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chaka4612
Reviews
True Grit (2010)
The Duke would be proud
Last year I watched the original version of True Grit starring John Wayne and thought it was okay, but I wasn't too impressed. I've been looking forward to see how Jeff Bridges portrays Rooster Cogburn in this remake. After watching his performance, I have to admit that I was very impressed. True Grit is an amazing movie and one of the best I have seen in years.
The Coen Brothers adaption has their trademark style to it. There are ten times as many goofy and quirky characters in this movie that in Napolean Dynamite. All of the characters are very intriguing and entertaining. The acting was great and I also appreciated the dialogue too.
Bridges did an amazing job of portraying the crusty old Ranger. Damon was also great and I hardly recognized him in his role. I loved the banter between the two lawmen throughout the movie. There are some great quotes in this movie and I was surprised at how much humor there was for such a serious plot. Hailee Steinfeld plays the young girl who hires Cogburn to track down her father's murderer and bring him to justice. She personified "true grit" more than any other character. She was the main reason I liked this version so much more than the original.
The only two minor hangups I had with this movie was the encounter with the "bear dentist" who spoke like he was tripping on LSD and the abrupt ending. Aside from that, I was mesmerized during every scene and have not seen such an entertaining movie in a long time.
This is one of the few movies I have seen where I didn't find myself criticizing the movie for hard to believe effects or story line. It is very graphic and has a very realistic feel to it. I give True Grit 9.0 well deserved stars.
Deja Vu (2006)
Great Movie
When I saw the original trailer it looked like a typical CSI type of murder investigation mystery. It wasn't until later that I realized that it was a science fiction movie. Despite seeing the average rating for this movie I wasn't expecting too much. I was impressed that the movie and Denzel's performance came across with enough of a feel of reality to the first part of the film that you really get sucked in and intrigued. It allowed me to suspend my disbelief for the remainder of the movie and go with it even though I knew it was impossible. The scenes with the hi tech surveillance reminded me of Minority Report. Usually I rip apart all the things in a movie that are obviously fake, but I think this movie did a great job with all the intricate details and made it seem realistic (despite being completely impossible). I was also impressed with the attention to detail in each scene and how the clues interacted as the story unfolded. This is obviously a complicated story to follow and I would love to see it again to pick up on any other details I missed.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Unbelievable how awful
You could not make a worse movie if you tried. Even watching the mystery science version (which I usually enjoy due to the fact that they rip apart bad movies) was unbearable. I could not even begin to describe how bad this movie was. It is supposed to be a horror film but is just horrible. Everything about it is bad. I could never sit through it again and I can't believe it is not ranked the #1 worst movie, but at this point I'm not about to watch Phat girls to see why it is worse. Watching it took 3 years off my life and lowered my self esteem. Be prepared to go into therapy after viewing it. It is by far the worst movie I have ever seen.
A More Perfect Union: America Becomes a Nation (1989)
Very educational
In high school I would have rather watched paint dry then study some of the "boring" details of the formation of our government. This film is long in places but I have to admit it helped me understand the background and differences of the founding fathers and how they created the Constitution. It does a great job of showing what a difficult task it was to have all the states work together despite their differences and special interests. It also highlights the different philosophies and and beliefs of the founding fathers who were anything but cooperative and agreeable during this process. It was very insightful and I actually enjoyed it. I think it should be required viewing for American history classes.
Church Ball (2006)
Lame
I was not expecting much going in to this, but still came away disappointed. This was my least favorite Halestorm production I have seen. I thought it was supposed to be a comedy, but I only snickered at 3 or 4 jokes. Is it really a funny gag to see a fat guy eating donuts and falling down over and over? What was up with the janitor in Heaven scene? Fred Willard has been hilarious with some of his Christopher Guest collaborations, but this did not work. They must have spent all the budget on getting "known" actors to appear in this because there was no lighting budget. It looked like it was filmed with a video camera and most scenes were very dark. Does it really take that much film to show someone actually shoot and make a basket, as opposed to cutting away and editing a ball swishing through a basket? I try not to be too critical of low budget comedies, but if you want to see something funny go to a real Church basketball game instead of this movie.