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tstein5
Reviews
The Valley of Decision (1945)
Better-than-average melodrama
***SPOILERS***
I truly enjoyed when Paul (Peck) finally stood up to Louise (Tandy). We know it's coming, of course, but he does it so well.
Another nice scene: Connie (Hunt) is trying to sneak out to see her beau, but Mary (Garson) keeps stopping her. Connie warns: "I'm starting to get very angry!" And Mary replies: "Well ye'd better be quick catchin' up, 'cause I'm already there!" (or something like that).
Very nice performances: Barrymore chewing the scenery ... Crisp granting concessions to the unions, but still standing up for his belief of paying any man who'd work hard ... Peck, as usual, standing tall ... Garson being Garson.
Comfortably predictable, but still effectively moving.
*** out of ****
Phenomenon (1996)
Interesting show, if you can accept it as just a show.
It may seem to some to be a vehicle for Scientology; to others it may be a retelling of the life of Jesus. To me, it's just a nice show.
It's good to see Forest Whitaker and Robert Duvall. They certainly breathe life into their characters.
The pace gets a bit slow, especially the last third or so. It's a bit manipulative and predictable, too.
I turn off the sound during the "haircut" scene; Aaron Neville's version of "Crazy Love" is just too shallow for me. Van Morrison did so much better, plus he wrote it! Why not use his version?!
Relax, enjoy, Peace
VeggieTales: Are You My Neighbor? (1995)
I love this stuff!
Great humor, for both children and adults.
Good, relatively sophisticated music (not the all-too-simple tunes from Barney) representing many styles. Other VeggieTales shows feature R&B, ska, rock n' roll, scat, jazz, C&W, classical and more.
Some violence, but mostly the somewhat gentle (if violence can be gentle) "cartoonish" type.
Some scenes in other VeggieTales (the furnace in "Rack, Shack, and Benny, fro example) can be scary for very young children, though I can't think of any in this one.
Primarily intended for Christian viewers, but not too exclusionary (I have non-Christian friends who encourage their children to watch VeggieTales, because the basic values are sound, and nearly-universal). For example, "God" is used frequently, but I can't remember hearing "Jesus" or "The Holy Spirit" used.
Truly "Sunday morning values and Saturday morning fun".
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Gives children power
A very nice movie.
I particularly like that it gave my four-year-old the chance to see that monsters can be just as afraid of children as children are of monsters.
SPOILERS
My son's favorite scene was the part of the "decon." process where the orange monster (Charlie?) was shaved. He loved to see that fur fly!
My favorite scene was when Boo first entered the Scare Floor. Sulley hears a "thump ... thump ... thump", and finally turns around to find Boo picking up and dropping his tail!
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Too, too full of itself
Much too much time was spent on shots that were supposed to be awe-inspiring, but were just tiring.
Not a bad film, but could have been so much better - especially since it had so much riding on it.
The General's Daughter (1999)
A dirty, manipulative piece
When I say that this is a dirty film, I don't mean that the way some people do - to refer to something that has too much sex for them. I mean that this film pulls some very low-down tricks.
*** SPOILERS***
I realize there are some fathers and daughters who do not understand each other, but this movie can't decide if these two do or don't. I especially dislike the way this movie tries to blame the daughter for her troubles. Pitting father and daughter against each other the way this film does so shamelessly is just ... dirty.