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president242003
Reviews
Perfect Strangers (1986)
An excellent comedy with an exceptionally talented cast
"Perfect Strangers" was one of my favorite sitcoms from childhood and remains so until this day.
Bronson Pinchot is truly magnificent in his role as Balki Bartokomous I would consider his portrayal of this role as perhaps his best performance to date and perhaps one of the best comedy performances of all time. Mark Linn-Baker is also a truly wonderful and talented actor who plays his role to perfection and provides his character with a degree of liveliness and enthusiasm that is truly first class. Together they form one of the best comedic duos in modern comedy. A strong supporting cast further enhances this already wonderful particularly Melanie Wilson and Rebecca Arthur in their respective roles as Jennifer and Mary Anne. Each and every member of the cast provides their respective characters with a great deal of depth, dimension and realism that only enhances the quality of an already excellent show The humor in this sitcom is truly priceless and would often have me in fits of hysterical laughter. As well as this, the dialogue between the characters flows naturally and the plots of each episode are both easy to follow and hilarious in how they unfold.
"Perfect Strangers" was a highly enjoyable, entertaining and wonderful comedy. I wish there were more like it in this day and age.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
A truly wonderful, enthralling and enchanting masterpiece
I'm not sure that words could even come close to indicating what a wonderful, beautiful, truly magnificent and enchanting masterpiece the latest movie version of "The Phantom of the Opera Is". This movie sets a standard of excellence and high quality that should very well serve as an inspiration for future movie makers of this genre.
Everything about this movie works well and exceeds expectation. Most notable is of course the performances of all the cast involved in the production and their musical talent. Emmy Rossum gives a truly breathtakingly magnificent performance in the lead role of Christine. Her style of singing in this movie conveys wonderfully the emotions her character is feeling as each stage of the story unfolds something which is very hard to do when you are signing in an operatic style. Rossum's facial expressions, her body movements and all other aspects of her performance provide a wonderful depth and dimension to her character that makes it in my opinion the best portrayal of what her character should be like to date. Emmy Rossum has the makings of both a great actress and a great musical performer Gerald Butler also gives a truly first class performance as the Phantom of the Opera. This is a hard role to excel in but Butler does it so wonderfully and with so much passion that he greatly enhances the quality of the production and draws us into the true power and mystique of his character. And Patrick Wilson makes the character of Raoul come to life I think that this must be the best portrayal of Raoul I have seen to date. Also making an already truly magnificent show even more wonderful is the supporting cast ranging from Miranda Richardson to Minnie Driver to each and every one of the cast members involved. The depth and the quality of acting provided in this movie surpass that of any other musical that I can remember in recent times.
The musical numbers are beautiful and enthralling, the sound effects add greatly to the enchantment and mystique of the whole production and the scenery is just breathtaking. Joel Schumacher and Andrew Lloyd Webber clearly put immense planning into this movie and it has paid off wonderfully. I didn't think that the movie could be even better than the stage production but this movie has exceeded my expectations way beyond what I could ever have imagined. I highly recommend it and will give it 10/10
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)
Except for the acting of Beth Broderick and Caroline Rhea, this is disappointing
"Sabrina The Teenage Witch" is one of those programs that promises much but delivers little. With some very talented actors and actresses, an intriguing premise for a plot and the potential for some wonderful story lines to unfold as the series progresses, this should be a compelling TV series and should provide good entertainment. But unfortunately it fails to live up to expectations.
The whole premise for this show was presumably based on the comic series and also on the made-for-television movie that was the immediate prelude to this series. The movie actually exceeded my expectations in terms of quality and enjoyment and the acting and script was actually very strong and entertaining. Again, however, this has not carried over to the series.
Melissa Joan Hart was great in the movie but here the character she portrays is just very annoying, precocious and even obnoxious. It's impossible to feel any sympathy for the plight of Sabrina or, even as a person of her age group, to relate to her. In the movie, the scriptwriters provided Sabrina with a considerable amount of depth and dimension which seems to be lacking in the comedy. Melissa Joan Hart tries hard with the script she is given but just cannot make it work.
The aunts are the characters who really provide the show with some quality and class. Beth Broderick and Caroline Rhea are excellent, wonderful, first-class actresses and they really did the best that they could with the scripts that they were provided with. They were perhaps the only endearing aspect of this show and indeed they were the only two characters who kept me watching this show. But even here the scriptwriters and producers fail to use Rhea's and Broderick's full acting potential to their benefit. I've seen Broderick in other movies she shines in every movie and TV series that she does and it's painful to see both she and Rhea being sidelined to such inconsequential roles when the potential exists for so much more from them. The dialogue that they were provided with is weak and predictable and their roles were essentially very stereotypical and lacking in imagination. Again this is not the fault of Broderick and Rhea they did add a much needed depth and dimension of life, zest, enthusiasm, energy and high quality to the show and I cannot commend their actual acting highly enough. But once again there were so much underused potential here for Hilda and Zelda.
In other magical shows such as "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie", the producers and scriptwriters did what they could to make the show imaginative and innovative. I find this lacking here. The plots for each episode are laborious and predictable and the script clichéd and even painful and even given the enormous plot potential for a teenager with magical powers, the powers that be in relation to this show don't seem to be able to come up with anything exciting, adventurous or enthralling for Sabrina to be involved in Despite all this I keep watching the reruns of this show simply because I like Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick so much and, the more I can see of them the better. But I can't help feeling like this show is a wasted opportunity, a void of potential that never quite got filled. And that is sad
The Opposite of Sex (1998)
Had some good moments but overall not worth watching
What is it about scriptwriters these days that they think that to create an ideal movie you have to: (1) Make the main character in the story a spoilt, stuck up, obnoxious, conniving little brat (2) Inject lots of sex and outrageously sick humor and substitute it for a good storyline.
I will concede that this movie had its good points. But all in all it was disjointed, confusing and totally annoying. Christina Ricci and Lisa Kudrow do provide some good performances -as does Lyle Lovett-but it is not enough to save the movie from an uninspiring script and total lack of plot. I wonder if Hollywood scriptwriters think that they need to dumb down storylines because today's teenagers are too stupid to comprehend reality or appreciate good value. Well I was a teenager when this movie came out and I -and a considerable number of my friends-would recognize this movie as the annoying and totally unappealing palate that it is
Family Ties (1982)
A wonderful family sitcom
`Family Ties' is an entertaining, heartwarming, profoundly moving and touching and first class family sitcoms from the 1980s where the viewer could relate to the various characters and the problems that they confronted. Unlike some of the more modern comedies, the scriptwriters did not feel the need to engage in wildly exaggerated dialogue or melodramatic plots and this was what contributed to the strength and quality of this show. Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter, Michael J Fox, Tina Yothers, Justine Bateman and Brian Bonsall and the various members of the supporting cast-each contributed a wonderful dimension to this show and the wonderful memories that I have of watching and enjoying this show have endured until the present time and will endure for years to come. Our local TV station showed the reruns recently and I found it even more enjoyable, heartwarming and entertaining than I did during the 1980s
Bitter Vengeance (1994)
Several factors combine to make this an excellent TV drama
Virginia Madsen provides a strong, first class, convincing and excellent performance in this interesting and enthralling drama full of suspense and intrigue. It is good to see Madsen portray the victim -as opposed to the victimizer-for once and she adjusts to this role adeptly and intelligently -proving her credentials as a wonderful and multi-talented actress. Bruce Greenwood, Kristen Dalton and a strong supporting cast also contribute into making this TV movie enjoyable and well worth watching. The plot could be interpreted as slightly recycled -having been portrayed on made for TV drama on several occasions previously-but a well written script and a strong supporting cast transforms it into a first rate movie.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Not excellent but enjoyable enough
`My Big Fat Greek Wedding' had the foundations of a high quality and excellent movie that could have been a classic. It had a considerable amount of potential and the majority of elements that constitute great classics. The only essential ingredient it lacked was a good script. This quite obviously reduced the whole quality of the movie
I would not be in a position to fault the performances of the various actors involved. Nia Vardolos provides us with an enjoyable, heartwarming and entertaining performance as a young Greek woman torn between the constraints and traditions of her family and her desire to allow her love and her passion for the man she loves to win the day. The actors who portray the various members of her extended Greek family portray their individual characters very well and manage to make the very best of what is an uninspiring and weak script. The whole style and format of the movie is also of high quality
The script, by contrast, is a disappointment. The content of the script leaves the majority of the characters appear wooden and devoid of a personality. The interaction between Ian and the extended Greek family is reduced to predictable clichés and the majority of the humor that is portrayed is repetitive, predictable and surprisingly hard to find during quite a lot of the movie. The characters seem to be under developed in a show where it its essential for at least the main characters to have some personality. The whole storyline appears rushed and slightly confused at times
`My Big Fat Greek Wedding' was still entertaining and enjoyable and probably still worth viewing. But it could have been a whole lot better with the right script
Illegally Yours (1988)
Wonderful movie from the 1980s
During the 1980s there were a whole series of movies that do not seem to have generated a great amount of publicity but were very entertaining, enjoyable, underrated and are presently of great nostalgic value. `Illegally Yours' definitely falls within this category.
Rob Lowe provides an excellent performance as the somewhat eccentric but nevertheless very amusing Richard Dice. The whole of the cast follows this high standard and quality of acting and their combined performances contribute a dimension of entertainment and enjoyment to this movie. The script is also quite interesting for a considerable period of time and the style and the format of this movie also enhances this quality. I would definitely rate this movie highly and provide it with a 9/10
Matilda (1996)
Oh dear
Film adaptations of popular fiction quite often prove to be a failure -although there are some notable exceptions-and the following movie does a profound injustice to the original Roald Dahl novel. None of the characters in the story came anywhere close to resembling the excellent impressions of them conveyed in the book and the storyline was totally distorted and mangled. In my opinion, this is definitely one to avoid