Reviews

Let's be honest, this movie could be the cinematic equivalent of Schindler's List and it would still get hundreds of one star ratings from viewers who are offended by the message.

On the other hand, people who agree with the message are likely to give the movie a higher rating than it deserves in order to promote a viewpoint they agree with or simply as a reaction to the numerous 1 star reviews.

To try to arrive at a real rating for Audacity, let's compare it to another movie people have strong, mixed feelings about: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which rates 6.5 on IMDb.

Audacity has better acting, a more coherent plot, and two scenes where characters express actual emotion. Objectively, this should earn Audacity at least a 6.6 rating.

The polarization of reviews for this movies suggests that if you are an evangelical Christian, you will really like Audacity; if you dislike Christians or support gay marriage, you will despise this movie; but if you are somewhere in between, you may find Audacity to be a decent movie which sincerely addresses a sensitive and controversial subject.

'Black Jesus' is funny and has a good heart. Even though Christians might fear the worst from a TV show about a Jesus of color leading disciples in Compton, the show is in fact a tribute to the Gospels and in its own way spreads the Good News.

One of the keys to this show's success is its excellent cast, all of whom are funny and believable, with none more so than 'Black Jesus' himself. Miscasting the title role could easily have led this show to disaster, but the producers got it right. Maybe God Himself had a hand in picking Gerald Johnson because he brings a warmth and sincerity along with a streetwise credibility which makes 'Black Jesus' believable.

'Black Jesus' solves all his problems the way Real Jesus did, by praying, preaching, and practicing love and forgiveness, and in this way is a faithful tribute to the Gospels. What might offend some viewers is that 'Black Jesus' occasionally swears and smokes 'herb'.

I would counter this by saying two things. First, Jesus was a man of the people who spoke the language of the people, so swearing a bit doesn't seem unreasonable. Second, weed is a plant created by God that has a long, mostly harmless history, and since this is just a TV show, viewers should really just relax.

I am writing this review after the airing of episode five, so I can only hope – and pray – that 'Black Jesus' will continue to spread both laughter and the Good News for a long time to come.

Werner Herzog coined the term 'ecstatic truth' to describe documentaries that take some measure of dramatic liberty with their subject in order to reveal a deeper, more meaningful truth than merely the "truth of accountants".

The Hellstrom Chronicle is a great example of this. It's a brilliant, hyper-serious, scientifically accurate, dramatized documentary about the destiny of insects to once again assume dominion over the Earth.

The host and narrator, Dr. Hellstrom, is a scientist of deadly earnestness who knows how to turn a dramatic phrase as well as Shakespeare. He describes the 300 million year evolution of the insect thusly: "With each new generation come new experiments in shape and function transforming him into specters as limitless as the imagination of the insane." Along with the wonderful narration and compelling storyline, the closeup photography of the insects is incredible, sometimes beautiful and sometimes terrifying. There is perhaps no image more horrific in nature than that of a grotesquely bloated termite queen throbbing in perpetual birth.

I recommend this to anyone who likes nature documentaries and also anyone who appreciates satire, as the level of seriousness in The Hellstrom Chronicle is so unrelentingly high, that one must ultimately marvel at its audacity.

I couldn't suspend my disbelief, so Samantha, the OS Theodore falls in love with, always seemed to me to be human actress Scarlett Johansen in a studio reciting dialog instead of a supremely advanced artificial intelligence, and that completely undermined the entire premise and emotional center of the film.

There is much to like about Her as a drama about relationships, the performances are all top notch, and the idea of falling in love with a machine is more relevant than ever. If the filmmakers had used some creative, subtle device to help the audience believe that Samantha was artificial then this movie would come close to being a masterpiece about the heartbreak of being alive in a digital age.

As it is, Her just didn't quite do it for Me.

To make a comedy in 1941 about Nazis in Poland--complete with references to concentration camps--during the midst of the most violent war the world had ever seen strikes me as being an exceptionally daring adventure to have undertaken.

This could easily have been a disaster but sharp writing and the hilarious performances of Jack Benny as a hammy/Hamlety actor, Sig Ruman as the quintessential bumbling Nazi officer, and Carole Lombard as the leading lady stuck in the middle elevate it to the sublime.

This is a movie for anyone who appreciates smart, funny movie making from the era of classic cinema.

Good horror movies are hard to find; ones made in Hollywood, doubly so. When I saw "Trick 'r Treat" was hovering around a 7 on the IMDb, I thought I might be in for an actual 'treat'. I was wrong. Don't waste your time on this movie, even if it's playing on basic cable and the only alternative is a marathon of Punky Brewster.

Without offering any spoilers (other than the movie sucks), my chief complaint is this: the actions of the characters often don't seem believable.

For example, from the opening: if you had decorated your house for Halloween more elaborately than even Disneyland, would you then start taking those decorations down right in the middle of Halloween night, while the streets are still teeming with children? No one would. The movie offers a feeble reason, but really it's just a device to put a character into a situation required by the plot. It also puts the viewer into the position of thinking, "this movie is really lame."

Much better contemporaries in the genre are "Drag Me to Hell" and "House of the Devil", each of which offer compelling stories and legitimate thrills & chills.

This movie is a real pleasure when Nina Hagen is being her wonderful freaky self (and looking very good, btw), but the rest of the time it's a little bit too much 70's German rock and too much pretentious student film monologue by Herman Brood. The scene where Nina Hagen robs a bank with an M-16 rifle makes this movie worth seeing by itself, though, and wondering when she's going to pop up next and what she's going to do keeps you watching. The version is saw was nearly 90 minutes, but I understand that there is a shorter version. Maybe that one trims the scenes that I found a little dull.