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Reviews
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
A little disappointed...
Although I love this movie and the way it was filmed and the fact that finally someone told the truth about Tucker, I am still a little saddened. Being a Michigander with a fierce pride in my home state, I find it more than a little disturbing that Mr. Ford-Coppola, a Michigan native himself, would take no opportunity whatsoever to use the beautiful and rustic scenery of Michigan in this film. Almost the entire film takes place in either Michigan or Chicago, and yet it was fully filmed in California. Shame, shame, shame.
I know some would say that it doesn't matter where a film is shot. But think about how you would feel if something important happened in your neck of the woods and filmmakers couldn't even be bothered to get certain details correct. It is frustrating, because I find this happening all the time with respect to Michigan and its cities.
Enterprise (2001)
Like fresh produce being thrown into the garbage...
After four seasons, this show was canceled. Some say it was the acting - but the acting was better than in the original series. Some say it was the scripting - but the scripts were better thought out than most of the original series and TNG combined. Some even stoop so low as to say that the ideas were stale or B&B screwed it up. Nonsense.
This show had a huge fan base and good ratings. But it was killed by Paramount because the new execs didn't want to deal with the sci-fi series any longer. The show was moved to Friday evenings to kill it (very few shows survive in the Friday evening slot), a divisive and desperate move by a studio to kill off a show in order to blame the fans instead of the execs.
Enterprise was truly a great show, with great ideas and scripts. It was exciting because often the episodes ran in a serial fashion, where one episode picked up from the previous - something which Star Trek had never accomplished fully with any other series. That premise alone made it a great show which is sorely missed.
Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
"Ranks" right up there with Last Action Hero
Singlehandedly one of the worst films I have ever seen. The script is bad, the digital effects are bad, the acting is worse. If you're looking for a modern remake of a classic book (and a David Niven film) then you've picked the wrong film. If you're looking for yet another Chan-o-centric judo film then "All aboard!" for this less than exciting non-epic film that'll leave you gagging in your seats.
This film is almost a complete rewrite of the book, with huge portions of the plot deviating wildly from the *classic* story line. Fogg is now a bumbling idiot inventor, Passepartout is now a good-hearted thief, and Princess Aouda is replaced with "aspiring" French artist LaRoche.
The truly sad thing is that Disney obviously felt that the story as Jules Verne told it was not worthy for the big screen. And the film suffers because of that. Instead of setting out on an adventure around the world, we set out on an adventure driven by lies. And even sadder is that this film is just another notch in the belt of less-than-worthy remakes of classic films.
If I had children they would not be allowed to watch this film. As an alternative, I would offer anyone who reads this to buy or borrow the original film with David Niven. At least with that film you won't go away feeling like you've wasted your time.