misc11236 Reviews

USS Seaviper (2012)

Interesting Indie Film

[6/10 · 21 May 2013]

WARNING: I have a family member in the cast, my son David plays "Grease" Cohen.

That said, I grew up on World War 2 submarine movies and USS Seaviper has an interesting twist on Germany and Japan's interest on developing nuclear weapons.

The important thing to keep in mind is that this is an indie movie and doesn't star Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Glenn Ford, or Cary Grant as the captain . . . nor were millions of dollars spent on the production. It is in that context that I gave the movie 6 stars.

As for the nasty reviews, they need to be taken with a grain of salt, as they seem to be a deliberate attack on the director, Ralph Villani. For example, there was one reviewer who talked about paying to see the movie - never happened as it was not released in theaters. As for the more cogent critical reviews, some of them are on target - this is not a Hollywood film. However, it has earned awards and positive reviews at various indie film festivals.

I am not here to critique the film or praise my son's performance (although I did enjoy it), but rather to suggest you make up your own mind.

5th of a Degree (2012)

Interesting Indie Film

[8/10 · 19 May 2013]

In all honesty, I must say that I am the father of one of the writers/stars - David Danello.

I attended the premiere of the movie with 500 others in the audience and the consensus was that it was a terrific movie. Over the next few days as we dissected the strengths and weaknesses of the movie, I came to the realization that we were talking about the movie as if it was a 5 million dollar Hollywood flick instead of an Indie film made for less than 20,000 dollars.

Danny Columbie (no relation) is a film-making genius who may be an "overnight" success one day after creating years of fine Indie films. Hey Danny, how about a release date?

As for the acting performances, they were uniformly excellent. Kudos to all, including mi amigo, Enrique Herrera. As for my son David, he played his usual cop role. But, this time he was allowed to create a multi- dimensional character who was more than a cop and he did it well.

Should you see "5th of a Degree" on a theater marquee or on a DVD - Buy a ticket or the DVD, you'll enjoy!

Dying High: Teens in the ER (2003 Video)

Hard Hitting and Factual

[10/10 · 22 January 2007]

As a Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialist in a New York City High School, I prefer to deal with the students in a face-to-face manner. However, once in a while I use video and the best video I have used in the past 3 years is "Dyin' High: Teens in the E.R." The students are "impressed" by its reality. They can personally relate to the E.R. experiences, even though they are not drivers or invariably white. Seeing the individual experiences of being treated in the E.R. after a drug/alcohol binge, after a fatal crash, and seeing actual parents being notified as to their child's death is strong stuff --- and it works.

I urge all Counselors and Educators to use this valuable tool in order to help prevent alcohol/substance abuse.