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Reviews
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Love it
I see complaints of this wonderful movie that it is sexist, etc. What fun. Have the complainers never read the Steven Vincent Benet original? In the original story the whole idea of the abduction was Millie's. She came up with the idea to abduct the town's girls so that she might have some help out there. In the film Millie is the good guy and Howard Keel the villain. I am told that I must fill ten lines with prose to be published, so I apologize to readers for my having to ramble on. Who cannot fall to fall in love with Jane Powell as I did in 1954. I am still in love with her in 2015. My brother-in -law was able to allow me to see this film once again. I owe him for the privilege. I hope equally that all might see this wonderful film.
The Long Duel (1967)
Very Disappointing Film
There is a real give-away in an early scene in this movie. Happy mountain villagers are baiting the local dancing bear. The evil Brits, when they take the village, kill the bear (probably putting it out of its tortured existence, but I digress). Given the star quality of the leads (and even some of the minor actors)in this film, I expected much more. Almost any Raj movie is better than this one. Howard looked embarrassed to be there. Rampling to find him a love interest? I don't think so!(Spoiler: I think even she looked relieved when he said no.) I will give marks for efforts in verisimilitude in making the Indian Police look like they were of the era, even though most were played by white men in brown-face. The fort set was terrific. As always, Harry Andrews was excellent playing Harry Andrews. Buy "The Drum".
Julie & Julia (2009)
Turned Off by Julie Powell's Husband's Eating Habits (and Her's)
I haven't read all the comments but perhaps I am the only one who could not get past the feeding (there is no other word) scenes in which Julie and her husband, supposedly college graduates, chewed/spoke, slouched, mishandled silverware and, in every other way, made their "dining" sessions revolting to watch. I am not speaking of the cake smearing scene as that was obviously a purposeful effort. My understanding is that Julie had an affair some time after her book was published. If the film's characterization of her husband's table manners are in any way correct, who could blame her? (Not that she was much better.) She might have warmed up to him a bit had he buttoned up his shirt more often too. Poor Julie appears married to a serious slob.
March or Die (1977)
Problems from the Opening Sequence
The opening sequence is supposed to show the Legion arriving in Paris on 13 Nov 1918. The troops pile off the train -- wearing the uniform in which the French Army, including the Legion, marched off to war in 1914! This a sure sign that the war flick you are about to see will be a turkey. (The French Army realized by 1915 that going to war in red trousers and dark blue overcoats was not working. Metropolitan French troops were put into "horizon blue" and Colonial troops were put into khaki.) The Claude Van-Damme (sp?) remake at least got the uniforms more or less right. Really is too bad when directors make these sorts of mistakes when they then go to all the effort to get other things right.
We Were Soldiers (2002)
That's the Way Soldiers Were in '65
I am very impressed by this movie. Soldiers of all ranks in '65 acted like soldiers: they followed their orders and looked after their comrades. They did so later in the war too. They talked in clichés: I recall my first night in Saigon in '66 being kept awake by some guy moaning, "I don't want to die. I don't want to die..." Just like a bad movie. But that's the way people really do talk. I am most impressed by the attention to detail in the combat sequences. Nothing is more annoying than seeing something wholly wrong in uniform or equipment in a war film that portrays itself as accurate. The advisors and those who bought the uniforms and equipment for this movie are to be congratulated on the Vietnam sequences. If I have one cavel with this movie it is in the Ft Benning sequences where money was saved and the research faulty. Unfortunately this was up front in the film and got it off to a bad start. Viz. Soldiers in the Foreign Legion from the rank of caporal-chef and up don't wear a white kepi; they wear black. Fatigues at Benning in '65 were starched solid; the film's fatigues dated from the '70's. The issue baseball hat of '65 (assuming they weren't still wearing the pillbox, the timing is close) came to a strange point; the type shown in the film is, again, '70's issue (unless bought off-post in Columbus). General Kinnard wouldn't have worn a blue infantryman's cord; that was a colonel's and below honor. I suspect any party at the O-Club would have been in Blues (required to be owned by all officers of the era), if not Whites -- a required uniform in '64 at Benning. Lieutenants and captains of the era would have been living in housing one step up from trailer courts in Columbus and not in colonels' housing on post next to their battalion commander. This all made for a bad start which was wholly compensated for in the combat sequences. A neat movie