Reviews

Puzzles within puzzles. A great concept for a game show. And it moves along at good pace thanks to host Roger Lodge who is not slowed down by the use of a co-host. That is one of the problems I had with "Lingo". Sometimes the hosts there seem to overlap on "who does what" leading to confusion for the contestants and viewers.

About the only thing I would change on "Camouflage" is that Roger often repeats the clues after the solving starts (the letters have started falling away). That seems like an unnecessary distraction.

So far I have enjoyed the game a very much and find it more difficult than I would have thought. I keep thinking how much Roger looks and sounds like a combination of Casey Kasem and the late comedian Richard Jeni.

This is one of my favorite comedy movies along with another from Mel Brooks - "Young Frankenstein". I first saw this movie at a theater in Phoenix, Arizona soon after it was released and had trouble hearing some of the dialog because of the laughter. Since then I have seen it several times at home and enjoy it very much. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys great entertainment. One caveat however: I have also seen the "cleaned-up" version on regular broadcast TV and the edited movie just isn't as funny as the original in my opinion. The "N" word is used many times throughout the original so if that is not a problem, enjoy the film.

I watched this 7-hour presentation last weekend on the History Channel and enjoyed it very much. I was always interested in history when I was in high school several years ago but this documentary (shown in seven 1-hour segments) was so much more interesting than trying to read it in text books.

Every President from George Washington to George W. Bush is profiled along with their wives (James Buchanan was the only bachelor). It talks about the political climate when each was elected along with the various wars from the revolutionary war to the gulf wars.

There is also a fascinating history of the White House included within the documentary. Since George Washington never lived in the White House it begins with John and Abigail Adams as the first residents. James and Dolly Madison were living there when the British set fire to it during the War of 1812. When electricity was installed years later in the late 1800s people were afraid to turn on the lights for fear of being shocked.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in American history.

I have watched this film several times over the years and always find it an entertaining experience. As a retired airline pilot, I am interested in most aviation movies and this is one of the better ones. I know that Lindbergh was only 25 years old at the time of his historic solo flight to Paris and that James Stewart was almost 50 when making this movie but I can overlook that fact because Stewart has always been one of my all-time favorite actors and does one of his usual outstanding performances as the "lone eagle".

There is a good mixture of comedy and drama throughout the film and a good use of flashbacks. It also helps that James Stewart was a pilot in real life both in the military and civilian life.

When I first saw this movie on cable-TV several years ago I hadn't heard much about it. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it took place in and around my home town so that many of the places (mainly street names) mentioned were already familiar to me.

But the main thing I took away from the movie was the interaction between the characters. Hoke (Freeman) was involved throughout the film. Watching him age from about 50 to over 80 years of age was incredible. Kudos to the make-up artists on all the characters. Listening to Hoke relating the stories of growing up a black man in the south was very eye-opening.

Daisy (Tandy) was very set in her ways and resisted any change. But I couldn't help seeing her point of view most of the time.

Probably my biggest surprise was Daisy's son Boolie (Aykroyd). I had never seen him in a serious role before and he was terrific. I hope he does more of this type of work in the future.