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SaphfireRose
Reviews
The Castle (1997)
Funny and up-lifting!
I enjoyed this movie, mainly as the humour is NOT American. Americans basically have very limited humour, movie and tv wise, they basically laugh at themselves and laugh at everything and anything! See some of their silly and far-fetched trashy "comedy" shows for e.g. Australians only laugh when something is funny, they do not laugh simply to be stupid or for the sake of it, unlike Americans. That is why I feel the Australians have a more cultured and refined sense of humour. They aren't shamelessly falling about the place in laughter every 5 secs like Americans, but they laugh when it is appropriate, and when they do laugh, it is genuine humour. I give this move an 8 out of 10. Good acting, good story-line, good characters, good humour.
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
One of the most well-produced musical dramas in history!
Warning: potential spoilers
I have to admit that I simply cannot understand anyone bagging this movie, or saying it is poor. This movie is my all-time favourite, I have watched it countless times. Despite the fact that perhaps some of the musical facts may have been incorrect, I feel that point is so trivial and unimportant as to even feature as a point against it. If you pick on the musical facts, then you have most definitely missed the meaning of this movie.
This movie shows how a teacher can endear himself to the students, help to shape their lives, and in turn, gain fulfillment himself. That, is the point of the movie, anything else is irrelevant. This movie is outstanding in many ways. Firstly, it has a lot of history, for those of you who enjoy their history, like me. It spans 30 years. It shows the impact of the Vietnam War, how Mr Holland taught a student who in turn ended up dying defending his country. We see one of his former students who started out as shy and untalented, rise to be the Governor of the state. Whilst all this is going on, in the background we see his family growing, and the impact his deaf son has on him, and his heartache that his own son will never truly be able to hear music. As previously mentioned, right through this, is the history of 1965-1995 and how society, beliefs and cultures change. If the ending is not enough to move you to tears, you are simply not human - simple.
We all have experienced a teacher who believed in us, made us believe in ourselves, and shaped our lives. That is what this movie is about. The intricacies are unimportant, it is the moral of the story which is the focal point. The movie certainly brings to life a sentence in John Lennon's song - Beautiful Boy: "life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans". Ever since seeing this movie, I have adopted this as my motto. Never has a truer sentence been uttered. This movie deserves nothing short of 10, and I believe will go down in history as one of the best movies, and will be classed among the famous classics.
If you don't see this movie, you are missing out on something very, very special.
10 out of 10
Pacific Heights (1990)
Pretty boring.
This movie is good for suspense and drama with regards to Keaton, however, apart from that, it is really a boring movie. Although the plot was good, the acting and the little bits in between the main scenes just didn't grab me. If you are a Keaton fan, rent it. Otherwise, you may end up bored.
Baby M (1988)
Brilliant account of the real life Baby M saga.
Warning: potential spoilers.
This drama is the story of the Baby M case from the 80's. It is the story of how Mary Beth Whitehead became a surrogate mother to Bill and Betsy Stern. Mary Beth agreed to become artificially inseminated by Bill Stern, carry the child, and once the child was born, to give up that child to Bill and his infertile wife Betsy to raise, for a fee of $10,000.00. The two families signed surrogacy contracts. However once the baby had been born and she asked to see the baby and held it (a fundamental mistake) she decided she could no longer go through with the surrogacy agreement (to give the child to Bill and Betsy to raise). Thus, began a year of kidnapping and court battles, which culminated just after the baby's first birthday. I feel this movie was a success because it gave an account of the facts on BOTH sides. It presented the story in a straight-forward and un-biased manner, showing raw human emotions and the power plays from both sides.
For anyone who enjoys true stories mixed with drama, this is a movie you should enjoy.