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arbjones
Reviews
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968)
Best Acting for any Midsummer Night's Dream adaptation
This rendition is somewhat 60ish but its my personal favorite. If you can set that aside, the acting is first rate and I think some of the best performances are delivered. Peter Hall's use of the hand-held camera keeps the movie very interesting and constantly moving.
The cast is unmatched in any other Midsummer production with Diana Rigg, Ian Richardson, and Judi Dench. My favorite is Ian Holm's rendition of Puck ... truly memorable. Paul Rodgers is also stellar as Bottom and is certainly the best Pyramus and Thisbee ive seen in any of the renditions.
My Bodyguard (1980)
Wonderful movie lost in time
"My Bodyguard" is a wonderful film that has a charming story which doesnt have to have people getting blown up or killed. The movie also has a nice moral too it. I remember watching this as a kid and this was one of my favorite films growing up. It teaches kids about friendship, devotion and loyalty and standing up for what you believe in ... its a classic compared to some of the trash like 8 mile thats out there today.
Chris Makepeace is excellent but Matt Dillon is truly fantastic as the school bully. I highly reccommend this type of movie for your kids.
Gods and Generals (2003)
Gods and Generals is a huge snore and bore -
I saw this yesterday and my advice: Do not bother. The movie is utterly boring and long winded. Gods and Generals was supposedly made for the cinema yet it belongs on TV whereas Gettysburg was made for TV yet was marvelous on the big screen.
Wait for this installment to run on TNT over and over again. At least you will be saved by commercials which will seem refreshing.
This film does not even come close to Gettysburg. I found the lines to be utterly ridicoulous and to a worse extent almost without meaning to the overall war environment. The characters seem distant and not even part of epic war that is going on around them.
The sets were very good such as Fredricksburg, but the story is utterly slow, plodding along with absolutely no pace at all. I found myself asking the attendant at intermission how much longer the film was going to last. The pace is truly pathetic as well ... the battle scenes are not unique at all and become a blur after a while ... we are given very little of the military strategy that made these generals truly great and alot of Stephen Lang quoting scriptures time and time again.
Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain in Gettysburg was the shining point imho, but here in C&G he was nothing but a boring yarn. I feel so sorry for Daniels .. he was given some really pathetic lines. This is highlighted by a scene in which the 20th Maine is about to enter the battle at Fredricksburg and Chamberlain gives us some totally obscure verse about Caesar that has little or no connection to what is happening on the screen. Worse yet when Chamberlain and his wife talk about the prospect of him entering the war it sounds more like they belong more in a Shakespeare play.
A final criticsm involves the issue of slavery and the South. Many of the film critics found the director Maxwell and Ted Turner's portrayal to be very pro-South. After reading this film I tried to find every reason for this not to be the case but came away in complete agreement with the film critics. The idea of slaves being treated with such dignity is so far-fetched its almost laughable if it were not so offensive. In terms of the battles ... where is the North perspective??? There is none except for a few short scenes where they debate about taking cities and crossing rivers ... the rest of the movie is spent trying to convince us that Stonewall Jackson is a great and dignified general. There is not doubt he was a great general with deep religous convictions but the film does not need to spend 3 hours telling the viewer that.
Overall this is a huge disappointment. My advice is AVOID this one and to watch Gettysburg on DVD or TNT again.