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timberlax
Reviews
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
his movie opens many doors that don't want to be opened
Just recently saw this on DVD and I have to say it opened my eyes to some of these issues with private contractors. Now I knew already that Halliburton and CACI and all those other companies really had no logical place in a war such as the one in Iraq, but some of the stuff they did like purposefully destroy their own equipment (in some cases sending their own employees in harm's way and having them killed by insurgents) because they would get compensated for it and profits would rise, is just plain monstrous. Not only that, but the amount of money that Congress has subsidized these companies is just incredibly outrageous. Money that could be used towards the $8 TRILLION dollar debt, or improving the health care system, or funding the education system better. And then using private contractors to do intelligence operations, such as interrogations...you saw what happened at Abu Graib - half the sickos who did the torture weren't even the military.
I mean WTF, America it's time to wake up!! Congress is incompetent since the majority always turns down all the major amendments that would control these types of criminal activities, with lobbyists controlling almost all of the legislative branch. And since Deick Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton, you can see where this is connecting the dots.
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
This movie should have went theatrical - It's good!
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This film was pleasant to watch. "Why" do you ask? Because, compared to Disney's other "sequels" that have went to theaters like the "Jungle Book 2" and "Piglet's Big Movie," this movie is a materpiece. I love it! Here are a few reasons: a) the ENTIRE cast (except for the British comedian Rowan Atkinson as Zazu) return to reprise their roles, including new voices of Neve Campbell from the "Scream" series as Kiara and Jason Marden "A Goofy Movie" as Kovu, b) the animation was way above average for a "sequel" and c) the story is actually good! I've seen some garbage with these recent Disney sequels but this one has a very good message.
Here's a brief summary of the film: Simba and Nala have a daughter named Kiara, who, like her father, is very curious and eager to explore. She ventures in the Outlands, a dry area beyond the Pridelands where Simba has exiled Scar's followers. There she meets a cub named Kovu and instantly they befriend each other, despite their different backgrounds. Kovu's mother Zira is watching from the grass the cubs' relationship unfold. Simba and co. come along and he reminds Zira that she and her pride was banished and for the first time meets Kovu. She explains that Kovu was chosen by Scar to follow in his footprints and that the Pridelands belonged to Scar. Anyway, Kiara and Kovu are forced to say good-bye for quite some time. Zira sees the friendship between her son and Kiara as an opportunity to brainwash Kovu in growing hatred for Simba and killing him and taking his place as Scar's heir. A few years pass and Kiara is now a teenager, ready for her first hunt. Meanwhile, Kovu's siblings, Nuka and Vitani, set afire the fields and Kiara gets trapped and faints from the smoke. Kovu saves her in order to be accepted into Simba's pride, while secretly aiming to kill him when he gets the chance. The romance comes in and Kiara and Kovu fall in love with each other after being separated for many years. From there on, he must decide which path he must be on: as a follower of Scar or a follower of his heart....
There are so many good things I like about this, especially Kovu's struggle within himself between honor and love and positive message of unity. Now, some say this movie's animation or other things are no where near the original. Well, duh! Who can beat the original? It's just impossible...name one animated feature that actually surpassed the original. But what makes this film unique is that it actually came pretty close. The downside to this film for me is that Kovu and Kiara grow up way too fast! I liked when they were playing together but had to be separated from each other by their rival parents. Timon and Pumbaa are back for more humorous appearances (though I have to admit they could have been funnier).
Did I mention the songs were actually good? This is something I thought would never be the case with a sequel. "He Lives In You," "We Are One," and "Love Will Find A Way" are my top favorites. The characters were not flat, in my opinion, and the voice acting was excellent! To sum it up, watch this movie despite all the negative reviews, who are people that expected this sequel to surpass the original or something. I love both. I can't say one is worse than the other because I see them as one continuous story. TLK was the best, and TLK 2 carries on the spirit.
This movie could have easily been released in theaters and may have been pretty successful. The only negative aspect of it was that it was too short! Only 1 hour 17 minutes! They could have spent some more time on Kiara and Kovu's childhood years. Thus I give it ****1/2 out of *****.
The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride gets 9/10
Looking forward to The Lion King 1 1/2
The Core (2003)
Did I see the same movie?
I have to admit it wasn't as lame many people whine it to be. Ok, first off, this movie was not as terrible as Armageddon. The humor was JUST at the right level and I think there was only one or two corny lines throughout the film. I won't explain the plot because I think you can tell from the title that it's kinda obvious it somehow centers around the core. It has to be restarted. The science was pretty inaccurate I have to admit. The acting (I thought) was great by Eckhart (Keyes), Lindo (Braz) and especially Tucci (Zimsky; just look at his outburst towards the end) This guy is such an underrated actor.
And for once a NON American is part of a crew to "save the world" (a Frenchman to be precise). Now, I AM American but live in France. So I was glad that Jon Amiel included the fact that not ONLY the United States has weapons of mass destruction and smart scientists. And for ONCE a computer screen in a movie doesn't display Windows (as was the case in Independence Day in the alien mothership LOL). Nice hacking moves.
Whenever people praise a movie and say it's the best, blah, blah, many walk with great expectations and then most kinda lose that feeling of it being the best. And whenever people criticize a movie like this one, I, as one of many, have basically no intentions to like it when I go to see them. And the zero expectations help to enjoy it and realize it wasn't as bad as many people claim it to be. That has happened to me before. SO THIS MOVIE WASN'T PERFECT. WHAT, YOU WANNA EXPLOSIONS, MORE PEOPLE DYING?! SOME PEOPLE ARE SO USED TO PLOTLESS EYE CANDY THAT THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO VALUE A MOVIE ON OTHER ASPECTS. And this comes from that great line by Tucci: "WHAT YOU WANNA BE A HERO?! YOU WANA BE A MARTYR?! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?!" Sorry for the shouting but the movie made me want to speak out ;-). Definitely worth getting on DVD.
8 out of 10
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Masterpiece? Oh yes, I?ve no doubt about that!
The second part of the epic The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers is simply the most spectacular film I have EVER seen. This movie overpasses its previous part The Fellowship of the Ring and delivers the most brilliant piece of cinema to ever hit the big screen. From the landscape to the characters, this movie is simply stunning in its own time.
The characters fit right into the story through their emotional and physical features. Frodo and Sam are joined by Gollum, the most amazing CGI creation to be put on screen. He is so real and blends into the environment so seamlessly that after a while the audience forgets that he is animation and accept him as a real, physical character that shows no signs of falsity. The audience feels a real fear of the Uruk-Hai that have captured Merry and Pippin. The Ents are also quite impressive. These beings are believable and very true to what I visualized in Tolkien?s words. The Wargs, the winged Nazgûl, the oliphaunts and the Balrog, now viewed more in detail, are extremely breathtaking. The new characters add to the story and progress it faster than before.
The music of the film is also perfect. From the opening of the Misty Mountains to the Battle of Helm?s Deep and the storming of Isengard, Howard Shore unquestionably deserves another Oscar for his spectacular work. The music of any film is vital to its feel and images portrayed in screen. It simply blew me away. The tone was just right and the volume as well. I couldn?t find any faults in the score, which has never happened to me except when I watched the Fellowship of the Ring.
The storming of Isengard and the Battle of Helm's Deep is what really took my breath away. These had got to be the biggest and best executed battles I have EVER seen! I would rather go see the movie again for this!
To sum it all up, don't miss this movie at any cost! Except, maybe if you haven't seen the first one, then see it NOW and then see TTT. Otherwise the plot and/or characters might be a bit confusing for you. Other than that, it's perfect cinema work.
I wish I could give this movie more than 10 stars, but that's as high as it goes! Well done Peter Jackson! I just CANNOT wait for The Return of the King....ONE WHOLE YEAR!
10/10
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Masterpiece? Oh yes, I?ve no doubt about that!
The second part of the epic The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers is simply the most spectacular film I have EVER seen. This movie overpasses its previous part The Fellowship of the Ring and delivers the most brilliant piece of cinema to ever hit the big screen. From the landscape to the characters, this movie is simply stunning in its own time.
The characters fit right into the story through their emotional and physical features. Frodo and Sam are joined by Gollum, the most amazing CGI creation to be put on screen. He is so real and blends into the environment so seamlessly that after a while the audience forgets that he is animation and accept him as a real, physical character that shows no signs of falsity. The audience feels a real fear of the Uruk-Hai that have captured Merry and Pippin. The Ents are also quite impressive. These beings are believable and very true to what I visualized in Tolkien?s words. The Wargs, the winged Nazgûl, the oliphaunts and the Balrog, now viewed more in detail, are extremely breathtaking. The new characters add to the story and progress it faster than before.
The music of the film is also perfect. From the opening of the Misty Mountains to the Battle of Helm?s Deep and the storming of Isengard, Howard Shore unquestionably deserves another Oscar for his spectacular work. The music of any film is vital to its feel and images portrayed in screen. It simply blew me away. The tone was just right and the volume as well. I couldn?t find any faults in the score, which has never happened to me except when I watched the Fellowship of the Ring.
The storming of Isengard and the Battle of Helm's Deep is what really took my breath away. These had got to be the biggest and best executed battles I have EVER seen! I would rather go see the movie again for this!
To sum it all up, don't miss this movie at any cost! Except, maybe if you haven't seen the first one, then see it NOW and then see TTT. Otherwise the plot and/or characters might be a bit confusing for you. Other than that, it's perfect cinema work.
I wish I could give this movie more than 10 stars, but that's as high as it goes! Well done Peter Jackson! I just CANNOT wait for The Return of the King....ONE WHOLE YEAR!
10/10
Signs (2002)
The muster of great acting AND a wonderful story
Signs. That sounds like an interesting name. What could it mean? What is referred by it? Those are the questions I was asking myself when watching the trailers. I expected it to be about aliens, invasion and sort of Independence Day type deja vu. I was surpassed by a more complex, enriching story.
"Signs" is loosely based on H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" where aliens attempt to take over the Earth. However, in Shyamalan's version, there is also something else aside from the invaders: faith. Mel Gibson, a former reverend named Graham Hess, has lost his faith in God after a horrible family tragedy and become atheist. Upon these events emerging from crop circles in his fields to all over the world, his close ones, his brother Merril (Joaquin Phoenix) and his two children Morgan and Bo, along with himself, begin to interpret independently what these events could mean. Eventually, they all merge together into one: the end of the world. They must find a way to protect themselves and hope it will "all pass." The scenes have very good acting and emotion to each one.
I enjoyed this film. Very much. It's not about why aliens attempt to colonize the earth or how crop circles are made. It's about one thing: a man's journey to realize that there is still something left for him to believe in, to discover whether events happen for a reason, or just "pure luck." There were comic moments in the films that were not intended to be so, but the audience I was with, along with myself, found them to be hilarious, especially Phoenix's character.
I urge all those to see it. But do not be drawn into it expecting a sci-fi flic. Simply walk into with an open mind and just let your imagination do the rest. By the way, there were some scary moments that had a HUGE effect on the mood of the film. You'll love them.
A solid 10 out of 10.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
It was like the book WAS the script Tolkien wrote for a PERFECT movie
I have to say that I've seen the theatrical trailer about 100 times. I was so looking forward to this extravaganza. And it was worth the wait.
There is a quote about the readers of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, that goes: "There are two types of people in this world: Those who read Tolkien's world and those who will." I guess I'm one of those "who will". I have begun to the The Fellowship of the Ring and only finished about 1/3 of it. Somehow it sadly flowed out of my mind. I loved it but just one day I seemed to forget about reading some of it and forgot to finish it. Coincidentially, I heard about the movie almost the same week I stopped reading. As soon as it was confirmed, I picked up that book and didn't stop reading until the end of the first volume.
I decided that I should wait about reading The Two Towers (which is not a good thing to do because you should be fully aware of the trilogy), until after I've seen The Fellowship of the Ring. And boy was it REAL.
The story just came to life, so believable, so realistic, so intriguing. I have to say that it was the best adaption if a trilogy I've ever seen. The casting, the crew, the scenery, the script - all so perfect and "commentless" (nothing to improve). However, I do miss the scene with Tom Bombadil and the Sleepy Forest but those were most likely cut due to time constraints.
Now I have to admit that for people who haven't read the book it might seem a bit confusing and slow. But I myself, after watching it, got the book again and skimmed some of the scenes of the story. It was like reading the book for the first time, only now I knew what was happening, where and with who, thanks to such a WONDERFUL adaption of the novel.
For those of you who have seen the movie without reading the works and didn't like it, I tell, I URGE you to get the book and AT LEAST skim some of it and the descriptions. I say "at least" because the best thing would be to read it fully. It would be a good way to understand what the movie was about. For me, it was like the first time I played the N64 game "GoldenEye" and THEN only saw the movie. To me, the movie was like "Wow, this is just like the game" and that's because the game was so accurate like the movie. Same idea would apply to Lord of the Rings; After watching it and THEN reading it, it would seem so clear and awe-inspiring.
Salutations Peter Jackson! Thank you, merci, gracias, arigato, spasibo for such a wonderful book-to-screen transition. With it, the world of Middle-Earth that Tolkien created with his brilliant mind came vividly to life. I give it a definitive 11 out of 10. The extra point, however, does not exist on the voting (hence I put a 10), for it is for the believable and breathtaking translation of the literature world into the visual-audi one.
P.S. I think I know why the movies have a 1 year difference between them: it is so that each one would get a chance to be nominated for Oscar AND win it. For you see, if they are all released in the same year then only ONE of them could win a category of the Oscar nomination. Brilliant thinking Mr. Jackson!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
It was like the book WAS the script Tolkien wrote for a PERFECT movie
I have to say that I've seen the theatrical trailer about 100 times. I was so looking forward to this extravaganza. And it was worth the wait.
There is a quote about the readers of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, that goes: "There are two types of people in this world: Those who read Tolkien's world and those who will." I guess I'm one of those "who will". I have begun to the The Fellowship of the Ring and only finished about 1/3 of it. Somehow it sadly flowed out of my mind. I loved it but just one day I seemed to forget about reading some of it and forgot to finish it. Coincidentially, I heard about the movie almost the same week I stopped reading. As soon as it was confirmed, I picked up that book and didn't stop reading until the end of the first volume.
I decided that I should wait about reading The Two Towers (which is not a good thing to do because you should be fully aware of the trilogy), until after I've seen The Fellowship of the Ring. And boy was it REAL.
The story just came to life, so believable, so realistic, so intriguing. I have to say that it was the best adaption if a trilogy I've ever seen. The casting, the crew, the scenery, the script - all so perfect and "commentless" (nothing to improve). However, I do miss the scene with Tom Bombadil and the Sleepy Forest but those were most likely cut due to time constraints.
Now I have to admit that for people who haven't read the book it might seem a bit confusing and slow. But I myself, after watching it, got the book again and skimmed some of the scenes of the story. It was like reading the book for the first time, only now I knew what was happening, where and with who, thanks to such a WONDERFUL adaption of the novel.
For those of you who have seen the movie without reading the works and didn't like it, I tell, I URGE you to get the book and AT LEAST skim some of it and the descriptions. I say "at least" because the best thing would be to read it fully. It would be a good way to understand what the movie was about. For me, it was like the first time I played the N64 game "GoldenEye" and THEN only saw the movie. To me, the movie was like "Wow, this is just like the game" and that's because the game was so accurate like the movie. Same idea would apply to Lord of the Rings; After watching it and THEN reading it, it would seem so clear and awe-inspiring.
Salutations Peter Jackson! Thank you, merci, gracias, arigato, spasibo for such a wonderful book-to-screen transition. With it, the world of Middle-Earth that Tolkien created with his brilliant mind came vividly to life. I give it a definitive 11 out of 10. The extra point, however, does not exist on the voting (hence I put a 10), for it is for the believable and breathtaking translation of the literature world into the visual-audi one.
P.S. I think I know why the movies have a 1 year difference between them: it is so that each one would get a chance to be nominated for Oscar AND win it. For you see, if they are all released in the same year then only ONE of them could win a category of the Oscar nomination. Brilliant thinking Mr. Jackson!