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DOGSLEDDER54
Reviews
Raiders of the Lost Shark (2015)
Corny, campy and stupidly fun
This film has it all, if you are looking for a LOW- very low- budget flick with a fakey-looking flying shark with a big appetite, teenagers and young adults to be eaten, and not much story to get in the way. Even young children will not be scared, and they could watch it, although one girl is shown topless for a few seconds. Obviously, not everyone who reviewed this movie liked it, but I loved it. It was corny and campy and stupid- just my kind of film to take my mind off of the year 2020 (or 2021).
The Perfect Day (2017)
An average mystery film but unbearably slow at times
This would be a very good mystery about uncovering a suspected terrorist plot, but it drags at times AND lacks action. The mystery story is interesting but following the story is like watching paint dry. Actually the acting is not bad but there is nothing exciting about this film. Racism ? I didn't see it. Excitement ? Didn't see that either.
Thieves (2018)
Could be a cult film favorite !
This film nearly has it all- interesting story, great locations, cinematography, diverse characters, a heist. I really wanted to like this film. But the acting is horrible from A to Z. In scene after scene I found myself thinking "People don't really talk like this". The supposed crime boss comes off as too nice even when threatening the "thief". Ditto the bookie that he owes money to. The police investigators "probing" a police-involved shooting seem uninterested. As do all the actors in this film. I think that they filmed a read-through or put together the auditions of the actors who failed to get the parts. This film is so bad that it could easily become a cult favorite !
Donnie Brasco (1997)
One look can be deadly !
There are already 282 reviews for the film Donnie Brasco. So what is there that is new that I can tell you about it ? Well, I agree that is is a great, entertaining film about the Mafia. I agree that there is much that is very different than most run of the mill gangster films, such as feeding hamburgers to a zoo animal in the back seat of a Cadillac. VERY amusing. And supposedly TRUE. I agree that the actors Pacino, Depp, Madsen, and the rest of the cast turned in excellent performances. So what can I add to that ? I would like to commend the work of Robert Miano who portrays Sonny Red in the film. One look from him would terrify me as it did those under his thumb. One look from him meant terror, danger, and a deadly threat to the recipient. No word was needed- just look at those daggers coming out of his eyes. Deadly and chilling to the point of Absolute Zero !
Flight 7500 (2014)
The best haunted house film you've ever seen but set on a 747
The story is unpredictable. The acting is impeccable. The cinematography and lighting effects are awesome. The airplane has enough different areas in it to seem more like an old haunted house than a large metal tube with seats, like most airplane movies.
scary music. I recommend this very highly.
Company Business (1991)
Fine, believable spy story.
Pretty good spy movie more realistic than many other spy flicks. Plausible story with dozens of typical Hollywood digs at
America, American institutions in and out of the government and American allies- mostly overt digs but some covert ones too. If you ignore them, or more likely don't even notice them, this is a very watchable bit of entertainment. Good cinematography, sometimes reminiscent of Hitchcock, and action keeps you interested in the story. Hackman and Baryshnikov work and play well together.
The Networker (2015)
Pure entertainment
This is a fun little movie packed full of little jokes and funny scenes . Phillip Moon steals the show as David Finklestein, always dropping a Yiddish-ism in a funny place. The whole cast appears to be having a good time telling the story of a printer's son who is a total slacker who must come up with a business plan for when his father retires. Great cast, great story and no great message, just pure entertainment.
The Boat (2018)
Brilliant film making and great cinematography
Beautiful photography throughout this interesting film. Wonderful scenery at times, and a good story. Admittedly the protagonist (is he a protagonist when there are no other humans to interact with ?) spends an endlessly long time trapped in the bathroom...er...head, but other than that, it is an interesting tale. A delightfully different film. I like big boats and I cannot lie.
The Call of the Wild (2020)
If ypu are 10 and own a dog, this film is for YOU
This film was mostly enjoyable but is made for the 10 and under crowd. Not for the adults, this film stops just short of having the sled dogs talk, In fact, five minutes in, I thought it was that kind of film. Well it IS the kind of film where all the dogs, especially Buck, the protagonist, are smarter than all of the people. They actually SAY that in fact at the end of the movie. If you were expecting anything more inspiring, you will be disappointed. Watch the excellent TV series from 2000 starring Nick Mancuso instead.
Richard Jewell (2019)
A serious subject handled with deft humor
Richard Jewell is a great story, a tragedy that needed to be told. It is a shameful episode of both media hysteria and the excesses of inept law enforcement and abuse of an accused citizen. In this story, the media is shown rushing to judgement and convicting an innocent person in the press and on TV, a person who is ignorant of the power of the press, and the power that the FBI has to crush persons who are accused or suspected of crimes. The FBI repeatedly ignores the rights of the accused and tries to trick Jewell into confessing without meaning to, with blatant disregard for both ethics and the law itself. The corrosion that was so pervasive in 1996 is still there- and has grown to immense proportions.
The other element to this story, the lack of care taken by the news media is also relevant today. In this story the reporter who wrote the story naming Jewell as the main suspect eventually discovered the truth and attempted to correct the error as best she could unlike today- the media are dangerously taking sides on political issues rather than reporting or doing the job of a journalist. This is destroying trust of the media as surely as the politicization of the FBI and Justice Department will destroy the faith in the Federal government itself. Mr. Eastwood's film is sounding an alarm. Will anyone listen ?
Midway (2019)
Good but not as Good as the original
Good overall retelling of the battle of Midway, with a few reservations. Woody Harrelson doesn't seem forceful enough as Chester Nimitz, and the character of Dick Best is hampered by either a speech impediment or is speaking some strange dialect. The movie includes all of the details in the background story and events leading up to the battle, and includes some great action scenes, but fails to have the zing of the original. Overall a good effort but the story is seen through a slightly duller lens and leaves me wondering why the original needed to be remade.
The Sound of Music (1965)
perfect movie
I first saw this movie in 1965, fifty short years ago. I liked it, but what with me being a twelve year old male, it did not rate very highly with me among the Jame Bond features, action films, and numerous World War Two films being shown at the time. It DID resonate with me at least a little bit due to my knowledge of and hatred for all things related to Nazi Germany. My father, and the fathers of all my friends had fought in World War II, and when my friends and I wanted to play Army, we had to play Civil War, as no one wanted to be either the Germans or the Japanese. Compared to them, the Union army, and the Confederate army were lovable or at least not hated by my friends and I.
I recently was fortunate enough to see The Sound of Music again on the Big Screen. I again liked it, no- this time LOVED IT. As a huge fan of films, I have a very large collection of films on DVD, and I regularly attend my local theaters. Of ALL the films I have ever seen, IN MY OPINION, this is the only film I have ever seen which I deem to be both TECHNICALLY PERFECT and ARTISTICALLY PERFECT. I would have said only that one line, but reviews are required to be ten lines long. ;-]
Come Fill the Cup (1951)
"unfortunately, the trip to Miami seems to have slipped my mind."
I consider it to be one of Cagney's best. A very entertaining film, not merely a morality play, complete with a good plot, witty dialog, and humor. In one scene, the local crime boss (Sheldon Leonard) "forces" two alcoholics to drink whiskey at gunpoint. In an ironic twist, one of the drunks deciding whether or not to quit the bottle in the film is Gig Young, a real-life alcoholic who later killed his wife and himself. The difference between this film and most others is its' contention that the alcoholic must want to quit, and that this desire must come from one's self. I nearly said "anti-booze" film, but that is not true. In it, most of the characters are able to drink without becoming alcoholics, just like in real life. Alcohol aside, this is a classic crusading newspaperman versus gangster story of the 40s and 50s with music and humorous twists for spice. This is definitely one of my favorite films.