Reviews

This is a movie unlike any other I've seen. I was transfixed and mesmerized throughout the entire movie, and 100 percent invested in not only the final outcome, but each scene. The acting throughout was convincing, even amongst the child actors, and really emotionally moving. I teared up a lot during this movie. I wish everyone would see it.

The hardest part is knowing the scope and gravity of the child trafficking situation and not feeling able to do anything about it. The border is wide open and thousands of unaccountable children pour in. Who are they? Where are their families? Who will protect them? The Sound of Freedom is absolutely devastating, and if you see only one film this year, make this one it.

This movie is a window into another era. Although overall snappy and dramatic, it was marred by a strange deviation from reality. The lead character, Georgia Hines (Marsha Mason) plays an alcoholic, but in this world Alcholics Anonymous doesn't exist. It's difficult to believe the actress would spend 12 weeks in rehab and that they'd release her to just slide back into the world without the support of AA, which in New York at that time was thriving, with several hundreds of meetings. So it didn't seem to really reflect the realities of alcoholism whatsoever. Toby Hackett has a charming old-world voice that echoed very much that of Jean Arthur. Kristy McNichol is winsome, but again, it's difficult to believe that any daughter of a real alcoholic would have that much devotion to a drunk parent during the teen years. Despite these unrealistic aspects of the disease of alcoholism, the movie nevertheless was engaging and evocative.

Creepy film that shows how Judeo-Christian values will be destroyed (Christmas scene in beginning represents old order, as does the charming, human-scaled small towns destroyed by war and plague) to be replaced by a ruthless technocracy called "progress" by detractors, but in actuality is a new world order where human kindness, comforts, and simple pleasures are replaced by gross conformity and a small-dick preoccupation with reaching the stars, even if it means the end of human natural life. Crowds of tiny humans (useless eaters) swarm the phallic jet that symbolizes the absolute primacy of the New World Order. This is the 1936 version of Klaus Schwab's "zu vill eat ze bugs unt zu vill like it." Note that Klaus Schwab actually has worn a costume that mimics that of cold-blooded space explorer Raymond Massey.

This big creative movie is extremely entertaining and engaging. While the pacing sometimes is slack or uneven, the sheer novelty of half the film being filmed underwater is quite riveting. The cast plays their roles heroically, given the innumerable supernatural trials to which they are subjected. Mere mortals would break quickly under comparable situations.

Michael Biehn steals the first half of the film with his performance as Lt. Coffey. Every shot with him is top gold. He continuously broadcasts a kind of intensity that is at once terrifying and comedic. It's criminal that he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor for this role. The movie is worth watching for Biehn's exhilarating performance alone.

I stumbled upon this film late at night on Youtube. I only watched the first few minutes before having to get to bed, but the next day I realized I had to see more of the actor. I didn't know who he was when I watched the film, but now I know it is Michael Parks. It's hard to ever lose track that you're witnessing the performance of a virtuoso. Yet he was so young! His unmatched timing, underplayed yet deep expression of conflicting emotions, and the striking architecture of his face totally captivated me throughout the film. He does lapse into some Brando-esque speak, especially at the end, but overall he's a grounded and exceptionally masterful actor. The film is solid except perhaps for some lapses in pacing of the plot, but otherwise is richly evocative of America in the 1960s. The music, acting, and cinematography are first rate.

I've watched a lot of film noir, and this one socked me in the jaw. Dana Andrews is the tormented drifter caught in a small California beach town overnight. The plot forms from happenstance; he sees a poster for a small-time psychic reading and latches onto the psychic's partner to pitch a lie that he knows the psychic. It works, and he finds a bed to sleep in. His obsession with waitress Stella is mirrored by all the other men who encounter her -- she seems to hold unshakable interest by men, due to the callous and emotionally brutal way she manipulates and rejects them.

Eric is also an expert manipulator, and he attempts to win Stella by marrying a rich woman to gain her money. These are classic noir tropes but here they work really well, as the characterization, excellent acting by Andres, and plot lines work seamlessly with the gorgeous cinematography to create suspense, absolute immersion, and at the end, a sense of redemption for the characters involved. One of the best noir films ever.

The Coen Bros. are at the height of their powers in this utterly amusing, engaging, and mesmerizing trip through the Hollywood stages of the postwar era that created noble enchantment. Every actor was superb, every scene fascinating and deeply developed and artfully presented. After sitting through a half hour of cheap television advertisements and previews for the worst forms of satanic Hollywood gunk being thrown to the masses today (all of it cartoonish exploitation violence), watching the Coen brothers at work spinning their outlandishly sophisticated magic was a revelation. The irony of so many of the scenes was exceptional in its humor, as, for example, the sumptuous household of the Communists, and the gay undertones of the sailor dance scene. It took me several minutes to compose myself after guffawing uncontrollably during Frances Dormand's cameo appearance. The movie is resplendent with loving homages to classical Hollywood genres of the 4r0s and 50s. Every actor is simply superb and I want to learn a lot more about them after seeing this. Simply outrageously and exceptionally entertaining! Thank you, Coen Brothers, for years of the best movie making out there -- I consider myself lucky to be a part of YOUR era!