RocketInNYC Reviews

Author: The JT LeRoy Story (2016)

Surprise! Those unfamiliar with the story may find this movie isn't quite what is expected. For me that was in a good way.

[8/10 · 6 November 2016]

I saw this in my 2nd Yr as a Volunteer at the True/False Film Festival. Sometimes we get lucky to watch movies either thru the Q or as an usher, watching from the wings or empty seats. I knew J.T. Leroy as an author - I read "his" books working as a bookseller in both university and retail. I hadn't heard the name in several years & was lucky to see this doc at the 2016 Festival. I was shocked and amazed - and happy to learn "the fluid truth" this writer. I didn't feel tricked or lied to at all. In fact, for me, the extreme abuse she endured and her choice to create a story in-real-life as a boy makes sense. I see it as the ultimate form of a "pen name," doing so not only to tell a story but also as potentially therapeutic. The documentary shows the aftermath when readers learn her true identity & the over-reaction by readers and publishers. It documents the legal nightmare and (over?) reaction of readers to a quasi-fiction writer when the story should count more than the identity of the author. I agree with those upset that there was a physical lie - she passed someone else off as her in public. Not a great idea, but kids do stupid things. And the stories help those who are subjected to physical, psychological and other forms of abuse as kids/adults because of who we are. For me, the ends justified the deception - the documentary shows that most people in her world don't agree.

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

Great Unless you actually read...

[2/10 · 26 August 2003]

Not a bad movie on it's own merits. But for anyone who is a dedicated Clancy book fan, this movie has strayed so far from the book it would be funny if it weren't dumb. If you haven't read the book, then watch it, but forget the book. For those who have read the book, skip the movie, unless you are prepared for a movie with more differences in characters, nations, and issues, as the book. I don't mind moral lessons in movies, but if they are based upon books, I expect them those lessons to follow the book they are based upon. This movie does not deliver.

Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing (1997 TV Movie)

Prophetic in the initial viewing - now history

[10/10 · 3 October 2002]

I watched the premiere of "Path to Paradise" way back and was stunned by it, dramatic license and all. I lived in NYC (Brooklyn) a few years and kept in mind. Today, given the links to groups such as Al-Queda, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad, I see it as a warning not recognized by our government. For that I place the blame on our bureaucracy and leaders. 9.11.01 was a new tactic to behead two of our branches of gov't and there is no excuse for our gov't to prevent it, period. "Path to Paradise" was but a dramatic view of the '93 preview, and no one cared. Now, nearly 3,000 deaths later, and years behind, we struggle to find an answer that is decades to resolve.

Topaz (1969)

One of the best, and most accurate, cold war movies of it's time...

[9/10 · 20 August 2001]

A wonderful alternative scenario to the Cuban Missile crisis... and although I wasn't even born until years later, as a student of history, one wonders if Hitcock (as Tom Clancey of the 80s and 90s) didn't know more than he was supposed to... A very difficult plot to follow, but then, so is any real plot involving espionage, murder, and politics of the early 1960s and Cuban, American, and European politics of that time.

Not as a Stranger (1955)

Best Kept Secrets of De Havilland, Mitchum...

[9/10 · 3 March 2001]

Not as a Stranger, best sleepers of all time. Not a rousing financial success by any stretch... but great performances by Olivia De Havilland, Robert Mitchum, Frank Sinatra. And for a directoral debut, a great piece! From an honest portrayal of early 1950s medicine to it's often brutal emotional scenes between De Havilland and Mitchum, this one is my second favorite among both De Havilland and Mitchum (the first for her being The Snake Pit, and first for him being The Sundowners -- he was always so comfortable with Deborah Kerr). This one is a keeper. I'd like to see it on DVD.

Desert Bloom (1986)

Good 1950s Period Piece

[10/10 · 2 May 2000]

I really like this movie... it is a great period piece of the 1950s. I think people forget that a period piece doesn't have to be of some century-ago. The acting is excellent all-around, although the voice-overs are a bit much.

Space: Above and Beyond (1995–1996)

One of the Best science fiction shows ever on television...

[9/10 · 25 January 1999]

It is rare to see a series with a good story arc, such darkness, and that shows the battle between "the darkness and the light." In the end, we're left to question, just who represents the

darkness, and who is the light... ?