omerie

I enjoyed this movie about ten times more that I thought I would. I guess that when you expect a movie to be kinda dumb and pale in comparison to its original version, then the good qualities of the new version can catch you by surprise and provide a lot of fun when you least expect it.

I had been disappointed by Burton's "Mars Attacks!" (It could've been a classic considering that amazing cast), so I let some friends drag me to "Planet" with more than a little trepidation.

In one of the earliest scenes, the lights of the space station all go dark, and I heard probably half a dozen people around me whispering various versions of "what, no emergency lighting?!", so I thought "Here we go; more Hollywood dumbness unleashed upon the screen..." but within the next few minutes things started picking up...and from then on I was completely along for the ride.

My favorite part of this movie has got to be Danny Elfman's propulsive score; I can't wait to buy this soundtrack. It's great! My second favorite aspect of this film is Tim Roth's wild portrayal of Thade; he delivers quite an inventive homage to great SF villains, all the way back to Ming the Merciless! There are some scenes in which his character is so malevolent that it's spine-tingling.

As for the ending (NO SPOILER) - I think it's all intended in fun, with a nod and a wink, not to mention unleashing a spectacular pun upon humanity! (Anyone who's already seen it should get it.)

So come on folks, lighten up - this one is pure entertainment. Thanks for the good time, Mr. B!!

In my experience, this is the best television series that was ever canceled so quickly.

The premise is that John Terry's character, Ed Clemons, returns home from the hospital at the beginning of the first episode, after recovering from major, life-threatening injuries he'd suffered in a car accident. After surviving such a painful brush with death, Ed finds that his perspective on life has changed dramatically, so he quits his regular job (at a car dealership, if I remember correctly) and searches for more meaningful pursuits. He finds that there is a job opening for the head football coach at his son's high school, and he applies for the job, not knowing what to expect, because it has been years since he last played football himself.

From there the series explored interesting relationships among many characters from various walks of life. There was such potential for a classic series here that I couldn't believe it when NBC replaced this consistently superior and challenging show with "VIPER"!! There are no words currently in existence to describe my chagrin on that day!!!

I remember that near the end of a couple of episodes of "Against the Grain", when I began to feel that the script might have been getting a bit corny or overly sentimental, the writers always shifted gears just in time and accomplished episode endings that were excellent and unexpected, and left you feeling that you had just experienced classic, thoroughly satisfying entertainment (which is becoming somewhat of a rare feeling in this current era of "reality" programming.)

This series was amazing, and it almost seemed too good to be true.....which it turned out to be, I guess. I miss this show a lot, but with the limited number of episodes broadcast (I think it was only eight or nine) I suppose this one will never be released in any home video formats. That is a pity, because more people need to see just how well-balanced between comedy and drama a family series can be, especially one that never abandons its mature, intellectually and emotionally rewarding themes.

Okay, why did I watch this movie? I happened to be surfing thru the channels one night and my attention was arrested by the fresh, Breck Girl beauty of Pippa Scott. She and her character's husband are in a scene bantering a bit about their plans for married life, and she really looks great. The film seemed to express a typical 60s-era family-oriented TV series sensibility, so I stuck with it for awhile, mainly for nostalgia's sake. Pretty soon, tragedy strikes some of the characters, and it becomes obvious that this is a religious-oriented film, but hold on, it's actually kind of likable, and not too heavy-handed.....an enthusiastic Sam Groom plays the minister, who's almost a spitting image of Ben Affleck. In addition, a couple of the more dramatic scenes about characters dealing with loss are appropriately grim and not soft-peddled, and the outdoor location scenes are filled with vintage cars tooling around (metal eye candy), since one of the main characters is a mechanic.

The casting coup of this film has got to be Teri Garr portraying one of the wayward teens; I think she's supposed to be a bit of a bad girl here (or a least a searching soul), as signified by the dark eyeliner she wears (it still looks good on her, though!) If you're a Teri Garr fan, she is especially cute near the end of the movie, when she's shown smiling as she rides with her boyfriend through the city streets.

After one of the worst jump cuts I've ever seen, we find ourselves watching the characters holding an informal motorcycle race. An inadvertently funny scene occurs when the young kids are sitting around the picnic blanket listening to the sound of their friend's motorcycle engine on the other side of the hill, when it suddenly stops. The kids laugh and say, "Oh, well, I guess he must've crashed or something!" and they laugh again.....without lifting a finger to go see if he's ok!!

One major plus is the song that Al Freeman Jr. sings in the garage near the end of the movie; it's an excellent song (that I'd never heard before) in an expressive 60s-era folk style; I wish I had recorded it to play again. (It was groovy!)

This is the second Billy Graham movie that I've watched and enjoyed more than I expected to, and I'm not a particularly religious person. The pleasures of films like these are admittedly simple, but they do exist nonetheless.