mccurdy444 Reviews

Small Town Wisconsin (2020)

Painful and Depressing

[4/10 · 31 July 2022]

I was hoping for more with this movie but found it to be unbearably depressing. The piano score throughout was terrible, always pensive as if someone was in the last of their days on earth.

Spoiler: No one dies of cancer. All you really have is a drunk who is resigned to his addictive dead-end life, and the pity he inflicts onto all around him, including his kid, best friend, ex-wife, sister, hotel receptionist, and just about everyone he comes into contact with.

This is not to say that the movie had any issues with the writing or acting- Wayne is surrounded by friends that truly seem to care about him, a decent guy trying to do the best with what he has. All the actors do a great job with their characters- in fact, that might be part of the problem. They are so believable as to make the whole movie even more painful. I would happily watch anything else with this same cast.

Ugh- regret paying for this movie, regret watching this movie- next time I want to be this depressed, I'll watch 'The Days of Wine and Roses" again- at least that movie was scored beautifully.

Hap and Leonard (2016–2018)

Ugh!

[1/10 · 31 January 2020]

My wife and I are always looking for something we can binge watch and started this. The first episode was ok, but then started to go downhill It was formulaic, but not logical. There were way too many moments of "This just doesn't make any sense." The second season was even worse- somehow, Hap's drawling accent was completely different than the first season. It's as if one of the directors kept shouting,"More hayseed!" His character also seemed to be more naive and less intelligent, which matched the writing. I didn't think the plot or dialogue could get stupider, but they pulled it off- no stomach for season three.

Ellen: Witness (1996) Season 3, Episode 16

One of the funniest scenes in any TV show

[10/10 · 3 December 2019]

I was a mild Ellen fan, but this episode has one of the best scenes ever: Ellen on the witness stand ad-libbing her way through a mock trial. I used to have this saved on a VCR and would show just that scene to people at the house, many who had never cared for the show, and all came away laughing. I'm still not a big Ellen fan but I always give her credit as talented and I will refer to this scene every time.

Gleason (2002 TV Movie)

Why so inaccurate?

[18 December 2014]

Brad Garrett did a great job, but why did they have to veer so far from his real life? Did they have to completely fabricate the circumstances of his mother's death? Did they have to show he was fired from the movie Navy Blues when he wasn't? What was the point of that? And Calvacade of Stars? Really? Gleason was the third host, not the first. I would love to see a movie about Jackie Gleason, but not a fairy tale. Garrett's wonderful performance notwithstanding, the lack of accuracy completely ruined this movie for me. Even before I did any fact checking, I found myself scoffing at some of the obvious dramatic license that was taken for absolutely no good reason.

2 Broke Girls (2011–2017)

ugh!!!

[1/10 · 3 January 2012]

I wanted to like this, but the writing is so lame that even if the delivery was better, it wouldn't help The laugh track is making me crazy- it seems almost random, not waiting for a funny line but settling for any line at all. Last night, half the show was dedicated to tampons. Really? And the whole Jamaican cashier in the grocery store- why was that funny? Why did the laugh track explode every time she said something? On a personal note, I don't find the blonde attractive in the least- is she bowlegged? I think Melissa McCarthy from Mike and Molly is hotter, mostly because of the personality that the (excellent) writers have created. This show is surviving solely to it's time slot, but I hope the network can find something better to drop in there, and soon.

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Better than I thought

[7/10 · 9 November 2009]

I took my grandson to see this, but I was dreading it. I'm not a Jim Carrey fan but it's a Christmas movie, after all , so I bit the bullet and we saw it at the IMAX in 3-D.

The visual effects are great, even though a lot of it was :"Look, we have 3-D!" They stayed very close to the original story, though they added a miniaturization segment that was unnecessary. Carrey was muted and did a great job with some occasional clowning around. It was actually scary in some parts, as it should be, but not overwhelmingly, and there were some laughs as well.

I have always enjoyed this story, because it's one of redemption, and there is no better time than Christmas to tell it. It shows people being compassionate, even in the face of someone as seemingly heartless as Ebeneezer Scrooge. I was first exposed to this story as a little boy watching the animated version with Mr. Magoo that came out in 1962 and is shown every year on TV. There are many such movies that define the season and I truly expect this to be one of them, along with Christmas Story, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life.

Like the Macy's Parade, we all have our list of must-see holiday movies, no matter how many times we have seen them. I really expect this to make this list, with one caveat- I'm not sure how well the non 3-D version will translate to the TV screen. But the story is timeless and this movie does a good job of telling it.

Adventureland (2009)

How did they screw this up?

[1/10 · 16 October 2009]

Seriously- it was set in an AMUSEMENT PARK! How in the name of all that is holy can they take a great setting like an amusement park and end up with such a slow, lame, awful movie? I was ready for a comedy but would have accepted a dramatic love story. Instead, I sat through nearly two hours of really painful cinema. The writing was poor, the plot predictable, and it hurt to watch it. There was very little character development and very little was believable. This movie had no idea what it wanted to be and just wandered all over the place, but at least it was excruciatingly slow. Let's see- confused kids, obligatory scene of prejudice (anti-semitism, which is always popular with Hollywood), adultery and lots of alcohol and drugs. It was like watching someone run through a checklist.

My wife has vowed never to allow me to choose our movie again because of this and I can't even argue with her.The only think I am thankful for is that I saw it on TV and only paid $5.99 instead of $30 at a theater.

Into Thin Air: Death on Everest (1997 TV Movie)

Disappointing

[4/10 · 12 August 2005]

This is an excellent book that was translated into a poorly written, poorly acted movie. I was really looking forward to watching this when I saw it on the cable guide. Imagine my disappointment as I watched the undeveloped characters morph into Hollywood cariactures and the story line turn into a study of glibness. The director seemed to be rushing from one scene to the next, pausing just long enough to allow someone to spout some clichéd line. I just didn't care about the people and wasn't too interested in their quest. It's almost as if this movie was a homework assignment that someone had to get out of the way before he could move on to what he really wanted to do.The book was educational and compelling. Jon Krakauer deserved better.