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jodeson06
Reviews
Home of the Brave (2004)
Ugh
While I do strongly believe that Viola's tale has a significant place in women's history, I can not recommend this film for a couple of reasons. The most apparent one to me was this film's lack of focus. One minute it talks about how Viola's death has affected her family, then the next it shows the son discussing the Second Amendment and the Patriot Act. I did not see the relevance these topics had on Viola's life.
The other problem that I had with the documentary was the conspiracy theories strewn throughout the movie. The were not quite believable. Then after the documentary was shown to my class, a professor at my university, who was interviewed in the documentary, said that most of the movie's conclusions were gross exaggerations or flat out lies. The "accusations" that Viola's husband was a teamster with mob ties turned out to be entirely true. He was arrested for insurance fraud after burning down a friend's house for the money. The claim that Viola's son went "underground" after 9/11 was untrue. He appeared at several premiers of this documentary. My professor even talked to him to get Viola's notes for a book he was writing, and this son tried to charge him a large amount of money for access.
The major mistake that the director made was allowing Viola's family to hijack Viola's story so that they could tell their own paranoid conspiracy theories on the FBI, government and the Second Amendment. A much more interesting piece would be focus on Viola, her beliefs and the ultimate sacrifice that she made for civil rights.
Easy Rider (1969)
Great movie...unless you're a square
To be honest, this movie is not for everyone. Slow moving and nearly devoid of any foreseeable plot, this movie will bore many (most?) people. Plot is unnecessary, a drag that the Man loves to impose. But I loved it. Very much so in fact. Although some may see it as a picture of the stereotypical hippie lifestyle, I see it as a quest for freedom. Camera techniques get irritating sometimes, but hey, I'm sure the money from the budget of this movie went towards more important things...like drugs!
So if you're a yuppie, this movie is definitely not for you. If you are a hippie or even a yo-yo (as I unfortunately am), just sit back, smoke some grass and enjoy this portrait of life without boundaries.
Jinzô ningen Kikaidâ: The Animation (2000)
promising
I just saw the first episode, and I can't really say anything else other than that the series looks promising. The animation is...unique, but who wants to see the same style over and over anyway. It really is enjoyable in its own right. Plus I'm big on story, and the retelling of Pinocchio sounds great. If you have insomnia such as myself, it's definitely worth checking out.
Die Another Day (2002)
I thought that I was going to see a Bond flick...
Don't get me wrong, the movie was not absolutely crappy, it just was a sub par Bond movie in a long streak of bad Bond movies(with the exception of Goldeneye). The one thing I noticed about this film was the excessive use of CG to show Bond doing ridiculous action sequences. The ironic thing about the experience was the Charlie's Angels trailer shown before the movie. The action in that movie looked absurd, just as the action in this Bond flick was. The last time I checked, Bond was a secret agent, not a god damn xxx wanna be. Oh well, I guess everyone wants to shell out money for s*** like that anyway. I'm sure xxx2 will be a super hit, so the current operators of the Bond franchise will want to milk the same market. Halle Berry is COMPLETELY unbelievable as a CIA agent. She looks retarded whenever she holds a gun. Positives are there though. Pierce Brosnan turns in his best performance as Bond, and the Vanquish is a super cool car. The new Thunderbird fit Jinx well: both are pretty stupid and the movie is better without them. John Cleese as Q is great. Hopefully the next one goes back to Bond's roots as a SECRET agent.