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Reviews
The Man from Earth (2007)
Easily one of the best films I've ever seen
And certainly the most thought provoking! The entire movie is basically shot in one room with no violence or special effects but it's like porn for the human soul. Don't want to give too much away but a simple going away get-together for a friend quickly leads to a revelation in which everyone, including us, tumbles down the most epic rabbit hole ever conceived. Careful consideration to history, religion, geography, and science is woven into the fabric of this story and everyone seems believable and their reactions "authentic." In fact, I've always wondered if, in the vast eons of human existence on this earth, one man might have accidentally escaped the heavy hand of time and went unnoticed through the crowd.
Run Hide Fight (2020)
Surprisingly good but hard to find
Grim subject matter and hits a little too close to home for a lot of people to be comfortable but entertaining. I'm not sure high school kid would be as heroic as the lead character or that the young villain would be as smooth a talker as this one but, of course, Hollywood must always exercise a little artistic license and the viewer is obligated to close their eyes and "suspend belief" for the full effect. It's a shame, but not unexpected, that this film has essentially been banned in the United States with no wide stream distribution. I had to pay $140 yearly subscription fee to the Daily Caller just to watch it making it the most expensive film of my life!
Elvis (2022)
A little long but good
I never even heard of this Baz guy, or Austin Butler for that matter but he did a decent job of portraying the King. An attempt was made to dissuade people from the notion that Elvis misappropriated Black culture and exploited their music as he has, many times, been accused of. Instead, we are shown a lifelong bond that Elvis developed with the "Beal Street culture in Memphis and the thriving African American blues scene that existed there, and was something that he went back to, over and over, in his life...and always giving them credit. We're also shown how gullible and unsophisticated Elvis and his family were to have been so easily taken in by a con man almost from day one. And his own father, Vernon Presley, was even more useless than the Colonel. On the other hand, had it not been for the Colonel, Elvis music career mighty have fizzled out quickly and he would have just been an ordinary truck driver all his life and the world would've never known him. I was born in 54 and grew up with Elvis on the radio and movies and it's hard to know how sad he was at the end and how there was absolutely no one there to take care of him. There was a telling scene at the Las Vegas Hilton where Elvis collapsed in a hallway and, as he lay there delirious on the floor, a random woman screamed at his father and manager, "If he was my son, he'd be in a hospital right now!" But instead, Col Parker had Elvis's quack doctor shoot him up with more drugs so that he could be on stage that night because the scumbag Parker had a lot of gambling debts to pay off and had made a secret deal with the resort property to keep Elvis there instead of a world tour he wanted to do. The film editing. It run on a little long at the end and, quite frankly, lost my attention a couple of times.
Don't Look Up (2021)
Best film I've seen in several years
Like the "Dude" in The Big Lebowski, there is always a movie that is perfect for its times. This one is it. The media/government conglomeration launches a publicity campaign and convinces the entire earth to stick their heads in the snd and..."not look up" ...at a killer comet which will mark an extinction level event on our Earth. Modern man has been programed to look to the government for all the answers. I can totally see this happening.
First They Killed My Father (2017)
We all need to wake up.
I remember hearing about this happening when I was in college but, since if was another world away and we had just gotten out of Vietnam, nobody was in much mood for another Southeast Asian entanglement...so the world did nothing. No this film comes back to haunt me and my inaction. What's even darker now that there are dark omens emerging now of a growing police state here in America and ethnic groups being scapegoated and dehumanized. History will repeat itself.
China Beach: Skin Deep (1989)
intense emotional scene between KC and the wounded soldier
Marg Helgenberger went on to a successful career and did any things after China Beach but, in my opinion, will never equal what she accomplished here.
Army of One (2020)
don't waste your time
Another movie where tobacco stained, rural, church going white males hate everyone and everything and desperately need to be "put down" like the ad dogs that they are and, of course, along comes a young, ass kicking female for the job.
Force of Nature (2020)
It's ok
If you're reading this, you wanna know whether to waste your time or now so I'll say this.... You know, 20 years ago...or even 10...I would have given this film a 2 but everything is relative and, in the vast wasteland that is Hollywood today, it's not that bad. Mel Gibson is easily one of best actors today but they kill him off early. As as for the rest of the cast, it took me a while to care about them but they pulled it off by the end of the film and there was even a good ol fashion, happy ending! There was a little social justice sprinkled in but not enough to make me change the channel so that was okay, too. I liked it.
American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021)
A story that deserves to be told
Got to admit that, unlike Tokyo Rose, I had never heard of "Axis Sally" and I suspect there are so many bad reviews of this film because she wasn't portrayed with a spiked tail and horns coming out of her head. The sympathetic treatment of Nazis doesn't play well in today's world and, rightfully so, but she did appear to be a sparrow in a hurricane. Growing up abused by a stepfather and fleeing a troubled youth in America, she had moved toGermany 5 years before the war to study, fell in love and found happiness for the first time with no idea of the dark, tumultuous forces brewing in the world that would soon take over her life. Even at her trial, she was a pawn offered up for sacrifice, her own lawyer cutting a deal with the government to take a dive. It is often said that the first casualty of war is truth.
Taras Bulba (2009)
Looks like a great film
It's too bad that, because of politics, this film could not be released in an English version.
SAS: Red Notice (2021)
Good action flick
Think of it as Die Hard, British style. Not a bad action flick if you're not looking for anything else. First third is rather slow moving but it picks up a little after that.
Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
For guys like me it's the perfect film
I recently bought this title so now I watch it regularly whenever I need to reconnect with the past or just sit down with a good strong drink and meditate on what's real but what comes through, more and more, about this character is his enormous heart and compassion for life and for all living things around him. He shares an apple with his horse and both drink from the same tiny arroyo. Never loses his temper with the scared animal thwarts his efforts to escape at every turn. The way he gladly accepts physical abuse to help his brother in jail and the way he encourages Gena Rowlands about her life, her future and the decisions she's made.
It also puts on display a government that's not as vindictive and hateful as our's today in which Jack Burns would be labeled as an anti-government extremist. It's both a salute and goodby to real freedom that the average American today knows nothing about.
Kirk Douglass said on several occasions that this was the film he was the most proud of. I would've have thought maybe Spartacus, Out of the Past or In Harm's Way but the more I watch this film, the more I see in it and the more I agree with him.
I'm Your Woman (2020)
Don't waste your time.
I graduated from high school in 72 so the 1970s were truly a "coming of age" period for me, therefore I was really looking forward to this film for a little trip down Memory Lane however I spent most of the two hours fighting the urge to change the channel. I don't even know where to begin but it was image wise dreary and the plot slow-moving. The main character stumbled through the plot never knowing what was going on and, after a while, we don't even care anymore. I kept hoping it would get better but it actually went in the other direction. We watch another main character, whom I assume we're supposed to form an emotional bond with, murder an innocent old woman in cold blood and yet he is still portrayed as a sympathetic character. Oh well.
Blood Red Sky (2021)
Was definitely ok.
Ok my standards have lowered. At this point, any film that doesn't get all "woke" and start preaching to me gets a solid "8". This film was on the right track and destined for late show greatness but they decided to overthink it and make it complicated in the second half. Much of the first half could be edited, too. Still, as I previously stated, the pickings are very slim today and I have lowered my expectations. At least this didn't come out of Hollywood.
The Leisure Seeker (2017)
Beautiful and heartfelt
Life here on earth is fleeting, and even more so, the time we are given to love. This film takes a poignant, tender look at how fragile and temporary even a lifetime can be and I laughed and cried all the way through it. I found myself emotionally drained at the end. Hellen Mirren and Donald Sutherland were brilliant.
Mr. Church (2016)
A real gem, easily one of the most touching films I've ever seen.
Just caught this movie, from 2016, on Amazon Prime and it's so beautiful that it, literally, couldn't have been made in today's woke climate. I'll be thinking about this movie for a long time. Thank you, Eddie Murphy, for bringing magic into my life.
Leave No Trace (2018)
Low key but interesting/
Troubled dad and his 13 year old daughter living off the grid and both turned in solid performances in this film. After watching, couldn't help but notice how America is becoming less and less "free." We are turning into a modern surveillance state where you are subject to being stopped on the street so the gestapo can "see your papers." The move is sad, overcast and dreary.
The Dig (2021)
Quiet gentle story, for a change.
Without rehashing what's already been said, a period piece set in the days immediately before the outbreak of WWII in which a group of ordinary people come together for an archeological dig but these characters, themselves, are set against the immense backdrop of the giant wheels of war beginning to slowly turn ahead of them, and from behind, eons of ancient history buried beneath them, each one of those long dead souls having once experienced life as real as ours but now are dust beneath our feet. Then compared to the cosmos itself, the entire earth is a speck of dust. Even so, our lives are real and all we have so that Edith admonishes Peggy, a young archeologist,
"I'm sure your work is very sustaining but it's not enough. Life is fleeting. I've learned that...and it has moments that you have to seize."
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
Found it wanting
I suppose the genius of Ron Howard raised the bar and worked against him this time because with a title like "Hillbilly Elegy", I somehow expected more from him however the story I so desperately wanted, the true story of the southern white male, I don't think can be told yet. Maybe it never will.
Hold the Dark (2018)
Don't waste your time
Easily one of the worst films I've ever seen. Don't get me wrong I knew it was going to some kind of cheesy revenge film, some some guy brought in to avenge the death of her son by wolves but I had no idea what a waste of two hours was in store for me. First of all, half of the film is shot in complete darkness, the screen is so dark you can't see anything. Second, the movie is slow and wastes long periods going on side tangents that have nothing to do with developing the story line. Which brings us to the plot, or lack of one. We still have no idea why Vern is such a physcopath or why his wife did what she did. I kept hoping this miserable plot would somehow get tied all together in the final scene but that was just as mindless as the rest. She just keeps babbling about the sky. Also, the movie has absolutely nothing to do with wolves although the director felt obliged to stick a couple of scenes in with some wolves standing around looking at each other. I only wish I could giver it less than one star.
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Beautiful story but disappointing
I won't inflict the storyline on everyone all over again as it has now been covered many times but I felt a sense of betrayal at the end. During their friendship there were moments of great tenderness which bridged an abyss between two worlds that couldn't have been more different. Maybe the first time this has ever happened in the history of this earth. The beautiful moments when she reached out to him and felt secure on his arm or chest and then at the end when she needed him the most he watches her begin a night of being eaten alive by every nibbler in the sea! What kind of crap is that. Are we Capt Kirk now and the Starfleet Directive to never interfere? He goes back to his cozy beach house and feels sorry for himself. This film left me angry.
La maestra inolvidable (1969)
teacher with a heart of gold
This Mexican film chronicles the life of Carmen Andrade Bravo from her graduation from teachers college with a love of children as she says goodbye to her parents to accept a job in a remote village in Mexico's southeastern region where the climate is hot and the people are poor. Young, idealistic and full of life she happily takes on an uncertain future but, over the years of her life, events happen which wear her down and you can see the light gradually fade from her eyes as everything is eventually taken from her, even the loss of a leg in a tragic event with the only man who will ever love. I don't usually write reviews but it was so sad to see this title has received not even one. Beautiful story I think everyone could relate to. We all start young and full of energy and then life happens.
The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)
Masterpiece
Wasn't sure what to expect when I clicked on this title on my "On Demand" and what pursued wasn't comfortable because my grandkids have never seem me cry before and so I had some splaining to do. Without giving anything away, the director cleverly chose one of the most emotionally powerful scenes he could think of to open up with, so that the viewer is never given a chance to gradually come up to speed but instead, catilpulted right into a world that only people who have ever loved a dog from beginning to end will understand. I know that includes most of us. I watched the entire film with that old familiar lump in my throat and never one time did that sinking feeling let up, even though it is occasionally punctuated with humor. I'm always afraid to say to much in these reviews because I don't really know what a spoiler so I'll just say this.
After studying Paleoanthropology I'm not even sure if early man would have made it had not dogs been right there with him through the bad times, helping on the hunt and guarding the camps during the long, dark nights. I guess companionship probably came later but its a remarkable story that is hidden deep inside our gene pool and collective hearts and this movie somehow taps into that special debt than can never be repaid.
Rambo: Last Blood (2019)
Magnificent exit for a legend
Last installment to an American tradition...well maybe. Get ready for a deeper look into John Rambo than we ever got before, even in all of the previous films put together. Finally having come "full circle" as Col Troutman had suggested, we see Rambo living a quiet, semi-retired life in the American Southwest, gently working with horses and going about the mundane rhythm of ranch life, repairing things and trying to forge a relationship with a young girl who calls him uncle but, even in this idyllic setting, trouble seems to always find our boy.
As the plot thickens and we see Rambo square off against with a new crop of bad guys, we notice that he doesn't value his own life very much. Maybe he never did. Her tales chances, walks right into situations with little regard for his own safety. His body now old and stiff from a life of constant combat seems to have taken a toll but when an innocent loved one is suddenly in terrible danger, an old fire awakens deep inside Rambo that goes past even revenge all the way to blood lust.
If you're ever "taken" Rambo is the hellhound you want coming after you. The story lacks a happy ending but I can't think of one Rambo that did. God bless this character. Somewhere deep inside, he's who all of us wish we could be.
Assault on a Queen (1966)
I like it when I was a kid, but...
Well I saw this movie shortly after is was made, when I was in junior high school and loved it. I will not attempt to review the plot here since there has just been too many decades that have intervened since. I will say however, that I remember that several of my friends also saw it and we even used this movie as some kind of class project in seventh grade English class where we had to outline and develop a screenplay. Even so, we were just kids and easily impressed. I have never seen the film since, even on the late movie, but it would be interesting to see if it survived the ultimate test...the test of time. It is true that Francis Albert Sinatra, much like is often said of John Wayne, usually just played himself.