One almost feels a bit of nostalgia in Wayne's character as we see him as an aging western actor. It's very poetic in the sense that as Wayne teaches these young boys to become men he is in a sense passing the reigns of western movies to a younger generation, unfortunately it wouldn't take as they started to be phased out.
At first glance you might think that a documentary about mostly the children's children of Nazi Germany's most wanted wouldn't be that interesting. Yet there's a wonderful human story being played out here. It's a brief look into human beings whose evil family past is literally known by whole segments of the world's population. What must it feel like to bear that burden? To be indirectly famous for all the wrong reasons and it is totally beyond your control? It's a unique situation and an equally unique documentary.
Watching this I can't help but remember what Goring once said when imprisoned for war crimes at Nuremberg. "We will be martyrs. Even if it takes fifty years, the German people will recognize us as heroes. They'll put our bones in marble caskets in a great national shrine." Contrast this with Bettina Goring's decision to have herself sterilized and her words "there will be no more Goring's"...
There's no other western I can think of that focuses so brilliantly on the old western transportation of the stagecoach. One would almost think of it as the Greyhound bus of another time. John Wayne makes a great entrance here and I really liked how the movie sets the characters up of who's going to be on the stage.
North Korea holds much attention on the world stage because as mentioned in the documentary it is called the "hermit kingdom." Curiosity always makes us turn our eyes towards a county that hides so much from the outside world and this documentary does a pretty good job of giving us a peek behind the curtain. Very interesting how it doesn't take a position for or against the policies of the country but presents the facts and lets you make your own conclusion. One question that always popped into my mind is if the street people they interviewed actually believed the praises they were singing for their leaders/country or if they were simply parroting what needs to be said in order to not be arrested. Their reactions speak for themselves, watch closely how nervous and sweaty they get when trying to come up with the "right" thing to say with the officials present. I think it speaks volumes. Interestingly I think it also serves to put away the stereotypes against the country's people. While there can be no doubt that the behavior and actions of the country's leaders is deplorable the people appear to be faultless. They are merely locked in a bubble of a country that tries to control every part of their lives and focus their minds in directions that they see fit. There is simply no escape. Pity is the only emotion suitable for the people of North Korea.
Perhaps my only complaint is how the editors of the documentary chose to let Alejandro hijack it with his seemingly endless dribble of propaganda and nonsense. Granted his point of view was important to highlight the denial and lies that the people are fed but I just think they gave him too much screen time.
It starts like one of those long drawn out adventure flicks aboard a submarine where everything is perfect. You know what I mean, every crew member looks like he's from a propaganda poster for the navy and there are smiles and a good time being had all around. It starts off like that but quickly turns into a wacky adventure with giant squids/octopuses, mutiny, crazy french scientists, saboteur-eating sharks, and the earth being toasted to cinders. Not a bad popcorn flick for the early sixties, not bad at all.
If you watch enough westerns then you know that certain ones excel at painting a picture of life in the old west. The Big Trail does it for pioneering, Stagecoach does it for riding the stage across the windswept plains, and Red River does it for cattle driving. The characters are good and Wayne does a good job of playing one of his more grumpy and twisted roles. I have to agree the end was a bit of a let down for me. You could kind of see it coming but it could have been drug out a little bit with some more drama between Wayne and Montgomery before everything is peaches and cream.
"Varmint Cong" was kind of funny, the rest not so much. Being told this was one of the best comedies of all time for years I can say with certainty it is massively overrated or I missed the humor by miles.
It is at its heart a love song to the pioneering of the untamed west. The pre-trail preparation at the beginning of the movie does a spectacular job of setting up what is to come, and also focuses on giving you the idea of what it's like to prepare for a trek into the wilderness. The plot is simple but many scenes are unlike any other western you've seen before. The river crossing, the cliff descending, the circling of the wagons for an injun attack, it's all spectacularly filmed. It's also interesting how they portrayed the wagon train as almost a ship full of people traveling unknown waters.
It reeks of the eighties, I about died laughing when I recognized Jim Carrey. Harry is more or less at the end of his bullet riddled career here and I think the audience feels it. It tries to harken back to the concept of the Scorpio killer but it just isn't nearly as effective. Harry's obsession with downplaying his fame gets rather annoying when there could have been more time spent on better character development. The film length of 91 minutes is the shortest of the series and really should have been longer.
Just a heartwarming "feel-good" kind of family movie. The dialogue is rather witty especially this humorous bit.
Man on street: "Hey Noah, what are you doing with that Ark?"
Frank Gilbreth: "Collecting animals like the good Lord told me brother. All we need now is a jackass. Hop in!"
It's just "meh" all around. Being that it is directed by Ford you'd think it would have at least a few things going for it. It's just a flat movie with tons of star power at its disposal. Take Fonda's character for example. You can make a commanding officer a tough remorseless guy but as a character you still have to give us something to latch onto as a watcher. This is movie character development 101 and yet Ford fails to grasp that.
I think the movie is all about two very important points. The first being the sheer amount of suffering and misery that one single man could inflict upon a nation (and continent) and also the crushing realization that in the end the rose colored glasses of the German people are shattered for good. That this man, our Fuhrer, is nothing more than a crazed madman, one who rose to a position of immense power and control, and blinded by our desire for prosperity and peace, we turned up our ears and minds and let him whisper sweet nothings into them.
To the criticism of the vast amount of characters who seem to rotate by without any character development, it helps immensely if you are well versed in the main players behind the Nazi power structure. Though I will admit the average moviegoer outside Germany (perhaps even inside) is not going to be that familiar with the men behind the dictator.
I think I might have chuckled involuntarily maybe once. Certainly not as funny for me as it seems to be for most. Though I get it is trying to cover controversy with humor I still find it disgusting.
Not a terrible war picture but it seems to fly by way too fast. I was rather surprised to find that it was 1 hour and 47 minutes long, should have been at least a half hour longer. Because of the quickened pace it leaves out a lot of possible character development, clichéd as it is.
Got the chance to see this one during a five movie marathon in theatres which is kind of hilarious when you think about it, considering the first is the best and they go downhill steadily from there. This one is the poster child for mindless action flicks. Not looking forward to the sequel/prequel Die Hard 6 in any way.
My experience with the franchise behind the movie was absolutely nonexistent so thankfully there was nothing for Shyamalan to ruin. That being said, you don't even have to be a fan of the tv series to know how much the content was butchered. Shyamalan is literally insane here. Worthless dialog, atrocious acting, and scenes that are so poorly put together it looks like a high school video project... scratch that, elementary school project. No man has succeeded in pissing off a fanbase more than M. Night with this one.
They say a hero is only as good as his villain(s). Somehow I can't get behind a bunch of random punks running around town with bazookas. Tyne Daly is a nice addition but since the movie doesn't focus a whole lot on anything in particular, the character development is kind of wasted. The scenes focusing on forced gender equality in the workplace regardless of skills/experience were rather chilling (and prophetic.) Those, plus a few quippy and angry one-liners from Harry are about all the movie has going for it. Once again like the previous movies the nudity is shoehorned in like a box being checked off. I still don't get that.
I love how he's got 6 rounds to spend in that massive Smith&Wesson model 29 and they use it to further the story with it's own dialog ("Did he fire 6 shots, or only 5?") It's bloody brilliant and made Harry one of the most quotable gunfighters in history. It's a little violent, and the nudity seems thrown in merely to cater to the male crowd, but a good flick.
Watching makes you want to go out and grab the worst tasting chewing tabacco and go to town. Well... not really, yuck. Eastwood's directing is really evident and it's an entertaining film but not one of my all-time favorite westerns. Lots of great gunfighting here, they did get a little carried away with bullet counts though. Two pistols with six shots = 12 bad guys dead, not like 30 without reloading (which takes literally forever with black powder cowboy revolvers.)
It's kinda sorta a blatant ripoff of High Noon if we are being honest. Connery is still fun to watch and the worldbuilding is decent but if you're a major fan of the western then I'm afraid there is simply no comparison.
The best dinosaur movie of all time. - porscheguy19
Amen to that, off the top of my head I don't think I can even name any other dinosaur movies, Jurassic Park is for Dinosaur movies what Jaws was for shark thriller movies. Accept no substitutes.
With the exception of the magic knife at the beginning, it's a wonderful Hitchcock classic and serves as the herald of things to come in Hitchcock's young career at that point. The way that Hitchcock weaves the plot around the suspense is fantastic and it yields to a wonderful conclusion of the movie that brings us full circle. It's years ahead of its time and if you have the opportunity try to feast your eyes on the Criterion remastered version.
It's a shame because if it wasn't for some major flaws it would be a prime contender for the best western ever. The pacing is a bit odd, and the character development is mostly superficial at best. The action is top notch. It tries to be funny at some points but if you as a viewer are sitting there asking "Am I supposed to be laughing at this?" Then the movie is doing it wrong. It does feature some off the wall flashback sequences and slo-mo that would be right at home in an amateur high school movie project. Like I said, clean up the sore points and add some better character development with better pacing and it would be the bee's knees.
This reviewer nails it. It just isn't up to Pixar standards of storytelling. Granted no studio can hit a grand slam with every movie, but it still seems odd that Pixar could be so far off the mark. If you go back across all the previous movies you'll find they all have some edge, something unique about the storyline that we haven't seen in animation before. Brave doesn't have that, it's just a Disney princess movie minus the Prince charming and made by Pixar.
And nudity in a Pixar film? Good Lord, what were they thinking?
Comments 526 - 550 of 734
Movie comment on The Cowboys
DisneyStitch
One almost feels a bit of nostalgia in Wayne's character as we see him as an aging western actor. It's very poetic in the sense that as Wayne teaches these young boys to become men he is in a sense passing the reigns of western movies to a younger generation, unfortunately it wouldn't take as they started to be phased out.Movie comment on Hitler's Children
DisneyStitch
At first glance you might think that a documentary about mostly the children's children of Nazi Germany's most wanted wouldn't be that interesting. Yet there's a wonderful human story being played out here. It's a brief look into human beings whose evil family past is literally known by whole segments of the world's population. What must it feel like to bear that burden? To be indirectly famous for all the wrong reasons and it is totally beyond your control? It's a unique situation and an equally unique documentary.Watching this I can't help but remember what Goring once said when imprisoned for war crimes at Nuremberg. "We will be martyrs. Even if it takes fifty years, the German people will recognize us as heroes. They'll put our bones in marble caskets in a great national shrine." Contrast this with Bettina Goring's decision to have herself sterilized and her words "there will be no more Goring's"...
Movie comment on Stagecoach
DisneyStitch
There's no other western I can think of that focuses so brilliantly on the old western transportation of the stagecoach. One would almost think of it as the Greyhound bus of another time. John Wayne makes a great entrance here and I really liked how the movie sets the characters up of who's going to be on the stage.Movie comment on The Propaganda Game
DisneyStitch
North Korea holds much attention on the world stage because as mentioned in the documentary it is called the "hermit kingdom." Curiosity always makes us turn our eyes towards a county that hides so much from the outside world and this documentary does a pretty good job of giving us a peek behind the curtain. Very interesting how it doesn't take a position for or against the policies of the country but presents the facts and lets you make your own conclusion. One question that always popped into my mind is if the street people they interviewed actually believed the praises they were singing for their leaders/country or if they were simply parroting what needs to be said in order to not be arrested. Their reactions speak for themselves, watch closely how nervous and sweaty they get when trying to come up with the "right" thing to say with the officials present. I think it speaks volumes. Interestingly I think it also serves to put away the stereotypes against the country's people. While there can be no doubt that the behavior and actions of the country's leaders is deplorable the people appear to be faultless. They are merely locked in a bubble of a country that tries to control every part of their lives and focus their minds in directions that they see fit. There is simply no escape. Pity is the only emotion suitable for the people of North Korea.Perhaps my only complaint is how the editors of the documentary chose to let Alejandro hijack it with his seemingly endless dribble of propaganda and nonsense. Granted his point of view was important to highlight the denial and lies that the people are fed but I just think they gave him too much screen time.
Movie comment on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
DisneyStitch
It starts like one of those long drawn out adventure flicks aboard a submarine where everything is perfect. You know what I mean, every crew member looks like he's from a propaganda poster for the navy and there are smiles and a good time being had all around. It starts off like that but quickly turns into a wacky adventure with giant squids/octopuses, mutiny, crazy french scientists, saboteur-eating sharks, and the earth being toasted to cinders. Not a bad popcorn flick for the early sixties, not bad at all.Movie comment on Red River
DisneyStitch
If you watch enough westerns then you know that certain ones excel at painting a picture of life in the old west. The Big Trail does it for pioneering, Stagecoach does it for riding the stage across the windswept plains, and Red River does it for cattle driving. The characters are good and Wayne does a good job of playing one of his more grumpy and twisted roles. I have to agree the end was a bit of a let down for me. You could kind of see it coming but it could have been drug out a little bit with some more drama between Wayne and Montgomery before everything is peaches and cream.Movie comment on Caddyshack
DisneyStitch
"Varmint Cong" was kind of funny, the rest not so much. Being told this was one of the best comedies of all time for years I can say with certainty it is massively overrated or I missed the humor by miles.Maybe you have to be high to find it funny?
Movie comment on The Big Trail
DisneyStitch
It is at its heart a love song to the pioneering of the untamed west. The pre-trail preparation at the beginning of the movie does a spectacular job of setting up what is to come, and also focuses on giving you the idea of what it's like to prepare for a trek into the wilderness. The plot is simple but many scenes are unlike any other western you've seen before. The river crossing, the cliff descending, the circling of the wagons for an injun attack, it's all spectacularly filmed. It's also interesting how they portrayed the wagon train as almost a ship full of people traveling unknown waters.Movie comment on The Dead Pool
DisneyStitch
It reeks of the eighties, I about died laughing when I recognized Jim Carrey. Harry is more or less at the end of his bullet riddled career here and I think the audience feels it. It tries to harken back to the concept of the Scorpio killer but it just isn't nearly as effective. Harry's obsession with downplaying his fame gets rather annoying when there could have been more time spent on better character development. The film length of 91 minutes is the shortest of the series and really should have been longer.Movie comment on Cheaper by the Dozen
DisneyStitch
Just a heartwarming "feel-good" kind of family movie. The dialogue is rather witty especially this humorous bit.Man on street: "Hey Noah, what are you doing with that Ark?"
Frank Gilbreth: "Collecting animals like the good Lord told me brother. All we need now is a jackass. Hop in!"
Movie comment on Fort Apache
DisneyStitch
It's just "meh" all around. Being that it is directed by Ford you'd think it would have at least a few things going for it. It's just a flat movie with tons of star power at its disposal. Take Fonda's character for example. You can make a commanding officer a tough remorseless guy but as a character you still have to give us something to latch onto as a watcher. This is movie character development 101 and yet Ford fails to grasp that.Movie comment on Der Untergang
DisneyStitch
I think the movie is all about two very important points. The first being the sheer amount of suffering and misery that one single man could inflict upon a nation (and continent) and also the crushing realization that in the end the rose colored glasses of the German people are shattered for good. That this man, our Fuhrer, is nothing more than a crazed madman, one who rose to a position of immense power and control, and blinded by our desire for prosperity and peace, we turned up our ears and minds and let him whisper sweet nothings into them.To the criticism of the vast amount of characters who seem to rotate by without any character development, it helps immensely if you are well versed in the main players behind the Nazi power structure. Though I will admit the average moviegoer outside Germany (perhaps even inside) is not going to be that familiar with the men behind the dictator.
Movie comment on Blazing Saddles
DisneyStitch
I think I might have chuckled involuntarily maybe once. Certainly not as funny for me as it seems to be for most. Though I get it is trying to cover controversy with humor I still find it disgusting.Movie comment on Sands of Iwo Jima
DisneyStitch
Not a terrible war picture but it seems to fly by way too fast. I was rather surprised to find that it was 1 hour and 47 minutes long, should have been at least a half hour longer. Because of the quickened pace it leaves out a lot of possible character development, clichéd as it is.Movie comment on A Good Day to Die Hard
DisneyStitch
Got the chance to see this one during a five movie marathon in theatres which is kind of hilarious when you think about it, considering the first is the best and they go downhill steadily from there. This one is the poster child for mindless action flicks. Not looking forward to the sequel/prequel Die Hard 6 in any way.Movie comment on The Last Airbender
DisneyStitch
My experience with the franchise behind the movie was absolutely nonexistent so thankfully there was nothing for Shyamalan to ruin. That being said, you don't even have to be a fan of the tv series to know how much the content was butchered. Shyamalan is literally insane here. Worthless dialog, atrocious acting, and scenes that are so poorly put together it looks like a high school video project... scratch that, elementary school project. No man has succeeded in pissing off a fanbase more than M. Night with this one.Movie comment on Rio Bravo
DisneyStitch
A solid western, Hawks does a good job spinning all the characters into the story. Walter Brennan is a joy to watch as always.Movie comment on The Enforcer
DisneyStitch
They say a hero is only as good as his villain(s). Somehow I can't get behind a bunch of random punks running around town with bazookas. Tyne Daly is a nice addition but since the movie doesn't focus a whole lot on anything in particular, the character development is kind of wasted. The scenes focusing on forced gender equality in the workplace regardless of skills/experience were rather chilling (and prophetic.) Those, plus a few quippy and angry one-liners from Harry are about all the movie has going for it. Once again like the previous movies the nudity is shoehorned in like a box being checked off. I still don't get that.Movie comment on Dirty Harry
DisneyStitch
I love how he's got 6 rounds to spend in that massive Smith&Wesson model 29 and they use it to further the story with it's own dialog ("Did he fire 6 shots, or only 5?") It's bloody brilliant and made Harry one of the most quotable gunfighters in history. It's a little violent, and the nudity seems thrown in merely to cater to the male crowd, but a good flick.Movie comment on The Outlaw Josey Wales
DisneyStitch
Watching makes you want to go out and grab the worst tasting chewing tabacco and go to town. Well... not really, yuck. Eastwood's directing is really evident and it's an entertaining film but not one of my all-time favorite westerns. Lots of great gunfighting here, they did get a little carried away with bullet counts though. Two pistols with six shots = 12 bad guys dead, not like 30 without reloading (which takes literally forever with black powder cowboy revolvers.)Movie comment on Outland
DisneyStitch
It's kinda sorta a blatant ripoff of High Noon if we are being honest. Connery is still fun to watch and the worldbuilding is decent but if you're a major fan of the western then I'm afraid there is simply no comparison.Movie comment on Jurassic Park
DisneyStitch
The best dinosaur movie of all time. - porscheguy19Amen to that, off the top of my head I don't think I can even name any other dinosaur movies, Jurassic Park is for Dinosaur movies what Jaws was for shark thriller movies. Accept no substitutes.
"Dodgson!! We've got Dodgson here!!!
Movie comment on The 39 Steps
DisneyStitch
With the exception of the magic knife at the beginning, it's a wonderful Hitchcock classic and serves as the herald of things to come in Hitchcock's young career at that point. The way that Hitchcock weaves the plot around the suspense is fantastic and it yields to a wonderful conclusion of the movie that brings us full circle. It's years ahead of its time and if you have the opportunity try to feast your eyes on the Criterion remastered version.Movie comment on The Wild Bunch
DisneyStitch
It's a shame because if it wasn't for some major flaws it would be a prime contender for the best western ever. The pacing is a bit odd, and the character development is mostly superficial at best. The action is top notch. It tries to be funny at some points but if you as a viewer are sitting there asking "Am I supposed to be laughing at this?" Then the movie is doing it wrong. It does feature some off the wall flashback sequences and slo-mo that would be right at home in an amateur high school movie project. Like I said, clean up the sore points and add some better character development with better pacing and it would be the bee's knees.Movie comment on Brave
DisneyStitch
"Too much Disney, too little Pixar." - NilkesThis reviewer nails it. It just isn't up to Pixar standards of storytelling. Granted no studio can hit a grand slam with every movie, but it still seems odd that Pixar could be so far off the mark. If you go back across all the previous movies you'll find they all have some edge, something unique about the storyline that we haven't seen in animation before. Brave doesn't have that, it's just a Disney princess movie minus the Prince charming and made by Pixar.
And nudity in a Pixar film? Good Lord, what were they thinking?
Showing items 526 – 550 of 734