clacura Reviews

Reacher (2022– )

EXCELLENT: Taken Married Homeland

[9/10 · 21 February 2022]

If you like no nonsense, politically incorrect dramas then watch this. Reacher is STUD. Hollywood in its hypocritical positions believe in weak males but they make strong male dramas...thank goodness they are hypocrites!

The casting of all the lead characters was good. Some of the villains were too network TV over cable TV quality we are used to.

I hope for a season 2--I'll be watching.

Holiday Affair (1949)

Excellent Script and Acting All-Around!

[10/10 · 14 January 2022]

Excellent movie all-around! The script is top notch and very realistic. It stands the test of time. The acting is equally impressive, even Timmy, the little boy is superb.

Kid acting usually feels stiff, but this actor came off so natural. Every supportive actor also worked perfectly from grandma and grandpa to the police chief and in-between.

This movie should be studied and used as a script template. A simple movie can be delightful when all the details are well thought out. I rate this a 10.

Bonanza: A Hot Day for a Hanging (1962) Season 4, Episode 4

The Episode with No Cartwrights

[6/10 · 26 February 2021]

This episode sums up the culture of the west back in the 1800's. There is little critical thought and a mob mentality. Rush to justice before a trial--take the law into his own hands--until the last minute solution. Yet, maybe, there is truth to this culture and we have learned next to nothing in our 'rush to justice' BLM culture! The character acting in this episode is ripe with well-known actors from TV shows...like The Andy Griffith Show--half these actors were in one of the episodes of TAGS.

Bonanza: Shanklin (1972) Season 13, Episode 20

Great Acting

[9/10 · 26 February 2021]

Charles Cioffi who played Shanklin OWNED this episode! One of the best acted TV episodes--this could have been a movie. The scenes where he is operating are well timed. He plays a complex character, both a villain and hero. There are many layers to his personality and Cioffi was the man for the job. I didnt delete this from my DVR it was such a great performance.

The Grinder (2015–2016)

Sad, but true to life!

[10/10 · 23 June 2020]

This is a TV show but it is very true to real life. Forget the story I am about to tell, you don't need it, but here it is. I worked for a place and the main honcho's sister was a famous movie actress. I admit it, it was bling bling to say I worked for this guy who's sister was... I always saw him through the eyes of his famous sister...for a time. But TV is like high school, and so is real life. Remember the popular kid, and you just stood next to him/her at recess...you WERE someone for 15 minutes. This TV show is more real than most will admit.

The Grinder (2015–2016)

This Show KILLED!

[10/10 · 23 June 2020]

What makes Lowe perfection is he plays off his good looks rather than ignore the elephant in the room. He does this better than any other actor. Now a TV show about what Lowe does in real life...perfect!

The pilot was also perfection. Not a single wasted moment. Both Lowe and Savage "grind" together so well...the supporting cast was bullet. Usually kids in TV shows are weak points, not here.

Grinder needs a COME BACK ASAP...seriously, this shows was excellent.

Yes, Dear (2000–2006)

Yes Dear Vs Raymond...here's why!

[6/10 · 15 April 2020]

One comment mentions why the critics liked Everybody Loves Raymond and passes on Yes Dear. Here is one reason...YD has skanky, totally unnecessary sleazy comedy. Episode after episode I kept asking WHY...why in the world would they go there on a family comedy show? The writing was weak, but when they locked onto character development, this was a really strong show. YD had all the talent for a huge hit, especially the successful husband--he reminded me of Stan Laurel. This is a show that tried to be hip and trendy and liberal and it never became what it should have been and I believe they didn't care. Arrogant? You know how difficult it is to produce a hit TV show? When you are this close, suck it up and nail your script! The acting was good but just didn't tap their ability. If you watch season one of ELRaymond, Ray Romano was a terrible actor just like Seinfeld season 1. Raymond was really searching season one, Robert was a stiff, one-dimensional character but they adapted. I really wanted to like this show...one of the worst failures because it should have been an "A" show like ELR & King of Queens...on daily in reruns from morning to night.

The Straight Story (1999)

Best WWII Moment Ever...

[10/10 · 8 April 2020]

Watch this movie for all it's worth...yet there is a magical moment of two WWII vets sitting in a bar drinking a beer that is the greatest moment of two men who never spoke of their experience as young soldiers for the first time. Like this movie, it feels documentary...but it is not! If you had a father or uncle of grand-father who fought in WWII and never spoke of his experience, get this movie just for this scene! It can bounce by, but it is powerful and done better than anything I have ever seen!

Dennis Miller: America 180º (2014 TV Special)

Alone and Comfortable...

[10/10 · 5 April 2020]

Miller is just smarter than you or I am. He is the most balanced thinker. Liberals think they should like him but he doesn't pander to the left and calls out the right extremes. He is just logical and knows economic sense runs a country. It must be alone not making an idol after a party. If you really think through some of his analogies, dude is smart, especially his Middle East rant...

Home Alone (1990)

The Willy Wonka of a New Generation!

[10/10 · 2 April 2020]

John Hughes hit every detail with this movie! it is a timeless classic of filmmaking every bit as significant as any dramatic movie. Why? Well, watch it. It has everything. This film should be studied by students and a class taught on how to make a great movie.

The atmosphere is perfect. The house, the neighborhood...it all is perfection. The snow, the Santa Shop, the grocery store, it all works as the template or canvas for this Hughes painting.

Casting. Mom and dad are perfect. They play their parts subdued to let the main characters shine. All the kids blend in. Even Santa Claus is played to perfection...guy is smoking and off to a card game, car won't start. The pizza kid...Casting the B and C roles is just as important as the A roles.

Pace & tempo. The film builds well. Joe Pesci as the officer scouting the neighborhood with the gold tooth...not over done. By the time Kevin defends his house we are all in.

Of course no 8yo would be able to pull off what Kevin did, but this is part of a movie and it works so well we believe it for two hours because the fun is so good. This is family entertainment...all ages will enjoy this. The old man is brilliant, again, the casting is perfection and the storyline very believable. We all knew that old guy in the neighborhood that had a scary story.

Culkin should have been nominated for an Oscar his performance was that good. The church scene with the old man was a director's dream come true. There are so many detailed plot lines that merge together like the tarantula, hitting the house metal sculpture, the gold tooth, a John Candy cameo...the only other movie of this generation that hit all these marks was Back to the Future. Same brilliance and attention to detail. You can watch BTTF 10 times and catch something new each visit.

The reason we don't have many of these movies is because it is hard to pull off. This was major effort and Hughes was the master of this style.

Ricochet (2011 TV Movie)

When B actors play A actors

[2/10 · 31 March 2020]

Julie Benz is always eye candy...loved her in Dexter and she worked there. This is a made for TV movie from start to finish but cannot even compete with network TV, so TNT or Hallmark or... The lead actor is horrible. All these actors are familiar faces as supporting cast. This movie lets us all know how good leads actors are and why they get paid the big bucks. You get a star actor and run with that person as far as you can because there are not many of them around!

This is just bad...plays like an early 2000s drama before they perfected TV. Skip it unless Julie Benz is worth your time for a pretty face...

North Dallas Forty (1979)

Brilliant...even in 2020!

[10/10 · 22 October 2019]

Saw this in high school with some friends who played at USC. This is one of the most realistic movies blended with over-the-top (or is it?) characters. Perfect casting in this movie! The head coach is very serious and motivates by guilt and threats. The players are held hostage to this type of classroom management. We see why players are in arrested development socially, matuirity and it is here time stands still. Take the NFL today where players have in herited a more elevated place. Antonio Brown in 2019 would never happen, but we see why AB is AB. It could be hits to the head but it is also immatuirty and being told he is the greatest. This egoism will never change. The opening scene and the early party scene is exactly why time stands still. The women who went to those types of parties know what they are in for...excellent. Nick Nolte and Mac Davis are simply excellent, especially Nolte...he is an actor! How to deal with pain and vulnerability when your career depends upon you going into denial!

Captain Phillips (2013)

Perfection...

[10/10 · 24 September 2019]

Tom Hanks post shooting scene was simply brilliant with the female officer with a perfect musical score. One of the best acting performances ever. These low scores are pathetic. People, this is not a video game, this was real life and comfortable liberal fools who take freedom for granted are a disgrace to this country. We have millennials who have watched more movies by the age of ten than those over 40 that cannot discern reality. What should be shocking is how thugs in a motorboat could take control of a massive shipping vessel. This is what was unbelievable. What dipshots would not have military protection going through known hostile waters but liberals who think they can talk their way out of evil? Again, real life verses video games. So when pirates get shot and killed some gripe? Really? Pathetic. You piss on American freedom because you can...and that is the core issue. In America you can be a liberal fool and still have a voice. Max Martini was perfectly cast and Yul Vazquez was excellent...remember him from Seinfeld? Yeah, same actor. Paul Greengrass directed a masterpiece. This was filmmaking at its best and if you dont get that, you dont get much. Made my point yes? Out.

Justified: Over the Mountain (2014) Season 5, Episode 4

Funny Coincidence,,,

[7/10 · 1 September 2019]

I came to IMDB because of the filming location of the pine forest which looks like it was filmed about 15 miles from my house here in So Cal...then I read this comment... I have lived about an hour's drive from Harlan, KY my whole life. I look out my window and see trees that crest the mountain and end on the other side in Harlan County. The trees I see are deciduous like maples, poplars, oaks, sycamores and only a handful of them are evergreen. The reason we have people come from every state down to our area in fall, is to see all the leaves change color. The fact that they are filming in an old growth pine forest just hurts my feelings. There aren't many amazing things about Kentucky that draw people here. The Kentucky Derby, the gorgeous nature and Jennifer Lawrence is about it.

I was thinking KY looked an awful lot like Pine Mountain...and it was most likely filmed about an hour or more from Hollywood to save $$...so I appreciate this comment that it was NOT KY.

Keeping it real...

The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story (2015 TV Movie)

Is what it is...

[7/10 · 19 August 2019]

Decent production...the Jennie Garth actress was so spot on. Kinda takes you out of the scene when they are watching a HDTV in 1990...details missed over and over...but it fit the style of a TV show thrown together fast. Seeing Dan Castellaneta outside of Homer Simpson is always good...he looked like Spelling. The behind the scenes is actual...all the network control issues is very true...business and art always collide and the real star is Darren Star...he kept the show running.

Auto/Biography (2019– )

As Notes: FAIL Should Have Been a 30 Min Show

[8/10 · 18 August 2019]

Sad...this should have been a very good show! Get two episodes in and you will fast forward through the same commercials for the entire hour episode. These are at best 20 min stories with 10 mins of commercials. Tons of filler time because the hosts are not good enough and the production is good, but not to fill the extra nothing. Total fail...if this was 30 minute episodes, it would be a success.

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

Better Than the Lion King 2019!

[9/10 · 29 July 2019]

For those reading this review 20 years later (presumption IMBD is still around) let me record reality. The Lion King remake is in its second week and beat Once Upon A Time. The results are over 40 million for the weekend while the Lion King dropped 60% in one week. This is why weekend box office results are not reality. Once Upon A Time will still be seen 20 years from now and Disney's LK a mere burp that is gone! Tragically there was another shooting that is dominating the Sunday evening news tonight at the Gilroy, CA Garlic Festival. This is blocking out all coverage of Tarantino's movie and how well it did this weekend.

Flight (I) (2012)

Very Real Character Study of the Human Condition

[10/10 · 28 July 2019]

This is a movie folks and never tries not to be a movie. It must play like a movie otherwise it becomes a documentary or serves for some social or political cause. Yet within the lines are very realistic character studies of addiction and ego. Denzel portrays the bliss and blister of addiction or better yet the addict personality. Addicts take risks! They can be very smart in an unconventional way. Think about it, to get high is to lose control. It is to go way out from sober. Accept it or not, skills are developed. An addict can face being out of control (plane is crashing) and not lose control because they are familiar with loss of control. Maybe, often, they are drawn to careers that are high risk and walk a fine line. Sometimes they live straight as an arrow and when they are in the sky can feel that "high" until they land. Pilots that can balance this are usually very good. Those who cannot cross boundaries like Whip Whitaker did. As for surprise performances, James Badge Dale did more with seven minutes of screen time than a lot of actors do in a career! It is one of the great performances in movie history! He had to lose 20 lbs for the role and worked at it for weeks before the one day shoot. He was instantly believable as a cancer patient. He should have won an award of some kind for this performance. It was a role that should have been forgotten, a filler role yet after the movie I thought about him. That is impact! John Goodman is on par with his performance as the savay drug dealer. It bordered over-the-top, but he got away with it and it was very entertaining. This movie needed some levity and I am sure Zemeckis allowed him to go for it to balance the ride out. This is a great movie to show with addicts and anyone wrestling with an addiction, pause for coffee break and open discussion in small group. It's just a matter of willingness to become vulnerable...the step that is the most difficult!

Thieves' Highway (1949)

Study of Human Depravity

[10/10 · 28 July 2019]

This is a movie that depicts the nature of man. God gives food (fruit) but mankind cannot take it from tree to store without screwing up people's lives in the process. It is trucking for gosh sakes. But greed and power corrupt.

Management is crucial especially for fruit that has a short lifespan after picking. This adds tremendous pressure to shipping. This is a story about immigrants who start at the bottom, many of which never rise beyond pickers. Same today, Grow the fruit, pick the fruit, sort the fruit, pack the fruit, haul the fruit. Trucks have to be maintained, drivers need to be paid. Along the route pirates need to be confronted. After watching this movie next time you see big rigs on the freeway you will have a better appreciation (awareness) of their haul.

This message will never change until life ends. If you've watched The Deadliest Catch you see the battle to get crab on your dinner plate. Men become addicts, lose marriages all to make money to give people food, who take it for granted. Imagine someone at a restaurant complaining the crab isn't perfect after all the effort it took to get ot the table? No wonder people want to homestead and get back to organic living!

Noir like this allows one to go back in time to 1949. I love looking at the cars, homes, how the land changed. The roles between men and women as well.

Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet (2015– )

Right People Doing Right!

[10/10 · 28 July 2019]

This is truly a great reality TV show and time spent makes you edified about life in a fallen world. if you have ears to hear you can learn a lot like how making emotional decisions (I want a puppy) but dont puppy-proof your home leads to negative consequences for your pet.

This is a show about dignity--the dignity of life! I'm not sure who sponsors this show (planned parenthood which i have problems with) but this is a show about leadership and skill. Dr Jeff leads by example. He is the most skilled at his job, then he teaches others, and inspires others. He doesn't get too high or low, he just does his job, is kind and moves on. If most dental and doctor offices ran like this vet hospital I personally would not be to toxic towards "professionals"...this is NO Western Dental hack office.

Then Dr Jeff does community helps like helping low income communities who cannot afford care. He works with high school students and allows then to help in his office shaving down animals before surgery. He is a giver!

I've never seen him lose his temper once. He's human, but he doesn't get emotionally involved. He is NOT co-dependent. He hires quality people. So much going on with this show...

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Authentic to My Experience

[7/10 · 22 July 2019]

Growing up in LA in the 80s, this movie really captured the essence of a young guy being sucked in the entertainment industry. Dave Franco was excellent if you can get past his young Tom Cruise look and energy. Anyone living in LA saw young people come and go. You meet someone who has dreams and connect and then their true motives are not revealed. You are both in and out of reality in one restaurant. Sitting next to you could be Tom Hanks, then a commercial actor the next table who did a Tide commercial, then a writer who did an episode of Bob's Burgers, then someone trying to get an agent, then a radiator mechanic. The aspiring actor is two feet from Tom Hanks but a million miles from him. Tom can play the role of an out of work actor while the out of work actor serves him a salad as a waiter. It is similar to a gardener working for a millionaire. They are on the same property but on different planets. Dave Franco really captured that enthusiasm of being naive great.

Seinfeld: The Barber (1993) Season 5, Episode 8

Simply brilliant writing

[9/10 · 16 July 2019]

More of Seinfeld brilliance in this episode. You can miss viewing for 20 years and still recall the phrases and delivery from the actors. Even the C actor sitting in the barber shop is memorable; "Gino you've outside yourself this time, this is the best haircut I've ever had!"! The classic Seinfeld hook, "Of course..." taking a snippet of life and building an entire episode.

All the peppered phrases; Kramer: I can raise enough money to cure polio/ I'd like to have shoehorn hands George: The Pensky file...it's just removable...his little drum beat w pencils at the desk

What Seinfeld did better than any other TV show is cast guest actors that you remember for 20 years. Every small part is knocked out of the park with character actors, faces you remember...these details pay off like no other show imo. Casting of Enzo is equally brilliant. This actor knocked it out of the park into the street.

Splicing this episode into Edward Scissorhands works to perfection.

Seinfeld: The Bris (1993) Season 5, Episode 5

Over the top performances that work really well

[9/10 · 16 July 2019]

This is one of the better Seinfeld episodes. The Bris was played to perfection, add the pigman B story and all the other brilliant layers like Jerry asking George if he ever saw a man that was uncircumcised. He pauses then says, "I got used to it..." This is what makes for great writing and performances, when you can take a simple line and it becomes memorable. Jerry whining in the taxi cab about his cut finger. This episode sums up the finale well and the finale was brilliant. These are really nice people that are self-absorbed. George obsessed with getting a great parking space instantly cements his character. The writing is superb.

Heist (III) (2015)

Lazy, Cliche, Boring

[4/10 · 16 July 2019]

This movie had potential for what it is in 2015. Kinda a lot of "heist" bank robbery type films made since 1930. So do your homework! Thus the lazy judgement. But it gets worse, the detective that comes in to save the day (younger than the other guy in charge and cocky) was horrible. Who writes this crap when you are not working on the A-Team in 1985? TV. It was terrible then, but in a movie in 2015? This is good news to all budding screenplay writers because in college or film school this writing would get you an F grade...yet here we are watching this crap.

Of course we need a female cop that is good looking, tough, sassy...she's the one that needs to be Sandra Bullock, but Sandra wasnt a cop and she was believable. Then the lame contact dialogue when cop meets robber on the freeway to gas the bus...like college buddies shooing the casual sarcasm. By this time I was gone...in fact I am writing this as the rest of this sad use of time proceeds.

Oh...Negan is playing Negan with a conscience. Either you get that or you dont.

The Edge (1997)

Believable because it reflects human nature

[9/10 · 8 July 2019]

This movie works for several reasons. The first is Bart the Bear. This is the best bear action sequences in a movie, way better than The Revenant. It did not look like any CGI was used. This is similar to the original Planet of the Apes and the remakes...the original looks way better over the technology and CGI that would come. Bart the bear was real and his trainer amazing. There are some good Youtube videos of Bart with his trainer.

This movie works because of Anthony Hopkins. No surprise here. Alec Baldwin plays the pretentious ass as good as anyone which is probably not a stretch from his true nature. Elle Macpherson plays herself and did a good job. The only real acting involved was her last scene when Charles gives her Robert's watch.

The location (scenery) has to be included as part of the success. I usually add the film score as the underrated star of many movies but not this one. It felt very dated.

Now to the survivalists who attack this movie. I find this rather stunning actually, that men go after a movie as though these characters trained in survival school for weeks, can make fire out of wood and took notes watching Dual Survival TV episodes. If anything, the movie set up Charles (Hopkins) as the very smart billionaire that possess the intelligence of one that read every How Does It Work book. OK...acceptable because it is Anthony Hopkins which is why you cast this actor. He is instantly believable as one possessing this type of intelligence. Now if any one of us were the victims of a plane crash we would be screwed in the Alaskan wilderness during winter. So why would we think these men know how to survive? I have watched every episode of Dual Survivor and know the three basic things to do, but that doesn't mean I can start a fire or apply these skills in the moment.

The writer brilliantly peppered in what kills people in survival situations is not what we would think, but what kills people is shame. Could not agree more, be it in a survival situation or real life in general. Shame is the most misunderstood emotion period. Lord of the Files (human nature) always applies--blame, fear, guilt, shame, ego. All of which keeps people divided rather than working together. This sinful part of nature is seen under the microscope in a pressure situation demonstrated on all reality TV shows, which is true to nature.