Change Your Image
nateman-2
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
Gangster moon movie failure.
I went and watched this movie because of its reputation as a giant dud. It was kind of suprising given the talent that was in this film. The special effects of living on the moon were not as stupid as I was expecting them to be. This is why it got a 4 from me.
Most people go to an Eddie Murphy movie expecting it to be funny. I don't think I laughed once but I do seem to remember a few attempts at getting a laugh.
The plot was not even close to real. Eddie Murphie is taking on the Moon's Mob almost by himself. Apparently there is no law on the Moon and you have to take such matters into your own hands.
While I would not reccomend this movie . I won't go as far as saying don't see it.
Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
The Jedi strikes back at the empire!
One of the sad things of getting old is it gets hard for me to enjoy a movie. You've learned enough to know when you're being lied to. You get sick and tired of being sick and tired of being lied to . I rarely venture out to the movies now . This movie , however, is packed with so much truth I'm amazed it even got made. In our current climate of thieves and liars infesting Washington with their all too willing sycophants and fools willing to defend them it takes a brave and independently informed man to stand up to them and their endless looting. Dinesh D'Souza is living proof of that. In his words "The Empire does strike back". In spite of the selective prosecution designed to shut him up and intimate others into doing likewise D'Souza came back swinging and delivers a knock out blow.
I thought I was well educated into all the evil and misdeeds that constitute the history of the Democratic party. This movie managed to enlighten even me to some things in which that rotten party had succeeded into fooling me with. It was a real eye opener to someone who already thought he had his eyes open. Not only that , it was very entertaining with high production values as well. Only the brain dead or insane could ever for for a Democrat after seeing this film. That or they are simply irredeemably evil. Don't be evil. Watch this movie.
Atlas Shrugged: Part III (2014)
Imagine a profoundly great book made into a movie by high school kids.
"Atlas Shrugged" has been a best seller for over 50 years. Its amazing prophecy about the current Obamanation has driven its sales to new heights. One would think it was a no-brainier for movie makers to make it. There is , however , one big catch: "Atlas Shrugged" boldly stands in opposition to the leftist culture infesting Hollywood. The Hollywood-Socialist alliance has tried to crush this movie from the beginning and up till now has succeeded in killing all such attempts. The bad guys of Hollywood did succeed in one respect : it was made without the seasoned talent of movie professionals. This tortured movie is the mangled victim of their relentless efforts of idealogical suppression.
I read the reviews. The usual enemies of liberty chimed in but it was the thumbs down from the free market folks that got my attention. "Atlas Shrugged" was a life changing book for me so I felt compelled to see the film anyways. If nothing else I wanted to reward the brave souls who finally made this important book into a movie. I was the only one in the theater that afternoon.
"Atlas Shrugged" is a long book filled with complicated philosophical ideas. It would have required minds as ingenious to film it as the mind which wrote it. No such talent was willing to touch it given the hostile environment of Commiewood . They would have become Hollywood poison , like former communist turned patriot Elia Kazan. This movie ended up being made by well meaning amateurs and it shows.
It's amazing this Hollywood thought crime was pursued to the end. All three parts have been commercial failures. You could see the production values decline as each one in turn was produced. The actors kept changing from movie to movie. They had to reintroduce characters with on screen titles. In this last movie key events were reduced to voiced over narrations done as simple lifeless news broadcasts. Like the movie "Dune" it tries to cram everything in from the book . Unless you read the book chances are you'd be totally lost by all the names and things happening.
The ideas still managed to come through but without any sparkle. They sounded more like the high school essays some kids would write. The actor they had for John Galt was not anything like I'd imagined him to be. Knowing how good the book was , watching this movie was more like attending a funeral. I'm still in mourning for this fading light that could have been great. Perhaps it will be remembered by future generations as a dying last gasp of American reason while the former nation of the enlightenment rapidly descends into the nightmare of collectivism and its inevitable tyranny.
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Cassandra, cursed with prophecy that was ignored, would emphasize with this masterpiece!
I'm no longer a young man, yet this is the very first time I've seen or even heard about this movie that was made a few years before I was even born. My interest was kindled by the story of the Director himself, Elia Kazah. The air-heads who infest Hollywood generally know little about economics or history but know enough in their ignorant Utopian filled heads to try to tell the rest of us how things should be run. It is because so many people in Hollywierd despised Elia Kazah I figured I'd probably like him.
I was not disappointed. This movie is prophetic. Imagine a slick talking crook from Arkansas. A womanizing liar pushed forward by a manipulative female self-publicist who masters the TV-Government- Business iron triangle. This charismatic country-boy woes millions with his smooth down-home delivery. He makes love to the TV camera and convinces you he loves you more than that rotten spouse you are stuck with at home . Sounds familiar don't it? You don't need to imagine that because you already know a certain disbarred impeached ex-president ! Now you know why this movie stuck pay dirt with me : this movie nailed the truth even before it came true by 50 years!
Kazah was brutal and mean, but that was part of the technique he perfected. By getting an actor to feel the way a scene called for he got the camera to record it. He brought out the very best performance an Actor had in him. You've never seen how good Andy Griffith could be until you've seen this movie . Kazah was a true master of his craft and this movie easily is in my top 10 of all time favorites now.
Just a few words about the Kazah-Commie controversy. My version of the DVD had a feature on this history. Historic Soviet records now prove Hollywood was infiltrated with Soviet agents. Agents who attacked Kazah and whom he owed nothing but payback. Agents who were working for the most evil country on Earth. Agents who Kazah knew Congress knew. He loved America and he defended it by naming those agents.
What angered the Hollywierd crowd most was Kazan's defiance. He was right and he knew he was right. That shined the light back on them and there is nothing that gets a self righteous know-nothing-at-all more angry than to have their cherished beliefs deflated by someone they once liked. Rather than admit THEY were the problem they will blame the person who points it out . Kazah become the scapegoat of choice . That is why I think Kazah is an American hero. It takes a tough man to confront his enemies, it takes a stronger one to confront his friends.
Oh, and by the way, did I mention Kazah made GREAT movies? This one is my favorite Kazah flick. So far. I'm still have a few more to see!
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Eye candy is dandy but a good plot it is not!
I should have seen it coming. When the collective circus of Hollywood pundits start hyping a movie to the high heavens it is usually an indication I'm about to be disappointed. I can't completely dismiss this movie. The production values were top notch and the scenery and images are almost worth the price of the movie. This is a good thing because it was a confusing mush of unconnected tripe.
It is suppose to be the story of how human actions resonate through time told through the same actors in different tales across differing eras. Far from a profound reflection of the human condition it only succeeds in making one utter "Huh?" Perhaps the critics all applauded because they didn't want to be the honest one who admits they were lost and wanted to save face. Kind of like the fine clothes on the naked emperor.
One scene in particular just got my eyes rolling. A women starts mouthing some generic non-sense while her speech is being defended by desperate rebels. Rebels fighting and dying just so she can say her generic non-sense. A scene all to typical of this disappointment of a movie.
Transcendence (2014)
A movie that transcends the usual Hollywood rot.
I'm pretty much a sucker for movies with interesting ideas carried to their logical conclusion. Movies like "Being John Malkovich" or "The Butterfly Effect". Transendence addresses the approaching issue of "The Singularity".
"The Singularity" is when a man made machine is smart enough to design a machine smarter than itself. It's a bootstrap effect where the descendant machines exponentially increase their intelligence until the resulting final machine is so far beyond human intelligence there is no way to predict what it will or can do.
This movie pleasantly surprised me. I was expecting the usual Hollywood razzle dazzle devoid of substance but this movie actually ends up saying something worthwhile about the human soul. It also had an ending I was not expecting. Transcendence is a well written story with plenty of special effects and action to move the story along.
When I walk out of a movie and end up thinking about it long after I have gone home that is how I define it when a movie is a home run. Transcendence is a home run.
America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
A truly inspiring movie that will make you proud to be an American again.
There has been an effort to recast the history of America as the bad guy. Dinesh D'Souza is an immigrant from India who disagrees. He reveals the who and why of the haters behind the hate. Dinesh D'Souza interviews the Americans who are the fiercest opponents of America. Ward Churchill , Bill Ayers and Noam Chomsky are among them. With a ironic twist he even fits Micheal Moore into a few scenes. This movie then takes their revisionist history , point by point and not only destroys them but shows America as the great gift to the world it really has been. It is a tale told in such a beautiful way it will make you feel special just for being a citizen of this exceptional land. The scene where Bono describes the nature of America is worth the price of admission all by itself. Don't walk out during the credits because the version of the Star Spangled Banner D'Souza uses is AWESOME. Take your teen-age kids to see this before they see the fireworks, it will add to their enjoyment of that yearly celebration.
The Undefeated (2011)
This movie is why you go to a movie.
I go to a movie to escape from reality, learn something , or just feel good . This one hits on all three points. The reality I seek to escape is a depressing world of closed down shops, foreclosed homes and people out of work longer than they have ever experienced before. This movie made me believe a cure is at hand. It hits the enlightenment point by showing Sarah as an effective and honest leader feared by the corrupted. I learned the truth in spite of all her venomous enemies overwhelming negative spin. Finally it made me optimistic for the future. It brought back memories of those historic America icons whose characters while forged in the difficulties of a harsh wilderness went on to do remarkable things for America. Heroic things. It make me believe, once again , not only in the unique American spirit of rugged individualism but that Sarah is destined to become the latest addition to this Pantheon of American greatness.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Lives up to the nugget.
What is a nugget as it applies to a movie? It is the central idea of the film on which the story is built. I like going to movies but having seen as many as I have its the ones with an interesting nugget that gets me in the door. Often times the movie does not do this idea justice ( like "Taking Lives", what a letdown! ) but this one does. As this movie flesh's out just what it would be like if you could remove an unpleasant memory from your life it does that wonderfully. If you liked romping through the mind of John Malkovich or traveling through the dreams of a sleeping mind like "Dreamscape" this movie will definitely entertain you. The acting by all involved is very good and the main character is so well developed you feel as if you've known him for a long time. The most critical item about any movie for me however is the story built on the nugget and this not only met my expectations, it had an extra treat added: it actually teaches something worthwhile about relationships and love that will make you feel better about your own life. A simple yet powerful masterpiece.
Magnolia (1999)
A confusing bunch of subplots merged randomly about rotten people
I'm happy to say that this movie has made its way to cable, because I was able to see it at a friends house for free. Still I feel cheated out of more than three hours of my life! I kept wondering at how all these pathetic irritating jerks that popped in and around at random in various subplots were going to merge into a common story. They don't. When this movie finally ended after about 20 glances at my watch I found myself saying out loud: "YOU MEAN THAT'S IT?". What a pointless piece of twisted dribble!
Gladiator (2000)
A masterpiece that reaches back 1800 years to become ahead of its time!
An evil leader who acquires power by lies and brutality. An evil man who despite the efforts of many good men continues to prevail. An evil man who wants to remove all the remaining traces of the republic. An evil man who wants to be loved by the people but is twisted and perverted . An evil man whose sole talent is knowing how to play to the mob. It is so close to the current situation in Washington that I'm surprised this movie was even made.
The beginning of the end of Rome started when Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army and turned Rome from a republic to a dictatorship. A similar point was reached recently when a corrupt and cowardly senate declared that a president in effect was above the law. Abuse of power was free to flow from that point and the life of Rome slowly flowed away with it.
This movie if anything embodies the hope that men of good character can still overcome a juggernaut of evil and turn the tide. To say that this movie provokes no thought or that the ending was a letdown only shows that they did not understand the greater significance of this movie. How it speaks to our own time and offers hope and inspiration to those few good men still remaining. That in this dark hour, when stock options act like bread and circuses to mask the accumulating corrupt concentration of power to one evil man, that character still DOES count and that good men with strength and honor can still prevail.
American Beauty (1999)
A depressing tribute to the triumph of the zero!
I find it hard to believe this movie is the IMDB #2 of all time. If it is so good why didn't it make lots of money? People vote what they really feel with their wallets and this one to date has only made 93 million. I can assuredly say the 7.50 I spent on this nihilistic piece of crud would have been better spent on cold pizza. There is not a single character in this flick you would care about if you knew them. This film is a tribute to dishonor , despair and depression ! I suspect this is why Hollywood has become so enamored with it, for it cashed in any respect for heroic values long ago. What surprises me is that so many real people, the folks who surf the IMDB , have voted such high honors for this movie, it deserves much, much less than what it has received. If this film is any indication of the modern state of the culture, than I mourn for the culture that was America, for it is truly dead.
Last Action Hero (1993)
I was expecting to see a bomb but was pleasantly surprised.
This movie is a blatant spoof of action movies. If you go to it thinking of it as a comedy rather than a shoot-'em-up thriller you'll be much happier. It was meant to be exaggerated and silly. I'm surprised it bombed. I liked it.
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Man's mind on trial!
I suspect the reason that this film is not on the top ten list is because it is pro evolution. Some folks believe otherwise and surely voted negatively. Being a staunch proponent of evolution myself this movie is my all time favorite. It touches on a upon a theme which has made man great: men, faced with great opposition, who choose to think! There was a remake with almost the very same script and it clearly shows just how good the original actors were. The remake was very good but pales in comparison. The only improvement over the original was Kirk Douglas did a better job as Matthew Harrison Brady
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Better than I expected
I was expecting a horror movie filled with hideous dead people tormenting a young boy. It was only partly that. It really was a touching and intelligent physiological chiller that would have made Alfred Hitchcock proud. Especially the surprise ending. It caught me off guard just as much as the movie "The Sting" did.