Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (3 Viewers)

[cosjobs]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

 

[Chaka]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

Twelve minutes in and I'm pretty sure I lost a coupel I.Q. points already.

 

[cstu]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

Twelve minutes in and I'm pretty sure I lost a coupel I.Q. points already.

But doggone it, that's a good horse.

 

[cstu]

I don't like the 'fake' fighting the Matrix introduced.

FYI, Wire Fu was invented and popularized by Asian martial arts movies

At least it made sense in the Matrix.

 

[Chaka]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture. ETA: I bet Jutz is gonna love it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

Dude, Chicago was a best picture nominee.

 

[Run It Up]

Just got back from The Cabin in the Woods.

Was very good, enjoyed it more than any movie ive seen in a while.

 

[Chaka]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

Dude, Chicago was a best picture nominee.

It's been a long time since I saw Chicago but I don't remember hating it.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

Dude, Chicago was a best picture nominee.

It's been a long time since I saw Chicago but I don't remember hating it.

It's the weakest film in recent history to win Best Picture.Weaker than Crash, Out Of Africa, etc.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

Dude, Chicago was a best picture nominee.

It's been a long time since I saw Chicago but I don't remember hating it.

Did you not hate it enough to find it worthy of a best picture nomination?

 

[wikkidpissah]

Moneyball - juuuust a little outside. I know the movie wouldnt have gotten made without Beane's role, outlook & place in the game being butched up enough for a movie star to play it. It should, then, not have been made. 1.99/5

 

[Chaka]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

Dude, Chicago was a best picture nominee.

It's been a long time since I saw Chicago but I don't remember hating it.

Did you not hate it enough to find it worthy of a best picture nomination?

I don't remember it well enough to comment. I saw it in theaters with my Colombian girlfriend and was a little distracted IIRC.I would have a hard time believing that it is better than Gangs of New York, The Pianist (even though I despise Polanski as a person I recognize his genius) or even The Two Towers (never saw The Hours) because I think those were all excellent films. But that doesn't mean that Chicago was a bad film.

I might have to watch it again.

 

[wikkidpissah]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

Dude, Chicago was a best picture nominee.

It's been a long time since I saw Chicago but I don't remember hating it.

Did you not hate it enough to find it worthy of a best picture nomination?

I don't remember it well enough to comment. I saw it in theaters with my Colombian girlfriend and was a little distracted IIRC.I would have a hard time believing that it is better than Gangs of New York, The Pianist (even though I despise Polanski as a person I recognize his genius) or even The Two Towers (never saw The Hours) because I think those were all excellent films. But that doesn't mean that Chicago was a bad film.

I might have to watch it again.

You should - saw it again recently for the 1st time since its 1st run & there may not be a better-acted movie EVER. And, if one tempers one's outlook to what may be expected of an adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway, a fine film all around.My sentiments on Chicago are well known by now (and possibly the source of the observation?).

 

[Kenny Powers]

I don't like the 'fake' fighting the Matrix introduced. There was a recent movie called Fighter which was pretty cheesy but was enjoyable to watch for the fight scenesI liked Shoot 'em Up because it was a parody of those violent movies. I'll make an exception for any Nic Cage movie. I wouldn't mind checking out the new Ghost Rider.

I love how the best film you mention in that post, and a true story nonetheless, was cheesy

I just realized I was talking about a different movie called Fighting with Channing Tatum. I did see The Fighter. I liked that a lot... and yeah it wasn't cheesy to me.

Yeah, that one was kind of cheesy but entertaining. I think Tatum is a pretty good actor for what he is, but my favorite part of it was Terrence Howard as the street hustler. Ever since Hustle & Flow, he seems to only take the whitest black people roles out there.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture. ETA: I bet Jutz is gonna love it.

Spot on. It was a weak year but even in a 10 film field, there was a lot of stuff much better than it. I havent seen much from 2011 yet, but Warrior and Margin Call both quickly come to mind.

 

[Jutz]

I don't like the 'fake' fighting the Matrix introduced. There was a recent movie called Fighter which was pretty cheesy but was enjoyable to watch for the fight scenesI liked Shoot 'em Up because it was a parody of those violent movies. I'll make an exception for any Nic Cage movie. I wouldn't mind checking out the new Ghost Rider.

I love how the best film you mention in that post, and a true story nonetheless, was cheesy

I just realized I was talking about a different movie called Fighting with Channing Tatum. I did see The Fighter. I liked that a lot... and yeah it wasn't cheesy to me.

Yeah, that one was kind of cheesy but entertaining. I think Tatum is a pretty good actor for what he is, but my favorite part of it was Terrence Howard as the street hustler. Ever since Hustle & Flow, he seems to only take the whitest black people roles out there.

Agree with your assessment of Tatum and the guy from Hustle & Flow. Both were pretty good in that movie.

 

[Jutz]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture. ETA: I bet Jutz is gonna love it.

I'm a little hesitant about War Horse. Based on what I've read in this thread it sounds like it might be even too much for me to take. Your probably right tho... haha.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Young Adult

Just the kind of movie I like: dark and honest. Thumbs up.

 

[Chaka]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

ETA: I bet Jutz is gonna love it.

Spot on. It was a weak year but even in a 10 film field, there was a lot of stuff much better than it. I havent seen much from 2011 yet, but Warrior and Margin Call both quickly come to mind.

Martha Marcy May Marlene was criminally overlooked across the board.

 

[Chaka]

Young Adult

Just the kind of movie I like: dark and honest. Thumbs up.

 

[gump]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I don't think that any of the lead characters in Men are bad people. I think they are human.Sure, I'll give Parenthood a shot.

Jutz's reasoning behind why MofCA isnt good is perplexing to me, but it just sounds like a personal preference more than anything. Based on what he's saying on the decision making, kind of sounds like Californication which I think is great.As for Parenthood, I think its a really good show and totally out of my wheelhouse of what I normally watch TV series wise. Id say I typically only watch dramas that involve violence or criminal activity, so that fact the Im still watching Parenthood I think is credited to how good of a show it is. Pretty sure its the only network TV show Ive stuck with. Its got a great ensemble cast (Dax, Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Craig T. Nelson, Michael B. Jordan, and Monica Potter and Erika Christensen never struck me as very good actresses but they do a great job with their characters here) and the kid actors are pretty strong for the most part. Im way behind on this season but the first 2 seasons were very good.

I believe I've only watched 1 episode of MofCA, and part of another episode. In the episode I saw, Joe lost a ton of money due to gambling. Because of this loss he had to fire someone at his store. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I remember the firing going very poorly. This tells me that the guy's gambling, something that is illegal, put his and his family's welfare at risk, and put an employee on the street... and he was a poor manager when he handled it. I also seem to recall him being a poor father, missing his kids events or something like that.In this same episode the guy that is trying to be an actor was invited by some of his 'friends' to work on a tv or movie. He was all excited, made notes on the script, went to hang with them... and they basically laughed at him and treated him like crap. Basically taking the attitude of... we weren't seriously going to get you involved in this project... you are just lucky that we invited you to hang out with us. He left in shame. The depiction was of a guy still trying to be an actor and desparately holding on to his youth. The fact that he normally dates women much younger then him also adds to this depiction. The fact that he doesn't have a career, and works part time selling cars makes his character seem kind of sad.I don't remember anything about the black guy but I read about the show on wiki. I remember him not getting any respect from his kids. Just beaten down by his family. He works at his dad's car dealership and his dad treats him like crap. All three of these characters just came off as sad to me. I do think they are bad people. At a minimum, due to Joe's actions, he is a bad person, and the others just lead sad lives.What I was trying to say is, I'm sure they do make some good decisions in the show... but it seems like the show focuses on the dumb / bad / sad things they do. The partial episode I saw involved Joe's character and his mom. He was at his mom's house to try and spend time with her, because he never does (another bad characteristics) and he ends up hitting her with the car? Or something bizarre like that? Am I remembering this completely wrong? I just don't see much good going on in this show.I decided to stop watching shows with violence or criminal activity. At some point I just reached my fill. And look at all the shows that have been considered huge successes over the years... The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad. They all involve some type of criminal element. The Law & Order series, the CSI series, Criminal Minds, all popular and all chock full of crime. That's specifically why I like a show like Parenthood. It's a good show and no one has to break the law to keep it entertaining.

Yeah, I watch another episode of Men of a Certain Age, and I don't get how you think these are bad people. I think people idealize their own behavior and actions to the point where it's easier to judge what they believe is bad behavior. These are not bad men.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

I thought men of a certain age was cancelled.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I thought men of a certain age was cancelled.

Cancelled after two seasons. With a show like this, that was inevitable. I'm watching season 1.

 

[cosjobs]

I thought men of a certain age was cancelled.

At a certain age, all men are canceled

 

[jdoggydogg]

I thought men of a certain age was cancelled.

At a certain age, all men are canceled

The inevitable march towards non-existence.

 

[cstu]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

 

[cstu]

Into the Abyss - Werner Herzog's documentary about a Texas murder case and the death penalty. I honestly wasn't expecting much since death penalty documentaries usually bore me but this one was fascinating. Not so much about the death penalty subject, but the story of the murderers and their family. Highly recommend and it's certainly in my top 20 of 2011.

 

[Mr. Mojo]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

 

[joffer]

Get him to the Greek - liked it a lot better than I thought I would. Russel Brand is growing on me. 3.4/5

 

[gump]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I thought he was forced comedy relief that he didn't pull off....however I will admit that she was good:http://www.netizenwallpapers.com/upload/DesktopWallpapers/cache/Paula-Patton-in-Mission-Impossible-4-640x960.jpg

 

[jdoggydogg]

Get him to the Greek - liked it a lot better than I thought I would. Russel Brand is growing on me. 3.4/5

Big fan of this movie.

 

[cosjobs]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Of its type, its one of the best films out there. Not Bourne quality but very solid.

 

[jdoggydogg]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Of its type, its one of the best films out there. Not Bourne quality but very solid.

I don't get the negative reviews for MI4. For an action flick, it delivers.

 

[cosjobs]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Of its type, its one of the best films out there. Not Bourne quality but very solid.

I don't get the negative reviews for MI4. For an action flick, it delivers.

And it was definitely one of the movies worth shelling out the bucks to see in a theater

 

[jdoggydogg]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Of its type, its one of the best films out there. Not Bourne quality but very solid.

I don't get the negative reviews for MI4. For an action flick, it delivers.

And it was definitely one of the movies worth shelling out the bucks to see in a theater

Definitely. I saw in it in the theater.

 

[cosjobs]

Last Days Here

Rockumentary told straight about Bobby Liebling and Pentagram. Bobby was/is a mess. When taking the Sex Drugs and RnR oath in the 70s he focused on the Drugs and has apparently never let up, at great cost to career, body and mind. His last hope at redemption, or maybe even life is a 30-something hippie who is undoubtedly his biggest fan. This movie chronicles the last 35 years or so of Bobby's life. I laughed out loud at this movie more than any comedy I've seen in years. The movie is all at once semi-tragic, genuinely sincere, brutally honest, uproariously funny and at the core kind-hearted. AN amalgam like no other movie I have experienced. I never really knew who Pentagram was, and I probably won't be seeking out their albums, but this is one helluva piece of entertainment here, and you should do yourself a favor and see it.

4.55/5 stars

 

[sports_fan]

Thought you guys might like this. Pretty cool movie montage:

 

[Kenny Powers]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

ETA: I bet Jutz is gonna love it.

Spot on. It was a weak year but even in a 10 film field, there was a lot of stuff much better than it. I havent seen much from 2011 yet, but Warrior and Margin Call both quickly come to mind.

Martha Marcy May Marlene was criminally overlooked across the board.

I know pretty much everyone here had positive things to say about it, but I havent seen it yet. Definitely on the list.

 

[Kenny Powers]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Havent seen 4, but I think the first 1 is definitely the best of the series.Without even seeing 4, I can tell the last 3 are/were more action flicks while the 1st was more mystery-thriller. I guess it depends on preference of genre among other things, but Ill go with the first one every time in this particular series.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Just sitting down for War Horse. Am I going to die?

no. its self-important and plodding, but not life threatening. Set your expectations for two stars and they will be exceeded.

I was honestly expecting to enjoy this film. I was expecting to come in here and defend the positive traits that I figured must have been overlooked by others. I don't think I can do that.I found it to be obvious, uninspiring, not very well acted, nonsensical at times, overscored and overshot. Even with all the warnings I found it to be a disappointing effort and am shocked it was nominated for best picture.

ETA: I bet Jutz is gonna love it.

Spot on. It was a weak year but even in a 10 film field, there was a lot of stuff much better than it. I havent seen much from 2011 yet, but Warrior and Margin Call both quickly come to mind.

Martha Marcy May Marlene was criminally overlooked across the board.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Young Adult

Just the kind of movie I like: dark and honest. Thumbs up.

This combined with the fact that my 2 female employees hated it will probably make me watch it this week.

 

[KarmaPolice]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Of its type, its one of the best films out there. Not Bourne quality but very solid.

I don't get the negative reviews for MI4. For an action flick, it delivers.

I don't get the negative reviews, but I don't get the praise either. It is an above average action movie, but I don't think it was better than MI3, and certainly not better than the first one. In the end I was just bored with it and think the series has dried up.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Hulk/The Incredible Hulk:

Just like just about everybody else, I am gearing up a bit for The Avengers. I had only seen these once, and was interested in what they would be like back to back. My wish is that I could have combined the two movies. I really appreciate what Ang Lee was going for with the human drama of Hulk. Really about the circle of abuse passed on from father to son. Couple decent action scenes, but mostly it felt like Lee was a little out of his element here. I also think I read that most of the people were working on the Star Wars movies and that is probably the reason for the subpar graphics. Incredible Hulk is more of a streamlined action/comic movie, but I felt myself getting bored a bit more during it. Liked Norton in this role, but that's about as far as my interest went with the characters. Got tired of the chase and think the romance was played a little too much. I know I am in the minority, but if I had to pick one I would probably go with Ang Lee's version.

 

[gump]

MI: Ghost Protocol - wow was this terrible. Lost interest about an hour in...and I love a good popcorn action flick. Cruise and the english comedian were painful.

Simon Pegg was the only good thing about it.

I liked it more than the others in the series.

The only one of those I ever liked was MI3. How does it compare to that?

Havent seen 4, but I think the first 1 is definitely the best of the series.Without even seeing 4, I can tell the last 3 are/were more action flicks while the 1st was more mystery-thriller. I guess it depends on preference of genre among other things, but Ill go with the first one every time in this particular series.

Good way to put it...and frames up my criticism. There were no surprises....no plot twists that I didn't see coming a mile away...in fact most of the story has been done many times, including by the franchise itself. If all I expected was action, then it would have been ok I guess. But the first one is the only one I've seen....and it was definitely more.

 

[jamny]

J. Edgar wasn't bad. Really good performance by DiCaprio. The back and forth timeline worked at times but took away from the movie at others. Too much jumping around. If you know a bit about Hoover you can follow along but with limited time they really had to gloss over a lot of his professional life to cover his personal life. I would have preferred it more the other way around but that's not what they were going for. They did a good job on DiCaprio to make him look old but not so much on his partner, Tolson. His makeup looked fake, imo. Not bad, not great. Wait for it on HBO. 2.5/5

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Contagion - 6/10

Yeah. Not very good. The criticisms I read were valid - starts out strong but sputters to a dissatisfying ending.

 

[Yankee23Fan]

I watched 2012 this weekend. I feel dumberer for doing that. I am going all NCAA and imposing a self inflicted sanction on myself. No movies for a week.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Underworld - Awakening: Love this series. Knows what it is and doesn't **** around. 88 minutes runtime is perfect; not sure why action movies think they need to get up to 2 hours. Gets right to the point and doesn't add in any fluff. And of course, Kate Beckinsale . 3/5

 

[Jutz]

I don't think that any of the lead characters in Men are bad people. I think they are human.Sure, I'll give Parenthood a shot.

Jutz's reasoning behind why MofCA isnt good is perplexing to me, but it just sounds like a personal preference more than anything. Based on what he's saying on the decision making, kind of sounds like Californication which I think is great.As for Parenthood, I think its a really good show and totally out of my wheelhouse of what I normally watch TV series wise. Id say I typically only watch dramas that involve violence or criminal activity, so that fact the Im still watching Parenthood I think is credited to how good of a show it is. Pretty sure its the only network TV show Ive stuck with. Its got a great ensemble cast (Dax, Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Craig T. Nelson, Michael B. Jordan, and Monica Potter and Erika Christensen never struck me as very good actresses but they do a great job with their characters here) and the kid actors are pretty strong for the most part. Im way behind on this season but the first 2 seasons were very good.

I believe I've only watched 1 episode of MofCA, and part of another episode. In the episode I saw, Joe lost a ton of money due to gambling. Because of this loss he had to fire someone at his store. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I remember the firing going very poorly. This tells me that the guy's gambling, something that is illegal, put his and his family's welfare at risk, and put an employee on the street... and he was a poor manager when he handled it. I also seem to recall him being a poor father, missing his kids events or something like that.In this same episode the guy that is trying to be an actor was invited by some of his 'friends' to work on a tv or movie. He was all excited, made notes on the script, went to hang with them... and they basically laughed at him and treated him like crap. Basically taking the attitude of... we weren't seriously going to get you involved in this project... you are just lucky that we invited you to hang out with us. He left in shame. The depiction was of a guy still trying to be an actor and desparately holding on to his youth. The fact that he normally dates women much younger then him also adds to this depiction. The fact that he doesn't have a career, and works part time selling cars makes his character seem kind of sad.I don't remember anything about the black guy but I read about the show on wiki. I remember him not getting any respect from his kids. Just beaten down by his family. He works at his dad's car dealership and his dad treats him like crap. All three of these characters just came off as sad to me. I do think they are bad people. At a minimum, due to Joe's actions, he is a bad person, and the others just lead sad lives.What I was trying to say is, I'm sure they do make some good decisions in the show... but it seems like the show focuses on the dumb / bad / sad things they do. The partial episode I saw involved Joe's character and his mom. He was at his mom's house to try and spend time with her, because he never does (another bad characteristics) and he ends up hitting her with the car? Or something bizarre like that? Am I remembering this completely wrong? I just don't see much good going on in this show.I decided to stop watching shows with violence or criminal activity. At some point I just reached my fill. And look at all the shows that have been considered huge successes over the years... The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad. They all involve some type of criminal element. The Law & Order series, the CSI series, Criminal Minds, all popular and all chock full of crime. That's specifically why I like a show like Parenthood. It's a good show and no one has to break the law to keep it entertaining.

Yeah, I watch another episode of Men of a Certain Age, and I don't get how you think these are bad people. I think people idealize their own behavior and actions to the point where it's easier to judge what they believe is bad behavior. These are not bad men.

I think in the end I said at a minimum Ramano's character is bad, and the other 2 are sad. So do you think Ramano's character, even though he is a gambling addict that puts his life savings, livelihood (store), and his ability to provide for his family at risk is not a bad guy? Then he fabricates a story to fire an employee caused by his gambling problem. Am I correct that he never makes time to see his mom either? Am I correct he is portrayed as a guy that often misses his kids events (baseball games I think it was)?Honestly, like I said, I only saw an episode and a half and it was a while ago. But so far you haven't refuted the examples I put forth. I mean... did he change in some positive way since that episode I saw? I'm pretty sure that was one of the first 3 episodes in season 1.And lets just say that if I had a friend around the age of 40 that was still trying to make it as an actor, while continuously having meaningless relationships with younger women, and working at a car dealership but had no career... well, I would hang with a guy like that because it sounds fun, but I would still think he leads a sad existence.