Not a bad film...lots of action, but what's with the director and cameraman? It feels as if EVERY shot is a closeup. Really way overdone with the faces filling the entire screen, wheels spinning in full screen when a panning shot of the chase scenes would have been great. Whenever the camera pulls back and gives us a long shot, the scene works and keeps us interested. I mean so many scenes of those sweaty faces up close...Ugh! Caviezel is good as always. Liked this film, but not the filming! Wondering if this is a habit of this director or cameraman? Will have to check their resumes to see whatever films they've worked on...to avoid them. Shame...this could have been a very good film.
Reviews
7 Reviews
August Rush
(2007)
Loved this Movie! Must see for lovers of happy endings and music!
30 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I absolutely loved this movie during the free screening in San Francisco this evening. At its end, the film received claps, cheers and shouts of approval by the majority of the audience. The child actors were terrific, especially Freddie Highmore whose facial expressions alone carried more emotion than any screenwriter's words could. The music was amazing...the guitar work, incredible singing by young Leon G. Thomas III, and the gospel singers (especially Jamia Simone Nash). The blending of classical, rock and street-sounds music was phenomenal. The movie was funny, poignant and a tear jerker. Heck with realism...I'm more than ready for a little bit of magic in my entertainment these days! Great film for families with teenage children. Younger ones might be a bit frightened by, as someone else said, the Fagan-like character played by Robin Williams and the intro bullying. So this may be a film to rent on DVD to show the younger ones so parents can discuss scenes with them or provide parental oversight for your particular child. But no bad language, no visible sex scenes (although we do know it occurred), and overall a delightful film. I rarely if ever buy DVDs except for old classics but this will be one of the exceptions. Also, the soundtrack should be terrific. When can I see this again?
If I'd had a gun, I would have shot them all to put us out of our misery!
2 October 2007
What was this? I attended the free screening tonight in San Francisco and, within the first hour, I was ready to pull out my own handgun and shoot Jesse James myself...and then turn the gun on all the rest of the boring characters. What a long, drawn-out excuse for a Western...with totally irrelevant scenes and long supposedly poignant or extended staring and deep, what I assume were meant to be, soul searching scenes of men staring at each other somberly. Geez! Give me a break! A character study of Robert Ford, unnecessarily long and despairingly drawn out to almost 3 hours. Simply cinematographers trying for Oscar without making a movie for an audience! Do not go! Rent it, if you must, and forward through the majority of the movie.
The Inkwell
(1994)
Good Movie Sidelined by Stupidity
24 February 2007
So many parts of this movie were truly moving and then you were blasted with utterly stupid scenes...the insane giggling of the adolescent boys, the interactions between the brothers-in-law. What could have been a really tremendous movie was absolutely sidelined by the unsuccessful attempts at over-the-top humor that had none of us laughing.
In fact, when seeing the critics "hilarious" and such comments on the DVD box, it simply reinforced my belief that most, if not all, male critics in our society today are simply 14-year-old adolescent boys in adult bodies. This was simply not funny and should instead have gone with mild humor and the wonderful story basis. Such a shame!
In fact, when seeing the critics "hilarious" and such comments on the DVD box, it simply reinforced my belief that most, if not all, male critics in our society today are simply 14-year-old adolescent boys in adult bodies. This was simply not funny and should instead have gone with mild humor and the wonderful story basis. Such a shame!
Facing the Giants
(2006)
Loved this Movie!
9 February 2007
Oh, wow! An inspirational film that makes you feel good as well as laugh and cry. I really enjoyed this film...in fact, just watched it three times in a row over my 2-day Blockbuster rental. There were several scenes in which these nonprofessionals showed more honest emotion and true-to-life expressions of sadness, fear, joy, etc., than any top Hollywood actor or actress. I was amazed! And crying! Also, some of the funny scenes were so naturally funny that you just really blurted out laughing naturally. No fake Hollywood bathroom or flatulence jokes here! Oh, and what a relief to not have to worry about bad language or inappropriate scenes...not for the kids but as my preference! A wonderful movie that everyone should see!
Notes on a Scandal
(2006)
Brilliant Acting But Oh So Tired of Sordid Movies
21 December 2006
Absolutely brilliant acting and dialogue in this film which other viewers have so eloquently described to a "T." While I'm sure Judi Dench will be nominated for an Academy Award, the disturbing storyline also made me cringe. Despite the film's brilliance, I'm so tired of films about sordid subjects and themes. And I'm really getting tired of the requisite Hollywood bathroom scene, which in this film is totally without relevance to anything whatsoever in the film. Keep wondering if scriptwriters never found the hole in the junior high school bathroom to peep at the girls, so they get their jollies out of recreating such scenes in films for us to see. I, for one, wish they would just get their kicks privately on the internet if they must. It is so tiresome! And why Cate Blanchett chose to do the scene also makes me wonder! Interesting to note that throughout our screening in San Francisco, people were getting up and wandering in and out throughout the film. Additionally, there was deep silence and quick movement out of the theater immediately after the movie. Certainly no applause and warm smiles as in our Miss Potter audience tonight!
Miss Potter
(2006)
Lovely Film
21 December 2006
Very much enjoyed this lovely film at the San Francisco screening this evening and so seemed the audience who clapped enthusiastically at the end and delayed to read the credits and listen to the closing music. How nice to be in a theater when your fellow attendees give heartfelt sighs of delight at seeing the desired outcome of a scene play out...or who wholeheartedly laugh at the witty script. Throw in stunning Lake Country, Cumbria, and Isle of Man scenery with surprises from the artist's sketch pad and you have a wonderful film. And, at last, a film for adults and young people that leaves out the unnecessary foul language and gratuitous sex scenes. How refreshing! A wholesome romance with beautiful stories of friendship and challenging family relationships in late 19th/early 20th Century England. Funny...I wish Hollywood and its screenwriters with high-school-peeping-Tom mentalities would understand that these are the kinds of movies we're craving! Very high recommendations for this movie and its talented actors.
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