BKinzeys Reviews

Brother Rob (2011)

Nice segments, left wanting more.

[5/10 · 28 October 2011]

I'm reviewing this because I felt bad about giving it only a 5. The segments are interesting and fairly well done it just doesn't seem complete or finished.

The main story covered here is Pastor Terry Jones and his organization putting the Koran on trial. There is an interview with Pastor Jones and some coverage of the actual trial. Enough info so we know this is a Kangaroo Court (10 of 12 Jurors are from Jones's congregation) with Jones presiding as Judge. Where is the interview with one or more Juror? Witnesses? Holy Smokes where is the interview with defense council? That's a guy I wanted to hear from and about.

There are segments on the Stackhouses, an interesting Muslim couple. Other than being Muslim, what is their connection to the trial? I saw this on The Documentary Channel and before the documentary there was a brief segment with the Producer - Director - Cinematographer - etc Sofian Khan where he spoke of coming across this story while putting together a project on Islamophobia. That's what this looks to me to be. Part of a larger project. In fact I think it looks like something put together to show in order to get funding to complete the project.

It just doesn't stand on it's own. Yet.

A Pregnant Moment (2001)

Birth of a Backfire.

[3/10 · 12 November 2009]

I'm fairly certain what I got out of this wasn't the filmmaker's intention.

It's a documentation of a couple's dog's pregnancy. We start with a pregnant dog and carry through birth to the pups being picked up by new owners.

It's a step above a home movie. The videography is passable but certainly could have been better. Thank you for the editing though. We are rescued from the long droning of a home movie. The editing is a plus, the rest, not so much.

Content. I would have liked to know why the dog was bred? Why not any info on the adoption process or the people who adopt the dogs? What I got out of this I don't think was intentional. The couple who owned the dog were twits. Really. They don't come off well at all yet they were the filmmakers.

Our loving couple tell use they witnessed another dog being bred and went away with the impression they'd seen a rape. For their dog the dogs had meetings and play time and they felt the dogs fell in love and then were allowed to breed. Gee, did "love" go south quickly! The father is never seen at all nor spoken of again. Several times the couple doesn't seem to know much at all about the process of breeding or what to expect or do. All I can say about the birth scene is thankfully the dog had instinct to rely on. Yikes! I think if the subjects had not been the filmmakers themselves I would have given it a 6 out of 10. I was so aghast at what they did I don't believe they know how bad they came off in this so I deducted points for it. Bow Wow!

Be Quiet (2005)

Where is the rest of it?

[6/10 · 26 August 2009]

Nice film, interesting story about a man and his son traveling through Palestine. We see a father & son interaction, problems in travel, get some background on the father & son, a stop at a roadblock, and start what looks to be an interesting story. Then it ends. Abruptly, quite abruptly. So what happened to the rest of the story? Stories don't need to be all tidily wrapped up for me but seriously, this short is like they ran out of money about 2/3 of shooting and ended it right there. I don't think anything that was introduced in this film was concluded at all. It was all left up in the air.

I felt like a hitchhiker being picked up and starting an interesting journey with the father & son. Looks like we will be together for a little ways and suddenly there is a fork in the road and I'm told "Oh, we can no longer go your way. Our direction has changed and we have to drop you off here. Nice to get the ride but disappointed it ended short.

Fidel (1971 TV Movie)

Documentary after Castro is in power a few years.

[8/10 · 6 May 2009]

Some documentary, some propaganda, still interesting to watch.

I saw a 2007 revisited version of this. It includes a short interview with the director at the end.

Basically a US documentary crew is invited to Cuba to shoot footage of Fidel Castro. Most of the footage is of a trip into the countryside Castro takes and interacts with the citizens. There is a little history of the Revolution given but I wouldn't say this is a hard hitting doc. The hardest questions asked are by the citizenry of their day to day living. Bad roads and shortages of every kind are the big questions.

Castro discusses the revolution, his ideas, and his goals. One of his goals is a "Social Democracy" where everyone can take part in politics. One citizen who speaks to the crew says the problem is there is no democracy at all. In the interview with the director added in 2007 he states after 40 years Cuba is still not a "Social Democracy." I found it interesting to watch and given the circumstances it does give some insights to Fidel.

Blood River (1991 TV Movie)

Fairly bad all around

[3/10 · 20 May 2008]

Poor direction, acting, costumes, sets, story. Wilford Brimley turns in the worst acting job I have seen him do. Rick Schroder does the same. The storyline just plods along with little more motivation than the script. Shot in Canada there are some pretty vistas but the cheap sets in the foreground detract.

This may be a TV Movie made on the cheap and it looks it. Puzzling choices were made as well. The boat for one. Somebody did a nice job stretching canvas (hides?) over a boat frame. What about the size though? It's twice the size, possibly triple, of a boat to be used by one person. It's just out of place as so much is in this movie.

I watched the whole thing hoping it would get better but it didn't.

Desert Saints (2002)

Run of the mill Cops & Assassin

[5/10 · 3 May 2007]

Good acting and an interesting storyline but the script is below par. As they say if you don't have a good script you won't have a good movie.

Interesting premise and there is a twist (2 twists actually) to the ending which brings this up to just beyond a "B" movie. Then it stops there.

Meg Ryan is credited as a producer and she certainly picks better movies to act in than produce.

Our lead character, Jack, is a hired... No - wait. Kiefer Sutherland is Arthur Banks, a world class hit-man who happens to wear Jack's Ray-Bans (see 24) and is traveling to his next job. He picks up a woman for a cover and accomplice along the way. The Feds are just two steps behind him.

Whomever wrote this needed some help in fact checking and reality.

At one point there is talk of a tungsten core bullet that spins faster which enhances accuracy. Um, no. It doesn't matter if a bullet is lead, copper, tin, steel or gold. That doesn't affect the spin rate.

The movie starts out in the Southwest. Yet they drive for at least 3 or 4 days before entering Mexico. All on 2 lane roads. Sure, I can see not making a bee line but that's a little silly.

A couple of bodies need to be dumped. Not much thought is given on where to dump them so as not to be discovered. The first one is why not in the bushes? The second body is a good place as long as nobody has a sense of smell.

Don't you think if the Feds were given permission to enter Mexico the Mexican Authorities would at least tag along?

Not worth renting and see what else is on TV before watching.

Ellie Parker (2005)

Great film for Indie filmmakers & Actors.

[9/10 · 19 April 2007]

Like the films Swimming with Sharks and Living in Oblivion this is a film that will be mostly enjoyed by people in "The Industry" Exceptional performance by Naomi Watts and great insights into the industry.

A great lesson in movie-making for the "No Budget" crowd. No huge stunts or special effects. All the locations were local and current. Think "Park Bench: Day" The film fit the budget and not the other way around.

Kudos to the Above the Line people involved here.

"Watch & Learn People!"

Sorry, that says it all for me, but sometimes less is more. Unfortunately I need 10 Lines to post. Attempts to pad are prohibited and I may be called on my padding here but in my defense I'd like to use a quote from a famous comedian.

"Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." Need he have been forced to say more?

Spellcaster (1988)

What's wrong with the '80s

[2/10 · 10 January 2007]

Most everything wrong in the '80s had an influence on this movie. Including the fact it was made in '91. An all around bad horror movie with bad acting and a trite, simplistic script.

Richard Blade is given top billing in this mess and is the reason I watched this movie. Currently, in 2007, Mr Blade is an oldies DJ on a radio station in Los Angeles. That was enough to get me to watch this stinker. In the '80s Mr Blade was a popular "Video Jockey" and hence his casting as a "Popular Video Jockey" hosting a contest being held in a castle.

Nothing against Mr. Blade personally. I'm sure he was offered money and a chance to broaden his professional resume. If nothing else he proves being a good DJ and a good VJ does not translate into being a good actor.

Possibly the movie is bad enough that in a few years this movie can be seen as a true howler for it's script, acting and true datedness.

Currently is should only be viewed after checking it's listing here on IMDb to note several of those connected to this horror-ible dud went on to have actual careers! The only true horror I see here is a nail in the coffin of the '80s being dead.

That's all Folks!

Kunoichi ninpô-chô: Yagyû gaiden (1998)

So bad it's good

[9/10 · 5 October 2006]

The other review hit the major points. A screaming howler of a bad movie. The version I saw was subtitled in English. I really wished I knew Japanese because I'm sure plenty of "entertainment" was lost in translation.

I'm not a Ninja movie fan, and the fight sequences are poorly shot - edited - directed, so I found it funny that during fight sequences you just had to wait to the end to see who would loose body parts. The high pressure misting blood was classic! C'mon! The shear goofyness was bizarre! This was based on a story and I kept wondering who made more trips to the Opium Den? The original story writer, the one who adapted it to the screen, or the Director? In one scene a hero & heroine fall through a trap door into a slime pit rife with the remnants of others. As they think on how to escape our heroine mentions the hero will need a sharp blade upon their escape. Wouldn't you know a virgin's blood would be just the trick. Let the fornication begin! The nasty bad guy is appalled they would have the gall to have sex in his Pit O' Death and starts shooting arrows at the copulating couple. Our hero dances and parries about with his good woman still mounted. His sword slicing each arrow. Cut to an extreme close up of the shining blade deftly held for one drop of blood to sing the blade electric! Now that's "Bad Cinema" at it's best and there is plenty more.

Operation Thunderbolt (1977)

Mediocre P.O.S.

[11 June 2003]

Golan & Globus at their best, which is to say it's a mediocre movie. A one and a half hour movie crammed into two hours.

I was surprised they didn't have an epilogue, since it's history it would have been nice. Not nearly as good or as historic as "Raid on Entebbe."

It's only bad enough to be entertaining in a few spots. Klaus Kinski is wasted and Sybil Danning is dressed with HUGE sunglasses and a potato sack for a dress.

Perdita Durango (1997)

One film, Two countries, The good, The Bad, The Ugly

[9 June 2003]

A few good actors, several bad, an ugly script. A jumbled mess that is interesting only to see a film produced by Mexicans & Americans for both audiences. It fails.

Javier Bardem is excellent as a wacked out criminal who practices Voodoo. Rosie Perez looks the part as the moll he picks up along the way. Unfortunately she plays a Mexican who's english has a New York accent. Does her Spanish have a Puerto Rican flavor? James Gandofini is also good in pursuing them.

The script is ugly, as in bad. Characters & basic story is interesting but it delivers very little and has huge holes, so don't think about it. Plenty of time to pick out reflections & shadows of the camera and crew.

Charlotte Sometimes (2002)

Character Driven

[7/10 · 26 February 2003]

More of a character study than a complete story. I thought it deserved better than a 2.5 average rating at least a 5. It's a little slow. Could have cut 20 minutes out, maybe that 20 minutes could have been used to tell WHY the characters are in this relationship.

The Legend of 1900 (1998)

A Wonderful Film

[10/10 · 23 August 2002]

Really great story, acting, directing, cinematography, costumes, the whole she-bang. I don't know why this film didn't fare better in the US. Directed buy the Cinema Paradiseo director I can say if you like that film, you'll like this one.

The American Astronaut (2001)

Weird, good, has a few problems.

[7/10 · 26 February 2002]

A low budget B&W film. The look is modeled after old Sci-Fi films like Flash Gordon. Including drawings for the spaceship exterior with camera zooms and pans. The cinematography is more "film noir" and is interesting in parts and just contrasty in others.

The acting is very good in this campy storyline. There isn't a plot or character development worth mentioning the campy wierdness and design is what drives this film.

Overall it is an interesting venture with some good jokes and situations but is very quirky for the general public.

As for the ending all I can describe is that it does.

If you have an interest in film, this is an interesting venture. If you are looking for mainstream films, this ain't it.