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Reviews
God's Not Dead (2014)
Great Movie!
Don't take the average rating for this movie at face value, the rating is actually a reflection of the truth of the movie - ie that lots of people hate God.
And this fact is actually a reflection of most who call themselves atheist: they resent God and resent the moral compass they are born with. It is a huge surprise a pleasure in this day and age to find a movie with the insight shown in this one.
The movie is also accurate in its portrayal of atheist professors. It has been well documented that philosophical and scientific professors especially enjoy undermining the faith of their students. These professions attract atheists who use their position of authority to destroy the religious beliefs of their students.
A lot of "Christians" are writing in their reviews that they found the film offensive because it surmises atheists are dishonest, or know the truth but are unwilling to face it. I would say to those people; if it were possible to be a perfectly honest atheist, then God would be in the wrong to favour believers before them. So is God wrong, or is the atheist less than willing to face the truth? The fact is, as evidenced by atheists all over the internet and even in the higher echelons of philosophical debate, atheists are dishonest and more often than not, downright nasty. This movie portrays atheism and its promulgation very accurately.
The sound track is a little cheesy. Frankly, the movie is a little cheesy, but it is heartwarming, honest, and an antidote to all of the culture poison we are force-fed by the regular media and Hollywood. For this reason i give it 10 stars. Highly recommended.
The Unbelievers (2013)
Pathetic Propaganda
If this film tried to argue its position, i wouldn't have rated it so lowly. Unfortunately it doesn't, it is only a propaganda piece. It uses emotional arguments and the cult of celebrity in attempt to endorse a belief system. Meanwhile, one of the stars of the film in Richard Dawkins runs scared from open intellectual debate with Christian apologist William Lane Craig. This is a scientist who claims to be an advocate of reason who chooses, rather than debate his position in open forum, to instead use the cult of celebrity to convince the human cattle that his belief system is the one and only true belief system, and all others are wrong.
If your intellectual capacity has run so dry that celebrity endorsement can convince you of any belief system (ie atheism), this film is for you. For those of a more critical nature, this film is offensive.
The Iceman (2012)
Fair movie, but doesn't do justice to the reality.
As someone who has watched all the Kuklinski documentaries multiple times and listened to the 18 hour audio book biography a couple of times, i consider this a fair movie in its own right but a poor representation of the reality that was Kuklinski's life.
The movie is incorrect on almost every detail apart from the most basic. ie, he had a wife and loved his children.
Shannons performance is good, but it simply doesn't compare to the real deal. Take the ending of the movie for instance. It is a word for word re-enactment of one of the Kuklinski interviews, but watching it is not nearly as compelling as watching Kuklinski himself. I suppose this is to be expected, a copy can never equal the original, but i just feel that this scene is out of place in a 2 hour movie without sufficient backstory to really sympathise with the character.
DeMeo I think was miscast. They really needed an Italian guy - or at least someone who can do a compelling Italian accent, to pull it off. You kind of lose some of the reality that Kuklinski was a mafia hit-man due to this. There is none of the arrogance, brashness, charisma or flamboyancy that Roy DeMeo was known for. None of the mafia bosses in the movie really pull it off.
In all, its an OK movie but the story is twisted and does not represent the facts accurately. The real story is far more memorable.
Le cinquième élément (1997)
Passable opening dissolves into retardation with the appearance of Chris Tucker
I was intrigued to watch this movie, checked the IMDb score beforehand and was looking forward to a good Bruce Willis sci-fi.
Unfortunately, what i got was a passable opening ~40 minutes which dissolved into complete utter stupidity soon as Chris Tucker appeared on the scene. I could not believe the direction thought giving his character such a large role was a good idea. He takes over the movie and craps all over it. I hoped he would have a five minute side role, but no, he becomes a main character, given even more screen time than the interesting and attractive leeloo, and Bruce Willis. He is not funny, just fecking stupid and i wanted to shoot him and if i am honest i still do. How anyone can find this kind of humour funny is completely beyond me. Do you like screaming obnoxious loud uneducated black women that never shut their effing mouth? No? So why is it "funny", when a man portrays the same character? It isn't.
If you are an intelligent person, don't listen to the majority score, the majority of people have 90IQ. For you, dignified human being, this movie is offensive in its stupidity.
Hannibal (2001)
Superb From Start To Finish, Criminally Underrated
This movie is superb, i strongly believe that those that didn't enjoy it did not or perhaps cannot appreciate its finer points. I don't know what people were expecting but i watched this alone and still gave a round of applause when the credits rolled.
Its a deep and interesting story because while Hannibal is a killer, and of course a gruesome cannibal, everyone he killed in some way deserved it, and if you've read the books you will know that the trauma Hannibal suffered as a child goes a long way to excuse him. So the films begs the viewer the question as to his morality, and his punishment if any at all. The viewer perhaps will grow to like Hannibal, and so will be presented with many philosophical quandaries as the film progresses, would they rather see him jailed or free, alive or dead?
Hannibals interaction with Agent Starling is a fascinating one, wrought with sexual and psychological tension as agent Starling and the viewer both *feel* that Hannibal wouldn't harm her, but you are never quite sure and neither is she.
The pace of the film builds up to a climactic finish which doesn't give itself away until the very end. You are always guessing, will they run away together? will he kill her? will she kill him? will she hand him into the police? will he escape? Watch it and see.
I would say that this film doesn't hold your hand, there are a lot of finer details which may be unappreciable to those who haven't read the books or at least seen the "dragon rising" movie which explains Hannibals childhood. Many will be dismayed by the end because they think that Hannibal is meant to be a cardboard cut out villain, he isn't, and they're wrong, this is a fantastic movie.
The Ruins (2008)
This movie is terrible.
Awful, awful characters. Yeah, teeny boppers, two young, dislikable girls, and their two boyfriends, equally dislikable. I only wish they had died in more painful ways. I held out hope that the dire opening scenes were just trying to make everything appear predictable, lure me into a false sense of security, before a startling and brilliant twist. I was so wrong. I was remotely curious until they arrived at the 'ruins' and then i realised that this movie was going to be a complete farce. Hmm, an ancient mayan temple, only just found, only known by a select group of people. A temple, which sticks out of the landscape like a sh*t sticking out of an as*hole. Its not covered by trees, its completely open and visible to any aircraft, its bright yellow, and it has ridiculous, obviously fake plants littered all over it. There's no tension, there's gore, but no 'horror', its incredibly predictable. Its just pure /facepalm. Don't waste your time, honestly.
[Rec] (2007)
Weak. So weak.
I watched this after watching another horror film 'the ruins', needless to say, ill be sleeping easy tonight. They were both rubbish. This was the better of the two, by quite a way, but it was still poor. I can't see how people found this frightening, its a traditional zombie flick, situated in a building. Someone bites someones neck. Five minutes later the bitten gets up and bites someone elses neck, and so on, until they're all gone. There is the traditional creepy young girl, a staple of modern horror films, im sure you can guess what ends up happening with her..
Its just not remotely frightening. If your looking for tension, something psychological, deep, truly troubling, this movie isn't for you. If you like every other traditional zombie flick, then give it a go, you might get something from it, a headache most probably from the wobbly cam and incessant screaming. Good luck.
Highlander (1986)
Probably one of the best films ever.
I watched this as a kid and it always stuck in my mind as an awesome movie. As I've grown up, i've re-watched it numerous times, each time it gets better and means more to me.
Im not going to talk terribly much about the storyline, its quite obvious and I'm sure enough other reviews give you a clue. What i will talk about is its grandeur, artistic brilliance and emotional depth.
The movie is tied together expertly, linking past to present seamlessly and captivating its audience absolutely. The 'bad guy', is addictively bad, you can't stop watching him. Sean Connery is at his best, a pompous but deep and warm character. Christopher Lambert is always intriguing and for me, acts superbly in this film, he conveys emotion well and his voice is suited to someone who has lived for so long in such different places. The cinematography is perfect, a contrast between jaw droppingly beautiful Scottish highlands and the dirty glamour of 1980's new york. Even though the film only spends a portion of its time flashing back to the past, it manages to recreate and portray medieval life with both much more realism and romance than the likes of braveheart which truly didn't do anything for me. The costumes are fantastic, especially the first time you see the kurgan in his bone armour, CG will never be a match for creativity. The music, well.. certain parts send shivers down my spine and could easily lead me to tears. I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but consider this: - you live forever - you are essentially human, with human wants and needs, and a human desire for love and to have a family, yet you cannot. Everyone you will ever meet, you will lose. Everyone you ever let yourself love, you must watch die. And you must cope with their memory for centuries. There will be no end to it. Tie this precept with the majesty of the Scottish highlands, and Queens 'who wants to live forever' - a heartbreaking song in its own right made all the more powerful given the life of its writer and singer, and its very easy to be emotionally overwhelmed.
There is no film like this, and i doubt there will ever be again. The screenplay is near perfect, the cast is perfect with the exception of 'brenda', the story is superb, acting is excellent, the backdrops and locations give me goose pimples.. The music, as its done by Queen, is and will always be unique, completely unrivalled, in both its placement, its fitting, and its quality.
I cant give this film any less than 10/10. As long as you aren't emotionally retarded and appreciate audial and pictorial beauty, i can't see how you wont love this film.
Unthinkable (2010)
Propaganda. Don't Watch It.
This film is yet another disturbing piece of propaganda no doubt funded by those that delight in taking our liberties away. The plot is not just fictional but totally unrealistic fear mongering which attempts to brainwash people into accepting the torture of American citizens, in the name of 'national security'. It does not 'push boundaries', and is neither philosophical, its disgusting. It is a piece of obvious propaganda which tries to discreetly change your own personal morality.
You cannot lay in dirt and wake smelling of roses. Avoid this film if you don't wish to be subtly brainwashed. This film stinks of CIA psy-op, its identical to all of the Arab terrorist movies before 9/11 - Preparing the population to swallow a big fat lie.