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dshipley
Reviews
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
a pale shadow of the book
Your time and brains will be much better spent reading or listening to Charlie Wilson's War. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, plays the most enjoyable character in the movie, Gust, the Greek, and he plays him as a eunuch. Gust, in the book, is hard core and completely free to speak his mind. In the movie, he's not even shown as being equally important to Charlie. And poor Charlie is never shown donating blood (which he did every time he visited the camps in Pakistan). In short, the movie is too bland, and the history is too old for our modern time. We don't really care about the end of the cold war and the defeat of the Soviet Union (which happened in spite of Reagan, not as a result of) by a well financed group of people who were extremely willing to fight. Not quite the lesson we need to be hearing and seeing considering how well the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are going. (As I read the book, I kept getting that deja vu feeling, except it was present day).
Puff, Puff, Pass (2006)
A fine stoner movie!
I had read a negative review on here and decided against seeing this movie. My wife brought it home and lo and behold, we watched a very funny movie. The two main characters are stereotypical stoners but the plot veers all over the place in a clever fashion so that you're never quite sure where the next joke will come from. The characters are great together and have a comic chemistry that works on all levels, both the semi-serious and the physical. The fast food scenes are worth playing over again and the stint in rehab is a howl.
A spoiler: Now you'll know who infomercials are written for! Remember: it's complex.
Series 7: The Contenders (2001)
The best satire of modern tv culture.
This is an extraordinary movie about the entertainment/corporate/ soulless people who run the InfoTelevisionNews products that has taken over for what passed as news before. Owing a debt of gratitude to the show COPS, the story follows "ordinary people" who are asked to killed or be killed. The biographical sketches are so television-like, one can't help but laugh although the subject matter is dead serious. A thoughtful commentary on the culture of tv and what's it done to us. Are we all just comfortably numb?
The Perfect Storm (2000)
Powerful adaptation of the book-if you read the book you won't be disappointed.
The friends I took with me to see the movie had not read the book and were blown away (no pun intended). I am impressed at what a great adaptation of Junger's book. The movie is powerful, visually strong and grips the audience. Most people when I saw the movie left crying. The coast guard was truly heroic in this story and they are on a daily basis. My hat is off to those brave men and women. The movie also points out what we take for granted, getting that fresh seafood is a high stakes gamble in terrible working conditions. It takes a special breed of person to do that work. A great movie, it grabs you and doesn't let go, even when the lights come up and you walk out of the theater.