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craig-owsley
Reviews
The Vast of Night (2019)
22 minute story made into a 90 minute movie
Not sure why the reviews on this are as strong as they are. The movie has great Producing and Directing - which is why I got as high as 3/10. The script is terrible - just awful. I've coughed up more interesting things than this dialogue. The acting probably could have been incredible if they had lines that were meaningful or had any range of emotions. It's pretty clear the writer thought this was like a Twilight Zone episode - the only thing similar to the Twilight Zone is it felt like I was trapped in something I couldn't get out of and that would never end.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
One of my favorite movies
I likely saw this before the age of 5-6, however this is the earliest I can remember seeing "The Wizard Of Oz". This is one of those movies that you appreciate more as you get older. As a small child, I remembered this movie most for the characters. As I got a bit older I began to appreciate the use of color film in the movie, and the impact that it has on the audience.
It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I began to appreciate this movie on all levels. It's an incredible story, and it's also kinda messed up at the same time. The characters falling asleep in the poppy fields for example... not too many children's movies these days with characters getting so high off of opiates that they're passed out in fields. There's also commentary about the economic conditions at the time this film was shot ("All we own - we owe" as chanted by the guards).
1939-1940 was likely the most extraordinary period of movie-making in Hollywood history, and "The Wizard of Oz" was one of the most extraordinary movies of that period. If you haven't seen the movie since you were a child I'd recommend doing so. It's an entirely different experience as an adult.
Titanic II (2010)
Worse than SHARKNADO? I'm afraid so :(
This could be the worst movie I've ever seen. I actually make it a point to watch at least one "bad" movie per week. I've never seen anything this awful. It's quite possible that most colleges have budgets for their plays that are higher than the budgets afforded to this production. Here's a few observations worth noting: The "special effects" were, ironically, vastly superior in the 1997 version of "Titanic" as compared to this movie. I haven't seen CGI this bad since 1980's Sci-Fi.
The sets were a nightmare. In some scenes the name of the ship appears on the outside of the ship, and then mysteriously vanishes in other scenes where the exact same area is shown. Also the name "Titanic II" is everywhere - the hallways, the dining/ball room, on-deck. I was confused as to why the shutters (yes, they're shutters) on the bridge are all closed, except for one, if there's an impending disaster headed towards you which requires the ability to see.
The acting was delightfully catastrophic. The dialog in this film was horrific. I'm confident the top actors and actresses in Hollywood couldn't have done much with this script.
The entire production felt like one of those movies that MGM used to crank out in the 30's when they had contract players working 72 hours straight hopped up on Benzadrine.
Having said all this, if you're looking for a movie that's so awful it's funny, you've found a winner. Enjoy!
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Premiered 35 Years before I was born... and I still think it's one of the greatest films in history
The period of 1939-1940 was, quite possibly, the greatest period of movie production in the history of cinema. Several extraordinary movies were released during this period, the pinnacle of which is "Gone With The Wind".
The entire film is shot in Color, which is incredible when you consider that the length of the film meant that production costs at the time were stratospheric versus the standard black-and-white. I can't imagine this movie in B&W (which I'm guessing was the primary argument prior to the start of production as well).
I first saw this film with my grandmother when I was 11 years old. Even at that time I was aware at how enormous the picture was (though the length at that point in my life likely influenced my opinion more than anything else).
This still is one of the most accurate records of the aristocracy in the southern states during the Antebellum period, and the impact on that society as the nation advanced through the Civil War.
If you've never seen this film, I truly believe this is a movie that everyone should see at least once in their lives.
Sometimes in April (2005)
Extraordinary fact-based story of the Rwandan Genocide
I was very pleased that both this movie, as well as "Hotel Rwanda", were released. After seeing the horrors of Nazi Germany in the 1940's, it's hard to believe the world would allow another Genocide on such a mass scale to occur again. This version of events wasn't as glamorous as "Hotel Rwanda", however the script and acting were incredible. I recently watched this movie again (after seeing it when it originally aired on HBO) and the film creates as much of an impact now as it did years ago.
In addition to "Hotel Rwanda" and "Sometimes in April", there are many strong documentaries about this dark period of history. I've recently watched "Ghosts of Rwanda" for a second time and was amazed at the amount of factual data contained in that documentary as well.