susancvan Reviews

Voyagers (2021)

The score

[4 December 2021]

I haven't seen the movie yet. I do want to. I am not going to rate it until I have watched it. I just noticed a few people saying the score was boring? I then noticed it was Ludwig Van Beethoven. I've never found Beethoven to be boring? What did you want? Metallica? Blake Shelton?

4400 (2021–2022)

Honestly...it's not that bad. I'm enjoying it.

[9/10 · 4 December 2021]

Okay....so firstly, I didn't see the original. To me it's an interesting premise. Who are these people? Why were they taken, who took them and why were they returned? That hook was enough to hold me. I find the acting fine. The character development is good. We learn a little more about the characters each episode. I also liked Lost...until it lost me. I also like Manifest and am waiting for it to return. Lost lost me when they kept on killing off characters and introducing new ones... I am anxious to see where this goes....

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

Are we changing history here?

[5/10 · 25 December 2019]

Okay. My husband brought this home for us to watch on our 4k blu ray home theatre. We watched Ad Astra before this. I liked Ad Astra better. I like Brad Pitt. He's not my favourite actor, but I like him. I like Leo Di Caprio too.... both in the same movie sounded like a good thing. I was born in 1963, so I remember the hippie era well. I don't smoke weed, I kind of follow my parent's habits more in that maybe I drink to much sometimes? I don't smoke. Okay...about the movie. There was a lot of talk about movie making.. but the first part was pretty boring, mostly about movie making in Hollywood. At some point someone mentions that Brad Pitt's character is supposed to have killed his wife.... so I'm supposed to care about him now? Okay.... well I did when I figure out Margot Robbie's character is supposed to be Sharan Tate, and then I hated that I was watching this movie, because it was going to be another blood soaked Tarantino festMostly I hate his movies. I frickin loved Dogs & Cats 2 Revenge of Kitty Galore and Happy Feet. I'm 56 years old. Does anyone remember Manson? Do any of the reviewers know who we was? He was an a-hole who recruited people to kill innocent people for no reason. The story doesn't follow history. Sharon Tate died that night.... the guy mixing the Margaritas died... in this retelling they lived... It would have been nice if they had lived, but I don't need to see the bad guys mauled by a pit bull or have their faces bashed in repeatedly or torched to ashes... Why is this considered entertainment? I am giving it 5 points for the acting and the accurate portrayal of the 60's-70's

Ad Astra (2019)

Pretty much action packed?

[9/10 · 25 December 2019]

Okay. I wanted to see this movie so badly. Hubby and I both like science fiction, we loved the cast of Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Brad Pitt, Liv Tyler. We saw clips of the moon scenes...Brad wants to rescue his Dad... knew nothing else about it but did read that a lot of people didn't like it. So... we bought it 4k blu-ray to watch at home and enjoyed it. People said it was boring. They said the only action was one fight between buggies on the moon.... that was NOT the only action. They said it was all about him talking all the time, retrospective about his relationship with his Dad... they were wrong. That wouldn't actually have bothered me anyway, but thanks, because I was gripped by all the ACTION. OKAY... some of the science is wrong. I am not a scientist, so I let them humour me through most of it, but I don't think there's that much water on Mars that makes that the only route to the launch pad... but I'm not a scientist and I don't live on Mars...so I was ok with that.... the getting on board after the launch sequence has begun and the engines are firing? I did have a problem with that. but...it's a movie! In Star Wars there are people with green skin who have ears that pivot. What it was NOT was boring.... It was not boring. It was action scene after action scene as I saw it. Yes...he get to the moon and there are 3 buggies carrying " VP's" Pitt and Sutherland and they are beset on by pirates. How can you say this wouldn't be possible? It's the future. Then Sutherland has an attack which lands him in the hospital so he can't go any further. I love Donald Sutherland so I now care about him and hope he's ok. SO now though Brad has to go by himself with a top secret, tell no-one mission. It's imperative that he carries this out, first priority, so when a Norwegian science vessel with 26 people on board send out an SOS, he tries to tell the Captain they can't stop to help. The Captain asserts that they are obligated as a directive to assist and when Pitt objects, the Captain asserts his authority again and demands Pitt tell him why his mission is so important and demands to know the classified details. The Co-pilot looks like he's okay with skipping an encounter where 26 people aren't answering their hails, and I'll admit I am a coward. I think cowards are smart... it's gotta be bad... help me, but none of the 26 people are available to reply? WE don't know what happened but all probably best left alone... but Pitt... well trained as he is, can't reveal his own orders, allows for the delay and offers to assist our Captain in place the the intelligent but cowardly but smart co-pilot. They fly in suits to the Scandi craft which we learn is 26 scientist doing animal experiments... apparently bad ones... I won't say more...spoilers... but not boring? I jumped! And not ridiculous.... lord knows what we willl experiment on in the future. Then to Neptune... okay... how is he not older, I guess? but maybe we've acquired a method of travel we don't know about yet... sheesh it's science FICTION! Are we going to toss out Orson Well's Time Machine? It's a movie... it's entertainment... I are up on a steady diet of Star Trek, Star Wars, Blade Runner, Space 1999, Soylent Green, 1984, 2001 a Space Odyssey... I don't expect science fiction to be explainable by today's science People who thought this was slow moving must think the best science fiction is Guardians of the Galaxy.... oh... but the ones looking for logic and critique the science aspect? go give "Them" a try, it's about giant ants. Speaking about logic, it was one of Pitt's characthers' strengths and flaws. He was almost Vulcan in his approach to everything. It sure sounded like Tim Russ (Tuvok) was the computer voice speaking to him. "Your psychological analysis is complete." I won't tell you what happens in the end, but I will tell you it was NOT boring. The visuals were great... it looked like the moon, it looked like Mars, the sound was great.... we have a home theatre with pretty powerful speakers and take-offs rocked the speakers so hard a stack of cd's fell off the top. If you LOVE Liv Tyler and you're waiting for her... she's not in it much... Donals Sutherland's part is pretty small as well... and we don't see Tommy Lee Jones much either... I still thought it was really good.... if you are expecting long conversations with his Dad, it's not that deep...to me it's just a really good sci fi movie. up there with Gravity, Interstellar, 2001, Star Trek, So many haters in here... I say give it a go. I loved it. :-)

Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

I liked it

[8/10 · 17 November 2019]

I had seen this years ago and just rewatched it last night. I am a huge fan of both Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and while I admit this was much different from You've Got Mail, or Sleepless in Seattle, It was still entertaining. It was much darker, yes. The one thing I loved was the beginning where he is trapped in a job he clearly hates working for a dreadful boss. I just retired after working 37 years at a large communications company. While my bosses were mostly ok, I did feel trapped and was getting older and older and afraid of dying before I had the chance to do the things I wanted to do... (write, paint, cook, garden, travel, interior decorate, cross stitch, read, sleep in if I want) ; so the first part was hilarious... I felt for him, but I keep congratulating my self that I am now retired. YAY! I thought it was a bit weird having Meg play all three main female parts, but she did very well. I thought the natives were funny. Celtic Jewish, Polynesians with an addiction to orange soda. There was a darkness but it had a happy ending (for the 2 of them anyway).

The Daily Show (1996– )

I never did see the Jon Stewart version

[9/10 · 17 November 2019]

We (my husband and I) started watching this after seeing Trevor Noah doing stand up on a comedy special. We thought he was so hilarious that when we saw he was on a TV Show regularly, we started watching it. We were not disappointed, Yes he talks about Trump. Trump tweets things and says things that really, all you have to do is repeat them. The jokes write themselves. He has ALSO been commenting on all the democrats running and not always in a favorable light. He also does talk about other things. His sidekicks are also funny. I think the problem is the country has become so divisive that we've forgotten how to laugh and take every comment too personally. It's time to relax and let that sense of humour out. Also to address a couple of comments in here about "Go back where you came from" .We must remember USA is NOT the only country in the world. When we make fun of Angela Merkel or Prince Charles for example, do you think it keeps them up at night making them angry? Probably not... they probably laugh and think it's funny.

Saturday Night Live (1975– )

I still like it

[8/10 · 17 November 2019]

I have been a fan of Saturday Night Live since it first began and I still like it. I agree some casts have been more entertaining the others and some nights (even with the original cast) left you waiting for a laugh... but when they made you laugh it could be seriously side splitting... and it still is. Forget which side they are picking on politically. Over the years they have picked on everyone. I remember them picking on both of the Clintons... Most politicians practically write the jokes themselves. I think the funniest bits were Dana Carvey as Bush Sr, Phil Hartman as Clinton and David Spade as Ross Perot debating. Unfortunately, right now we have a president who is always putting his own foot in his mouth and it's hard to ignore, so it gets parodied. No one "hates" anyone. Relax and your sense of humor might return. I like our current cast... all of them and am looking forward to watching them for the next 20 years or more, if I'm still around.

Maps to the Stars (2014)

Julianne gets all 3 of these stars

[3/10 · 19 October 2019]

I watched this right after watching the "Come from Away" documentary about Gander Newfoundland, which left me feeling wonderful. You see, I actually like people most of the time and felt that this was an accurate description of most of the people I know...okay...these people seemed SO nice, I almost want to move there. If they'd landed in Toronto, they wouldn't have been treated nearly as well...so I'm feeling wonderful, all warm and fuzzy, then I look to see what else is on and I remembered hearing about how wonderful Julianne Moore was in "Maps to the Stars". I am a Julianne Moore fan, so I watched it. WOW! What a horrible downer of a movie. I went from feeling everyone is basically good deep down inside to watching a movie full of characters who have NO redeeming qualities at all. I almost turned it off twice, but I thought maybe there might be some redeeming type of ending where everyone might wake up and realize they are humans, not zombies. (There are no actual "zombies" in the film, just characters lacking souls) . Julianne Moore's acting WAS excellent. She gets my 3 stars. John Cusak walked through the movie like he owed someone a favour. The girl was okay. Everyone else...eh...what could they do with such a hopeless plot? This movie is devoid of any niceties at all. Oh maybe Carrie Fisher is a nice person. She appears in a cameo and isn't really a huge part of the movie though. The dog that gets shot looks like he was a nice pooch. The rest of the characters are completely unlikeable and as such I really didn't care what happened to any of them. If they'd managed to redeem themselves in any way? But they did not, so I felt depressed, gypped and robbed afterwards. Thanks so much for harsh interrogation my mellow. Not happy!

The Dark Tower (2017)

I Enjoyed it

[8/10 · 8 September 2019]

I will start by saying I haven't read the books. I get the feeling most people who did not like it have read them. I do read; I read quite a lot actually. I avpid Stephen King as a general rule though because I read Pet Cemetery and It and they both freaked me out. He IS a great story teller. He paints a picture with words that sticks with you. I will also add that I love science fiction and fantasy. Give me alien planets and knights in shining armour and I'm in. I also believe in good over evil. This for me was very entertaining. The kid was good, with his psychic ability and I love that he was an artist. I also like to draw and paint. The kid was pretty good in this, really believable. Idris Elba was great as the Knight in shining leather who has something in common with the boy in that they have both lost their fathers. Every kid, every adult has had that experience where we know or feel something is or isn't right and no-one believes you, so that should resonate with just about everyone, McConaughey was excellently creepy as the devil like character "the man in black". My husband and I kind of giggled at the name thinking of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones...lol. Roland's knight like character reminded me of King Arthur or Lancelot or Gallahad before they mentioned "Excalibur" so I guess that was intentional. It was high on action. The special effects are good. There was enough character development to make me care . It was what I want in a movie. Entertainment.

Buffalo '66 (1998)

Not Entirely Awful

[4/10 · 8 September 2019]

Ok. It was an interesting story. It was well acted. It was definitely low budget. I was born in Montreal, so the atmosphere of the snowy Buffalo Streets was similar, therefore familiar to me. The opening scene where he needs to p** is hilarious. Then when he opens his mouth and starts verbally abusing a young girl who is trying to be nice to him, I lose sympathy for him. Then when he proceeds to kidnap her, letting her drive her car, he gets out of the car a couple of times and I am wondering why she just doesn't drive away? He's seriously scary at this point, now not just verbally abusive, but physically as well. But... I'm still watching. My sympathy for him returns when we meet his parents. The Father killed his dog when it was just a puppy in front of him. His Mother cares more about football than her own son and they only own one photo of him and have trouble locating it. Mom has a whole album of the football team though. She offers him chocolate donuts forgetting her own son is highly allergic to chocolate and when he reminds her she argues with him. The kidapped girl also feels sympathy for him because she goes along with his request to pretend to be his wife. My sympathy for him leaves again when we learn he wants to kill the kicker who lost a game he had placed a $10, 000.00 bet on. Who bets that much on anything? It looks like the family is middle class at best. If you have $10, 000.00 kicking around these days and you're not filthy rich there are better things you could do with it. Oh, but wait it's worse than that because he doesn't actually have the $, so the bookie makes him a deal that he take the fall for someone else and confess to something he actually hasn't done and spend 5 years in prison. The one redeeming quality in the movie is the unconditional love the girl apparently feels for this man. She sees a good person inside this mess of a human being and sticks with him like a guardian angel. The endging was kind of sweet. I do like stories that end well, but the movie on the whole was just too quirky, strange and pathetic. I had to give it some stars though because the acting is good. Angelica Huston and Ben Gazzara are wonderful as the horrible parents. Christina Ricci truly seems sweet, if naive. Gallo played the part of a loser like he was born to it and the brief bits with Rourke as the bookie, Arquette as the nasty ex school mate (reminded me of kids I went to school with.) and his goofball loser of a friend were also well played. We knew nothing of the movie and tuned in only for the cast , although we were unfamiliar with Gallo we knew and liked everyone else and were left wondering who they all owed the favour to? I was waffling between 4 and 5 stars. I'd like to give it 4 and 1/2 but I don't see half stars here so if my choice is 4 or 5 I have to go down to a 4. We almost turned it off....

My Kitchen Rules (2010– )

I like it

[9/10 · 14 April 2015]

I like this show.

I like pretty much any TV show that deals with food. The only "reality" shows I watch are the ones revolving around food. Why? I'm interested in food. I own a bookshelf full of cookbooks. While I find cooking shows more informative than the reality food competitions I still find them interesting because I get cooking ideas from them all. So maybe it's rigged, I like trying to figure out what I would do with x ingredient and x set of rules if I were that person. It is the same for me with Chopped, Masterchef, Top Chef, Come Dine with Me, etc.

I also like the accents and the travel aspect of the show. It tours around Australia and now also New Zealand and lets you enjoy some pretty wonderful scenery and even if it IS scripted I am sure the script is at least loosely based on their actual personal lives. Other shows are completely scripted because they are complete fiction. Do we say "I won't watch Elementary, or Backstrom, or X-Files because the whole thing is fixed?

It might not be quite as entertaining as watching Julia Child cook a chicken, but I like it and am waiting eagerly for season 6 to appear on Gusto!