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Maleficent (2014)
I Don't Think it Could Be Better
It seems every film Angelina Jolie is in, they get progressively better.
Angelina played the part with such a beautifully placid air, the hesitancy to smile as a wronged soul, then the ever-so slight curl of a smile breaking the corner of her lips as she watched Aurora's mud fight, brings much more joy to the viewer than had she broken out in raucous laughter. Brilliantly acted.
The rest of the film is impeccably done, the 3d, CGI, the set and costume design, the fantasy figures, some beautiful, some goofy and humorous.
The acting was good enough to have you believing what you were watching, and that is the important part. You find yourself moving through moments of tears, moments of joy. Thoroughly enjoyed the film.
Well done Roth Films and Kudos to Disney for their usual great taste in fun.
Soul Surfer (2011)
Sometimes
Sometimes I just have to rate a movie on what it does to you.
This is one of those that gets a 10 for how it feeds the soul and uplifts the entire spirit. Not because of it's incredible acting, or directing or production. Just because it is food everyone should feast on once in a while.
You don't have to believe in God to be enriched by this. The fact that it's based on a true story is part of it's strength. Kudos to Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid for participating in a faith based movie (not overbearingly so) when Hollywood seems so full of superficial nonsense.
The fact that her main rival ended up being her friend, despite the bitterness shown to her both when she had her arm and not, is a testament to how a little love goes a long way to turn bad to good.
True Women (1997)
Well worth watching and purchasing.
I thought this mini-series based on a true story was earthy and factual. One writer complained of all the deaths... well a lot of deaths were a part of life in that era. All one has to do is visit an old cemetery to realize many lost their children to cholera and other diseases. But it has it's balance of joy and sorrow and it will be thoroughly enjoyed by most.
Someone said the movie was a liberal politically correct portrayal. I disagree and I am not a liberal. A liberal could not have researched a movie like this without a rude awakening, to find Republicans were the ones who fought to free the slaves and give women the right to vote, while the "liberals" fought to keep them in bondage. While I know this to be a fact, I appreciate that it did not put a partisan spin into the film, it would have alienated rather than had someone enjoy the movie.
I'm also intrigued watching Angelina Jolie, I find her to be a deep actress with a very pleasant countenance and I think this was the most meaningful film she's ever done, though I just recently saw it in 2010 while I believe it had been filmed as a mini series in the 90's. If someone wants to claim it was politically biased, I would say shoveling this film under the rug may have been politically motivated, because it showed not all slave owners were whips-on-blacks monsters that the race baiters tend to rely on. They were human and the masters and slaves often ate at the same table and formed close family like bonds with one another, which happens to be historically correct.
Ignore the negative comments, they seem to mostly be by men insecure in their masculinity, taking a bite at something that put emphasis on the woman and her often overlooked role in history.
August Rush (2007)
Beautiful
I had to give this a 10 for how immensely it touched my heart. If you have the sensitivity of an artist you will love this film.
The music alone was rich enough to warrant viewing it. Kerri is a lovely actress and the leading man also isn't hard to look at, with a soulful presence of his own. A previous review mentioned the mystical. I agree, and it's a believable mystical for anyone who considers a "hand of fate" working at times in people's lives.
It's possible this element disturbed some who gave it a poor review, as it will in certain types of people. Highly recommended for any musician, painter or other "right brained" types.
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Hollywood's Version of the Crusades
It was a wonderfully executed epic, but should be viewed mostly as fictional. I myself enjoyed it in that capacity, if only people would not dangerously view this Hollywood creation as historically accurate.
On the movie "Kingdom of Heaven", Jonathon Riley-Smith, one of Britain's leading authorities on the Crusades, labeled it 'Osama Bin Laden's version of history' and said, 'It will fuel the Islamic fundamentalists.'"
In a May 5, 2005 article by Christopher Howse titled "The Crusaders Were Right After All," British newspaper The Telegraph quoted director Ridley Scott saying that the Knights Templar were the "Right-wing or Christian fundamentalists of their day." Ridley Scott said:, "If we could just take God out of the equation, there'd be no f-----g problem."
For instance, a priest in the movie makes the outrageous comment: "Killing an infidel is not murder. It's the path to heaven." "The Church never, ever, said anything like that," said Riley-Smith, who is editor of the "Oxford History of the Crusades" and one of the foremost scholars on them."In fact, it said the opposite that any legitimate violence had to be reactive, meaning (it had to be) a response to a threat from someone"."Moreover, if Christians fought infidels without a just cause, they were waging an unjust war. So the Church was always very firm on this," "You had no right to kill anyone, except when authorized to do so in defense."
The movie contains a host of other inaccuracies, he said. In fact, Riley-Smith contends that it presents the Crusades as nothing more than a gathering of large brigades of religious zealots who travel to the Holy Land to slaughter infidels.
ref: http://www.cst-phl.com/050811/leisure.html