lswote Reviews

To the Bone (I) (2017)

I was pulled into this

[10/10 · 21 July 2017]

I am male, fat and old, yet I understood this movie. Not wanting to eat never made sense to me. Seems like the simplest problem to solve, I mean I eat pretty much non-stop and the idea of not wanting to eat is not easy to relate to for me. But I empathized with these characters. They weren't caricatures, and they weren't dumbed down. There was no pat ending, but that reflects the reality of anorexia in real-life.

I was especially entranced with Lily Collins and Alex Sharp. Both seemed like wise old adults in many ways until they would show images of their gaunt bodies and they are nothing but children.

I know a movie like this can only give a glimpse it this problem, but seeing humans I could relate to go through these problems made it more real than reading an article or a book.

I highly recommend this movie.

Private Pérez (2011)

The unique from the commonplace

[10/10 · 2 September 2011]

This movie is really surprising because it is filled with clichés to tell a totally original story. It is the story of a Mexican drug lord who takes 5 of the baddest guys he can find to go rescue his brother who is an American soldier missing in Iraq, believed to have been captured by insurgents. It is filled with stereotypes about Mexicans and drug lords yet it is such a fresh story that none of that matters. In fact it adds a lot of tongue in cheek humor to the story because it plays the story off the stereotypes. There is humanity, redemption and a lot humor in this movie and is definitely worth seeing. It is mostly in Spanish with subtitles.

Abducted: A Father's Love (1996 TV Movie)

Lame movie

[4/10 · 21 August 2003]

The plot was just an excuse to sensationalize the underground woman's movement and the logic wasn't very good. When Stephanie Kramer showed up in the role as the defendant's lawyer I was sure the outcome was supposed to be a "shocker" as she was big at the time this movie was made having recently come off the "Hunter" TV series and was doing the fading celebrity thing.

Dil Se.. (1998)

Magnificent!

[10/10 · 18 March 2001]

As a farm boy from the heartland, it is hard to believe I could fall in love with a Hindi movie about love and terrorism, but I found myself unable to resist the magnetism of this movie. This movie has dance sequences reminiscent of Michael Jackson at his peak, breathtaking scenery and a love story to rival anything seen in Hollywood. Deriving the bulk of my knowledge of Indian history from the movie "Gandhi" I was surprised to learn of the unhappiness and dissent in India portrayed in this movie. This movie is complex in its scope but simple in its soul. It is about love.

See this movie for a lot of reasons, but the love story is reason enough.

What Lies Beneath (2000)

Horrible!

[1/10 · 18 March 2001]

With a cast like Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, how could they go wrong? Well they found a way. I don't want to spoil this movie but you need to know before you go and rent it that Harrison Ford plays a very bad man with no redeeming qualities. You have seen this bad movie many times before, usually with a B cast or worse, which is more than this movie deserves. Avoid this movie. Get a documentary about lancing a boil instead. Your time would be better spent.

Free Enterprise (1998)

Huh?

[6/10 · 16 January 2001]

More Kirk, less moaning girl and geeks getting laid. I liked Shatner, but the rest of it was hard to identify with. It is like a sexy version of Clerks with Star Trek thrown in. Course if Clerks is your thing you might be pleased, but I am a Baby Boomer, not a GenXer and this movie just didn't have enough to interest me. 6/10

Heaven's Gate (1980)

What did Hollywood have against Heaven?

[9/10 · 4 November 2000]

I was expecting this movie to be a stinker but I wanted to see for myself, but I was surprised how good of a movie this was. I know longer movies often don't do well at the box office but why this was pulled and not allowed to be viewed by the public is beyond me. It maintained my interest throughout and the scenery and photography is breathtaking at times. The plot was good and the morality play was a good one. I liked the realism which was along the lines of "Unforgiven". I had to rent this movie to see it but it was definitely worth it.

The Spanish Prisoner (1997)

A good try, but no cigar

[7/10 · 18 December 1999]

This movie had a very good pretense, and all the actors did good jobs, but this movie fails because the plot twists just don't work. I think a good movie is even better in reflection after you have time to mull it over. But when I thought about this movie, I realized that many of this movie's plot devices just don't seem plausible. Much of the movie is based on deceiving the victim into thinking people and things are not what they actually are. But too many of the manipulations are left to chance and it strains credibility when the "bad guys'" plottings always go the way they want despite the level of chance involved.