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Reviews
A Walton Wedding (1995)
Giving it Five stars just, because.
I won't add substantially to anything already written other than to whine about why such a great writer like Earl Hamner allowed the inconsistencies in these movies? There are too many to enumerate. I realize that they were trying to shoehorn pivotal events in US history as a backdrop for some of them, but to do violence to certain established characters biographies to achieve these ends? One reviewer said Grandma would be 108, but actually the character of Esther Walton was born in 1866, which would make her 98, but it's still too much of a leap even at that. Everything timeline-wise was messed up with these movies made in the 90s-everything. John and Olivia were married much longer by now. Couldn't they have picked something from a decade earlier to build on? And, what was the point of disappearing Charlie Walton? Or killing off Virginia Walton? Or not even writing in where John-Curtis was? He didn't need to be IN the movie, just ONE LINE acknowledging his existence. Five stars because it's the Waltons. Otherwise, kinda disappointing...but not nearly as much as the New Waltons that was made over the last few years...
The Walking Dead: World Beyond (2020)
For some reason my review was declined, I'll try again...offering some balance.
I didn't watch this when it first came on, and I wasn't particularly interested in it as the main characters are a younger demographic and I'm not (okay, call me cranky old dude, I'll admit it). But the wife said that it delved in to the whole Walking Dead/Rick Grimes connection regarding the helicopters so we might want to give it a watch.
Perhaps it was that I was expecting a turd in a punch bowl, or that I had finally finished watching that absolutely horrible show known as "Fear the Walking Dead", but...it really was much better than I thought it would be.
The major weakness was the main character. Her acting was probably the worst of the bunch. She approached the whole "Hey guys, we're walking to New York" with such a casual attitude, that it was too much of a suspension of reality, even for the Walking Dead universe. Yes, her sister was also crying every other scene, etc. But on the whole, I'd say the plot developed in a somewhat suspenseful way, with a certain unpredictability.
Yes, all the usual telescoping of time and distance was present, the kind that's in literally EVERY Walking Dead franchise (someone care to explain how Morgan got to Georgia to find Duane in record time?)
But at least it provided us with some of the story of the helicopters and what that was all about. I'm curious how it will tie in with the new series and Rick being traded to them for Jadis' entry into the Civic Republic.
My advice? If you like the franchise and are willing to put up with some degree of annoying acting by the young un's, it does pay off in the end. At least it's a story that keeps you wondering a bit and doesn't flounder the way "Fear" did. Trying to offer some balance.
Little House: Look Back to Yesterday (1983)
Would have given it more, but...
We have a soft spot for Little House. Grew up watching the shows and read the books to my kids (the books and TV show share only the name, let's face it, save a few isolated stories).
Having said that, even though the movie is touching, it was a completely unnecessary storyline. For starters, they had previously said that Albert went on to become Dr. Albert Ingalls. And it wasn't as if that statement about Albert was a one-off from the earliest appearance of the character and so forgotten in the timeline. That statement had been made after the addiction episode. What was the point? Why make a statement about Albert becoming a doctor after beating his addiction, and then using that goal of becoming a doctor to start a story that ends with him dying?
Michael Landon seemed to have a strange need to write and produce the most heart rending stories even if it meant doing violence to an established plot. I've read others apologize for this plot hole by using the "different era of episodic writing" defense, but I say "baloney." There were plenty of shows that didn't do it do the degree that Landon did throughout Little House. But, hey, lets go on to blow up the down where Albert wanted his last resting place to be as one more last punch.
In and of itself was it a decent story? Yes. But set against the backdrop of the Little House universe, completely unnecessary. It's worth watching for those that enjoy the series, but I always thought it was pointless.
The Unsettling (2019)
If Hallmark had a Horror Channel
Hallmark has its place in entertainment and I will admit to watching an occasional Hallmark movie, so don't take this wrong if you're a big Hallmark fan, but this is like what a Hallmark horror movie would be. Predicatable and full of tropes. Nothing is fully explored or answered.
We don't know what entity Dominic is speaking with. We don't know what happened to Gran. We don't know any of the backstory of this "cult" other than some bare bones. No characters in this show are fleshed out at all. We don't know why Becca keeps seeing weird things like bleeding ham and maggots. The "confession" of Becca at the end for feeling guilty for calling the police while her mother danced in shards of shattered mirror...it goes on and on. AND WHO EXACTLY IS "RYAN"????
I take it back. Hallmark movies at least don't usually have glaring plot holes. The only reason I gave it two stars is because there were a few legitimate jump scares and creepy images.
EDIT: On rewatching the scene where the name "Ryan" is said, I'm convinced that the character says "Gran" NOT "Ryan". The problem is the subtitles say "Ryan", but if you turn them off it sounds like a Southern drawl of "Gran".