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Reviews
Lucas (1986)
For people who think Thomas Kinkaid is high realism
As the lowest form of life in high school do you remember all of the football players who stood up for you when bullied? Do you remember the beauty who wanted to hang out with you rather then every one else? Or how about all the people who wanted to learn things? I have no memory of any of these things because THEY DON'T EXIST!!!!! Except here in the alternate universe of Lucas. Where teenagers have morals!! Hahahahahahahahaha.... Having said all that this unique film is really great and the worst depiction of high school on the planet. The niceness of this film make it sweet and loving but not anything near my high school experience. Except for the pain...
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)
I love this film...creepy and crappy...what a combo...
This film can be divided into two sections...research and love. Both are creepy/scary and wonderfully fun in a late seventies early eighties way. Which is strange because it's '75. We got your fast cutting and your repetition and your silly piano pounding (literally) soundtrack. Remember composers the harder you pound the more intense the scene. NEVER FORGET THIS.
Now if you don't take this film seriously you'll love it...
GASP as Margo Kidders hair changes it's greyness.
HOWL with joy as Peter Proud finds his older self or er...whatever he does.
SCREAM with fright as Marcia kills Jeffery for the thousandth time...and drown you sorrows with Margo Kidder as she slams back another vodka...(this might be a fun drinking game)
I recommend it's not as bad Manos and not as good Chinatown...but what is...
I do love this but it sort sucks...
Also bonus feature...what major scene is missing from this film? Can you tell me? It must be here and yet it ain't...Nice writing Mr. Erlich...please beware every time this guy gets bored he writes a sex scene and man is he bored with life...Also Peter's first girlfriend is the worst actress in the film...Her name is Cornelia Sharpe...you'll know when you see her after all she has been in cinematic greats like: Crazy Joe, Cover Girls, and Busting. Have fun with this flick but don't take it seriously...great Tiki Drive In Trash!!!!
Oswald's Ghost (2007)
Let's discuss physical evidence??
Hi! We are going address the physical evidence in this case...right...well we are just not in this film. This film barely deals with the physical evidence at all. Except to say that he was shot from the front...except Norman Mailer says he wasn't so the case is now closed. Nope...sorry son it ain't.
This film looked fantastic but did nothing to change my mind or anyone else who has one. One of the problems with this film is that it glosses over so many issues it really isn't funny. First of all the massive amount of information that has been released about this case was never covered in here.
Secondly, (and I know this was mentioned before) was the fact that we get no history of anyone on the Warren Commission before or after the assassination. This would be irreverent if it were...say...the OJ jury but instead it's some people that Kennedy fired and others who didn't want to be there...you know LIKE EARL WARREN!!!! Who, by the way, did not believe his own report...but hey who cares?
Thirdly, the choice of people interviewed for the film. Patricia McMillian is CIA. She applied in the fifties and her family housed the biggest defector in the known universe Stalin's daughter. So she is very well connected if you know what I mean.
Then, we get to Jim Garrison. They present a theory I have never heard in the fifteen years I have studied Garrison, then say he hypnotized someone and drugged them, (which is standard police procedure), then make him crazy because he thinks the media ganged up on him. Wow imagine that the media ganging up against someone that has never happened ever in this country! Nope! (They then use his half hour commercial-free statement that he had to sue for because a biased report to get as proof of this) Have no fear there is not a shred of government documentation that states this is true. I mean except for the ones that have been released...that state this.
And then there is the other evidence that something was trying to stop him...you know like his inability to get warrants served that he has issued. And the fact the Richard Helm's admitted under oath that Shaw was a CIA agent...but don't worry about that?
Outside of all of this...the film looks fantastic. That is why I gave it a three. If you want facts though go elsewhere say to JFK or Beyond JFK or JFK a revisionist history or something like that...Now do me a favor and trash JFK for me...let's bring it on!!!
Manson (1973)
The Citizen Kane of Manson Documentaries
First things first...I have been interested in the Manson Murders for over two decades. I tend to give movies, art pieces on Manson a wide birth. If I gave these things a narrow birth, this would still be a fantastic film.
Everything these people say this film does it does.
It is a portrait of very stupid people.
It is scary.
And it is like hanging out with a bunch freaky murderers...
But there is more. This is the only film that captures the family at it's "height". (For those of you who say there was no family I use this term to encompass the entire group that worked with Manson.) It is also a fantastic vision for why people and countries need to think on their own. These sheep who were lead to slaughter were led there because of their inability to think for themselves. Most of these people were women. We must remember that this case pre-dates the modern feminist movement by five years. So it was more likely that certain women would be able to put under the influence of a manipulative genius...or a scummy little ex-con. Not that this couldn't happen today...(except for certain sociological reasons it really actually couldn't).
There is more to this case but the problem is a lot of the books on this case are badly written...so be it...my recommendations are Taming the Beast and Helter Skelter...also The Family has a ton of information but is quite simply one of the worst written books on earth.
The Film gets a little lost and the end and begins to meander but one can attribute this to the druggy feel of this film rather then the fact that the filmmakers may have run out of things to say on this film.
What also makes this film interesting is that most of the women do seem extremely intelligent (Mary Brunner and Gypsy should be excluded). It is too bad that these filmmakers couldn't or wouldn't get interviews with the families of these women. This would have pushed this film towards perfection maybe even making it a perfect documentary.
There are also a few mysteries that go along with this film. One is why is this not a really well known documentary? Another is Why have there never been a soundtrack released and why has this never been released on DVD officially? Also there is the murder of one of the filmmakers in the parking lot of an acting school that Sharon Tate had attended. Also there have never been any interviews of the filmmakers and there never seems to be any evidence of say the critical reviews of this film. We must remember this film was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary so someone seems to have seen this film. I guess no one wanted to discuss it.
If you are thinking of buying this film go for it...you wouldn't regret it... it will chill you to the bone and make you laugh because of it's narration...
The Killing of America (1981)
I didn't hate this film...But I didn't like it...
Let's see...I guess I will start at the beginning. I heard this film was really good. I saw excerpts online and I read these reviews, and assumed it had some depth. My girlfriend really wanted to see it. I found it in about five minutes online and purchased it.
Then it showed up. This has plenty of real footage. However, it has almost no analysis. I know guns kill people. I have seen the effects (not in person thankfully). I am very much in favor of some gun control. I don't need more proof. This film is a time capsule of a certain time period (amazingly that period is 1982 or rather the early, early eighties), however, violence has been a part of this country from day one and has never abated. Ever. It is here to stay, and it is truly American. For these people to say it started on November 22, 1963 (even though according to this film it may have started in the fifties) is a ridiculous statement by the filmmakers. As a history major, I could choose a random date and say that violence in America started there, and be right on the money. H Rapp Brown is right, "Violence IS as American as apple pie." For the record I am a bigger fan of apple pie. Are there messed up people living in the world who will use violence? Yes. Is this right or wrong? I'm not so sure. It really depends upon the situation.
I also think that the race aspect was eliminated from the film. It is touched upon, but never delved into. That would have made this film much better. A lot of things would have made this film much better.
Let me make this clear: THERE IS VERY LITTLE ANALYSIS OF THE VIOLENCE COMMITTED WITHIN THIS FILM. This film is much closer to Faces of Death, than a sociological look at violence.
Basically, this is not a very good film, which is also filled with inaccuracies which are too dull to name.
Have fun!!