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7/10
Neat music...
28 June 2007
I agree with many comments, the acting can be atrocious at times. But that wasn't the focus of this film. The fact that there's rock songs and artists performing every few minutes is proof of that. So while the acting and plot are weak, it's a great movie to watch for all the different music acts of the 1950s. Pretty cool. Tuesday Weld is cute and her nemesis is enough to hate, even beyond the poor acting skill. She's a conniving little beast and has no qualms about getting the guy she wants, even when it's obvious he doesn't like her. I wasn't impressed with the singing of "Baby" though. I've heard kids sing and do just fine. She was too annoying sounding. Was she actually a big thing at this time? Her voice grated. My three year old doesn't always keep in tune, but he sings better and has a clearer voice. Even taking into consideration the graininess of the soundtrack, she was harsh. Oh well. It's still a film worth watching.
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10/10
Magnificent Tear-Jerker
15 March 2007
This is one of our favorite films and we were thrilled when we found the region 2 DVD for it. My husband talked about this film for years, since we saw it while in college. We just watched it again tonight and I was bawling while my husband sat glued to the screen. Even our three year old son was interested in the beauty of "Garden" as he called it. This is definitely one of our favorites.

One of the funniest characters, though a small role, is the estate's gardener. He's the same actor who plays Filch in the Harry Potter films. Except for one scene where the little brother appears, which probably makes sense in the book, everything flowed wonderfully in this film. We highly recommend this film.
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Amazing... (Slight spoilers)
13 September 2003
Warning: Spoilers
This film was absolutely amazing. It was incredibly sickening how these aboriginal families were torn apart to clean out the mixed bloods or half-castes. This even continued until 1970. At the end of the film I needed to know when this horrible law was repealed and was sickened to find out it was so recently. Didn't these people see they were no better than the Nazis? How could they have been so oblivious that they were doing ethnic cleansing? The worst part was that even though the girls escaped, there was no repreive. Even the one who had wed and had children was taken back. They made a 1500 mile trip on foot and were taken right back into captivity. I honestly don't think we even pull that garbage with escaped animals.

Another part that was so sick, was the one girl they stayed with on the farm. Here was a girl who had gone through the whitening education and was now a domestic servant. But what was she really? A slave. She wasn't brought into society, but was given to a sick middle age man to rape. You could see her fear, but what could she do? Nothing. She wasn't whitened as much as the system claimed. Again, this film was amazing. It was really great to see the two women at the end. It gave a final understanding of their absolute strength.

Some people have said this film is dull and is too focused on the girls. Yes, but then it is their story. Don't watch this is you only like stupid comedies or high action films. This film is for those with a brain and are strongly moved by such subjects.
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Wonderful now as it was when it started...
30 January 2003
I read some of the negative comments of others. I'm not religious, but there's nothing wrong with some sappy morals. I grew up watching this show, as well as reading the books. One week every month, my friends and I had a Little House on the Prairie week. On all my school assignments I would write my name as Laura Ingalls. My teacher actually liked the idea and supported and played along with our fun. Sure, the series only took a little from the books. However the same moral fiber was there.

I don't think Michael Landon was the total focus of the show. In fact, I thought Laura played the biggest role. Even then, the main characters weren't always the focus. This was a show that allowed it's lead actors to step back and give time to the small players. I know I'll have my children watch this too.
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6/10
Yes and No
28 September 2002
I absolutely adore historical movies from ancient and medieval ages. After all, I'm pursuing a Masters in this history, and later a Doctorate. This movie had some wonderful moments, such as the joust scenes and the moments with the "Black Prince". However, I couldn't fully enjoy this movie. I would get lost in the historical moments, then my stomach would be wrenched out when there were any anachronisms and there were many. The historian in me cringed when there was modern rock music played and acknowleged by the characters in the movie. I was looking forward to some nice medieval and pastoral music. I also cringed at the outfits worn by the princess. They were obvious 1980's style clothing and hair. Not at all becoming, besides being historically inaccurate. I don't mean to be a downer, but if you're a true historian, this movies hits you in the gut quite a few times after you get into the good parts. Plus, from the romantic standpoint, I really think the knight ended up with the wrong and fickle girl. I will concede, that every director has his own interpretations and it seems that the public liked this film, so to each his own. Overall, I give this movie about 5-6 starts.
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The Westerner (1934)
It was cute...
18 July 2002
I just wanted to say, this was actually a nice little movie. I'm not too keen on Western movies, but I rather liked this one. Don't have much to say, it just came across as a nice old fashioned good guy saves the day type of film.
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10/10
AMAZING!!!
15 February 2002
This was a truly amazing film. TCM just played this along with four others for Valentine's Day. While "Camille" (What was with Nazimova's hair?), "The Eagle", "Four Horsemen", and "Conquering Power" were all good, "Son of the Sheik" was the best for Valentine's Day. The pure raw sensuality that Valentino portrayed was exciting. I've only been into the silent films for the past fours years, and as I'm only 22, one would think I have no appreciation for "old" people. However, this film had me online for a few hours finding pictures of Valentino in this film. HUBBA HUBBA!!! It really is a shame he didn't live longer. He very well could have made talkies, as the song I heard him record sounded lovely.
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Good, but needs improvement...
13 February 2002
The ideas are there, but the cast definitely needs work. They seem to be too new to the acting scene, and their lines are coming off to confused. Their body movements are also still a little unnatural. Some of the jokes are lacking as well. In time this should get better. It already seems better than the first episode.
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1/10
WHAT?!?!?!
27 January 2002
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! Back in 1966 Woody Allen made the film "What's Up Tiger Lily?" He took a full-fledged Japanese movie and wiped out the sound-track. Then he put in his own sound with voice overs and everything. IT WAS RATHER FUNNY!!! Kung Pow took a Chinese film and trashed the sound-track. Then HORRIBLE voices that aggravate your ears after a while, were placed in. About 4 modern characters were integrated into the film, and a whole slew of "potty" jokes were inserted into the dialogue. Even the jokes weren't funny for bathroom humor. The flashes between characters back and forth became extremely annoying with the sounds added. The female romantic character from the original film's voice was done by a man using a "female" voice and she always said "ee-oo-ee-oo-ee" at the end of her lines. The last time she said this it was dragged out WAY too long. The commercials for this film made it look like something along the lines of "Zoolander." Basically a fun mindless movie. However the commercials were more entertaining than the film. When those scenes were put into context they lost all their humor. Also, certain attempts at intelligent jokes were really jokes overplayed, like the "Lion King's" face in the clouds. All I can say, is what was the director/main star thinking? When he sat down to look at his final print, did he honestly enjoy it? This film isn't even good for children, as the simple jokes are interspersed with swear words. One last time... DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!
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Good, but needs improvement... Also spoilers below...
18 November 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I'm 22 and started reading the books last year at 21. The first three books I finished each in one day respectively. The fourth took me two days, as I do go to college and do have to do work at times. Now I'm a fast reader by nature, but these really kept me enthralled. I remembered almost every detail afterwards they were so good.

I went to see this on Saturday with my Mom and little sister. My mom not having read the books probably liked it the most for it's cute appeal. Obviously, they had to leave certain parts out and condense others, or this would have been an 8-hour movie as one said. While I enjoy long movies and miniseries, I can understand how kids would get fidgety. But they should have made better decisions on what to keep and what to cut.

Peeves was a disappointing miss. The whole dragon adventure with the whole smuggling bit would have been great to see. I was rather looking forward to it. Since when did Hermione fix Harry's glasses? Last I knew he had them with the tape through the four books. What was up with Madame Hooch's eyes? I thought she was supposed to be normal looking.

The characters definitely weren't developed enough like another person commented. I love Alan Rickman, but he was definitely subdued. He even seemed to smile at Harry in an almost gentle way at times. NO!!! He hates Harry, remember?

I can understand condensing the train ride, but to keep the whole dragon theme, they didn't need the part about Harry letting Hedwig out around the grounds for the panoramic views. That wasted a bit of time.

Again, there definitely needed to be more of a connection between all the characters to get us to understand and feel for them more. We also missed out on friendships with Neville, Seamus, and Lee. There also was not enough of Draco and his gang. They do play a fair size part in the stories. They never even played up on the whole fear of Voldemort. People freak when Harry says his name. In the film, even Hermione was using it casually.

Someone also complained that the children actors talked with too many pauses. I think that will go away with time. They are new to acting, and need to be tweaked. I can definitely say though, the Quidditch match was really cool. It was also cool that they had the paintings move in the background, even when they weren't being brought to people's attentions. As I said before, it was good, but it needs work.
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10/10
Magnificient
8 October 2001
I had seen the 1940 movie with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier about 4 years ago. That got me interested in the book. After I read that I saw the differences and while I still love the old film, I love it for it's beautiful scenes and clothes. Now I have finally seen a film that is accurate (which I love accuracy). It's perfect!!! Colin Firth was a wonderful Mr. Darcy. It was weird to see him smile so openly at the end of the film, but I loved his sour countenance throughout the whole film. The young lady who played Elizabeth Bennet was wonderful too. Sometimes I couldn't tell exactly what her character's mood was, but she was still good overall. I am applying to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Pride and Prejudice is one film I would be most honored to perform in if I succeed in acting. I've looked forward even more to playing Elizabeth after watching this version. Heck, there was a BBC production in 1985 and 1995. Only 4 more years until 2005. Maybe they'll keep up the pattern and I could get the role.
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Good story but ruined...
28 November 2000
The play was pretty good to watch. However, having so many people in the chorus was very annoying. So many voices suddenly pipe in and take away from all the drama of the story, and make it just look foolish. If this chorus wasn't there, I feel the film would have been very good. Regardless of the spartan set they used.
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Cute, but not cute enough...
4 October 2000
I love old movies, so that's why I probably watched the whole thing. I agree with another comment I read. It's Gone With The Wind on drugs. The characters turn double faced quite often. One moment Ra-ru seems cold and possibly evil. The next he's one of the white guys singing a sea shanty. (Which had bad dubbing. Potier obviously didn't sing baritone.) Yvonne De Carlo's character hates being a slave, but doesn't realize that if Clark Gable hadn't bought her, she'd probably be somebody's cheap trick. She's very ungrateful. The Southern accents also aren't very stable. Especially with the main slave and De Carlo's. It's very colorful though.
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Men... (1985)
10/10
Wonderful Movie
14 November 1999
I watched this for my German film class. It was very funny. It also showed the level of immaturity men have, compared to women in certain situations. Julius was fanatical with the idea of getting his wife back from the "other man".
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10/10
GROOVY BABY!!!
14 June 1999
Maybe I'm just partial to these swinging 60's movies... but I LOVED THIS ONE!!! It was just as funny as the first one and Austin was still full of himself without his mojo.
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The Mummy (1999)
6/10
Not tooooo bad
14 June 1999
The plot was very lacking and the acting could definitely have been better...but the special effects kicked butt!!! And there were a number of humorous scenes.
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