george-819471 Reviews

The Boys from Brazil (1978)

Great Movie for a rainy day.

[9/10 · 28 September 2014]

If Hollywood starts turning out movies this good again, then maybe they will solve their problems with declining ticket sales.

This movie grabs you from the opening scenes and keeps grips on you until the end. It makes me want to dig up the original novel (Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby and a long list of others) and read it.

I watched this on DVD the first time, which is the way to go. I've only seen scratchy versions chopped up by TV commercials before now. The DVD version looks like it's been taken off the master prints. It does not have the scratches and other defects of a circulation print.

I knocked off a star because of Gregory Peck's congenital inability to master foreign accents and some continuity errors. These minor flaws are easy to ignore.

Hollywood should learn from it past successes, and this is one.

Torchwood Declassified (2006–2011)

Torchwood's Special Features

[8/10 · 4 July 2008]

This DVD contains the special features for season one of Torchwood as part of the season one DVD set. Included are: commentary on every episode; Torchwood Declassified (the "making of" feature); outtakes; deleted scenes; captain's log video diary; Torchwood out of this world featurettes (five in all); Torchwood team and their troubles featurettes (four in all); Welcome to Torchwood; Torchwood on the scene; Torchwood on time; Torchwood sex, violence, blood & gore; Torchwood on the road. If you like behind the scenes documentaries about TV shows, you will like this one. It is very well done and thoroughly covers every aspect of the production. Fourteen featurettes in all, with run time of about 10 minutes each: total run time is about 2 hours 20 minutes. It is in 5.1 surround sound.

Ugly Betty (2006–2010)

Betty is a moral force

[10/10 · 13 June 2008]

Truly entertaining, always delightful, Ugly Betty never fails to make me feel good. Praising Ugly Betty is easy; finding fault is not. Betty is a moral force in a world filled with amoral and immoral people. Betty will always chose to be truthful, honest, kind, and decent -- even when it might mean she could get fired (or suffer worse punishment). The best thing about fiction is that it allows people like Betty to come out smelling like a rose every time. This is a show that is good for everyone who likes comedies about people who are likable. Her dad is an unpunished murderer (self defense), her sister had a son by a career criminal (and a loser criminal at that), her boss cannot remember which beauty he slept with last night (and expects Betty to sort them out), her coworkers are all out to get each other and her -- and Betty lifts them all to a higher place just by being herself. Good triumphs. Evil becomes a bit less evil. Betty rises to every occasion. 10-stars for acting, plot, and concept.

The Mixer (1992–1993)

English cozy, period piece, mystery with humor and a bit of 'cute.'

[8/10 · 2 December 2007]

The Mixer is both a crime drama and a charming spoof of the English cozy mystery genre. It is set in London in the 1930s and is about a not very rich member of Britain's upper class. He makes his money by stealing back stolen property.

Instead of stealing for personal gain, The Mixer finds stolen goods and monies, and then reunites them with their rightful owners. He is partnered with his valet, closer to the partnership of Lord Peter Wimsey and his valet Bunter than Bertie Wooster and Jeeves; with a bit of the seriousness of the first and the light humor of the second. Think of an honest (more or less) Raffles, a Raffles with a sense of humor.

Good writing, good acting, and superb costumes and sets make this series a must see for followers of the English cozy, period piece, mystery. If this were made in the USA, it would be rated PG-13 for a few adult situations, but nothing that kids cannot see on TV anyway. My 3-DVD boxed set is a keeper.