kiga-1 Reviews

They All Laughed (1981)

Deserves its horrible reputation

[2/10 · 20 May 2024]

First of all, let's be clear: Dorothy Stratten was NOT an up and coming star in the making. Her dialogue was kept to a minimum, her performance barely rose to the TV-level Three's Company school of "ain't I adorable?."

She was the 20-years-younger girlfriend of the director, pure and simple. The other supposed new, new face was Patti Hansen, also an awful actress with her "too-hip-for-words" style and inability to smoke a cigarette properly.

Othernotably awful actors gracing this mess are: Blaine Novak (also co-writer) who mugs insufferably and tries to be that cool bad-boy hippie-type of the 1980s and Collen Camp (shrill, self-absorbed.)

This is the type of movie that always finds "respect" decades later and is hyped by 3rd and 4th tier "critics" who claim it was misunderstood or the death of Ms Stratten put a damper on its chances.

Let's be clear, no one (except Playboy fans) knew who Ms Stratten was and no one cared, this was just another in a series of self-indulgent fiascos in Peter Bogdonavich's 1-or-2-successes-amongst the-tripe career.

Vegas: The Story of Sin City (2024– )

Excellent History and Context

[9/10 · 11 May 2024]

This documentary does not try to cover too many bases nor does it become a collection of anecdatoes. Rather, this doc puts the entire history of Vegas into a context that shows its evolution through the decades as American tastes change.

Paul Anka, Wayne Newton and Rich Little are the topliners but the former showgirls steal the show with their no-nonsense delivery.

Any one of the four episodes could easily be expanded into a four hour miniseries on its own, but this is well-edited, fast and informative.

Obviously a big budget was used since some of the cinematography is stunning and the talking heads are quite knowledgable all with a sly sense of humor.

Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames Universe (2023)

Long, Repetitive and Self-Pitying

[2/10 · 25 November 2023]

The whole documentary could have been done in an hour. By making it almost three hours the implication is that this is going to be an epic story with lots of twists and turns.

No twists and turns, but a lot of self-pity in this the same old story of people making a fortune off of others' vulnerabilities.

Other than a few modern day spins to the story you won't find anything new here.

The talking head experts offer no new insights and all sound like school children doing book reports.

The lead reporter on the case, Alice Hines, has this valley girl "up-speak" delivery that is really annoying. She didn't exactly do any rigorous reporting since all the tapes were there for her to see.

Some of the victim's stories are very touching, so that warrants 2 of the 10 stars.

But basically, this is another spin on the "Compliance" type scam where people so gullible (and even stupid) fall for another charlatan.

Says more about the dumbing down of our society then the motives of a con man.

Maggie Moore(s) (2023)

Rip-off Plot

[4/10 · 17 June 2023]

Now, where did this plot come from? Mirrored Sunglassesin the ads...one common name amongst several victims.....Hmmm

Why didn't they just get Schwarznegger and Hamilton back for this flick? Would have had much more life in it than this snoozefest.

Hamm and Tina Fey might be great for TV, but they just can't carry a movie, especially one with such a dull, unoriginal script.

Movie goes nowhere, nothing new in the script,

Now, where did this plot come from? Mirrored Sunglassesin the ads...one common name amongst several victims.....Hmmm

Why didn't they just get Schwarznegger and Hamilton back for this flick? Would have had much more life in it than this snoozefest.

Hamm and Tina Fey might be great for TV, but they just can't carry a movie, especially one with such a dull, unoriginal script.

LOL.

Mission: Impossible: Speed (1973) Season 7, Episode 19

Necessary Sub-Plots

[7/10 · 24 May 2023]

Watched this episode twice now and I am not sure why they needed all the subterfuge with Casey and Jim or why they needed to "kidnap" the daughter.

Wouldn't Barney's false front have been enough to get the speed to the location since Barney insisted on being there to see it shipped off?

We don't see what happens to "fly-in-the-ointment" Zinc after he "outs" Casey although it doesn't matter since they don't have anything on him and he can't save anyone.

If Barney was then followed by the IMF team to the location, the law enforcement could have swept in and confiscated the shipment and used plea deals to turn Hibbing's goons on Hibbing himself.

What am I missing?

At Long Last Love (1975)

DON'T BELIEVE THE REVISIONIST "LOVERS" OF THIS DRECK

[2/10 · 10 May 2023]

Many reviewers are treating this movie like a misunderstood classic whose time has come.

To say they are wrong is not an opinion it's a fact. I love the fact that they can't respond directly to my review, it must drive them crazy.

But you can't substitute trained musical singer/actor/dancers with stars who aren't trained experienced in this sort of style. It's embarrassing and painful to watch.

(I feel the rage of the apologists of this movie brewing since they can't respond to this.)

Trying to mix "witty" Hepburn/Tracy-type banter with non-singers attempting Cole Porter was a mistake.

Cybil Shepherd and Burt Reynolds were especially bad and the mugging by Eileen Brennan and Madeleine Kahn was embarrassing.

You can't have it both ways: either stick with a non-musical witty comedy or surrender to the fantasy of musical numbers and overdub. But this is a jaw-dropping travesty for all concerned.

There is a certain style, urbanity and lightness of touch required to pull off Cole Porter and none of these folks had it.

The singing was so off-key as to be painful (even the normally reliable Madeleine Kahn) and the dancing although barely competent, was high school level.

The movie is as bad as the reviewers said it was back in 1975 and the restored scenes only highlight how unsuited these actors are for this type of material.

iMordecai (2022)

Choppy Editing, Sub-plots that go nowhere, Variable Acting Quality

[3/10 · 15 November 2022]

Saw this as a preview in Boca Raton, FL on Nov 14, 2022.

The director made some very charming opening remarks, telling the story of how the film came to be, customer service at Cinemark was top quality with free popcorn and bottled water.

Then the movie began....

Judd Hirsch and Carol Kane need to tone down those accents as they were caricatured to the point of sometimes being unintelligible. At some point realism has to be sacrificed for the sake of the making the movie understandable. Hirsch's character also does some stuff that so contradicts what is established like leaving his wife alone for hours after he preaches the whole movie about his irresponsible son.

Some admittedly funny stuff was buried in an avalanche of sub-plots and other threads that went nowhere. (100 year old lady reminding us of Holocaust, a character with a shady past, fixing a broken shower, the put-upon next door neighbor, etc.) I assume they were supposed to be part of a larger statement but the director and editor just couldn't juggle these into a coherent whole and what should have been a simple, charming story bogs down in sit-com level dramatics and feel-good moments.

Except for Sean Astin (gained a lot of weight looking terrible in shirts that are too tight for his frame and an awful hairpiece) the acting is very amateurish: Stephanie J Block (Broadway star) is so flat and bored in her delivery you'd think she couldn't wait for her paycheck so she could leave, the young lady playing the leading role of Nina is so inexperienced she looks terrified in every scene.

The writer/director made it clear it was his first movie having had absolutely no experience in either shorts films or television...and it shows.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

2 Hours of non-stop Hollywood Cliches....not that funny, no original ideas

[4/10 · 21 August 2018]

There wasn't one single original idea in this movie and the plot could have been moved to any country since the stories and characters were so generic.

The only positives were the performances of the two mothers, the costumes and the scenery.

Other than that, it was same old tired plot, blah characters and very little humor.

The Deuce: Pilot (2017) Season 1, Episode 1

Sorry, as a New Yorker of the 1970s, the sets, costumes and dialogue were not convincing

[5/10 · 12 September 2017]

The streets were too clean, the cars were all the latest models, buffed and polished for a floor show, the costumes were perfectly pressed and fitted (even on the supposedly poor kids) and the sets looked like, well, sets.

The dialogue was all cleaned up without any feel for the street nor any convincing NYC accents (MG's was particularly affected), all politically correct and safe.

For someone like David Simon, whose grittiness and realism are second to none (The Wire especially) this has to rank as a major disappointment.

I didn't believe it was 1971 for a second, I believed it was a bunch of actors dressed up as 1970s characters spouting non-period dialogue on a bunch of sets dressed up with 1970s props and store signs.

In order for this show to work, I have to feel like I have been time- warped...I did, but not to NYC 1971...to Hollywood 2017

P.S. Tug McGraw was a relief pitcher he rarely started a Mets Game. Symbolic of the necessary details this show badly lacks.

Live Nude Comedy (2009– )

False Advertising...NO nudity at all!

[3/10 · 31 July 2009]

I give it 3 stars out of 10 because some of the stand-up routines were funny.

But get this: a show called "Live Nude Comedy" but the stand-up performers are NOT nude.

In between each act, there is a short dance performed by some no-name, 2nd rate dancer who strips down to pasties and a bikini bottom or a thong or a panty.

The pasties are big enough to qualify for a bikini top and you only get to see it for a second before they run off-stage...probably to hide from the audience who expects more.

The host is Shannon Elizabeth, who demonstrates why she can't get cast in speaking roles because she talks like a cheerleader instead of an M.C.

She is fully clothed meaning she isn't allowed to act.

The Departed (2006)

HUGE disappointment

[5/10 · 8 October 2006]

Never boring, but the actors are so wired, the dialog so colorlessly profane and the plot so thin you realize it's a puzzle where the pieces don't fit.

The most laughable scenes are Mark Wahlberg's at the beginning where he is taunting DiCaprio: it never leads anywhere and you don't know why he is doing it. Martin Sheen sits there doing nothing, either as an actor or a character.

The only female character (who isn't a whore) is part of a plot so predictable you wonder why they bothered it has so little payoff.

There are plenty of good moments, good violence and exciting chases. But the ending of the movie gets so cluttered, with so many twists, it undermines the original cat-and-mouse war between DiCarpio and Damon.

The movie makes you think it is building to this classic showdown, but strange plot diversions, endless double-crosses and lame exposition from secondary characters ruins the tension and you are left with violence as a substitute for suspense.

You have never seen so many great actors assembled for so little purpose and such mediocre results.

"Goodfellas" represents ensemble work at its best. "The Departed" is selfish solo work that allows all the actors to do what they do best...except realize they are in the same movie together.

How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014)

As BAD as it gets...maybe worse

[14 November 2005]

This show has absolutely nothing new, its gimmick is stupid, the editing is bad...and Alyson Hannigan (however you spell it) is just awful. She has now used up all of her good will from "Band Camp" making her a two-role person.

Someone should let her in on the joke because she is not funny, but it's not all her fault, the script is lame, but her delivery makes you want to cringe.

The other actors are rip-offs of "Friends" and their dialog isn't much better.

Absolutely atrocious, unless 2 1/2 Men can save it, it will off the air by the end of the season.

"You don't have a right to an opinion...you have the right to an INFORMED opinion."

Tahara (2002)

Pretty Tough To Take

[2/10 · 18 September 2005]

I saw this at the Israeli film festival in New York City during the summer of 2003.

BE ADVISED: this movie is about female circumcision and it is horrifying.

It takes place in the Middle East, amongst some Bedouins and a naive young lady falls in with a culture for which she just isn't prepared.

I will leave it at that, but I will say that I have a strong stomach yet I still had to go to the lobby for one scene (I came back.) This scene (and another) overwhelms the movie which is too bad because there is some pretty scenery, a nice 60s feel, and one or two decent love scenes (very explicit.) The movie is nice and short but, unfortunately, the filmmakers had a point to make and you are left with nothing afterward except a sick feeling in your stomach and you'll cringe when you think about it for the few days afterward.

You've been warned !!

Judging Amy (1999–2005)

Not too good, weak acting, and very obvious story lines

[29 May 2005]

OK, so maybe I am a "guy." It doesn't excuse Amy B's idiotic facial expressions and her lame attempts at serious acting.

You can tell she is serious because she looks like she is about to cry any time her obnoxious daughter (don't get me started) or a big, bad, mean male character tries to pull one on her.

The writing is strictly formula: it consists of obvious issues, with obvious good and bad people topped off with obvious advice from a woman who displays all the judicial wisdom of a high school principal.

Tyne Daly needs to find something more worthy and Amy Brenneman, failing miserably on NYPD Blue to launch a 3-D character makes it worse here with her miserable attempt at comedy and pathos.

TV for Women deserves better than this!