FILMBad Lieutenant – Mr. Cage, I didn’t think the day would come when I saw anything worse than your terrible hairpiece, plugs and extensions. Then I saw this movie. I guess you should be congratulated for that small feat. For an actor who once had Indie clout and gave unforgettable performances in Valley Girl, Raising Arizona and Leaving Las Vegas, I have no choice but to shake my head and sigh. One poor movie choice could be forgiven, but a decade of unwatchable films is unforgivable. In this upcoming years, please, please, please make better acting choices, or your fanbase will completely disappear.
Bruno – Sacha Baron Cohen is a chameleon. A gifted comedian and satirist who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks or take on an unlikable character. Viewers had high hopes after Borat. I suppose, those hopes made this movie feel like an even greater disappointment. I have no problem with political incorrectness … to be honest, I sort of relish it. But I don’t have the patience for vulgarity for vulgarity’s sake. Bruno had glimmers and moments of genius, but they were far outweighed by a ridiculous premise and plot.
The Soloist – One Oscar Winner plus a two-time Academy award nominee plus a fabulous feel-good true story should equal success. Instead, all the players in the soloist only added up to disaster! Jamie Foxx has shown that he has acting cops and dramatic range. However, his performance seemed memorized and forced. Yes, he quoted all the lines, but there was no emotion. Simply recitation and over the top dramatics. The movie took a preachy tone. I have many criticisms of this film, but my strongest objection is to the five-minute laser light show instrumentation that served no purpose other than to give audiences an intermission from a terrible show!
TUBE
The Beautiful Life (TBL) – This show should have been given the acronym TBLA; loosely translated to to be laughed at. They may blame Mischa Barton’s hospitalization to the low ratings. Come on, we all know that everyone loves watching tain wrecks. If anything, her hardships should have increased ratings. I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but she was the only watchable member of the entire cast. Perhaps Ashton Kutcher should leave his creative ideas for “reality shows.” Maybe if he’d added Jerry Springer and turned it into a Models Meet Mayhem, it would have survived.The ratings were thinner than the models on the show.
Brothers – Another show that should have been renamed. This one to Oh, brother. Who knew it could be so hard to play yourself. Football star Michael Strathan returns home to help his fictitious family. I don’t mean to sound oversensitive, but I think it’s quite appalling that the running gag of the show is Strathan’s mother stabbing her handicapped sun in the leg with a fork because she’s convinced he’s faking an accident. Note to writers, this attempt at humor falls flat. Do yourself a favor, go the distance and avoid this show at all costs. The Middle – Patricia Heaton solidified her status as a television mom with Everybody Loves Raymond. Yes, we know you can play the role Patricia. The question is if you’ve done it once and done it successfully, why oh why must you keep trying to reinvent the character. Your single mom character in Back to You was awful. You’ve now graduated to abysmal with The Middle. Producer note: Stop casting characters that are identical to previous successful shows. This show will leave viewers feeling like they, like the show are in the middle of nowhere.
