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Reviews
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
Turned into Loony Tunes
This movie started out with an interesting premise and it was interesting. I liked the philosophical aspects too, concerning mortality and the attitude about life and living.
But really, this just developed into something like a kid's cartoon towards the end. Did the producer just up and assume that adults would totally lose their grasp of reality being so interested in some of the themes?
Case in point: The Mother and Father Tuck being kept in the slam, no bail allowed because this weird stranger that no one has heard of before gets killed accidentally, after making an underhanded deal with the landowner for the property, after he assaults these people and holds a pistol to the (sexy)young girl's head! The girl is a witness. The accused are witnesses too. Ultimately the girl was clearing anyone of kidnapping charges and she was the victim! She would also be clearing anyone of murder since it was clearly not murder. She'd be screaming her head off about the whole deal! Furthermore, everyone is concerned about an execution. There was no trial! So the town is going to just hang someone without a trial! That rarely happened except in the case of lynch mobs. Nothing would indicate that in this case. Also, after the yellow coat man is killed, under the circumstances, no one would need to run away. And then later since it was simply extreme that they'd still be locked up, why on earth would anyone it their right mind think that it would make sense to break them out and run away? Then they'd have to worry about being fugitives, hunted down for years, with the implication of being guilty after-all! No one suspected or knew anything about their immortality and the dead guy wasn't taking!
These aspects just bombed the whole story for me.
The ending also stunk. Why would this kid with a hard-on for this good looking girl wait 80 years before he checked on her? I wouldn't have. And it's hard to see how anyone with a choice would have not drank from the brook. Anyway a day's worth of influence on her would have caused her to change her mind. Even without it, how could anyone just decide to keep aging, and get old and die if they didn't have to? I just don't buy it.
DMJ
In Enemy Hands (2004)
Obvious technical mistakes
While there was some redeeming qualities to this movie, I don't think I would of ever bothered watching it if I knew beforehand how unrealistic it was. You'd think the producers have never seen a submarine movie in their lives. The technical adviser ought never to be allowed to work on a war movie again! Again and again and again there were these U boat or submarine torpedo shots being made were the the firing ship has no visual, no periscope view presumably on sound bearings and hitting other submerged submarines repeatedly and at various depths. This just didn't happen. Sound bearing shots could be made but only if either the other ship were large and slow, offering a broadside, or there was a huge amount of good luck for the firing sub.
All though the movie you get the impression that German submarines were hardly ever surfaced. They hardly ever showed this and when they did I don't remember once where there were lookouts posted. That was the main idea. Look for the enemy.
Finally at the end they portray an American Destroyer knocking out a SUBMERGED sub with five inch guns! This is absolutely absurd! This could not happen. The only time gunnery could be effective was against surfaced ships. U-boats under the surface were attacked with depth charges and only depth charges, unless the surface ship had hedgehogs or some variation of this system. And Hedgehogs were definitely NOT being portrayed here! I think the problem is mostly a lack of historical understanding mixed with an over weighting of creative license. Maybe they also just assumed that everyone else is going to be as uninformed as they are about the pertinent reality.
They could of made this a lot better having these things righted. In fact with the mixed language format, and the actors involved and well as even just the CGI business, mixed with the interiors, this could have been a very good film.
The Gambler (1974)
See it if you're a player too.
Definitely a must see if you are a fan of James Cann. I like his tough guy style. Nobody pushes this player around! To me virtually all of the characters were believable. I could buy them. Between the loan guys, mobsters and "Huggy Bear" at the end, this was true. I will add my agreement to what has been said before about the ending. Without actually saying what it was, it was bizarre and totally disconnected to everything else. It left me very displeased and dissatisfied. It was a very poor choice on the part of the producers. Other than that aspect, it was engrossing and there was some vivid meaning to it. It brought me to consider the darker aspects of the gambler's life, and man's single-mindedness.
DMJ
Casino (1995)
Hard stuff
Very interesting gangster type film. As good as anything else along these lines, if not better. It reminded me a lot of the "Godfather" trilogy with the language and the killings. If you like hearing all the versions of "f***" about every minute or two, sometimes three times in the same sentence, you'll enjoy this movie. If you don't mind seeing about 30 or 40 guys getting wacked in the most bloody way conventionally possible, this movie will work for you. To be fair though, that's what this story was all about so it had to be there. If this movie is ever on TV, it's about as big a joke as putting on "Scarface" on TV. Half the audio would be bleeps.
DeNero is excellent in this. If you like him, you'll like this.
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Nice rack!
I wonder who's hooters those were? Katherine Ross was very pretty, albeit a little flat chested. Nice improvement!
I may have to read the book as several things were left unexplained. For instance, did all the men know that the women were truly being "replaced"? Did they asist in this process? I mean with killing and everything. That is a little hard to accept, even with the obvious advantages; tits, cooking, servile attitude and all. Let's face it, there's a lot to like there, when being totally honest.
The Young Lions (1958)
Good historical drama
The film was long and interesting both in a historical way and in a character development way. It was actually pretty deep especially in terms of Christian's internal conflicts. I liked all the actors and actresses and for the most part they were well-chosen and believable. I felt the film hit a little too much and too hard on the Jewish issues for one. With as much long running scope with regards to time periods covered, the footage could of and should have been used to make the story have less of a skippy affair. For instance all of 1940 was skipped. That was a very important year for the German Army. A year indeed of it's greatest victories. How could this have been missed? Furthermore, I thought the ending was rather a cheat and not in character for Brando's character. I was greatly disappointed with it.
The Fighting Seabees (1944)
Typical John Wayne at War
Typical WWII era movie in terms of fighting the Japs. You will laugh at the subhuman portrayals of the little yellow men especially in the two-man tanks, unless you're Japanese of course. Lot's of simple minded expressions and some buck teeth. It makes you want to see them killed!
Basically, any movie with John Wayne is appealing. The man simply commands respect, and the women always love him, especially Susan Hayward who's a doll. Love and War; Usually the best themes for big pictures.
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Always a hit with me.
I've seen this film maybe 7 or 8 times, and it never gets worn out. What a classic! What a real date movie! It inspired me to get the book, James Jones that is. The basis of the power of this book and film is the author's personal military experience as an Army Enlisted Man during the period 1936-1942. Jones was in Oahu and Guatacanal, so he knew real war. It's all very gritty, especially in the book. Be prepared for a cleaned up version in the movie. If you read the book, I hope you're not too sensitive about race or name calling or the way men are in an outpost environment! By the way, the film is true in most ways to the book. Mostly it leaves you with the same impression, but just not as deep.
DMJ