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eddonnell
Reviews
Rope of Sand (1949)
A good intrigue movie
Very good lead and character acting, A very believable story line, this movie is also paced well, and the acting very good. Burt Lancaster, Claude Rains , Paul Henried, Sam Jaffe and Peter Lorre are all in the right parts and do a great job. Corrine Calvet does avery good job in the part of a low level con artist who makes her money by blackmails wealthy men who gets in above her head with prominent corrupt officials. The plot has many twists and betrayals, yet never gets confusing. There is the desert, greed,love, brutality with quality acting throughout makes this post WWII drama enjoyable to watch. This is not a B-movie, this is not a solid film noir, but has some noir overtones.
I Walk the Line (1970)
A more realistic look at small town events
Hollywood usually has to go over the top, with an unrealistic plot. This one fits well in it's setting. You get the sense of the poverty has been town, and the typical human responses. I Do not think this is Gregory Peck's worst movies, I would say a very good small town drama movie. The snarky deputy, the Slimy Federal agent, the slow pace town folk, a good drama overall, and I like the way it unfolded.
Midnight Special (2016)
another talking drama
This is a real snoozer, first off an over the top stereotypical cult, Nazi like FBI and an homicidal people trying to hide a special gifted kid has all the standard cliches and easy to guess plot scenarios. The more they whisper and the more they stress hushed tones is used far to much to build the drama. lame acting, no energy film that fails at building any real drama or suspense. Also, it's hard to understand what most of the people are talking about, as there is no dynamics in there voices unless there suddenly screaming incoherently. waste of time to watch and rate for me. But we are all entitled to our own opinions, and this is mine, and you are free to have yours.
Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)
Lame, no energy, and early 80s hairstyles and music.
It seemed in Hollywood from the early 70s till the late 80s, that no matter what period a movie took place in, they would have contemporary hair cuts, and talk in contemporary phrasing. No one would cut there hair for the part, it was a weird trend. This Movie also gets the music wrong for the time frame, it would be more believable if they said 1968, but being a well read, and listened rock and roll historian since 1977 I can judge such tripe. , the music style just doesn't fit the so called late 50s early 60s band look and sound. And if they were ahead of there time, they would not have continued to be so, as there own lives show they live in the past. And the music that was suppose to be so great is very lame, and not at all Rock and roll, it's pop and 80s pop rock. Cheap knock off of Bruce Springsteen, Who has always been in a musical rut. The book had the feel , the film makes me feel sick. This has nothing to do with Rock and Roll.
Seven Waves Away (1957)
Good example of over the top drama before cgi
stereo-typical characters and plot, such as honorable injured people, shady passengers, "old school" moralist, a lot of dialog, that waste more water and food energy than actual people would and have done in similar real life situations. and the predictable drama of being in a lifeboat in the open ocean. But, the actuality of the choices made, and grandstanding by all the characters make this a yak fest. and Tyron powers over the top bullying to assert authority is pretty foolish, not much he could do if they refused him, as he just didn't have the mojo to personally back up his decisions, and when it comes to survival, there is no one in charge of others fate, as such real life tales have shown. Has all the typical parts of such a movie, an OK movie, but nothing great.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Overrated because of blood,cursing and stars
The opening score is fantastic, but I know I will cut out over 1 hr easily on my editor. slow film, drags for no reason, seen this twice, thought maybe I missed some deep meanings, but I did not. Too many obvious plot holes, and the narration killed the "magic". The acting was OK,, and except for the main characters, who are as expected, and nothing more, are stereo-typical and somewhat weak. So this is how Hollywood spends $ millions, on movies that have low re-watch-ability? Glad I watched this for free, even though I still feel ripped off. the 1-3 are to negative, and over 8 are people too star struck to give a fair assessment.
The River Why (2010)
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ another spoiled brat finds romance
the Acting is good, the filming is good but the plot, or should i say the plot depth is really about a emotional train wreck of a teen who can't have it his way at home and later finds love. As to all the comparisons this snoozer has in common with "A River Runs through it" is the fly fishing. The Main character Gus is a spoiled kid who thinks throwing tizzy fit and running away to waste his time is the manly thing to do. Feel sorry for the Girl, if you play it out in real life, guess what excitement she will be facing, a guy obsessed with fishing more most of the day. guess she'll have to be the bread winner so fly-boy can do whats important and fly fish all day. We shut this off after 25 minutes. We really tried to just let it run but we had more important things to do than waste more time on this lame rehash of "fit boy with angst finds love". I checked the spoiler box because some people think if you even say a persons name you have ruined the film. I actually prefer to know the full plot and ending, then I know what to look for. Hope I didn't ruin it for those who don't.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Unbelievable and predictable plot, sad sequel of carnage
Where do I start, Well if you like formulaic, predictable, bad guys are so awesome, and there henchmen can't hit nothing, combined with predictable plots, and over the top fight and carnage scenes, then you will love this movie, you really will. But if you like plot, real surprises, somewhat plausible fiction action, then I think you may not. Let me mention the cliché fight scenes, with the stand issue unaware armed bad guys, who senses nothing is amiss, or that can't hit the broad side of a barn with a spray of bullets ever? Or maybe people crashing through glass and walls and not a scratch or injury, and those are not even the super heroes! or maybe the predictable plot, we just sat and guessed with 80% accuracy on every character,motive or situations as they were introduced or started. I read captain America comics from the mid 60s to 70s, and many reissues a a kid of back in the 40s. They should have just ended all the superheroes by the early 80s, they have all gotten so much like soap operas, bad karate flicks, and all special effects at the neglect of a good believable characters and plots within the fictitious super hero world. Now I do have to say the convenient light traffic and near empty D.C. city streets for mayhem scenes, how original (yawn. Hollywood puts so much over the top stuff in each of these new super hero films , that everyone who has a listed part is a superhero even if there a staff worker in a random office. dead bodies everywhere, major carnage in the street, and several hours later Captain America had no knowledge of what happened down town that was near equal to 911. amazing! I'm glad i got a movie editor program, I'll be trimming the junk to nite this will be a 70 minute movie if I'm lucky. . Please just not so predictable and less special effects that are nothing but to far fetched to be even plausible even for fiction. I know it's all fiction, but even Disney use to say it has to be somewhat plausible, even for talking animals!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
forgetful musically and creepy chocolate maker
this is a remake, which is based on a child's novel. I've tried to give this movie higher rating, but it's impossible. Lets get this over quick, unlike this revamp of a classic "no need to update" film, which drags on and on and on. First, Johnnie Depp drops the ball for possibly his first time. He comes off scary or creepy, How many people hint to Micheal Jacksonian? pale white, creepy demeanor and aimless babblings? This Wonka is "to" alienated and removed from reality, unlike the very wise, eccentric, sarcastic and yet confidently and upbeat as well as resilient Mr. Wonka in the book and 1974 classic film, this Wonka is one slip away from suicide watch or a protection order to stay 1,000 feet away! that right there ruins the entire premise. No matter how many cynical teens or adults (few parents over 30) like this, it was made to be a children's film. an eccentric and wry confectionery King, who loves sweets should never be played so near scary and creepy and weird. eccentric and weirdo are not the same. Also all the kids and parents chosen are bland, forced and uninteresting in there characterizations. The songs are not hum-able, does anyone even mumble to themselves any of the songs throughout this lame flash and shock film? notice how it's rating keep slipping over the 7 years? great film maintain and increase. soon my 2 will be the average,..watch the original, don't waste you time on this big money and hype offering.
A Golden Christmas (2009)
Another wealthy professional and spoiled- grown up, has to lean the message of Christmas, yawn....
I guess Hollywood has to make these to complete the genre at Christmas time, but the over the top selfishness, from the well to do fancy big time lawyer is really over done here. and the DVD cover shows three cute lovable dogs, which have very little to nearly nothing to do with the plot.
This is not at all a kids movie, To much anger, to much selfishness from the main character, and yet everyone else seems to understand Christmas.. Drama,Drama, Drama, the cuteness side plot is squashed quickly, and 5 minutes into it you have figured it all out, even my two young daughters did before we jointly agreed to turn off this Yule tide hissy fit.