Reviews
Pushing Daisies (2007)
Most creative show on television!
Pushing Daisies is quirky, funny, romantic fantasy. The cast :Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth, Chi McBride, Ellen Greene, Swoosie Kurtz and the fabulous Jim Dale of "Harry Potter" audio book fame is incredible and they play so beautifully together.
The talented Bryan Fuller is the shows creator, producer and writer. You may be familiar with his worker on "Heroes", "Dead Like Me", and the short lived but terrific "Wonderfalls".
This show is a must see. It's really too bad that the writers strike couldn't have been avoided so that we could have had a complete first season. If ABC is good enough to air more reruns and renew the show for next season, do your self a favor and watch it, you won't be sorry.
Ballet Shoes (1975)
Wonderful film!
I love this story. It's great for all girls but especially for dancers. I wish they would have shown more dancing in the movie but it did a really good job of portraying the passion dancers have for dance. I also loved how it portrayed the frustration dancers can sometimes suffer and how it feels to have dancers at different levels of ability who study together. The acting is beautifully done by the three young stars. I wish someone would air this on TV again, it would be great for PBS. It's not out on DVD as far as I can find. I'd love to buy it. You can buy it used at Amazon UK but it's a used video and I don't think it's the same format as we have in the U.S. I think that it would be well received if some network would air it and then release it on DVD. I don't want to see a remake of it as it was so great as is was. It could be remade but only as an English production as it really is an English story. I hate to say this but I'm afraid our American producers and directors would only wreck it. I can just imagine how they would dumb it down and try to use some bad Disney Channelesque kid actors and using modern music rather than period music and perhaps trying to move the story to more modern times or even changing the setting. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just conclude by saying that if you get the chance you should watch this.
Tears and Laughter: The Joan and Melissa Rivers Story (1994)
One of the worst movies ever made.
This is a truly dreadful movie. It had some of the worst acting I have ever seen. Melissa Rivers has no talent as an actress. Joan Rivers is a good comedienne but she should never try to do drama. If they needed a cathartic experience to help them heal then they should have just written a book and gone to therapy. How self important can you be? Melissa was so bad that she did not even know what word to emphasize in a sentence. Of course Joan Rivers should love her daughter and try to help her in her career but to promote her in this way is just in poor taste. I'm very sorry for their tragic loss but this movie was just tacky. If it were not about such a sad topic I might say that it could be worth watching with friends to make fun of but the subject matter is too sad for that. Give this one a miss for your own sake.
A Christmas Carol (1971)
By far the best animated Christmas Carol ever done. Alastair Simm reprises his triumphant performance as Scrooge!
I wish someone would release this lost gem on DVD or even video. So much garbage is shown at Christmas I just don't know what goes on in the minds of television programming staff that they won't show this masterpiece. It looks beautiful and the writing, directing and acting are superb. I last remember seeing it on regular old commercial television when I was a child back in 1977. I also remember that during a commercial break they showed a 7-UP commercial starring Jeffrey Holder. I have never forgotten it. Truthfully, this version is better than any of the live action versions that I have seen except perhaps the 1951 production entitled "Scrooge" starring Alastair Simm who reprises the role of Scrooge in this version. Simm is the best Scrooge ever. If you like "A Christmas Carol" email the programming people at Turner Classic Movies, American Movie Classics and Cartoon Network and beg them and harass them to show this wonderful film.