Reviews

The Beacon/One Life, Furnished in Early are great episodes, but epic ending failure on both installments. Saw the plot twists a mile away. I will use a hockey analogy; The Beacon/One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty was like a player doing great stick work on a break away and misses the open net. The Beacon starts out interesting with a lost doctor stuck in a strange fishing village. Great lighting, sets, and casting. Stand out acting by B actor Martin Landau as the fanatic cult leader. Regrettably, The Beacon follows the Wickerman story closely to the dreaded ending. One too many time use of the surprise plot twist ending. One Life was a story about and angry man who's self discovery on a strange day of going back home and meeting his younger self. A misunderstood, kid who's dad did not know how to talk too. Close to real life material. The twist of his future self created the anger boy caught the surprise early. Yeah... Yeah saw the social message with the ending of in some way you create yourself and letting go of the past. The cab driver at the end I get it not worth it I liked that part. 7 stars. Strong stories, but the endings. Yikes 7 stars.

The Fall Guy the movie, not the show, was So bad it's great! The old T V shows to big budget movies need that right mixture which make the film close enough to the old show, but different enough to stand out as new, which creates entertainment. The Fall Guy series made episodes thin on plot, plot holes, silly scenarios all for an excuse of having incredible stunts. Some episode were better then others. The Mad Comic version, which I own, had a skit about the series with Colt jumping over a plane with the famous truck truck then chasing the bail jumpers threw a shopping mall to hilarious show the weekly series silliness! The Fall Guy was the 80's stunt show competing against the Dukes of Hazards competing for the all those 14 year old audience of teenagers . 2024 series got the formula right. A thine on script excuses for stunts movie like a the old T V series. What worked: The Stunts. Silliness of the characters with some seriousness. A poke at Hollywood. The Romantic side of Colt mixed with the thumbs up macho character. What did not work: Well you really have to turn your brain of with this one. Missing the Howie and Jodi side characters; well maybe for part 2. Turn your brain off a laugh film. Like Colt I give this film a thumbs up 7 stars.

Strong pilot with all good stories right out the film can. The greedy nephew kills his rich uncle and there was paintings to project revenge from the grave. A mix of film and paintings makes for a surreal episode with a twist ending. The women who want to see was a episode of ruthlessness and a twist were the rich women gets to see during a black out. Spielberg brings out creative insights with a violent twists. Nazi war criminal which mixes what the character evil was. There was a mix of photos of fishing with special effects and the good mix of film and art. I like the collage of art and film which make for a great ending twist. One of the strongest installments 9 stars.

Okay! Or jut okay! Pickman's model had a bit of mystery. Directed and acted like a well done romance novel. Well the ending was a bit predictable, but still watchable. The Dear Departed had a con show with a love triangle. The build up and story line was okay. I found the conclusion lame. All build up and a big fissile. An Act of Chivalry was a lame attempt at humor. Sight gag humor. Funny but lame. I give Pickman a seven, Departed a four started out strong, but ended lame. Chivalry a three. In my calculus I give this installment a six out of ten stars. Watch the Pickman's Model/The Dear Departed/An Act of Chivalry one time only.

I remember watching these episodes with my friends the boys. The Shadow Man had it all. The jocks, geeks, popular girls 80's theme. Well a smart but arrogant nerdy kid has a Shadow Man under his bed. The episode takes a turn on popularity and costs. The special effects, 80's backdrop and the plot twist ending makes Shadow Man memorable. My buddy Tony thought the kid was a jerk! The Uncle Devil show was a take on the old episode about the kid who got what he imagined, but with a twist about parents who never pay attention. Humor but in a disturbed way. Opening day has a murder plot, and loops the two characters together. Bizarre but effects conclusion; was it in his mind or did the man have a future vision. Deep ending. 6 stars the disturbed episodes.

Well if you had to pick the better of the two I liked Dead Woman's Shoes. What works was the transformation of a clerk who's wears the shoes dropped off by a lawyer who's wife recently died. These shoes are not the ones from the Wizard of Oz! Hell no, but bad ass shoes which possess the person who wear them by the old wife. Well, the clerk acting like the rich women was great acting, but the viewer asks why did the happen? Which was the plot device which keeps the viewer wanting more. A murder victim wanting revenge plot twist was great. Wong's Lost and Found Emporium well let's just write was a better short story than a t v installment. A fantasy story Wong finds after years of not caring gives Wong what is lacking in the guys life. It just took too long to divulge the wholes story. You wanted to like Wong, but it just took too long. Split the two and I the N0v 22 installment 6 stars.

The Incredible Shrinking Man(1957) was probably a better book than a movies. I remembered watching this when I was about 4, when my family lived in Portage La Perrie. Just some little guy running around. Cool special effects. My wife mistakenly down loaded this classic,; a mix up when I was talking about the Incredible Melting Man. So we watched it any way: What work: The special effects from 1957 held up well. The cat trying to eat the little guy. Bigger and bigger cups etc. The fight with the spider etc. I liked! What did not work. Radiation and bug spray caused the shrinking!?! Lame. Stared out strong with protagonist wondering what was happening, and going to the carnival part the movie took a down turn as the Shrinking man slowed down. Better read as a novel than a movie as the survival of the basement became long and stretched out. More of an effects movie for todays C G I culture. The story of man survival was okay, but I would of preferred and ending of the little guy getting eaten by the cat. Call me demented. 6 stars.

Just One of the Guys is just one of those 1980's teen sex comedies. Well hot look gal Terry pretends to be a guy for a week to prove sexism for not getting her article published was the movies twist. Has the usual boobs, the over horny brothers who non stop sex problems and stereo typed guys. During the 80's you would not get the police called on you for that and forced counseling of the brother. Anyway Terry's rich, good looking boyfriend etc want to be a reporter. Some overtop humor with boyfriend, the bully, stupid pranks, and the love interested which thinks Terry was a guy blends a decent story. Done better than must teenage sex comedies. Seen worse, but not a classic!

The original series had some great classic shows like Terror at 20 000 ft, To serve man etc. Regrettably some long winded social message ones like Monster due on main street. Nothing will replace Rod Serling's narrative camera shot intros, with cigarette in hand! Smart not try and find a Rod clone for the remake! What works for the 20 plus years installment of The Twilight Zone from the 80's was not trying to be too much like the original but similar in the essence of the previous series. Instead of one whole show which can drag out there was two sometime and more installments for the show which never drag out a preach story, but too short sometimes for a classic story for some installments. I like it. Rod may not be there but many famous short stories and authors like Stephen King created some brilliant material. Some episodes are funny, serious, others flop but over all worth watching. 7 stars.

Well I seen better but Entertaining. Teacher's Aide had a bit of a 1984 Ghost Busters feel. A teacher get's possessed by and evil gargoyle type of statues in a tough inner city school. Well interesting in a special effects way. Formulated in a 80's special effects show. Paladin of the Lost Hour has an old man who watched time. Being mugged but saved there was a story of the old man and the disillusioned army veteran. What works was wondering what will happened next. Sappy story. I liked it better the first times. This time I found the lost hour a bit of missing time; not as good the second time around. Sappy 6 stars.

Well we got a double installment in this one. I did not mind Examination day. Regrettably, Examination day was a bit long on the dialogue. The viewer has hints that the examination was not good by the parents facial expressions; what saves Examination Day was the hard hitting ending. A Message from Charity was well written, acted, and directed. What works was the story of a viral out break brings two people from different times together because of fever dreams. Good acting, and directing as two characters interact from different times. A twist was the witch trials and a smart teenager must figure out how to help his new friend. I liked the ending. Both had strong ending. 6 stars.

If She Dies Deblanco plays the concerned father quite well. The apparition/daughter part was interesting, but I saw the ending a mile away. Nice try. I heavy story followed by a silly story. The second one make one laugh in a silly way. Very 80s with two self absorbed yuppies and a drunk cupid. What happens was the protagonist was a power broker deal maker who now falls in love cause of an angry cupid. To fix his life the protagonist must power broke cupids love life. Very, Los Angles 80's style which just gets silly and sillier. The ending was just classic. So bad it's good, one of those episodes that just stick out in your memory. I give the two a combined rating of 7.

Little Boy Lost/Wish Bank/Nightcrawlers was a good mix of stories. Little Boy lost was a sad story but good one. A career driven women has a choice of a man she loves and her dream job. Has a photo shoot with a nice young red headed boy. A sweet story part. One of the saddest stories for The Twilight Zone about values. Wish Bank was a more swank woman's story about three wishes. A few sex in the city type comments. Shame, but a funny episode. Nightcrawlers was a cool episode about dreams a Utah dinner, state trooper, and vet. Cool when you are 15 but the episode just kind of lame and does not age well. A creepy episode. All three balance each other out. 7 stars.

Well the next installment was well written. Healer was a decent written episode. A con man steals a healing stone and the viewer wonders what will happen next. Well acted and directed. I love the twist and moral of the story. Had me guessing. Children's Zoo was so bizarre and I just liked it. As a teenager with difficult parents one could relate with the moral of the Children's Zoo episode. I figured it out before the installment ended. Kentucky Rye was the weaker installment. Fun times at the bar was cool. Figured out the ending way too early. Got it with the drinking and driving episode. 7 stars. Not bad.

The First Omen, back in the 80's and 70's we would say this film sucked! And why did it suck!?! I will give you and answer! Not scary at all. More of an artistic display in a European/Italian style which went on forever. There was a mystery which made the viewer keep watching but all art with no real build up for zero scares. Instead of Devil's underground in the church there was a silly order back in the 70's which made huge plot holes for a dumb ending. The ending was predictable, and became silly. Hollywood has run out of ideas. Even the scary parts are a copy of a copy of runed into the ground old idea. A break form cartoon super hero movies, but not much better. 1 to 2 stars out of 10.

When I first was attending university a friend of mine Andrea told me over coffee you got to see this film. Well I did not get around to it. Then a year latter my girlfriend/wife watched it and explain the flick and said not worth renting while we were at the video store. Years latter my dad saw this b horror film on late night and told me about it. Kind of sounded dumb but left and impression on dad. Been on the my back of my mind to see this 976-EVIL film, and finally my chance thanks to the 80's retro network. As my curiosity got satisfied I found 987-EVIL: First third was really bad 3 out 10. Over the top 80's b movie characters the skank gal, greasy over the top bad teenagers, a geek, religious mom, and the flaw alpha male. Throw in over top sex, cheep joke lines, teen over top Porky's meet Friday the 13th type horror. Well the middle I give an 8. What's this phone system about? What's was the the evil plan? What evil lurks in the characters? Well we got blood and gore in a Nightmare Elm street fame and the conclusion was over the top special effect with and ending which was mmmm just okay 5 stars. Evil was memorable but in a bad way. 5 starts.

Wordplay/Dreams for Sale/Chameleon was better than the first installment pilot episode. Wordplay I get the message about not understanding, but the human condition was universal. Kind of like being at work and everyone is speaking in a foreign language or watching a relative try to communicate suffering from dementia. Kind of long winded but okay. Dreams for sale with the double talk, skips etc with A I and virtual reality can see that happen in 24 not that far off of an episode for the future. Wow what a plot twist. Solid. Chameleon was a memorable episode when I was a teenager watching the episode at buddy Wilfred's house. The shuttle and high tech was neat to watch. The transformation Chameleon was spell bounding. What works was the ending when a hand is offered to go with the Chameleon. My wife asked, just like Wilfred would you go? No! Same answer both times, and I doubt it was the same guy talking in the end. Memorable last one. The last two were strong makes 8 stars worth watching.

Not bad for a pilot episode. I watched it out more of a curiosity then anything. Funny, when one cannot sleep, I tend to watch anything off Netflix. I was expecting this episode to be awful. Woke Hollywood is dying and entertainment industry is going into the best to remake old shows/movies. Producers are running out of ideas, when a show was based off a minor character who was killed off in a B movie! What worked: Surprising the Pilot followed the essence of the original character. A Lethal Weapon style of two partners. Don Johnson is such a fine actor. One feels and likes the characters. The protagonist partner and the Bad Guys are believable and the South Texas feel was great. What does not work: With the Johnson character killed of the story/series goes into a slide. There was only so much material for a series that could be based off a B movies and a minor character. Stop watching this after a couple of shows. The series de evolves into something else. 7 stars.

Bat*21 was not a great movie, but a solid movie. Back in the mid to late 80's there were many Vietnam movies. Being a teen, I like the 80's action Stallone/Norris movies and never got around seeing this one. My dad rented Bat, when there were video stores, and I missed movie night. Hoping to see it one day, I caught Bat*21 on one of those retro channels on cable. No interruptions, and non edited I saw the actual movie. What works: A decent budget, of aircraft, locations, sets, editing, acting make Bat a strong production. In spite of a good budget, no film can survive without a good story; True stories make for good movies! Unlike todays movies, Bat*21 characters are real life, not a social message character, Glover a piolet who finds airmen, who happens to be lifer in the army from Atlanta, Reed the C O who loves his men, Hackman the engineer who uses his mind work together on a rescue mission with the horrors of war back ground story. A very compelling story, with probably some real life experiences. Hackman, the American actor who's done as many movies as Michael Cane, and Glover have great performances. I give Bat 7 stars.

Phobia (1980) had a great concept but poor execution! Phobia was like many films made by the Canadian film development corporation. Many of the Canadian films had a big name, great concept, cheesy or catchy storyline. Phobia has a great concept of a killer who kills people from group therapy by the victim own fears/phobias. Paul Michael Glaser from Starsky and Hutch fame was the name to get me to watch this old Canadian tax ride off film, and did a solid job, but had not much to work with film wise. The budget was low, which hurt the film with: The script left gabs, and corny scenes with grade d actors made me have a Phobia for early 80's Canadian films. The deaths has no tension or surprise scares a major let down. All the problems were a result of a cheap, and fast shooting budget. You want the film to be good with such a neat story line, but Phobia was lacking. If the producer had time, and a few re writes I bet Phobia could of been a classic. Would be a straight to Netflix film in today's world. 4 stars.

The Messiah on Mott Street was so cliquish for late 60's film. The poor orphan, the old dying guy, and the surprise stranger who helps. Over filmed, over dialogue and so many did this done to often style of filming; I found the Christmas special too long and draws out the the conclusion like a bad joke. Just does not age well. The Painted mirror was surprisingly good. Nice to see a younger Zaa Zaa. The story was a bit dated and stretched, But the pained over mirror was cool. What was with the mirror? Good special effects for the late 60's. Predictable ending but fun too watch. The Painted Mirror was the better of the two installments. The two together I give 6 stars.

Entebbe was not bad but the weaker brother to the 70's films of the raid films of the famous mission! If I was going watch one of the three watch Raid on Entebbe. Compared to the others Entebbe get across as a well done made for T V movie compared to and an actual movie. Decent B actors, direct okay but the film was on a much lower budget. The I D F training, production of the mission and the execution of the raid was done so much better with the 70's films. Entebbe was lacking. Entebbe tried to be different from the the 70's films by spicing a dance group with the action to make an artistic flavor for the ending. Well the splicing gives the viewer mixed reviews. I understand the art, but the gave no explanation to the end for the viewer of the cultural significant of the dance for the ending. 5 stars watch the other films.

House - With Ghost/A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank/Dr. String. House with a Ghost interested the viewer, well acted , but gets across as a play with a predictable ending. Midnight Visit well not very memorable. Dr String was a the early 70's long dragged out social message about a snake oil salesman. I found the story preachy, long stretched out story, which done in a late 60's style of preachy dialogue with over extended scenes. Repeat of what woke is in todays entertainment. Like todays movie has a lame predictable ending. Hell's Bells was like Chong for Chic and Chong goes to hell. Meant to be humorous about mundane everyday life events the protagonist goes threw was actually hell itself. Saw the ending as the installment started. Bland installment. 6 stars.

Fruit of the Poison Tree was a sub par but still makes the cut! What does not work for season five seem to have a lower budget. The car, planes and other movie quality shots are out on this episode. The script writers are running out of ideas. The quality of directing was a bit on the down side. What works: Well too compensate for the budget, script idea shortfalls was creativity with characters, and plot twists. These was a crime lawyer who get into trouble with the Paulie character from the Sopranos and does some dastardly deeds. The lawyers, well, do not follow the client privilege or handling the clients funds in a ethical manner. Amanda Plumber was another lawyer who brings a strong character plot twists performance which keeps the viewer engaged. Johnson does his best as the strong character with the limited material to save and episode on the final seasons slide. More like a murder mystery episode then a Vice episode. Not bad but not great either. 6 stars.

The Diary had a diary which predicts event before the events happen. Given as a cures for the lead character. The viewer was enthralled with what will happen next. The plot twist I saw coming but still good! Well the Vampire one was an attempt at comedy. Dracula was taking out a withdraw! Lame old joke but funny! The old guy with the treasure was funny plot twist. The boy gets pranked. The digging and characters got across real life. The end looks like a real life prank pull on a young kid. Maye the old guy wanting some free digging done for the cheap guy. The last lecture was just plan nasty. Worth watching, what made this go well was all the stories were short which keeps the viewers attention spans. 7 stars.