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Reviews
The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
A great political lesson
I have never forgotten one magnificent scene from "The Farmer's Daughter" which I saw many years ago when it was first released. Since then, I have never watched a political convention on TV without thinking about it. A very naive and innocent Loretta Young goes to a gigantic political convention with Charles Bickford, an old-timer in the political arena. She is overwhelmed by the crowd's enthusiasm and the confusion. But Bickford is disparaging and tells her to jump up in the midst of everything and simply shout, "Fresh fish!!" She doesn't understand why but does it anyway. Immediately the crowd yells and cheers wildly. It's a magnificent comment on how well convention goers listen to what's going on. I'm waiting for someone who has seen "The Farmer's Daughter" to do the same thing today. But no luck yet!!
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
A water-logged film
I have rarely sat through such a belabored, boring and embarrassingly cute so-called comedy. The sophomoric send-up of Cousteau is adolescent and ridiculous. Were scenarists paid for these lines and ideas (?) which made no one in the theater laugh even once? It goes on and on and on forever. I certainly hope the actors had a wonderful holiday while shooting on location because they did NOT seem to enjoy appearing in the film. They threw away their lines and showed no involvement not interest in the movie whatsoever, although their lines were certainly not the least of what should have been thrown away. What a deadly disappointment!! I did not stay for all the end credits to find out where it was shot, but I would like to know.
Liberty Bound (2004)
I like the simple, forthright approach, with no theatrics.
The interviews are astounding, often chilling. As an American living in Paris, I'm afraid I'd have a problem with the Patriot Act if I went back to the States. I had no idea how it can demolish individual human rights and privacy. Tampering with Constitutional rights, such as free speech, I thought that was illegal, anti-American and downright treason! The list of countries the USA has bombed in the past few years is quite impressive also. My sincerest thanks to Ms Christine Rose for making this film. I'm telling everyone about it and will do my best to send as many people as possible to see it.