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Getting Gertie's Garter (1927)
Quite fun at times
Getting Gertie's Garter of 1927 is a typical comedy of errors. The plot is not surprising at all and mostly predictable. However it can get chaotic at times, especially when all three couples of the movie are appearing at the same time. The leading actors of the movie are Marie Prevost and Charles Ray who are acting quite well. However the character of Algie, played by Franklin Pangborn, is a bit weak compared to the others. As in all Pangborn movies, he is not really masculine, which does not quite fit his role in Getting Gertie's Garter. Overall, the movie is not a classic but it provides enough funny scenes to keep the audience entertained for an hour.
Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1918)
Good acting, weak story
After watching a few films of her, I have to say Mary Pickford is not at her best in this movie. Mainly, this is because of the weak plot, which doesn't always seem to be coherent, especially the triangle love story, when you think about it. Furthermore, the film tries to be moralistic and funny at the same time, which doesn't seem to work really well either. However there are one or two funny scenes, whenever the washer family's mother is depicted. However, even there, it is just about exploiting stereotypes to get a few cheap laughs, or so it seems. In my opinion, one major problem are the monotone settings of the scenes, which do not vary enough to make the whole movie more interesting. All in all, it does only take an hour to watch it, but I think there are better films from 1918 than this one.
Die Geschichte vom Brandner Kaspar (2008)
A very entertaining flirt with death
"Die Geschichte vom Brandner Kaspar" is another film adaption of a traditional Bavarian story rooted in the 19th century. It deals with very serious matters, such as intrigues, envy, murder, and loss of beloved family members. On the other hand it also includes love, forgiveness, and the knowledge that the little problems on earth do not really matter in the end. This is where the movie shows has its strength too. Bully Herbig achieves to impersonate death as belonging to human life, and therefore being very human. By the comic relief of his acting the movie connects depth and entertainment in a very palatable combination.
In my opinion this is one of the better German movies of the last ten years, and definitely worth watching. Even more so as it is set in a beautiful panoramic landscape: in the Bavarian mountains.
The Punisher (2004)
Yet another example of entertainment by vigilantism
The Punisher has quite a good cast, which might distract from the fact, that there is nothing really new about the story. It seems that the initial murdering just happens to give the main character's trained body a purpose in killing vast amounts of people. The police are portrayed as too weak, so that "The Punisher" has a reason for vigilantism. It is interesting that while he is still in the police, they are way more clever than without him afterwards.
As for the music, there is nothing really to take note of except for a typically Hollywood-ignorant abuse of a Verdi opera as a comic relief. All in all the movie lacks creativity and a good story. It is only interesting for those of you who are just looking for some quick mindless action.
Il giorno del giudizio (1971)
Killing is fun?
According to this movie vigilantism should be preferred over real justice. This movie is an orgy of brutal shooting scenes without much story. It does therefore make no sense to watch it. Even if the longer Italian version should have more story included, the morals behind the movie remain questionable. Moreover, the director did a terrible job cutting the scenes. Everything seems to be cut together carelessly, so that at no point in the movie any suspension can develop. Also the characters remain flat and are not developed at all. The audience only learns a minimum about the main character. His life and motivations remain unclear. I therefore highly recommend to watch the classic Westerns before turning to this movie.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Superficial and a lot of missed opportunities
Basically, a film about a bestseller such as Harry Potter would have a lot of potential, if it would be directed as careful as the novel. Unfortunately, the narrative techniques of J.K.Rowling are not applied in the movie at all, although this would be quite easy to do.
There are several markers of carelessness in the movie. Firstly, the characters are weakly introduced, if at all. The worst example is the appearance of Firenze, the Centaur in the forbidden forest. He appears for the first time to save Harry from Voldemort, but Harry reacts as he would have known Centaurs for a long time and is not shy or fearful at all. This does not make much sense, considering that it is his first year in the world of magic. Secondly, the narrative thread is not very consequent. As a spectator, the narration seems to jump between only loosely connected scenes, which in my opinion does not allow to understand everything, unless you have read the book. An example for this is the flying lesson with Madam Hooch. Harry breaks the rules there, and he is caught by McGonagall. But the audience does not learn why Harry is not worried too much as he follows McGonagall, especially if you consider that he is supposed do be excluded from Hogwarts. This lack of narrative skills by the director shines through the whole movie, as you may find unfortunately many other examples such as this.
What I thought positive about the movie was the cast of actors and the theme music, although overused. I still believe it is not really a children's book, but the movie certainly is targeting children, which may be another reason for the superficiality and carelessness mentioned above.
Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005)
quite good, but could have been much better
Aloha, Scooby Doo plays in Hawaii and is about a surf competition. This sets the setting for a beautiful environment for the story to take place. All in all the story is a bit too simple and does hardly build up any suspense. This movie gives away a lot by telling you the bad guy right from the start. The usual run and hide game, which is typical for the series, again takes in a prominent role in this movie. On the technical side, the face expressions could have been drawn a bit more carefully to show more emotions. Beside these weaknesses, Scooby makes the audience laugh once in a while, especially when he and Shaggy are trapped in bad situations. Not the best movie ever, but a light "Scooby Snack" to pass some time.