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Reviews
The Final Season (2007)
Worth a look
I wish I could rate this movie better than a 6. The cinematography is beautiful, the acting is competent, the story is true. The baseball scenes are exciting, which makes the second half of the movie quite good. Unfortunately, the first half suffers from a mediocre script and glacial pacing.
The movie didn't need the romantic subplots (any of them). It really didn't need the wayward teenager sent to live with the farmer grandparents either. Rachel Leigh Cook's character lacks credibility in her romantic interest in the young assistant coach and in her career about-face.
It's a good baseball movie. It's also a good movie about small town values and how a winning high school sports team can energize a town that is hanging on by its teeth. Once you get past the plodding pace of the first half, it is a worthy entry in the genre of under dog sports movies.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)
Loved this movie!
Oh, that Ben Stein... how does he manage to put that "Clear Eyes" intonation into his every utterance? It takes a little to get past the voice, but the articulate Mr. Stein has put together a brilliant and entertaining documentary that tackles that most sacred of cows: Darwinism, specifically, the theory of evolution.
Mr. Stein has gathered considerable scientific back-up for his assertion that life could not have evolved out of a primordial soup. He makes a very convincing argument for the merits of "intelligent design" as a viable alternative theory of origins. Hard core creationists and Biblical literalists take issue with Mr. Stein's approach because he does not argue for young earth, seven literal days of creation, ala Genesis. The scientific and educational establishment condemn his arguments as specious and heretical. Evolutionist Richard Dawkins fairly splutters with indignation, but does not do a good job of countering Stein's arguments.
I say, see this movie with an open mind. You will be entertained. You might even be persuaded. I saw it on its opening weekend; it played to a packed house and received enthusiastic applause at the end. That doesn't happen often, even for the block busters. This one is worth a look.
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
A complete waste of time
I love all kinds of movies, including little "indie" films, but this movie I just did not get. I have enjoyed the key players in a number of other films, but I did not find any of the performances in this film compelling. (I can't imagine that this film will do anything to revive Owen Wilson's career as a leading man). There is no plot to speak of. It is not at all clear why Jack and Peter have bothered to show up on this "spiritual journey" orchestrated and micro-managed by their very annoying brother Francis. These three have the spiritual depth of a playa lake. As they snipe at each other and routinely betray each other's confidences, it isn't hard to understand why their own mother has gone to the ends of the earth to get away from them. None of the three brothers are likable; all come across as impossibly self-centered. After following them around India for the duration of this overly long film, I simply couldn't care less what happened to any of them. I wish I had turned the thing off after the first 10 minutes and done something useful with my evening... cleaning the oven or scrubbing the toilets would have been more pleasurable.