it felt like it was going that way, then lost it. I love the 30s and 40s movie, so was hoping for more of that feel. But, no, it wasn't quite that. It's not as good as Dark City, not as clever as Exitenze, not as novel as the Matrix, to name some VR themed movies. By the end of the movie, I felt like, there were just too many loose ends, but not everyone will feel that way - especially people new to VR movies, because they will likely overlook a lot of problems. But all VR movies have believabiltiy issues - if I had seen this before so many other VR movies, I might have overlooked some things that bugged me

Heck, in spite of being disappointed due to wanting a film noir, and maybe something a bit more original I watched it to the end, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies :)

I think some people will really enjoy this

* A bit of spoiler alert - You know what would be refreshing? A VR movie that isn't trying to be overly plot twisty.

He Walked by Night (1948)

Excellent semi historical police procedural semi noir

[9/10 · 2 February 2015]

First off, I love Dragnet, so that creates a bias

I love the police procedural too. And old crime movies. So of course, seeing how this is a well executed police procedural movie I love it

Loved the plot about the intelligent sociopath. Ignoring the historical basis, we wonder, why is he so cold blooded. The war? Does he blame society?

His actions are logical. As is the police actions. I often question 100 things in a movie, but in this case I questioned very few items. It seemed very plausible

Loved seeing Jack Webb here of course, and I then realized, wow this is so much like Dragnet. Then I did some looking into it and realized this had to be the template for Dragnet. That alone is worth the priced of admission unless it was awful, and it was not awful

I feel this should get 9/10 for being a perfect example of the sub genre as police procedural

As a noir, well, as some people have said, it's not a typical noir, but I would still give it 6/10

As a dramatization of a historical killer, it's probably a bit weak due to changes to the real story, but that's Hollywood for you, and expected so 6/10 there

I highly recommend this to Dragnet lovers and police procedural lovers. People who like more drama and less realism could probably find better choices elsewhere, but even crime story lovers should find something to like here, and some noir lovers might appreciate it

Jem (1985–1988)

Some episodes are pretty good

[6/10 · 14 January 2015]

I am a 49 year old guy who likes auto racing shows, science shows and murder mysteries. Never watched Jem when it was new. But I do like certain cartoons, it's a weakness ;)

Jem is of course unrealistic and a bit sappy at times.

But, I figured out, the good episodes I have seen were written by Christy Marx, especially the very first ones. They are sometimes a bit soap opera like, but I think she's good at the emotional sort of stuff.

The Starlight house regulars do touch at one's heart strings a bit. And when they forget to include them, the episodes are less appealing to me ( I think that was one of Christy Marx good ideas to have them.)

The bad parts - the main male characters are no good. Rio is bipolar or something. One episode he has almost nothing to say and the next he's having some emotional breakdown. Perhaps we are supposed to think he's messed up due to his dual Jerica/Jem love, but that gets old. Eric is an idiot. If they made him clever, it would be more interesting. I realize this is primarily a kid's show, but kids are far smarter than this show gives them credit.

The music is dull IMO. I love new wave, and would have liked to hear more of the new wave thing on this show. Better synthesizers, electronic drums...something. Some of the problem I hear are overly blended mixes where nothing stands out. I think they also went for quantity over quality and felt they needed 3 music videos per show. I ffwd through most of them.

I think this show has more female than male appeal as they are often more in touch with their emotions ( stereotype, but true in my experience.)

Anyway, it's been on re-runs, and I have tivo'd them, and I have enjoyed some of the shows enough to give this 6/10. I can see why people liked the show, as it has the whole feel good thing and the good guys win and the buy guys don't.

Mr. Moto's Last Warning (1938)

Enjoyable detective/spy movie

[7/10 · 13 January 2015]

I really enjoyed this one. I wish an actual Japanese person had been used as an actor, but you know how it was back then.

The plot was interesting enough. The scenes were all pretty good. I was mostly engaged with the movie and did not get bored.

I like this kind of lighter detective/spy movie, not too serious but reasonably believable ( in the Hollywood sends of believable which means, I can suspend my disbelief without much effort.)

Dialog was average, acting was average but somehow the whole thing worked as entertainment. This was in my box set of 50 mysteries, all apparently in the public domain, and a cheap set but audio/video was sufficient to watch it without getting annoyed.

I would have maybe liked to see more of the Mr Moto character - disguise master, judo master, and overall very resourceful and clever. I love characters like that

The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)

Somewhat amusing screwball

[5/10 · 26 December 2014]

I got stuck, in my brain with the constant feeling the government could have admitted that some details were true with a simple statement and come to an agreement with her to eliminate all of the ensuing problems. Which made it a bit hard to solider on watching it

The leading man and lady were both fine. Dialog is strictly average, but delivery of dialog is good.

I very much liked the lady's independent nature and tenacity. It's marred by the standard Hollywood Dislike to love switch that seems to happen quickly and not for very good reasons

Anyway, it's amusing in spots, and mildly interesting to see how it's all going to end so 5/10.

As I personally see this as a bit of a screwball comedy, if you like that sort of thing, you might prefer to watch the movie What's Up Doc, which is better in every way :)

Supercop (1992)

Don't worry about the plot, just watch the action

[7/10 · 25 September 2014]

This would be a pretty typical Jackie Chan movie except for two reasons

1) Production values are really high in the movie; there's some really epic action here. I tend to fastforward through the boring parts, but I still give it a 7/10 because of how amazing some of the action is 2) Michelle Yeoh, who is a superstar here - one of the best female martial arts roles of all time; don't doubt her skills, she did that motorcycle stunt for real, and it remains one of the most amazing things I have ever seen knowing how risky that was

This is action, this is martial arts and even the boring parts are not too boring. I have watched countless martial arts movies, and in some ways this ranks high up in the list. I leave the artistic martial arts movies for people who love them - I just want 90 minutes of mindless action to relax to most days.

Definitely has to be a top 5 Chan film

Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)

Better than the first

[6/10 · 27 July 2014]

The worst thing I could say, given the genre constraints is that this is the exact plot you expect. Dusty has yet another issue preventing him from being all he can be.

So he joins the firefighters. I was personally interested in firefighting as I live in a city that was devastated two years in a row by two fires, I know people who lost homes, but I guess that's irrelevant except to say that's why I gave #2 a chance even though I found #1 a bit dull.

The visuals were great. I watched in in 2D. There was a scene where the firetruck, feeling sorry for itself was in the garage and I was really impressed with the subtle artwork in that scene.

Be prepared for a whole slew of puns obviously. The dialog is strictly average, but some of the puns made me laugh ( I like puns.)

I think what made the movie watchable were the following- * Great CGI * Good action * Likable characters * Me personally resonanting with the firefighting theme and the dangers faced by brave firefighters

If you disliked Cars or Planes, don't bother. If you thought Planes was only OK, maybe give this one a shot. If you generally like CGI movies with the typical Pixar zero to hero plot, go see it :)

Moving Target (1988 TV Movie)

Tolerable 80s teen action movie

[5/10 · 25 July 2014]

I liked the 80s vibe here, because I like 80s movies.

Don't expect much, but I was impressed with Jason Bateman and he went on to do a lot of stuff.

It's your typical teen comes home to find family gone movie, if there is such a genre. Some OK action.

Plot is about what you expect from an 80s action movie, turn your brain off or go MST3K on it. But it serves the purpose.

Dialog is the weakness here I think, there's no imagination here, no flair.

Music is pretty standard 80s synth pop, but hey they actually show the girl playing a Yamaha DX7 synth, one of the most important 80s synthesizers. I would bet that the music in the movie used this same synth as the E Piano sound in one of the songs sounds like the DX& e piano.

Action Jackson (1988)

Standard 80s action movie

[5/10 · 6 July 2014]

I rated this a 5 for it's average qualities.

The dialog is cliché, the cop stuff is cliché, the plot is a bit sub par, the acting is mostly average...you get the idea.

What this movie is good at is being a typical 80s cop-action movie. So if you love 80s cop- action movies watch this.

I like Carl Weathers. He has charisma. I like the character, and heck, would not have minded seeing an Action Jackson 2.

There's some good action scenes.

Music is slightly above average. You have to like that era of Prince and the Minneapolis sound, Janet Jackson, etc. I do like that stuff, but this is not the best of that era. "Undress" ( Vanity) is probably the best, and a minor hit IIRC.

Vanity is average. Attractive, but average. Better than she was in some other movies though, IMO. Heck, it's an 80s rip off of Shaft, so really no problem with Vanity here.

Don't watch this for the dialog except to laugh. I have rarely heard so much well worn dialog in one movie. Watch it MST3K style, mocking the dialog with a friend while drinking some beers.

The plot was pretty stupid, but who cares. Mindless action movie plots are forgettable and not really important.

My Man Godfrey (1936)

Hard film to rate

[7/10 · 15 June 2014]

There's some excellent social commentary and some very funny lines. An interesting lot. Excellent acting by most, maybe all of the primary cast. There's a lot to like, but a few things rub me the wrong way.

The two things which rub me the wrong way are - 1) It's half screwball comedy, and half some subtle and not so subtle social commentary - I have trouble shifting gears some times 2) I am, personally, a bit turned off by the extreme madcap elements - the family makes the Simpsons look sane y, so I try to remember that, but t

I think if people can appreciate the comedy, while appreciating some of the more serious elements without getting confused they will really enjoy this.

People who love madcap zaniness and over the top dysfunctional families may adore this :)

At the end of the day, I enjoyed it enough to give it 7/10 due to it's overall excellence.

p.s. My favorite screwball comedy is the much newer What's up Doc. So if you like screwball, and want it in a pure, but modern form, check that movie out :)

The Saint Takes Over (1940)

One of the best Saint movies

[6/10 · 3 June 2014]

George Sanders is my favorite saint. But some of the movies are a bit weak, usually the plot.

In this movie, the plot is about as good as you can expect from the RKO saint movies. It mostly makes sense, unlike some of them.

Paul Guifoyle (sp?) is back in this one, and that's a good thing. I really enjoy his comedic style at times. It's hard not to smile at his funny expressions and mispronunciations (does anyone else wonder where the gangster henchman habit of butchering pronunciations came from?)

Wendy Barrie is not too bad. I wish she had better lines or something, but it's not bad.

The usual Fernack(sp?) is present, and again, that's a good thing. I feel he should be a bit brighter given that he's a police detective, but I guess the dumb cop/detective is an old stereotype. Anyway, the saint is a bit like Bugs Bunny where his superiority is contrasted to idiots - so again, a tried and true stereotype.

As I say, this is one of my favorites. It's light, it moves right along, has the comic elements and the entertaining Sanders as saint.

The Saint Strikes Back (1939)

Entertaining

[6/10 · 1 June 2014]

I like George Sanders as the saint. I have them on DVD, and watch them from time to time.

Sadly, the plots of some of the movies are their weak spot. I find I can simply ignore the plot for the most part, and enjoy the ride. If you can't do that, you will probably be disappointed in most of these old saint movies.

In this movie, Fernack (sp?) lends some comic moments. How he always perpetually mistrusts the saint, I will never know. Seeing how much the saint has done for him, it comes across as positively ungrateful. But it's a device used in a number of the movies.

The leading lady isn't bad. I like her acting, but there's more inconsistencies here. Is she an avenging angel, a seeker of truth or a homicidal er...B____ (aka female dog) ? I wasn't sure.

In spite of the plot issues, and inconsistent behavior of some of the characters I still enjoy watching George Sanders Saint. He's usually in control, sometimes suave and sometimes, in his own words, a cad.

Indianapolis Speedway (1939)

Bit of a waste of time

[4/10 · 23 May 2014]

Some spoilers maybe, sorry

I think I saw this before "As the Crowd Roars". I don't remember liking that one much either.

The characters are not interesting. The lead character is a jerk. The girlfriend seems like she's supposed to be intelligent but stays with him in spite of his annoying behavior ( I guess that's not totally unrealistic, seen that in real life.)

The younger brother should have been in a racing movie of his own. He at least showed a little charisma,

You might be surprised to hear the thing that annoyed me the most - the screeching of tires...on dirt tracks...sigh

Why did the THREE TIME INDY champion suddenly suck and his far more inexperienced brother suddenly become a world beater - that's a pretty unlikely scenario. Takes years of high level competition to win at the highest level. Maybe he was just a born genius even better than his brother but it seemed pretty unbelievable.

The racing was awful. You can't drive a race car like that. Sad how few movies have anything resembling believable racing. Really sad actually as racing can be beautiful.

The plot, well...you have seen it before.

If there was any one part that was good, acting, plot, dialog, racing something...maybe I could give it a higher score,

See Grand Prix instead. Seen it already? See it again :) Or maybe watch Le Mans (if you can stay awake :)

Don't like to be so negative but I couldn't get into this movie.