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lbacker
Reviews
Soylent Green (1973)
The answer to the population explosion
War and disease have been the historical control for human population control. Our One World touchy-feely tame peace and The health efforts of do-gooders, like Albert Schweitzer and Pasteur, have resulted in a population bigger than the planet can support.
The answer to the problem is to cull out the excess population. When the food supply is insufficient, cannibalism and war are the only method for nature to balance the books. Soylent Green is just natures way of adjusting.
The film does an excellent job of portraying the role of government in making a desperate situation worse. We see it in our world today. Get rid of fossil fuels! Black lives matter! The sanctity of human life!
A killer plague or World War III are the real solution. The Black Plague in 1350 CE did more to improve the quality of life in the Middle Ages than the Church or Science!
Eugenics and cannibalism would make the world a better place for man, flora, and fauna. I would be willing to sacrifice myself!
As they say in Chinese Restaurants: "Tastes just like chicken".
Monsturd (2003)
Not your average Disney family flick
This movie gets a lot of mileage out of the mutant monster theme with minimal special effects.
The dialog is precious. A fine example of a low budget film that sticks in your mind. Lots of zingy one liners.
Slip it in the player when your bible thumping in-laws show up.
Suggest you also see TWILIGHT OF THE COCKROACHES. It has a talking turd.
Cujo (1983)
Don't adopt this puppy
A pretty fair horror picture. Somewhat of a let down after Pet Cemetery.
Over the top on gore. Weak on story and plot. Not up to Stephen King standards for coherence and suspense. No message evident beyond "stay away from rabid dogs".
I will probably get the book to see what this was before it was mangled by Hollywood.
I loved Thinner and other King classics.
Lucky (2004)
A Boy and His Dog on steroids.
If you chuckled at the lines "Marvelous judgement, but not particularly good taste" at the end of A Boy and His Dog. This might interest you.
If you roared with laughter, This is for you!
The interviews and information added to the disk are almost as good as the film.
A very complex plot. Everyone takes away something different. Pay close attention to the ending and it makes sense - Sort of.
Does a lot with a low budget. Plenty of droll humor, and subtlety.
Not a kiddy film. This is as far from Lassie Come Home as you can get.
If you are the kind of person who watches people and likes to know what makes them tick, you will find plenty to chew on.
One of the better NOIR films. Quills is another. Subtlety of plot makes it fun for someone who doesn't want everything spelled out.
A real treat in our Politically Correct TV sitcom world.
The Founder (2016)
Very factual
One of the best biographical movies I've seen. It focused on the business aspects rather than converting Kroc's life into Hollywood schlock romance.
It showed the essence of a merchandising genius who had the vision and drive to take an everyday product and refine it to be a mass market.
Kroc was not even the inventor of the system or the product. He was the salesman. He entered the market long after other fast food outlets had either failed or stagnated. White Castle had moderate success. Dairy Queen was big, but never as successful. Whataburger is a Texas favorite, but never went national. Carl's Junior/Hardys has great food but never made the big time.
Ray knew how to set up a system to market an average hamburger in a way that kept people coming back. His favorite saying was "keep it simple stupid!" KISS. He had a very simple menu. If you wanted chicken, go to KFC. If you wanted foofoo dairy products, go to Dairy Queen.
He emphasized the FAST in fast food.
His coffee was mellow Columbian. No Latte, no bitter Starbuck's swill that takes cream and sugar to kill the taste.
The sequel to this movie should be "The Unfounders". Today's McDonalds acts like Ray Kroc never lived. Ray has been replaced by stupid politically correct wreckers.
FAST is not part of their vocabulary. I walked out of McDonalds the last 3 times I stood in line waiting for over 10 minutes to place my order. I drove across the street to a Burger King, Jack in the Box, and a Wendy's and had my order filled quickly. So thoughtful of MCD to locate their store so near competent FAST food restaurants!
Kroc's simple menu is replaced by 30 kinds of chicken, McRibs, etc with a McCafe menu of as many more foofoo drinks with lots of options. Couple that with a millennium airhead who takes 10 minutes to decide each item and you have a long nonmoving line.
Then hire cheap people and don't train them. Give them an upsizing spiel to further confuse things. The result is slow order placement and wrong orders.
Ray is spinning over in his grave. My wife and I now dine at Whataburger when in Texas. We choose Jack in the Box and Burger king otherwise. We shun McDonalds.
The self order kiosk may be the salvation of this company that has lost it's way.
This movie should be required viewing for all McDonald employees. It shows how MCD was. That is how it should be!
Gokiburi-tachi no tasogare (1987)
Wish I could get it on DVD
This is a different kind of flick. Anime version of shoot-em up war movie. Dubbing very good. Lots of action. Standard Hollywood boy/girl/rival plot. Comes across better than most regular movies. You need an imagination to enjoy this one.
The unique scene is the "Talking Turd" in the garden. Takes a real screen writer to work that out.(LOL)
A more refined anime than Roger Rabbit.
I have it on VHS. Looking for a DVD copy.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Genuine Saint Quentin tale
This film, like most of Quentin's is a collage of scenes and subplots from other films of his own and others. The "severed ear" of Reservoir Dogs is one. I missed the Michael Madsen "choreography" and slicing scene. Michael was not his usual intense self.
The "circle shoot" also was common to both this film and Reservoir Dogs. The complicated plot and surprise ending was very Pulp Fiction.
The over the top spatter of bloody projectile vomiting and the covering of characters with blood and brains was typical.
All told, a splendid example of Saint Quenten performing one of his film miracles. He manages to put more intense stock scenes into a movie than any other director without it becoming a farce.
This is a "Must see" for Tarantino fans. I just wish he hadn't tried so hard to be politically correct (LOL).
The Steel Lady (1953)
Good action movie
I watched it on black and white TV in the late 50s or early 60s in Minnesota. My dad, brother, and I sat glued to our seats munching homemade popcorn during the whole thing.
The closest thing I've seen to it lately is: "Flight of the Phoenix". Steel lady was far more believable. The old plane, old tank, and action were great. It was a real rush for a collector of old military stuff and old car nut. There is a shot of an ART-13 radio transmitter in the back of the cockpit before the crash.
As to the possibility of getting a tank running after being burried for decades, the Confederate Air Force, and others have flown B-29s and a B-47 out of china lake NWC that had been sitting in the desert just as long. Usually an oil change, gassing up, a fresh battery, and repairing vandalism was all it took to get them back in the air. Tiger tanks used 28 volt (nominally 24 VDC) batteries, as did the planes. Oil and avgas from the plane would work for the tank. It would not take a rocket scientist to get a tank going in a day or so. Much more credible than the redesign and remanufacture shown in "Flight of the Phoenix". I like both movies, but give the Steel Lady a higher mark for technical correctness.
I would surely like to get a copy on tape or DVD to relive a pleasant sunday afternoon of my salad years. (now have DVD).
Update 10-29-2018. Found documentation on Tiger 1 tank Maybach engine. This had a handcrank inertial starter, with 24 volt electrical starter as backup. You can see a Utube video of a Tiger being hand cranked at Imperial War Museum in England. The spark plugs of this engine were world standard 14MM. Syphon some avgas from the plane, drain a couple of gallons of oil, crank her up and you are in business. Or you could use the battery from the plane for electric start. So simple. The mechanical part was easier to believe than the war with the Bedouins.
This movie is now available as a fair quality (about equal to 1950s TV) DVD.
Larry Backer