What is the big deal about having a French lover in a movie these days? They eat horrid-smelling cheese, don't bathe ver
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pmiano100 — 13 years ago(April 02, 2013 01:03 PM)
From the ABC-TV American crime-comedy-romance, "Castle," an American show which stars two Canadians:
Why is Castle still going on cases with Kate? He's only a writer and would hardly be a consultant. The NYPD would never allow him to tag along for so long.
Castle often obtains evidence illegally for the police, explaining that the restrictions don't apply to a civilian like him. That isn't true. In the US, since he is working in cooperation with the police and acting as their agent, the evidence would be inadmissible.
Naturally, after a lot of phony sexual tension, the two are now lovers. What a surprise.
In one episode, Kate resigns and is reinstated in the next episode with no penalties. Wrong. reinstatement with the NYPD is far from easy.
The locales the two go to look nothing like the real New York City.
How come they only investigate crimes involving rich and middle class people? I'd like to see how good they'd be in inner city neighborhoods where nobody talks to the police and no one has ever heard of Castle, let alone read his books.
Castle has a pretty teenaged daughter. Where are her friends and boyfriends? When my kids were teenagers, their friends were constantly around.
Speaking of the daughter, why do we know almost nothing of her mother, or Castle's father for that matter?
If Castle's mother is still a successful working actress and acting teacher, why is she living with her son and granddaughter?
As usual, both mother and daughter treat Castle with annoying distain and disrespect and always take Kate's side. They're always biting the hand that feeds them.
Where are all the Italians, Irish, Jews, Poles, foreign-born people, and racial minorities that abound in New York City? Most of the people on this show are WASPs.
How come no one speaks with a distinctive New York City accent? Everyone speaks in accentleess English, Oh come now!
Like most police commanders on TV, Kate's commander is always making empty threats she almost never acts on.
Interesting that there are more black women detective squad commanders on TV than on the entire NYPD.
Where does Kate get the money for the expensive jewelry, makeup, and clothes we sometimes see her wearing on a police detective's salary?
Also, how can she afford to live in such a nice apartment in Manhattan? She's too young to be living in a rent controlled apartment.
Naturally Kate is drop dead gorgeous like most female police detectives on TV, but a definite minority in real life. Naturally she's single and the right age. So what does the NYPD do. Assign her to let a lecherous crime novel author known for his liaisons tag along with her for his "research."
Castle was allowed to work with Kate as a public relations ploy. But her Commander is always yelling at Castle and threatening to throw him in jail.
Where are the ADAs and defense lawyers? In real life, the first thing a rich client would do is call his or her lawyer. In this show, everyone is remarkably cooperative until Kate and Castle start getting close.
In one episode, they investigate the murder of a female IRS auditor who was moonlighting as a tax consultant to a Mafia gangster. Oh come now!
Will there ever be a murder case on this show of a married person with children under 18?
If a married woman is murdered, you can bet the husband will be the murderer. Oddly enough, this is usually the case in real life too.
How is it Kate gets DNA and other lab results so fast most of the time? There's only a delay when it's a plot device like a race against time. In real life, lenghty delays are the norm.
When you think of all the heiresses, wealthy businesswomen, woman authors, actresses, models, and other upscale beauties in New York a handsome, wealthy, famous, and smooth man like Castle would have to choose from, who can believe he'd stay for very long with a hard-bitten policewoman, no matter how beautiful she is?
In these modern times, why is the show named "Castle"? With Kate enjoying equal time and doing the shooting and arresting, shouldn't it be "Beckett & Castle"? How utterly sexist. -
Altho73 — 12 years ago(April 14, 2013 01:57 PM)
From the first series of the Danish TV thriller Forbrydelsen 2007 (known as The Killing in English, featuring Detective Inspector Sarah Lund and her colourful jumpers -
The first episode starts with Sarah Lunds leaving party at the Copenhagen Police Department (she is leaving her job and moving to Sweden with her boyfriend, son and mother). So what on earth is she doing in work on Monday morning? How many people have you ever seen coming in to work for a few hours on Monday morning after having their leaving party?
She is introduced to Detective Inspector Jan Meyer, her replacement when news comes in about the abduction, rape and murder of a teenage girl. The chief of detectives persuades Lund to stay on for a few hours to nursemaid the new Inspector thru his first few hours. Why on earth would this be necessary, surely if he is good enough to be a Detective Inspector then the horrifice murder of a teenage girl should not freak him out that he requires a nursemaid!!!!
Lund was only supposed to stay on to give Inspector Meyer some guidance and advice, familiarise him with the proceedings and area yet she immediately takes charge of the case reducing Meyer to a support role much to his annoyance.
The story then gets more and more ridiculous as Lunds extra stay of a few hours becomes a day, then two days then a week and finally until the case is resolved. During this time she finds excuse after excuse to stay on the case and postpones her departure for Sweden again and again and becomes convinced that she is the only one who can solve this case.
Lund shows total contempt for her boyfriend, her son, her mother and a lot of other people by refusing to let go of this case and departing for Sweden. She causes her sons Swedish lessons to be cancelled, leaves her boyfriend to take charge of their new house alone, snubs the welcoming party that the neighbours have organised for her, fails to turn up at the house-warming party etc, etc, etc.
Finally Lund agrees to leave and join her boyfriend in Sweden and she boards a flight with her son and mother but when the aircraft is on the runway ready to take off she changes her mind, flashes her police ID at the stewardess and demands that the take- off is aborted and the aircraft returns to the terminal building. Oh please!!!!
Surprisingly enough Lund does not get into any trouble for this reckless act, which would have brought chaos to an international airport, disrupted the flight patterns, cost thousands and resulted in serious complaints and even legal action from the airport officials. Lund is not even reprimanded and is allowed back on the case!!!!!
During the arrest of a former paedophile Lund is attacked and injured with a knife which makes hole in the sleeve of her jumper . When she removes her jumper you see that the knife has also made a hole in the T shirt she wears underneath and cut her skin. Yet minutes later on the hole in the T shirt has miraculously disappeared.
In their investigation Lund and Meyer visit the murdered girls high school and immediately suspect two of the girls fellow students and close in on them despite the fact that they have practically no evidence linking them to the murder.
Both the students lie to the police despite the fact that they both have got acceptable alibis. Why would they have done that?
Lund and Meyer then move their suspicions on to one of the teachers in the school, again they have no evidence except for the fact that this teacher has been known to look at pornography. When this comes to a dead end they then move on to another teacher, the girls class teacher who is an Asian.
Despite the fact that they have virtually no evidence against this teacher Lund and Meyer arrest and question him but are then forced to release him when it is found that he has an alibi. Then they arrest him again and charge him when it is discovered that he has lied about his alibi.
Then it is found that the teacher did in fact have a genuine alibi (that he had been with an Asian girl and was protecting her from her family that wanted her to be in an arranged marriage) so they are forced to release him again. Why on earth did the teacher not tell them this the first time around instead of creating a false alibi?????
After the teacher is released the girls father and his thuggish friend abduct him, take him to an abandoned warehouse and beat him to pulp because they think he has got away with murdering the girl. Despite the fact that the girls father had threatened and abducted the teacher (but release him unharmed) after he had been initially released by the police Lund and Meyer had taken any precautions to protect the teacher after his release or kept a watch on the father.
As you can guess after the teacher has been severely beaten and the girls father is about to deliver the final blow, Lund, Meyer and a detachment of police arrive at the warehouse in the nick of time and save him from being killed.
The father is arrested and c -
pmiano100 — 12 years ago(April 20, 2013 11:34 PM)
From the Oscar-winning, "Django," a film loaded with plot holes and historical inaccuracies.
The film starts off with the caption: "1858 - Two years before the Civil War," The Civil War started in 1861, THREE years later.
The handguns are accurate for the era, but not the rifles. Some characters are shown firing Henry repeating rifles, which were not introduced until the Civil War, years later.
Some of the male characters are wearing Stetson hats. These were not introduced until nearly 50 years later.
Even a free black man wouldn't be so stupid as to walk around the South with the sneer and antagonistic attitude Django openly displays to whites. Whites could legally kill blacks just for looking at them the wrong way back then.
Dr. Schultz tells Django he has not practiced dentistry in five years. Why then is he still using his dental wagon, which he casually destroys in another ridiculous scene?
They come on to "Big Daddy's" estate under a ridiculously unbelievable ploy and kill three wanted men, then tell the owner the truth. Why not tell him the truth from the start? Surely no respected plantation owner would want three wanted murderers working for him.
Later that night, after they've left his estate, "Big Daddy" leads an inept "Night Rider" party out to get Schultz and Django. No explanation is offered as to why. The KKK didn't get started until after the Civil War. If they wanted the reward for the murderers, why didn't he just have them killed on his plantation when the two heroes had their hands up and no one would have questioned him?
It was totally stupid to kill "Big Daddy." A powerful rich man like him would have had equally powerful friends and Django and Schultz would have been hunted down for murder.
When they find out that Hildy, Django's wife, is a slave of Calvin Candie, why not simply offer him 2 or 3 times what he paid for her, at most $1,000 and leave it at that? Why the ridiculous ruse of wanting to buy a champion Mandingo fighter for $12,000? The reason given, that they needed to grab his attention, was too ridiculous for words. Hildy had no great value to Calvin.
While white slaveowners did make black Mandingo fighters fight to the death, they made them do it in fighting rings, not their drawing rooms where they could wreck furniture and get blood all over the place.
The hammer the winner uses to kill the loser in the slave fight looks suspiciously like a modern, machine-made, mass produced modern hammer.
Even if he couldn't fight anymore, Candie would not have killed D'Artagnan. He'd lose money. He would simply have him beaten and sold him off to get at least some of his money back.
Naturally Schultz, a German immigrant who speaks with no German accent at all (even thought he's portrayed by Christoph Waltz, an Austrian), is the only decent white person in the South. Oh come now!
Of course all the gunfighting scenes are ridiculous. Django never misses, and his enemies, who outnumber him by 12 to 1 at one point, never hit him.
When he runs out of bullets, another revolver is conveniently within his grasp.
What's more, he takes cover while they stand their ground, totally exposed.
Schultz is tormented by the memories of the death of the slave D'Artagnan by dogs. But the poor man wouldn't have died if Schultz hadn't let Django talk him into not compensating Candie for him.
Using the language of the era, Schultz would not have said "Alexandre Dumas is black," He would have referred to him as a "mulatto", "a black", "a quadroon,,"or "a Negro." Dumas' father was white and his mother was a biracial slave.
Rather than shake hands with the evil Candie, Schultz shoots him, even though his bodyguard is standing right there with a shotgun. That was suicidal and he knew it, and it put Django and Hildy in danger, resulting in their capture.
Candie's poor lawyer is shot at least seven times but still lives. The poor SOB has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese.
Rather than just shooting or lynching Django, obviously a dangerous man, the survivors of Candie Land (You have got to be kidding about that one) decide to sell him to a mining company so he'll be worked to death. Naturally he escapes.
Why does one of the mining company escorts wear a Confederate Army kepi when there is no Confederate Army yet?
Why does he have an Australian accent? An Australian in California in 1858 I can believe, but Mississippi?
Why are the mining company escorts so stupid as to give Django a gun when they know he's killed a lot of white men, before they've even started on their journey?
They are carrying dynamite which Django takes with him. But the year is 1858 and dynamite wasn't invented until 1867 in Europe.
Django takes a horse from the mining company wagon and rides it bareback back to the plantation to free his wife. The horse has no reins so he guides it by pulling on his mane. A trained Hollywood stunt horse will let you do that, but any other horse will dump ypu on your rear.
Another ridiculous gunfight which -
Altho73 — 12 years ago(June 05, 2013 07:04 AM)
More from the first series of the Danish TV thriller Forbrydelsen 2007 (known as The Killing in English) -
Why on earth did the politician Holke kill Olaf Christianson by running him down with a car in a hit and run? Holke was not the killer of the girl and the only information that Christianson had against him was that he was using the apartment to have sex with women, hardly a reason for putting himself beyond the pale by committing murder!!!!!
When Holke was suspected of being the killer of Christianson and the killer of the girl Lund went to his house by herself at night and then she searched inside his garage without permission and without a search warrant. Why on earth would she have been so reckless???
As you can guess for being so stupid as to go in without back up whilst searching the garage Lund is knocked out by Holke and tied up and left on the floor of the garage.
When Holke returns he opens the trunk of his car and drags the tied up Lund towards the car with the intention of putting her in the trunk and presumably taking her somewhere to kill her and dispose of the body. Again why would he do something so stupid as the disappearance of a police detective would have drawn more attention and cast more suspicion on him.
Lund manages to escape by persuading Holke (who had taken her cell phone from her after knocking her out) that she had another cell phone in the glove box of her car and had called police HQ before entering the garage and had told them where she was. Holke falls for this ruse and whilst he goes to her car to check for another cell phone she manages to cut herself free. This is so ridiculous and unbelievable.
Even though Lund has escaped from her bonds she is still in danger as Holke returns from the car and is intent on killing but as you would guess Meyer suddenly arrives in the nick of time to save her life!!!!!
Despite the fact that Lund has been officially taken off the case, has had her badge taken away and is no longer a member of the Copenhagen police force she is so obsessed with this case that she just carries on with the investigation. She is effectively committing the crime of impersonating a police officer.
Then comes one of the most ridiculous clichs of 21st century, Sarah Lund is shown sitting in her apartment on her laptop dressed in a singlet!!!!! Why on earth do present day film makers insist on showing their female characters wearing a singlet????
Lund has compromised police confidentiality by giving her boyfriend, who just happens to be a crime psychologist (very convenient) a copy of the file on the girls murder. This again is a criminal offence.
After talking to her boyfriend Lund becomes convinced that the present case, the murder of the girl is linked to a fifteen year old unsolved disappearance of another girl out in the countryside and without permission starts looking into this crime.
Lund discovers that a bag in a safe-deposit box at a station could provide important evidence that could lead to a break in the crime so she goes there to ask for it saying that she is a police officer. However the clerk refuses to let her take it until she shows her police ID (which has been taken from her because she is no longer in the police force). Lund gets hysterical and shouts and screams at the clerk but he still wont let her take the bag, so when his back is turned she grabs the bag and runs away with it therby adding theft to the list of crimes she has committed!!!!!
Lund returns to police hq and informs Meyer that she needs to search a warehouse where there is likely to be evidence of the crime. Meyer is not keen to do so at night without back up but reluctantly agrees. Why is he so stupid as to still follow the whims of Lund who is no longer in the police force.
As you can guess Meyers stupidity results in a shooting incident with an unknown criminal who was in the warehouse removing the evidence resulting in Meyer being seriously wounded and he later dies in hospital.
Internal affairs investigate the incident and charge Lund with being responsible for Meyers death and under suspicion of killing him because his last words before he died was Sarah 84.
Lund is arrested but is later released on bail because her lawyer presented a faked psychological report stating that she was suffering from depression and obsessional behaviour. Wouldnt that be more of a reason to keep her under arrest?????
Despite the fact that Lund is out of the police force and that she is charged with a crime she carries on investigating the crime and visits Meyers widow, not to sympathise about his death but to question her about anything he may have said about the incident. Highly insensitive wouldnt you think???
Afterwards Lund encounters the murdered girls fathers closest friend and he just happens to be wearing a sweat-suit that has Sarajevo 84 on the front therby giving himself away as the killer of Detective Meyer. Why would he still be wearing that sweat-suit? You would -
pmiano100 — 12 years ago(July 12, 2013 12:55 AM)
This is devoted to "Rookie Blue," a fairly decent Canadian cop show they show in the US during the summer that still has cliches and ridiculous situations.
Where are the detectives? You never see them, and the uniforms do investigations only detectives would be allowed to do.
Naturally, like almost all contemporary cop shows, the commander is black, and like all black men playing police commanders, he has a moustache.
Why are there so many female police officers in that one precinct? I doubt any police station anywhere in the US or Canada has that many female officers.
Every one of the female officers is young and drop-dead gorgeous with a beautiful figure.
Like most cop shows, there's almost always a long foot chase, but the crooks never escape and the cops are never out of breath or even breathing hard. They tackle the crooks, but their uniforms never get torn or even dirty.
I could complain that most police patrols are dull and boring but something happens to these cops every five minutes. I won't because then the show would be dull and boring.
I have never seen a female police officers wear so much makeup on duty as the women on this show.
The male officers are all young and handsome with slim, athletic builds.
The uniforms of the men and women look tailored to perfection.
The women officers do almost all the shooting, just like the US shows. They have all the fun.
The uniforms are inconsistent. On the same day, some officers wear summer uniforms and some wear fall uniforms. That doesn't happen in a real big-city police department.
Canada is 15% Italian and their police forces have a high percentage of Italian-Canadian officers, but there are none on this show.
Of course they all live in apartments no young cop could possibly afford on their salaries.
The show is in its fourth season and they're still rookies?
They spend as much time thinking about their love lives as they do about their jobs. I know Canada may have different laws, but I'm sure fraternizing on duty isn't allowed.
Officer Cruz is the typical stereotype of a Hispanic woman: pretty, fiery, and tough with a sharp tongue.
Chloe is a total ditz. She wouldn't last 8 weeks in a real city police department, let alone 8 months. Eight minutes in the same squad car with her and her partner would shoot her.
Policewoman Andy McNally is still incredibly gullible and naive after several years on the force. When does she start wising up?
These cops are all way too politically liberal and PC, even for Canadian cops.
Apparently no one in that precinct is married. They all seem to be single and on the prowl. The station is a little Peyton Place.
In one scene, a woman cop disposes of cremated human remains in a city lake because no one will claim them. Surely, there have to be some regulations to authorize that, but she apparently did it on her own.
No matter how poor the suspect or how bad the neighborhood, everywhere they go is spotlessly clean. I know Canadian cities are much cleaner than American ones, but this is way overboard.
Are there no federal offenses in Canada? You never hear the RCMP mentioned, unlike US shows where FBI agents make frequent appearances, and are usually made to look inferior to the locals.
Does any of these cops have a boyfriend or girlfriend who isn't another cop?
Two cops are looking for an armed robber who tells his victims "Life is beautiful." They question a suspect who seems clean, but then Chloe, the most distracted and immature cop in North America, looks up and points out a billboard on the top of his building with the advertisement for an insurance company that says, "Life is beautiful." Oh come now!
McNally has been trying to arouse the romantic interest of a male cop for months without success. Then, as she gets off duty McNally sees he has a girlfriend. It's her partner, Cruz. You mean in all that time she never knew? She's almost as bad as Chloe.
I will say one good thing about this program. At least there isn't a murder every week like on most cop shows. -
Altho73 — 12 years ago(September 02, 2013 02:14 PM)
From some of the more ridiculous TV detective series
Columbo
How come that in all the murders that he has investigated Lt Columbo has never encountered a Mafia killing? Incredible considering that the Mafia were quite active in LA during the 1970s.
I cannot fail to come to the conclusion that Lt Columbo must have supernatural powers or is psychic in that he has the ability to tell that a supposedly accidental death or the victim of a robbery is in fact a premeditated murder when there is ZERO evidence to even hint that it is anything else.
Also in real life his boss in the Detectives Department would order him to stop investigating and move on to one of the hundreds of inner city murders rather than waste more time on what is obviously an accident or victim of a robbery and the dogged Lieutenant would have to obey him.
How come that every single episode of Columbo is basically the same story with different characters and events, namely a murder committed by a rich and powerful person who is confident he can get away with it yet is stupid enough to constantly talk about the murder to a police lieutenant who continually harasses and annoys him until he slips up and gives the game away.
How come that the District Attorney or one of his assistants never gets involved in any of his cases and points out that Columbos suppositions and conjecture would never be taken in by any Judge or jury???
How come that none of the smooth talking, rich suspects that Columbo has followed around, harassed and annoyed has ever turned out to be a psychopath and in a deserted place with no witnesses has blasted Columbo with a gun or smashed him over the head with a baseball bat etc.
Poirot
How come that murders seem to follow Poirot around and even occur when he is on holiday in other countries etc
How on earth is Hercule Poirot, a Belgian private detective able to conduct investigations and take charge of enquiries of murders that occur in various places like cruise liners and in foreign countries where he has no jurisdiction whatsoever and why would the authorities and local police allow him to do so.
Also why do the suspects and bystanders in such events allow him to question and interview them and by what right can he summon all the suspects into a room to announce who is the guilty person???
Miss Marple
The very idea that a little old lady can always solve crimes in circumstances where the local police and the renowned Scotland Yard are baffled is ( well, lets not beat about the bush here) absolutely ludicrous.
Also in certain stories Scotland Yard are glad to receive Miss Marples assistance in investigating a case something that the renowned police department would never do in real life, a concession that would turn their reputation into a big joke.
Also as in Poirot why on earth would any of the suspects or bystanders pay any attention to Miss Marples investigation or even take her seriously.
Jessica Fletcher
It gets even worse, Jessica Fletcher a crime writer in modern day America constantly investigates crimes and murders, gathers her own evidence, questions and interviews suspects etc. No local police force in the modern day where police actions are strictly monitored would ever let her do any of this.
In real life all any defence lawyer would have to do in Court to get his clients case dismissed would be to announce that a private citizen had illegally gathered evidence, illegally conducted and investigation and illegally questioned suspects etc. A private prosecution against Jessica Fletcher would then have immediately followed.
Midsommer Murders
The number of people that have been murdered in the small town of Midsommer is plainly ridiculous, the percentage of murders compared to the number of residents would have put New York or LA in their worse years to shame, and there would hardly be any residents left alive there!!!!
Bergerac
Again in this TV detective series based on the island of Jersey (which is a rich mans tax haven with a very low crime rate in real life) is continually plagued by murders and high profile crimes.
It is amazing that the authorities and the police on Jersey have never managed to work out a simple measure that they could take to decrease their crime rate by around 90 per cent deport Charlie Hungerford. Most of the criminals arrested have been invited there by him, have had dealings with him or are his sworn enemies.
New Tricks
What police force would be stupid enough to allow a Police Superintendent to employ a group of elderly, unfit, retired detectives to investigate unsolved crimes and allow them out on the streets into dangerous situations.
These detectives have such outdated, sexist, male chauvinist pig attitudes that they would be thrown out of todays modern, stringently monitored, politically correct police force within days.
It is absolutely sickening to see these old guys leering at and making sexual advances at attractive girls young enough to be their granddaughters and even mor -
pmiano100 — 12 years ago(September 03, 2013 02:22 PM)
The Most Ridiculous Private Detective/Adventure Show of All Time: "The Saint" (1962-1969) starring Roger Moore - (WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
No matter how hard-bitten a woman is, she always falls for Simon Templar within one hour of meeting him and is willing to betray her whole gang if she's a crook. Some of them are young enough to be his daughter.
Of course, they're all gone and forgotten by the next episode.
Templar always lets the women criminals escape, unless they're murderers. This makes him an accessory after the fact to their crimes, but he's never busted for it.
No matter what he's called on to do, even fly a jet plane, Simon Templar knows how to do it, and do it like an expert.
How does he make a living? In the novels Simon Templar steals from the criminals he exposes, but in the TV show he never steals anything.
Although middle-aged even then, Templar is able to overpower any number of thugs with his fists. He never even gets his hair messed up.
How come none of them ever step back or throw a lamp or chair at him, or shoot him?
Like almost all private detectives, Templar will work with the police and use illegal means to gather evidence. But this evidence would be inadmissible in court since he was working with the police, and he himself would be prosecuted.
Does this man even have a permanent address? He's always somewhere in the world except home.
He sometimes goes undercover, which is ridiculous. One, he is so notorious every crook and cop in the world apparently knows who he is. Second, in the unlikely event he infiltrates a gang that doesn't know who he is, someone always pops up who does know him. Oh come now!
He is never in a city anywhere in the world where he doesn't have an old friend willing to help him no matter how bad the mess. They all owe him some kind of debt.
In seven years, he must have proved about 100 old friends innocent of crimes they were accused of and avenged another 100 murdered ones. Being friends with Simon Templar is apparently bad luck.
With his notorious reputation, the police in any country he visits would tell him to keep his nose out of their investigations, declare him persona non grata, and put him on the first plane or boat back to Great Britain.
Like Miss Marple, Poirot, and Jessica Fletcher, who are at least honest citizens, no reputable big city police force would call in a notorious criminal like Simon Templar to take over an investigation for them, no matter how baffled they were. The press would have a field day and they'd be a laughing stock.
When the crooks do capture him, their boss always tells his henchmen to take Templar somewhere else and kill him. Of course, he always figures out a way to escape or overpower them. Oh come now! Why not just kill him then and there?
In one episode, Templar breaks up a blackmail organization that uses murder arranged to look like freak accidents as an enforcement tool. How many people die by freak accidents? The most common accident is a car crash. Even in the 60s, odd accidental deaths were often investigated and secrets exposed. Why not use an occasional faked "natural" death?
When the boss of the blackmail ring is killed, Templar decides to burn all the gang's files. But most of the boss' minions are still around and the police will need evidence to convict them. Destroying evidence, especially when murder is involved, is a serious felony. What's more, the file room is filled to capacity and he's burning everything one by one. It'll take him forever unless he burns the whole house down and risks an arson charge. Also, many of the blackmail victims may be guilty of serious crimes such as rape, embezzlement, bribery, drug dealing, treason, or even murder. Why should Templar protect them?
In one episode and one mission, Templar is able to defeat an entire Communist revolution in an Asian country that was once a British colony. Oh come now!
Who's helping the rebels? A blowhard British plantation owner whose family has lived there for three generations. He resents the new taxes and laws, thinks the people, especially the new democratic government leaders are "wogs" (a racist expression)and thinks if he helps the Communists win, he'll be able to live like he used to when the country was a British colony. What a moron!
Templar of course takes the moral high ground and defends the local government. "It's their country and everything you've put in you've taken out with considerable interest." Very high and mighty talk for a thief. But considering what a bunch of crooks and fools most Third World leaders have turned out to be, maybe it's just professional courtesy.
Granted this show was made before the "Great Woman's Liberation," but the women in this show, good and bad, have to be the biggest bunch of helpless ninnies in the history of English-speaking television. They all have to depend on big, heroic Simon Templar to answer every question, solve every puzzle, and rescue them from every situation. Lois Lane didn't -
Altho73 — 12 years ago(October 20, 2013 09:14 AM)
With the 50th anniversary of Dr Who rapidly approaching here are some observations about the Classic Who adventures (1963 to 1989)-
At the start of Jon Pertwees era we learn that the Government has set up a top secret organisation called UNIT to observe and deal with the sightings and landings of life forms from other planets that may be hostile. Yet if UNIT is supposed to be top secret and does not officially exist why is there a sign saying UNIT HQ directly in front of the building and the name Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Commanding Officer underneath it????
Also come to think of it why do the Brigadier and his men go around dressed in distinctive beige coloured army uniforms with the emblem UNIT on their berets and jackets if the organisation is top secret and is not supposed to exist.
During the period 1968 to 1974 UNIT aided by the Doctor had to deal with around fifteen individual attempts of invasion/take over of the Earth etc from various aliens or criminal masterminds etc, so how come it is still a very small organisation of less than a hundred people and the only regulars we ever see are the Brigadier, Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton.
Also how come that whenever aliens or criminal masterminds build a machine that will in some way take over, conquer or destroy the Earth the Doctor is always able to either render it inoperable or turn it against the perpetrators who build it by a very simple method like flicking a switch or reversing the polarity.
How come that the Sarah Jane Smith, the Doctors friend and travelling companion who is a journalist is allowed to enter UNIT HQ whenever she likes and wonder all over the place. Surely a journalist would never have been allowed inside such a top secret place, Doctors assistant or not.
Why is the Brigadier always surprised at the amount of knowledge that the Doctor has about secret UNIT operations. Surely as one of the primary and more important members of UNIT the Doctor would be expected to have been given this information.
In the earlier UNIT adventures the Brigadier has considerable knowledge and understandinge about scientific matters. So how come that in the later episodes he appears not to understand anything scientific and has to ask the Doctor to explain everything???
In Invasion of the Dinosaurs a group of crazy environmentalists decide that humans have ruined the earth by their greed and pollution so they build a machine that will take the earth back to the age of the dinosaurs so that the history of the human race can begin again. A clever idea, except why would they pick the age of the dinosaurs, considering that it came to an end when the earth was hit by a giant meteorite!!!!
In order to orchestrate this scheme the environmentalists decide to use metropolitan London as the centre of their operations so they create panic by staging a series of dinosaur sightings by bringing the creatures forward in time which caused the whole of metropolitan London to be completely evacuated. Wouldnt it have been far easier to have decided on a sparsely populated area like the Highlands of Scotland as their centre of operations????
At a later stage Sarah discovers their plot but unfortunately for her the person she tells is in league with the environmentalists so they knock her out and put her on board the fake spaceship that their nave followers think is taking them to a new Earth like planet. Wouldnt it have been far easier to have just killed her?
In The Macra Terror the Doctor and his travelling companions are invited into a Health Spa for a spot of rest and relaxation. Whilst there Polly has her long blonde hair cut into a short cropped style. Yet in the next adventure The Faceless Ones her hair is again long like it used to be. How come????
In The Faceless Ones an organisation has set up a fake travel company at Heathrow Airport which offers package holidays to Europe. They fly people out to various European destinations and they are never heard of again, yet despite the fact that thousands of people have gone missing Scotland Yard have only assigned two detectives to investigate!!!!!
Also you would think that with thousands of people having vanished into thin air that hundreds of friends and relatives would be making complaints to the police but only ONE, (Samantha Briggs about her missing brother Brian) actually does. Oh please!!!
When Polly accidentally witnesses one of the conspirators murdering one of the detectives you would think that they would then also murder her or at least make her disappear, but no they hypnotised her into thinking she is another person, set her up with a fake ID and put her to work on the travel companys check in desk!!!!
In Pyramids of Mars the Doctor becomes annoyed at Lawrence Scarman when his actions cause the Marconiscope (which he needed to block alien signals from Mars to Earth) to be accidentally destroyed. The Doctor berates him and says that he has ruined his only chance of stopping Sutekh, yet in t -
pmiano100 — 12 years ago(November 12, 2013 12:00 AM)
Will there ever be a movie where a rock star wants his son to become a rock musician like him but the kid wants to go to law school instead?
Will there ever be a movie where the nerd launches a campaign to win the campus beauty, and fails miserably?
Will there ever be a movie where the heroine is a karate expert and takes on five guys, and they beat the crap out of her?
Will there ever be a movie where earthmen fight alien invaders who are not giant insects?
Will there ever be a movie that gets the Legend of the Lone Ranger right?
Will there ever be a movie where the heroine suspects her husband is out to murder her for her money, and she's wrong?
Will there ever be a Dr. Who story line where somebody tells the Doctor to stop talking like a 19th Century eccentric and shut up?
Will there ever be a James Bond movie where the British Secret Service finally admits it doesn't have that much to defend and the CIA is the real leader in the war on terror and just as good as it is?
Will there ever be a movie about WWII where there are actually Nazi soldiers in the regular forces too and not just the SS? There was no massive anti-Nazi underground in Germany except for the Communists.
Will there ever be a movie where a sheltered kid runs away from home to experience life, and runs right back because it's scary out there and he/she can't deal with it? Oh, come now.
Will there ever be a movie where a male and female cop of the same race are teamed up and don't become lovers? Movies with Rosie O'Donnell don't count.
Will there ever be a movie set in ancient times, not made in Italy in which the Romans are the good guys?
Will there ever be a movie in which a Protestant minister is not a weakling, a hypocrite, a criminal, or a religious fanatic?
Will there ever be a movie where the corporation is digging or drilling safely and responsibly and the environmentalist is a dangerous wacko?
Will there ever be a movie set in a prison where the warden isn't corrupt, brutal, or insane?
Will there ever be a British movie where the American guy from Texas is actually a decent and moral man?
Will there ever be a movie where a British girl dumps her worthless British boyfriend for a nice American guy instead of an American girl dumping her loser American beau for a dashing Brit? Oh, come now!
Will there ever be a movie set in the Middle Ages where Moslems are bad guys again?
Will there ever be a movie set in the Middle Ages where the filthy, disease-ridden peasants don't have perfect teeth?
Will there ever be a movie where someone needs to make a phone call, but has to look up the number or call directory assistance first?
Will there ever be a movie where the wife/girlfriend is giving birth and the husband/boyfriend isn't a complete wreck?
Will there ever be a movie where the mother gives birth after hours in labor, and not five minutes after she arrives at the hospital?
Will there ever be a movie where someone awakes from a nightmare, but stays lying in bed instead of bolting upright and looking shocked (man) or screaming (woman)?
Will there ever be a serious action film with an Asian actor playing a cop or soldier who is not a martial arts expert?
Will there ever be a movie with a Native American character who can't predict coming events by mystically divining the signs of nature?
Will there ever be a movie where the hero defeats the villain in a fight on top of a cliff, building, or other high place, but the villain doesn't fall off screaming and plunge to his death? -
Randy-144 — 12 years ago(March 24, 2014 02:09 PM)
In
The Third Man
message board topic, "watered-down penicillin?", how come
pmiano100
and
Altho73
have gotten away with posting 48 pages of off-topic comments over a 6 and 1/2 year period regarding movie chiches, unbelievable scenes, and plot holes, in clear violation of the
Message Boards Etiquette
(see the tenth reason on the list
http://www.imdb.com/help/search?domain=helpdesk_faq&index=1&fi le=boardsetiquette
) and not have their comments removed by the IMDb administrator? I'm not complaining, mind you, just wondering.
I have found their observations quite entertaining. -
pmiano100 — 12 years ago(March 24, 2014 02:23 PM)
I have no idea. I didn't know we were breaking any etiquette rules. I apologize for that. You're the first person in nearly seven years to mention it. It got started quite accidentally when I commented that I liked that Holly was out of his depth throughout the film and didn't turn into a superhero like the protagonists in other films. Altho73 replied that he agreed and mentioned a cliche he disliked. The ball started rolling, stalling occasionally, but always it resumed snowballing. As you can see we haven't posted in some time, as Altho73 has had to hold off for personal reasons. I am totally sincere in saying that if you know a more appropriate venue where we could post and others could look in and contribute, please let me know. I know about the Sandbox, but I would like to transfer what we already have posted to it.I know too little about computers and the Internet to create our own website. I am bound by courtesy and friendship to consult with Altho73. I will send him a personal message with a copy of your post. I am flattered that you have found us entertaining. Neither of us meant any harm. Some people have suggested we write a book, but legally we can't. All our posts are now the property of IMDb.
-
Altho73 — 11 years ago(April 24, 2014 12:30 PM)
Why is it that in virtually all American WW2 movies about the South Pacific it is always the US Marines that are the only ones involved in combat, whereas in reality this is far from the truth. British and Australian combat units were involved in Guadalcanal and US Army units were involved in Okinawa etc.
In Ryans Daughter, set in a small rural village somewhere in the south of Ireland shortly after the Easter rising in 1916, Ryan, Charles and the Father are talking to the British Army Corporal in the pub and Ryan asks the corporal if he was involved in the battle of Paschendale which didnt happen until Spring 1917.
In Dr Who, The Black Orchid the Doctor and his companions have landed in a British village in the 1920s where the Doctor is mistaken for a visiting cricket player. When Lord Cranleigh asks him if he is comparable to The Master the Doctor looks bemused. Lord Cranleigh then explains, you know The Master W G Grace. In reality W G Grace was actually known as The Doctor, it was Jack Hobbs that was known as The Master.
Why is it that in so many movies, (Line of Duty, Turks and Caicos and many others) when the hero goes to a bar with the glamorous woman she invariably turns out to be a champion pool player. How probable is this in reality??
In so many movies we see the leading lady walking by herself in a dark, eerie place like a forest or a deserted warehouse which raises the question, never satisfactorily answered why was she there in the first place and why didnt she have the common sense to get someone to accompany her.
Following on from the previous point the woman in question invariably runs into the man she was looking for in the first place OR the villain that she was desperate to avoid and these people dont just appear in the distance and walk or run towards her but they suddenly materialise right next to her.
The leading character (male or female) start belittling and running down their boss in front of dozens of people and just carry on and on despite the fact that some of the others are desperately trying to initimate to them that they should shut up. They never get the message that the subject in question has just walked into the room and is standing behind them.
Why is it that in period dramas based in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s etc whenever thete are British upper class men they invariably always have long, floppy fringes whereas in real life it was not acceptable for British men to have any hair covering their foreheads during these eras.
In so many detective stories a big name actor/actress frequently appear in an unimportant bit part and rarely appear for the first half of the story, then in the second half they suddenly turn out to be either the murderer or an undercover detective who uncovers the murderer. (Why else would they be in the movie or drama?)
Why is it that in modern detective stories (British and American) the detectives are such arrogant, rude, obnoxious and bullying jerks that we the viewers dislike them so much that we side with the criminals. This never used to be the case with the older detective stories, (Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Ellery Queen etc)
Why do so many of the characters in TV dramas, particularly detective thrillers have a host of character all of whom have guilty secrets. Why cant we have a detective thriller where all of the characters have led blameless lives and it is up to the detective to dig deep to find the bad guy.
In countless war movies we start the story with a big name actor accompanied by four unknowns. Have a guess who are the ones that are going to be killed in the first twenty minutes????
Why do so many American prison movies show the convicts (apart from the few psychos) as all being quite good guys, criminals with a heart of gold whereas the majority of the guards are cruel and sadistic and enjoy taunting and mistreating the convicts. How so different to real life.
How can you tell when an aircraft is going to crash in a movie? Easy if its called United Arilines, American Airlines, British Airways etc it will not, but if its called Collingwood Airlines, Stone Age Airways or Charles Jones Airways you can be certain it will crash!!!
Why is it that people who never grow up and always behave like they are still at school (like Robin Williamss character in Good Morning Vietnam) are always popular with their colleagues whereas in reality they are the ones who get everyone into trouble and are resented by their colleagues. -
pmiano100 — 11 years ago(April 24, 2014 03:32 PM)
Why is it that the working class kid is always morally superior to the rich kid when in fact such kids are often brutal, bullying, dishonest, and envious?
How do idiots like the characters Robin Williams plays even get to their positions as doctors, teachers, and military NCOs when in reality their bizarre behavior would have washed them out long ago?
Why is it that in the film and TV series versions of MAS*H, Hawkeye and Trapper were constantly drinking bootleg booze, but it never impaired their surgical skills?
Why is it that reluctant, maladjusted soldiers are always shown rising to the occasion and heroically doing their duty when in reality they constantly hide out on patrols, don't go all the way to their objectives, fail to complete their assignments, and then lie like hell to hide their dereliction of duty.
Why is it in the American TV police show "Blue Bloods" Detective Danny Reagan always talking insolently to big shots and slamming suspects back in their seats when they have every legal right to leave? If his father the police commissioner is as fair and objective as he professes to be, he would have no choice but to allow his son's superiors to discipline him for such outrageous behavior.
Why is it Blue Bloods is full of corrupt and morally deficient Italians, Jews, WASPs, African-Americans, Hispanics, Poles, etc. but very few bad Irish people? Of course, it may have something to do with the head writer, Siobhan Byrne O'Connor.
Why is it on the rare occasions when the villain is a Moslem, almost every movie and TV program goes out of its way for 45 minutes out of an hour to explain that 99% of all Moslems are good people? No population has that many good people, and they never do that for Christians.
Why is it in British WWII films about the RAF, the American volunteer is almost always from Texas? In reality, there were only 2 or 3 American volunteers from Texas and most members of the Eagle Squadron were from the Midwest and Northeast.
Why is it so many British spy and war films make Americans out to be impulsive fools who act without thinking but the British are always patient, calm, and understated? Admittedly the Americans made mistakes and lost battles in both world wars and the Cold War, but so did the British and French.
Why is it so many war films venerate Erwin Rommel as an incomparable general and a hero in the anti-Hitler movement? In reality, he made many serious mistakes, threw away the lives of his Italian troops to save the Germans, and had very little to do with Operation:Valkyrie. In fact, he was totally loyal to Hitler until the Germans started losing.
Why is it American films decry the excesses of wealthy professionals and business people, but have no problem with the selfish, childish, and hedonistic lifestyles of athletes, musicians, and actors?
Why is it that the only villain who seems able to give a female hero a good fight, ot even lay a hand on her, is another woman?
Why is it that heroines in action films are able to move like greased pigs in tight, black leather outfits that in real life would barely allow them to move?
Why is it that women in films and TV wear suits and dresses with hemlines only slightly above the knee, but when they sit down and cross their legs you can see most of their thighs?
Why is it that the hero in any given film or TV show is usually younger, taller, handsomer, and better coiffed than the villains? In reality some crooks are good-looking and many heroes are as ugly as sin. Of course, the women are almost always young and beautiful, good or bad. The sole exception is a Helen Mirren movie.
Why is it that whenever the good hero faces ruin, disgrace or destruction, his wife or lover is almost always supportive, encouraging, and loyal? In real life, many such men have been deserted by faithless women who did not want to be associated with "losers."
Why is it that so many male private detectives/consultants on TV have serious emotional problems or mental eccentricities, but the women are usually stable, secure, and totally unflawed?
Why is it that their partners are almost always of the opposite sex. In the real world, pairs of two men or two women are the norm?
Why is it the male protagonist's child never likes the glamorous woman pursuing him and instead prefers the quiet, mousy woman who barely knows the father is alive?
Why is it the hero/heroine returning to his quaint small hometown never tells the old friends/lovers that the big box store, chain store, or factory he/she is trying to bring in will bring a fortune in revenue and many new jobs, and in this poor economy, quaintness is something they can't afford.
Why is it that he/she always decides to move back to his hometown and marry the high school sweetheart? If they were that great, why did he/she leave in the first place?
Why is it that "underdogs" are always depicted as the good guys? Some underdogs are just dogs. Using that logic, Hitler should be considered a hero because he was th -
pmiano100 — 10 years ago(June 29, 2015 10:15 AM)
(One last time for the road)
In "Jurassic World" Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) is able to out-run Owen (Chris Pratt) in the jungle, even though she is wearing high heels. Oh come now.
What's this? Claire, the heroine, gets scared sometimes and actually has faults? Doesn't she know women in modern action pictures are supposed to be fearless and perfect in every way?
Doesn't the artificially made monster dinosaur look suspiciously like Godzilla? -
alfa — 11 years ago(May 23, 2014 10:52 AM)
I have no idea. I didn't know we were breaking any etiquette rules. I apologize for that. You're the first person in nearly seven years to mention it.
Errr that's not strictly true is it? There was quite irate protest at the beginning at the board being pruned much more regularly because of your long posts. I seem to remember you telling us protesters to get lost. In fact various methods were tried, such as pointing out that a lot of your so-called clichs were actually something else. Nothing worked.
And so, along with all the long and interesting threads, translations of the German dialogue, the secrets of Orson Welles' ad libs, most of the regular posters are long gone. -
Jessica_Rabbit69 — 11 years ago(June 03, 2014 02:12 PM)
Pmiano and Altho, please keep up the good work. This thread is great.
So what if it is off-topic. As for being against message board etiquette, as Randy says, it doesn't matter because the thread is funny, intelligent and does not hurt anyone. As opposed to the crap that is posted here on imdb so often and that consists of nothing but screaming and insults, this thread is positively brilliant.
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." -
neverthereever — 11 years ago(September 05, 2014 10:21 AM)
Penicillin was just reaching the market and supplies were extremely limited. The more cultures that were used to produce medicine the less could be used to increase the stock of cultures to mass produce penicillin. The high value of black market penicillin would have been a very small window before the drug became common place. So it's use in the plot is really for that one off time.
It is so scare that it is reserved for the most urgent and needy cases. If Lime diluted the penicillin for 100 children then he effectively destroyed it, condemning those children to death. He also prevented the next batch of children from receiving any alternative treatment. There is no suggestion that only children with meningitis received it, that was just the case presented to illustrate the extreme effect of what he did. It's left to the imagination as to how much he contaminated and what percentage was in each dose. -
pmiano100 — 11 years ago(December 21, 2014 10:37 AM)
Actually, I've researched it and the black market for penicillin extended into the early 1950s in Western Europe and even longer in the East. There was a great deal of corruption and a lot of residual hatred against all Germans, Austrians, and even Italians in those days.