Change Your Image
Greg-83
Reviews
The Other Side of Heaven (2001)
Ignore the "critics"...this one's worth seeing.
It shouldn't come as a surprise many critics panned this movie...come to think of it, that's usually a clue a movie is actually worth seeing. Given, anything wholesome is to critics as garlic is to vampires it should be easy to wade through the snobbish complaints...such as...
"A condescending film of the white man teaching Tongans their god isn't good enough...paternalistic." -- Maybe the critics need to be labeled as closet racists. I mean, to think, anyone with a religious message should save it for only white folks in the neighborhood and not take it to all men and women.
"Groberg struggles to learn Tongan only to have the native cast spend the rest of the movie speaking English." -- Quick, name all the Hollywood movies with story lines in foreign countries where you were forced to read subtitles while the actors spoke another language. Duh!!! It's understood Groberg's mission was conducted in the Tongan language...the English dialog is for the viewer's benefit. Oh, and the picture of Queen Elizabeth in the telegraph/post office may have been an indication more than a few natives actually knew how to speak English.
"Simplistic plot has convenient/immediate solutions to the parade of disasters." -- I'll grant you, many different approaches could have been taken but this director decided on an episodic format...one mini tale after another...to compress three years of a young man's life into 2 hours.
"The main character dares to preach his version of morality (in this case, saving intimacy for marriage) as what God wants." -- Let's face it...the only way most critics would consider Groberg's mission relevant would be if he had bedded the local girl, denied his faith, and sailed with her to a remote, speck of an island to begin a new society of 'nonjudgemental,' 'enlightened' people.
I could go on but, why.
This movie 1) Is about a Mormon missionary's trials during 3 years of life among people of a different culture...to expect him to be a proponent of another faith's doctrine is more than a little ridiculous, 2) Is limited by a very small budget by Hollywood standards (around $7-8 million)...despite the paltry sum, the cinematography is outstanding and the acting and supporting cast are excellent, as well, 3) Will not receive picture of the year honors...but, who cares?
Whether you are of the Mormon faith or not, this movie is worth the price of admission. And, if you are as sick of the mindless schlock Hollywood produces as I am, it's easily worth twice the price of admission. It doesn't matter if it's not "Gone With The Wind," it's a well made movie with the look of a budget much larger than it had.
Don't let the critics talk you out of this one.
Les Misérables (1998)
Whenever I Try To Think Of The Novel I've Enjoyed Most...Les Miserables Pops Into Mind...
So, not surprisingly, I was anxious to see how this film version compared.
Overall, I thought it was very good...the cinematography is excellent...conveys the feel of being in the dirt and grime of Paris. I don't think a better actor could have been cast for the role of Javert...Rush was outstanding. In fact, the whole cast was good.
But, I must admit, while I thought the movie was technically outstanding and the acting very good, I was left without the emotional involvement I experienced with the book.
I'm not sure if continuing the movie to the same ending as the book would have been anti-climatic but it was that very part of the story (Valjean's death after turning a pathetic life into one of true service and compassion) which touched me most. In any case, what there was was first rate.
The Shootist (1976)
A Very Good Movie
I've often wondered if John Wayne, or someone close to him, intentionally chose this script because they knew Wayne had lung cancer and would likely not be making many more movies.
Wayne dying...Jimmie Stewart's, Richard Boone's careers also nearing their end...Boone's character's motorcar ushering in a new era in the movie...western movies out of vogue when this was made...the wild west way of life fading away in the film...these and other symbols are too numerous to be mere coincidences.
The cast is excellent...the photography (especially the outdoor shots away from town's center) has the "feel" of authenticity.
This was, truly, the only way for John Wayne to make his exit.
The Green Pastures (1936)
Don't Make The Mistake Of Judging This Movie Too Quickly
I first saw "The Green Pastures" quite by accident as a 13 year-old while visiting grandparents in Detroit, Michigan many, many years ago...I never forgot it.
Years later, in college, while on a date, I was telling my date about it and we stopped by the school library so I could find a copy of the play to show her...she loved it, too. I've since bought the tape and watch it every now-and-then when I want to smile and feel good.
I remember asking my mom about the movie when I first saw it and always remembered her response..."how do you think the little black children in the movie pictured God and others in the Bible?" And that, of course, is exactly what Marc Connelly was trying to get us to think about.
Though the original play/movie may have met resistance in the South, it was a hit in New York. To the eternal historical revisionists of today who see nothing but stereotypes and negative images, I'd suggest you take another look.
Country folk of the early part of this century did talk with accents and few had much education (whites as well as blacks). The dialog of the film is less a contrived stereotype than it is a snapshot of what the simple life was like. It's not hard for me to imagine a dedicated Mr. Deshee teaching kids in Sunday School about the good book. Nor is it hard to understand why they might picture pharoe's guards in double-breasted suits like the gangsters in the news of their youth, or relating any number of other scenes to what was familiar to them.
Connelly was not trying to convert viewers to religion...he was trying to get those already converted to see the personal relationship with God enjoyed by all his children, regardless of their station in life.
There are no whites in the movie, just as there were no whites in the immediate community where the story takes place. This movie was not made with the burden of every social dilemma we've struggled with over the years. To blindly force modern perceptions and racial baggage on it does nothing but dampen the simple joy of this unique gem.
The Great Escape (1963)
Elmer Strikes Again
A great movie...I can still picture McQueen heading to the "cooler" with his baseball and glove. McQueen, an accomplished bike rider, did the jump over the barbed wire, himself. The rest of the cast was perfect, as well. And, then, of couse there's...
Elmer...
Bernstein's music is the best when it comes to action/drama ("The Magnificent Seven," "The Ten Commandments," "True Grit," among others) and scores another knockout with "The Great Escape."
If you're young enough to have missed this picture when it was popular, rent it and enjoy a true classic...a reminder of an era of big movies with more stars than what you see in the night-time sky.
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Real Genius Of This "Classic"
What do "The Magnificent Seven," "The Sons of Kate Elder," "True Grit," "The Great Escape," "The Ten Commandments" and over 200 other movies and TV projects have in common?
Elmer Bernstein's music.
Along with Jerome Moross's "The Big Country" theme, "The Magnificent Seven" has got to be one of the most memorable scores of all time. Helped by the extensive play as the Marlboro theme (before cigarette ads were banned from TV), Bernstein's music makes a decent western truly unforgettable.
Evident in Bernstein's music is the "big" dramatic sound influenced by American composer, Aaron Copeland ("Appalachian Spring," "Fanfare For The Common Man"). Even Bernstein's theme to "Animal House" (no doubt, meant to be a parody as much as the movie, itself) has a feel of something beyond the expected.
Yeah, "The Magnificent Seven" was a rehash of "The Seven Samuri" and is less than inspiring in spots, illustrating, all the more, just what music can do for a movie. Bernstein sits alone atop the list of cinematic composers.
The Terror of Tiny Town (1938)
Munchkins Or Nelson Eddie?
It's been a number of years since I saw this masterpiece...and I still laugh when I think about it. How can you not like something as off the wall as this flick.
Aside from the small people and small ponies, etc., I was most surprised by the singing. Not that singing westerns are a novelty, mind you, it's just that after hearing the leading lady squeak like a munchkin, I wasn't prepared for the leading man to have a full, booming, Nelson Eddie-type voice.
This one's a natural for a night with friends, a large bowl of popcorn and plenty of substitute dialog.