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Reviews
Manifest (2018)
Familiar but fun
I have high hopes for this program with Robert Zemeckis
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
It seems EVERYBODY is missing the point
Perhaps it is in the perspective of looking back in time on this thriller, that has the advantage of fresher perspectives and recent history to more accurately see what Kubrick was stating.
It is funny to see cinema aficionados develop theories of metaphors and allegory, so convoluted and complex. They are the people with Eyes Wide Shut.
The TRUTH of this cinema masterpiece, is hidden in plain sight! Woven intricately throughout this film are the themes and representations of a group said to influence almost all of Hollywood.
They are said to be sexual predators, using woman like sex slaves, the imagery of the movie. Today we have the benefit of Harvey Weinstein and scores of other people outed from the 'ME TOO" Movement, with impropriety woven through every level in Hollywood.
The imagery in Eyes Wide Shut is that of the rumored "ILLUMINATI". It isn't coincidence that the Orgy at the Mansion, is filled with Pentagrams, devil masks, rebuking Christian ideals with Pentagram stars on the Christmas tree. The Illuminati are as real as the yearly Event in Bohemian Grove, filled with politicians, rock and rappers, Hollywood movers and shakers, caught on camera worshipping an Owl totem and Baal, a Devil figure.
The scene of that Orgy with all the nudity, is a representation of the Illuminati orgies, from costume to the Rothschild inspired mansion.
More interesting in retrospect is Kubrick's heart attack, which allowed Warner Brothers to edit 24 minutes out of the film, as Kubrick had a contract of full artistic control. It is said to have contained the lurid scenes of human sacrifice, and developed the character dancing with Nicole Kidman as the man in the red robe at the Orgy. Rainbows, pedophilia, and magic are throughout the movie, more Illuminati themes.
In the final scene, at the toy store, the board game of magic with a Pentagram, and the fact that the daughter seems to go off unnoticed with two older men looking back at Cruise and Kidman, harkens to the black magic and pedophilia, said to be part of Illuminati practices.
In plain sight in the movie are the mask of a pyramid and the all-seeing eye of Horace.
If you think none of this can be possible, Look at the back of your dollar bill where you will find the all-seeing eye, the Pyramid, and under both the Latin phrase which translates into NEW WORLD ORDER.....hidden in plain sight.
The Equalizer (2014)
How many times can you say "WOW"
My memory of "The Equalizer", was a late 80's television series of an older British actor named Edward Woodward, who specialized in helping people with seemingly unsolvable problems.
The late Richard Jordan, taken too early, round out the cast. It was a favored show.
This "EQUALIZER", with Denzel Washington, is no retread, but a completely different take on a man who if you were the opposition, would never want to challenge.
Many times it has been said this is like the good guy version of "Training Day". The only legitimate comparison is that gifted director Antoine Fuqua, was the director of each, and already had his main star's persona in his head, so 100% of Denzel's skills were on view.
This movie is not formulaic. Perhaps some of you never met the Russian Mafia from the comfort of your 9-5 jobs, but they are every bit the savage, seemingly unconcerned with consequences personalities, that would affect any human, not a sociopath without conscience or sense of morality.
Fuqua uses diametric opposites in order to sharpen this INTENSE, as accurate a word as I can muster, for this movie, which makes no compromises.
You have Denzel Washington's character, never fully explained, but clearly a former special forces commando. I go with NSA over Delta Force or Seals, as he shows a calculating non-remorse for the job he has taken on, avenging the beating of a Russian Prostitute who was left for dead, and to whom he had a common late night eatery as a bonding point.
Like Clark Kent, by day , McCall is an everyday "Home Mart" employee, well-liked for his hard work and concern for his fellow employees. But, like Bruce Wayne, when the former commando emerges, he takes no prisoners, leaves no walking wounded. Still, unlike any other action movie, his deeds all seem credible and believable.
In the end his fellow workers see the real Robert McCall, at the edge of your seat conclusion , the last 15 minutes of what turns out in the end, to be an epic movie in scope. He literally goes to the head of the snake after an unforgettable duel in the Home Mart, which might as well be the main street in any Western.
Always true to his sense of JUSTICE, good is good, bad is trash to be taken out, we are treated to a new genre sub-category, the super action film, an ordinary man, capable of extraordinary acts.
10 of ten for a can't miss winner, I guarantee you will like.
Almost Human (2013)
Excellent Science Fiction
I can hear the original pitch now, "I Robot meets Dragnet". However it was done, this idea morphed into a complete suspension of disbelief, making for excellent science fiction.
What makes this show so compelling, is that every detail, from the "look" of the venues, the cop's headquarters, the aerial views of a City 35 years into the future, the weaponry, 85% of near perfect, look as if they and the technology fit the times exactly. There are always a few difficulties, mainly the vehicles in background shots, but when you get to that level of picayune complaint, you have succeeded.
The back story, which reminds you of "Blade Runner" or "I Robot", is that crime and the criminal underworld are so tech sophisticated, the only way to protect the law-abiding populace from them, is with a pairing of a human and an android cop. The newer model androids are the "Cybermen" of "Doctor Who", the BBC classic, in that they have no emotions, are robots of pure calculating logic.
But, that only serves to show the distinction between the new MX units, without emotions of compassion and empathy, with the "DRN" unit, called "Dorn", which is very much the "Sonny" character in "I Robot", but even more human in appearance and emotional range, because he was born with the capacity to feel emotions.
The buddy aspect parallels Will Smith's hatred of Robots to a more toned down dislike by lead actor, to acceptance, the human part of the team, Detective John Kennex, played perfectly by Karl Urban, a large screen actor, making an impact on this TV drama.
Karl Urban has always been a great actor, whether you put him in "Priest", "The Chronicles of Riddick", "The Bourne Supremacy" "Red", and the young version of Dr. McCoy on the new "Star Trek" movie series. Because of his bi-lingual and parental heritages, he can affect any tone or accent, but is PERFECT CASTING for this show.
The production values are top notch, the CGI seamless, and both shows aired are better than movie screen Science Fiction of late.
I also have to mention the excellent acting of "android DRN", actor Michael Ealy, a Broadway/off-Broadway standout, as well as numerous supporting roles in the past. He is given the opportunity to really act, and the combination of the individual parts leads to a 10 rating for an instant classic of the future.
You will not be disappointed!!
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Oh, the ironies
Zero Dark Thirty, an ambiguous title, never explained, is a metaphor for the movie itself.
Beyond the sheer heroism of the Seal team responsible for the ultimate assault, a product of superior men, hand-picked for a team which is called upon for only the most dangerous pursuits, everything else is as ambiguous as the title.
Never before has celluloid been as TWO dimensional as this movie was depicted. We learn nothing of the main characters, a full two-thirds of the movie setting up the eventual assault through the exploits of a heroine who speaks like Rambo, but looks like a "Bond" girl.
It is incredulous to believe that she was recruited out of high school. Is this where the modern CIA finds their best applicants. Did she excel in showing a propensity for killing, or as a dogged pursuer who was a human "bloodhound"? Don't worry, it is never explained.
The ultimate capture seems more a product of dumb luck, than any organized plan. In fact, there are moments we are reminded that the actual hunt promised by Bush, was long forgotten, if it weren't for the actions of one woman who would not stop looking. It was almost as if she was autistic, an idiot savant with one skill, never giving up, but not for any reason that is explained. Jauvert in Les Miserables at least gave his reasons for his single-minded pursuit.
If anything, this movie is one of ironies. No one doubts the malevolence of a man who would plot to kill so many Americans, and did. Then again, this movie never went into the rich fodder of moral ambiguity in the manner that that the Bush Administration ginned up false evidence to turn a terrorist act, a nation-less act, into a war that also killed thousands of innocents in Iraq.
You learned nothing about Bin Laden, his motives, his rationale. You never saw the President, just the liaisons between the CIA, pictured as almost the Keystone cops, hardly inspiring.
The movie was a cardboard cutout, the scenes depicted in chronological order like a security tape with the running time at the bottom. It had no pacing, skipped all over the world and picked mere dates in time, when things happened, no more than a cinematic scrapbook called, "How I killed Bin-Laden".
What is lost so ironically in this movie, is the morality that made "Lincoln" sear the pain of moral ambiguity into anguish. Here, there are just "drone-like" CIA personnel, doing a job, never stopping to see the conflicts between the Geneva Convention, the War Crimes we punished after WWII, and their bullying tactics, ordained by men like Dick Cheyney, as heartless as the movie was.
Cheyney, Bush, Rumsfeld and the Neocons turned a national tragedy into a war for plunder while our Nation was mourning and confused. Movies like the "Green Zone" with Matt Damon have shown how false the intel was to support a war against a Country that administration wanted to wage so badly, only needing a "Pearl Harbor-like excuse" to exploit, and kill innocent civilians, and countless brave American soldiers for false WMD.
The real bad guy was killed off here. What did we learn? The CIA hires, and then "retires" it's no longer needed operatives. I'd say, just ask Hussein and Bin Laden, both on the CIA payroll, but they were retired by "The Company", permanently. Oh, the ironies....
Five stars as a great Mock documentary. No passion, no feelings, except a numb feeling leaving the theater.
Unknown (2011)
Incomprehensible
Maybe I am missing something here, as clearly my impression of this film is far different than its current rating would suggest. It is ludicrous, at times incoherent, and only second in the personal hall of infamy for incredulous nonsense to the all-time worst in that category, "2012".
In 2012 you had a protagonist who could escape mere building collapses by flying through them, with the help of his wife's new husband who had no real previous flight experience. He could outrun crevices which in real-life move just under sonic speed on land, by driving on the neighbor's lawn.
In "Unknown", a film by an unknown writer and director, with big name leads, you have a supposed master spy who starts this whole mess of a movie by forgetting his super secret assassin spy briefcase. Is it irony or absurdity when a great actor in Frank Langella deadpans to Liam Neeson, "you were my best agent". I guess that doubt would enter anyone's mind if they left top secret plans in a briefcase you wouldn't forget, if you were a super spy assassin, in the cart at the airport.
It only gets worse from there.
When is the next Jason Bourne movie? That is fiction which plays out as realistic. "Unknown" is pure wait for cable tripe.
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010)
Wall Street Wins Again
They say life is stranger than fiction, and no place is that more evident than in New York City, the greed capital of the World.
New York City, as one who has just left after 14 years may be a great place to visit, but you would never want to live there. For those who walked out of "The Matrix", when it was cutting edge and told a story of a world where people lived in a fiction, and couldn't distinguish reality, it seemed a mere conceit, a great means of storytelling. For those of us who have never lost our objectivity, which means we came to NYC with minds open, impervious to the assault on logic and normality that makes this city the real life Matrix, this Morality tale in which a well-intentioned and flawed man is run out of town by the bankers and the money marketeers, is business as usual.
And make no mistake about that that. New York City is a corporate state and corporate town. It is Corporate Central, and if you think the people that wreaked havoc with the average American with AIG , which is New York based, and the home of greed and financial control by CORPORATISTS, will shuffle off gently into that good night, then you don't understand corporate politics.
It is difficult to look at a calendar and note it is 2010, not 1692. You would think the sexual peccadilloes of a government official, compared to lying to the public, or initiating a war to benefit the Corporate elite, would pale in comparison, but this movie makes it clear that Wall Street , the true power of this Country, will not be muted or restrained or bullied by any person with the integrity to conduct that fight. Eliot Spitzer isn't Michael Moore, but he did crack down on those who were extracting money from the middle class, and tried to stop the power elite.
For the most part I think Spitzer was 80% candid, which is more than enough to understand him in complete context. More clear were his adversaries, and the political gain they would receive by removing this pesky governor who was raining on the usual business as usual Wall Street Way.
Unless you are some sort of theological hypocrite, this movie frames clearly the singular unimportance of and sexcapades that have existed in politics as far back as Washington, documented with Lincoln, and certainly contemporaries in FDR, JFK, and Clinton. I don't care what my elected officials do in the bedroom, and think the hypocrisy of the rabid right is on full display here, with their almost laughable preoccupation with legislating morality, all the while being the true authors of wars, pain, and misery, and looking to take down anyone or thing which threatens their domination and control.
In that sense, this movie is a cautionary, once again, in which an inspired documentary maker tries to get the public to look beyond the facts as Fox would report it, and THINK about the MOTIVES of the people who were so intent on bringing this person down.
Why is this important? People need to regain their equilibrium and see the reality hiding in plain site. Wake up before you're just like the New Yorkers who see no problem with paying $2800 for a one bedroom apartment, on a street with no trees, $3.50 for a thimble of orange juice, and believe it is normal. I think having lived there, and come back from Oz, this story is a sad one, not only because it shows the strength of corporate power, but the idiocy of a manipulated and malleable people, who are but lambs and sheep to be led to slaughter.
Wake up everyone, especially New Yorkers.
RED (2010)
A Comedy Action Love Story Willis Special
From the moment Bruce Willis became the perfect action hero in "Die Hard", he has been an audience favorite when overcoming insurmountable odds, while barely getting bruised for his efforts. In this turn, Bruce isn't a cop, but a retired CIA agent, who some unknown force is looking to liquidate. As in past films, swarms of bad supposed good guys come after him. As always, by stealth or by force, Willis outguns or is no match for whomever is sent to get him.
First, it is a CIA "hit squad". Then, the always good Karl Urban ( "Chronicles of Riddick", "The Bourne Supremacy" ) is put on the case, and the cat and mouse game unfolds as Willis seeks to learn why he has been targeted for assassination.
Unlike the Bourne movies, always deadly serious, this movie actually successfully combines comedy with action, to create an amusing travelogue set like chapters to a book, by the use of postcards with the location of the next scenario. What sets this movie apart is an eclectic mixture of actors you would never expect to see in a Willis action movie. Joining Willis in his quest are no less than Morgan Freeman, John Malkovitch, Helen Mirren, and Brian Cox, other retired agents and Cox as the ex-KGB agent. The former nemesis is now a friend, and those who should be friends, his ex-CIA employers, are now the bad guys.
Malkovitch is the scene stealer every time he is on the screen, and his LSD induced mania, described tongue in cheek by Willis, is the result of a past CIA experiment in which Malkovitch was dosed for eleven years. The paranoid ex-agent is usually right when he senses danger, but is still remarkably efficient and proficient, even in his crazed state.
Mary Louise Parker is the innocent caught up in the whirlwind of Willis' hunt for clues, and becomes the hunted along with him. She joins the zany bunch of elder agents by circumstance at first, then by choice. Willis, a bored retiree has a long distance crush for the government pension girl, who doesn't realize his former line of work, and who is forced into the fray because as Willis says, "they know I like you".
Mayhem, explosions, full scale attacks by huge forces are still no match for the indestructible hero, though there is a sacrifice made, and some blood shed, by some of the Willis cohorts.
This isn't rocket science, but a great date movie, a good time, and most important, worth the investment in a ticket. The last time I could say that was "Inception". Look for the cameos of Ernest Borgnine and Richard Dreyfuss. An 8 out of 10, for perfect execution of a Willis reprisal and revival. Go see, and have fun too.
Inception (2010)
Redefining reality one layer at a time
Where to begin to discuss a movie where only superlatives apply? Acting, brilliant, especially the principals, DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, and incredible supporting turns by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe.
At once, idiosyncratic, sweeping, thrilling, and as layered as a master's chess match, Christopher Nolan has excelled in his sheer brilliance at redefining cinema, and the unfolding of a story as nuanced as the perfect acting within it. In a way, this is fitting, for this is a movie within a movie, realities within realities.
There may be a handful of detractors, but this movie deserves the praise, the rating it already reflects on IMDb, and the acclaim it is receiving. In a way, it has the feel of "Memento", to the extent that time is a conceit within the movie. However, despite glorious cinematography, global locations, and state of the art effects, this movie never insults its audience, and doesn't rely on any resolution that isn't firmly a part of the established parameters of the story.
I don't believe in waxing poetic over a movie, unless it is a deserving classic, presents some thought provoking commentary, or is something that has never been seen before. The latter is so rare in cinema, that such a movie usually comes to define a generation, or mark a moment in film history. This is that movie. This is the "Star Wars" of this new era in film-making. Once upon a time George Lucas reinvented the science fiction genre, and made cinema history in the process. Christopher Nolan has matched this newly imagined movie making, and in doing so, has set the bar extremely high for anyone looking to combine action, drama, thriller, mystery, love story, espionage and re-imagined reality.
After walking out of this movie, you may question what is, or isn't, real. Are you awake, or dreaming? Christopher Nolan may cause you to question just what you think you know.
A ten if ever there was one! A must see!!
Tin Man (2007)
My first "AWFUL" rating and well deserved at that!
Reading through the various comments here it is clear to see a definite voting pattern which coincides with one's enjoyment of this miniseries.
Sci-Fi has an uneven history in their movie and original miniseries attempts.Their best programming is usually that which is purchased from the UK ( "Doctor Who" ). This miniseries is plain AWFUL!!! Anyone with a vestige of taste or movie acumen detests this movie. It seems only those who demographically fit in the 17-25 year-old category find this bearable. How else to explain overlooking the fact that the main character is so cloyingly whiny and nasally offensive, unless you happen to affect the same laconic delivery in your own speech? Stilted, wooden as the tin man's true profession, horrible pacing , are only the first clichés that come to mind in describing the amateurish acting and ABSURD plot.
The defenses to this movie by it's "fans" is enough to put logic on it's head. There is nothing "original". If you want to see original or watch good acting in a sci-fi series, watch any "Doctor Who" or "Journeyman". This could only be appreciated by the geek set who watch "Heroes" or other disaffected misfits who find the characterizations familiar.
AWFUL! AWFUL! AWFUL! A first in my voting!
The Dresden Files (2007)
A show finding it's mark
I knew, reading the early reviews, they would be negative. Readers of the books, were all too angry about changes made for the show to actually notice the show they were watching.
It is no surprise, if you look at the comments chronologically, they are better and better. Why? Everyone over-reacted at first and didn't give the producers the time to get the show's chemistry up to speed. Almost intentionally, more of Harry's storyline is darker, full of pitfalls and is letting his magic spill out into the "real world" of close friends.
This should have been obvious. From the outset, the show has used flashbacks that were like a jigsaw puzzle and didn't always fit. As the series has progressed, everything is falling into place.
Paul Blackthorne has grown week to week in his role and Mann's "Bob" is one of the best sidekick characterizations since Mr. Spock.
Purists will always find fault with any video accounting of a book. On the other hand, any fan of good television will wish this show was twice as long. It is a Sci-Fi winner!
Doctor Who: Smith and Jones (2007)
Season Three destined for greatness
I have been watching Doctor Who for twenty-five years now, going back to Jon Pertwee ( Doctor # 3 ). Though Tom Baker and the 1974-1980 years will always be my personal favorite, 2007 and Season Three is destined for possible greatness.
In the new era of Doctor Who, we have added 2007 CGI effects to the campy, but always enjoyable alien monsters. This opening episode introduced us to the Judoon, a mercenary army of rhino-looking creatures with a bounty hunter's vengeance.
They were seeking a "plasmavore", which had taken refuge inside a London Hospital, masquerading as human to protect her identity as well as to feed. The Judoon caught on to this and whisked the hospital to the moon, the better to quarantine their prey and commence the hunt.
Thus, we are introduced to Freema Agyeman, a medical student whose many coincidences put her and The Doctor in close proximity, culminating in a five minute ending pairing her as the new "companion".
Though I have nothing against Billie Piper, I felt her relationship was so close, that Doctor Who became maudlin at times and veered off the established storyline of past companions.
It is clear "Martha Jones" wants to be more, but unrequited love seems to be the tone set from Freema's perfectly played facial gestures as she tries to coax The Doctor into saying she is someone special. By the way, Murray Gold's specially composed "Martha's Theme" is hauntingly beautiful music.
This season will bring us Shakespeare's London and a thirties New York, complete with Daleks. The mysterious Mr. Saxon, whose name also appeared in a "Torchwood" episode, may turn out to be the best surprise of all. As in the previous season's arc of "Bad Wolf", Saxon will appear frequently culminating in the final two-parter which brings back Captain Jack Harkness and ties together the events from his departing the Eccleston era and possibly.....possibly, reintroducing my all-time favorite Doctor nemesis, "The Master" , who may be Mr. Saxon......
Casino Royale (2006)
Best Bond Since Connery
Ian Fleming's James Bond will always be owned by Sean Connery. Though Dr.No is dated as far as effects and style, the passage of 44 years has not diminished the polish and cool charm under fire exuded effortlessly by Connery.
Throughout his successive turns in the role, James Bond was Sean Connery and no latter day Bond, in the minds of traditionalists, could ever be quite as convincing.In his later movies, Connery added a veneer of snappy one-liners and sardonic sarcasm. In Dr. No, we saw the "raw" James Bond, chillingly cold and true to Fleming's vision.
Surprisingly, Daniel Craig has managed to pull off a major coup; he has simultaneously reinvented the Bond franchise, much as Christian Bale has brought back the previous moribund "Batman". Despite the obvious physical differences, these are almost quickly dispersed as you get lost in the character, who is a credible incarnation of the pre-Dr.No Bond, rough around the edges, yet to fully define his character and ultimate evolution to top notch spy and cold killer with a license to kill.
If time were fluid, it would be easy to see the Craig character turn effortlessly into the Connery character in Dr. No. For that, Craig and the screenplay and the director should be commended on doing the best thing possible under the circumstances...give you a "new" James Bond, who is as close to the perfection of Sean Connery as can be obtained.
West Side Story (1961)
Simply one of the best
West Side Story is simply one of the best musicals ever; from the soaring melodies of Leonard Bernstein fused with Jerome Robbins choreography to an old Shakespearian tale updated to another era, it is all a sublime viewing experience.
If viewing this post chronologically, mine would follow that of the previous poster whose lack of NYC knowledge and misunderstanding of the era in which this is filmed contribute to his failed appreciation.
Anyone knows you won't find gangs in Forest Hills Queens; though the West Side is slightly gentrified today, the Spanish Harlem has moved uptown to Washington Heights around the GW Bridge; in 1960 this WAS reality on the West Side of NYC, albeit, without song and dance; then again, this IS a musical ! My only complaint would be Richard Beymer's casting as all the other Principal actors were perfect; but, you can't help but feel all the pathos for his character at the end of the movie no matter how many times you view it.
This movie is in my own personal top ten list and I suspect I am not alone in that opinion.
Equilibrium (2002)
A riveting thrill ride in underrated gem !
Labeling this riveting sci-fi film a 10 is easy enough, but to fully describe the sublime experience of viewing is the more difficult option.
From incredible and perfectly paced acting to imaginative and conceivable new forms of gun-fighting, this Kurt Wimmer film is both cult masterpiece and viewable again and again. Like the Rocky Horror Picture Show, this film never loses appeal no matter how many times it is watched.
Christian Bale is the main protagonist in the role of John Preston, a member of a future world police state where emotions are outlawed and the enforcers are part samurai warrior and martial arts gunfighter known as the TetraGrammaton; these "clerics" dispatch sense offenders, those who deliberately cease dosing with an emotion-dampening agent known as "Prozium" with moves from a unique convention known as the "gun Kata". The originality of the gun Kata is visually effective and far more believable than the computer generated effects and physics implausible "Matrix" stunts. Bale's slow conversion from a merciless unfeeling top cleric into the leader of the Resistance movement is credible and muted, right down to the anarchistic smile he shows to close the film.
Bale has rapidly become a rising star who never ceases to amaze with his ability to demonstrate incredible ranges in emotions from American Psycho to Batman Begins;however, this portrayal is still my favorite performance as he combines physical agility with deep emotions muted by drugs first and then the necessity to keep a clear focus to achieve the end of a totalitarian regime.
Emily Watson is superb in a minor, though important role as is Taye Diggs, Angus MacFayden and Sean Bean. Indeed, the latter's reading of a few lines by Keats, "but I being poor have only my dreams...I spread my dreams beneath you...tread softly because you are treading on my dreams" has to be one of the most effective uses of poetry in a movie and underscores the plot line, being picked up again in the climatic ending of the movie.
Like the original Flight of The Phoenix, North By Northwest and West Side Story ( all facets of my disparate movie tastes ), I can watch this movie over and over again and always find pleasure in the repetition.
So,if you have never seen this gem,find for yourself the awesome results of great acting , good plot ( "Brave New World" meets "1984" )and great pacing resulting in the movie version of a thrill ride....you'll keep going back for more!
Scorcher (2002)
Awful as it gets
Never has a movie been more deserving of a "1" than this mess.
Flu can keep you up at night and this "movie" showed promise for ten seconds...after that I was watching in the manner that you can't avoid looking at a train wreck.
Implausible logic, actors walking through an embarrassment, stock footage...was it that important that this movie be made? In fact, the more interesting story would be the back story as to how this mess made it to film at all.
I always wondered what actors are doing on their free weekends and this movie looks as amateurish as the ones I made with my friends with our Super 8 cameras , except ours had a plot and a theme.
The locations were cheap and cheesy, but you knew you were in trouble the moment Andrews AFB, from which our intrepid party launched this mission, had the western desert mountains as a backdrop...it didn't seem as if anyone cared, including this viewer.
Recommendation: Anything is better than the minutes wasted to watch this horrid picture.
Batman Begins (2005)
Thrilling action adventure movie
Evaluating this movie within the context of the action/adventure genre leaves no question as to it's merits or excellence.
From the supremely talented collective cast, including my favorite actor Christian Bale, whose turn in Equilibrium and American Psycho left no doubt he would set the standard for all Batman movies, to the thrill a minute last hour, it contained everything summer fare should be...it is a blockbuster that delivers and is every bit the contemporary to the "Raider's of The Lost Ark", an iconic action movie.
I really think that the dissection of this movie by cinema buffs is overly analytical as it's faithfulness to the action drama and superb acting are the parameters which matter, not how tight the fight sequences were shot or the casting Of Katie Holmes, which parenthetically was not as bad as this board led me to believe.
My all-time standard for miscasting is Sofia Coppola in "Godfather III" who brought the film to a halt every time she was on the screen; sure Holmes is young, but she was appealing.
All in all, this is a solid 10 star movie that leaves you anticipating the sequels.
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Oh, the irony of it all....
What a bitter irony indeed.
When this movie came out, the Republicans and their backers did all they could to decry the "manipulation" of director Michael Moore's film , Fahrenheit 911. The right wing spin machine known as Fox News, talking head Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity with mock indignation labeled Moore as unpatriotic and a liar as well. Mocked again at the Republican Convention , Moore was made a focal point to discredit him and by extension, his film.
When I heard all this hue and outcry, Bill O' Reilly and his oxymoron No-Spin Zone assertions, the Truth was known to but a few. As I write this brief commentary there have been more revelations in the last week that not only show the pinpoint accuracy of everything Moore has to say, but chillingly exposes the duplicitous Government whose own NEOCON agenda has been allowed to pervert the very essence of the Democracy and freedom we all believed in.
George Bush amply demonstrated in his first debate with John Kerry that the "aloofness" exposed in this film is nothing more than the TRUE Bush, a man of little conscience and intelligence; his fumbling for words or to express ideas contrasted sharply by the President he replaced, a Rhodes scholar in Bill Clinton, leaves anyone with a modicum of intelligence begging for his removal from office this November by a Democratic victory. Those 9 minutes reading "My Pet Goat" and being unable to act were revelations of the emptiness of thought and lack of leadership betrayed in that first debate with Kerry. Moore was right all along.
Bush lied...that was almost made to sound treasonous and claims leveled at Michael Moore; two days ago Bremer admitted the U.S. didn't have sufficient troops on the ground to occupy and keep the peace in Iraq, charges denied by Bush and his cronies...the CIA and independent 911 Commission, a body that Bush opposed, has determined there were absolutely no links between 911 and Iraq or nuclear capability, the very reasons Bush is seen in archival footage arguing as reasons for the invasion of Iraq.
I do not want my country to use the Japanese Empire of WWII as a model for "Democracy". The sheer magnitude of the TRUTH from the false case for war, Halliburton, The Saudi's and the Bush Family makes anything Moore said in May 2004 not only relevant and accurate, but now seems to be merely scratching the surface as the remainder of the TRUTH to be told is ready to come spewing forth, to topple an Administration that is more "regime" than elected voice......but oh the irony again...he really wasn't elected in the first place was he.
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Engaging movie that was full of suspense and held interest throughout.
I just finished watching this movie which I saw on DVD because I missed it when it was at the theater ( such is life when you have a newborn ).
I found it thrilling and suspenseful, whether or not it accurately reflects examples of the "Chaos Theory" or "Butterfly Effect".
Any good movie engages the viewer and allows for the willing suspension of disbelief for it to be effective and though slow at it's start for the purpose of setting the stage, it takes off and the pace doesn't slow until the end credits.
I thought Ashton Kutcher did a serviceable enough job in a lead role and I always like the under-used Melora Walters who I thought was great in every movie she has been in since "Magnolia" ( Evan's mother ).
So, throw away the textbooks and the theories and get wrapped into the suspense of multiple time lines and their parallel outcomes.
Personally, I don't believe Time Travel will ever take place because the proof of it would already be evident in a world, though even if seamlessly changed, still remains remarkably the same.
The original "Time Machine" with Rod Taylor" ( not the horrible remake with Jeremy Irons ) still stands as the best time travel movie of the lot, though this entry is far more complex and intricate than George Pal's masterpiece.
Watch it and have some fun!