Sean_Biggins Reviews

American Gigolo (1980)

HA! I avoided watching this film for 44 years!

[8/10 · 4 May 2024]

When this first came out in 1980, I was about 19 years old and 'thought' it was some kind of cheesy male gigolo film, so after watching it tonight, I feel a bit silly for having such preconceptions and biases without knowing a thing about it because it's actually quite a good film. I also didn't know that Giogio Moroder did the soundtrack which is very good and adds a very gritty, haunting element to the night scenes when Richard Gere is driving alone around LA. Interesting too that Moroder wrote the music to the song 'Call Me' which Debbie Harry from Blondie wrote the lyrics and vocal melody to.

The plot was pretty good but I was hoping it was going to have a Brian De Palma kind of plot twist and that we'd find out that Lauren Hutton was in on the 'framing' and planted evidence in his apt, which I think would have been a real cool idea but she's not.

So if you're like me and thought it was some movie made for desperate chicks to ogle some dudes butt -- it's not. It's really more of a murder mystery and is worth watching.

There's some good 80's atmosphere, like the record store that has a front window display of the Police's first album. I think this movie may have really set the tone for a lot of 80's things that came after it, such as Miami Vice, because there's a scene with the shadow of the window blinds which is very 'noir' and this wasn't being done in the 1970's. Also the 'grey' paint fad that hit in the 80's when everything was getting painted grey.

Jack and Jill (I) (2011)

A very good, fun movie

[8/10 · 17 April 2024]

I was really surprised by this, especially after seeing the fairly low ratings here. It's a very good film all around. Sandler plays himself and his twin sister and he's very good at it. All the acting is great, no corny dialogue, well written, well shot and edited -- no boring parts. It's simply very quite clever. I also really liked Al Pachino's acting, because of course he's good and fun to watch, but I really liked that he worked at it and didn't just phone it in, and of course much of his parts I'm sure were boosted by good writing and camera work and editing etc.

It's definitely worth watching imo.

Grown Ups 2 (2013)

'Grown Ups' made LOTS of money, which is how 'Grown Ups 2' no doubt got made...

[1/10 · 7 April 2024]

That's just how business works, but Grownup Ups 2 is why we never saw a Grown Ups 3.

I actually find it hard to believe how bad this film is. The first one was really quite funny, but this turdd is awful and I can't understand why they didn't just stay on the same track as the first one, but I guess they just didn't care? Who knows, but this movie wasn't even worth watching. Stupid fart jokes and frat-boy humor. I can't imagine who like a movie like this, but I sure as hell don't want to have a conversation or have to get to know one of them.

Life is too short to waste time on garbage like this.

The Artifice Girl (2022)

From an old dude who likes 1983 Blade Runner, I can say it's worth a watch

[8/10 · 7 January 2024]

The big question about this movie will be how it ages'. Will it be remembered as a classic, like how the 1983 Blade Runner is still managing to hold up, or will it be remembered as a hipster covered in tattoos with cultural-appropriated ear plugs and multiple nose piercings.

If you're an old person like me who's wondering if this movie is a flash in the pan, I can't tell you that, but what I CAN say is I was a big fan of the original Blade Runner because it felt and still feels quite timeless, and while this movie had me getting very uncomfortable to almost 2/3rds in, the final 1/3 made it worthwhile. In the first 2/3rds, I think there's some bad acting, or maybe it's bad writing, but as much as I think I use the 'f' bomb probably more than I should, when certain actors use it who probably never do in their normal life, it just doesn't ring true, and that definitely happens here and I found it extremely annoying, because even though it's a seemingly small detail, stuff like that jars you out of a movie, especially when the questionable acting already had you sitting on the fence.

Anyhow, all I want to add is that I think people who gave it 2 stars and said it stinks are being WAY too harsh because it's not bad and it's certainly worth checking out... *if* you're a certain type of person.

Missing 411 (2016)

I'm pretty sure that mountain lions got these kids

[2/10 · 29 December 2023]

I liked the 411: UFO documentary, but this one is trying to make a case where there just isn't one. Mountains lions, cougars, whatever you call them, are very fast and can grab a kid and be gone with it in a split second and that's what happened in all these cases -- no big mystery. Just do a Google search for 'cougar attack' and see all the stories that come up -- children attacked etc. This one below is an awful story about one that killed a dog at a campsite in B. C. I think going into these campgrounds where there's wild animals like this is insane. Cougars kill deer all the time, so a human is just easy porky flesh waiting to get ripped apart. And BTW, this woman said it was almost as quiet as a mouse!

Vancouver News

'Never forget that sound': Woman recalls horrifying B. C. cougar attack that left dog dead

" A woman who heard the horrifying sounds of a cougar's deadly attack on a dog at Cultus Lake Provincial Park last week is sharing her family's story.

Nikki Jones, her husband and two young daughters had settled into their tent at the Clear Lake campground for the night Thursday. Jones, the only one of the four who was still awake, says she heard movements nearby.

"Really slow, but louder footsteps than a mouse," she told CTV News.

Thinking it may have been a thief, she was about to call the park rangers, but then, suddenly, she heard sounds she wont soon forget.

"It was just blood-curdling, screaming, yelping, barking, and growling," she said.

Just meters away at a neighbouring campsite, a large cougar unleashed a vicious attack on a dog, killing it right in front of its owners.

"It was heartbreaking and terrifying," Jones said.

"You'll never forget that sound."

Jones said the RCMP arrived at the scene shortly after.

The next morning, thinking the police had removed the cougar, Jones' husband took their dog out of the tent to go for a stroll.

However, as he soon found out, it hadn't gone anywhere.

"He just screamed at me open to the tent open the tent right now the cougar is staring at me," said Jones.

She says they were able eventually able to get into their vehicle, before they packed up to head out.

The campground was evacuated for the day, as the BC Conservation Officer Service moved in to capture the animal.

In a statement Monday, the service says the cougar was euthanized.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Samaritan Snare (1989) Season 2, Episode 17

The big, dumb, morons in space episode

[2/10 · 5 December 2023]

This is so ridiculous that it's almost beyond belief. The only thing that's entertaining is how funny the dumbo aliens are, saying things like "We like things that make us go..." but even though these aliens are big, dumb lunkheads, Riker sends Jordie over and they kidnap him and actually get away with it! As another person said here, these guys are so stupid that you'd be surprised if they could tie their shoes, yet they manage to trick Riker.

And then story line #2 with Picard having his heart worked on but some great specialists can't do it, but Dr. Pulanski can? This is yet another 'you gotta be kidding me' episodes.

That's all I have to say.

A wonderful series This is an interesting, thought provoking, and most of all entertaining series. Gene Roddenberry not only gave us a "Wagon Train to the Stars," but he gave us interesting stories reflecting the great values our society holds as truths. I know that "some" episodes were not that good, but that can be said of any series that has a long history. For the most part this program exceeds the mark of excellence in writing and entertainment. The delivery of the writing by Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner et. Al. Truly brought the Star Trek future to life. The casting of this program is wonderful!

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q Who (1989) Season 2, Episode 16

A Senior Nerd writes......... Borg babies have little implants!

[8/10 · 5 December 2023]

Despite the illogical Borg costumes and having to tolerate Whoopee Goldberg, I like this one. I've always like the episodes that feature John de Lancie as the 'Q' character. I found it very humorous when Riker opened a drawer and found a baby Borg, complete with tiny skull cap and implants on the Borg ship !

The rest is just filler -- I'm done.

A wonderful series This is an interesting, thought provoking, and most of all entertaining series. Gene Roddenberry not only gave us a "Wagon Train to the Stars," but he gave us interesting stories reflecting the great values our society holds as truths. I know that "some" episodes were not that good, but that can be said of any series that has a long history. For the most part this program exceeds the mark of excellence in writing and entertainment. The delivery of the writing by Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner et. Al. Truly brought the Star Trek future to life. The casting of this program is wonderful!

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Time Squared (1989) Season 2, Episode 13

A Senior Nerd writes.................

[2/10 · 4 December 2023]

I used to watch TNG a lot when it first came out, but a lot of the earlier ones were really disappointing and this was one of them.

When you find yourself able to figure out what's going on before any of the crew does, then you know it's going to be bad.

I knew right away when they were trying to start up the shuttle that they should reverse the polarity of the power, you know, the old - for + battery terminal switcharoo? But even Jordy and data had a tough time figuring that out? Come on -- gimme a break.

From there, the episode literally spirals into a black hole.

Oh yeah, and this one had the previous doctor, Diana Muldaur who I think she was not well suited to TNG, being as polite as I can. I found her and the actress who played Natasha Yar to be very weak elements of this show. The Deana Troy character can be pretty annoying and whiny too sometimes.

I wouldn't watch this one again if it came on, and I've re-watched most of the old original Star Trek series episodes a million times so that should tell you something.

Stanley & Iris (1990)

Stanley & Prickley Pear

[3/10 · 25 November 2023]

I've NEVER been able to warm up to Jane Fonda -- whenever I see her, all I can think of is her father because she looks so much like old leather-face.

So the first problem is BAD CASTING, starting with Fonda. It seems completely impossible that such a tough old bird would only make it as far in life as to be a blue-collar worker who makes fattening, Twinkie knockoffs for other blue collar workers, but apparently that's what happened. The funny thing too is that Jane Fonda hasn't been broke a day in her life, so she must have had a really tough time having to play the part of a broke person.

And then there's Robert de Niro, who for some reason never learned to read which I find to be a VERY BIG stretch. I was wondering if maybe MGM got paid by the government to make this as public-service movie about illiteracy and it's totally possible.

Another reason this film may have been made was because in 1990, blue collar TV had just hit the big time with Rosanne Barr appealing to white trash America, so the studios were probably tripping over themselves to release movies about down-and-out blue collar losers.

Anyhow, I found it to be weak, boring and sappy, but if you were the type who liked 'Rosanne' when it was on TV, then maybe you'll like this.

The Outer Limits: The Invisibles (1964) Season 1, Episode 19

I think this series got worse and worse as time went on...

[5/10 · 13 November 2023]

The only reason I'm reviewing this is because I just watched this episode which I thought was quite bad, but then read all these good reviews so just wanted to save anyone like myself from wasting their time watching it.

I had only ever seen a few Outer Limits and had thought it was great, but I'm finding now as I'm getting deeper into the series that they seemed to be running out of ideas as it went on which is understandable.

The other day I saw the Zanti Misfits with the flying cardboard UFO sprayed with silver paint with 'slits' instead of windows and the angry-faced alien ant-like creatures, and that was the first sign this series was getting weak.

Now this one with the alien horseshoe crab things? This one is just ridiculous! A far better 'Cold War paranoia' one was the 2nd show they did called "The Hundred Days of the Dragon" which was really a neat idea and was well done even if implausible.

This one with these alien horseshoe crab things is quite bad. I can see how some kids may have been scared of this back in the 1960's, sitting in a basement watching a b&w TV, but this one was about as corny as the Vincent Price movie called The Tingler, but without the campy humor.

The Twilight Zone: Elegy (1960) Season 1, Episode 20

I found this one very weak...

[5/10 · 15 September 2023]

I like most TZ's but I feel like they phoned this one in, so to speak.

One interesting point though was that in this episode, there had supposedly been a giant nuclear war on earth in 1985, and that was around the time when we actually did come closest to a nuclear war, I think even more so than the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

"Never, perhaps, in the postwar decades has the situation in the world been as explosive and, hence, more difficult and unfavorable as in the first half of the 1980s." - Mikhail Gorbachev, February 1986

One of the closest calls during this period of the Cold War happened during the Able Archer exercise performed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1983. Able Archer 83 was a realistic military simulation exercise performed in November 1983. As part of the exercise, the NATO forces simulated a full-scale nuclear assault which may have invoked an unexpected response from the Soviet Union. After they had received information on what appeared to be a mobilization of NATO forces in Europe, many military officials in the Soviet Union believed that the United States was using the exercise to disguise a strategic nuclear first strike. This led to an unusual response from the Soviet Union. This response involved Soviet military units in East Germany and Poland being put on alert and an abnormal number of reconnaissance flights.

Clear History (2013 TV Movie)

I think it's totally brilliant. I love how Larry's pride and ego always bite him in the ___

[10/10 · 9 March 2023]

There's just a lot of funny parts which is why I gave it a 10. Jon Hamm saying that he's looked high and low for Larry to pay him back a fortune but he can't find him anywhere but he's right behind him screaming in the water -- that kind of thing reminds me of old Monty Python humour. And then Michael Keaton living in some kind of hobo shack with heavy machinery around him, cussing and swearing and Bill Hader playing his backwoods sidekick. Anyone who's spent time in any rural area knows guys just like that. They're not rednecks -- they're just usually alcoholic dudes who live in shacks in the forest surrounded by rusty scrap metal. And how Larry ends up missing out on making money, actually twice, but the funniest part is this running gag about the band Chicago and Larry's girlfriends. The thing that's fun about how they did this is that it's almost like they're bringing in urban myths, like the girl doing the whole band myth. Because we've all heard those stories but nobody ever really knows if they're true, but in this case, Larry's friends have first-hand accounts that it's true AND they are girls Larry is going out with or interested in. It's ridiculous and silly but it just works.

Dune (2021)

David Lynch's attempt failed and so did this one. Why? Could it be the dumb story?

[1/10 · 2 March 2023]

It might simply be that giant lumbering sand worms just don't make good movie fodder. TREMORS was a good movie concerning giant worms but it was because they were very fast -- I mean it was just as silly because both ideas are physically impossible, but at least it wasn't boring.

And about the flying metal dragonflies. I know many sci-fi people don't care about physical properties and limitations, but I do, so when I see a large machine that can fly in the same way a dragonfly can, I just can't stand it. Dragonflies can fly because they are physically very small so have molecules in their bodies are large for their physical size. If you scaled a dragonfly up to the size of a helicopter, it would not be able to fly -- even the air it would be trying to displace would have far more molecules in it so it would be physically impossible, and this how in nature, bugs and small creatures can do all these crazy amazing things but large animals like elephants LUMBER about (for the most part). But take a hummingbird as an example. That design can only work on a VERY small bird. If you started scaling that up in size, it would very quickly fail which is why we don't have hovering around bird feeders.

Anyhow - there's a few of my beefs. The movie is impossible, and on top of that, it's just plain boring. It is good for putting you to sleep though -- I will give it that.

Star Trek: Picard: The Next Generation (2023) Season 3, Episode 1

Lock and load your electronic...shotgun? Terrible writing and immature to boot

[1/10 · 24 February 2023]

It's like it was written by 8 year old boys in a tree fort. A big menacing ship shaped like spider and evil aliens that look (and sound!), like the alien from the ridiculous movie Predator? And Beverly using a weapon that's like an electric shotgun that actually has to be 'loaded' like a pump-action shotgun? OMG, HOW could they put something SO DAMNED RIDICULOUS in a modern sci-fi show? It just shows HOW out of touch the writers are with Star Trek in general and also science fiction and just even basic technical knowledge. They just damned well wanted a good-ol-fashioned Western movie-type shootout no matter how stupid and irrational it would be. As another reviewer stated, if this was a NORMAL Star Trek written by half-decent writers, Beverly would have killed her enemy with a chemical etc, but not with a space shotgun borrowed from a 1980's Battlestar Galactica!

Clearly these writers know and care more about what is the chic wine to be drinking in California these days than they know about how to write scripts for Star Trek or any decent sci-fi for that matter. But the truth is, these writers have spoken, and the message is, we're getting paid a FORTUNE to write this trash and in 10 foot high letters; WE ARE DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK!!

Yeah well I don't care to watch this garbage so you just lost another loyal fan. So so long and thanks for all the sushi, and Pinot Noir or whatever other crap it is you're all drinking out there in La La Land these days.

Holiday for Lovers (1959)

I usually like movies from this era but not this one...

[3/10 · 28 December 2022]

I watched the whole thing and it never improved. It's a very hollow and boring film. I'm just guessing but maybe at the time there was some fascination with South America because of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (even though he was from Cuba). They were huge in the 50's and this film came out in 1959 - the year they got divorced! And that means this was made when they were still together and it was most likely trying to cash in on their popularity, and if so, what bad timing.

This is about Ball and Arnaz:

" Wanting to spend more time together, the couple created and costarred in the hit sitcom I Love Lucy, where they played fictionalized versions of themselves.

Their daughter Lucie explained to PEOPLE, "They did the show so they could be together because my dad was always on the road and they never saw each other. So my parents thought, 'Well, this is going to save our marriage, and we can have a family.' "

The show ran from 1951 to 1957 and became the most-watched show in the United States at the time.

They divorced around 1959"

Star Trek: Bread and Circuses (1968) Season 2, Episode 25

This episode was just plain stupid... Prime Directive made no sense at all

[2/10 · 5 December 2022]

I like the old Trek series but I really hate episodes like this that use things like the Prime Directive just to make the show 50 minutes long. I can think of a couple of ways this episode could have been shortened to about 5 or 10 minutes just by finding this errant captain dude who ran amok and defected from Star Fleet (as someone else mentioned here - does Star Fleet not screen these friggin' captain guys?), and just beamed his butt back to the Enterprise and gptten out of there, but of course NOoo because they had to make an excuse to have a Roman sword fight and for Kirk to baazaang some catch-of-the-day floozy.

I would say hanging around and having sex with the locals would be breaking the Prime Directive far more than just high-tailing it out of there. Very, very dumb episode imo.

Star Trek: The Naked Time (1966) Season 1, Episode 4

It's Star Trek TOS so we all cut it slack but this one is a real stretch...

[4/10 · 3 December 2022]

As everyone here has mentioned, the guy reaches into his suit because he's itchy... on a contaminated planet? And then if that's not enough, one of the infected, overemotional crew members locks himself in engineering and turns off the engines? You would think on a star ship that there'd be some kind of lock-out code or whatever to stop an infected nut from being able to just stumble into a room in a seemingly drunken stupor and flick off the engines. Like I said, I'm willing to cut Star Trek TOS some slack but this is just going too far. I have a hard time watching anything that is completely impossible.

Star Trek: Turnabout Intruder (1969) Season 3, Episode 24

The body switch-a-roo NEVER works in sci-fi so they shouldn't have even tried it

[3/10 · 28 November 2022]

In reality, it would be incredibly easy to tell the difference between people by even just using security codes or simply recalling events a person would have been told in confidential like the name of some guys dog or recalling when some dude farted in the matter transporter and stunk the place up, but I guess the problem with that is that the show would be over in about 15 minutes so these types of body-switch ideas never work. And then there's Shatner getting all 'flustered' as a woman which is a bit cringeworthy. Because it's TOS we will of course cut it slack, but it's pretty damned lame and maybe it's just as well the series ended when it did because they were running out of ideas but it really was a classic series despite a few turkey episodes.

Star Trek: The Way to Eden (1969) Season 3, Episode 20

"Gonna eat all the fruit, and throw away the rind... YEEAH, BROTHER".... LOL!

[5/10 · 27 November 2022]

Oh man this really is an hilarious episode if you can tolerate the cringeworthy aspects like the clothing and the songs. The actors were actually very good, like the guy who played Dr. Sevrin was Skip Homeier, a very good actor who played a kind of Manson nut. I wonder if Manson saw this and took any tips from it... YIKES, WHAT A THOUGHT. Charles Napier was the actor who played Adam who ran around playing the freaky guitar and smiling in a creepy way and singing crazy hippie songs.

It's tough to rate because it's bad but the camp factor is through the roof so it's very funny so I have to give it a 5.

A Tear in the Sky (2022)

Just for fun I edited this down to see how much could be cut out...

[7/10 · 20 October 2022]

...and when I was finished, there was almost nothing left. The woman has a REALLY annoying voice btw. This is one of those typical docs where they spend 90% of it setting up equipment and blabbing away to 'guests', in this case William Shatner of all people who'ill do any interview for a few bucks to help pay for his horse addiction. But there was just a lot of blabber and then they finally got something on a FLIR camera that showed up as a dot and then disappeared and that's pretty much the whole sha-bang right there. They think it was a UFO that was there one second and then vanished into another dimension or wormhole or whatever.

I found it pretty damned disappointing for the most part.

The Kids in the Hall (2022– )

Up to episode 5 so far and it's bloody hilarious and possibly even funnier than the 1990's

[10/10 · 19 October 2022]

I've been a Kids in the Hall fan from the start so it's really nice to see that if anything, they like myself have become even darker and more cynical over the years. I just started watching the one with the two older french women living on a couch in a hotel room and I just about broke a rib laughing at the part where Jean-Pierre makes his appearance (the little legs). Goddamn that's funny.

If people at Amazon are reading these reviews, wondering if they should finance more seasons, the answer is YES! PLEASE DO SO!

The only reason they weren't bigger in the U. S. in the 80's/90's was because they were Canadian and only funded by the CBC which was a miracle in itself that only happened because Lorn Michaels gave them his blessing, otherwise the politically correct CBC NEVER would have touched them. I was always sorry they didn't leave Canada right at the start and make a beeline for the U. S. because they would have and SHOULD have been huge.

Hopefully this time around, Amazon gives them the funding and support they should have had long ago.

Ariel Phenomenon (2022)

This was scary - not the UFO part but how Dr. Mack was treated by Harvard...

[9/10 · 18 October 2022]

Parts of this film are quite old so hopefully things have changed by now, but Harvard really gave Dr. Mack a hard time which I had not known about. As someone in the doc says, you can believe in God and angels etc., at Harvard, but not in ET life.

The other disturbing part was how the very religious parents of one of the girls (Emily Trim), reacted to the incident. I've always suspected that religious people would have their worlds rocked by an ET encounter but this proved just how much it upset them because they wouldn't even let their kids talk about it and they moved back to Canada as soon as it happened (they had been sent to Africa by the Salvation Army to do religious work). Although perhaps not all religions are as closed-minded because in 1959, Father William B. Gill, an Anglican missionary, saw a space ship in Papua New Guinea and he didn't seem freaked out at all.

But it's a good doc even if you know the story and have seen clips of the kids before. It would have been nice if more of the former students could have been in it as adults now because I think those were the best parts. But it's definitely a good watch if you're a UFO buff.

The Fortune Cookie (1966)

I have to stop trusting the 8 and 10 star reviews... this movie is a 5 at best

[5/10 · 10 October 2022]

I think what happens is that people my age, born in the 50's and 60's, are nostalgic for that time and for actors they saw when they were kids so that sways them to give a film a higher rating than it deserves. This movie has a similar feeling to Mel Brooks' movies so if you like them then you'd probably like this, but I just found it quite lame after about a half hour. It's like they used to get an idea for a movie back then and convince themselves it was funny even though it wasn't. This is the kind of thing Seinfeld/Larry David were making fun of with the 'Butler' episode of Seinfeld where a guy is sentenced to be Jerry's butler, but in Seinfeld, the 'joke' is that it's a stupid idea but it's all they could come up with at the last minute so they went with it -- well, it's the same thing with this movie where a football player injures a cameraman which ends up in a lawsuit - it's just a very weak premise and they drag it out for 2 hours when it wasn't even a good enough idea for a 1/2 hour sitcom.

Gunn (1967)

I wouldn't waste your time watching this one. Sherry Jackson is cute but so what

[5/10 · 9 October 2022]

This film is pretty dopey with cheesy 60's sexual revolution dialogue which usually I can handle or find campy and funny but this just comes off as stupid. I only made it about halfway through the film and turned it off. Sherry Jackson is hot but she just has a bit part in a bedroom and her dialogue doesn't even make sense unless she's playing a schizophrenic. I can tell from the higher-rated reviews that the people who liked this were fans of the TV series so I think the reason they like this is a nostalgia thing but honestly, it just ain't worth the investment. Cool theme song of course.

One of the reviewers here mentioned the movie 'Marlowe' with James Garner and said it was similar and I take it better, and from the clip on IMDB it looks like it would be worth watching instead.

Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality (2003 TV Movie)

I'm an atheist and got absolutely nothing out of this film...

[3/10 · 23 September 2022]

I tend to agree more with the reviewer who gave it 2 out of 10, but maybe I'm 'siding' with him just because I'm afraid of death! ;-) He also mentioned that it was a "platform for politically correctish pontificating" and I really agree with that in that they talk about how we fight and have wars to reaffirm that our race/clan etc. Are the 'correct' ones and that the enemy is just some kind of evil heathen animal that believes in a different type of God than us so deserves to die, and in this politically correct, white guilt-ridden film, 'WE', means us evil 'white men' and our American belief system and our war machines, man! Yeah this is just annoying and difficult to even listen to because it's mainly just BS. Why didn't they show radical Islamist's threatening to cut off people's heads if he didn't convert to Islam, because THAT would have been a far better example of religious intolerance -- but since the film was made by the white activist, guilt-ridden types, then of course they had to keep the focus on the 'man'.

I do believe that the radical Islamist's DO fight for religious reasons and the payoff they believe they're going to get in a paradise after death and 72 virgins and endless wine etc., but I don't believe that most white people go to war for the same reasons at all. I've seen a lot of soldiers interviewed who fought in Iraq and they're really good people who simply wanted to kill the Taliban who were oppressing the public which to me seems perfectly righteous and is not linked to anything selfish or seeking divinity.

As for war and this supposed deep link to one's own religion and immortality etc., I just think this is all a big load of garbage. When you're talking about basic fights that break out (they show footage of street fights), on that level, people are just like Chimpanzees. I saw Jane Goodall in an interview discussing the Gombe Chimpanzee War, and she was mortified at the brutality the chimps inflicted, and before this happened, she had believed that chimps were 'better' than people, but they're clearly not, and I think chimps are a perfect example of what people are like. We really are not very far removed from them and to think otherwise is very arrogant.

Anyhow, I can't say I'm very impressed with the film and/or most of the professors interviewed and they didn't bring anything new to the table for me. I don't believe in any kind of life after death and think our lives end when we die just as the chimps lives end.

Below is some info from the chimp war if you're interested:

Jane Goodall, a famous primatologist, is well known for her unprecedented findings of native chimpanzee populations in her studies. The outbreak of the war came as a disturbing shock to Goodall, who had previously considered chimpanzees to be, although similar to human beings, "rather 'nicer'". Coupled with her 1975 observation of cannibalistic infanticide by a high-ranking female in the community, the Gombe war revealed the "dark side" of chimpanzee behavior. In her 1990 memoir Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe, she wrote:

For several years I struggled to come to terms with this new knowledge. Often when I woke in the night, horrific pictures sprang unbidden to my mind-Satan (one of the apes... she had probably named him Satan even before this for a good reason), cupping his hand below Sniff's chin to drink the blood that welled from a great wound on his face; old Rodolf, usually so benign, standing upright to hurl a four-pound rock at Godi's prostrate body; Jomeo tearing a strip of skin from Dé's thigh; Figan, charging and hitting, again and again, the stricken, quivering body of Goliath, one of his childhood heroes. ...