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Reviews
House M.D.: Brave Heart (2009)
Is House finally in charge again?
Is House finally back in charge? Foreman is good as comic relief, but he has no business being put in charge remember he was fired when he tried to go it alone in season 4). He really has't improved as a physician over the last 3 years. Chase has become an excellent surgeon since he left House's group, while Cameron has drifted away into making beds and washing bed pans. Cutty is like a yo-yo, there is no logic in her decisions. I watch House to see Hugh Laurie practice medicine, The pain medicine House takes is relatively mild. If he were taking oxycontin, dilaudid, fentanyl or demoral I could understand all the fuss, but vicodin is considered to be a mild pain reliever. The shows creators and writers should have done some better research before hanging the term addict on House (and wasting 3 seasons on his addiction problem.) Now that House can practice again, I hope he joins the staff of a new hospital - leaving the old gang and their baggage behind - so he can again practice his medical specialty and be the old House again. Or better yet get rid of the hospital staff that is there and bring in some new writers (there are plenty out there now that NBC has killed off 5 hours of drama shows with Leno.
James Tont operazione D.U.E. (1966)
Parody of James Bond, Dr. No and Goldfinger
I saw the English dubbed version on local TV back in 1967. At that time it went by the title of "Operation Goldsinger" and featured a Maxwell Smart type spy named James Tont. The movie poked fun at all the gadgets and villains that appeared in the first three Bond films. Instead of a stylish Austin-Martin he has a little Fiat )which goes 200mph and doubles as a submarine. Thee plot has James Tont assigned to prevent Goldsinger from blowing up a special meeting of the UN in Rome. I actually thought it was one of the better ripoffs of James Bond. It was shown in Los Angles on channel 9 under their "Million Dollar Movies" time slot, where they would show the same movie Monday thru Sunday at 8 to 10 P.M. (which meant that you could watch the same movie 7 time in a single week.) I think that it is probably still worth a look.
Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
Don't bother, watch the 1963 movie Jason and the Argonauts
As I recall NBC had a string of rating successes from movies and mini-series based on legends and mythology, but when this one aired, NBC discontinued that trend. Critics panned this version of Jason and the Argonauts and audiences tuned out in mass after the first thirty minutes. This is one of the few movies that I have ever seen that every aspect - from producing, to directing, to the acting, to the special effects and photography, and especially the writing, is simply bad. Dennis Hopper, who plays the stepfather of Jason, lacks credibility and has trouble delivering the simples of lines. The action scenes fall far below the standard set in Xena and Hercules. Special effects were state of the art in 1933 Still most films can be saved in the editing room if filmed by a competent director, but that to is missing from this film. My advice is to rent the 1963 movie and classify the 2000 version as a Bomb.
Phantoms (1998)
movie shows how bad Oscar winning actors can be
Phantoms is very much like an untrained marathon runner who starts out fast and with lots of energy and zest, only to faultier at the half mile mark and taken away by the paramedics at one mile. Phantoms is based on a book by Dean Koontz; whose recent work seems to lack originality. In this instance Koontz borrowed much from H. P. Lovecraft. As for the movie, it does start out well and then quickly dies. The producers and directors seem to be suffering from the same problem as Koontz. If you have seen the last Blob film you need not bother with Phantoms. As for Ben, his performance comes right out of daytime soap operas; while Peter O'Toole should stop acting and rest on his laurels.
Taken (2002)
Don't bother
Spielberg's best films have been based on material previously done by others, with him then adding his own special touches. Recently he seems to have lost his touch. TAKEN is clearly the X-Files, but without the the energy, wit, humor, and everything else that made the X-File TV series a classic. TAKEN is long and tedious. I kept waiting for it to show some signs of life, some energy, some reason to keep watching it. In the end, I found none. Ten episodes - ten directors might explain why TAKEN feels like a mishapened puzzle. To many chiefs spoil the pot, and in this case makes TAKEN difficult to follow and to hold my interest. Dissect TAKEN and you will find at least 5 distinct X-File episodes incorporated in the film. There is also a little of Ray Bradbury's classic short story "Mars Is Heaven". TAKEN is far from being a science fiction epic. Bottom line, watch the X-Files