Reviews

Tru Romance was all over the place. The story started off to a good start. It's only under ten minutes run-time. But, after about three minutes (!), it became a complete mess. That sure is some accomplishment. The actress playing Kayla really was out of her league. Perhaps, if she "acted" a little less, then maybe - that's big "maybe" - she could have pulled it off. Thankfully, it was only seven minutes in length. I would have been better served had I watched an infomercial. Oh, well.

If you followed ANYTHING about UFOs these past few decades, then there is absolutely nothing new to see here. It's a lot of rehashing of stories that we've seen, over and over. The last episode got into a 'trendy' political vibe, which too many of the so-called "experts" of today tend to lean towards. That was enough for me, as I would not make the connection that the originators of this show were seeking. Sort of outrageous, I guess. But, anyhow, this "docuseries" (new word?) was a waste of time.

My, oh my - "The Mist" has been canceled! It sure lasted a lot longer than I did in watching this mess. Being a great fan of the book, as well as the film, I had hoped that this would also be excellent. Wow, was I greatly disappointed. I was able to get through two and a half episodes before tuning this witches' stew off and out. This took place in a very strange sort of world where everything was vastly skewed and presented to us, the viewers - sort of a nightmare world, and I'm not talking about the creatures in "The Mist". No, I was meaning the creatures, the characters, infecting this travesty. Bye bye - good riddance.

Why did they ever bring this back? Is it that Hollywood is running out of ideas? Jeez, what used to be an ... alright, mildly amusing sitcom a decade or so ago, has become a creaky dinosaur of outdated and, just plain, unfunny jibs and jabs. The old "Three's Company" was light years ahead of this ... 'stuff', that's for sure! It was also a lot better to look at Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt, not to mention to laugh at the antics of the great John Ritter with them. Debra, Eric, and Sean really could've done better. This is just plain dull - loud, but still, very very dull.

I'm glad I didn't have to shell out any dollars to see this film. What I saved in money, I wasted in time. I can't believe I allowed myself to watch this mess. Maybe this year, they should designate an Oscar for "The Year's Worst Actress". Jennifer Lawrence would definitely garner the award for that. Lawrence was an automaton throughout the entire film. She was totally unbelievable and unconvincing in her role, not to mention, just plain boring. I guess she'll get another crack at being in another of Mr. Aronofsky's movies - as long as he keeps that 'love-match' alive! Jennifer Lawrence should probably just fade away into well-deserved oblivion. I sure won't even consider seeing another Aronofsky or Lawrence film.

It's the mid-1950s and the flying saucer craze was everywhere. TV, films, comic books ... it seemed as if wherever you turned there was some sort of monster from outer space making an appearance. The prime time evening news even spent a few nights reporting on the fleet of UFOs filmed flying over Washington, D.C. in 1952.

It was no small wonder that flying saucers would show up on America's most popular TV sitcom, "I Love Lucy", in the episode, "Lucy Is Envious". A rich school mate of Lucy's, Cynthia Harcourt, comes calling, collecting for charity. Lucy and Ethel are stunned to learn that their pledges of "five", means five hundred dollars - each! Not willing to send Cynthia a check for five bucks, as she has the snobbish Cynthia believing that Ricky is quite well-off, Lucy & Ethel (who has also pledged 'five") try to figure out how to earn some quick cash. They spy an ad in Billboard magazine for a publicity stunt that'll promote a film, "Women From Mars". It has them dressing up as Martians that have landed on the Empire State Building. The pay is $500 apiece. The next thing you know, Lucy and Ethel are climbing by the guard rail on the top of the, then, world's tallest building. It's a great and funny episode as the duo carry off the stunt perfectly ... almost!

There is one small 'goof'. When they are on the observation deck, dressed as Martians, Lucy & Ethel each have ray guns tucked in their waistbands. Ethel's, you can see, is not so secure. As she's climbing over the rail, the scene changes and, all of a sudden, only Lucy is holding a ray gun, Ethel's is gone. If you look sharp, you can see Ethel's space pistol in the background on the ground. It evidently dropped out when she was climbing over the rail!

No complaints here, but, this is just about the same cartoon as the slightly earlier, "Little Blabbermouse": a W.C.Fields-type character is giving a tour of a general store, after store hours, to a group of sightseers. The tour 'bus', actually one of those wire framed baskets, contains a tiny little mouse, wearing a gigantic bow tie. The little guy never stops asking questions, never! This all to the irritation of ol' W.C. There are many entertaining bits of the sightseeing car passing, for example, a box of rubber bands, and having said bands pop out playing a jazz-tinged tune...after all, they are a rubber BAND! It's an excellent cartoon, they both are! Cool music and great action.

This is another wonderful cartoon from the Paul Terry Studio. I always find it fascinating how people perceived how the future (our present time)would be from decades ago...even in cartoons/comic strips. So many times, what was given as absolute fantasy has turned out to be, nowadays, commonplace and just plain ordinary.

Wouldn't it be great if a compilation of excellent video quality Terrytoons cartoons were released on DVD?!!! The incredible Mighty Mouse cartoons, with that wild accompanying music, would be a good start for DVD release. One can only hope that whoever has the copyright for Terrytoons would see fit to have them set for disc. Paul Terry and his Terrytoons definitely deserve to be seen nowadays...in the days of "Post-War Inventions"!!!