Change Your Image
JayCeezy
Reviews
Midtown (2015)
Love this show!
Made for minimal money and technical, this is a story of two partners and friends. Very fun, clear understanding of conflict/comedy. Reminds me of 'Barney Miller' and 'Car 54' where the friendship is the story (not the job). Really hope that a decision-maker will watch this show, and see the writing skills and positive chemistry of Scott Baker and Tom Malloy.
Watched this free on Amazon Prime, expecting nothing (I had just tried and zapped three other brutal attempts at some good-looking people trying to make a sitcom in order to avoid a day job) and was so impressed. Watched all six episodes in a binge, and will watch again. Comedy gold out of the moment. Again, LOVE THIS SHOW!
Donnie Darko (2001)
Stay away from this movie!
This movie, much like 'American Beauty', is a cynical knock on American family. It turns into a sob story, that I can only imagine the writer (and Hollywood kooks who green-lighted this) thought was sympathetic.
A rich kid spends a lot of couch time (at $200/hr) because people "don't understand" him. So he sets houses on fire, calls his mother a bitch, doesn't take his medication, tells teachers to "shove it up (their) @$$", and basically disrespects all authority. This sounds like every 16 year-old know-it-all punk I've ever known, including myself. Crybaby self-centered jerk.
Fat kids are made fun of, parents are made out to be hypocrites, teachers are out-of-touch and/or scared to save their jobs, and in a sign of any weak script, a gun comes into play in the third act. Save your time and money, and stay away from this movie.
The Woodsman (2004)
Indy goes Hollywood
I know, this movie was made for no money and was a "brave" choice by all involved. But the ending is just way too tidy, and Hollywood.
So let's review. A molester is released after 12 years in prison. He tries to reclaim his life, in his town, with his family, with his old job? Why would he want to go back to where everyone rejects him? Everybody there should already know (or would know within hours) about his crime. A 46 year old ex-convict gets a job on an assembly line, lives in a one-bedroom apartment and takes the bus...and he gets KYRA SEDGWICK to fall for him?!?!! And he comes to grips with his crime when he sees a young victim cry, knowing that she is already in the clutches of a molester? MOLESTERS GET OFF ON THEIR VICTIMS CRYING! He let this girl go away, but she is going off to get molested by her father; how does that story end? Then, he takes out some street justice on another molester. (Mystic River, anyone?)
Story parallels are made about sexual lifestyles, at one point noting Kyra Sedgwick's character is a sometime lesbian so therefore there must be some sympatico feeling with a child molester. She is just lonely and outcast for being different; she's not a convicted criminal. Benjamin Bratt's character hints at an attraction to his 12 year-old daughter, and the viewer is supposed to think he is hypocrite for judging Bacon.
Another cheap Hollywood shortcut is Ben Bratt's character playing the race card. He appreciates Bacon's support during courtship of his sister, saying "none of the family wanted the brown boy down the street." Implying that Bacon's family was racist, but Bacon is more enlightened. So we 'know' that Bacon's family is bad, just like molesting is bad. Thanks for the lesson.
There is a big difference between having a desire, and ACTING on that criminal desire. This movie is trying to say that this molester is just like all of us. Uh, I don't think so.