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Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007)
9/10
One of the greatest sci-fi series of all time.
20 June 2007
I haven't always been a fan, but the show grew on me. It wasn't until after season 5 that I started to see the richness of the show. They finally brought Daniel Jackson's search for his wife to an end and finally most of the Go,ould System Lords were killed by rival Lords, SG-1 or others.

Towards Season 5, Stargate SG-1, was beginning to become stale. With the new writers and the close attention by Produer Peter Deleuise, the show became more and more solid.

The characters had become stale as well. Colonel Jack O'Neill was the stereotypical hero with emotional baggage. After his son Charlie was killed in a shooting accident with O'Neill's weapon, he had decided to end his own life by going to Abydos in order to face off with the Go'ould RA. The character offers little growth for any actor and actor Richard Dean Anderson chose to play him straight raising emotional barriers to protect himself. only allowing his close friends in.

Amanda Tapping joined the cast as Captain Samantha Carter. She was a feminist on the edge, ready to battle any man who would doubt her ability to do her job. Though this character had little area to grow, Tapping has done a great job of concentrating on Carter's strengths. She has taken the time to get a basic understanding of some of the things Carter talks about in order that she can present the character intelligently.

Christopher Judge joined the cast playing the alien Teal'c. Teal'c was an alien called the Jaffa. Infant Go'ould, (snake like creatures) would embed themselves into the Jaffa until they had grown to the point when it would be inserted into another life form. The Jaffa would die. Teal'c was the First Prime of Apophis' army. Knowing that Apophis was not a god like Go'ould pretend, he realized the genocide that their armies had wreaked on the galaxy. Finally, having had enough, he and Jack O'Neill freed their team along with quite a few innocent people. After arriving on Earth, he realized that Earth was the planet he was looking for, who would help him fight the Go'ould. Christopher Judge has done quite a bit with a limited character. Teal'c is a wise warrior, much of which he learned was from his teacher Master Bra'tac. The show would not be complete without Master Bra'tac played by Tony Amandola. He is also a rock. In the end, he became adviser to most of SG-1, especially Daniel Jackson.

Don S. Davil was there from the beginning playing Major General George Hammand. Davis has done an incredible job with Hammond making him sympathetic and normal. He does his job, has a wife, sons and daughters and grandchildren. You can really say, he is the anchor of the base. Simply, I would die for that man. If not allowed by his superiors to provide troops to support teams off world. He will go himself. He doesn't leave anyone behind.

I saved Dr. Daniel Jackson for last, because this character, I believe has grown the most in the ten or eleven years it has been on. In choosing Shanks I don't think the producer realized how strong Shanks would be and now when people talk about Jackson, they don't talk about Spader, they talk about Shanks. In the early years, the Jackson character came off as a whiner. That's why I probably wasn't a fan. As the seasons pasted, the character became stronger. This gave him confidence. In the end, as of season 10, the Jackson character has matured to the point that he has become a self sacrificing hero. He still monitors the groups ethics. He still is lead at providing information that can move any mission forward. Acheaology, History, Culture and Exploration are part of his very being. He is determined. Though a man of peace, he has matured to the point that using his weapons may be the only way to solve a disagreement.

Other characters include, most recently: Vala Mal Doran(Claudia Black) and Colonel Cameron Mitchell(Ben Browder), new lead of SG-1. Both actors come from a series called Farscape and why they were put together is any bodies guess. I see little difference between Mitchell and Crichton (Farscape character). Black's character is simply off the wall. Definitely different from her soldier like character Arin Soon.
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Jude (1996)
10/10
A very sad poignant movie
4 January 2007
Jude Fawley(Christopher Eccleston) lives in a small agricultural town. He is a stonemason who aspires to a higher education level and to go to the university. He marries his childhood sweetheart, but it soon appears that it was wrong from the beginning. She had tricked him into the marriage thinking she was pregnant. They split, he goes to a nearby city and she goes elsewhere. In the new city, he meets his cousin Sue(Kate Winslet), with whom he becomes enthralled with. They both know the relationship is impossible, so they arrange a marriage to a professor(Liam Cunningham) at the university Jude hopes to go to. Within 6 months, the marriage is over and Sue asks for a divorce so she can be with Jude. Her husband says, no. Sue leaves him anyway and she and Jude begin to live together. Their life is the life of abject poverty. At one point they have to auction off their possessions to pay the bills. When people find out they aren't married and have 3 children, he loses his job and they must move on. In the end due to a terrible tragedy, Jude and Sue are separated permanently, though they are still in love and still married to each other's hearts.

This is a brutal, realistic film. Thomas Hardy wrote it in the 19th century, but the topic is relevant today. I think just about everyone knows someone or a family that is homeless, had to go bankrupt, had cars repossessed, had to hawk their possession, had to take on 2 or more jobs. I think I've made my point. Having children would have made all of the above worse.

All the actors were brilliant, but I must pick two out especially. Christopher Eccleston plays Jude simply as though he knew him. That, in his mind, Jude may have lived down the street from him. The second is also called Jude played by Ross Colvin Turnball. He played Jude's son of the woman he married. She had gotten pregnant after they were married. Jude never knew he had a son with her. This young actor has tremendous presence. Turnball also played his character simply. He could have been the boy he pretended to be.

BEWARE: Because it is very realistic, it has an "R" rating with nudity, sexual situations and an adult subject matter. I wouldn't recommend this film for anyone below the age of 17.
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8/10
A thought provoking movie
30 November 2006
It is 1969. Phoebe(Camilla Belle) is an 11 year old girl growing up with an idealized vision of her 19 year old sister Faith(Cameron Diaz). Faith is the doer, the truth-seeker, the fixer of all the wrongs in the world. Then one day, Phoebe and her mother Gail(Blythe Danner) receive word that Faith is dead. Faith has killed herself. Both Phoebe and Gail are overwhelmed by this news and, although saddened, Gail mourns. Phoebe can't let it go. Phoebe decides to go to Europe and find out what happened.

It is now 1977. Phoebe(Jordana Brewster) is 18 and decides to go to Europe over the objections of her mother to discover the truth. When alive, Faith was inseparable from a man she called "Wolf"(Christopher Eccleston). Though Wolf claimed not to know anything about Faith's last days, Phoebe convinces him to tell her everything. Within days, Wolf realizes that he hadn't let go of the past either and he joins Phoebe on her pilgrimage to Portugal.

In the end, Wolf is able to tell of Faith's decent into drug abuse and his own guilt at not preventing the suicide. Although angry, Phoebe realizes in the end how human and fragile Faith really was.

I liked this movie. I'm old enough to remember the bank robberies of the Red Army and I was 10 in 1969. This story was familiar ground for me. I can still remember young men trying to decide if they should go to Canada or not to avoid the draft.

The story is simple, but probably occurred several times in real life during that period. Camilla Belle was enjoyable and fun to watch as she portrayed the young adoring sister excited by what was happening around her. Jordana Brewster slid easily into the role of the older Phoebe. Blythe Danner was the ever supportive mother, a role she is all too familiar with on American TV, unfortunately. I would have liked to see her with stronger material to work with. Cameron Diaz played the immature anarchist perfectly. Though at times, her performance of a 1960s activist seemed to come off a news reel. Of all the characters, it was Christopher Eccleston's Wolf, that made the most growth. When we are introduced to the character at the beginning of the movie, we can see he is a worldly man. He is a patient and kind man filled with anger at the world's injustices. In the end, he realizes the direction he and Faith are headed is wrong and begins to "grow up" deciding he should fight against injustice in his own way. Faith refuses to join him in this and it eventually leads to her death. Eccleston's Wolf is the most real of all the characters.

I recommend this movie. It was enjoyable and thought provoking. "The Invisible Circus" is rated TV-MA, but there is very little cursing, sex or violence in it. The subject of the movie is the reason for the rating.
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Cuentos de Borges: Death and the Compass (1992)
Season 1, Episode 6
6/10
A very odd movie
30 November 2006
In a post world war world, people eek out what living they can. A string of strange murders begin to occur and the local Detective Chief Inspector Lonrot(Peter Boyle) is on the job. He believes the murders are being committed by a gangster called Red Scarlach(Christopher Eccleston). Lonrot uses everything to hand to capture the killer and eventually comes face to face with him.

I love Peter Boyle. I've seen him in the X-Files to "While You Were Sleeping", but if anyone was miscast in this role, it was him. "Death and the Compass" is a low budget film that uses spontaneity as it's guide. Director Alex Cox is a "fly by the seats of his pants" director. Thirty to forty years ago, Mr.Boyle may have been cast properly, but watching it I couldn't help but wonder if he was treading water because he wasn't sure where his footing was.

Though Mr.Boyle seemed to be treading water, I didn't feel that about the other members of the cast. Maybe it was because the others of the cast were familiar with Cox's type of direction. What ever it was, it gave the movie a "driving on ice" feel. It'll be fine, then the brakes will lock and the car will slide to the side.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't a bad movie. It just needs to be done over.
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Wire in the Blood (2002–2008)
10/10
An incredible show
30 November 2006
I started watching this show in series 1. It was edgy and gritty, with strong performances from everyone. It still is. "Wire in the Blood" is the story of Dr.Tony Hill (Robson Green), a slightly eccentric clinical psychologist who works part time with the police force of Bradford, England. He has a reputation of taking small seemingly unconnected facts puzzling them together and providing a profile for the police to follow. The show is bases on the books written by crime novelist Val McDiarmid. In series 1-3, Hermione Norris played Detective Inspecter/Chief Inspecter Carol Jordan of Bradford CID, who managed to rein Tony's scattered abilities and make sense of them. In series 4, Ms Norris has left the show and Simone Lahbib as Inspecter Alex Fielding has the dubious job of reining in Hill. Green is, of course, the lead of the show and he is brilliant. He mixes in just enough idiosyncrasies to make Hill human, endearing and sometimes down right aggravating. Norris brought an adult, feminine, vulnerability to her role as Carol Jordan. Brought up to believe in hard case police work, her world was turned upside down by Tony's presence. In the end, she asks for a transfer. Enter DI Alex Fielding, Simone Lahbib. Ms. Lahbib is an unknown entity to me, but as I finished watching series 4, I felt a bit queasy. When one actor leaves a show and is replaced. It is important to give the newcomer a distinctive identity. Fielding is a single mother with a son and a cat, yet in the second episode of s4, "Torment", the writers were able to slide her easily into the role that would have been Norris'. The "Jordan" character was specific to the McDiarmid book "Torment of Others", of which the episode was derived. The Jordan/Fielding character played a large part. The writing is exceptional, especially for the episode, "Torment". The acting is exceptional. This statement is meant to include: Mark Letheren(DI Kevin Jeffries); Emma Handy (DC Paula McIntyre) and Peter Sullivan (ACC Paul Eden). When there is an ensemble cast and crew that work their hardest to put out the best product possible, it makes viewing a very satisfying activity. Note: this show is designated TV-MA, because of some intense or violent scenes. I would not recommend this show for anyone under the age of 16.
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The Others (2001)
5/10
Pretty predictable
23 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The tag line basically tells you all you need to know. I guess properly about the new house keepers. but it wasn't until Grace Stewart's(Nichole Kidman) husband Charles(Christopher Eccleston) showed up that I knew absolutely where the story was going and I could have turned it off at that point ("Sometimes I bleed"). One of the old horror techniques is to place the dead individual in a place where they couldn't leave, hence fog. Charles steps out of the fog and tells his wife he has come to say goodbye because he has to go back to the front. If you have time and want just a light, predictable, but fairly decent movie, this is good for that. I haven't purchased it, I rented it. It is probably worth a rental fee.
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9/10
A very odd movie
8 September 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The basic story is simple; On the day one man is married his new wife is murdered by a gangster because she wouldn't give into his "lust". The husband has to leave the town or be murdered. Ten years later, the husband returns to extract vengeance.

This film is based on Cyril Tourneur's play. The Revenger's Tragedy. The film makers brought the time period (1600)to the present(2002). The dialogue remains in the 17th century and all or most of the actors were from the North of England. That's not altogether a bad thing. The viewer really doesn't need the dialogue to understand the story because of the strong acting abilities of the actors involved. The one performance that made my skin crawl was Derek Jacobi as the Duke. Three actors stood out as carrying the film on their shoulders; Jacobi Christopher Eccleston, and Eddie Izzard, but it was Jacobi that stood out the most.

I do recommend this movie. You might have to watch it a couple of times, but when you are finished, I think you will agree with me that it is a very good movie.
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Life on Mars (2006–2007)
8/10
Enjoyable
24 August 2006
I love it when writers and directors take an old worn out theme and give it new breath. I happened on this by chance. I enjoyed it and have watched it ever since. I hope BBCAmerica decides to play it again, so I can put it on video until they decide to put it on DVD.

I have my own ideas of what is happening to "Sam" (John Simm). I'm sure others have their own ideas. If he does come out of his coma into the present, he would have learned a great lesson and I think his approach to his police work will have changed. It also makes me wonder how Sam's presence in DCI Gene Hunt's(Philip Glenister) life has changed his approach to his own police work. I would like to see Sam wake up and then find Gene as a retired Detective Superintendent and solve one last crime together. It's been done, I know, but maybe the writers can come up with something better.
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10/10
Gutsy story with raw emotion
4 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
When I watched it the first time I didn't know what to make of it. I'm from the US, but I come from an area that could be considered corrupt. Even the governor of the State of New Mexico has developed his own agenda.

"Our Friends in the North" centers on a young man, Nicky and his 3 friends. Nicky had just returned from the US during the Civil Rights Movement. He is fired up to destroy corruption in his little part of the world. He discovers that his hero, isn't a hero after all. Nicky goes from one end of the spectrum to another as do his friends. Over the 30 years that the story represents, the one constant in his life is his estrangement with his father and after 30 years of estrangement, the one emotion that develops for his father is pity.

This movie was recommended to me by a friend. It was a good recommendation and I recommended it to anyone who wants to take a chance. But be warned, though it has cursing, it's the story that may make you flinch. It's the story of real people.
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Rocket Man (2005– )
8/10
wonderful family drama-spoilers may be in it-though I'm not sure.
14 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Rocket Man proves to me that someone out there still knows how to make a wonderful, family drama without violence and sex. The basic story is about a man, George Stevenson(Robson Green), who is widowed and has to raise his two children, an 8 year old(John Rhys-Halliwell and a 15 year old(Lucy Evans)by himself. He was an electrical engineer, but due to lay offs must work in a confectionery plant. His one dream is to send his wife's ashes into space. He pulls into his "orbit" an array of helpers. From the hapless Shiner(Kai Owen) to the multi-millionaire Eric(David Yelland), and several others, including the primary school children. There are funny and sad moments in this drama. Many of the funny ones deal mostly with his 15 year who is discovering that she is a woman. Stevenson's son is just as obsessed about getting the rocket up, that he begins to ignore his school work and his teacher resoundingly states, that it's the Rocket project that's at fault. The really sad moments are due to his life long friends, Barney(Charles Dale) and Diane(Alison Newman) Scott's lack of ability to conceive a child.

I really want this TV film as a DVD. Right now I have to rely on my VHS copies from the TV which include commercials. I do recommend this film to anyone who can get their hands on it and hope that people who've enjoyed the film will write to Amazon.com to show that there is a market out there for it.

Thanks
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Doctor Who (2005–2022)
10/10
I didn't know how much I missed the Time Traveler
11 June 2006
I have some of the older videos and dvds of Dr. Who. I've played them over and over. I adore each of the "Doctors" for different reasons. But due to a man in the BBC hierarchy, Dr. Who was canceled, even though it was still one of the mainstays of the BBC line-up. With the departure of Sylvester McCoy, the Doctor stayed alive through the fans. BBC graciously allowed fans to write books, and cartoons. The momentum of Dr. Who has been steady even after 1989. Then they took a chance with Paul McGann. The movie was flawed, but it gave the BBC an idea of what we wanted. In 1999, the "man" was gone and the newbies at the BBC felt it was time to bring the Doctor back. It was a complete success. Here in America, the Sci-fi Channel took a chance and it has become a complete success as well, although the writers were having to start over and explain the Dr. Who mythology for new viewers. It is incredible to me that they have done it. In Season 1, staring Christopher Eccleston with Russell T. Davis as lead writer, and Phil Collinson as producer, the Doctor has come back to us and in each episode we learn more about who the Doctor is. The Doctor Who universe has always been about "Choice", "Love" and "Sacrifice". This is what they provided. It makes me want more and it saddens me that Mr. Eccleston has chosen to leave the show. My first Doctor was Doctor no. 3, Jon Pertwee's Doctor. Mr. Eccleston needn't worry about his position in the Dr. Who universe. It is as solid as the rest. He is the 9th Doctor. I didn't know of Mr. Eccleston prior to his performance in Dr. Who, but I do now. I wish there was some way, he could know, there is push out in the Dr. Who fan community to find his other work and enjoy it. We have already seen that he is a great actor.
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9/10
A very unique film
30 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The basic premise of this film is the husband and wife relationship. Sonja wants more from her life than her husband can give her, including sexual gratification. The husband,who is a major Jewish scholar, doesn't realize what is happening to his marrige. Sonja turns to her brother-in-law, but he doesn't understand either, though he does try to gratify her sexual needs, while also taking advantage of his position as her employer. (I would use a bad word to describe the brother-in-law if I could.) Sonja's need for freedom is inside of her, not the sexual freedom her brother-law-law gives. The brother-in-law did teach Sonja one thing. She did have the strength she needed to face the world as herself and not hide behind religion or anything else.

I found this movie profound due to Sonja's journey and it still gives me thoughts. It has brief nudity, but the premise is of the movie is so important that I recommend it to woman everywhere.
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The Last Musketeer (2000 TV Movie)
7/10
Pretty good film
20 March 2006
I liked this film because it shows the changes in a man as he grows in maturity. He is trying to fight his way out of England's version of a "ghetto" by learning to fence, but when his dreams of Olympic glory fade, he returns to the old ways of street life. He is falsely accused of a crime and must go on the run which takes him to a girl's school to hide. What I thought most endearing about this film is the strength Steve McTear(Robson Green)gets from his mother, even though she is recovering from a recent stroke. This isn't a 5-star movie and it doesn't really have a happy ending. It has a ending that might occur in life, even though the situations may not. The viewer will wish complete happiness for all the major characters and each will receive some of that happiness, but not all of it.

I gave this movie a 7 because it has flaws, but it is an enjoyable film. Don't read too much into it, just enjoy it.
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