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Echo1978
Reviews
Door to Door (2002)
Wonderful, Touching little story.
Once in a while a movie will come along that makes us smile for it's characters, and feel warm and fuzzy inside, this is one of those movies. William H. Macy plays <splendidly> a salesman with cerebral palsy, as we follow him from day 1 of his sales day throughout his years. We see how this simple man unites his sales community and touches the hearts of everyone he meets. It is the ultimate warm tale of the underdog triumphing in his quest to do what he set out for, and how he never gives up no matter what. Great little gem of a movie, highly recommended for anyone!! :)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Quite possible one of the best films ever.
When this movie first cam eout, I didn't know much about it, my mother, who had seen it, had mentioned something about it being "very good" amd a "prison movie." I managed to catch it abotu a year later on the Movie Channel, I have to tell you, I sat in awed silence for the next two hours.
Shawshank Redemption isn't just a movie about a bunch of guys in a prison, it's a movie about hope, friendship, and "coming through clean in the end." The film is slightly over two hours long, and involving an amazing cast of well acted characters, amazing aerial shots, a wonderful score of music, and inspiration, and the ability to find strength in yourself, that maybe you didnt' know was there. It was a shame this film came out the same year as Forrest Gump, this deserved every award it was nominated for, I highly recommend to anyone to see this film, because it is among one of the best i've ever seen.
Bleeders (1997)
Horrible
I managed to catch this movie after work the other night, having seen it in my local Blockbuster many times, i've come close to renting it, and now, i'm thanking god I never did, or I think I shall have been forced to demand my money back. I was slapped stupid with Rutger Hauer's acceptance of a role in such a horrible film. I am an avid fan of horror, scifi, and "sciency" movies, so just because this falls under the horror category doesn't discourage me from the rest of the category. This plot, (as much as I could follow anyhow) takes place on an island, there's these mutated, inbred, horrible looking creatures that live underground and eat dead human flesh. There's the "as close to normal" as you're going to get alive people living above ground. They start getting eaten, very predictable. However, one of the "normal" (and I stress normal) people, turns out to be inbred and related to the things underground, I think there was some side story about some "blood disease" but this movie honestly didn't hold my attention, or my ability to care long enough to really pay attention. At any rate, this man's wife & pardon me for not having actor/actress names, I didn't take the time out to find out who anyone else was. is pregnant with his baby a scary enough thought, pregnant with the mutant/inbred's baby but knowing that her husband could die from his "disease" NEVER tells him she is. She was a total un-necessary character if you ask me, she served no real meaningful purpose other than to sit there and whine a lot. Well anyhow, what it boils down to "things" come after people, of course there is a storm, no power, etc., but rather than hop on boats <which you assume a great many people who live on an ISLAND would have they stick it out in a lighthouse, this could be seeable if the power had gone out at night, but folks the power was out ALL DAY LONG. I won't even go on about this fiasco any further, but i'll say this: Shame on Rutger Hauer for being in this movie, his role as a DR. serves no real purpose, and if you want campy, horror fun, rent the Evil Dead instead.
Heaven & Earth (1993)
A Great Film, another great performance by Mr. Jones.
Never seeing the first two movies in this trilogy, I rented this copy from my local Blockbuster, thus crossing it off my list of films I have been meaning to see for a while. Being an avid fan of Tommy Lee Jones, I watched this movie in anticipation. The movie follows the life of a young woman (Lee Ley) in Vietnam, her struggles, outcasting, and finally her seemingly stabilization in her life while raising her young son, and her country, torn apart by war, while the Americans "become familiar to the landscape." Disappointed in life, and love, Lee Ley meets American GI Steve Butler -Jones- marries, and moves to America. I won't get too much further into this movie at the risk of revealing spoilers, which I won't do to anyone who hasn't seen this film. I enjoyed this movie, and thrilled at the reunions contained within it, the cinematography was excellent, as were Jones's performance, he has yet to truly let me down, the cast was well chosen, and the movie well directed. The reason I am only giving this movie 8 out of 10, is because I really would've enjoyed to see more about their life in America, we find out bits and pieces and the final, tragic results, but never any story in between them, or what happened to lead up to them, it is a trial of patience and does end with more left to be desired, and questions unanswered, Stone could've gone into better detail in almost 150 minutes, but still a great film, that I recommend.
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Buffalo, NY USA
Interview with the Vampire is one of the best films I seen in in my lifetime. Richly filmed, and musically perfected, this film follows the struggles and feelings experienced by vampire Louie in his 200 years and counting of immortality, proving that even the undead have feelings, and daily struggles, perhaps resulting from their own lost humanity. Brad Pitt, who's performance is both amazing, and thought invoking <I must say this had to be the movie I saw way back 7 years ago when it was out that convinced me he wasn't just something nice to look at.> The real impressive acting here comes from Kirsten Dunst and Tom Cruise, Dunst, who is a favorite of mine anyhow, plays Claudia, the eternal child, who's mind is as grown up and intelligent as that of an 80 year old, but who's body remains that of a doll, I was highly impressed vy the ability of someone who off the screen is as yound as her performance to master humanity, and the struggle to a T. Tom Cruise, who has always been to me "Top Gun" pretty boy, blew me away, I have always found the "supervillan" to be a favorite, the more evil, the more likable somehow. You could have not found a better Lestat, a lot of people were objective to having Cruise in this part, including me, but that changed within 5 minutes a his screen entrance, even to this day I cannot watch that movie without disbelieving that was Tom Cruise. Cruise is never less than convincing as a vampire that has been at this game for so long, he's long since lost any sense of guilt or remorse, but there are scenes where it does seem to be present for however brief a period it may be. In closing this movie offers up vampires as exotic creatures, who for the most part look the same as the rest of us, rather than some ugly creature <ie: Nosferatu> which in itself is a great film, doesh't leave much to be desired in the eyeful dept. I highly suggest this movie.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Better off in an incinerator.
I read some of the other comments for this movie, and I happen to agree with most, "Who could watch this movie without MST3K?" Imagine the states of mental anguish observed by people who actually paid and sat through this entire movie back in 1966. Without the benefit of Joel and the robots. No amount of therapy or self denial could bring back those 2 lost hours. Let me think of things I would rather do than watch this movie: 1.) Watch a new coat of paint dry. OR an equally amusing task, watching linoleum curl. 2.) Volunteer to follow horses in a parade and scoop up manure. 3.) Slam my fingers repeatedly in a car door. Folks, the only thing I could think better than this would be to be in that theater wishing for deaths sweet embrace!