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cj-smedley
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Shock Docs: Alien Abduction: Travis Walton (2022)
no shocking new evidence at all
It's a well made documentary but the headline is misleading as there is no new evidence at all. There are more interviews, some possibly new for this docummentary. There's some info about the trees at the site which is interesting near the end. But it isn't shocking. The documentary claims it is the best evidence to date of an alien abduction. I'm not so sure of that. It is clear that these guys really believe what happened to them and they have spent 4 decades telling what they believe to be the truth in spite of all the doubters saying it is some kind of made up story. If you have never heard of this story before then it is a great documentary but don't expect anything new.
Round of Your Life (2019)
The only reason I didn't turn it off was because I couldn't be bothered to reach for the remote.
Some really wooden acting unfortunately makes this movie difficult to watch. All the characters are typical white middle American with a token black guy, the coach. Every line has been heard in another movie. The storyline is one we've all heard before - parent is dying, I have to win this event for him / her. Child prodigy overcomes guilt, wins tournament (is that really a spoiler?) and everyone can get on with their lives.
They do a lot of praying which unsurprisingly has no effect. They keep mentioning this guy called God but he's not in the credits.
It's the sort of film you'd play in an old folks home during a coffee morning because if you missed a bit it doesn't matter and there's no plot that needs explaining anyway.
I Was a Prisoner on Devil's Island (1941)
A trip to Devil's Island
Joel Grant (Donald Woods) goes ashore for the evening to enjoy a carnival. There he meets Claire only to discover she is already married to Dr. Martel who she doesn't love at all. She decides she wants a divorce and he decides to quit the ship only to be confronted by the captain who refuses to grant his wish. They fight and he leaves believing he's just knocked the captain out. Claire then tells her husband she wants a divorce but he refuses and tells her he is going to be the doctor on Devil's Island. Joel is then arrested for robbery and murder and his plea of self defence is rejected. He refuses to give a reason for wanting to leave the boat because Claire is in the courtroom with her husband. Joel then gets sent to Devil's Island for 3 years...
Landslide (1992)
Read the book first.
This review won't contain spoilers. The film is quite awful so it would be hard to spoil. It is also incredibly difficult to understand right from the start.
It starts with a flashback of a car accident. A young geologist (Boyd) comes to town to do a survey on some land. The Matteson family have requested the survey but don't seem to like the results. Boyd is actually trying to piece his life together as he vaguely remembers being in a car accident, the same accident which killed most of the Trinivant family in 1983 (9 years before). The Trinivants were the rival family to the Mattesons. A lot of questions remain unanswered here. A doctor hints that Boyd is possibly a hitch-hiker picked up by Trinivant prior to the crash. Everyone seems to want to know why Clair Trinivant was not in the car at the time of the crash. They also want to get her land surveyed. Nothing seems to get explained at all.
Combine this with some truly awful acting, Tom Burlinson in particular, and you find after half an hour you completely confused and wondering what else to watch. The reason this gets 3 stars is you are still left with an urge to know how it turns out in the end. There are a lot of good films which are just as enjoyable the second time around because the plot has been explained but I doubt anyone would want to watch this twice.
Les fous de Bassan (1987)
Fascinating, emotional and passionate..
Not to be confused with the Carlos Ruiz Book, The Shadow Of The Wind, this is a film by Yves Simoneau based on the book by Anne Hebert.
The story is of a young man, Stevens, who returns to his native village after a five year exile caused by a violent quarrel with his father. The story centers around some of the women in his village. Passion seethes beneath the Protestant, inter-bred villagers. Stevens is very aware of the affections of the women around him but he wants the only women who appears to resist him, Olivia. Tragedy ensues..
The film is in french with English subtitles. There is a lot of monologue accompanied by some haunting violin music. Worth a watch if you can track it down.
King Solomon's Treasure (1979)
Very painful to watch
I watched this today, partially attracted to the all-star cast and partly because I have enjoyed so many other films of this ilk. However, this is one to avoid. There are dozens of badly cut scenes where the continuity just does not flow, the billiards challenge at the start, for example. The fighting scenes with the natives are about as good as you would remember in those old black and white Tarzan movies, you know where you see a spear fly through the air and camera cuts to a dead native lying motionless on the floor with it sticking from his thigh. Is that instantaneous death? There are also several quite unnecessary scenes which have nothing to do with the plot, like the little girl being rescued while collecting flowers. The really badly animated clay toys are too painful to watch. If you do see this movie the crabs which inch forward at about 5kph are the highlight. Somehow one manages to creep up on David Mccullum and give him a nip. Its as if there was no time to get out of the way, like when the obelisk in the city falls over, the native has all the time in the world to take a 2 step to the left, but no he screams and it falls on him. I only give this a 2 because of Ekland. And why does Mccullums voice develop a stutter as the movie progresses?