Family Drama..."Switched At Birth"

Switched at Birth (2011)

TV-PG

Starring Katie Leclerc, Vanessa Marano, Constance Marie, D.W. Moffett, Lea Thompson, Lucas Grabeel, Sean Berdy,

Created by Lizzy Weiss

The Story:

When Bay Kennish (Marano) takes a simple blood sample for a high school science project, she inadvertently discovers that her parents (Moffett & Thompson) couldn't possibly be her biological parents. That's when they learn of Daphne (Leclrec), their real daughter who's been raised by a single mom (Marie) after their babies were... wait for it...

Switched At Birth!

So there's the premise for this ABC Family / Free Form original series that is now available to stream on Netflix.

Ah, but there is one catch: Daphne is deaf!

So in addition to a series with a dichotomy of the haves vs. the have nots, there is also the struggle to cope with learning that their daughter is hearing impaired and trying to get to know her while trying to figure out how best to communicate with her.

And for the first half of the first season, this show was so very interesting and they seemingly came up with one cliffhanger after the next.

Then the season kept trudging on, for 30 episodes.

I think they really should have split the seasons in half, but that's just my thoughts.

As it wore on, the show seemed to stray away from the original and emotional concept of getting to know family that you haven't ever met for 16 years yet feel already emotionally attached to.

It made some powerful moments in the series, especially as Bay seemingly gets lost in the shuffle as her parents fawn all over their new daughter, and her real mom never really seems interested in her life.

Quite sad really, and you feel for her as the season wears along.

But again, the 2nd half turns very much into a soap opera (even more than it already sounds like!) with naturally romance after romance until we finally get to the much ballyhooed trial against the hospital for negligence.

It gets seemingly lost in the shuffle for most of the season, then is quick and over, and the season STILL isn't finished yet.

Naturally, my grade diminished as the season wore on, and after we finished, nobody really had a desire to move on to see what happens next, as there are 7 seasons and counting.

I'll blame it on viewer fatigue more than anything else. While we never binged, maybe a good week between episodes is precisely what we needed.

The cast is great, and the story itself, when not in the ridiculously absurd, can be quite compelling.

Final Grade: B

"Back In Time" Could Have Been So Much Better...

Back In Time (2015)

Documentary

Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale

Directed by Jason Aron

The Story:

Everyone by now has seen Back to the Future, or at least I would hope. This documentary, released just in time to coincide with "Future Day" from Part 2 brings a lot of behind the scenes interviews with the cast, crew and the fans of Back to the Future.

It rehashes some things you might already know.

It will bring out some things you probably did not.

And overall, as a Kickstarter backed movie, it's a really good effort to try and tackle one of the best films of the 80s, of all time, you qualify it, and Back to the Future fits.

A movie so good, the script is used as reference for screenwriting courses in college.

Where I sort of lost interest with the film is when they concentrated on the fans of the films and spend time looking at conventions and recreations of the movie.

Meh.

While nice, I would have preferred more meat about maybe the entire trilogy, and save the fans for a bonus feature.

Thankfully, the film is streaming on Netflix as of this writing, so that saved me $25 bucks ordering blind from Amazon.

:)

Certainly worth a watch if you're a fan, and really, who doesn't love this movie?

Just know that the documentary loses a bit of focus, for me anyway, after the halfway point.

Final Grade: B

Don't Spend One Moment On This "Ping Pong Summer"

Ping Pong Summer (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Marcello Conte, Helena Seabrook, John Hannah, Lea Thompson, Susan Sarandon

Written and Directed by Michael Tully

The Story:

Radical Miracle (Conte) is going on a coming of age summer adventure with his sister (Seabrook) and parents (Thompson & Hannah). Something is going to make this his greatest summer ever...

But I was so bored and uninterested in the film after 10 minutes, I took it out and mailed it back.

Had I known it was streaming on Amazon Prime, I could have saved the mailman the trouble of moving this disc across the miles.

Michael Tully is officially on my list of directors to not bother with.

The film was painfully unfunny, not dramatic, not really anything at all.

When the greatest part of the movie is using Casey Kasem's American Top 40 to hear a long-distance dedication, it's time to move on.

Also shot to be grainy to "look and feel" like an 80s film, it only serves to undercut whatever you're trying to make as a finished product.

80s movies may have been grainy, but the best are revered classics, the worst are cringe-worthy cult classics or so bad they're cheesy good.

This film is none off those.

Final Grade: D-

Feeling Sorry For Those "Left Behind"

Left Behind (2014)

PG-13

Starring Nicholas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson

Directed by Vic Armstrong

The Story:

Ray (Cage) is an airline pilot. Sometime during his flight across country, half of the passengers and crew on his plane simply disappear! Meanwhile, across the globe, the same phenomenon is happening, kids are vanishing and so are people. Cars are crashing, planes are crashing. I assume boats crash too.

What's happening?

Duh, it's The Rapture!

Perhaps if the rest of the people had listened to their Christian friends and family, they wouldn't be wandering around in a panic like they are now.

:D

Seriously though, as many atheists that claim they know the Bible backward and forward better than a Christian, it takes an alarming amount of time for the people left behind to actually put 2 and 2 together.

This was a movie back in 2000 starring Kirk Cameron as journalist Buck Williams. His character is now played by Chad Michael Murray, and he gets bumped back to the sidelines for Cage's character.  Based on the best selling book series of the same name, it will be interesting to see if this moves forward as a series.  They had tried before with direct to dvd efforts with less than impressive results.

I was expecting it to be horribly unwatchable, but it was engaging enough to keep my attention.

Cage gives a restrained performance as the pilot, so there's that.

Final Grade: C

Your Future is Whatever You Make It..."Back to the Future Part 3"

What kind of stupid name is that?

The Story:

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) heads back to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) before he can be murdered by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson).  Doc was content to live out his days in the Old West, but murder has him rethinking those plans.  However, when he meets the new school marm (Mary Steenburgen), the decision to leave becomes much harder.  Time's ticking though, and if they don't get out of there, it's likely that neither one will ever make it back to 1985 in one piece.

That's how you end a trilogy.

Following on the heels of Part 2, the third installment brings the warmth and fun back to the series that the 2nd part seemed to lack.

It's bright...it's fun...

And they open up the cool paradox aspect of traveling even farther back into the past than they had ever gone before.

The changes that they will make are subtle, unlike the alternate future Biff created in Part 2.

Then they end on a bittersweet high note with the destruction of the DeLorean... but the ability to time travel still intact.

Will there ever be a part 4?  Doubtful.  Nor should there be.

There should also never be any remake attempt for this franchise.

That's the kind of blasphemy we just don't need.

Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Own it. Love it.  Seen it many times... not as many as the original...more than the 2nd.  Go figure. :)

I'm Still Waiting for My Hoverboard..."Back to the Future Part II"

Great Scott!

The Story:

Picking up from the end of Back to the Future, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) returns from the future for Marty (Michael J. Fox) and they even take Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue) this time to the future.  It appears that Marty's son is about to make a mistake that will cost him dearly, and Doc wants to prevent that from happening.  But alas, while in the future, Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) steals the DeLorean, goes back to 1955 and changes the past.  This creates a horrible alternate future that Doc and Marty must go back in time once again to prevent from happening.

Was it a case of too much of a good thing?

Back to the Future Part II is much like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  It works for what it is... it is simply darker and more sinister than the awesome film that preceded it.  Then a third part of the trilogy is made, that rivals the first film in tone and quality, and you are stuck forever as the ugly duckling of the franchise.

Luckily for Back to the Future, unlike Indiana Jones, they never made a 4th one to make you realize that the 2nd film wasn't quite so bad after all.

: )

Perhaps Part II is simply too ambitious?

I mean, with the first one, you have 1985 and 1955, and then finish in an altered 1985.

In Part 2, you have 1985, 2015, a changed 1985, 1955.. a whole lot of story had to be crammed into all of this, with a final payoff of getting back to 1885.

So maybe a little rushed... maybe too many layers crammed into this outing...

But it's still really good.

On its own, this would likely be an A/A- movie...

When sandwiched between 2 superior parts of a franchise...

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I own it... I love it... but yes, while the original gets all the love and attention, Part 2 is the Jan Brady of the series.  : )

Gotta Get Back in Time... "Back to the Future"

To put it simply, one of the greatest movies ever made...

The Story:

The year is 1985.  Young Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is startled to learn that his friend and eccentric inventor, Doctor Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) has built a time machine out of a car!  When terrorists come to find Doc Brown, Marty flees in the vehicle and vanishes 30 years into the past... to 1955!  There he meets his parents before they ever met each other, and this random occurrence begins altering the space-time continuum.  Unless Marty finds and convinces Doc Brown in the past to help him get back... to the future.... Marty will cease to exist!!

Odds are, you've seen this film already, and it needs no introduction or anything else for that matter.

If you've been reading my reviews since I started this thing last year, you already know that Back to the Future is one of the 100 Greatest Films Ever Made...That I Own.  It's in the Top 10.

Yep, it's that good.

Pick any aspect of the film, and it is so above anything else, it's not even funny.

The acting?  You cannot do any better than the Michael J. Fox/Christopher Lloyd pairing.  So great is their chemistry, that Eric Stoltz was replaced as Marty because he just didn't bring the charm, fun, spark or chemistry that Fox brought to the role.  Lloyd was already an accomplished comedic actor, and this was his signature role for all time.

You can't utter the line "Great Scott!" without thinking of Doc Brown.  Come to think of it, it's because of Doc Brown that people still utter Great Scott!... nearly 30 years later!

Rounding out the cast as Marty's parents are Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson who both get to play old and young in the time travel caper.

It's hilarious, especially listening to his mom talk about how life was when she was a girl, then to go back with Marty and see that she's an absolute liar! : )

Finally, as I've mentioned before, a hero is often only as good as his villain.  Thomas F. Wilson is the unsung hero of this film by making Biff Tannen possibly the biggest jerk ever filmed in cinematic history.  No small feat, to be sure, and he owns the role.

Director Robert Zemeckis has made a lot of good movies in his career.  This is his best, by far.

The writing?  How about Zemeckis teaming with Bob Gale to craft a time traveling story that not just worked, but transcends generations.  I dare you to find anyone of any age who doesn't like this film.

I'm sure there is someone, but I bet you'll be hard-pressed to find them.

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I've watched it so often, I've lost count.  I have put the Blu Ray Trilogy upgrade on my wish list for this Christmas, as I fear that the DVD will eventually wear out.