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Reviews
Homecoming (1948)
Underrated
I saw this movie for the first time yesterday and was really surprised that it was rated with only one star on IMDB. I thought it was one of the best Clark Gable performances ever, probing not only plot and scene, but digging deeply into one's motives, values, guilt, loyalties, and relationships. I think it should have much wider viewing these days. I have a newfound respect for Clark Gable.
To the Shores of Tripoli (1942)
Worst military film in history
There were two good things about this movie: The color was good. The actors did a good job of playing their parts. But after that, it was a horrible film.
John Payne plays an unmitigated jerk who at the end of the film rejects the Marine Corps AND the woman he's been harassing - although inexplicably he is shown with her on the transport at the last scene?!?! She's happy to be with him even though he had rejected her for a socialite and a cushy Washington job??
The movie should be rated R for it's depiction of unbelievable sexual harassment which results in the jerk ultimately getting his girl. Am I to infer that if I think I'm good looking and I overpower a protesting woman who has repeatedly said "no" that I will be proven to be a woman-winning Casanova in the end? Shameful!
A recruit takes over the training of the platoon on the say so of the drill instructor? And this recruit gets this chance because he claims the drill instructor is too harsh? Then this recruit succeeds because he beats up the members of the platoon displaying precisely the behavior he criticised? How inconsistent is that?
A list of the unmilitary situations in this film would fill an encyclopedia. Right down to the last little details, the film is ridiculous. The nurses ship out with the troops? Give me a break!
Wallander (2008)
Dumbest cop in Europe
Whoever writes this series should go back to watching professional wrestling. We have watched it because we watch all Masterpiece mysteries, usually with relish! The acting is pretty good, perhaps the only redeeming quality of the show. The music is forgettable - nothing at all like Morse, Foyle's War, etc. The scenery is flat, misty, and dull - like the rest of the show. That's perhaps the only redeeming bit about the show, that the scenery matches the melancholy of the main character. But the biggest tragedy is the pathetic police work of the main character. He's forever pointing a gun at a vehicle, only to get nearly run down, and letting the bad guy get away without so much as shooting out his tires. He's forever blundering into dangerous situations like the proverbial character in a horror film backing his way through a doorway to a spooky room, only to get attacked by the evil within. He consistently refuses to answer the questions that other characters ask -- for no reason other than to annoy the audience. He seldom calls for backup when the casual observer knows there's danger ahead. He finds a crucial piece of evidence and then carries the only copy of it into a dangerous situation without leaving copies with his co-workers or reporting to them first. His pathetic self-pity makes him incompetent. He cannot "read" another character, for instance when the young woman, his daughter's friend, comes to him for help, obviously distressed. He leaves the room to go find a phone book telling the girl he's going to call her mother. If she wanted to talk to her mother, she would have done that in the first place. So she wanders off and HE'S SURPRISED!!! Egad! He leaves so many questions unasked when he's investigating. He nearly got his co-worker killed by the stupidity of his actions. In the real world, he would have been busted all the way down to "meter-maid" by the second episode. I'll probably watch future episodes. It's fun to predict all the stupid things he does.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Rotten movie
I'm glad I didn't pay to see this trash in a theater. The only "inglorious bastards" are the writers and producers of this film. The sadistic Brad Pitt character was a slap in the face to every "Greatest Generation" American that served honorably during the war and to every Native American on the planet. The plot was so full of holes, I'm surprised my television wasn't dripping disgusting liquids all over the floor. TWO GUARDS IN THE WHOLE THEATER PROTECTING THE TOP FOUR Nazis OF THE THIRD Reich?!?!?! SEDAGIVE?!?! The only decent uniformed character in the entire film was the German soldier that was beaten to death with a bat. The only bright spot I saw was the acting of Laurent and Walsch. It was their great misfortune to have participated in this dreadful experience.
Why Would I Lie? (1980)
This great film should be released on DVD
This is a really well done movie that advances gradually toward a really "edge of your seat" ending. One reason why the ending is so exciting is that the characters have been carefully developed so that you care about them at the end. Add to that the superb performances of a thoughtful Lisa Eichhorn, a character who is maturing played by Treat Williams, and a wonderful child portrayal, and you have a movie that should sell on DVD. I've enjoyed watching Lisa Eichhorn every time I see her in a film. She doesn't give away her character in the first scene of the movie, but holds back some of it, making you watch closely to discover the type of person underneath the character's cautious facade. Most really good "romantic comedies" require characters that develop gradually. Otherwise they'd just be a comedy made of nothing but slapstick. I'd buy a copy of this movie if it was available!