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Reviews
Death Wish (2018)
Wow
You can read the plot details on the other reviews, and you've probably seen the earlier version with Bronson.
Did you enjoy the original "Death Wish?" Did you enjoy "Die Hard?" Do you like Bruce Willis in general?
Got at least one out of three? Go see this.
In a word: WOW.
San Andreas (2015)
What a stupid, stupid movie
Lousy, one-dimensional acting. Stupid script. Muscle-bound male hero with a never-changing scowl and female leads with big, heaving breasts. Filmmakers apparently never matured beyond the 14-year-old pubescent male stage.
But I didn't give it a "1" because they spent a lot of time with the digital effects and they were pretty cool.
In summary, this is the sort of movie where all involved in the project hold their noses while accepting their paychecks.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Thought-provoking; predictable reaction from critics
Just saw the DVD again tonight after a year. Remarkably well-made and from what I've read, surprisingly close to the truth, unlike anything made by, say, Oliver Stone.
The critics seem to be of two camps. One just thinks the USA is evil and therefore dumps on this successful campaign.
The others seem to think the characters "need more development," as though this would have been better had they left out some of the dust and added a romantic liaison and a bit of skin.
In other words, many critics wanted a Hollywood movie with Hollywood sensibilities and Hollywood politics. I am profoundly glad this movie escaped that treatment. If you want a Hollywood movie that got the official White House imprimatur, there's another movie for that. Lots of inaccuracies in that one, but, hey, Hollywood.
Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden (2012)
Oh brother! Just another campaign tool
Now that the dust of the recent presidential election has settled (and other information about the search for OBL has come to light), we can see this flick for what it really was--just a campaign tool for one side in the 2012 presidential campaign. Produced by Weinstein, one of the President's biggest boosters in the film industry. Lots of deeply serious and introspective Presidential commentary during the flick. But on numerous points we now know Weinstein simply fabricated as he went along.
The film DOES paint a flattering portrait of seal training and the Skype videos with loved ones at home were moving; that's the reason the movie gets two stars instead of just one.
Like the movie "JFK," this one does a disservice to history. Oh, well. These are interesting times we live in.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
Don't waste your time
All the while I was watching this boring and dated movie I kept thinking to myself, "This guy (Robert Morse) is trying to be Jerry Lewis and failing!" In fact, this would have been a much funnier movie with the real Jerry Lewis as the star. To me, Morse is just not funny. Given all the positive reviews here, it must be a personal thing. Also, I never saw the original Broadway show, which I suspect would have been a more natural vehicle for someone like Morse.
I gave the movie 3 stars rather than 1 because I found it hilarious to see what passed for "good taste in office decor" back then. Yikes. Made me wish I was color-blind.
Fair Game (2010)
Hey, reviewers, read more than just Daily Kos for your news
Color me astonished at the glowing reviews here. It's one thing to comment on technical aspects of movie-making--the cinematography, the editing, the acting performances--but quite another when a movie pretends to be a true story but in fact is full of blatant lies. The danger, as a smiling Oliver Stone knows all too well, is that as time goes by the average citizen will gradually adopt the movie's premise as the accurate one. Just look at another film by Stone, "JFK." For those of us who lived through the Kennedy assassination and subsequent investigations, the history is pretty ironclad--he was shot by a nutjob who happened to be a pretty good marksman. But ask the average younger person and they will paint lurid stories of conspiracy. It was the Cubans. It was the Mafia. It was the CIA. It was all of them, together. Insanity.
And now Stone craps out this movie. Perhaps it's just a sign of the times. The Left and the Right are utterly polarized to an extent never seen before in my lifetime.
Don't take my word for it. The Washington Post, hardly a right-wing outlet, trashes the movie today: "Hollywood has a habit of making movies about historical events without regard for the truth; 'Fair Game' is just one more example. But the film's reception illustrates a more troubling trend of political debates in Washington in which established facts are willfully ignored.
"Mr. Wilson claimed that he had proved that Mr. Bush deliberately twisted the truth about Iraq, and he was eagerly embraced by those who insist the former president lied the country into a war. Though it was long ago established that Mr. Wilson himself was not telling the truth -- not about his mission to Niger and not about his wife -- the myth endures. We'll join the former president in hoping that future historians get it right." Let's hope so.
A New Leaf (1971)
The "best" unknown comedy of the past 40 years
Okay, everyone else here has already set up the basic plot. All I can add is that this film is definitely worth the major effort it will take to find a copy. As of November 2010 it's not available on Blu-Ray. It's not on DVD. It's barely available on VHS (VHS!) these days.
--A clever story.
--Terrific performances by substantial actors (Matthau, May, Coco, Weston, Redfield, Roberts).
Funny thing is, you will remember the movie long after seeing it, even in VHS, 4:3 narrowscreen, and mono sound. Proves that 99% of the value of a film has nothing to do with the technology of the medium.
I leave you with two words: "Malaga Cooler." Go see it.