Reviews

I'm a big RPDR fan, and have watched every season, starting back in 2009. Was hoping this Christmas special would be just as entertaining, but I was sorely disappointed. As other reviewers have mentioned, this special is just blatant advertising for Rupaul's Christmas album; heavily scripted, saccharin, unfulfilling cheese. Particularly awful was Ru & Michelle's lip sync performances near the end of the special. It was obvious that Michelle was not into it, and the ridiculous dance stunt doubles were used for Ru and Michelle, filmed from behind for splits, deathdrops, and cartwheels made a sad number. It would of been preferable to just have Ru and Michelle dance enthusiastically and authentically to a song they both loved, perhaps "We are Family"?

In between scenes for the episode,Ross Mathews played a miniature "Santa's gayest elf of all" , while I thought he did a decent job as a giggling elf, these little bits were irritating and unneeded. While I would not recommend this special there were a few positives: 1) Mayhem Miller's runway look was sickening, Kim Chi and Trixie were my other favs. 2)Sonique is the first fully transitioned queen featured on RPDR, even though this holiday special is not a true competition, it's still a positive step forward.

This is an example of a great reality show, what all should aspire to be; a competition about creativity, ability and skill. It is entrancing to see what the contestants can create in such a short amount of time, so much of their work is beautiful or grotesque (as required). When people see a movie, they just don't realize the talent and work required to bring these special effects to screen. Digital special effects have become the norm, but watching Face Off will make anyone appreciate the hands on teams and sometimes unsung heroes who do the Special Effects Makeups.

There is very little drama here between contestants, and when there is, it's real. Even though they are competing for a huge prize, and bragging rights, the contestants usually support each other. They give each other critiques in the work room, and when one has a problem, other contestants will often stop their own work to help them! It's obvious that the contestants are often forming real friendships that will last beyond the show.

May not always agree with the judges decisions of who should win or be eliminated, but their decisions are rarely shocking, and judging appears to be fair.

I'll agree with other reviewers that Mackenzie is a bit stiff as a host, it's not easy to find a host who has the right combination of warmth, poise, and likability (Cat Deeley, Padma Lakshmi). Mackenzie at least has an understanding of the industry because of her father Michael Westmore.

An awful-cobbled together special, that is really just a promo for SyFy's new body painting show Naked Vegas.

-There is an overview of the two body painting challenges from Season 1 and 2 of Face Off. Really? This needed repeating?

-4 body painters (including Face Off Season 2 contestant NIX) paint 2 models "live" on the Face Off set. While their skills are evident, I found it pretty lacklustre.

• The only interesting/exciting part of the special was the brief photos and footage of body painting work at runway shows, magazine covers, Conventions, etc. and a mention of who are the top body painters in the field, as well as a bit of history. All of this together only takes up about 1/4 of the time!

For viewers, if you want to get enjoyment out of this special, turn it into a drinking game. Every time Mackenzie or anyone else says "Naked Vegas", take a drink! Seriously, it's ridiculous how many times the name of the series is mentioned.

My problem with this show is it's "fish out of water" premise. Tessa and her father George are great, but I cringe at every other vapid character, no matter how well played(Cheryl Hines). Everything is just over-the-top, the characters are all self-obsessed, uncultured, and only concerned about appearances. The only other likable character is overly parented neighbour Lisa Shay.

This "Suburgatory" that Tessa and George move to is torture to watch, yes I guess it is a "subtle" commentary on parts of American society but who wants to subject themselves to it? I'd rather watch a show about Tessa and George in New York living their everyday lives, as a comedy or drama.

It's only my love of the main characters that enabled me to watch up until Christmas, but I just can't give it any more of my time. If you like Paris Hilton, maybe you'll enjoy it.

As for comparisons to the show "Priviledged" - the rich girls on that show were likable and their exposure to their tutor meant that they started to develop beyond the spoilt and lazy lifestyle they had been living. While, Tessa makes no impact on the vapid characters of Suburgatory.

Aftering watching 9 episodes of this show, and reading many of the IMDb reviews I thought I'd give a quick review.

Zooey is quirky and charming as Jess, and yes sometimes the Jess character is annoying or is written in such a way that her behavior seems stupid. Not as bad as Sarah Silverman on her show, but still a bit over the top. If you can't stand the Jess character, then you won't be able to watch more than a few episodes of New Girl. Jess's roommates Nick and Schmidt are enjoyable, and are recognizable roommate archetypes...I've known guys much like them. The Winston character isn't quite working, but more is revealed about him in episodes 7&9. Certainly I do agree with other reviewers that Jess needs to be written with more character development. At this point I feel that I know more about the roommates than I do about Jess.

Why was Daman Wayans Jr. replaced after the pilot? Well he is on an excellent comedy called "Happy Endings" which is in it's second season. Since actors never know if their shows are going to be renewed, or if a new pilot will be picked up, sometimes casting changes have to be made if actors are committed to something else when a pilot is finally picked for development. I would heartily recommend Happy Endings to anyone who watches the New Girl, it is funny, and quirky, has a great cast, and I personally believe it's better written than New Girl (and funnier).

Why continue to watch the New Girl? Any show that has engaging characters, silliness, and can make me laugh, is worth my time. Some shows need time to "simmer", and do improve and I hope this one will. Sure beats tired comedies such as 2 1/2 men.

I love this show and find it more entertaining than American Pickers. Sheldon and Scott are much more charismatic than Mike and Frank, with a great sense of humour. They don't have a Danielle, so there is none of that checking in and lame back and forth about leads....more time for picking!

While they are interested in cars, motorcycles, bikes, and signs like the American Pickers, their interests are more diverse. Women will enjoy that the Canadian pickers will look at art, furniture, folk art, glass, and "knick knacks" that AP would never bother with. Sometimes they visit Antique shows and purchase items from small museums. Of course, it is also a bonus that they will focus on Canadian History, and Canadian collectibles, because information on Canadian collectibles can be harder to find.

2013 Addendum: the addition of Keenan the boxer to the cast was awful and his scenes were an utter waste of time. The recent addition of two new staff for the retail location was an improvement, as they seemed to know their stuff. - Every show has to have permission to film, so while there is such a thing as a "cold call", obviously we never get to see the initial discussion before a person is filmed and acts as if they've never seen Sheldon and Scott or spoken to a producer.

The kind of reality shows that I enjoy show some part of the creative process (Project Runway, Top Chef, Sheer Genius, Work of Art, Top Design). I haven't been much of a fan of most makeover shows except early seasons of Trading Spaces but I had high hopes for this show, even though the stars are from Extreme Makeover (a heavy handed makeover show).

As other reviewers have stated, it can be hard to watch the Tanya and Tracy bubble with enthusiasm as they pick through junk and talk about their designs in front of bemused old men...it grates on my nerves to hear them chirp away. The artificiality of their "budget" makes me laugh as they hem and haw about what they can afford. Of course they can spend another $50, but this is part of the show, just like on American Pickers. Sure they are wearing boots, sometimes gloves and hardhats, but they are all glammed up and sometimes wearing short shorts. I don't begrudge them for wanting to look good, it's just too much of a contrast with the people they are interacting with...."Hey we're from glamorous L.A. and we'd like to buy your junk".

The furniture and lighting they design is interesting and I appreciate the transformation from industrial junk to cool furniture. Their handyman Allen does a great job, so why not show more about how Allen makes these item? Most of us don't have access to his tools, but it would be inspiring for the viewers to be able to see junk in a new light and come up with their own ideas. Or to see how these pieces fit in the homes of the people who buy them. If only the show was 60%-70% about the creations and less about the picking, I think it would be more appealing to the public.

I record the show and fast forward through most of the chatter, and a large amount of the time spent picking to get to the end when I can see what was made from the junk. That's my suggestion for getting the most value from the show, without wasting your time. For those who like junk, Canadian Pickers is even better than American Pickers and I heartily recommend it.

Before renting this film, I read the cast list and expected to watch a hilarious comedy. What I got was a collection of vignettes on the L.A. singles scene. This film truly suffers from lack of plot.

Maybe my television screen isn't large enough to show wrinkles, but I actually thought this film was made years ago because many of the cast members such as Julian McMahon, Alan Tudyk, and Elizabeth Berkley looked younger and in better shape than they have in awhile.

Julian McMahon is believable as a narcissistic,vacuous,soap star. Alan Tudyk was delightful as an average guy looking for a long term relationship. His date with Missi Pyle was the scene that I most enjoyed and even laughed at.

Alisha Tyler's uneven acting made her character charming one moment, and a clueless stereotype, the next. While I could understand the frustrations of Elizabeth Berkely's character, I didn't feel connected to, sorry for her, or even filled with "you go girl!" when she takes matters into her own hands. There just wasn't much there - a better actress or better writing would have pulled me in. The lesbian relationship was sweet, it should have been to been farther developed.

I think I can see what Loventhal was going for here but I felt the writing needed more biting satire, more darkness, to work. A focus on the stories of one or two characters, and more connections between the others would have made a more coherent film.

If you rent this, you won't hate it, but it won't have you rolling on the floor either.

The first Technicolor sequence in the Wizard of Oz is magical, it is a contrast to the simple black and white life of Dorothy. You meet the good fairy and the munchkins, they sing and dance and introduce you and Dorothy to this amazing magical world.

It makes you wonder if the people involved with this series actually watched the Wizard of Oz. Tin Man does have a decent beginning, introducing you to D.G.'s life, where she works as a waitress, loves her parents but doesn't fit in. But when she arrives in "The O.Z" despite Zooey Deschanel's wide eyes, D.G. doesn't seem that amazed, the world doesn't appear that magical either(I don't even find it interesting). D.G. takes everything in stride, information about her origins, strange creatures, magic. Zooey Deschanel was the wrong actress for this part, it appears that she studied Elijah Wood in the Lord of the Rings, and spent far too much time holding her eyes as wide as she could, while not expressing enough emotion in her voice.

The sets are gorgeous, the costumes are beautiful, and the effects are fairly good(except for some creatures that look like poor "aliens" knock offs). Unlike OZ, "The O.Z." is suppose to be a world under a dark reign of an evil sorceress, but still I felt it needed to be more unusual and magical.

Every time I heard the words - "The O. Z." I found myself clenching my teeth because of course it sounded like "The O.C."(a TV show about rich teenagers in Orange County, CA). They should of just called it the OUTER ZONE. The name of the main character, D.G., could it be any more obvious? Glitch is also a horrible name for the Scarecrow. The screenwriters must of thought themselves very brilliant for these not at all clever affectations.

Despite Zooey, most of the acting was strong, even when the parts were not especially fleshed out. Alan Cummings as Glitch was wasted in my opinion, his part was so small and poorly written. Raw, the cowardly Lion was interesting, with his race of lion men and strange powers. Cain the Tin Man origins worked well but his part of the story was far too long and drawn out(I guess that's why the series was called Tin Man). At times it seemed as if Neil McDonough was playing Indiana Jones, and not just because of the hat, he is the action hero of the series. Callum Keith Rennie is a fine actor, but in his role as Zero, Tin Man's Nemesis and the head of the police he didn't have much to work with,so I was disappointed with the results. Richard Dreyfuss was wonderful and I would of loved to have seen much more of him. Kathleen Robertson was intense iciness as Azkadellia. Blu Mankuma is NOT LISTED HERE ON IMDb for some unknown reason, but he played the part of Tutor well.

This mini series should of been two episodes instead of three, it was very slow moving, as the group traveled across "The O.Z.", and many of the action sequences could of been edited to be much tighter. I also found the "twists" of the story very easy to figure out or guess far ahead. The final ending was clichéd and weak. It is too bad that so much money was spent on this series, and so many talented actors gathered together, and this was the final result. With D.G. played by another actress, a bit of rewriting, and some major editing, it could have been worthy of the original.