Reviews

I really enjoyed this movie. It actually made me feel for the main character. Not too many movies do this for me. But when you feel for the main character and start being immersed in the movie, you know that it's a good movie. I take all reviews with a grain of salt now, especially after watching this movie. I cannot understand why this movie garnered such bad reviews because I think it is a well made movie. The actors did a great job and the story was very well done. All I can think of is that these reviewers are sadly jaded or just simply hate entertaining movies like this which they consider below them. Or, they simply hate the actors or this genre. This is a must-see movie in my opinion. It has a lesson to teach and it is quite well made. Families should watch this as this movie has value. It teaches us that we can all change for the better. Even when others don't think so. So what if others don't believe in you? There are others that do. I cannot recommend this movie more. It is just plain excellent.

This movie should be shown to all teachers and aspiring teachers. You will be moved by it. Too many teachers teach academics. They do not teach you how to think or those things that really matter. When I went to school it was all about facts after facts after facts. Facts were taught in a dry and boring manner and, as such, we students learned that learning was just another hurdle to our life's experience. We need to change the way we teach in our schools and that can be seen in our society. We do not teach our children how to think. As we read the papers each day we see it in the way our community leaders fight over things that really should not be fought over. Things like civil union and equal rights were obviously not an important part of the curriculum. If those things were taught to our children then our society would be a better place. Teachers should make learning educational but also meaningful and fun. Today it is about facts and taking tests to prove that we know the facts. But how about meaningful things like humanity? As in respecting one another? Look at the newspaper about how people trampled others during the Christmas shopping days. Isn't it ironic that we celebrate a time of love with selfishness and uncaring for our fellow human beings? Yes, it is time to change the way we teach and I recommend this movie because they just may have the solution to our educational crisis. I was really surprised at the value of this movie. I watched it for entertainment and I came away with awe at the fact that this movie teaches us a lesson about the bigger picture.

I was so disturbed by the heartless review about this movie that I had to put my two cents in. This movie is, in my opinion, one of the most effective movies made in recent times. This movie should be shown in the schools as a catalyst for human discussions. Much is taught in the schools that are pretty useless. Most of what we learn in schools, in other words,have no bearing on our lives. These trivial memorization exercises in history, for example, do not make for intelligent decision making in our future lives. I have graduated from college and even have a graduate level degree but I cannot for the life of me remember a single thing that I learned in history class. Of course we learned about Abraham Lincoln but what else did we learn? This movie touches on a lot of subjects that can be discussed in schools so that history does not repeat itself. Why is it that we spend so much time on the date of the Emancipation Proclamation rather than on civil rights issues? Civil rights issues, for example, is so much a part of today's current events and our lives. But no one discusses it because it is such an emotional issue. We are afraid to start something that may cause hurt and/or even violence. But in order to deal with our problems in today's society we need to face it head on. That is why even adults who are in position of power such as the governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, does not believe that government should deal with the issue of civil rights in the form of civil union. She said that we should let the people vote on it. Yes, history repeated itself and not only that, took a step backwards. In the history past in the United States of America blacks were considered property. If we had put it on the ballot whether blacks should be given the same rights as other Americans, what do you think would have happened? Yes, they would have voted against it. Women once could not vote. If it was given for the men of that time to vote on whether women should have the right to vote, would they have been given that right? There are some things that are just wrong and we need to make them right. Going back to the movie which touches upon a lot of heart-wrenching issues it is a well made movie. This movie is an example of what we need to see. So many movies these days, and I am sure in the past, are just purely entertainment and do not have much value other than that. We need more movies that catalysts for positive change. And this movie does just that. It touched me very deeply and at time you just want to reach into the picture and give the person a hug. Most movies do not have that effect on me. This one touched my soul. This movie transcends what we find in our theaters these days. The acting and directing in this movie is excellent. And what makes this movie work is the interplay of the characters within the movie. We are given a point of view from each character and see how each takes from the situations. In effect we see a sense of continuity and a sense that all the characters are intertwined. We cannot look at one character outside of the whole human interaction. We have to see how each reacts and touches the other. This effect has been used in many other movies such as Crash. But the effect is even more dramatic in this movie. The director did a fine job of weaving the tapestries in such a way that you, the viewer, actually become a part of the story through your own memories of personal experiences. The value of this movie is so great in my opinion that schools should show it to their students and begin a REAL conversation about how we treat others and how we are all connected in some way. I would suspect that such a conversation can result in better people who will grow up to be better citizens in our ever-changing society. Empathy is something that we need to teach our children. Rather than forcing our children to memorize the dates of events in history we should discuss the issues that are deeply embedded in these events. Not just so that the negative events do not happen again but to ensure that our children will bring up a better society. One where we respect one another instead of bringing down one another through religion or simply hatred. As such, I highly recommend this move to everyone and anyone. I am sure that you will come out of it with something. It is not a movie for pure entertainment purposes. It is a movie that will change you in some way. I know that I did not come out of this viewing the same. It made me really think about today's society and how I can make a difference.

I had to write a review for this movie after watching it in its entirety just to see what was up with the mixed reviews for this movie. This movie is a must-see movie in my humble opinion. I cannot understand the reviews that state that this movie is everything from boring to something that shouldn't have been made. I suspect that some reviewers had ulterior motives in giving this movie negative reviews. Religious people may find this movie offensive as it portrays Catholics as hypocrites and heartless. First of all, this movie has a story that is quite frankly disturbing in some sense. It does not sugar-coat the facts of the times in industrial Depression-era Britain of circa 1930's. The struggle is portrayed quite well by the actors especially the boy and the girl. Yes, it is indeed a story seen through the eyes of a boy primarily but it is also shown throughout the characters who did a fantastic job. It does what a movie is supposed to do, entertain. But this one also makes one think to the deepest of one's soul. The rich tapestry of the story is quite endearing. The moral of this story is can be seen in the result of how religion can create conflicts that do not have to take place. Yes, religion has its place in our history. But for all the good that religion does it also rears its ugly head in the way religious people and clerics use it to defend their own agendas. The bible is often referred to in order to justify injustices against a group of people be they Jews or gays. It is interesting to see how it can ultimately destroy not only the victims but also the offenders in this story. In this case the radicals in this movie committed a crime against the Jews only to hurt a member of their own people. I just wanted to bring up an article I had read today in the newspaper before I watched the movie because it was quite relevant to the story. In this article, seen in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 17, 2010, Gay Marriage Ban Framed as War. The anti-civil union group's defender, Charles J. Cooper, is quoted as saying, "The marital relation is fundamental to the existence and survival of the race...Without the marital relationship, society would come to an end." In this day and age of society you would think that we would have learned from our mistakes but that hasn't happened. We continue to spew out hatred and bigotry in order to further our own agenda be they personal or religious to the cost of a segment of society who suffer from inequality. This is the United States but yet here we have the religious sector deciding who and who should not receive the benefits bestowed on a certain group of people. All you have to do is change the Jews in this movie to gays and you have a similar experience that is current. I will only say that we have the power to speak up and I have. I have volunteered in the cause against discrimination and this is the same kind of discrimination that goes on today. Watch this movie and you will be moved by the issues as they are in fact relevant today.

I watched this movie expecting nothing out of it as I had read all the negative reviews. Knowing that reviews can be WRONG I chose to check it out for myself. I thought the premise of a wishing rock held a lot of promise. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was right. This movie was really entertaining. I found it to be funny and creative. It captured what I thought a child might imagine. It was pretty quirky in a good way. The little things that the actors did made it funny. Their gestures and the way the spoke made them lovable. I think that they could not have gotten better actors for this movie. They made the movie work. As far as the complaints about the movie being mish-mashed or being confusing, I don't agree. I think that component, actually the theme (short stories within the story), really worked. I had no problem understanding the movie. And all the complaints about it not entertaining is really beyond me. This movie was more entertaining to me than all the other big budget movies I have seen all year. To those of you who think I am the director or one of the employees of the company that made the movie, no I am not any of those. I am just one of you. If you have not seen this movie, go rent it. You will thank me afterwards. Enjoy!

I was intrigued by the theme of this movie. It reminded me somewhat of Fallout 3 the video game which I enjoyed playing to completion. I saw a lot of similarities with the game including the environmental objects such as the mattresses and lockers. Then the reference to a dog as "Dogmeat" which is what dogs are called in the game. Fallout 3 has the same themes in that a boy goes on an adventure with his dog into the post-world war apocalyptic environment.The Screamers remind me of the large mutated animals that are found in Fallout 3. If I were the maker of this movie, I would sue Fallout's makers for their copy-cat effort. Anyway, as a movie, this one is very entertaining. If only they would make more movies like this that don't take itself too seriously.

I decided to watch this movie despite all of the bad reviews. It's a good thing I saw one review that said otherwise. I agree with that one single review out of all the reviews. It is definitely not a bad movie at all. I was laughing a lot while watching this movie and that doesn't happen to often with me. I've watched movies with high ratings only to feel like my time was stolen from me. So don't go by all the negative reviews that you see. I am not one of those that enjoy slapstick comedies much but this one has a thumbs up from me. Larry the Cable Guy was great in this movie. Although it was not believable (I watch movies to escape from reality) it was a humdinger.