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First Man (2018)
The man behind the mission
This undoubtedly the best space movie I've seen since Apollo 13.. and I've seen quite a number, as I've been interested in studying manned spaceflight for well over 33 years. I've listened to hundreds of hours of archival mission audio too.
I loved how it put a human face on the Apollo 11 mission and the life of Neil and his earlier missions. From his X-15 flights to Gemini VIII and Apollo 11 This is meant to be a biopic and not a film about the moon landing. The filmmakers took some liberties, but this is commonplace in Hollywood.
The film as the title implies, is about the man, not the mission. This has led to some controversy, most notably (I'm speaking as an American here) over how the planting of the US flag was downplayed in the film, but Neil Armstrong's own family defended this, saying he would have approved since this was a human achievement, not solely an American one. The plaque left on the moon said "We came in peace for ALL Mankind" (emphasis added)
Half a million people from around the globe, including my grandfather, made this mission possible, from tracking stations in Australia, (we'd not have been able to watch in on TV without their help) to German rocket scientists secretly brought to the US after World War II. Neil was always a humble man an eschewed the limelight intensely in his later years, and you can tell that from the film.
I saw others complain abut the jump cuts and scenes that made people dizzy. I thought this made the film more authentic. I studied the Gemini VIII mission closely and knew much about the incident featured in the film. It is intense but made almost me feel like I was actually there.
The musical score was incredible and had some tributes to many other films including the "Blue Danube Waltz" scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey. The inclusion of a theremin is perfect and gives it an ethereal spacey quality. The sound director did a great job at showing that sound cannot travel through space by having dead silence at parts.
The film has some obvious flaws but did a great job at telling the story from a perspective not seen before.
Go see it! From all I've read on Neil Armstrong, I learned a new thing or two about him.
Grey Lady (2017)
excellent mystery thriller
Having been a longtime summer visitor to the island, I greatly was eager to see a movie filmed there. This film delivers, but would likely be appreciated more by those who have visited the island.
It has a good story, (I will forego a long-winded plot summary as there are a plethora of these already) and the dialogue in the film contains many references to classic poetry and prose. This is a low-budget independent film contains a lot of drama, somewhat of a rarity in Hollywood blockbusters these days so the average film-goer or most people under 40 are not likely to appreciate it.. If you're into Michael Bay style action packed movies or perennial reboots of comic book superhero movies, or revenue generating mainstream films, this is not for you.
The cinematography of the film is excellent which is what I'd expect from a veteran like Andrzej Bartkowiak, who worked alongside the great Sidney Lument.. This is John Shea's second film as a director after his earlier film Southie whom he also had a bit part in.
I seldom go out on a limb to recommend a film but this is one I would suggest watching. Though it still boils down to the Latin idiom my grandmother taught me.. "De gustibus non est disputandum" (No accounting for taste)
I Learn America (2013)
Oscar-worthy documentary
I just attended a screening of this at the Nantucket Film Festival and had a chance to meet 3 of the students featured in the movie. It is by far the best film I've seen at this year's festival.
The film portrays many immigrant students but concentrates on several who are from Burma (Myanmar), the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Pakistan and Poland. The film gives a look at their academic, social, and family life switching back and forth between each. The film gives a great look at how immigrants struggle to fit in and some of the culture shock that can occur.
Given the subject matter being in the spotlight in US politics at this time, this film will shed light on the subject in more ways than the news media is able to. I predict this film will be a strong contender for the "Best Documentary" Academy Award.
Buzkashi Boys (2012)
Incredible film
I saw a screening of this film near the director's hometown late last month and it is one of the best films I've seen this year. The director, Sam French gave an introduction and a Q&A afterwards. I'm watching it again now on the DVD I bought at the screening.
The director, his siblings and his mother have been family friends for almost 30 years which really makes this special for me. His mother was my art teacher in elementary school and attended my old church.
The film includes some excellent scenery and one of the few movies I know of that portrays Afghans in a positive light. I hope that the publicity from the nomination will encourage more people to see this film.
Star Trek (2009)
Not a prequel but a full blown reboot. Gene Roddenberry would be appalled!
If you are not a Star Trek fan you will probably think this is an excellent film. It has intense action sequences, great special effects and good acting.
If you are a Star Trek fan like I am, stay home.
This film contains massive amounts of retroactive continuity. Things in this film contradict cannon every previous Star Trek film and TV series.
Someone at Paramout should lose their jobs over this.
J.J. Abrams warned "purists" to stay home. He should have not used the term purist as that only applies to Trekkies that are complete geeks when it comes to the franchise.
He should have warned that most fans would be disappointed.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)
It is possible to believe in both evolution and intelligent design
I am a former agnostic and a former staunch believer in evolution.
I became a born again Christian several years ago and stopped believing in evolution soon after. I was raised in a liberal Christian home. At the time I believed in theistic evolution. The idea that evolution did occur but that God guided the process. I had a falling out in my teens and was an agnostic for years I almost even became an atheist. After reading some apologetics, I became a Christian again and became more conservative than I was before.
As a creationist, I really liked this film but was disappointed that it did not present more of the Intelligent Design theory that God guided the evolutionary process. This would make the film much more acceptable among its detractors The film is not intended primarily to promote intelligent design, but to show that those who believe in it in either form are ridiculed and blacklisted, only for promoting an alternative theory which is exactly what science is all about. What it did not say and what many people don't know is that much of what is taught in intelligent design is based on scientific evidence just like evolution is. The only major promotion of intelligent design the film shows is that DNA is so complex, the odds of it being created by chance are a figure with dozens of digits to one A CBS News poll conducted a few years ago showed that just over half of all Americans believe in creationism and that most of those who believe that evolution did occur believe that God guided the process. 8 out of 10 Americans believe in intelligent design according to the poll. This poll is still available on their website at the time of this review.
Also, the critics of the film call creationists closed minded. I wonder how many of the reviewers and raters of the film here actually saw the film. reviewing and rating without seeing the film is the epitome of closed mindedness especially when giving the film one out of ten stars to make the rating even lower.
It was open mindedness that led me to become a creationist. I looked at both sides of the issue and chose.
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Worst of all Star Trek films *Spoiler alert*
I am a moderate Star Trek fan. This is the only Star Trek that I hated based solely on one part of the film.
**Begin Spoiler**
Data is my most favorite character in any of the Star Trek series or films. The writer's decision and Brent Spiner's willingness to allow Data to be killed off was (in my opinion) the worst mistake ever made in the entire history of Star Trek production. I have given all the previous Star Trek Films super high ratings, I gave Nemesis 1 out of 10 stars. If Data didn't die in the movie I would have given it 10 out of 10 stars.
*End Spoiler*
I sincerely hope that the events of this film can be reversed in the next film in some way through time travel or Q doing something.
I was very disappointed that the filmmakers did this and would not be one bit if this was why the film did so badly at the box office. In fact, I would be surprised if it *weren't* the reason it did so bad.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Incredible! Good special effects and plot
I noticed some people claiming that the ending was disappointing. Maybe to them but The ending was somewhat unexpected but certainly not disappointing.
The special effects are incredible also and there are a few new 'bullet time' effects which are impressive. The live action mix with CGI is practically seamless.
This better be nominated for a Best visual effects Oscar® or I will be very surprised.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Best Secular Christmas film ever!!
This film was somewhat ahead of it's time but an excellent example of how the sacred Christmas holiday as been grievously secularized commercialized by so many people and by the media.
Christmas is to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not to get presents from family and friends.
Linus's speech about the "True meaning of Christmas" is a direct quote from the Bible and Charles Schultz refused to allow this scene to be cut from the script let alone the film.
In a day and age where non-Christians are celebrating and observing a Christian holiday, though not the most important Christian holiday, Christians need to inform the secular world about what Christmas really means.
Showing this film is an excellent way to do it.
Ishtar (1987)
A great film with undeserved bad press. I want a DVD version!
I wonder how many of the people who voted on this movie actually saw it. If they did many of them would have liked it. Look at Weird al Yankovic's film UHF. It died in the box office but when released on dvd it was a top seller on amazon.com for weeks. Ishtar was given a bad release date. If you sit down and watch it, you will realize that it is not nearly as bad and boring as what the media said (and still does say) about it. It lost much money but bigger losers have DVD releases. Hudson Hawk lost a lot. Cutthroat Island had a much bigger loss than Ishtar and yet it has a DVD version. Ishtar is so badly underrated.
When I heard this movie was a major failure, I wanted to see it to find out why. I am glad I saw it and I bought a copy very soon after.
Unfortuantely when a movie gets a bad reputation like this it is rare that it recovers.
Magic Bricks (1908)
VERY impressive for its time
This film has special effects which for it's time are very impressive. Some if it is easily explainable with the scenes played backwards but the overlay of moving images on an object on film is surprisingly well done given that this film was made more than 94 years ago.
Jackass: The Movie (2002)
Absolutely Disgusting! But the TV show is O.K.
I am a fan of the Jackass TV show. I went to see the movie only knowing that it would contain stunts not permitted on television. Some of the things on the TV show are bad, but much of it is fine.
This movie should have been NC-17. If it had got the rating it deserved, I would not have seen it.
Don't get me wrong, I really like the TV series, most of it at least. Some of the stunts in the film were pretty good, but almost all of them were quite bad.
It is possible that scenes may have been cut to avoid an NC-17 rating, but this film is a perfect example of why I think that the MPAA's 'monopoly' over movie ratings should end. I think that movies should get a second opinion over their content.
Naqoyqatsi (2002)
Impressive
This is one great film. I waited more than 3 years to see this film. The special effects were beyond explanation. They are very impressive and well done. I like the use of when a b/w negative image is shown and shifted into different colors. There was a great scene with a zoom of a mandlebrot fractal. A good example of an original special effect was the morphing of different paintings. A famous painting morphs into another famous painting, and that into another famous painting, etc. We also see wax dummies of famous people, George W Bush, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. Abraham Lincoln, Sitting Bull, and others.
I hope to see more films like this be made.
Left Behind II: Tribulation Force (2002)
The book is much better. Movie is loosely based on the book.
I have seen both Left Behind films. The second one was somewhat disappointing as far as the plot is concerned. The movie is much different than the book. I like religious films very much. It could be that the filmmakers are unable to secure rights to have a script that follows too closely to the book. But this still is a good film.
I hope that in the future they will be able to make the movies more similar to the book.
Insomnia (2002)
The original was better. *MINOR SPOILERS*
The original version of the film, made in Norway, was far better than this version. The original was easy for Norway to do, Much of the country is north of the Arctic circle with larger towns there (It was filmed in Tromsø, the worlds most populated town north of the Arctic Circle) but for an American film, the only place in the US to do a film would be Alaska where the areas north of the Arctic circle are sparsely populated.
The choice of actors was also poor. Honestly, can we see Robin Williams, a comic actor playing the role of a killer? Not me. The American version was too "Hollywoodized". Al Pacino tries to make it look good, but I strongly recommend the original. I was lucky enough to have first seen the original almost 2 years ago. I have seen it several times since. Comparing it to the new one. I think they tried to copy the original too meticulously.
*BEGIN SPOILER*
Some scenes in both versions were virtually identical. Dormer/Engström taping the window shades down in a futile attempt to stop the midnight sunlight from keeping him awake. Dormer/Engström vomiting in guilt in an alley after accidently killing his partner, the killer escaping through a tunnel underneath the shed.
Some scenes were slightly changed to seem more action oriented and less suspenseful. In the scene by the shed, the original had the killer alerted to the presence of the police by the sound a thermos breaking. In the new version, we see a thermos but the killer is alerted due to a policeman's megaphone accidently being turned on.
*END SPOILER*
I give the effort a plus, but the end result is a poor remake of an excellent Norwegian film.
Wendigo (2001)
Good but not Great
This film based on Ojibwa (chippewa) and Algonquin Native American Legends.
I had expected this film to center mostly around this but it was only a small part of the plot.
The Wendigo, Windigo, or Windago is a spirit that comes with the wind. It would entice persons by calling to them in an irresistable way. It then would drag its victims along at great speeds until they burn up.
This film mostly centers around a family that vacations un upstate New York during winter and have an unpleasant run in with some local hunters. This film has some excellent cinematography and special camera angles. There is much time-lapse photography and one part with the now-famous "time slice" photography better known as "bullet time" which was made famous in "The Matrix (1999)"
It is an unusual film and I could describe it as a combination of Blair Witch, Sixth Sense, Abominable Snowman.
Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing (1997)
Absolutely Shocking. Even more so than when I first saw it
I first saw this movie about 3 years ago. I was shocked at how stupid the FBI was not to prevent such a tragedy. It could have been easily prevented. This movie was just unbelievable.
Now seeing it after September 11th, I am appalled and can say that this could have been prevented more easily that most people would want to know.
This film is 100% true
In the final scene of the film, when the mastermind of the 1st attack is being taken to prison by helicopter and flies over the towers, he makes a spine chilling remark, that was laughed at when he said it. "Next time we'll bring them *BOTH* down." This was actually said by Ramzi Yousef after his arrest.
This movie reveals the shocking truth about how the first attacks were carried out right under the noses of the FBI and NYPD. It shows how the 1st and 4th Amendments are partially to blame for the attacks.
I watch this movie now and know that both attacks could have been prevented.
Nuit et brouillard (1956)
Absolutely Shocking
This is an excellent depiction of the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust. This film makes "Schindler's List" look like a child's movie.
It is VERY graphic and not recommended for the faint of heart.
The Perfect Storm (2000)
Not quite accurate but good effects
This film although emotional, is quite possibly not accurate.
Any events depicted after the last radio contact with the Andrea Gail is pure speculation.
It has good acting and excellent special effects.
It is based on a true story(obviously) about 3 different storms (the remnants of Hurricane Gail) and 2 fronts which collided to produce a MAJOR storm that hit New England in late October 1991
Noah's Ark (1999)
This film is BLASPHEMY!!!! Full of errors
This film is a completely inaccurate depiction of the real story of Noah's Ark. The producers probably did not even read the Bible. This is the worst movie I have EVER seen! Noah's wife was never mentioned by name in the Bible, but the writers of the film "gave" her the name Naamah. This movie depicts the destruction of Sodom a good 1000 years before it happened, and what about Gamorrah? It too was destroyed at the same time Sodom was. (Maybe the producers thought that not including Gamorrah in the story and showing the city of "Sodom" as in you-know-what would raise more eyebrows.) This film is utter filth and mocks God and the Bible. It is a wonder that any true Christian would want to participate in the production of this abysmal, hideous, reprobated mockery of the Bible.
UHF (1989)
Hilarious!!
This movie is one of my most favorite movies of all time. This movie does not deserve a PG-13 rating either. I would give it a PG. This is a movie that has parodies of several major films some parodies are egregious while others are obscure. I highly recommend this movie for nearly all ages there are few scenes which parents may find offensive. In one scene dogs are "taught" how to fly by being thrown out of apartment window. Another has some mild simulated violence. Simulated= happening in a daydream/imagination. There is absolutely no profanity is this film either. but two scenes where a particular word sounds similar to an offensive one. Quote RJ: "what is this piece of trash" Uncle Harvey: "Blow it out your ear scuzzbag" I think that this film although unsuccessful in the box office is still one of the funniest movies ever made.
Space Mutiny (1988)
Not a great movie
The only thing about this movie I liked was the opening credits! MST3K did a viewing of this movie in season 8 Apart from that the movie is not very well filmed. Special effects are not well produced.
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Excellent Series * * * * *+
Star Trek Voyager is one of the best Star Trek series (the 2nd best in my opinion second only to TNG) Despite what you may hear. Star Trek Voyager is in its 6th season as of 1999-2000 and some cast members have signed contracts for as many as 8 seasons. This series is better than the Original series and Deep Space Nine combined!
Feeders (1996)
Mediocre film recommended for mature audiences
This film has some of the most low-budget computer generated special effects I have ever seen. The suspenseful plot compensates for the poor special effects Some of the scenes in this film may be too intense for younger viewers.
Braindead (1992)
This EXTREMELY gory film is NOT for the faint of heart
It is the bloodiest movie I have ever seen and is thought to be the bloodiest movie of all time.