wwweber-74250 Reviews

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)

Fun Movie For All Ages

[9/10 · 24 March 2019]

My wife and I (both in our 60's) went to see this movie with our sons (both in their early 20's) and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It has intrigue and suspense, lots of humor, and at times, tugs at your heart strings. I have an AMC A-List pass and I have had MoviePass, so I've seen many movies in the last year and this is near the top of the list for me.

I hope we will see more Nancy Drew adventures from the same cast.

Alita: Battle Angel (2019)

An amazing achievement

[9/10 · 21 February 2019]

I saw this movie first in Dolby Cinema and was blown away by expresiveness of the motion capture technology. Then I saw it in IMAX 3D and that took it to another level. Normally 3D movies are shot in 2D and through computer processing a 3rd dimension is artificially added. The live action in this movie was 99% shot with actual 3D cameras thus making the 3D more realistic. It was amazing how well the computer generated imagery merged with the live actors at both the 2D and 3D level. A major congratulations is due to the technologists behind this movie.

So visually this movie is worth the entrance fee. But the story itself was both touching and packed with action. We all like to see the the bad guys get beat up.

There is lots of mystery in the is movie as well and upon seeing it the second time, some of the mystery cleared up for me. So I recommend seeing this movie twice with the 2nd viewing in 3D. You won't be disappointed.

Star Trek: Discovery (2017–2024)

Wow, Amazing!

[10/10 · 14 October 2017]

I have finished 4 episodes and I find myself continuously and spontaneously blurting out "wow" as I watch this show.

Please don't try to kill this show by getting angry because it doesn't follow Star Trek canon. A "1" score is a sign of anger because all bad movies in IMDb are at least "3". A home movie made by total amateurs might be a "1".

I am not a purest and do not care how accurate this show is to the Star Trek canon. Perhaps those who were determined to hate this show have already voted and the aggregated score of this show will gradually rise. I hope so because I'd like to see multiple seasons of this show and a high IMDb score will encourage others to watch it.

The special effects and set designs are at the level of a high-budget (over US$ !00 million) movie yet my understanding is that there was US$ 7 million per show. An amazing accomplishment in getting maximum bang per buck.

Also my understanding is that there are complex inter-corporation politics of what the producers were allowed to use from the original Star Trek series. In a way, this gave some creative freedom to the writers to come up with new ideas. This freedom also allowed them to change the mood and feeling of the show and it seems to have moved in a direction that is less cerebral and more visceral. This show socks it to you at a high pace.

In addition, the writing, character development, and acting are all top notch. So far I can see other interesting looking characters in the background and am looking forward to their character development as well.

I choose to bite the bullet and get the service without advertisements and I think that was a much better experience. Because of the quality of the show, it is easily worth the cost. In addition, you can watch "Big Bang Theory" when you want and without advertisements. I simply installed "CBS Access" on my Roku and watch it like Netflix.

So please ignore the angry people. The aggregated score for this show should be an "8" or more and I suspect it will rise to that eventually.

Disjointed (2017–2018)

It really is recorded in front of a live audience - I was there!

[9/10 · 5 September 2017]

I attended live recordings of the last two shows (#19/#20) of this series in June (2017) at Warner Studios, Burbank. I can assure you that the laughter you hear is from a live audience. The expense to produce a multi-camera sitcom in front of a live audience is not insignificant. I don't understand how reviewers can be so confident that the laughter is canned.

Watching it on TV is even funnier because I can pause it and give myself time to complete my laugh before moving on. And I can replay it as well.

The show is funny and goofy yet it has a heart and soul too. If you stick with it for a few shows, it will definitely grow on you. It takes some time to understand the individual characters and their relationships. The last taping we saw, which was the 20th and last show of this series, contained some very heart rending moments with beautiful resolutions.

This last recording was also few days from Kathy Bates' birthday. The staff brought out a cake and we all sang happy birthday to her. It was a very nice vibe.

My big question is how does Betsy Sodaro (Dabby) create those crazy expressions? Does she practice in front of a mirror or do they just come naturally? She is sooooo funny.