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The Straight Story (1999)
Amazing
What's amazing is the dichotomy between this wonderful film and his clusterfu*k in Mulholland Drive is that the same guy directed both.
That doesn't take anything away for this fine and heart warming movie. Just take it as a warning... if you haven't seen Mulholland Drive, save yourself an exercise in self abuse. In that mess, Lynch had cart blanche and he ran his freedom ship up on the shoals. It was really and truly a mess.
The Straight Story is carried by a dying Richard Farnsworth giving us his best ever performance. If one person ever carried a movie to a stellar level, it was this one. This was a one man success but to his credit, Lynch didn't get in the way of a great story and an even better performance by Farnsworth. Don't miss it.
D-Day (2019)
A real bomb
Like the other review, I found nothing to commend about this mess. The special effects were just fair, except for the scenes right off the bat where they show a Spruance Class destroyer participating in the shelling of Omaha Beach. They were commissioned until the 1970's. We have actors in their late 40's portraying the 3 star (soon to be 4 star) army group commander Omar Bradley who was in his late 60's at the time of D-Day. We also have actors in their 20's portraying army Lt Colonels. That works for the USAAF during this period but not for the regular army. Most real Lt. Col's in this period would be in their mid to late 30's. This same young chubby Lt Col shows up at the office of his 3 star Army general with a 2000's hair do and 4 days of beard. That may work in a street shoot em up movie depicting recent times but no young (too young) O5 is going to show up in front of his Army commander (a crusty O8 or O9 who probably spent 15 years during the depression going no higher than a Captain) looking like that. He's get eaten alive. Can't these folks even hire a technical advisor who can tell the director how real soldiers of the WWII period looked and acted?
This one is a waste of time. It's about as bad as the recent fiasco's about Pearl Harbor and the remake of the Battle of Midway. All pitiful. Go watch Patton again if you want to see a great movie with a great true story and actors who looked like military men of the period.
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Save yourself. This one is a bomb
I'm a huge fan of Tommy Lee Jones and William Devane but I imagine both of them would like to disassociate themselves from this stinker of a movie. The acting is dull and boring, the photography is flat, the sound is tinny and the plot is totally predictable. In short, there isn't a thing to make you want to see this unless you are a huge fan of revenge flicks. Even then, there are a bunch of well made revenge flicks about this sad era in our countries history. Some of the positive reviews compare it favorably to Martin Scosese's 'Taxi Driver' with Robert DeNiro and a very young blossoming Jodie Foster. Make no mistake about it, there is nothing in Rolling Thunder to make a favorable comparison to Taxi Driver. If you are in the mood for a revenge flick about this era, do yourself a favor, skip this and watch Rambo again. You'll be glad you did.
Da hong zha (2018)
It really rates a zero but that's not an option.
This is one of the poorest quality movies I've ever seen. Where the Chinese spent $65,000,000 in this mess defies credibility. Bruce Willis must be getting desperate to have his name attached to this incredibly bad movie.
I've been hoping for years that somewhere along the line with all these war movies being made that the story of the 8 year long war the Chinese fought against a far better trained and better equipped Japanese military might be told but rest assured this is not it. The true history of this long war is full of bravery and challenge on the part of the Chinese as well as the US forces that fought alongside them. There is political intrigue that went on between Generals Stilwell, Chenault, Chiang Kai-Shek and FDR but none of that is given justice in this weak attempt at a story that appears to be written by kids and for kids. The CGI is comically poor which makes one wonder why with such a huge budget that the producers didn't bother using the real planes and equipment instead of this CGI that looks like the work of some real amateurs. The acting is weak as well. What else is there to say about this except do yourself a favor and skip it. You'll thank me for the tip later..
Wind River (2017)
Stellar, Oscar quality. Do not miss this one.
I don't do very many reviews but this was the best movie I've seen in at least a year. It shines head and oulders above the junk that won Oscar's last year.
It has all the best things we love in a great film; a great plot that grabs you immediately, no gratuitous sex and just enough violence to fit the story, great dialog, intense suspense, excellent music and stellar photography. The special effects were used sparingly but effectively with no CGI that I could detect. The Wyoming winter terrain should be up for a nomination for a supporting role. I haven't seen a movie that chills you like this since Jeremiah Johnson.
Whether the Academy blows this off or not, put it high on your must see list. I suspect we'll see much more of the director/screen writer and the two lead actors.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Absolutely terrible. This movie has few - if any redeeming attributes.
This movie starts out confusing and gets even more so. The plot is literally all over the map and makes one think that perhaps the director (David Lynch) was on a trip with peyote or LSD while he was tossing this mess together. Imagine if you will a garden salad with lettuce, tomato, boiled bass, catsup, bourbon, red peppers and vanilla ice cream tossed in. None of the ingredients in this work together.
The two lead actresses are attractive and the viewer wants to enjoy their effort but they may as well have been reading their script in reverse. Nothing fits. There is some meaningless violence and some gratuitous sex that don't contribute to the story at all.
In the end, after 150 minutes I got up feeling like a fool for sitting through this drivel. When I read all these positive reviews it makes me wonder if these folks saw a different movie - or if they are trying to rationalize wasting 2 1/2 hours on this and not having a clue about what the story was about.
I've been a movie fan for 71 years and this is a real bomb. Possibly the worst movie I ever saw.
No Way Out (1987)
A real good 'whodunit' with a surplus of twists and turns
Kevin Costner's movies are seldom mediocre. The are sometimes terrible (Waterworld) and sometimes outstanding (Dances with Wolves). This is one of his better ones. The character he portrays is a navy officer on duty at the Pentagon. When a murder takes place he becomes a suspect and it's a race against time until he uncovers the real culprit or the massive computing power at the Department of Defense reconstructs a photo that ties him to the crime.
It's a well done 'whodunit' with plenty of twists in the story line, a fine cast with Costner supported by Gene Hackman, a luscious Sean Young and Will Patton. This doesn't rise to a level 10 but it's well worth watching and quite realistic.