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Copycat (1995)
Boiling with anti-white, anti-male and class prejudice
This would be a passably good thriller if not for the blatant misandry and anti-white race baiting.
The claim that 90% of serial killers are white and male has no support whatsoever from the statistical evidence. The portrait of a "white male" serial killer given in the first few minutes of the film is a vicious caricature of poor and working class white males. If and when you watch this film, you need to bear in mind that non-white serial killers rarely attract any significant attention from the media.
If you are a white man or a white woman, you should be deeply offended by this hate propaganda presented in the guise of popular entertainment.
Masters of Horror: Pro-Life (2006)
A mess from a master
Take "Assault on Precinct 13" and cross-breed it with "Prince of Darkness," taking care not to use any of the skill with which those two films were made, and this is what you get. Sorry, folks, but John Carpenter was clearly just phoning this one in, and it's painful to compare "Pro-Life" with Carpenter's masterful "Cigarette Biurns" from the show's first season. I respect and admire John Carpenter's work--he's made several of my favorite films--but "Pro-Life" is a huge let-down. Perhaps instead of going for an original story he should have adapted a short story--Robert E. Howard's "Pigeons from Hell" or Robert Bloch's "Enoch," maybe. John Carpenter has earned a place in the history of cinema, particularly the history of the horror film, but hopefully future critics and film goers will tiptoe quietly past this one.
Crime and Punishment (2002)
Modern setting? A huge mistake
Setting this story in the modern era was a huge mistake. Frankly, this ruined the film for me, and if it had not been for the remnants of Dostoyevsky's brilliance shining through this mess I would not have bothered watching the film through to the end.
The Great Wall (2016)
Excellent fantasy adventure!!!
I just got back from the theater, and I'm still jazzed.
I saw the 3D version, and this is definitely a film that benefits from 3D. Yes, the story is somewhat simplistic, but so what? A simple, straight- forward story isn't a cinematic blunder in and of itself and doesn't mean that a film is "dumb"and therefore unworthy of serious attention. The producers were aiming at an international audience, which meant that there wasn't much room for subtly and nuance, and frankly I rather like the idea that people in East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and Anglo- America could relate to such a film. Characterization was rather shallow, but the film's pace was fast and held my attention throughout. The film has some resemblance to steampunk in that the Chinese defenders of the Great Wall use complex machines that owe nothing to twentieth century technology, and this in itself is a fascinating aspect of the movie.
So far, the film's American box office has been pretty tepid. I want it to have a much better reception in the United States, if only so that I can look forward to more films like this. See this film! If you have any interest in fantasy/adventure cinema, see this film and encourage all your friends and acquaintances to do likewise!
Sunshine (1973)
If this one doesn't leave you in tears, you're too cold-blooded to be running around loose!
I'm a guy. I first saw this film in bar full of bikers. And STILL I cried! I've only seen it one more time since then, and that's not nearly enough. Look, let's start a letter-writing campaign to TNT or TCM or SOMEBODY to broadcast this movie again. It's a crime to let it fade away into obscurity! Seriously, we need to get organized about this. We should choose a cable channel, find out exactly who schedules the programming, and bombard that person or those persons with hundreds of hard copy letters, not e-mails. Address them by name, be polite, make very sure how much this means to you, and convince them that this film can attract a huge cult following. This is a movie for future generations, not just the 70s generation! Don't you want to be able to share this with your kids and your grand kids? Let's get started. We need to save this film.