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Reviews
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Criticize, but give a reason
"It's full of lies," I hear so many people say. "What lies are in the movie?" I ask. The reply? "You know - all throughout the movie. And he is fat."
That sort of response tells me one thing. Moore is telling the truth.
And after seeing the movie tonight, I am amazed that anyone would ever vote for Bush again. But he will get votes - which is why everytime I go overseas, I apologize on behalf of those Americans who agree with the entire world that Bush is and has always been a far greater threat to world peace than Sadam ever was.
Oliver Beene (2003)
I am so embarrassed for Fox
I normally don't add a "me too," but in this case it can't be emphasized enough that this is so clearly an attempt to steal the wit and humor of The Wonder Years. And never have I seen a case of a "remake" being so far inferior to the real thing. The Wonder Years is a classic. Oliver Beene should be shelved and all involved should change their names, wear disguises, and take an oath to never mention it again lest it be found out that they were responsible for "creating" such a horrible creature.
Centennial (1978)
TV's greatest masterpiece
In excess of 20 hours, when I had finished watching it, I wanted to start back at the beginning and see it all over again. Since this is a long mini-series, the characters and storyline are well developed. As characters grow old and die off, you feel a sadness that one rarely feels for a TV or movie character.
The lack of total good in any character adds to the realism. For instance, you find Pasquinel (Robert Conrad) very likeable, despite the fact that he is unfaithful to whomever he marries. As in real life, good does not always triumph over evil, as we painfully see when Pasquinel's "half-breed" son, Marcel, attempts to peacefully give himself up, and it brutally murdered.
And one better be prepared to have a whole box of tissues at hand during a most incredible scene where the army attacks a small tribe of Indian elderly, women and children and a young messenger boy evolves from hating the Indians to finding out very quickly that he does possesses a conscience and how painful that can be. The other scene which will haunt you long after it is over is where Lost Eagle stares tearfully into space as he holds a worthless trinket given to him by the U.S. government in exchange for his giving up his land and, more symbolically, his entire way of life and history.
The best way that I can explain how good Centennial is to put it this way: if the first few hours were chopped out and released as a movie the same year as Dances With Wolves, Centennial would have easily won the Academy award for Best Picture.
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Turn off the emotions - turn on the brain
After reading the many comments of those who were outraged by the movie, I have to admit that I was chuckling and bemused. When I watched this movie, I did not watch it with the same intentions or motivations that one watching the movie in 1915 would have had. I did not watch the movie for the entertainment value, but rather, to try to partially understand the mind of D.W. Griffith and many others in the South fifty years after the end of the Civil War.
Imagine if we discovered a "autobiography" manuscript written by a slaveowner three thousand years ago, detailing his life day by day. Would be be angry that he could be so inhuman, and would we, therefore, burn the manuscript? Or would we put our emotions aside and realize that we possess an incredibly rare and valuable window into life three thousand years ago.
Birth of a Nation is eighty seven years old. No one who helped make this movie is still alive. You may choose to waste your energies and become outraged by its content. However, I would suggest that you use the movie as an insight into our nation's history. This movie will teach you little about the South between 1860 and 1880, but if you open your mind, it will teach you a great deal about the U.S. in 1915.