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johnmcneilva
Reviews
Pawn Stars (2009)
Very interesting and entertaining show
I have just recently gotten into Pawn Stars and I find it to be a great mix of entertainment and history lessons. The main draw for me is the simple give and take that goes on between the Pawn Store operators and the people who bring items in looking to make quick money. Clearly the biggest draw for this show is Rick, the pawn store owner. Although his dad (the old man) and his son (big hoss) are big parts of the show, it is Rick who makes this show interesting and worthwhile. I don't think that Hollywood could have scripted someone who could make a pawn store owner a truly likable and complex individual. Rick manages to show interest and respect to every person who brings in something for sale while managing to explain his position in understandable terms. The bottom line is that a pawn shop is a place for people in need of quick cash to sell just about anything, just at bargain basement prices. If someone wants to get maximum money for their goods they would have to do market research, team up with a reputable auction house, or go on ebay and roll the dice that someone may make a high enough bid. Otherwise, you can go for the easy money of a pawn shop (albeit much less money.)
A couple of final notes about the characters on the show, as I stated earlier Rick is far and away the star of the show and he is really what makes it watchable. His father doesn't contribute a whole lot other than some standard old man talk. His son (Big Hoss) is pretty much a waste of space and contributes nothing to the show unless you like to watch a very (very) large person walking around in Ed Hardy jeans acting like some kind of tough guy. He is a very simple person, clearly having missed many of the complexities of human nature possessed by his father. Finally, Chumlee is one of the most enjoyable characters ever to grace television, the large man-child with a good heart and a simple mind. All in all I would definitely recommend watching this show to anyone.
The Dark Knight (2008)
WAYYY too long - and way overrated
Let me be the first to say that I think this was an entertaining movie. The visuals were stunning, the action scenes were breathtaking (although hard to keep up with sometimes) and all the characters did a good job with their roles (with the exception of the new Rachel). But this is simply not as good a movie as everyone is making it out to be. I was expecting to be blown away but instead just kind of got bored as the movie drug on. Heath Ledger obviously did a great job as the joker, but his character really didn't make any sense. He described himself as "chaos" and a "man without rules" yet he was able to come up with these ridiculously complicated schemes of incredible planning and magnitude that Batman and the entire police department couldn't keep up with? Like I said, he did a great job, but by the end of the movie he was just coming across as weird. All of the regular characters did a great job, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman . . . but Maggie Gylenhal was a HUGE drop off from Katie Holmes. Never was able to make any kind of connection with her, never cared for her at all. In summary, this was a good, entertaining action movie that tried to hard to be "dark" and introspective but it was way, way too long. I love a great movie, but I'm not sure what all the hype is here.