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Mpalin
Reviews
Destination Tokyo (1943)
Right On Target
First I'd like to say that I could easily tell that Destination Tokyo was produced during the war rather than after due to its over the top patriotism. Every possible token character is on this submarine; the girl crazy stud, the dumb but lovable cook, the kid who becomes a man, the skipper who is all caring and wise, the guy who has a grudge to bear against the enemy, etc. etc. etc. And of course, they all love their country and miss their wives.
The one particular scene which I found made this movie rise above the rest was the scene in which Cary Grant was explaining why the downed Japanese Airman killed their favorite torpedoman with a knife. Typically in WWII era movies they would simply have said, "Them Japs are animals. Not civilized or even human." (Loosely quoted from John Wayne in "The Fighting Seebeas"), but not Cary Grant. Instead he explained how the Japanese were raised with the Bushido spirit. He didn't demonize them and even said they were not only fighting for their children but for the freedom of the Japanese children as well. I thought this was a bold statement in a time of war, especially WWII.
I really enjoyed this movie not only for the action but also because of the human story. The characters grow and change by the end of the film but also retain their strong sense of national pride. This movie worked really well as propaganda and portrayed the navy in a good light.
Are We There Yet? (2005)
Bad, Bad, Bad
I have only ever turned a movie off in the middle of it 3 times because it stinks; this movie was the third. Not only was it horribly written, but there absolutely no research done into locale. I grew up in western Washington only one hour from Portland and can tell you that other than the scenes shot in Portland, none of the movie was set on I-5 going north as the movie claims. Not only does the movie make western Washington look like a Pacific Coast hillbilly convention, but it doesn't address the fact that you can not take children who are not yours across state lines without written parental permission let alone get across the Canadian border. Also, the movie goes from highway marker 12, which in the movie is a mountain pass but in reality is in Vancouver WA- a suburb of Portland, to Redmond, which is northeast of Seattle, in a couple of hours which in reality takes much longer. And finally, at no time does I-5 ever turn into a two lane highway. It is a major highway and is never smaller than four lanes. It does not hug the coast and does not border any large lakes, except in Bellingham but you can barely see the lake. I have seen plenty of movies based in Washington and they all do a good job of showing how beautiful the state really is but this movie is simply tripe and shouldn't be viewed by anyone.
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
You want hair? Marry a monkey!
You want hair? Marry a monkey! Always good advice from a mother. I know Zero Mostel really wanted to revive his role as Tevye for the movie but really, Topol was a much better choice. I am a huge fan of Zero Mostel and I love his work in The Producers and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum but for a casting choice, Topol is a much more believable Tevye. I have to admit that Topol's dancing rivals the dancing of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. (Joking) I have a live recording of Zero Mostel on Broadway in Fiddler on the roof and the cast was not in time with Zero on most of the songs. Sunrise Sunset was horribly off time and it wasn't the fault of the recording. They just didn't have it together. The movie is much cleaner in the songs due to the benefit of dubbing. The saddest thing about this movie is when I realized the time era this movie is set in and I thought about the future of the characters in their final locations and what they historically would have had to deal with being Jewish. Not only is this a great musical, but it is a great movie and a great character study. Definitely a must-see.
Erik the Viking (1989)
Not Python
I love this movie but I feel I have to address the confusion some reviewers seem to have. I am noticing there is a lot of reviews calling this and comparing this to Monty Python. True there are members of Python in this film but that does not qualify "Erik the Viking" as a Monty Python movie. If appearance was all that was needed to be a Python film, then "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", "12 Monkeys", "A Fish Called Wanda", "Fierce Creatures", "Brazil", "Fawlty Towers", "Harry Potter", even "Mary Shelley's Frakenstein" (John Cleese was the weirdo professor) would all be Monty Python films. After the breakup of Monty Python, the six members went their separate ways but often included each other in their endeavors. Monty Python movies and shows only include the six members together working collaboratively. (Unless they get together without Graham Chapman for another movie) Now that I'm off my soapbox regarding Monty Python, "Erik the Viking" is a great movie. The comedy is classic oddball stuff that Terry Jones usually comes up with. I love Jones visual style where he uses materials that appear surreal in his films. Like "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen", Jones and Gilliam both use this surreal style that makes locations look like sets but also real in a strange way. If I were a film student, I would be able to describe it better. I've seen "Erik the Viking" three times now and I'm about to watch it again since its on Encore in ten minutes. Truly a great and fun film you should see.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Simply... Great!!
Saving Private Ryan is a great WWII movie. It was one of the first movies in an ever-growing ultra-realistic WWII accounts. Being an avid WWII history buff, SPR gives me an insight into what it was like to be on the beach at Normandy. Hanks and Spielberg really show their concern for detail in SPR and their later work, Band of Brothers. I would have given the movie a 10 if is wasn't for the poor performance of Matt Damon. Damon comes off as a whiny little snot nose. The director should have caught this and worked it out as it is very distracting. Some people, especially of late, have said this film is too graphic to show on TV. However, I really feel this is a film that does not make gratuitous (sorry for the spelling) use of graphic images. That is what it looked like and it should be shown like that. Every network shows the warning before they air the movie and so we should all be smart enough that if it's too much, FLIP THE CHANNEL! Don't complain that it was too graphic when you were warned. A movie as realistic as this is going to be graphic which adds to the impact it makes. Watch this movie, you'll enjoy it.