Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-18 07:24:47

Pretty good.

This review is from: Dead Like Me: Life After Death (DVD) Nice continuation of the Series. Doesn't finalize much so lots of room for further installments, following the current trend of TV series to direct-to-dvd movie.

2012-05-17 08:26:27

I Did Not See the TV Series but...

Unlike 99% of the reviews this viewer did not see the TV series. I found the movie to be poignant, offbeat, clever and original. For those who believe in an afterlife (most) the movie will be comforting and for those who don't - entertaining. The directing, acting, script and production details were adequate to the task of telling the story which, of course, everyone knows by now. From now on I will no longer believe in grim reapers only happy reapers.

2012-05-17 09:45:19

It's about time...

This review is from: Dead Like Me: Life After Death (DVD) Ellen Muth is back, as George, the Grim Reaper with attitude. Of course, not the same as the original show, with a few missing or replaced characters. But I didn't expect it to be exactly the same. Nonetheless, still a great movie.Everyone seems to have their favorite character, and it seems many are angered when they aren't around. For me, it was George, she made the show. The first scene of the series I had ever seen was of her sitting at the counter in the Waffle House and pulling a fork out of her chest. Her line was unexpected, but said with such a believable honesty. I was hooked.I agree with most, that the new Daisy was even worse than the original - if that's possible. I preferred Betty myself, as Rebecca Gayheart played her well and the character seemed a better 'fit' for the show.If you're the sort that thinks people acting like morons is comedy, then this form of intelligent humor might not be your thing. It's funny, while still having depth. It touches the heart, while still being a bit dark. I loved it, so sue me.Well played Ellen, glad to see you back.

2012-05-16 23:22:05

Awful. Just awful.

Perhaps the producers should have taken the series' own advice and let the dead just move on. This sequel was too much like a zombie raised from the grave and forced to dance.The series was great. I really enjoyed both seasons. This follow-on straight-to-DVD production, however, was really not very fun for me at all. The characters, who had been developing quite nicely in the series, were slammed (painfully) back in to one-dimensional clowns that were mere shadows of what they had been.Too many "forced" scenes as well. They clearly showed the rough edges of trying to squeeze too many events into a single script. Not wanting to spoil anything, I won't describe them here, but there were too many times my reaction was, "where the hell did THAT come from?"If you liked the series, don't watch this sequel. I don't see how you could be anything but disappointed in it.

maclaird1 2012-05-12 12:41:10

Almost perfect

When I heard this was coming out I was totally stoked. This show rankswith Firefly as one of the great shows that the suits have killed fortheir sadistic glee. That being said I picked it up an watched it withmy wife last night. The movie feels a bit different from the series butI was most struck by the hole left through the loss of Rube, Der WaffleHouse, and the changing of the actress who played Daisy. Rube and DerWaffle House I can understand as the movie is about change and movingforward. The Daisy thing felt like the quick switch they tried withSaavik in the Star Trek Movies. The new girl felt more like a has beenactress than Daisy did and just didn't pull of her devil may care sunnydisposition. I was surprised to see Georges sister all grown up sinceit didn't feel like 5 years had gone by, but that fits with he story aswell. Overall the movie did an excellent job of showing the pain ofreconciling loss and moving forward with your life and I hope to seemore of these in the future. An excellent job all around.

danielhockley 2012-05-12 04:16:43

A fitting end and (hopefully) a fantastic new beginning...

Right first off, I would have loved to give this movie 10/10 BUT Ican't... I just can't.The film was great, despite some reviews i have read who obviouslywatched the film with extremely high hopes, expecting nothing to havechanged at all and to pick up exactly where the TV show left offanswering some of the all important questions the fan base has beenitching to answer ever since the series was laid to rest, which i admitwould have been good BUT impossible...Such examples of unanswered questions are: "how can George do *THIS*?","why did *THAT* happen?", "will *XX* ever get with *XY*?". my point ofblanking out the important part of the questions wasn't JUST to preventspoilers BUT also to attempt a suggestion as to why they couldn'tanswer these questions in this film; the reason for making this filmwas to hopefully jump start the series OR failing that to appeal to thefan base the series had to start with. Now answering these questions in90 minutes is just not feasible in either case, it wouldn't make senseto anyone that hasn't seen the series and so interest is lost... alsothe original fan base would either be annoyed at these questions (whichwe have been bugging ourselves with for what seems like millennia)being rushed and not really answered, or we would have closure (ofsorts) and there are no active plot lines to continue the series with.In my personal opinion the plot and new character (Cameron) were fineadditions to a fantastic show!Now where it unfortunately loses these 2 points are: Daisy... DaisyAdair (I am a big fan of Laura Harris, so Sarah Wynter's performance asDaisy just wan't good enough for me)...All that aside if I have to put up with Sarah as Daisy and no Rube.That is a small price to pay to get this show back on the air.

2012-05-07 09:37:59

They should have stayed dead

This review is from: Dead Like Me: Life After Death (DVD) I'm a big fan of the series so I was excited to find out about the movie. Now that I've actually seen it, I'm very disappointed. Others have commented on the lack of Rube and the new actress playing Daisy but I think that there were more serious faults with the film.There's really no plot. The writers bring in the replacement for Rube and seem to want him to be the antagonist. But he's not. His role gets washed out. At the end there's no clue as to what he was doing, why he was chosen to replace Rube. Just some wannabe philosophical garbage about butterflies and tidal waves.The situation with George's family was not wrapped up. She meets Reggie, avoids Reggie, tries to kill Reggie (yeah, the old cliche about healing suicidal people by trying to kill them). They talk about some shoes. Nothing really happens, though.The writers never explain why George couldn't reap that kid's soul. From the series we know that reapers can grab the soul of anyone, even those not scheduled to die. For some reason though, George can't with this kid until he confesses his feelings for Reggie. Oddly, George doesn't even share that with Reggie - instead George insults the kid.

2012-05-06 12:28:59

Maybe, if sales of the video are good, they'll bring it back?

I didn't see this show until it was run on HDNet--and I LOVE IT!! Everyone I've spoken to who has SEEN the show loves it too. Too bad Showtime or whoever did not have the visibility needed for a show like this to take off. I like Pushing Daisies too, but not as much as Dead Like Me. I'll miss Rube and the original Daisy, Daisy Adair, but I'm sure the writers will make up for anything lost. My copy is on order!!! (I already got season one and two for my husband for Christmas--he was the person who got me hooked on the show!)

2012-05-05 06:28:39

Dead Like Me: Life After Death

This review is from: Dead Like Me: Life After Death (DVD) It obviously is meant to put an end to a series that was cut short way too early in the story line. I guess they did as good as they could with the actors left.

2012-05-04 12:13:07

What a Waste...

Was the pressure to keep the series alive so strong that they believed anything they put out would make money? Apparently so as this follow-up to the television series carries on in the execrable tradition of David Lynch's "Fire Walk With Me" sequel to the delightful "Twin Peaks" series back in the early '90's. First the high points: hmmm, Cynthia Stevenson and Britt McKillip's characters were reasonably believable in terms of growing over the five-year's that elapsed between the series and movie. And once again we see why Mandy Patinkin is a great actor - he found a reason not to be in this thing. And....well, that's about it. Among the low points: overexplaining the history (via reading the lines from the comic books as if we can't for ourselves!) when it wasn't needed and underexplaining things when it was needed; Ellen Muth's first-quarter hairstyle; poor plot development re. Rube's replacement and why on earth didn't they just replace Daisy rather than trying to replicate her character in a totally unbelievable and shallow manner? And then there was the incredibly stupid idea of Delores Herbig's deceased cat being blasted into space - was there something about Murray that we didn't know to draw an audience for his send-off? And, then the ridiculous and gratuitously insulting ending kinda capped off an amazing waste of time and talent. There's much more, or less, but why go on and waste further time on this thing.If you liked the series a lot you'll probably want to see this but be forwarned - the franchise is worn out, the writers are tired, the directing and editing is amateurish and, bottom line, there just wasn't much love put into this effort.

2012-05-02 10:36:40

Worth a rent. I have truly missed this show!

So, I found out about this "movie" and have been waiting and waiting (but not over-anticipating). It was good... but not great. I doesn't really tie up any loose ends, except for Rube, and it gives fans something they wanted back in season 2; George and Reggie to meet again.After watching the special feature "Resurrecting Dead Like Me," I understood more of what they were hoping to achieve (and they thought they succeeded). I appreciated the movie more. I don't quite get the whole comic book look, but whatever.I don't think I would've been able to justify the $20 I almost spent on this, but I don't mind the $5 in rental fees (though I might get it used down the road sometime).It was a nice look at what would happen if you broke the rules and we got to see George all grown up, but there was just something missing (other than the real Daisy Addair and Kiffany - though I guess the opening scene explains Kiffany - and Rube is explained well). I don't know. I was just left feeling slightly unsatisfied but TOTALLY READY TO GO BACK AND WATCH SEASONS ONE AND TWO ALL OVER AGAIN!I miss this show! Oh, how I've missed my toilet-seat-girl!

2012-05-01 18:43:12

Disappointed in Daisy.

I wanted to love this movie, because I am a huge fan of the series. While it does add on to the story, it's just disappointing. For me, the whole movie was pretty much ruined by Daisy Adair being played by a new actress who didn't understand the character. Daisy is definitely "friendly" in the series, but she has a heart and insecurities, and that's why people love her. This movie's version of Daisy doesn't have the heart, and loses her charm. It might have been better to leave the series as it was. This movie has it's moments, but it's too far from the show.

danieldavis89 2012-05-01 05:47:59

Movie good, Daisy bad.

The movie version of Dead Like Me was actually very well done in myopinion, doing a lot to wrap up lose ends left when the show wassuddenly ended. Doing this of course, required a bit more serious partsand limited the dark humor we have become accustomed to with theseries, but I think that enough was left in to still make this a verytasteful conclusion. That being said, I am really sad that Laura Harriswas not available to reprise her role as "Daisy, Daisy Adair". Whileshe played the role to near perfection in the series, Sarah Wynterseems completely out of place and uncomfortable in the movie. The partwhere (as Daisy) she forgets her lines on-stage in the film and beginsacting like a lunatic because she clearly wasn't prepared for the showis to me a perfect metaphor for how badly Wynter played this character.Daisy was a deep character with a lot of hurt and compassion behind herstuck-up, somewhat slutty facade. Wynter's version lacks any depthwhatsoever, leaving nothing to love and everything to be disgusted by.Sarah Wynter makes an other wise good movie get a barely passing grade.The fact that it does pass speaks volumes for the movie's otherredeeming qualities. If it seems as though I am just character hatingbecause I liked Laura Harris, well, I am not. I was upset at thechange, but I was very willing to give Wynter a chance, even after Iheard from a friend beforehand that she was bad. I don't like to watchbad movies, so I try to find the good anywhere I can. Unfortunately,there was no good in Ms. Wynter's performance. It was one of the worstacting performances I have ever seen. In short, I recommend the film,but only if you've a) seen the series and b) can manage to ignore thenew Daisy. Luckily, she's not that integral to the plot.

2012-04-30 10:47:54

Awful!

We are die-hard fans of the series and were excited about the movie coming out. Well, P.U. -- a total stinker. The exposition was sloppy and rushed, characters were not true to the series, and cheesy cinematography effects just made it worse. (lots of slo-mo for emphasis) Just awful. The talented actors had nothing to work with though they seemed (excruciatingly) to try their hearts out. Really, nothing compelling at all. What a shame.

2012-04-27 10:48:41

good but not up to par

This review is from: Dead Like Me: Life After Death (DVD) this movie delivers on a couple of things. it gives some great final closure for the lad family over georges death even though the path to it is a little rough. one of the big problems i found with this movie is the new daisy. the new girl playing her wasn't really up to the task and either because of that or the other way around the writing for her was alot weaker. in the final seasons they really gave her some depth as a person and made her much more relatable. in the movie here they portray her as a general blonde bimbo airhead. which is disapointing.you never really get closure as to what happened to rube. i imagine they just couldn't get the actor back but they could've wrote him out a little better. final word: if your a hardcore fan you'll be disapointed but it's definitly worth watching to see what everyone is up to again, roxy, dolores and mason are still great supporting characters and george who is the main character does have some great things going on here. i'd say it's a rental not a purchase though.

2012-04-27 04:31:49

Closure at last.... and funny murder

I look at all of the negative reviews, and disagree. There isn't one of you that didn't need that closure with Reggie, that allowed Reggie to go on with life. Her smile at the end made it all worth it. Her mom is trying so hard to help her mend and for the first time, Reggie allows her mom to step in. George gets closure too, having told her sister she loves her, and seeing her sister happy again and on the road to recovery. The murder of the boss is wonderful! I loved the deserved agression and frustration until a solution is devised. I kept thinking, he's gonna snap together somehow - I just KNOW it! In fact, when all of the post-its rained down at the very end, I figured he was issuing some sort of payback from wherever that rocket took him to punish her. Still not sure if that really meant she was done reaping or if she was now the new boss. The child reaper for small animals was a sweet touch. I couldn't freeze the frame, but it looked like the girl she reaped from the train - nice circle. Though I couldn't figure why a child would be a reaper instead of going to a final reward immediately as they are all innocent souls. I have closure. Thanks for it.

2012-04-24 20:35:06

Dead LIke Me: Life After Death

While no where near as entertaining as the series, I did enjoy this movie. However, for the true DLM fan, it leaves you pining for Rube (Mandy Patinkin) and the original Daisy (Laura Harris). Suggest waiting for this to hit the clearance bin.

groundswellrecords 2012-04-24 15:01:01

it's about as good as the stooges' "reunion" album

any time they try to revive something that you love it's inevitably notgonna live up to the warm glow of memory... but this! yikes. take athin plot, subtract ALL of the good character development that the showbuilt up, mix in a terrible new daisy, and you get an all around BADMOVIE.the mason/daisy tension was laughable. the disposing of the new bosswas ridiculous. i'm just so bummed that it sucked THAT bad. i did give it 2 stars. one for actually existing in a completed form.the other for the improvement on the character of reggie. at leastthere was one redeeming part of the movie.overall: it's a turd, don't waste your time.

justair 2012-04-24 04:28:59

Oh so good!

I found this movie to be incredibly good overall. It's just unfortunatebecause it left you craving for more ... SO SO much more "Dead Like Me"I don't know how it will hold up to those who never saw the series. Ittried to fill the gaps and introduce the premise (to a degree) for newviewers so that might have helped. As for the fans out there ..... itdelivers.Don't let the straight to DVD production fool you. This movie doesn'thave a low budget feel to it. It's production values were a cut abovethe series and I must say it delivers in all areas.Well done MGM and everyone surrounding it.. NOW CHOP! CHOP! Turn itback into a series or bring out more movies.

2012-04-23 12:01:57

more true to series than Sex & The City

If you were a fan, you will in fact love this despite the loss of Mandy Patankin. The rest of the cast holds it up and while there's a little smarminess in the subplot of George bonding with her sister, overall it maintains the cynical humorous tone we loved with the show. It adds closure for fans of a series whose life, was, ironically enough, cut way too short. No spoiler here, but the ending is really clever and my girlfriend and I had to think about it a second to get it. As the credits rolled we simply both said "hope they do another ..." Doubtful, and we'll miss George, but at least now we didn't leave our friend lost midsentence on Showtime or whatever ...Dead Like Me finally has it's eulogy.