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cambridgejohnny
Reviews
First Man (2018)
This was about a moon mission, not a toga party
I've scanned over many of the reviews written here in the imdb, and find it
hard to understand some of the criticism. Page after page re: camera shaking, and the seriousness of the crew. First of all, with regard to the seriousness, these people were flying to, landing on, walking on, and returning from the moon for the first time in global history. Not the time to be bouncing off the walls with excitement and joy of a teenage girl at a slumber party. This was serious business, which might have caused these astronauts their lives. Additionally, the makers of the film weren't interested in making a movie with lots of modern style computer animation and sound effects. An attempt was made to make the picture using methods that might have been utilized back THEN. And they did just exactly that. The film was very consistent with the way it would have been portrayed in those days. Furthermore, since events in those days didn't rely heavily on politically correct ideals, I'm sure many of the reviewers didn't care for the portrayal of so many white, male, heterosexual gentiles in the picture; people who in those times tended to be stoic. Sorry folks, but that's the way things were in those days. We can't always be trendy, stylish, hip, cool, or chic in making these films. Gotta stick to the way things really were at the time.
Hereditary (2018)
Far Fetched Story
Hereditary is, in some ways, a compelling film. Acting is very good, and the dialog is superior to many of these types of films. Unfortunately the story takes
on a little journey through the unbelievable; and the far fetched. The writers expect the viewer to swallow all kinds of effects like things going bump in the
night, and people suddenly being decapitated, or inexplicably engaging in extremely self-destructive behavior. And in a lot of instances nobody calls the police or any other emergency responders. Instead, they call a family member or put the victim of crazy exploits home in their car, and try to take care of the person by themselves. Great films of this ilk, like The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, and The Exorcist, somehow present the problems and foibles of the main characters in such a way that we actually believe that the things that happen to these people, COULD actually happen to us!! Not with Hereditary. Sorry to the makers of the film, but you folks just didn't convince ME. I've decided to go ahead and recommend the film anyway, but with a warning. Too far fetched I think for most people. May Satan strike me down if I'm wrong. LOL.
Cambridgejohnny
Gidget (1965)
Gidget
Haven't seen anything in previous reviews re: motivation, at least originally, behind the filming of this show. Gidget was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Patty Duke Show, which had been doing very well on ABC since 1963. A couple of very sad notes re: the demise of both programs. When Patty and other actors showed up at the film company to start shooting for the fourth season of the Duke show, they had no idea that the network had been trying to get the production company to pay for having the program shot in color. When the producers said, "no way" (this would have been very rare by the way; the networks always paid for this process, and just shortened the TV season to pay for the increased costs) the show was canceled--on the spot! Gidget hadn't been doing all that well during the regular season, being up against shows like the Beverly Hillbillies, and other established programs. But during the summer time, the show really began to catch on with teenagers all over the USA. By then, however, it was felt that it was too late to continue on with Gidget, so they decided to put Sally Field in another show, and that's where the idea for The Flying Nun came about. Even though that program did pretty well, I can speak from personal experience when I say that they should have let well enough alone. People loved Gidget!
Star Trek: Balance of Terror (1966)
Balance of Terror
This particular episode of the original series "Star Trek" perhaps best represents the "old west" and/or military conflict (American style)film/television program of the twentieth century, wherein it's pretty obvious which are the "good guys," and which are the "bad guys."
Back in those relatively simple times, it was always so easy to take sides. The Americans, or in this case, the Federation military were simply going around trying to set things "a-right." And it seemed so clear in those days who the bad guys were.
Nowadays, things have gotten SO complicated.
Anyway, in this particular program, Balance of Terror, as another respondent on this website mentions, there are no weird personality profiles--no tribbles (which, don't get me wrong, was very, very funny) no one on the surface of some weird planet with impossible parallels to our planet; this is straight out military battle in space.
And you know, over time, in this series, and the subsequent spin-offs--you really don't get that, that often. It's particularly enjoyable with an excellent sound system. One actually gets about as close to a feeling of "being there" as you can get." The original series is going to be available regularly come November ('06), on T.V. Land, and in some local markets, so anybody out there, I highly recommend it to a whole new generation, and of course to us old-timers who remember watching it in its original run.
Good, clean fun.
cambridgejohnny@comcast.net