dixiedoggg Reviews

Firstborn (1984)

Lots of questions, few answers...

[1/10 · 20 April 2024]

No good loser moves in with divorced woman and her kids and causes problems.

The lady seems to live in a comfortable suburban house and spends most days in the garden, going to store, and cleaning house. First question, where does she get the money to live like this ? She apparently doesn't work, so maybe the good hearted ex supplies her with an alimony that wouldn't happen today. Then she meets an obvious shifty character and he moves right in, spending her cash and spooking the kids.

The kids are threatened by the guy, and is seen doing drugs, never seems to go to a job. The oldest boy has major issues with the deadbeat yet tells no one, not at school or simply by telling the cops. The big fight outside alarms no neighbors and again, no cops. Today's kids wouldn't waste a second to dial 911 and spill the beans, but this is a 1984 movie so I suppose they are all stupid.

Pretty awful movie with little insights to the family and its issues.

Robert Downey Jr. Plays a teen cool guy who neither adds or subtracts from the film.

Escaping Twin Flames (2023)

Grifters looking for lonely souls...

[10/10 · 12 November 2023]

Without the internet, there would probably be no story to tell.

If you try to solve your social problems, your financial problems, your personality problems by trusting the scammers on the internet, you will most probably find your problems getting worse.

It amazes me that these people, intelligent people, did not do the necessary due diligence of examing exactly who they were entrusting their information and lives with. Scams are all over the internet today, it is becoming more and more inviting to just walk away from your computer and even to make the iPhone do its primary purpose and use it as a phone, and ignore all the senseless chatter of the ever increasing social apps and websites that generally promise everything, and usually deliver very little except headaches and grief.

Within the first ten minutes of this program a sane person can recognize major red flags popping up all over about the Twin Flames concept. If you look at the Jim Jones, the David Koreshes, the Charly Mansons, the Warren Jeffs of this world, it is easy to see how the fringe members of society can be sucked into a group who take all their cues from one or two lunatics who enrich themselves at your expense. What is shocking is that even the people who fit the mainstream can also be duped so easily...

Excellent documentary on the pseudo-self help/ religious scam that haunts the web even today...

Betrayal: The Perfect Husband (2023)

Get out the hankies for another Karen...

[1/10 · 26 July 2023]

A half hour story stretched into 3 painfully repetitive hours.

The emo music was bad enough, the shots of the sound meters every time someone talked was even worse. I get the guy was a horrible person but I bet even the friends of this woman started to quit answering her calls and texts.

And even then something is just off about the narrative. The poor poor lady comes home to find the jerk on the couch claiming his life is over. She then tells us about a search warrant that just happened and the way the cops just tore up the house searching. And then the douchebag gets arrested. But later on she has his computer and finds incriminating photo after photo and emails and texts that are damning.

So I am guessing the police searched his residence for sexual assault on a minor, and never even bothered to take the laptop laying there ? I've seen hundreds of crime shows and it seems that in this day and age, the first thing cops would look at in a case of this nature would be computers and phones and all electronic devices to track conversations with victims. So either the cops were too busy eating donuts or the narrative is misleading.

Maybe the minor never communicated with the jerk online, but wouldn't the cops still be looking, just to be certain ? I mean, the more evidence gathered, the better for a conviction. If the wife turns it in weeks later, it could be manipulated. And chain of evidence is everything, a good defense lawyer would have that thrown out in a half minute.

And even the 'experts' putting in their two cents wasn't very helpful, just more sound bar videos and info that most people take as common sense.

All I saw was a woman who got the shock of her life and decided to just carry on and on ad nauseam to shame the ex.

The first hour was of a fairy tale romance that to me, looked so petty and needy and overblown even my wife was rolling the eyes....

Don't waste your time on this dreadful story unless you want to write a horrid review after mine...

The Reliant (2019)

Let's make the world great with God, guns, and a vote for Trump

[1/10 · 15 September 2021]

Two major flaws in this movie from the beginning, Eric Roberts and Brian Bosworth.

Heavily propagandist tool probably featured in 'Kiddies Christian Club' in a local church near you every Wednesday night, and at 'Summer Camp Christian Movie Night Blowout' every summer evening in a pro God, pro gun, clean cut whitebread camp for all those parents that send their kids there to be brainwashed into God fearing, gun toting avengers of the Word.

Plot leaks holes from the beginning to end, dialogue is laughable, acting is like watching a grade school play. Only good thing about this farce is that it ends.

Amazing how the kids don't starve after 6 months in the woods, they all stay clean, they all have clean clothes all the time, hair is pretty much perfect (except for the demon villians trying to rid the earth of Johnny Goodheart and Jill Puremind). What a laugh, and every 10 minutes they remind us that God will see them through. I'm sure every camp counselor and church auxiliary volunteer lady nods silently at the children every time this is mentioned.

The makers of this film and others obviously do not see the obvious choice of selling this movie off as pro gun and pro Christian movie, rather than trying to reach the mainstream audience as an end of the world thriller (which is what I thought I was going to see). If done better, it may have rated a 5 or better, but not this clunker. I'm sure Lifetime is anxious to get this film into their playlist for endless viewing...

Get the guns and ammo and praise the Lord AMEN !

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

So when do we start the laughter?

[1/10 · 15 May 2021]

Not Robin Williams worst film, that would be 'Mrs. Doubtfire', definitly not his best.

Let me say the filming was terrific, the editing suburb, the cast topnotch, and the music was good if only they played a whole song or two.

Williams work in other films is sometimes brilliant, sometimes spot on, but this mess as a DJ in Vietnam probably would have been great if not for his constant way over the top attempt to be funny. The other actors in this film must have been paid top salary to appear to enjoy the manic ad libs from Robin's mind.

Honestly, if you removed Williams from the cast, it would be a good movie. Trying so hard for laughs is not funny and never will be.

The First (2018)

Oh Boy....

[1/10 · 30 September 2020]

I was intrigued to watch a 'first' man on Mars but it seems to never happen...

Lots of inter-family drama with a few references to a planned mission to Mars.

It seems everyone has to drop the F bomb every other sentence and the characters have nothing to empathize with.

Watched three episodes and then quit, looked at the further trailers up to E8 and they still are bumbling around on earth.

If you like high soap opera drama you may enjoy this, but calling it a 'first man on Mars' is a misnomer.

The Staircase (2004–2018)

Interesting, yet kind of flawed.

[7/10 · 19 April 2020]

If you are reading this, then you have got to know what the story is about. If not, then disregard.

In the end, guilty or not guilty? I really have no idea what happened as I wasn't there. Mr. Peterson claimed innocence all along, yet the state saw enough evidence to arrest the man shortly after the death of his wife. In the end he did take an Alford Plea after being in prison (sentenced to life) for eight years. I imagine he would still be in prison if not for the Deaver fellow and his testimony.

Naturally, the defense and the defendant, and the children, dismissed all the police work and claims as utter nonsense, yet one daughter and the victim's sisters were convinced off his guilt. Should they ever have a conflict with the law in the state of NC, Lord help them all.

I feel sorry for the victim, her daughters, related relatives who are included in this documentary. It is of course an attempt to show that Mr. Peterson was not guilty. But in the end, they all appear to be voluntarily included in this documentary. I made up my mind long ago, to never talk to the press if I ever was in such a predicament, your dignity is thrown out the window from the first frame.

Mr. Peterson, the defendant, even though he is the subject of this film, and is pretty much shown in a manner to produce sympathy for the man against the evil system, comes across as a not too likable figure. This is just my opinion. Never once do we ever see a friend or acquaintance, beyond the brothers and paid attorneys, step up and offer any sympathy for this guy. He struck me as a pretentious guy who would lie to get what he wants, while puffing on a pipe and holding a wine glass, spewing lyrical nonsense to cover his actions. As soon as he was described as being bi-sexual (which is fine I suppose), I asked my wife what would she do if she found out I was paying other men to have sex with me, and I was doing it for years. She said she would divorce me immediately, if she was aware before we got married, she would never marry me. I think that would be an honest response by most women in the United States. Then it was revealed he lied about injuries in Vietnam to promote a book he had written.

This doesn't make you guilty of murder by a long shot, but it surely doesn't help matters. I also noticed the eye contact drifting around as he told the cameras he was innocent with his relentless non stop talking. And the tears only seemed to flow in the courtroom, when mention was made of his poor wife's demise, in front of a jury. Most of the time he was yucking it up with his lawyers and kids making bad, morbid jokes about his predicament, and never really showing the grief that I assume one would have. I came away with the impression that he was a an arrogant, self absorbed creep that I would never want to ever meet again. Like I said before, it doesn't make you guilty by being that way. Just makes you an unlikable jerk no one wants to be around. Maybe this is what got him convicted in the first place. He did seem to mellow considerably in the final episodes. His admission of pleading guilty (although an Alford Plea), was enough for me. The guy either was railroaded because he was an obvious jerk, or he was actually guilty off the crime.

The crime... Did anyone come to the conclusion that instead of a massive beating with an object, he may of just followed his wife inside after an argument about his dalliances with paid escorts, as she entered the stairway to go upstairs, he just grabbed her hair and pulled her back with such force to produce the injuries seen? Maybe once down on the floor, grabbed her head and continue to smash it against the steps? I am not an investigator nor an officer of the law, but that seemed pretty probable to me.

Here is a story, told by people who invited a camera crew to follow them around and film them, as they tried to convince an audience of his innocence. Right away the assumption is that you would be on your best behavior and admit to nothing, of course. So some relevance of not being biased is lost from the get go. Also the relationship he had with a person in the film company makes you wonder just a little bit. My impression was let the judicial system do their job and they ended up finding him guilty, then released due to the Deaver fellow, then an attempt to retry again. That is how the system works. He entered an Alford Plea and is still a convicted felon in the eyes of the law.

Good film/docu, whatever, a bit long in the tooth, but in the end, the state of North Carolina got what they perceived to be the truth, even after the defendant paid untold amount of money to defend himself. If it was just a poor soul from the other side of the tracks, I imagine he would be on death row or just rotting in prison still. Reminded me so much of the O.J. trial, and what a fat wallet will get you in the justice system.

I feel sorry for what his lies and manipulation did, and the toll on his family, they certainly did not deserve any of this.

And of course this is not the whole story. If you read a book or watch other shows about this incident, you learn so much more. Stuff like: Kathleen was married before, she got divorced because, you guessed it, her husband was cheating on her. The Petersons were flooded in credit card debt. Kathleen had a life insurance policy on her worth over a million. Both of his college educated sons relied on their parents for financial help, a lot. They seemed to live beyond their means, draining any financial security. The house needed some major repairs, Michael declined to repair anything and refused his wife's overtures to move to a smaller and more affordable location. Michael had no income from 1999 on it seems, although he did write a column for a newspaper, I don't know if he got paid for that, but even if he did, it certainly was not enough to afford an almost 10,000 square foot mansion, the taxes, maintenance, utilities, and other obligations associated with a life on that level. He would lose his free ride if Kathleen divorced him, and received half of everything. There is no indication that Kathleen ever knew, or approved, of Michael's gay lifestyle, even her sister mentioned that she would have definitely told her about that, and most certainly would have left him.

Moral of the story, don't tell lies, don't cheat on your mate. It will just get you in a mountain of trouble in the right situation.

Lego Masters (2020– )

2% LEGOS, 98% BS

[1/10 · 14 February 2020]

I actually like LEGOS and their many designs.

This show is just a mindless production, starring mindless twits, who carry on mindlessly for an hour, doing mindless whatever.

A 3rd grader could do a better LEGO show than this, and I am sure would do a much better job than another stupid competition that really goes nowhere.

The contestants were obviously chosen for their obvious involvement of living on the fringes of society.

Don't waste your time watching this piece of crap representation of LEGO ideas.

I am positive that Ole Kirk Christiansen is turning, vomiting, and screaming in his grave this moment....

JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald (2017)

If Baer is former CIA, we are in trouble

[1/10 · 18 July 2019]

Another crock of crap from out of nowheresville...

Within 2 minutes of the first episode, ex-CIA spook Baer tells us that Oswald couldn't have shot JFK without support. No mention of possible Oswald innocence ('I am a patsy'), no mention of possible Mafia involvement, no mention of American intelligence agencies planning hits on pretty much anyone they please etc etc... So he instantly is relying on the 'lone nut + whoever' theory to tell us how it happened. Never mind that in a lot of other theories the CIA is the prime suspect all along. He never really mentions that little tidbit, so I assume the whole series is tainted from the beginning.

OK, so he believes Oswald was the shooter and he had help, bring in the 'experts' who agree with everything he says, and you got a pretty boring show actually. Full of information that he claims was 'just released', yet I know I've seen this stuff in almost every book/movie/documentary from 1963 on. And he is the voice of the CIA. Oh boy....

Boring, repetitive, little or no new information and a conclusion that still holds true today, 'it's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma...'

Watch the Beverly Hillbillies for a better perspective of the JFK assassination... At least that was entertainment...

Charles Manson: The Funeral (2019 TV Movie)

HELTER SKELTER !

[2/10 · 17 April 2019]

A couple hours of watching the grandson of Charlie Manson grieve over his grandfather.

A few interesting tidbits over who the grandson is, his father and mother, and that is about it. The friends of Charlie are some burnt out hippies who gather at the casket and reminisce about whether he was a monster or a good guy.

Reelz TV probably thought they were getting the scoop of a lifetime, and probably a lot of people tuned in, but I bet like me, they just fast forwarded through most of it. What took 2 hours to tell could have been done in 10 minutes. The still photos of Charlie showed endlessly and the poor grandson was mostly portrayed standing around soaking in his newfound fame.

How this story could have been told any different is beyond me, poor Charlie was shown in the casket toward the end to depressing music, I bet even Charlie would have got bored had he seen it.

2 stars for a good idea to show an icon from the 60's having his funeral.

Fluff history piece that will soon be forgotten.....

Surviving the Wild (2018)

Tearjerker for the ignorant...

[1/10 · 20 February 2019]

Terrible acting, unexplained goofiness, but beautiful scenery.

Kid's grampa died and he lies and steals to get up to mountaintop to spread gramp's ashes. Kid has a mental problem where he hallucinates and hears voices from dead grandpa. Kid goes through made up hell to reach destination and all turns out well.

It is real hard to feel any kind of compassion for any of the characters in this film. They all seem either totally devoid of feelings or they are annoying as hell. It seems the movie was written as the thing was filmed, disjointed and confused.

I hate movies where they show things unnecessary to the plot, and you are left wondering what is going on. The dog has what appears to be a go-pro camera on his collar, but never once is it alluded to or explained, so the viewer is left to wonder "What the hell is on that dog's collar?" for the whole film. Close ups of the mother had me wondering what that growth was on her upper lip. Where did the hillbillies come from and why, and why are they attacking and kidnapping the boy ? How come the dog didn't save the boy then instead of the next day ? Why in God's sake didn't the idiotic parents call the cops when their son went missing ? Why in the beginning of the film is it Autumn with leaves changing, but later on interspersed through the film the leaves on all the trees are green ? And then back to changing colors ? In the scene where the pathetic father checks on his wife in the tent at night, why is there a blinking red light in the forest behind him ? The poor dog is seen in almost every scene to be looking at the dog trainer behind the camera waiting for his next instruction...

After about 5 minutes I sensed this movie was a train wreck, but I wanted to see the end result. My wife did cry in the end though.

Jn Voight could have done much better than this drivel.

Space Dealers (2019– )

Just plain stupid waste of time

[1/10 · 10 February 2019]

I always liked anything to do with space travel and watch almost anything connected to the subject. This show is a ridiculous attempt to garner viewers into watching these 'dealers' try to sell, trade and buy space 'stuff'.

While the tagline of the show is to collect items that have been to space and back, it is just junk that NASA threw away mostly, without ever leaving the ground. Episode 1 shows stuff from the MIR space station, which is pretty comical since MIR disintegrated in de-orbit in 2001. Unless they are showing a replica, or stuff for future missions, which doesn't quite match the criteria for being in space. As for the three 'stars' of the show, one looks like he lives in his mother's basement, another looks to be on daytime release from a mental institution and the woman is just 'there'.

The trio jump around L.A. to try to find their objects of space at a couple of storefront 'places', one is a surplus store and the other is this so called museum (that is completely empty), also they bug the crap out of other collectors to get stuff, where one of them attempt to purchase a pack of cigs that went to space. He buys it for $10,000, and has the paperwork to make it legit (which of course we never see).

This is one of those shows that you watch and make fun of like MST3000. It is definitely scripted and pretty poorly done.

I wouldn't buy a thing from these idiots.

First Man (2018)

Like watching paint dry...

[2/10 · 4 February 2019]

Don't get me wrong, I think Neal Armstrong is one of America's greatest heroes. But this film is so boring and slow that you spend most of the film saying "get on with it". The best part of the film is the scenes of the spaceflights, very well done, but the rest is just a mishmash of what I like to call 'uninteresting fluff'. I'm sorry the Armstrong family lost a daughter, but to come back to the little girl over and over is kinda annoying really. And the tensions among Neil and his wife were overblown and again, annoying.

I think that another filmmaker could have done a better job. To reduce civilization's greatest achievement to this level of depression and mediocracy is really, really, sad.

The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer (2017– )

Uh-huh

[1/10 · 15 August 2018]

It seems all the History Channel's investigative reports rely on about four things... 1) Repeat yourself ten or more times. 2) Make every piece of evidence a huge or incredible 'discovery'. 3) Just plain copy what was already known and act like you found it. 4) Treat every piece of useless evidence as though it is the big break.

Every time the guys in the field run into another big clue, I seemed to already know the answer from reading lots and lots of other stuff on the Zodiac killer. For example, when they 'discovered' that victim Paul Stine had drove about 3.2 miles from where he picked up the killer, I already had the answer, from the Theater District. This is not new material... The 'investigators' started bouncing around a few guesses and concluded it was, wait for it, the Theater District. And just like in the god awful 'Hunting Hitler' series, these guys would run off to anywhere with the smallest amount of evidence and of course, prove absolutely nothing. And of course the police stations and the FBI were more than happy to turn over evidence so these 'experts' could waltz out the door with it to read in their spare time. Are they crazy ? No one in their right mind lets evidence walk out the door like what was portrayed. On a still open case. The police acted like finally, someone was finally going to solve the case they couldn't solve for the last 50 years. I was waiting for these 'investigators' to get thrown out of the station. The 'investigators' said that one cop had been trying to solve the case forever, but he was only a patrolman who responded to the scene, not an actual police investigator like a detective. The local cop may have wondered I am sure to who did this, but it just ain't his job to solve crimes... And then you got the other crew at the small 'rent an office' playing around with a super computer that actually makes noises and stuff when working (sure it does), who feed in the most stupidest stuff so the computer can find the killer. And all it does is produce a stupid poem. It never does crack the 'Z340" cryptogram. One of the guys calls the office at midnight to tell someone there that he solved it. How did he know that anyone was there ? And you can tell it was staged because, 'thank the Lord', a camera crew was there to record the scene. Sure they were.... Any good camera crew would be at the local bar swilling away, laughing at these imbeciles they are told to film. And the other 'experts' with the super computer, mainly just sit around and agree with whatever the moron in charge has to say... The narrator has to tell us at least 150 times when and where the murders took place, we are shown at least 50 times the sketch made of the Zodiac killer, and after every commercial, and at the start of every episode, we are brought up to date on the 'investigation', ad nauseam ... Totally unnecessary. So the guy figures out the code and then can't tell us what it says until he contacts the CIA... Sure he does... A paid actor is the CIA agent and he almost immediately agrees that this guy has the answer. The CIA ? What in the hell do they care ??? And the truth be told, everything they cover in 5 episodes, at 42 minutes each episode, could have been told in about 15 minutes real time without all the repetition, idiotic drama, stupid film shots off the "investigator" lighting up another smoke or traffic around San Francisco... A totally useless documentary that should be avoided, look up Zodiac on the internet, read the book by Graystone, see the movie, you will get much more info than this ridiculous attempt by the History Channel to solve a case. It is really just an embarrassing laugh...

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Best 70's movie ever made

[10/10 · 3 August 2018]

If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, put it on your list of to-do things right now. I read the book in 73, and then watched the movie on late night TV every chance I got. Lots of drama, comedy (very dark), very satiric, very sad, and very moving portrait of one Billy Pilgrim. Kurt Vonnegut at his absolute best !

Sons of Winter (2015)

YOU CAN DIE OUT HERE !!!

[2/10 · 12 March 2018]

The dad is constantly warning his family and us that death is just around the corner. Got it....

The youngest boy (Cole) is like 16 or so and lived there all his life and has never operated a chainsaw ? Wouldn't that seem like a task learned long ago being they live in a cabin heated by wood ?

Wait a minute moment #1 ; The two boys out on their own, many miles away, get on a battery powered CB radio to call home. OK, that tells me that they are about 3 miles from home at the most.... and observe the boy's radio, no antenna cable whatsoever, doesn't sell in this household. On battery power it probably puts out about 5 watts tops, enough to cover 3 or maybe 4 miles at best, without an antenna, zero...

Another BS show to teach us 'southern' yokels how tough it is to live in the frozen north with guns, ATVs, snowmobiles, endless supply of gas, ammo, school busses, etc etc...

Wait a minute moment #2; When Grampa Griz needs some dynamite to blow up the poor beavers, he goes to his old cabin in the woods to get some 'his words' unstable and dangerous dynamite sticks in a lunch box. Dad tells the womenfolk and Cole to stay behind on account of how dangerous it is... yet the camera crew is invited in to watch as Dad an Griz magically find the stuff, and of course nothing happens cause there ain't no dynamite, ain't no danger, just a couple harmless cylinders of cardboard in a box made to resemble some TNT.....

Love the location filming but the story and plot are pure hokum... These folks are gonna die out there...

Australien skies (2015)

Uh- Huh

[1/10 · 13 August 2017]

As usual, another tale of UFO's seen by someone with the film to prove it, turns into a ridiculous documentary, that in the end really seems to prove nothing.

So let us travel to Australia with a film producer, who no one has never heard of, as he searches for the guy with the video clips, but first, we get to hear the unnecessary story how the filming location has been changed and the poor guy has to take a 14 hour train trip and blah blah blah... OK, we finally get to meet the guy, 'Damien', and we get to watch as he descends the train platform very slowly to the producers car, who parked at obviously the farthest point from the station. Also we never actually see a train, nor do we ever see any other passengers getting on or off.

Finally we get around to seeing some filmed blobs of light in the sky, filmed either by a guy who has Parkinson's disease or is unable to hold a camera steady for more than a half second. Some more film is shown where the focus is in and out, and we hear Damien tell us he has hundreds of sightings under his belt, and that now the UFOs are following him around and appear over his head about 10 feet away and are the size of basketballs. But unfortunately we never get to see film of any of that, the red balls have been seen 10 times, while the white balls many many times. I am guessing he forgot to carry a camera at those times.

More boring talk and later we are treated to a scene where they are staring at the sky when something bangs into a trash bin next to them and they start to investigate that. Finding nothing they abandon that and head to a canoe trip to somewhere to film more strange sites.

But first we see the difference between a drone and an UFO by sending a drone up in the air and while they film, yep, a UFO is seen. But it is really just a white speck falling behind the drone and could be bird poop for all I know. Now they interview the drone specialist in an obvious faked outdoor shot which just looks stupid. You can tell by looking at the video, that the guys are in front of a screen, with a picture of the field they are supposed to be at, behind them.... If not faked, certainly strange...

Before the canoe trip starts we are presented with another UFO enthusiast, who tells of UFOs flying around with the video being shown, and then how aircraft and helicopters (also shown on video) show up and check out the skies. And the helos are of course black op military spy top secret don't look or we will shoot you helos. And he adds the men in black show up a day or two later, in black cars, and sit and stare at them for hours outside the house, but I guess the camera batteries were dead because we see no footage of that at all.

Now the canoe trip starts and we are treated to a conversation that seems to last forever with more UFO garbage facts that can't be verified, and then we are sitting around the campfire talking implants and such. Yawn.... Somewhere in the show, Damien tells of buying several high dollar cameras to document the UFOs, but all we see is grainy, out of focus shots, and video that is obviously edited for dramatic effects, so none of it proves anything at all except I was stupid enough to watch this BS. In several scenes, he is shown filming with a cell phone camera, what happened to the high dollar cameras he was telling us about ?

In the end, I saw some unexplained night lights and some puzzling footage that probably if analyzed by some pros, could be explained away.

This show was a bore in the extreme... don't waste your time except for a good nap or a good laugh at insipid filmaking at it's worst.

The Program (1993)

Really awful movie

[1/10 · 4 August 2017]

Most of the reviews are 10 and tell of a 'true' telling of life in a college football school, the ups and downs and twists and turns etc etc....

What a waste of time this movie was, the whole point is to try to portray the players as 'poor little men' trying their gosh darn dangest to succeed on the field of battle in football. What a joke. All the players are portrayed as the most ignorant, stupidest ape mentality with a full blown paid scholarship, that they seem to misuse to their advantage at every detail. Watching the woman in the film swoon over these neanderthals is comical, why on earth would any human want any contact with these insensitive, crude, drunk boors is beyond me.

The acting itself is pretty low, the script poor and the plot can figured out in about a minute into the film.

Now mind you, if this is what 'true' college athletes are like, please write your congressmen and other representatives to fully remove all sports from the college level because they appear be the worst scum of society ever....

The Gypsy Moths (1969)

Completely senseless film unless you like skydiving I guess...

[1/10 · 21 November 2016]

I've always enjoyed the films of Lancaster, Wilson, Hackman and Kerr. I saw that this movie was going to air on TCM so I recorded it and watched it today...

First thing I noticed was the blurred out magazine on the guys lap at the root beer stand 2 minutes into the movie, what the hell was that all about ??? Why blur it out ?

The movie takes place in a small Kansas town where these three barnstorming skydivers pull into to put on a 'thrilling' show over the 4th of July holiday. The scenes show the cast members sweating it out in the hot Kansas sun, yet throughout the film we see folks dressed in suits and long sleeved shirts, wearing jackets and other things that just don't seem to fit.

One of the jumpers (Wilson) has relatives (William Windom and Deborah Kerr) in this town so they are invited to stay there with a girl tenant who goes to school there (portrayed by Bonnie Bedilia). This is summer, so there is no schooling session and the town looks too small to have a college so it made me wonder what the girl was there for. So after only being there for a few minutes things are heating up between Kerr and Lancaster, for no apparent reason really... Lancaster gives a speech at the local ladies club which Kerr attends and she is there, at the end, alone with Burt, to ask why he has contempt for them and everyone else. Wow, what dialogue, it just floats in from thin air and makes little sense either. The skydivers have a dinner with the couple later and explain the extreme danger and thrills of jumping. And Lancaster leers across the table at Kerr while the husband does nothing...

Then it is time to take in the local strip club with the twirling tassels and the horny waitress... Really tasteless stuff actually, does nothing for the film and seems to have been added for the sole reason to have nudity in the film. Makes no sense again...

Later Lancaster and Kerr take a long walk in the evening while Windom watches his wife from an upstairs window walk off with a complete stranger. Kerr seems to walk, talk and act in a slow motion effect in this film, she never smiles and stands in rooms in the house looking totally depressed. It takes her a full minute to shut some doors in the parlor so her and Burt can screw on the couch... and now we get a nude scene with Kerr, a very bad nude scene with Kerr, a scene that again was added for the sole reason to have a nude scene... And where in the hell was Windom while this is going on ???

I kept waiting for Wilson to drive off looking for the Clutter's place.

Next a fight scene between Wilson and Hackman that is altogether pointless, and then on to the big Sunday skydiving extravaganza at the local airfield... Finally after an hour of crap we get to see some more skydiving, which of course means the lead actors in front of a movie of the sky while they are hung by cables to fool us into thinking they are really jumping out of airplanes... The stuntmen take over at this point and do some 'stunts' that I wouldn't pay a dollar to see. They jump, land on the ground, go back up, jump etc etc... Now who would sit around for the half hour between jumps in a hot Kansas sun to see this ???

The whole point of the movie is whether Lancaster will do the 'cape' stunt in the act on Sunday... The 'cape' stunt is just like it sounds, you wear a cape and jump and spread it out to resemble flying, I guess, it is never really explained and looks as ridiculous as it sounds. But the actors drum it up as something that takes great skill and is absolutely the most dangerous part of their show... So Burt puts on the suit, jumps from the plane and rather than open his parachute he plows into the ground at a thousand miles an hour... I mean it was filmed so badly with the crowd reactions I had to laugh at the stupidity... Why didn't he open his chute ??? Suicide ? That is never represented... Accident ? After the jump they test the chute and it opens fine... So I guess it just follows the rest of the film and makes no sense...

One other distraction in the film is the high school band practicing for a parade that never happens. We are treated to at least three scenes with the band director looking like a complete lunatic trying to get the band ready for the big day, just utter and complete nonsense...

In the end we watch as the remaining crew of Hackman and Wilson decide to perform the idiotic 'cape' routine the very next day as a tribute or remembrance of Lancaster buying the farm the previous day... The whole town shows up again and pays to see one jump with the stupid cape and Wilson pulls it off and the crowd goes wild and gathers around him.

Another unexplained part of the movie is every time a chute opens, you hear a 'pop', like a gunshot going off, and just as loud as a gunshot would be... At the end of this horrible movie before Wilson jumps off the plane, he pulls a wire on a device on his shoes which triggers a smoke trail and produces the same noise... Yet when we hear it earlier we never see any smoke trails at all...

Watch this movie for a lesson on how not to make a movie....

The Rockford Files (1974–1980)

Best PI show ever...

[10/10 · 8 August 2016]

Just plain good TV... Rockford kept us entertained each week with his off kilter investigations and recurring characters... Loved watching this show as a 20 something in the 70's, my dad loved it too... Best shows were with Tom Selleck, Isaac Hayes and Lou Gosset, Jr., you just had to laugh....

Always liked the interaction with Angel, and his dad, Rocky... Didn't care for the episodes with Rita Moreno and Beth Davenport too much, but they were still good...

Bo Hopkins shows up in a couple episodes and he was real good too, played a disbarred lawyer with a heart of gold...

Unsealed: Conspiracy Files (2012– )

This show is completely insane...

[1/10 · 24 June 2016]

You would have to be a idiot to believe in any of this garbage.... Everything is 'could of been', 'allegedly', there is absolutely no proof given in any episode except how outlandish and stupid these theories are. And then you got the 'experts' like Bill Birnes, a UFOlogist nut fixated on the idea that aliens are here and that no matter what these idiots propose, it's real !!! And the way they film this crap is basically just a headache inducing nightmare... Every time they cut to Birnes, it looks like they shot the video with a broken camera and the sound is comparable to a disabled microphone... Experts, more like lunatics with day off from the asylum...

And the 'facts', pretty loose all the way around... in the episode with 'America's alien wars' they tell us that the USA has been sending out greetings to outer space since the 50's... OK, then they inform us that someone out there actually answered from 37 light years away during the Eisenhower years and ole Ike made a deal with the 'grays'... Now wait a minute, if it was 37 light years away, wouldn't it take 37 years just to get to the planet, and another 37 for a response back to us ??? Or has there been an invention which makes radio waves travel faster than the speed of light ??? How stupid do they think we are ???

And all in all, every episode is the same, after every commercial break they also need to remind us of what they are talking about to bring us up to speed like we forgot in the last 3 minutes... unless they think 100,000 new viewers have tuned in while on a commercial break, very very annoying...

Stick It (2006)

What a terrible movie... well.....Bridges was OK

[1/10 · 24 June 2016]

I have 2 daughters and after seeing this horrible film I was so glad that neither one turned out like anyone in this train wreck movie... Haley (the 'star') is a rebel who refuses to take anyone seriously or has any respect for authority or anyone for that matter... She starts the movie with doing BMX stunts and causing $14,000 worth of damage to a property with her friends, 'the good natured, harmless losers who are in every teen movie'..... She shows no remorse or even cares about the damage done and then proceeds to be a complete ass and snot nosed kid with the court, her mom, her dad, her new coach, her fellow athletes and anyone else in the movie.... I felt absolutely zero compassion, understanding or any kind of 'good' emotion towards this girl. If I was her parent I would try at least to have a talk about morals and school and leading a good life and so on but her parents (like everyone in this movie) are so unlikable and uncaring you sense that will never happen. So I guess I would let the court send her to 'juvie' and wish her the best of luck. Three minutes into the film I disliked this girl entirely...

We find out later dear ole dad spent 4 times the amount of tuition to get her into this gym school and it makes you wonder why... until you find out she is Olympic class athlete material who just decided to quit 2 years ago for a reason no one seems to explain.

Skip ahead through all the training and 'I'm better than you' inter-girl catfights and we are now at the official competition, all the girls refuse to do any gymnastics (after years of preparation) so that one girl who does do the routines can get the gold medal... uh-huh... And these girls who refuse will ever get a chance to compete again after that display of sportsmanship ????

And lastly, just an annoying issue really... the sub sub plot involves the 2 lame friends who let Haly take all the blame for the damage at the beginning, they keep showing up at her practice academy which is 400 miles away, and seem to stay for the rest of the movie. One keeps hitting on a girl to go to prom, so I assume he is in High School and then again, why isn't he at school ???? And they drive there in a vehicle which is probably unlikely as they are losers without jobs and where are the parents of the losers while they are away for a month or whatever... the movie does not give you a hint of any of this and it doesn't seem to matter to anyone else, so I quit caring also....

Last point.... The scene at the shopping mall is just so unbelievable that I laughed out loud at the stupidity of it all... The first thing I thought of was where is mall security and why are these idiot kids acting like this, while in the rest of the movie they act somewhat restrained ????

horrible horrible stupid amateurish film that needs to be ignored at all costs, unless you are a 9 year old girl who likes gymnastics....

Over the Edge (1979)

Cannot relate to this film at all

[1/10 · 23 March 2016]

This is supposed to be the film that defines restless youth of the 70's and the results of poor suburban planning and horrible parents... The kids get all their pent up anger out at the end of the film by going on a rampage and destroying things...

Well, the film meant good, tried to portray the mood of these kids and ended up just giving us another movie that is just unrealistic and unbelievable... Yeah, there are kids who act moronic and get stoned on any drug to be found, but the whole town of kids acting this way is just stupid... Isn't there one redeeming teenager who isn't into the drugs, alcohol, and wanton destruction that all the others seemed tuned in to ??? I mean, I was raised in a small town where there wasn't a lot to do, I was envious of the kids in large cities who could see the best bands that came to town every other week and I was missing. I never felt the need to destroy property, get high at every chance or drink booze all the time, I actually found other things to do... And when you look at where these kids live, it is really not that bad, nice houses, nice atmosphere, nice location, surely there had to be something other to do than sit around and feel pity on themselves. Hell, I would have had a ball in this place.

Sorry, I don't feel sorry for any of these kids, I actually laughed at most of their antics and felt they got what they deserved in the end...

I saw this film in the 80's because I noticed that a 'Little Feat' song was supposed to be in it, I never heard the song ( I read that it is 'All That You Dream'), I thought the acting was done by some wannabe 'hip' kids who try their best to be badass and come off just looking pathetic... They all appear to be 14 year olds who are wiser, saddened and much more in tune with the world than their parents, teachers and everyone else... I just don't buy it, they are reading a script written by 30 year olds and come off as just that, teens reading a script written by 30 year old writers...

I watched this film again the other day, it was on TCM and just could not pass up the chance to see it again, it has not stood the test of time very well... Kids today are much too inventive to fall into these stereotypes set forth in this film, they seem much more into sports, video games, and being successes in general... If they started to go around acting and talking like the dolts in this film they would just be laughed at....

Wahlburgers (2014–2019)

Let's all go get a burger....

[1/10 · 10 March 2016]

Just watched the first show of season 5 and I have to say it was a disappointment... Watching Mark make his cousin/friend/lackey/trained monkey Johnny Drama go through a humiliating and embarrassing exercise in making (not making) a stupid music video just made me cringe... And then you got the 'no talent hanger on' Nacho thrown into the mix and I almost gagged... It portrays Mark as sort of a sadist to cause these two nobodies as much shame and humiliation as they can take, as long as they get to hitch to his wagon... In earlier episodes we see the ever compliant Nacho down bottles of Hot Sauce on Mark's instructions to prove that this idiot will submit to anything that Mark tells him to do... Maybe it is all in good fun but to me at least it seems in pretty bad taste.

The mother, Alma, seems like a nice enough lady, but the constant giggle after everything she says makes me want to change channels real quick, sometimes I wonder WTF is so funny... The show seems to center on son/brother Paul's fast food joint called Wahlburgers, but in the case of this episode we see the restaurant not one time... Other episodes center around the extremely wealthy Wahlbergs trying to create new locations and new sandwiches to market... It seems every time we are watching Mark we are seeing his 15 strong entourage in the background agreeing with everything he says and finding everything he says completely hilarious or the gospel... It just does not transfer well to the middle class folks who work 50 hours a week and then find themselves at odds with the bill collectors.

And I actually enjoy most of Mark's films...He seems to be a talented actor who respects his craft... Just seeing this side of him and this family and their lunatic, loyal entourage willing to make themselves look entirely childish on national TV is rather unentertaining... Could I do better ? Probably not, but then again I am not going to try to stretch a stupid joke about who mom likes best into a 100 episode reality show...If I was the producer I would most likely try to emphasize on the running of the restaurant and the hard work the employees do every day to create a pleasant and tasty dining experience... But that would probably last 3 episodes and then drown in apathy...

And now we get to watch 'Donnie loves someone or another' and his exploits in TV realism....

Reality shows are the essence of bad TV, not real at all, but scripted to make rather above normal people seem eccentric and entertaining in real life. Being told what to say and when and where to say it, and then presenting it as real life is just plain ignorant and demeaning to the millions of people who want to see the 'real' lives of successful people. Now if this is how the Wahlbergs really live and act, well I am truthfully not impressed at all................

Hunting Hitler (2015–2020)

You have got to be kidding...

[1/10 · 5 February 2016]

OK, so I saw the ads for this show and decided to tune in... I saw that Steve Rambam was in it and I had seen him in another interesting show about private investigation which I watched and liked... This show is a train wreck by comparison, the assumptions made with little or no proof are ridiculous. Every time they encounter a torn down house they firmly conclude AH lived there or hid there without a bit of evidence other than some old farmer saying 'Yeah, my father said a German lived there'.... Horrible, horrible show that ends up proving nothing except that people will produce anything, no matter how stupid, and expect other people to watch it, no matter how stupid... I felt stupid after 10 minutes of watching this crap and hung around to be able to write this revue of a really terrible show. Steve Rambam has to be embarrassed by this mess I am sure... Being proud of this show would be insane...