Reviews

Bambi an Israeli chief refuses to recognize his two first born daughters as having any value. He even goes as far as scathing his own wife, Ayala, by saying years after her death in childbirth that he's glad that she is not around because she would be an 'old hag' by now. Then Bambi lustily eyes his new, young, large breasted Russian lover who is mostly identified as 'just tits' by long, numerous close up frames that often neglect to show her face.

Previously Bambi had demanded that Ayala keep trying to give him a son even though doctors told them that a third baby would probably kill her. No wonder Nimrod, this surviving grown son can't relate to women including his own wife who he called 'a whore' when they fought.

Bambi finally realizes that he has damaged Nimrod with his own cruel chauvinism, but dismisses this final revelation when he again demands a replacement son from his Russian lover hoping that it's not a girl.

After their deaths two adrift, fearful, lost old men, Bambi and the Holocaust survivor who purchased Bambi's place in heaven walk aimlessly toward heaven...or hell each carrying their own gender specific burdens.

What I personally see beneath this story is a resurrection myth of the ancient female fertility Goddess Gaia, who was driven out of Israel by the male warrior hunting societies which are symbolized by Bambi. This warrior class destroyed Gaia's image and influence rather than let her continue with the myth of agricultural Earth Mother Goddess, growing plant seeds and heavenly births including valuable female children.

'A Place in Heaven' is the scene of a present day patriarchal nightmare because the gender specifics of weak macho men and weak submissive women makes you want to slap both of them in the face. A new day of equality is on the horizon in Israel because you can't take your gun with you into heaven. Rise up Gaia; the world needs peace.

When you lack imagination or vision, just make up a kitsch movie about the 'Big Bad Wolf'. Then throw in a brainless 'Little Red Riding Hood' bimbo and you can call yourself a Hollywood legend.

Dan, the surviving college student finally tells Parker, the constantly crying & sobbing girl, that all you need to do is CLAP and SCREAM in a threatening manner because 'the wolves are just as afraid of you as you are of them'. So...why didn't he tell this to Lynch his buddy (the grandma symbol) who broke his leg jumping off of the ski lift? No, the filmmaker had to stage a wolf attack for false savagery, gratuitous violence and lack of any other creative story line.

Who ever owns these PET WOLVES and rented them out should be more than ashamed of themselves for pandering and once again stereotyping these magnificent animals into target practice in the wild. Wolves are actually shy, elusive creatures that humans rarely see because wolves know how dangerous and unpredictable humans really are.

Frozen's just another sad day for endangered wolves who always end up as the primal fear image in amateur showcases of this worn out, ancient children's myth.

SHELTER is a masterpiece of realism, love and forgiveness that will come into its own as it ages. The two lovers, Hanna and Tahir, are bound together by loss and tragedy as they struggle to rise above themselves and their wounds in an uncaring world.

Played on at his weakest moment, illegal immigrant Tahir (Anthony Mackie) falls into bottomless guilt for once being a member of the radical Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. With painful obsession he prays for redemption for his participation in burning down schools, hospitals and for the unspeakable, brutal murders of thousands of innocent people including women and children.

Jennifer Connelly (Hannah) makes her acting comeback with a splash as she navigates her own depression and suicidal attempt while grieving the death of her surgeon husband whose plane was shot down at the hands of a similar terrorist group. It becomes evident that Hannah must forgive Tahir and his evil past in order to escape the NYC streets.

Hannah is redeemed by her luminous, loving humanity and indestructible bravado, but she has earned it by surviving on the streets. Unfortunately the anguished Tahir is forced to finally accept that he is damaged beyond his ability to redeem his violent past when he once again resorts to his most primitive expression of mindless violence and in the end decides the only way for him to find ultimate redemption is to be reunited with his maker and the pure innocence of his young murdered son (at the hands of Nigerian terrorists).

SHELTER concerns itself with what's happening in our world today as ISIS invades our own country. Can you forgive the Godless, senseless violence of the terrorists that have taken away your loved one without embracing them as Tahinr did? Bottom line is that you have to 'let it go' or you will be consumed by your own personal mix of hate, revenge and finally guilt. That is if you actually are a decent, sane person.

Despite good acting and wonderful special effects I'm still wondering why the characters need to find another planet to live on when they already have the magnificent Planet Earth?

When young LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) students see this movie they actually think that if and when Planet Earth is destroyed that a space ship will be waiting to load all 9 billion earthlings, fly them through a wormhole and land them all safely on a new habitable planet. Some students even laugh at the thought of taking care of their home Planet Earth because it is disposable.

This is the sad message that this predictable, fast bucks movie presents to the next generation that will be the future caretakers of our one and ONLY Planet Earth.

Bravo to both Kelly Reichart and Michelle Williams for 'Wendy & Lucy' which was ahead of its time. This powerful movie was mostly ignored by Hollywood in 2008 when it was produced because it exposes the frightening economic hardships of America's homeless which are now the highest since the Great Depression. The facade of Hollywood often won't allow itself to crumble to the neo-realism of America's underbelly especially in the land of illusions. You're welcome to Disneyland, but just don't look too close or you might see the groups of homeless people sleeping under the freeway overpasses.

So who wants to hear about a girl and her beloved dog...anyway? Give us gangsters and guns, and billions and lies, more car chases and gratuitous violence. Aren't we all wealthy in America as we drive our gas guzzling SUV, live in our new home and pull out our credit cards? Just don't tell anyone that the bank owns us and if we miss only one payment, we might end up just like Wendy and Lucy...on the streets.

'Wendy & Lucy' challenges the viewers to acknowledge the homeless as human beings, not just as bums to be scorned. Sometimes fate throws us bad news and we need a helping hand. Many times homeless people are like homeless pets, not there through their own device.

By the way, where is Michelle William's Oscars? She was supreme as Diana and Marilyn. And...just how many Oscars does Meryl Streep really need...anyway? Hello.

Ridley Scott, Liam Neeson and a sensationalist short story writer created this alarming existential version of 'Little Red Riding Hood'. Liam being Red who meets the Big Bad Wolves and learns nothing in the end except that not doing your wildlife homework and making up your own scientific theories gets you bad reviews and low ratings.

'The Grey' opens in Alaska with Liam's voice over telling us that his fellow oil workers are men unfit for mankind: fugitives, drifters and general assholes. Then we see their drunken bar brawl of waste and indulgence. We will later hear that one of these so call misfits considers himself superior to his last screw job which was a fifty-three year old, fat, half Eskimo woman. This common 'John' places himself above a prostitute as if it doesn't take two to tango.

Next Liam shoots a Grey wolf as it runs through the oil fields trying to eat the oil workers. This flash of concocted nonsense is ludicrous because no wolf in its right mind would EVER attempt such a stupid move. Wolves are shy creatures that hide in the woods fearing for their lives if they even get one scent of a human. So why would a wolf sniff around in a camp full of those pesky rifle toting humans? Thousands of years of canine evolution tell the wolf that humans are the most dangerous animal. Wolves are not stupid, and besides they could smell the camp latrine miles away.

For 'The Grey' to work, the Big Bad Wolf of our childhood must be dredged up and the FEAR shoved down our throats again despite the fact that in American history not one documented wolf has attacked a human minding their own business. 'The Grey' is a Wolf Witch Hunt that limps across the frozen January screen in a bandage until the climax when Liam tries to kill a wolf that isn't there. It isn't there because after taking one look at Liam with his face contorted into a madman grimace and glass taped onto his waving hands, the terrified wolf would have split immediately to hide under the nearest rock.

The biggest sham of all is the Wolf Den Motif. The Alpha Female only dens in the warm spring to deliver her litter who soon leave the den to learn from the pack. Wolves are first cousins to the Artic Husky which burrows under the snow for warmth and wolves do the same. THERE WAS NO DEN and the thirty mile radius attack theory is a lie made up to support the ridiculous Wolf Den Nonsense just like Liam when he states: 'Wolves are the only animal that seeks revenge'...ridiculous. More exact, only humans seek revenge; wolves live in the moment.

Then we have the plane crash and the sham of wolves attacking a man and biting him in the leg and eating the other, which holds about as much scientific authority as the town gossip. Wolves would NEVER come near humans with fire. The Cave Men had fire too and wolves have had thousands of year of 'stay away from the crazy humans' experience. Why didn't Ridley just dig up Jeffrey Dahmer and have Jeffy Boy chase the crash survivors around with a meat cleaver? Now that would have been a true scientific fact.

Starving wolves might scavenge a dead human carcass, but would never approach a live human with a twisted Freddy Kruger face. You can scare away coyotes and wolves with just a clap of your hands, and the Alpha sending in the Omega is a sham too. The truth is an Alpha would NEVER go in much less a scared Omega, and being an Alpha has noting to do with size, just ask five-foot-two Napoleon.

'The Grey' is an ANIT-ENVIRONMENTAL film that has no redeeming wildlife truth or enlightening value. Well..O.K., Liam beat up the human Werewolves and this is what 'The Grey' is really about, not the real life wolf that God created. Once again the wolf is a victim of human greed and ignorance. Everything bad that happens to the men is caused by the wolves...how dumb. Why blame it on the wolves? How about the stupidity of boarding a rickety old airplane in the dead of an Alaskan Winter? Isn't that enough conflict for a truly creative writer to gather on? Wouldn't a better name for 'The Grey' be: Albert Camus and the Werewolves?

What makes the produces and writers of this movie any better than the greedy corporations that destroy our environment? Another 'I Hate Wolves' movie is made as this magnificent animal is once again massacred into near extinction. Our own Federal Department of Fish & Wildlife Service and hunters in America practice anti-wolf politics. They trap, poison and chase the wolves down with snowmobiles and helicopters and shoot them at close range like small, cowardly self deluded hunters and thanks to movies like 'The Grey,' they now have deranged fodder for their reckless wolf slaughter.

Wolf haters use extermination excuses like 'wolves kill caribou and leave none for us to shoot,' but the truth is that wolves are too slow paced and lack the stamina to run down a healthy caribou. Farley Mowat, environmentalist, who spent years in the Artic, concluded this when he lived among the wolves and wrote 'Never Cry Wolf' (also a movie, 1963). He says that wolves' diet consists mostly of small game like rodents or hares and if a wolf brings down a caribou it is only because the caribou is sick, injured or old.

The 'California Wolf Center' and The 'International Wolf Center' provide hundreds of books and DVDs on true wolf behavior. Farley Mowat went on to quote: 'Humans doom the scapegoat wolf into a mythologized epitome of a savage, and a ruthless killer when the real savage killer is man himself'.