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Reviews
Dangerous Intentions (1995)
One of the worst pieces of garbage in cinematic history.
Donna Mills plays Beth Williams, a battered wife who has suffered years of abuse at the hands of her brutal husband. Tom Williamson, played by Corbin Bernsen, is the husband who seems to have it all and yet has treated his wife cruelly over the years.
Eventually, Tom is arrested after battering his wife. When Tom is released from prison with only probation he begins to stalk and threaten his wife.
While Tom is in prison, Beth stays at the home of her friend Terri. When Tom is released he decides to go after his wife. Tom finds Beth and threatens her. Afterwards Beth tells Terri and Terri's husband, this idiot doesn't deserve a name. The idiot doesn't think that Tom means any harm and says, "I'm sure he's just trying to scare you." What in the world does that idiot mean? Beth has bruises on her face and the idiot thinks that Tom is only trying to scare Beth. How stupid can one person be? Well, I'm sure the idiot's opinion changed when in the middle of the night someone through a Molotov cocktail through the Beth's window onto her bed. Luckily, Beth was not there. Of course no arrest was made. Stupidity is a typical trait of the characters in this movie.
The basic premise for this movie is how a battered wife tries to win freedom from her cruel husband. It is too bad she didn't get more help, heaven knows she needed it.
Kansas Raiders (1950)
One of the worst pieces of garbage in cinematic history.
I caught this movie on AMC's Saturday Morning Western. AMC usually shows decent movies, but this one was awful. Definitely not one of Audie Murphy's best. I understand that Audie was not originally an actor, but his acting was wooden and virtually emotionless. You would think that after 5 movies under his belt Audie would have been better.
The movie centers around Jesse James and his gang traveling to Kansas to join Quantrill and his raiders. Jesse wants to join the raiders, in part, in order to get revenge on the Yankee soldiers that destroyed his home, maimed his mother and hung his father. While on their way to find Quantrill the James/Younger gang are almost hanged as spies by the Red Legs, Union guerrillas. Once the gang finds Quantrill, they request to join.
First, Jesse James is very naive. In fact he passes over naive and into very, very stupid. The gang arrives just in time for Quantrill to pass judgment on some prisoners. Quantrill has Union POWs shot as spies. Next Quantrill's henchmen shoot and kill a man whose wife and baby were gunned down in one of Quantrill's raids. Innocent people being shot? Why doesn't this bother Jesse James? The James/Youngers join the Raiders and go on their first raid. The Raiders proceed to butcher all the people in the town. Jesse is dismayed, but not too much as soon goes on another raid. On the second raid, Jesse only agrees to go when Quantrill promises that only soldiers would be attacked. What happened next? The Raiders kill more civilians. When will Jesse get at clue? The Raiders are chased off by the Union Army. Eventually, Quantrill is blinded in a gunfight and the gang escapes with Quantrill in tow. The gang eventually hides out in a burned out farmhouse. The gang pities Quantill now that he blind. But why? The man was a thief, scoundrel and killer in uniform. It was very hard for me to find any sympathy for Quantrill. But the idiots of the gang followed him to the end.
Eventually the Union Army shows up at the farmhouse at night. There is a $10,000 reward for the kill or capture of Quantrill. The Union Army gives the gang until dawn to surrender Quantrill. Why? I would have just burned the farmhouse down. But the Union officer even says that he doesn't want the gang, only Quantrill. Jesse comes up with the idea for the gang to sneak out the back of the farmhouse. Why wasn't the farmhouse surrounded? When only Quantrill and Jesse remain, Quantrill orders Jesse to leave. But Jesse refuses to leave without Quantrill. Quantrill tricks Jesse and shoves him out the back door. Quantrill then stumbles his way out the front door into the waiting arms of the Union Army. Quantrill is shot down like the dog he is. Jesse and the gang get away and become legends.
What bothers me is the ending narration that states the gang became great because of the association with Quantrill. How utterly stupid. Quantrill was an evil person and the gang continued to follow blindly. I was very happy when this trash was finally over.
John Q (2002)
I don't understand how anyone can like the premise for this film or why kidnapping and holding hostages could ever be seen as acceptable.
I can understand why someone would ever hold an entire emergency room hostage, but I could never condone or accept it. This movie shows a completely amoral solution to a very difficult situation. I absolutely believe that there could have been another solution.
If people think that I don't have a lot of sympathy for Denzel's character, then I agree. I don't. I'll tell you why. My friend and I were kidnapped at gunpoint when we pulled into the parking lot of a popular bar. Three assailants pulled guns on us and forced us back into the back seat of my friend's car. Two of the kidnappers bound our hands and put tape over our eyes. The kidnappers then drove us to a house. They took our wallets and demanded our PINs to our ATM and Credit Cards. We were beaten for more than 30 minutes while at least one robber went to withdraw money from our accounts. The robbers were threatening to kill us if they did not get any money, but I had already made the maximum withdrawal from my bank account. I guess I was SOL. I might have died for only 400 dollars. My friend has a wife and 3 kids. I have my own family. In my own opinion, I wasn't really hurt. But does it make it okay that my friend and I were kidnapped? Think about it, what if you were kidnapped? Or your mother, father, son, daughter, sister or brother? This film is extremely irresponsible. I can't stand films that try to put a positive spin on kidnapping. The Negotiator with Samuel L. Jackson is another one of these films. A rapist is rapist, a murderer is a murderer and a kidnapper is a kidnapper, no matter what.
Here are some people that were kidnapped and or held hostage: Daniel Pearl, the Lindburgh baby, Polly Klass, the people on the tragic flights of 9/11. What did the kidnappers want in these other situations? You should already know what happened to these people. Were the kidnappers justified in what they did? Are you ready to applaud theses kidnappers, and pat them on the back? Give them a high five or a big hug and a kiss on the cheek? Some of the kidnappers got what they wanted. Anyone that thinks that John Q. is justified in what he does is clearly mislead and deluded or in need of some mental evaluation.
Watch The Clearing, The Pledge, or The Vanishing(Spoorloos 1988) and you will understand what a despicable crime that kidnapping is. Anyone that applauds John Q's actions DOES NOT COMPREHEND HOW UTTERLY EVIL KIDNAPPING AND HOSTAGE TAKING IS. I do understand that John Q is only a movie and is entertainment, but I don't care. I don't like it.
The only reason I gave this movie a 1 is because ZERO is not a choice. It is a shame that Denzel did this movie, because I truly enjoy his other movies. It is a shame that someone who was in Training Day, Glory, and A Soldier's Story was in this horrid piece of garbage.