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mdf1960
Reviews
Liberté (2019)
Total garbage
2 hours of watching depraved perverts in bad wigs having sex in the woods. That's it. That's the movie. Repulsive.
Heaven's Gate (1980)
Yes, it's a bad movie
Pay no attention to those people who think this is a masterpiece, or even a good movie. The critics were right on this one. Practically the whole film (and I am speaking of the restored 3 3/4 hour version) is a fiasco.
First the good points: Very nice sets, period detail, and period clothing.
Now the bad points: Everything else including a lame and confusing script, bad acting, bad direction, bad photography, bad sound and bad editing. The praise for the cinematography is especially baffling. Almost everything is filmed in soft focus or with strange filters. And entire scenes are obscured by the biggest clouds of dust this side of the Sahara. It's an ugly looking movie all around. And the sound is so badly mixed that we can't understand the actors in several key scenes.
Worth seeing only as a curiosity.
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Disappointing film
Director George Stevens started this film with two big liabilities: the total miscasting of 19 year old model Millie Perkins as Anne Frank and the directive that the film be made in Cinemascope.
Perkins gives it the old college try, but she is totally unbelievable as Anne Frank. She is too old for the role and just can't seem to add any depth to the character. To add insult to injury, the makeup department gives her ridiculously made up eyes.
The widescreen format of this film is totally inappropriate for a film that should be making us feel the claustrophobia of Anne's hiding spot. Director Stevens tries to work around this, but clearly this is a film that should have been made using a 4:3 ratio.
The screenplay of the film is not bad, although it is overlong and not always historically accurate. Anne's last diary entries are totally made up, and it is not true that Mr. Frank knew the fate of his daughters when he returned to Amsterdam. Also, nobody really knows for sure how the Nazis found out about them.
The supporting cast is generally fine, and the film has good moments (the scenes with the burglar are well done), but overall this film is a failure
Silverlake Life: The View from Here (1993)
A great documentary
This is the finest film ever made to deal with the subject of AIDS. It's a documentary about two men living with and dying of this illness. The film is beautiful, heartbreaking, funny, and incredibly moving. Above all, it is an amazing true love story. Be sure to have a few hankies ready before you watch this movie---you will need them. Extraordinary.