Dallas: The Complete Thirteenth Season Review

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(More customer reviews)This to me was actually one of my favorite, if not my favorite seasons. I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through. I know ratings dipped after Linda Gray's departure, but for me she was not the show and I loved what was there. This season had an exciting hip new main title, which now included George Kennedy and Cathy Podewell, as well as newcomers Kimberly Foster, Sasha Mitchell, and Lesley Anne Down. I neglected to mention in my last review that Charlene Tilton also returned to the main title last season and continued here as well. This season was powered by a timely storyline about a Ewing Oil Tanker crash, Bobby's marriage to April, JR's tumultuous marriage with his second wife, and the arrival of the grown son he never knew he had, James. Jessica Montfort also returns to cause trouble, and Clayton and Ellie end up involved in a scheme which will bring Dusty Farlow back later. What is exciting about this year is the setup-you have some classic members of the Ewing family alongside some new ones and new enemies, thus making the year fresh and interesting today for those who neglected it when it first aired. It is the final year for Charlene Tilton, reduced to basically just a recurring character, as well as Barbara Bel Geddes, who left somewhat unexpectedly at the end of the season. The last year is sort of a tragic one about the downfall of the family, thus this year is very interesting dramatically-it is the last time that a full Ewing house and family is present and has some hope for a good future. Perhaps written down in this review one can't see the magic of the season, but for whatever reason, for me in particular, perhaps because for me 89-90 I was 4 and 5,the nostalgia of the era sort of creeps through. I think it was very well done, and I think basically the people in charge gave it their all and did a great job for CBS when they needed them-others may disparage it, but I personally feel that in terms of the whole story and how it was pulled off, it was very satisfying and well-balanced, and for me one of the most re-watchable. Also Starring Audrey Landers as Afton Cooper, Beth Toussaint as Tracey Lawton, Karen Kopins as Kay Loyd, Denver Pyle as Blackie Callahan, and Alexis Smith as Jessica Montfort.

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For J.R. Ewing, Season 13 is as unlucky as a steer at a Texas barbecue. He starts by lying and cheating Ewing Oil to the brink of destruction and ends by kicking and screaming in a psychiatric hospital. In between he tires of his pretty young wife, seethes while Cliff Barnes's political star rises and bumps into a past he didn’t know he had. Meanwhile, Clayton and Miss Ellie investigate a multiple-murder mystery, folks from seasons past unexpectedly return to stir up trouble and Bobby stays busy removing J.R.’s knives from his back, chasing after a Pam look-alike, and bringing a new Mrs. Ewing to Southfork. Y'all come ’round and meet the happy couple!

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A Simple Plan (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda, Brent Briscoe, Jack Walsh, Chelcie Ross, Becky Ann Baker, Gary Cole, Bob Davis.
Running Time: 121 minutes
Rated R for violence and language.
This is a diabolical tale about the wages of greed. Although it is played straight without intentional humor, the irony is so delicious at times that you might find yourself laughing. Jacob Mitchell (Billy Bob Thornton) is the one who begins to feel evil, and rightly so as the bodies begin to pile up. His presumably smarter brother Hank (Bill Paxton) feels mostly fear as he struggles to cover up one mishap after another. Their problems begin when they and Jacob's buddy Lou Chambers (Brent Briscoe) stumble onto a downed airplane in the woods covered with snow in which they find one dead person being feasted on by crows and a duffle bag full of hundred dollar bills. Lou, who might represent the common man, says, let's keep it. Hank, who could be rational man, says, whoa, this money belongs to somebody and besides we could get into trouble. We better turn it in. And Jacob, who is the natural man, sides with his buddy Lou. After all they're country poor and this is probably drug money that nobody is going to miss. And anyway, what can go wrong?
Well, as Ben Franklin observed a long time ago, `Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.' As they wait for spring to come and the plane to be discovered before they risk spending the money, the `simple plan' begins to unravel with horrific consequences. Thornton and Briscoe play country boys to perfection, and Paxton does a great job as a small town golden boy seriously compromised. Bridget Fonda plays Hank's pregnant wife, who turns out to be the brains (as it were) of the group. There are some very nice plot twists as the all too human emotions of the characters begin to crash into one another. Inevitably we have a morality tale in which the wages of sin are fully realized. Sam Raimi's ("The Evil Dead", "Spiderman) direction captures well the atmosphere of North Country America without any obvious straining for effect. He gets great mileage out of a few crows (actually some of them are ravens, I think) and a whole lot of snow. Scott B. Smith's script (from his novel) is clever and morally astute. The characterizations are excellent and the story psychologically satisfying. Particularly agreeable was the very sad, ironic end for Hank and his wife, who find that all the self-created hell they went through led them back to where they began, but without their souls. A dark message about greed and honesty is a topsy-turvey roller-coaster ride with beautiful cinematography and slick direction from horror-master Raimi. Not one for those who need a cheering-up session.

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The American dream in a gym bag. That's how three men size up what they've found in the snowy Minnesota woods.Genre: Feature Film-DramaRating: RRelease Date: 12-MAR-2002Media Type: DVD

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The Real Housewives of Orange County - Season One (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)What really makes me angry about this show are the kids! They live in multi-million dollar homes, have everything anyone could possibly want, totally funded by their parents.....except ambition, the most valuable asset they could give their children, not free BMWs!
Easy living kills all ambition in rich kids. Don't think so? Just look at the Ozzie Osbourne spawn! They have the funds and chance to become anything of value in life such as doctors and other high paying professions, but just become slugs and drones, parasites living off their parents well into their young adult years (Tamra are you listening? Kick the young bloodsucker OUT!)
And the women, OH, where to start.
I did like Vikki, the insurance company owner, at least she works for her money, not marrying it. But in Season 2 her huge mouth which is constantly going started to grate real bad. We have dubbed her "La Pie Hola Grande" and every time I think of her I see the gaping, yapping mouth.
JO: A supposedly college degreed woman who can't quite read the instructions on the back of a fast food package, can't sing, wants to sing, but does not know music related terms, has no interest in learning. Her speaking voice peeled paint. I don't think she'd actually make it through the first round of American Idol.She stated on the show, she HATES responsibility. Does not want to raise her rich ex-boyfriend's kids, would rather spend, spend, spend than work, stay out all night, and pretty damned young to be such a serious boozer! She's no doubt searching for her next sugar daddy.
JEANA: A successful working lady with disasterously raised children! Her daughter seems like the only one with manners or ambition of any sort; her old sons are basically large toddlers who bad mouth their mom who just stands there and passively takes it; brutish kids who would rather spend a lifetime of partying and basically being stuck at a 16 y old mentality. I just shriveled up like a bug on a hot rock when she said she bought each kid a million dollar home! What did these parasitical kids do to DESERVE that!!! Talk about the age of entitlement!
TAMMY: A minor train-wreck, but a train wreck. Illegitimate child with boyfriend, one ambitionless bleached blond, tatooed daughter living with a scummy tatooed biker type who breeds pit bulls ( oh, yeah, Riverside, Calif area needs more of THOSE!)
TAMRA: I like her. She has worked for what she has, but parenting skills to oldest son the PITS! Oldest son is 21 going on 14. Homeless, jobless, ambitionless, living on the dole with parents, the hardest part of his day is figuring out what time to wake up. Step-dad Simon really stepped up to the plate and got him into a Mercedes Benz workshop going into sales. He sits at home whining that he has no job because "opportunity hasn't come his way." Kid, I have news, opportunity does not find YOU!! You find IT!!!!! Oh, what a hard thing life is for this poor boy! I applaud every nasty dig his step dad gives him for being a slug and drone (Drone: An adult male bee that lives in the hive, does nothing for its keep, while the rest of the hive goes out and makes livings every day.)
Tamra: Do the kid a favor immediately, give the kid a deadline to get ANY job, then kick his lazy a$$ out! You do him no favors and are crippling him. At least Burger King would teach him to get up and out of the house EVERY day. Yes, that's what a job is.
Tamra is married to joyless Simon who must think smiling causes impotence. He gave her a $40,000 rolex for her 40th birthday. He sells Mercedes Benzes. Note to self do NOT buy a car from this dealership. He's either selling a lot of cars or they're over priced. He also says he can't sell a car unless he has sex every day. Gee the rest of us just have to go to work every day without sometimes. We still are able to do our jobs. What does he do when she's out of town? Guess he doesn't sell anything.
LAURI: Last and least. Nothing about this aging wannabee 27, 47 year old post menopausal woman is authentic! Fake blond hair, fake over done nose and lips, fake breasts. She's on the prowl for a rich husband. With her druggie son who is frantically trying to get her attention by constantly getting in trouble with the law. But mom's so blinded by dollar signs in her eyes, she doesn't seem to see the kid. And the ambitiousless older daughter who can't even pick up the cat poop in the condo she's sponging off her mom with or even bother to make car payments. Lauri comes with more baggage than LAX!!
I really wonder if boyfriend is serious about an engagement, or just wants to be on TV and once the series is over, engagement is over. Hurry Lauri, before he finds a younger blond thing with less baggage and gets away!!!! Three words for George: Pre-nup, pre-nup, pre-nup!
As Season 4 approaches here's some clues on what might happen:
Laurie and George's made in Heaven wedding turns into the Marriage from Hell. As it dissolves into a knockdown dragout through divorce court, Laurie has time to audition for the Batman sequel as The Joker, or at least as Mrs. J. She already has the face (attention Nancy Grace, better find out what really killed Heath. Sorry, couldn't resist.)All of the slug kids are still sitting around waiting for someone to hand them a living.
SEASON 4:
New Golddiggers.
Gretchen: Likeable, pretty, not apologizing for being an obvious G.D. Has a rich sugar-daddy who is dying of cancer. She got him to take her to the jewelry stores before he went to die in the hospital. With all the publicity of the show, she'll find another daddy if this one does not get her to the church on time.
Lynne: Poster girl for WHITE CHICKS GET TOO MUCH SUN!! By the age of her kids, she's probably in her late 40's, looks 54. It won't be long until she's looking like a Kennedy matron, like, say Maria Shriver's mom who resembles a breathing mummy. And like the chubby cougar from last year who they dropped from the show, Lynne is extraordinarily BORING! I don't know why there wasn't someone else in Coto who could have spiced things up a little. I predict this is the LAST season. And that's not a bad thing.


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REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ORANGE COUNTY:SEAS - DVD Movie

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Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)'Wal Mart, The High Cost Of Low Price' is filled with first hand testimonials and some hard-fact figures that will help in validating your hatred of this greedy giant, and visually exposes those in other countries who are ruthlessly used as slaves to produce the cheap products you purchase when you patronize this monolith.
These "jobs" provided to the labor forces of India, China, Bangladesh, and Mexico are not 'good wage' jobs even for third world standards. The people are overworked, underpaid, and forced to work in sub-human conditions. These human beings make 13 to 17 cents and hour, and work 10 to 18 hour days without breaks, all so you can have that $1.49 blouse.
Exposed in this film are the squalid, rent controlled apartments in China, provided by the company, that put to shame the most rancid ghetto house in your hometown. And if the employee chooses not to live in these rat-infested housing developments, the rent is still deducted from their wages. Wal-Mart has managed to lower the work standards set for these hard-pressed, low wage, third-world countries that other companies are going to follow, sucking down the standards of working all across the world.
The manager of the Mexico factories went on a tour to make sure that working conditions were humane. He was fired when he reported that the conditions were intolerably inhumane. In his own words, he didn't think retaliation would be brought against him for doing his job.
If you think it was a good thing that America abolished slavery, then think again before you go into a Wal-Mart. Just because the US is no longer "importing" slaves, doesn't make it right to continue to use slavery in other countries to produce high profits for personal gain. Wal-Mart's practices are no different than bringing slaves over from Africa to pick our cotton, it's still a cheap way for the rich to get richer at the expense of human blood and sweat.
Intermittently inserted in the film is a speech made by Lee Scott to the high-end employees and stockholders of Wal-Mart, which sounds very much like an Amway pep-talk. Lee Scott's earnings for 2005 were $27,207,799.00. The average Wal-Mart hourly employee's was $13,861.00.
Interesting facts: After 9/11, the Walton's built themselves an underground bunker in case of another terrorist attack, costing millions of dollars that should have went into paying back the Government for having to subsidize their employee's un-affordable medical benefits.
The Walton family gave less than 1% of their wealth to charity. Bill Gates, not even a nice man himself, gave 58%.
The "Critical Need" fund, set up to assist Wal-Mart employees in emergencies, received five million dollars from Wal-Mart employees (making $13,861.00 annually) and only $6,000.00 from the Walton family, who made, collectively, 102 billion.
Wal-Mart actually had a commercial campaign about "buying American" while all their products come from sweatshops overseas.
Wal-Mart has refused to address crime statistics that show an upswing of violent crime in their large, remote, under-lit and un-protected parking lots, putting their customers in danger and taxing the local law enforcement. The State of California alone paid out 80 Million dollars in medical benefits to poverty-level Wal-Mart employees because the 102 Billion Dollar Walton family does not want to give their "associates" fair medical benefits.
There are many ways to hate Wal-Mart and its ilk, and many books out on the subject, but I recommend watching this DVD so you can actually see the slave workers and conditions overseas that these selfish billionaires exploit without passing down their profit to the "small people" who helped build their empire. The presentation could have used a little more snappiness, and the DVD starts out very slow, but keep watching and you will eventually see the monster peeking out from behind your curtain.
Stop shopping at Wal-Mart. Just stop. You don't need their cheap goods that fall apart two days after you bring them home, and it feels good to know that you make a difference by not supporting slavery. Enjoy!

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Everyone has seen Wal-Mart's lavish television commercials, but have you ever wondered why Wal-Mart spends so much money trying to convince you it cares about your family, your community, and even its own employees? What is it hiding?WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel... and shop.

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