ken-bld Reviews

The Snow Walker (2003)

Quality at Work Here - A Film You'll Actually Remember

[10/10 · 14 January 2010]

This is one of those rare English films that is focused on a plot not an agenda. I saw a piece of the film on TV. Then I rented it not expecting much. I was very impressed. I had not seen a real tear jerker in years. This is not the typical Hollywood template. Real time and effort was invested in its creation.

The female playing the Eskimo girl is actually an Eskimo girl! Wow. What a concept! I"m serious! She has actually done all of the things she is depicted doing in the movie in their attempts to survive. Remember the classic western where all the indians are white men painted red? And you kept seeing the same actors in movie after movie? The fact that she's a new face and an Eskimo makes it all the more believable.

Standard Hollywood fare would have had someone like Julia Roberts or Nicole Kidman on the back lot in a parka eating simulated raw meat. That would not have been convincing or memorable.

The extras about the making of the film were outstanding such as the difficulties they encountered in making the film from dodging polar bears to arctic blizzards. Extras, worthwhile or otherwise, are another rarity in English films today hence the rare memorable film.

This is one of those unique films you can buy absolutely anyone for a gift and it is appropriate and appreciated.

Don't miss this one!

An American Affair (2008)

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

[8/10 · 23 August 2009]

Some of the reviewers here obviously have never heard of, or read a book of, historical fiction. This movie did not begin with "True Story". Hence why expect it to be? Indeed, if a film about historical events was 100% accurate it would be so boring we'd then complain about that.

Gretchen Mol did a superb job as usual. I first saw her in "Forever Mine". If she gets the right part she always delivers. The part of the young man was also well done. It is difficult to give much info without spoiling the plot. It has drama, romance and tragedy. All well done; the components of good movies. So watch it for yourself. And don't try to make historical comparisons as you do. That's not what this movie is about.

Most of the bad reviews here come from those who did not see the typical Hollywood template film they expected. There are no Quentin Tarantino type influences here. It's not the typical American type template that has won the US only 5 Palm D Ors in drama at Cannes in the last 25 years even though we've put out tens of thousands of films! Yes if you expect the usual steamy sex, filthy talk, things blowing up, chase scenes, gun battles and bloody gore-filled murder scenes you will be disappointed.

Sadly, there are few American made movies worth the time or expense at a cinema these days but this is one of them. You get to have your cake and eat it too.

Public Enemies (2009)

Another Typical Hollywood Template Snoozer

[2/10 · 9 August 2009]

Hollywood big wigs: "Let's make a movie about Dillinger. Just using his name we can assure it will sell to the men. And to attract the women we'll cast pretty Johnny Depp as this ruthless gangster. It's a gangster movie so we need him shooting a Tommy Gun in the beginning. This will get the attention of the men. To get the women's attention he will need to be falling in love within 20 minutes with a touching dialog and quickly into bed. And for a twist let's depict Dillinger (a thug beginning in childhood) as a real gentleman. Women won't like him otherwise. We'll have Johnny Depp pulling out her chair, helping with her coat, opening doors for her, etc.. The rest is just details."

What we have here is just another typical Hollywood template film. I was surprised they did not have Dillinger showing up at an orphanage donating his bank robbing proceeds.

Is there any surprise that Hollywood is in trouble?

Something the Lord Made (2004 TV Movie)

More Liberal Propaganda

[3/10 · 26 May 2008]

As with many "true story" films created in the U.S. these days this one is full of half-truths, stretches and flat out lies. Such films only succeed with those among us who do not "research" the "movie facts". Anytime I see miraculous events and Disney-like truism in a movie I hit the Internet and research the film. Rarely does the film hold up under scrutiny and this film is no exception. I would not be surprised that most who rate this highly have not researched the true facts. For instance, the machine he invented alone in the movie was actually a joint collaboration. The brilliant sewing technique he supposedly came up with in the movie was actually the idea of the female doctor. There is a long list of such twists. The contributions of the white doctors were totally ignored to build up this guy. How fair is that?

Many do not realize that this film was based on an "article" written by a female journalist who interviewed his "wife" for these "facts". The article itself is jam packed with hearsay like "the doctor thought". How does she know what the doctor thought? But she needed to sell an article and seemingly miraculous events always make good copy. There are numerous articles online about such propaganda like the movie "Charlie Wilson's War". We need good black role models but reinventing facts to create them is a bad way to go about it.

PS. As with the other negative reviews that I found of this film expect to find this one way at the end of the others where it will most likely not be read. Hooray for the First Amendment! Yea right!

10,000 BC (2008)

Another Nail in the Coffin of American Film-making

[2/10 · 23 March 2008]

Take any one of the many thousands of Hollywood love stories you've seen and throw in a few prehistoric animated scenes as an afterthought and you get this movie. The movie begins with a fight over a girl and search for the girl throughout. Ho Hum. Obviously a chick flick. A woman all the men adore (she was not that adorable to me) and will die for(Helen of Troy theme). And the villain - you guessed it - an old white man. I had already read reviews that the story was terrible and was DisneyLike. But I thought I would see some impressive special effects.

As you know Hollywood is great at delivering impressive previews but unimpressive at delivering the final product. The best part about this movie was the landscape shots. I would have been happier to just see two hours of that.

And don't expect to learn any history. This movie is a mix. I kept expecting Hercules or Tarzan to pop up. For instance, I don't think there were too many "model types" with breast implants and mascara running when they cried back then. In 10,000 B.C. do you really think these folks were thinking about love or even knew what it was? Survival was all they thought about. With a title like 10,000 B.C. they should have focused on that.

Eternal (2004)

One of the better vampire type films

[8/10 · 2 November 2007]

Normally I avoid vampire and werewolf type films. They've been done to death. If you're looking for the classic stake through the heart run from the sun and hide from the garlic vampire films this is not for you. This is a very new twist on the classic vampire film. It is inspired by modern true events. In most vampire films the women are usually little more than blood banks. But the two key actresses play their parts very well. They are beautiful and seductive. The plot is good the acting is good and the directing is good. One review noted that if you want to see kinky this film is no good to search the web. I agree. This is not your average vampire film. But if you want to see a vampire type film that requires an IQ over 50 and a film you may actually think about afterward it is definitely worth a rental.