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jonah_begone
Reviews
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (2005)
I didn't really care for it
1.) Is it marks or dollars? What's the currency in use in Hostenwall? Both? That's unsatisfactory and looks like an oversight.
2.) It would help if everyone pronounced "Ceasare" the same way.
I can see that the directory and writer took some care with the original... but... fleshing out the plot points were a mistake, in my opinion.
The original production seemed mad because things were explained so partially - it seemed disjointed. This production attempts to clean things up, which was a mistake.
A nice try, but artistically no triumph.
Rebound: The Witness (1952)
Excellent!
This is in a recent DVD release of film noir telltales.
An excellent little featurette... Edwin Max ("The Judge" in "Follow Me Quietly") excels as the deadpan thief who doesn't hesitate to kill. Also excellent is Vera Marshe - equally hard-bitten and deadpan - as his mistress and accomplice in crime. William Schallert - Patty Duke's TV father - also has a minor role in this.
I also enjoyed the evocative street shots of a 1952 city.
What's really great is the unexpected twist ending... they just don't write 'em like this anymore.
Film noir buffs will like this one!
Rail Kings (2005)
Laughably bad
Whoa, this is one of the worst films I have ever seen.
For starters, Ernest Borgnine has all of about four minutes in this film as the lovable old hobo "Steamtrain" - and that's it. (An interesting reversal of roles from "Emperor of the North Pole," where he played a railroad bull - an implacable enemy of hobos.) So don't be fooled; this is by no means an Ernest Borgnine film.
The production looks like it was shot on a consumer grade DV camera, the plot has holes big enough to drive, well, freight trains through, and the acting is frequently bad. There are all sorts of odd gaffes and inept musical cues... and I find it very, very hard to believe that the big name rock bands whose music was used in this actually granted their permission.
I suspect that this film was made for hobos about hobos by hobos - and if any of them are murderous enough to kill me for panning this film, well, then, so be it - at least there's no chance of my ever having to endure "Rail Kings" again.