Reviews

I don't mean the episode was disgusting as a whole, or disgusting meaning the episode was bad, but the villain is perhaps the most evil villain this show has produced in its 5 seasons. The way he was evil made me cringe the entire episode and I just can't fathom how anyone could do that to people, or how anyone could survive it.

This isn't your typical Cold Case episode, from a structure point of view. We know who the criminal is from the very beginning. I would say this episode is closer to the Without a Trace structure than Cold Case.

It's not a bad episode. It's just one that is hard to watch and really makes you think. I don't think I could watch it again.

Simply put, this show can be summarized in these short examples:

DAD, YOU DIDN'T GET JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE TO PERFORM AT MY PARTY? WAHHHH!!!! YOU ONLY RENTED A 45 ROOM MANSION FOR MY PARTY? I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN!! WAHHH!!! A LEXUS SUV????? I WANTED A LEXUS CONVERTIBLE SPORTS CAR!! WHY DO YOU HATE ME MOM AND DAD!!! WAHHHH! WHY WON'T YOU GET ME A DRESS LACED WITH 1/10 KARAT GOLD THREADING AND OUTLINED IN DIAMONDS AND EMERALDS???? MY PARTY WILL BE RUINED! WAHHH!!

"My Super Sweet 16" is basically 30 minutes of nothing but that. No matter how much money is spent on their 16th Birthday Party, the person turning 16 will complain.

What is so special about turning 16 anyway? I remember my 16th birthday. I only had a get together with my close friends at my house. That was it. And the presents I got? Not much. Some money from relatives, a video game or two, and some other minor things. I didn't get a car, I had to pay for mine straight up with money I earned. So basically, if I got 1% of the stuff these kids get in "My Super Sweet 16" I would be very grateful.

This show could have been something. MTV could have had this show revolve around 15 year olds from unpriveledged families and/or areas of the country who otherwise would not have had enough resources/money to throw a decent 16th birthday party. But instead, MTV decides to have the show revolve around extremely privileged and rich kids; whose parents probably make 6 figure incomes; and live in upscale, high end neighborhoods; in houses which the real estate value is probably over 1 million dollars. It's a real shame, because these kids are very ungrateful, even though their family has more money than just about most other families in the entire world.

These kids will likely never understand what its like to be unpriveledged and have to earn or work for something. Instead, they will just cry to mommy and daddy whenever they want something and they will get it. And once they turn 18 and leave for college(which their parents will likely pay for all), they will just continue to live off of some trust fund for the rest of their lives without having to earn anything.

The most telling thing about my review is that I am a conservative republican who gets tired of people complaining about the rich people in our country and think that the wealth should be spread around. I feel that rich people are rich because they work hard. With all that being said, I am still disgusted by the people and money spending in this show.

This is a bad show. Only watch if you want to watch spoiled 15 year olds cry, kick, whine, moan, and make total fools of themselves, so you can feel good about yourself not being on the low level these kids are.

MTV, Drugs, and Alcohol - The 3 brain rotting resources in the world

After the small gap in between The Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire's cancelling, Disney channel regrouped and came back even stronger. Disney Channel is on a roll now. Phil of the Future was great, Zack & Cody remains to be great, Life with Derek is perhaps the biggest surprise and most under rated Disney show, Cory in the House has delivered, and Hannah Montana follows suit. It's the best time to be a Disney fan.

Is Hannah Montana Disney Channel's best? Yes and No. You really can't compare this show with the rest of the Disney Channel Original Series' offerings. Each of them are different, and each of them are great in their own ways. But I enjoy Hannah Montana just as much as every other Disney show.

Miley and Lily may be the "main" characters of the show and what the show revolves around, but in my opinion this show is at its best when the four main male characters, Robbie Ray, Jackson, Oliver, and Rico are interacting with each other. The chemistry and the way they spice up the show are top notch. Great examples of their amazing chemistry would definitely be the episode in which Jackson and Oliver create their own "Surf Shop" to rival Rico; when Jackson and Oliver sing the "Make a Moose" song; Jackson and Rico scenes at the surf shop are ALWAYS great; and of course Robbie Ray and Jackson father-son scenes are comedy gold. Miley and Lily may be the core of this show, but its the "male" character scenes which make this show even greater.

The only downside to this show are the Jake episodes. Disney Channel shows rarely ever have "serious drama" relationships in their plot line, but Hannah Montana unfortunately suffers from this. The "serious love drama" episodes between Miley and Jake are lame, stale, and really only meant for 13 year old preteen girls who shriek at the thought of Miley and Jake hooking up, posting JALEY fanfics on the internet. The first "Miley-Jake" episode was fine, but they milk that dry and it just gets tiring after a while. They are only 15 year olds in the show for crying out loud! But based on the drama and such you would think they are thinking about getting married and such. Let it go, Disney.

Overall this is another great Disney Channel show that never fails to entertain.

4.5/5

The 4th installment of this tailspinning franchise is not getting any better. It's going to be hard for me to write 10 lines for this, since the movie can simply be summed up in one word "Garbage".

We all know that the majority of people who will go to see this movie are teenagers aged 13-17. It's too scary for people younger, and too immature for people older.

I sat through this movie, of course filled with 95% 13-17 year olds with their girlfriends.

Though the original "Saw" was decent, the series since has gotten boring, stale, and monotone. I kept looking at my watch on this one, wanting it to end. Worst of all, with the theatre filled with 13-17 year old teenage females looking for attention from their boyfriends/crushes, I had to endure an ear pain-inducing bloodshot scream from them roughly every 10 seconds, even if the scene WAS NOT SCARY. For example, there would be a calm conversation between two characters on screen... SCREAM! AHHHHH! This only made me hate the movie more.

This series has gotten stale and has worn out its welcome. Skip it.

This was a great episode to start the second season of this show. The episode was excellently paced and only stalled for a bit about 1/3 of the way into the show. Apart from that, it was great.

The whole concept of the mob and what they are capable of seems to be an over done motif of crime shows, but that doesn't mean this episode is any less interesting. I could actually feel the anxiety and nervousness of the characters knowing that the mob is breathing down their neck every single moment.

The episode ended in a cliff hanger, so I expect to see a follow up on this one.

Without A Trace is the kind of show that will engage you from the beginning, hold your interest for about 2/3 of the show before it wanes. The acting is good, the pacing is great, and the flashback scenes work, like in Cold Case.

I would attribute the reason for waning interest is because the final third or fourth of most of this show's story lines are rather underwhelming. When people go missing, you expect there to be a kidnapper or culprit behind it, with a giant manhunt and eventually an epic showdown at the end. In Without a Trace, this is the case in a small fraction of episodes. In the rest of the episodes, the reason for going missing is pretty lame. By lame I mean you will be thinking "That's it? That is why they went missing?". And in most cases the missing person really didn't go missing, they just wandered off places without telling anyone.

I know that kidnappings and manhunts would be unrealistic and overdone after a while, but they could at least make the reasons for going missing a bit more interesting. Like I said - the first two thirds of the show, based on the flow of the show and accounts from people who know the missing person makes it seem like the missing person is in huge danger, and the clock is against the crew to find this person. In the end, for example, the person just went to go find their long lost father who abandoned them when the missing person was two years old. The missing person didn't tell anyone they were going on this quest to find their long lost father. (Note: This is just an example, its not referencing a specific episode). Not quite the climatic, intense ending you were hoping for after going through the first two thirds of the show.

It's because of this, Without a Trace is hit or miss. Some episodes are great and intense/gripping from the start, others fail to take off and you find yourself changing the channel after 15 minutes. It's a shame, because this show has so much more potential than it does.

I will conclude on Roselyn Sanchez's character. At first, I didn't see what the fuss was about her character in the show. But after watching this show for a while now I can see why. Her acting skills need some work and she seriously seems like she is reading from a teleprompter. She has a monotonous voice and no emotion at all.

Disney had been hyping this one up for a while. Ever since the first mediocre installment of this cash cow for Disney took the under 18 crowd in America by storm, you knew two things: a.) A sequel was inevitable and b.) It was going to be hyped up to the point where it could not live up to it.

The sequel came, and the result was nothing that could even sniff the hype that preceded it.

I won't go into the plot or story, since 95% of the other reviews for this title will go into that. I will just point out what I didn't like.

First off, the first half of this movie was nothing but pure fanservice. It's as if the writers and directors went conservative and thought "What would the fans want" rather than taking a risk and trying to think "What do WE want?". The playing it safe method that was taken hurt the film in the first half of the movie. The plot line was looking for a path to take and couldn't take one. What was this movie trying to be? That is what I thought the first half of this movie. I had a hard time paying attention.

Not saying that the second half was much better. It was slightly better than the forgettable and boring first half, but not by much. I was hoping for some kind of plot twist, misdirection, something to take the plot off the linear, pointed-like-a-laser direction it was in. But instead, the ending was predictable. You could have called the ending ever since seeing the previews for this movie on Disney a month or two ago. Speaking of the ending, very anticlamatic. A movie that was as forgettable as it was before the ending better have some kind of ending of epic proportions, but the ending was as disappointing as the rest of the movie.

Now, I know the point of a musical is the music, and not the plot. Unfortunately for this musical, the music was just as bad as the plot.

The songs were forgettable and rather generic. The music was definitely not as good as the first installment. And come on choreographers, the dancing was as generic and cookie cutter as it gets. Just about every song had the same choreography: A "triangle" formation with the movie's main stars in the front. It got old after a while. You want to be the Grease of the 21st century? Take a page from them: a.) Dancing is not necessary in every song and b.) Mix up the dancing a bit! Don't make the choreography the same for every song with minor modifications! Get creative!

So far this review has been nothing but complaints, but the one shining point of the film: Ashley Tisdale's role as Sharpay. She stole the show and this talent goldmine should be getting some major roles in the future. The other acting performances in this movie were above average(Ryan, Chad, Kelsi), mediocre(Troy, Taylor) and bad(Gabriella), but Sharpay was excellent. The country club manager Mr. Fulton was excellent too.

If you are a die hard High School Musical fan, you probably had your mind set before seeing this that this movie would be OMG AWESOME! And because this movie had a lot of fanservice, it probably lived up to your expectations. But someone like me, who thought the first one was mediocre and went in with a neutral mind, it didn't live up to the massive hype I have been exposed to all summer.

Pros

+ Ashley Tisdale of Sharpay = EXCELLENT + Higher production values than the first one + You are the music in me = Good song + Overall plot message teaches a good lesson to people under 18

Cons

• Acting could have been better - No memorable songs or instant classics - Bad choreography and dancing - Thin, linear, and predictable plot - Too much fanservice, played it safe, didn't take risks - Not enough substance in between songs - Didn't live up to the hype

* 1/2

One thing to keep in mind is that Life with Derek is not your typical G-rated Disney show. The show is simple enough for someone under the age of 10 to watch, but a great portion of the show could only fully be understood by ages 10 in up in my opinion. I would call Life with Derek the perfect show for teenagers. Myself being 20, I love the show as well.

My favorite reason being how hilarious the constant cat and mouse chase between Derek and Casey is in every episode. Derek always seems to be one step ahead of Casey, no matter what. Every time you think Casey has done something to pull ahead of Derek, Derek strikes back with another ace up his sleeve. Most of the time the episode ends with the two on even grounds, but that is not always the case.

Though Derek and Casey are the two main characters of the show, they couldn't do it without a terrific supporting cast. The parents, George and Nora are perfect. The two parents are different personality wise, as George seems to be like Derek: Carefree, relaxed and loose. Nora, on the other hand, is like Casey: Serious, determined and plays by the rules.

The other kids in the household complete the family tree in nothing short of spectacular fashion. Edwin and Lizzie are two similar aged kids, and though Edwin is a boy and Lizzie is a girl, Edwin is the wuss and Lizzie is the tough one. Edwin doesn't quite have the carefree personality as Derek (yet). Lizzie has a tough-girl personality that Casey could only dream of. And who could forget Marti, every families typical obnoxious yet cute youngest child.

In conclusion, Life with Derek is a high quality effort like most of Disney's non-animated shows. I am glad Disney picked this up, as each episode is an entertaining circus that sucks you in.