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arcticwarfare187
Reviews
Noseland (2012)
An entertaining glimpse into the classical music world. enjoyed it.
To be honest I'm not a big fan of classical music nor Mokumentries. However, it took me the trailer to pretty much set me up for an entertaining hour and twenty minutes.
The movies introduces you with the key figures of a concert revolving classical music, it makes fun at pretty much everything it can on the classical music scene, including the movie director (even a little too much). It has a few old A-listers such as John Malkovich and Roger Moore, who play themselves, which is quite nice to see them being honest and playing a little when they have a chance.
Moreover, the movie offers you some actually deep "no BS" insight about life and death and music, nothing too fancy, just some insight people at that world got which is quite humble and i really liked it since it inspires me in my life in turn.
Regarding the technical aspects movie wise, it's edited wonderfully and professionally. The shots are composed very well and are very crisp. the soundtrack and sound are top notch as expected from a movie made by a musician about musicians. in total it's polished pretty well and gives a professional feel even though it probably didn't have millions of dollars behind it.
In total, if you're reading this review, pick up the movie for a few bucks in Vimeo on demand or another places and watch it, alone or with friends , partner or family. it's a fun, different, funny and definitely worth your time.
God's Not Dead (2014)
God's not dead reviewed by a Jewish man
Well, To be honest i don't really accept any reviews that give this movie a rating of one, which is clearly based on emotion. Sure, the movie biased because it's a Christian movie, it offends people because the creators of the movie believe 1 truth which isn't the common politically correct sense like most Hollywood progressive movies. The claims that were made in that classroom in the movie are very real and very serious. and beat any atheist argument i ever got to hear or contemplate.
I would say what i thin about it as a Jewish person, but that wouldn't have anything to do with the movie. and so i leave it out. unlike many of you.
Is the movie believable to most people? no, mainly due to the script. The situations described in the movie are very real, but they aren't subtle and do emphasize too much on god creating antagonism withing viewers. I had "friendly" bashings with my philosophy lecturer (devout atheist) a year ago who constantly tried to make me look a fool because I argued with him and asked him questions, he was almost every bit arrogant, confident and appealing to everyone as Kevin Sorbo (the professor) in that movie. by the way in that philosophy course i only learned that science can never and will never prove or disprove the existence of god. and any hopes of reaching any slithers of truth is abstract thought, which i find very limited.
to be honest, as a student of cinema i can't possible give this movie a 1, it has good acting. good shooting, good sound. What really hurts it is the script that doesn't present it as believable to the mainstream.
I don't believe people have a right not to be offended. people are constantly joyed by murder, rape, and other evil deeds on TV, but god forbid introduce the concept of god?! "we're offended". well that's the progressive political world of view that arrogantly thinks like the professor they know everything. about Islam? well it's completely true that a religious family would disown you. in the contrary - her father did that with pain because his beliefs come first. now imagine the outrage if she would have been killed by "honor killings" which exist and demean woman.
Yes, the movie lacks in script, and it could tone down on quite a few things and we would still get the same great message (a bit too many overkills). but it's not a too of a bad movie and certainly not the world. we in the INTERNET would call it a "meh".
The Arroyo (2014)
A good, solid Hollywood alternative
I wouldn't have written a review if it wasn't for someone that written a review and gave it a 1. with the title "BORING", and then started giving off points.
let's say i were to really hate the movie, and give it the worst possible scores, i still can't give it anything below 4-5 /10, because no matter the theme, the likes and dislikes, it's a well made feature film. and thus giving it that score really makes everything you write afterwards be no more than a simple rant, not a fair review. So let me give you my attempt at correcting that mistake in addressing some of the not so valid points that person had to write.
Well as someone who studied and still studies cinema and movie making i can understand that the script isn't done by classical "rules" of script making, that is that we must have characters, and conflicts to make us sympathize with the characters on screen, both good and bad. bad this movie doesn't really need it because it deals with broader issues, and it's not about just one single characters struggle. while us laymen like to watch someone rise to greatness (because it's boring to watch complete character, we always want flaws and motives and development) this movie features confident near complete good characters and complete bad characters, much closer like it is in real life and that partly because the movie creator believes in good and evil in my opinion. The movie doesn't needto empathize on character development since it's a slice of life - action western which deals with life itself in general and not just one or two characters and their struggle. this out of the box thinking isn't laziness. Again, just because it doesn't fit the Hollywood formula of making a film, doesn't make it poor.
the shooting is very good as well, thought out and accurate. the dialogues could have used some more (but not a lot) polish and trim in the script department, but they are good, the movie isn't trying to please mainstream folks who don't have any patience to hear dialogues anymore.
The sound is about 8, since i'm into film making i noticed a few minor things i'm not sure someone that didn't try would have noticed them at all.
The acting is good for the most part. any fixed here can be attributed to the dialogue in the script mostly. and i noticed only a few minor flaws in the main characters. some more noticeable ones in a few of the side ones, including the wife which lacks some emotion.
Now, regarding the themes. Overall the theme of the movie is mixed, it takes a step back from traditional mainstream cinema and gives us something much more personal in my opinion, it makes me think in most scenes "how would i react", which is great, and that's what replaces the need to sympathize with the main characters that we see mostly in scripts and mainstream movies these days. The movie deals with moral issues, with the culture itself, when it is right to act? should we act? and shows that not acting and standing up can be deadly. it's a film about lost family values we should regain, about the need for men to be man, not becoming men- children, same for wives. Politically, I think that aside from trimming some places in the dialogue and while it does criticize the government, it's legit and the theme can't and must not be considered conservative alone, the values are have to be shared between both ideologies, your government have to protect you in such cases but it doesn't, and it's a valid point.
Now I don't live in the US, but i do live in a country that is a melting pot and those issues hit a soft spot for me due to our own immigration and crime problems. I realize that although a lot of movies try to make us feel good about ourselves when we finish watching it, this movie makes me think about my life much more, how i want to act for my family, as a man, and as person in my community and country, realizing i'm too passive in todays modern society.
Moreover, it is crown funded, and a low budget movie, which we should take into account when trying to compare it to Hollywood titles. I think it stands by itself, it's a good piece of cinema, the likes of which we don't get to (more like - don't want to) notice in a world where we seek to avoid facing our troubles and be entertained alone.
For me the message is clear - Face your problems, don't sit and wait. 8/10 overall.