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Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015)
Cute Bollywood version of The Prisoner of Zenda
I'm writing this because there are so many ridiculously low (1-star) ratings for this film dragging it down for no reason other than pettiness. 1 star, to me, is an unfathomably bad, extremely low-budget production, where the film crew is amateur and the writing is excruciatingly bad. That is not what this film is. From what I can tell, the extremely low ratings are just people complaining because they're used to a different style of movie from this director, but just because it's not his normal style doesn't make it BAD.
I truly did enjoy this movie. Someone mentioned it being a version of The Prince and the Pauper, which is not far off, but it would be more accurate to say this is a retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda, a delightful story (in my opinion) in which a look-alike fills in for a prince and must deal with the prince's love interest while thwarting the bad guys.
While I know nothing about the director, I thoroughly enjoyed Salman Khan's performance in this role (or, I should say, dual-role, although the look-alike is the main character). From what I can remember, the music was enjoyable, the changes to the plot interesting and cute. It's faults are it's length and a rather confusing, lengthy flashback in which the character's backstories are explained in a very strange and impossible-to-believe setting.
Is it high drama? No. Is the premise believable? No. But it's cute and fun, and just about as good as Dave (another Prisoner of Zenda retelling that I love).
Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle (2018)
A new Christmas tradition in our house
While it starts off a bit slow, this is a wonderful stand-alone Christmas episode. Knowing the characters' relationships and personalities ahead of time doesn't really matter, as they are quickly revealed in this bottle episode. Is it silly? Yes, but that's in keeping with the tone of the show, which is Disney Channel-esque. You have all the main characters (plus Emil's monkey) gathered in the bowling alley for Christmas, with a sweet (albeit factually confused) reference to the very real annual East Peoria Festival of Lights. The introduction of the Buronian lore of Magnus the Christmas Moose is an absolute delight. While generally light-hearted, this episode manages to tug at the heart strings, and leaves me happy-laugh-crying at the end. There are some great quotes, hilarious gags, and even a new tune you'll find yourself humming.
My mom and I watch this every year now. Magnus provides!
Almost Heroes (1998)
Lots of laughs
I was pleasantly surprised by this movie-especially after all the negative reviews. I love history and have been researching Lewis and Clark, but obviously this is not a documentary (in fact, it seems to be one of only two non-documentary movies about L&C), so I gave them a pass. In fact, without being a costume expert, myself, I was pleased with what seemed to be accurate costuming for the men and the Native American tribes... the one notable exception being the Spanish characters, who are a couple centuries out of fashion, but it's supposed to be silly.
At times it's absurd, at times crude, and at times just plain dumb, but still a cute and funny movie with lots of laugh-out-loud moments for me. The plot is simple (a team of misfits trying to beat Lewis and Clark to the Pacific), and the characters' back stories are lacking, but it's a charming story of friendship at its heart.
Eugene Levy and his eyebrows play a humorous role, but his character is underutilized. The Sacajawean "Shaquinna" unfortunately serves more as an object than a character, but tbf the actress is beautiful (although not played by a Native woman, unfortunately). Matthew Perry's prim and proper expedition leader is awkward at times, but he plays well off of Chris Farley's crass frontiersman, and the entire cast-with the exception of maybe the Spaniards-got multiple laughs out of me. There are some great recurring jokes that could have been taken even further, imo.
If you're looking for something dumb and funny with some great laughs, along the lines of a Mel Brooks movie, I think you'll enjoy Almost Heroes.
Kamera o tomeru na! (2017)
Stick it out
I was forced to watch this by my friend and his sister. As someone who doesn't like zombies or bad horror movies, I would have turned it off with the first few minutes, but I was a guest and didn't want to be rude. Then the credits started to roll after 37 minutes and I was horrified to be told there was another hour left to go. It was torture, but my friend's sister insisted that it would be worth it. The bad horror movie turned into a hard-to-follow dramatic flashback about the cast and crew of the opening sequence film within a film. It was marginally better, but still not good. Then the day of reckoning came and this godawful movie suddenly became a hilarious comedy of errors that made the first two thirds (almost) worth it. Seriously, if you're going to give it a go, commit yourself and stay until the end.
Lucifer: Partners 'Til the End (2021)
Super depressing
This is not my first disappointing series finale, but this one hurt the most because it's so, so depressing. Seriously, Lucifer (the character) didn't deserve this punishment the writers inflicted on him. As several reviewers mentioned, it breaks with the series-long themes of making your own choices and defying fate. The whole "it's a time loop, end of discussion" argument winning the day could have had many better, alternate solutions that I have fortunately found in the fanfics I had to turn to for therapy after watching this episode. It packs an emotional punch, if you like sad endings, but it was a serious downer after what had been overall a cute show. The logic that drives this sacrifice falls apart very easily, making the pain and suffering for these characters I have grown to love seem needless.
I wish we could get a follow-up episode or movie that undoes this ending.