Hoju721 Reviews

John Doe: Pilot (2002) Season 1, Episode 1

A Must-Watch That Nobody Does...

[9/10 · 26 April 2003]

In a time when Reality-TV and copy-cat Sitcoms dominate the air, one show has come to give the viewers something unique, mentally stimulating and exciting. The show follows the exploits of John Doe (Purcell), a man who knows every bit of trivia except for who he is. His super-human knowledge is used two-fold every episode, to assist the police is solving a crime-of-the-day and to figure out something about himself. While at first the concept seems a little far-fetched at first, Purcell and the excellent cast around him, especially William Forsythe as Doe's best friend Digger, keep you ready for the next episode. The writers make sure that every episode gives you just enough information to realize that all your predictions from the week before were wrong and enough teasers of what's to come to let you make some more guesses.

Unfortunately, this show got its start in the Friday 9pm timeslot, one not the best for the youthful crowd the show appeals to. However, Fox showed a willingness to stick with it, and the writers responded with an added enthusiasm that will no-doubt bring the show to the status it deserves, ranking it with the cult-status once reserved only for the X-Files and MyST3K.

I recommend this to anyone looking for something different in a television show: One hour will leave you hooked.

Billy Madison (1995)

Laugh and a Half...

[8/10 · 26 April 2003]

The plot of Billy Madison and Adam Sandler's antics throughout are immature, silly, and at times, just plain stupid. But it's just those traits that make this movie one of the funniest modern films. Sandler plays the 12-year-old-trapped-in-a-26-year-old-body title character and heir to Madison Hotels and the fortune his mansion and large pool imply. However, his father intends to turn the hotels over to the weasly Eric Gordon(Whitford) unless Billy can prove himself. The test: he must repeat every grade in two-week intervals and then pass the appropriate exams. Of course, putting Sandler into grade school classrooms and the like will bring forth the exact humor that one can predict. Adding in a wacky principal, a good-looking teacher, a giant penguin, and kids doing exactly what kids do, all add to the character that Sandler was born to play.

This movie never promises Oscars or mental stimulation. What it promises, and successfully delivers, are crude jokes, typical Adam-Sandler gibberish and willingness to humiliate himself for a successful laugh, and memorable quotes that will keep you chuckling every time you think of them.