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david-coberly
Reviews
The Stand (1994)
the best of Stephen King
I agree with the previous reviewer that this is the best of Stephen King's work on screen. It's a great tale of good vs. evil -- reminiscent of Tolkien in its scope and grandeur. The difference lies in the foibles of the good guys (and, in a couple of cases, the almost goodness of the bad guys.) Rob Lowe is fantastic in this film as the atheist deaf-mute, and, in fact, the casting and direction is all first-rate.
As anyone who's seen the mini-series will tell you, everything rocks but the climactic final Las Vegas scene. Close your eyes, and open them again when you hear the bomb explode...
Histoire d'un poisson rouge (1959)
one of the best "children's" films ever
I saW this film while at Birmingham Southern College in 1975, when it was shown in combination with the Red Balloon. Both films are similar in their dream-like quality. The bulk of the film entails a fish swimming happily in his bowl while his new owner, a little boy, is away at school. A cat enters the room where the fish and his bowl are, and begins to warily stalk his "prey." The boy begins his walk home from school, and the viewer wonders whether he will arrive in time to save his fish friend. The fish becomes agitated by the cat's presence, and finally jumps out of the bowl! The cat quickly walks over to the fish, gently picks him up with his paws, and returns him to his bowl. The boy returns happily to his fish, none the wiser.
The ending is amazing in both its irony and its technical complexity. It is hard to imagine how the director could've pulled the technical feat back in 1959 -- it seems more a trick for 2003.
If you can find it, watch it -- you won't be disappointed! And if you *do* find it, let me know so I can get a copy, too!