Change Your Image
chungjose
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Big Red One: The Reconstruction (2005)
Execllent war movie. Excellent Sam Fuller movie.
I had never seen the theatrical cut of The Big Red One.
By the time I became aware of the director Samuel Fuller (The Steel Helmet and Park Row being especially good), The Reconstruction was available on DVD.
As sometimes happens with a cinephile (especially a cinephile with a family), I bought the Special Edition DVD, and it sat on my shelf for years.
I finally watched the movie last night, and it was worth the wait. It was different than I expected (some really funny scenes), but even better than I expected. It has the best D-Day sequence this side of Saving Private Ryan.
It was action-packed and heart-wrenching.
Leadbelly (1976)
Much more to the story
So we saw the first half of his life? The hard part? The suffering? The injustices?
But we didn't get to see the second half of his life? The successes? The acclaim?
A simple musical montage (which I usually hate) would have gone a long way.
They could have even run actual footage of Leadbelly over the closing credits.
Instead all we got was a short title card.
If one had no knowledge of. Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter going into this movie, one would leave with far, far from a complete picture.
Also, at least a line or two on a title card about Blind Lemon Jefferson seems appropriate.
One would be better off getting a CD from the library, reading the liner notes, and listening to the actual Ledbelly's music.
Go, Johnny, Go! (1959)
Better Than Its Rating/Reviews
In a movie like this, you know going in that the plot is secondary to the music. That being said, the plot is surprisingly solid. The use of flashbacks is cliched but effective. The music is as good as expected. And I particularly enjoyed Chuck Berry's easy going style when not performing his music (which I already knew and loved).