jade-ov-arcc-159-554636's reviews

I went to see Ben Hur on the big screen today, where it needs to be seen. I saw it for the first time when it came out in 1959, as a child with my parents in our local movie theater in Brooklyn. Over the years I have had occasion to see it again on the big screen, and it is a treasured part of my DVD collection. It has lost none of its glory or its emotional impact on me.

In reading many of the reviews here, I agree with the excellence of the acting and directing, the dramatic tension that never lets up, the great story telling, the color and pageantry, the deep emotional and spiritual messages in the film. But for me it was the magnificent score of Miklós Rózsa that truly brought all that makes Ben Hur one of the greatest films of all time to life. His brilliant orchestration, his stirring musical themes and the way he integrated them with what was happening on screen. Ben Hur never fails to bring tears to my eyes, and this has a great deal to do with Miklós Rózsa's score in all its epic and intimate glory. A well deserved Oscar.

This whole season was worth the two farewell scenes with Patrick Stewart and John DeLancie - the two of them were just beautiful. John DeLancie looks better than ever; aging well! When Jean Luc told Q that he wasn't going alone and hugged him, I did get choked up. I guess I'm just an old softie.

And I loved that they gave Wesley a comeback. I had wanted to see his story as a Traveler, and it was never shown. I hope he reappears in season 3 somehow.

I do wish that we had seen what happened with Seven and Chakotay. I loved Robert Beltran and was disappointed when he wasn't in this series. That romance had such potential. Oh well... Just glad that Geri Ryan was included. Seven and Q are definitely two of the most interesting characters in the Star Trek franchise.

Whatever flaws the Picard series may have, I'm still enjoying it!

This was neither believable nor compelling. Just frustrating, and ridiculous. Any detective who would pull this sort of rubbish would be instantly fired (hopefully!).

Oh, the memories connected to this wonderful musical and the fabulous Mary Martin and Cyril Richard! I watched it every time it came on TV from when it first came out; I still have the original vinyl recording of the show. I still know every single song. And seeing Peter lift off and fly is still heart-stopping more than 60 years later.

The 9 is for James Spader, for finding out at least some of the background, and for finally being rid of a very annoying Liz. The 1 left over is for not finding out who Red really is. But my take on what's coming in the 9th season is: Since Red is dying, and Liz and Tom are dead, and we now know that the real Katarina Rostova is still alive, that when Red dies, Agnes is somehow going to end up with her real Grandma, Katarina. Who else does she have???

I am so sick of hearing Liz blame Reddington for every bad thing that's ever happened and every person who has died, without accepting ANY of the responsibility herself. In fact, I'm sick of Liz, period. However, I too, like reviewer 'Here until the end', I will stick it out because of Red and Dembe. They are too brilliant to leave behind.

I saw this many years ago and it has remained with me as a masterpiece of its genre and a deeply moving piece of cinema.

I loved it. I cried my eyes out and ache inside (heck, it's 'only' a television show - but didn't it say so much), but I loved it. Perfect finale, thank you.

Loved the episode, but did anyone notice that, at about 30 minutes in where Castle and Beckett were talking in bed at night and just after that when Beckett wakes up in the morning, the pillow cases are entirely different?! Someone messed up on continuity! {: )

Dear Blacklist writers: I am so utterly SICK of Katarina Rostova and Liz's back and forth with this mean, manipulative, nasty woman, that I can only hope this is a ploy for future plot twists where Liz finally comes to her senses and KR finally does die. Whatever Red is - and he's certainly not a 'good guy' in the conventional sense - he's very much aware of what he is, as he's said himself any number of times. But he is the classic 'bad guy' with the one redeeming feature that makes him sympathetic to an audience: his unconditional love of Liz, whoever she may be to him. He's proven and shown this to her (and everyone on the team) any number of times, and it is so apparent that this love is genuine. The way he holds her after she's freed from prison after the fall of the Kabal; the way he reacts when she apparently 'dies'. James Spader shows it all. And while Katarina has has nothing but 'black speech' for Red, note that Red has always spoken well of, and been sympathetic to her. So, dear Blacklist writers, I can only hope that Liz's 'choosing' this malicious woman who's only ever shown that she's the only one she truly cares about (even to leaving Agnes to find a corpse in the park to pursue her own ends), is simply a device for the subsequent episodes, and that she's not actually bailing out on Red, just to find out 'the truth'. Because if that's not the case, I really don't care if Liz ends up dead at the end of series 8 - as long as Agnes goes to a loving home and not to KR!

I thoroughly enjoyed Rogue Nation, as I enjoy all the films of this franchise (as I also loved the original TV series). I just had to say, though, watching it again OnDemand, that it contains what must be either the shortest version of Puccini's "Turandot" in opera history, or the longest, most drawn out assassination attempt. {: D Love it anyway.

Totally enjoyed this episode, rat and all. But I'm still trying to figure out what the sister's agenda is. Garvey had to have left her with something - he ran a whole syndicate, he would have provided for her in case anything happened to him, for heaven's sake! I don't buy the 'I'm a poor waitress, I have no life' bit and it wouldn't surprise me if Jennifer was involved in his doings in some way. She doesn't seem like the mastermind type, but, hey, you never know... Is Liz so blind that she's not even questioning Jennifer's motives or background? She's FBI - never done a deep background check with all the secrets behind both Red and Garvey? Or is she wiser than she's letting on? It would, however, surprise me if Red really doesn't have at least an inkling of what the two women are up to. With so many questions yet unanswered, I'm very enjoyably staying tuned!

I'm very much beginning to wonder about Liz's 'sister', Jennifer. She seems too eager, too annoyingly pushy, and I'm wondering if she doesn't have a whole other agenda of her own. Why was Ian Garvey so intent on protecting her from Reddington? Is it possible that she was an accomplice in some way? Red obviously cared very much about her mother, why would he try to harm her daughter? If she isn't involved, Jennifer doesn't seem to have considered that it was Garvey who convinced her that she didn't have a life if Reddington was around. How has she blithely and totally discounted the fact that Garvey was every bit as much of a criminal as Red; that he brutally murdered Liz's husband and tried to kill her? Even more reprehensible because he used his badge as a cover for his criminal activities, whereas Reddington never claimed to be anything but what he is. At the moment, Jennifer seems to be the alpha of the two women, putting pressure on a somewhat conflicted Liz. It will be interesting to see how that relationship plays out in all its consequences. Your thoughts?