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dblanken47
Reviews
Northern Exposure: Cicely (1992)
The worst episode of an otherwise great series
How does this episode get so much love? Being the last episode of season 3, it's an exercise by the writers to dig up every terrible storytelling trope ever created. Just a sample:
-It begins with an old man (108 years old!) who comes back after being gone for almost a 90 years to see his old town. Old man is left sadly at the graveyard, paying his respects, at the end of the show. Presumably he gets eaten by a bear.
-Said old man, being rescued at the beginning of the show out in the middle of nowhere by the show's protagonist, tells a long story with a growing audience who hang on his every word.
-The show's primary protagonist, never a fan of the town, ends the show with an a-ha moment, as he finally appreciates the hell he has been through.
-The story begins with the tyrany of two men and their henchmen, who keep a town's citizens in terror, in particular the town prostitute with a heart of gold.
-Things begin to change with the appearance of a mysterious couple (in this case, perhaps lesbian), who will instantly change the civility of the town through the arts (and a few well-timeed punches).
-The old man weaves into this change the story of his misbegotten youth, when his squandered life is transformed by said couple, who teach him to read. At one point he makes his first efforts into public performance with the reading of his poetry.
-Two other young women, seeking in their own way to unsuccessfully save the town through Christian witness, are intimidated and hopelessly out of touch.
-Then there's the historically famous person who just happens to be friends with the transformative couple and happens to show up in a minor role. His greatest work will be inspired by his visit to this town. He will eventually take with him one of the Christian women whose faith is overwhelmed by his brilliance.
-The town prostitute with the heart of gold begins to find hope, rejecting the wicked tyrant and finding love in the arms of a decent man.
-Eventually one of the transformative couple begins to get sick, and eventually sacrifices her life by jumping in front of a bullet from an unknown gunman when the entire town confronts the baddies. She dies in the arm of her lover, to the consternation of all.
-Oh, did I mention that the regular characters of this show play the parts of many of the characters from ninety years previously?
-Eventually the town tyrant sees the error of his ways and becomes decent; his sidekick, a man of refined literature, becomes a preacher.
-The surviving transformative character wanders into the mists of grief and is never heard from again. But her influence continues even to this day.
I'm sure I missed at least a half-dozen other tired cliches. But I hated this episode so much that I can't bring myself to watch it again.
Unfrosted (2024)
Fun little diversion
Not sure about all the hate on this movie. What were you expecting?
Was it great cinema? No.
Was it more about Jerrry Seinfeld expanding out one of his comedy bits with some friends for his own personal amusement? Yes.
Did it make me laugh out loud at least a dozen times in just over an hour? Yes.
And did it contain two of the greatest cameos in movie history? Oh, yes it did. Absolutely.
Look, it's a Netflix movie that you didn't pay $15 to see in the theater. It's not some 10 episode show that's supposed to be About Something Important. Instead, it's a weird little alternative history on something as obscure as Pop Tarts. Don't take it so seriously. Just enjoy it for what is some night when you are home with your family, and you'll be fine.
The Jesus Music (2021)
50 years in 100 minutes.
The executive producers of this documentary are Amy Grant and Michael W Smith. Much of this documentary is about...Amy Grant and Michael W Smith. There's a lot of good here, but as other reviewers have noted there are a lot of important artists that were left out. In this day and age material like this would have better been served to be a six-part documentary. One episode for each decade? Or each episode centering on thematic issues like the content of the lyrics, the quality of music, how CCM has changed music styles in the local church, etc? Still, it was worth a trip down memory lane.
Take Us Home: Leeds United: A New World (2020)
A beautiful end to the journey back to the premier league, but...
Leeds United come out of the COVID-19 lockdown and win promotion to the premier league. There were a lot of big stories that were ignored (e.g. Kiko Casilla's suspension is not mentioned at all), but the victory was the singular point of these final two episodes. It was beautiful to see the celebration, even for a neutral bystander like myself...but did anybody else watch it think, wow, where are the masks? Did the victory party for both players and fans turn into a superspreader event? Yet the sheer joy of everybody came through the screen wonderfully.
Absurd Planet (2020)
Not good
Beautiful video narrated with the least funny 6th grade humor you can imagine.