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Jim_McKendrick
Reviews
Jarhead (2005)
One Inaccuracy
I think this film was an accurate portrayal of life in the modern Corps except for one incident.
When the kids were crawling the obstacle course during boot camp, one of the recruits was shot and apparently killed when he panicked and stood up in an MG's line of fire. I'm pretty sure the Staff Sergeant (Foxx) who was conducting the training would, at a minimum, have been relieved of duty and probably would have been court martialed.
Forty or fifty years ago the Corps would have just written it off as a training accident but in today's "sensitive" and politically-correct military, such accidents aren't allowed to happen without a scapegoat paying the price.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Strictly For Juveniles (Spoiler)
"The only people I can see enjoying this sort of tosh is children and underdeveloped adults.
Can they be making a sequel. Please God no save us the pain."
The above comments are from Favero's review of this film and I couldn't agree more. I only bought it because my son recommended it and now I wish I hadn't. Definitely second-rate. In the future, I will rent recommended movies before I buy them and save myself some money.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
A Good Old Rousing Blood-and-Thunder Adventure Story
An eminently worthy successor to Errol Flynn's 1935 "Captain Blood" and 1940 "The Sea Hawk", Tyrone Power's 1942 "The Black Swan" and Burt Lancaster's 1952 "The Crimson Pirate".
However, forewarned is forearmed. Those of you raised on a steady diet of car chases, gratuitous sex and violence, and horror/supernatural nonsense will not enjoy this film.
Windtalkers (2002)
Stinks
Without a doubt, this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Thank goodness, I viewed it as a rental before paying good money for a video.
With very few exceptions, every player in this stinkeroo act as if they're merely going through the motions, especially Nick Cage. I like Cage as an actor but this is definitely not one of his better efforts.
Supposedly, running time on this film is 134 minutes but it was so boring and trite, it seemed as if it was about 6 hours long. Thought the damned thing would NEVER end. Well, in fact, I stopped watching after about the fifth (or was it the fiftieth) battle between the celluloid Marines and Japanese soldiers.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give it a minus 3. And that's being generous.
The Black Marble (1980)
Laugh-out-loud cop show
IMO, this is one of the most underrated films ever. I love most of Joseph Wambaugh's cop stories and this one was sheer delight. From the opening scenes, when the drunken Robert Foxworth is shown swaying back and forth at a religious ceremony, until Harry Dean Stanton ends up in a Mexican hospital with his genitalia mutilated by a Doberman Pinscher, it's just one long belly laugh after another. The only jarring note in this otherwise splendid comedy is Foxworth's mental flashbacks to murdered children. I think this is one of the few movies I've seen where the screen version of a story surpasses the original book.
Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got the Will? (1990)
Outrageously Funny
This is, without a doubt, one of the funniest films ever made. BUT, and it's a big one, ONLY if you're from Texas or the South in general. The folks in this movie have got the Southern character down pat. Highly recommended for folks from the South - the rest of you with no sense of humor can go to hell.
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001)
Awful
I very much enjoyed the first Crocodile Dundee with Paul Hogan as it was funny. CD2 was less funny but still enjoyable. CD3 sucks. Everyone in the picture acts as if they're just going through the motions, and lackadaisically at that. Save your money, folks, this string has played out.