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Reviews
The Woman King (2022)
Phony, Overwrought View of History
THE WOMAN KING is a fictionalized historical epic about the female warriors in the old West African Kingdom of Dahomey. Set in 1823, the movie tells how King Ghezo of Dahomey uses the female warriors to defeat the African Kingdom of the Oyo Empire, which was allegedly supported by Portuguese slave traders. Viola Davis plays the general leading the female warriors. Several bloody battles occur. Also, the movie alleges that the female general tries to encourage King Ghezo to end Dahomey's own reliance on the international slave trade.
THE WOMAN KING has some impressive production values and solid performances. However, the movie whitewashes the Kingdom of Dahomey, its people and King Ghezo. In reality, Dahomey and Ghezo were very much involved in the international slave trade. Ghezo also engaged in ceremonial human sacrifices and used his female warriors to go into the interior to hunt for captives to be sold as slaves. THE WOMAN KING has an extremely strong Romantic, politically correct worldview with lots of false, leftist revisionist history. Its revisionist history contains lots of bloody war violence that will repel or disturb many viewers.
It's one thing to rearrange some historical details to make a story flow better, in a more exciting manner. However, it's quite another to falsify historical facts or create false straw man arguments to fit a controversial sociopolitical agenda or to whitewash a group or "race" of people so you can demonize another group or "race" of people. In that light, descendants of the people of the Oyo Empire in Africa might have a special grievance or two against THE WOMAN KING since the movie depicts their ancestors to be in cahoots with the European slave traders while it absolves King Ghezo and Dahomey.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: Part IV (2022)
To the Rescue!
PART IV of OBI-WAN KENOBI, streaming on Disney Plus, opens with Obi-Wan Kenobi recovering from the wounds he suffered during his lightsaber battle with Darth Vader. Ben and his new friend, an undercover spy named Tala, learning that Inquisitor Reva has taken 10-year-old Leia, to a fortified, undersea prison fortress on a water planet. They hatch a plan whereby Tala will infiltrate the base under the guise of her Imperial uniform. She will then help Ben sneak onto the base to help Leia escape, with Tala's help. The plan goes well at first, but complications ensue.
PART IV is one of the two best of the six Season One episodes of OBI-WAN KENOBI. It has an exhilarating, stirring, suspense-filled rescue plot, with wonderful moments of narrow escapes, heroism, sacrifice, and courage. Also, for the first time ever in a STAR WARS property, there's an appeal to God instead of "The Force." However, PART IV of OBI-WAN KENOBI does have scenes of a child, Princess Leia, in jeopardy.
The Reliant (2019)
Well Written, Exiting and Emotionally Powerful
THE RELIANT has a great cast of young actors. Everyone was really good, but I especially liked The ensemble is supported by fine performances from several older veterans, including Kevin Sorbo, Julia Denton and Brian Bosworth. The script is very well written and contains lots of intense, exciting action/adventure and moral, spiritual, psychological, and theological depth that adds to the character development. The result is one of the more thrilling, intense, enjoyable, stimulating, and emotionally powerful contemporary Christian movies.
THE RELIANT promotes both Christian faith and American liberty. The movie is filled with great references to God, Jesus and Scripture, plus some prayers and hymns. They are well integrated into the plot, unlike some other movies. Everything ends on several powerful redemptive notes that will grab the viewer's heart and soul. THE RELIANT really has one of the best endings of many recent faith-based Christian movies. The movie also defends American freedom. There's a powerful subplot about why Americans need the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms. Moviegoers who support the right to bear arms will want to support this movie when it plays in theaters. Some of the dialogue is reminiscent of the original RED DAWN, by the great John Milius. I personally enjoyed THE RELIANT more.
Of course, the movie has a point of view, but so do many other movies, including many movies with different, more left-leaning and more secular views. Sometimes, other movies try to hide their point of view. I don't think the movie deserves a 10, but it's much better than many of the left-leaning and artsy independent movies that I see.
The Promise (2016)
Captivating, Surprising, Edge-of-Your-Seat History
THE PROMISE is a surprisingly fascinating, epic depiction of Turkey's genocide against Armenian Christians in 1914-15. Mikhail leaves his bride to be in their small village to attend medical school in Constantinople. In Constantinople, Mikhail falls in love with Ana, the beautiful tutor of his uncle's children, and she with him. However, Ana is already having an affair with an American journalist, Chris Myers, from the Associated Press. As they start to get to acquainted, Turkey aligns with Germany and undertakes to kill off all the non-Muslims aka infidels, including the Armenian Christians. Can anyone survive? Can promises be kept? THE PROMISE is a very powerful, exciting historical epic. It keeps surprising the audience with new twists, turns and intensified jeopardy. THE PROMISE is full of action movie violence. The bedroom scene diminishes the Christian commitment of the two featured Armenian characters, as does the woman's affair with the American reporter. That said, the movie's positive Christian aspects are overt, pervasive and spot on. In the end, Christian heroism and nobility prevail despite the terrible genocide committed by Muslims in Turkey, whose Muslim past is filled with horrific examples of brutality and murder, via the morally corrupt Ottoman Empire, against Non-Muslims, especially Christians and Jews, from Turkey to the Middle East, Southeastern Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. THE PROMISE elicits compassion, emotion, tears, joy, and ultimately victory.
God's Not Dead 2 (2016)
Great Movie; Exposes Atheist Hatred and Stupid Public Schools
This is an excellent, entertaining movie that exposes Anti-Christian bigots among the Hate Jesus atheist crowd and the stupidity of America's public school system, which stifles academic freedom and free speech, and distorts the Constitution of the United States. It's even more powerful and dramatic than the first movie.
The script has an excellent structure, setting up the movie's conflict is a quick, effective way and building tension smoothly. So many other movies produced in Hollywood fail to do this. See the new BATMAN V SUPERMAN movie as perfect example: it is a convoluted mess that uses murky action scenes and bombastic music to draw attention away from its mediocre plot structure and poorly drawn characters, who act like they're always having a bad time, even when they're not getting pummeled by an uninteresting, mindless "monster" villain with no reason for being except to provide cheap thrills - if you create such a villain, you should take a look at the original JAWS or DUEL, where Spielberg effectively uses mystery and malice to achieve truly formidable villains.
An independent film production, GOD'S NOT DEAD 2 is also better made than most of the other movies that pass for "independent" cinema or art-house movies. With a bigger budget to attract more A- level stars, ala BATMAN V SUPERMAN, this movie would be even better.
Return to the Hiding Place (2013)
Some People Are Reviewing an Unapproved European Version
This movie was previously released in an unapproved edition. The new movie has new scenes and has deleted some unnecessary scenes and subplots, with new editing.
The U.S. version is being released later this year and is very good. IMDb should do a separate page on the U.S. version, but they have been unresponsive to this, which is very strange. People should see the reportedly much improved U.S. version before dissing the movie, and the ratings should be re-set for the U.S. opening, which will then be sent around the world.
RETURN TO THE HIDING PLACE is superbly written. There are several fascinating subplots that move the story forward. There are several romances that break your heart. Within the strong plot structure, the movie highlights true story after true story of people willing to sacrifice their lives for others, even those who don't like them. The direction, cinematography, and music are excellent.
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Spielberg's Back!!!!
TINTIN is the best movie of the year, and Steven Spielberg's best movie in more than a decade. The movie is fun, exciting, hilarious, creative, awesome, and, in the final scene profound.
Some people complain about motion capture animation, but I've always found the complaints exaggerated and ignorant. Animation is not supposed to have the same degree of facial expression as a great live-action actor. And, any complaints about the facial expressions in the TINTIN movie are even more ridiculous when considering that the main character in the original comic has pinprick eyes!
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN is an exhilarating, family friendly roller coaster ride. The action is thoroughly exciting. Spielberg introduces the three heroes in a steady, captivating way so that the story's frenetic action doesn't get in the way of one's sympathy for them. The comedy is playful and perfectly pitched. It adds immensely to the fun. Also, the motion capture animation is beautifully detailed.
TINTIN is a throwback to Steven Spielberg's earlier work. In fact, his classic movie RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK reportedly was compared in France to the Tintin comic books on which this movie is itself based, and that's the movie this movie most resembles.
Best of all, TINTIN has a strong moral, redemptive world view. (SPOILERS FOLLOW) Good conquers evil, an alcoholic sidekick finds sobriety, and the villain goes off to jail instead of being killed. THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN also has positive overt references to the Cross on which Christ suffered and died for our sins. That's actually one of the clues to where the treasure lies. Also, at the climax of the whole story, there's an overt reference to "St. John the Evangelist," the man who wrote the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation, and three epistles in the New Testament. This content gives the movie a strong Christian allegorical, symbolic, or metaphorical sense where light from the "sun" reveals the final clue to the mystery of the hidden treasure. The light from the desert sun also helps sober up Captain Haddock enough so he can tell Tintin the story about how his ancestor's treasure got lost in the first place. Of course, in TINTIN, the treasure is gold and jewels, a family treasure. All this imagery, however, suggests that it's at the foot of the Cross, in the light that Jesus offers to all men (John 1:9), where one's true treasure lies. That's the best message you can send to any audience any time.
Rejoice and Shout (2010)
Make a Joyful Noise
REJOICE AND SHOUT is a wonderful, joyful documentary surveying the history of black gospel music, with very strong Christian statements of faith in God and Jesus Christ, including a focus on the power of the Holy Spirit. There are only a couple minor sour notes that lessen the movie's power.
The documentary starts out with a tremendous, soul-stirring performance of "Amazing Grace" by a young, nameless African American girl from The Selvy Family Singers. It then begins its survey of the history of black gospel music and its biggest stars. It starts, of course, with the Southern plantation owners during slavery bringing the African slaves to Christianity and church. Then, it picks up with the first black gospel record in 1902 by the Dinwiddie Colored Quartet. With interviews by three gospel music historians and singers like Smokey Robinson, the movie then proceeds to give a rundown of the history since then, by focusing mostly on the major leaders and performers in the field. Included are many great musical numbers. Among the highlights are Mahalia Jackson's first amazing TV appearance on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW in the early 1950s, a wonderful turn by Claude Jeter and The Swan Silvertones, a powerful performance by Mavis Staples of The Staples Singers, a solo by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and two lead singers from the Dixie Hummingbirds trading off vocals at a rapid pace.
One may quibble that REJOICE AND SHOUT focuses two much attention on the impact of individual gospel music performers, leaders and teachers like Thomas A. Dorsey and the Rev. James Cleveland. This does make the movie seem a bit too long. That said, REJOICE AND SHOUT is a soul stirring, inspiring homage to Almighty God, including Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
There are only several very minor sour notes. First, we would have loved to see another performance by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers. Apparently, however, there's not much footage of them. Second, there's one number where some dancers in flashy halter-tops and short shorts shake their legs in time to the music. Third, at the end, there's a politically correct nod to President Barack Obama and his election, which the movie connects to the ministry of The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., simply because of Obama's racial background. Finally, the movie seems to have some minor bias toward the African roots of modern popular music, including gospel and country music, apparently neglecting the importance of the Scottish, Irish folk music contribution. In this case, being Afro-centric is perhaps just as wrong as being Euro-centric.
Despite these very minor points, media-wise viewers, including Christians and Non- Christians, will find REJOICE AND SHOUT to be an impassioned, cheerful and engaging look at black gospel music and the role it plays in American life, yesterday and today.
Get Smart: A Man Called Smart: Part 3 (1967)
Funny All the Way Through
Part Three is just as funny as Part One and Two. In fact,the ending is one of the best endings of all the GET SMART episodes, with a hilarious fight scene set on a movie studio lot.
Actually, this three-part episode, which apparently was supposed to be a feature movie, is one of the best, funnest GET SMART episodes of all of them. Adding William Schaller as Admiral Hardgrade, the first head of Control, gives a hilarious new wrinkle to the series. And, Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Ed Platt are as funny as ever here. The only thing really missing might be an appearance by Bernie Kopell as Siegfried.
Clearly one of the funniest episodes of the funniest TV series ever created.
Agora (2009)
This movie AGORA is full of historical lies.
AGORA, an historical drama set in Alexandria at the turn of the Fifth Century, is an international production in English that distorts history and slanders Christianity by making the church leaders in the city at the time much worse than they really were.
The story centers on the female Neo-Platonic pagan philosopher Hypatia who was murdered by a small, angry Christian mob in 415 A.D. because they believed that she was preventing a reconciliation between the Roman mayor, or prefect, and the Bishop, the famous theologian Cyril of Alexandria, also known as the Pope of Alexandria (back then, the Pope of Rome was only considered first among equals). The movie conflates historical details with purely made-up historical fiction that paints the Christians in Alexandria and Cyrus in particular in the worst possible light.
The movie opens in 391 A.D. where Hypatia is teaching astronomy to a mixed class of Christians and pagans. One of her slaves is Davus, a young man (a fictional character) who worships Hypatia from afar. Davus is also impressed by the Christian preachers in the marketplace, called the Agora, though the movie paints the ringleader, Ammonius, as a charlatan.
The preaching of the Christians upsets the pagans. So, sanctioned by Hypatia's mathematician father, Theon, the young pagans turn into a mob that starts killing Christians in the streets. The Christians start to fight back. By this time in history, their number is larger than the pagans, so, in the movie, they eventually storm the gates of the famous library of ancient writings and the pagan temple nearby. Led by the bishop at the time, Theophilus (Cyril's uncle), the Christians overrun the library and the temple, destroying the pagan statues and the ancient scrolls in the library. By this time, Davus is now one of the Christians. He physically declares his love for Hypatia by taking her in his arms and groping her breasts, but she frees herself from him and leaves.
Some years pass, and one of the young pagans, Orestes, is now the Roman mayor of Alexandria. Like Davus, Orestes too loves Hypatia, but Hypatia is obsessed by her astronomical studies.
By this time, Davus is part of a group of Christians who defend Christianity and Cyril by persecuting Jews and pagans. The group is led by Ammonius. Orestes, who also has become a Christian, tries to control the passions in the city, but the fighting between the Christian zealots and the Jews causes trouble. Things get worse when the zealots, led by the patriarch Cyril, turn their attention to Hypatia.
If Mel Gibson had made a movie like AGORA depicting the Jews like AGORA depicts Cyril and the Christian leaders in Alexandria, the filmmakers of AGORA would call him a hateful Anti-Semite. While it is true that Cyril's uncle did destroy pagan statues in the pagan temple area of Alexandria in 391 A.D., in reality it was Julius Caesar, way back in 47 or 48 B.C., who accidentally burned down the library when he attacked Alexandria in pursuit of Pompey. Thus, by the time this movie takes place, there was no library of ancient Greek texts in Alexandria!!! Furthermore, there is no evidence whatsoever connecting Hypatia to any library in Alexandria at all! In fact, the movie's contention that Hypatia was connected to the famous library is a lie spread by Carl Sagan in his infamous COSMOS program on TV ("The Mysterious Fate of the Great Library of Alexandria," http://www.bede.org.uk/library.htm)! Also, although Cyril did indeed have a harsh rule in comparison to other Christian leaders before and after him, and did indeed expel the Jews out of Alexandria against the wishes of Orestes, there is no solid evidence that he led a murder campaign against the Jews or that he had any role in the murder of Hypatia. In fact, Hypatia's murder apparently was instigated by a minor layman in Cyril's church named Peter. Apparently, Peter and his cohorts thought, wrongly, that Hypatia was preventing Orestes and Cyril from reconciling with one another.
The question arises, what was Cyril of Alexandria really like? Some Catholic scholars like Alban Butler tend to view Cyril in a more favorable light than Protestant scholars like Philip Scaff (THE HISTORY OF THE Christian CHURCH) or secular scholars like Edward Gibbon (THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, a book full of slander and lies like this movie, AGORA). In reality, Cyril probably was too harsh in his rule and did not always live according to his faith, but some of his theological works and efforts helped to support some important theological doctrines established by the Bible, the Word of God. That said, it becomes clear in researching the real history that the filmmakers have invented many lies about the history in AGORA so they can depict Cyril and the vast majority of Christians in Alexandria at the time in the worst possible light. The biggest false claim is that the fictional burning down of the library in Alexandria is what led to the so-called Dark Ages, another exaggeration or lie against Christianity that atheists and other Non-Christians like to tell.
When it comes down to it, therefore, this well-made movie succumbs to the worst form of propaganda and Anti-Christian bigotry.
The Love Guru (2008)
Movie Should Be Called "The Perverted Sex Guru"
This movie should be called "The Perverted Sex Guru." It contains twice as many obscenities as "Get Smart," constant off-color sexual innuendos, including infantile references to defecation and bestiality, crude homosexual jokes, crude jokes about the sex lives of Christian missionaries, and crude references to male sex organs. There are also lame jokes about names, including Guru Tugginmypuddha and Harenmahkeester. This is the same over-the-top, unfunny direction Myers went in the third of his Austin Powers movies, which is the worst of those three films. Hopefully, moviegoers will reject this kind of infantile comedy. It shows a lack of imagination and a lack of intelligence. The PG-13 rating category has been a terrible idea; it's become just an excuse to dumb down the culture, including the minds of children and teenagers of all ages. America is doomed if its most able artists, including Mike Myers, who does have some talent, continue to push the envelope like this, and the MPAA allows them to do it.
The Deadly Affair (1967)
Very Good Spy Thriller
This is actually a very good spy thriller. It's one of my favorites.
The movie is suspenseful, the action is good for its time, and the acting is excellent. Some may find it too slow for today's tastes, but action, spectacle and a really fast pace don't help a movie if there's not an interesting plot and story, with well developed characters. If you watch the movie with that proviso, you should enjoy it. It is, however, from a John Le Carre novel, so it's a more cerebral thriller, but that's good. Thus, the movie belongs in the category of THE IPCRESS FILE, THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD and THE ANDERSON TAPES rather than James Bond.
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Great Movie
This version is simply marvelous. You can't compare it to a miniseries (that's unfair), nor necessarily to the book. The acting is superb (including the two leads), the photography is wonderful, the screenplay is brilliant, and the tracking shots are amazing. I laughed and was very moved. Although the dialogue was hard to understand at first, this is the best English language movie I've seen so far this year, and I see many movies, including most of the major American independent movies. Joe Nichols, the director, deserves lots of kudos for his work here. If there is any justice, this version will pick up some significant Oscar nominations.
Bee Season (2005)
Bland
This movie was bland. Richard Gere was really miscast and unconvincing; Binoche was just weird, and the ending was incomprehensible to me and to the people sitting next to me, whom I did not know and who probably have different taste from me, so it wasn't just me.
There are so much deeper, more provocative and more uplifting things to say about religion, spiritual experience and theology, not to mention family dynamics. I suspect that, considering this book, if you want to read a really great, provocative, powerful contemporary female novelist, read the work of Connie Willis instead (LINCOLN'S DREAMS, THE DOOMSDAY BOOK and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG).
Palindromes (2004)
Piece of Junk
PALINDROMES is a piece of junk; an artsy fartsy compilation of disjointed scenes and characters for people of disturbed, vacuous minds. There is not much point to the story, and the movie violates several essential rules of feature scriptwriting. For example, the premise of the movie is murky at best, and the characterizations and direction are simple-minded, at best. The episodic nature pf the story needs to be tightened, a lot, and the use of different people to play the 13-year-old protagonist is pretentious. Top that off with an offensive story that seems to justify pedophilia and bigotry, and you a big loser of a movie.