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jcrowley-1
Reviews
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Forgiveness is overrated.
Fantastic revenge fantasy. Cool looking brothers, with nothing to lose in life, no attachments or obligations (except friendship and family), can devote their entire energy to ridding society of evil.
I loved it. Rarely watch movies more than once, but this one was fun enough to be worth the time. Homage to Charles Bronson movies, and like the Howard Stern show best enjoyed alone, you will have a great time watching it.
Made in 1999, director Troy Duffy has had trouble getting a sequel made, and his megalomania is documented in 'Overnight' which shows his dark and abusive mean streak. Still, he tells a great story.
Control Room (2004)
one throw-away line reveals the Al Jazeera bias
The Iraqi journalist Ibrahim speaking to Army PR rep Josh Rushing reveals his true self by saying, apropos of nothing, "my wife was raised in Jerusalem and speaks perfect Hebrew." This moment is almost at the end of the 85 minute movie.
Watching this movie, it never occurred to me that Rushing was Jewish; there is nothing in his appearance to indicate that. Maybe his first name? But the Arab journalist reveals that all he sees when he looks at, and speaks to, this earnest military journalist liaison is a Jew.
This moment undermines an otherwise neutral portrayal of Al Jazeera. For an American media story on Al Jazeera's inaccuracies, check out:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2004-04-18-media-mix_x.htm
The Contender (2000)
great cast, weak logic
The most interesting thing about this movie is the casting choices. Sam Elliott, Gary Oldman, and Christian Slater are all seen here in very unusual context. And it works!
Writer/Director Rod Lurie winds up casting his real-life poker buddy (another writer/director) Mike Binder. Binder bears a physical resemblance to Chrisian Slater, but just a bit off. If Slater is Alec Baldwin, Binder is one of the less-handsome, more portly, shorter and balder Baldwins (pick one).
Anyway, the story is just fantastically ridiculous, as a 40ish Senator gets raked over the coals due to a 20-year old story from her college days. Never addressed is how this woman could reach the political heights of becoming a Senator. Yet everybody in the political septic tank of Washington, D.C. gets completely blindsided by the piece of her personal "history." There is a lot of posturing for "doing the right thing", but her dopey choice of risking everything for a principle that doesn't have an upside is the stuff of high school politics, i.e. "The Chocolat War."
Whatever, I liked Lurie's "Deterrence" and I will watch for his upcoming stuff.