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Reviews
The Ladykillers (2004)
could have been for a wider audience but ....
foul and unnecessary language did this film in for full family viewing. I wonder why such a wonderful and entertaining film featuring Tom Hanks felt it had to scoop so low with the typical 4 letters words which did not add anything (as if these words ever do)for a pretty good film. The story itself is very consistent with the characters sleepy little town on the mississippi river who have a very clever scheme of robbing the local gambling boat of at least 1.6 million dollars ... George Wallace (black comic not the ex governor of Alabama) did a real good job as the county sheriff as well as I have ever seen him before. See this film and judge for yourself whether having less foul language would had made any impact on the effectiveness of this movie or not.
After the Storm (2001)
excellent adaptation of Hemingway
while visiting Key West several years ago We also toured Ernest Hemingway home where he lived back in the early 30's with his second wife Pauline. Under the "carriage house" where he did so many of his famous books such as "a farewell to arms" there is his book//gift shop. I brought his book "after the storm" and the guide told us that the story behind the story is what brought Hemingway to Key West in the first place. Seems local legend had it that a Spanish schooner when down during a storm and Hemingway's friend Don Pasos explored it and actually saw thru a porthole bodies floating around and yes, a beautiful woman as well wearing jewelry etc ... , which gave Hemingway the idea to write this novel. As far as the movie goes it does follow the central story but with a few twists thrown in for good measure. The locations of the movie are beautiful but it was not taken in Bahamans as it depicted but Belize. I just wished the movie was longer as there were some side issues that could had been developed a little more ... like how did Malcolm know Stephen Lang for instance or the "real" role of Jill Jacobson ( the governor's wife ) to Arno and Jean-Pierre ? ... Benjamin Bratt was really good wasn't he as Arno? .. he has truly matured since his days as "Lenny's" prop in the TV series "Law & Order" and has become a good actor and I cannot think of anyone but him playing the role of Arno .... good movie ... based upon a very good book ... and filmed in a very pretty setting ... what more could one asked when watching a movie ?
When Trumpets Fade (1998)
impressed with yoakum
this is a very good and seemly very realistic movie of how it felt to be in the front lines of the last few months of WWII. I was impressed with the excellent acting as well as I felt I could feel what they were feeling. I was especially surprised with the acting ability of Dwight Yoakum who is a great country singer and song writer in his own right but never did I guess he could act as well as he did in this movie. .. .. I looked up to see whether he was in other movies and sure enough he is also in "sling blade" as well. I am not saying he steals the movie but he certainly adds to it as a very serious leader often seem as pushing his men to do more in order to save lives ... and did received the respect of his soldiers as well....
Key Largo (1948)
excellent movie ...
a personal favorite of mine, Key Largo has all the stars and the famous movie lines like ... "now what is it that you want Rocco? .. more? .. well sure thats it I want more ... will you ever get enough? .. well no ... I haven't yet so I guess I won't" ... I hear this line all the time like a commerical on the 60's/70's radio stations ... there have been alot of "remakes" of movies ... John Houston (director of this movie) was asked once what his opinion was of remaking movies .. he said he had no problem of remaking the bad ones but leave the good ones alone ... I personally would love to see this movie remade principally due to the technicalogical advances since this movie was made in October 1948 ... but then again ... trying to replace Bogart/Robinson/McCall/or the Wizard of Oz guy (Barrymore) would bring back the words of John Houston ... "leave the good ones alone".
Identity (2003)
small world ?
from the very beginning this movie caught my attention by discussing the state of florida ... but the "connection" between Paris and Larry was really amazing too .. they both were from a county which I never heard mentioned in a movie before which is where I used to live too .. and that is Polk County.. which is located in central florida between orlando and tampa ... Larry was born in Mulberry and Paris in Frostproof .. just small communities really .. however the scene in which Paris is working in her long sought dream of owning her own orange grove should had been left out cuz it shows mountains in the background ... not many mountains in central florida for those who know that is ....
Gettysburg (1993)
"Gettysburg" presents a paradox concerning slavery ...
for a war that was supposed to be fought over slavery , this movie presents a paradox .. only one black person is presented . I was impressed with Martin Sheen's performance as General Lee , and Berenger's role as General Longstreet. Porter Alexander's role as General JEB Stuart should had been deleted or presented differently. The film falls short in allowing the viewers not to gage the full discomfort and disgust felt by General John Bell Hood in protesting Lee's orders not to be permitted to attack the federals behind Little and Big Round Top mountains. Also missed is the importance of union general Reynolds, as the last general invited to become the next federal commander instead of being ordered to become its commander like was done with Meade. The largest cavalry clash up to this moment in time between Stuart and Custer was completely overlooked and not even mentioned as well. Its impossible to be able to present all aspects of this battle of course, but I felt it would had only added a few more lines to the script and minutes to the film to acknowledged these events. All in all the best civil war military film I think ever made. Much better than "Gods and Generals" which followed ten years later (2003).
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
should had been photographed in color
great historical movie, will not allow a viewer to leave once you begin to watch. View is presented differently than displayed by most school books on this subject. My only fault for this movie is it was photographed in black and white; wished it had been in color ... wow !