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Reviews
The Giver (2014)
Hollywood shows the truth about abortion and euthanasia for once.
Incredible film that brings to light so many things that are a reality now today. Whether it is unnecessary medicinal injections, the serial ending of perfectly healthy human beings or the erasing of the elderly out of convenience, this film truly brings to light the injustice of today's elders (DC elite). To think the end game would be to erase all that make humans different, to end the idea of family and the reality that is love and all human desire for happiness in exchange for sameness and oblivion.
In the film, they may have a chance to reverse course long after it should have been way too late.....back here in reality, do we still have that same chance?
The Power of the Dog (2021)
Modern ideas of masculinity from 100 years ago.
Acting and cinematography are so well done, they feel so very wasted on this predictable modern ideological view of why men from the early 20th century were so masculine.
Simply put, in this film's view....all overtly masculine cowboys must have all been gay or trans. They were also not racist because they were gay.
Land (2021)
Film defeats most reviewers
The viral based COVID pandemic threatens our society and what do the vast majority of those reviewing this film rush to the store to buy? Toilet paper, hand sanitizer and surgical masks. The main character in this film at least had the foresight to buy some canned food, so you may want to lighten the attack on her urban cultivated survival skills.
Older folks are reviewing this film at a higher rate because they are probably the last American generation that could go camping for a week on a whim and not just survive, but really enjoy it.
This film starts by simply revealing the truth of spending the rest of your middle aged life in solitude in a remote cabin after spending the first half of your life in a downtown condo... and it is a slow, painful, yet fairly authentic attempt.
I'm not necessarily a fan of Robin Wright, but the pain of lost life is real....and the healing that living within nature is also very real. That, I think was her initial idea, but in the end, the healing power of a human relationship shows again why we need each other.
Great acting. Steady, if uneven, pace. Plot was crisp in my opinion, but I understand my love of the outdoors causes bias. I do really appreciate the attention the film gives to healing, both physically and mentally. Well done.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Love, not violence, leads to the change we need....
Certainly a film in the promotion of independent and free thought, yet set in the time of Britain's fight for suffrage, a highly contentiously political time period where change did NOT make sense.
I do wish a more historical and political understanding would have been established besides mentioning Queen Victoria a time or two. We can assume this is the time of importance in the suffrage movement between 1880 and 1918 where the British Empire was at its absolute height of power. Traditionalists were certainly within their righteousness to claim that times had never been better, yet equity in the vote, as most of us now know, was certainly the more noble cause. Yet, here and now, in our current time of upheaval, there is nothing more righteous than to remind us all that freedom of thought, understanding that politics DO matter, and simply loving and helping your fellow human will lead us to where we need to be.
This film is a fun and uplifting period piece (minus the plastic shotgun cartridges) that concluded the smart plot toward of the value of caring for your fellow man and woman.
Duets (2000)
Makes you feel.
Good film similar in structure to Love Actually. It has the same main plot issues in that each subplot does not get fully fleshed out, however, that is easily made up in the range of stories and subsequently, then number of viewers that can relate. To be honest, I believe the writers did well enough that most folks can easily relate to more than one of the subplots.
There was some sub par acting, but those performances were carried by the expected excellence of Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher. As fantastic as their performances were, they were not the sole reason it gets 8 out of 10.
This film will make you feel; So, by rule, it gets 8 out of 10 stars.
Hereafter (2010)
Aimless...perfectly aimless
The plot is slow and utterly aimless....however, the topic deserves it.
The film obviously deals with death and what happens after, however, I believe the main story-line is not so black and white. It is truly focused, very thoughtfully, with the pain of someone who's gifts and talents require an exponentially rare soul-mate in order to have a chance at living life to the fullest.
These separate stories are told beautifully and directed in a way that allows the viewer to take it for what it means to them personally while giving hope, not only for those who have lost, but those who long to no longer live their unique lives alone.
Autómata (2014)
Potential alone accounts for 3 of the 5 stars
There were some positives... Very good acting, very good stage and feel to a very believable human future.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of a cohesive plot...or even a single cohesive subplot, this film was unable to render a single complete feeling to its audience during its entirety.
I was so close, at several different points in the film, to thinking several of the subplots were about to extend into something greater....but each failed....and often miserably.
As much as I enjoy a film that trusts its audience to fill in blank spaces between scenes, it was often too much, especially considering the definitive setting laid out at the onset of the film.
I can see in many of the higher rated reviews the pressure of adding stars due to seemingly not so controversial scientific theories as if, with them being in the script it somehow makes the film. The sad fact that they are bringing the legacy of "Blade Runner" into the mix just shows that they weren't paying very close attention.
Simply put, this film is a sad shell of "AI" (2001), in the setting of "Book of Eli" with robots from "I Robot" and the entire premise coming from none other than "Jurassic Park".