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Reviews
Copying Beethoven (2006)
Adding to Beethoven's apocrypha
Beethoven is a mystery. The hidden man left many secrets buried in the dust of time. Thank goodness for the great music Beethoven left us. This movie adds a killer cinematic interpretation of the construction and premier of the 9th, so powerful and well done that I watched it twice and did not feel cheated in any way.
The DVD also has Holland and Harris commenting while the full movie plays on screen. I found it very interesting and recommend you watch that if you are a Beethoven fan.
I was a classical trumpet performance major in college, and enjoyed my seat in the middle of the orchestra. Beethoven was my guy. I collected many recorded versions of the 9th, the 5th, the Moonlight, and the late quartets. I even learned to play the 1st movement of the Moonlight on piano. When our high school orchestra toured in Austria and Germany in 1971, I was delighted to purchase a copy of Beethoven's life mask in Salzburg. Ed Harris makes a remarkable Beethoven! I rated this film 8 of 10, because my mind could well imagine the real Beethoven emerging from Harris's fine performance. I would have loved to see the entire 9th captured within the film, too bad about modern film time constraints.
The great Beethoven film is yet to be made. From what I have read, the young Beethoven was a furious improviser at the keyboards. He would entertain with set pieces, and after an intermission would free himself to jam as his imagination led him on. When his bad hearing took away his performing career, it must have been a terrible blow to him. A film that could take us back in time to see him performing in his prime, that would be a very worthy project! This film adds to the wealth of visions of the Great Man. The fictitious character adds a twist of fantasy and makes it unique. I you enjoy Beethoven, take the time to enjoy this talented little film!
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Great Barrier Reef to be dead by 2024
Just saw this for the first time, and it's been only a couple of weeks since the Sumatra tsunami. When the big wave hits the Big Apple, that really was gripping. The rest of the film was chilling enough, with zesty special effects.
What the hell, did the ice age just kind of peter out at the end? One minute it was freezing folks solid and the next it was just sunny and brisk... si I'm calling the ending "lame".
Still, I give the overall film an 8 of 10. Planetary warming is happening and this film is good for the world's psyche. I have heard that the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Australia, is in jeopardy of becoming dead of life in less that 20 years, due to rising water temperatures. Another coral paradise off Belize will also be wiped out. Al Gore was on the right track with the Kyoto Treaty, and it's a heinous mistake for the U.S. to snub our responsibilities to the planet.
I work in a library, so you can figure I had to like this film just to see the books on Tax Law being fed to the flames.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
This film really works!
This film really works for me. The expectations were high, and it came through on many levels. I read the books 30 years ago, and it made me feel like I have come full circle now to see it transferred so brilliantly to screen. Gollum is so perfect, the battle scenes so rich, the faithfullness to the original masterpiece very true.
IMHO, this trilogy is simply a labor of love that brought the best out of everyone involved. I am 50 years old, and it made me feel those old emotions. There were some youngsters next to me weeping through the end, and I confess it brought a tear to my eye as well. JRR would have loved it. Truly a modern classic.
This belongs in that realm of my all-time top ten, with Dr. Strangelove, Schindlerâ?Ts List, and Itâ?Ts A Wonderful Life. Please let them film the Hobbit as well, just to give us the proper sense of completion. To add my personal note, I encourage everyone to actually READ the books. And you can re-read them without ill effects. A complimentary novel to read is the Harvard Lampoonâ?Ts â?oBored of the Ringsâ?, which is a satirical joy.
My rating is 9 out of 10. I would rate the three as a set, also 9 out of 10. Simply magical!
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Free-roaming Indoor Squirrels!
The golden age of Kansas City jazz enters this movie as George wanders through downtown Pottersville. Hot live music spills from every doorway, what a gas! George stops in the "alternate reality" Martini's bar, and it looks like Meade Lux Lewis pounding out infectious barrelhouse piano! To heck with Bedford Falls, give me Pottersville! Shame on Capra for slandering jazz as evil.
Does Uncle Billy keep a free-roaming pet squirrel? Is Capra using the squirrel symbolize that Billy is a nut case?
Billy loses the money, and at Billy's house George screams that Billy is going to prison. George shakes Billy by the lapels and storms out. Poor Billy collapses is despair at his desk. There is no comfort from a small Scottie dog under the desk, but a squirrel climbs up Billy's sleeve and tries to give Billy's arm a hug! Priceless!
Who keeps a squirrel loose in their home? Can a squirrel be trained to use a litter box? I am serious, IMDB fans, send me a note if you've ever heard of a squirrel kept loose indoors.
The crow in the Savings & Loan. Is it left over from a filming of the Poe's "Raven"? Awwwwk! Sit under the rafters at your own risk.
Donna Reed lights up "like a firefly" as Mary, in the performance of her career! I wish I could like the angel Clarence, but to me his part is weak. This is not a perfect film.
"It's A Wonderful Life" is a sappy, corny, sentimental, mawkish old tear-jerker. It kicks my ass! 10/10 stars.
Memento (2000)
Tattoos, broken cookirs, 8.3 stars
**possible spoilers**
This movie is about reality, memory, cruelty, tattoos, damage, time, dangling clues, making sense of it all, and taking useful notes. It's about the ungraceful way so many lives unravel past points of no return.
Things happen as we age. We crumble a bit at the edges, and sometimes we break off in huge chunks beyond repair. This is the story of a real broken cookie named Lenny Shelby.
Lenny doesn't look broken. He's got the pretty face, nice car, fancy suit. but it is hard to fathom how he is not dead or institutionalized, poor chap.
I watched this film twice. It's twice as cruel the second time. Though the spit is hard to swallow, this is a kick-ass film. It got me thinking from so many angles. Why didn't Lenny put dates and times on his notes? IMDB users rank it #10 in the top 250. Part of that high rank is that this is a secret tattoo cult film, like Cape Fear. Ball point pen ink and a hot needle {{ shivers! }} .