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Reviews
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)
Doesn't Translate To The Current Navy
The original novel and movie took place during WWII. The play now takes place during the Gulf War, but it doesn't lend itself to modernization. Kiefer Sutherland does a credible job as Captain Queeg, but lacks the depth that Humphrey Bogart gave to the character in the original movie. Jake Lacy, however is a bit shallow in his characterization of Lt. Maryk. I liked the acting by Jason Clarke as Barney Greenwald, but the gray hair on a fairly young Navy Lieutenant was a bit too much. I also thought Monica Raymond's portrayal of the JAG prosecutor was over the top. Yes, prosecutors have to be zealous in their duties, but...
Quartermaster 3rd Class Urban's character was clearly miscast. First, while it's not unusual for a 20-year-old to be an E-4, it would be virtually impossible for a sailor of his age to have been in the Navy for four years.
Now, to the makeup of the officers on the board. As far as I can remember, flag officers do not serve on courts martial boards for decidedly junior officers. Dale Dye's portrayal of an "Admiral Dewey" was not only farcical, but his uniform decorations were way over the top. There were also several incidents where Navy uniforms were not worn properly, although I can imagine that the short shooting schedule was a major cause of continuity errors.
Navy courts martial don't have Chief/Senior Chief Petty Officers as court MP's. Those duties are handled by U. S. Marines, especially at larger Naval facilities.
In all, the entire play would have been much better had more time been taken to "get it right".
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006)
The More I Watch It, The More I Like It
I'm watching and listening as I write this review.
I guess I've been a "closet" Neil Young fan for years. I often wondered how someone with a voice that didn't have resonance and was a bit tinny and nasal, could capture my interest.
Mr. Young keeps me coming back to this documentary. He's brought a few of his friends, and does a superb job of keeping the audience entertained. For me, country and folk don't always mix, but Neil and his friends do an incredible job of taking both and making them into two hours of great music.
I was especially taken by "Old Man", and my favorite song of all time "Four Strong Winds. Neil's rendition of "Four Strong Winds" is right up there with Ian Tyson's and Brenda Fricker's version.
Jonathan Demme's camera positions and movement between the performers adds a great deal of warmth, and the cast seems to be singing to the viewer. They all seem to really enjoy bringing the music to us.
The only sadness I note, is the passing of Rick Rosas, Neil's bass player. Mr. Rosas was a real master of his art, and he's missed.
A well made documentary, and a great tribute to Neil Young's music.
Prometheus (2012)
What a waste of great cinematography!
I didn't see this movie in its theatrical release. Instead, I waited until it came to cable, and I watched it on our new flat screen LCD TV.
I expected a great deal of suspense in the Prometheus just touching down on LV223. Instead, it looked like an amalgamation of scenes cut together, without much thought toward creating suspense.
After landing, the exploration party immediately jumps into their exploration suits, without much, if any data with the exception of atmospheric gas percentages. They then take off like the Oklahoma land rush, apparently with no thought to microbial contamination, or other dangers in landing on alien worlds.
As other reviewers have written, the lack of scientific discipline is absolutely appalling. Given the advancement from 2013, one would think that some really advanced protocols would have been developed. Instead, these folks act like Neanderthals in the way they gather samples, and barge into a literally unknown world.
David Fassbender is unbelievable as an android. He's concerned with his mimicry of Peter O'Toole. While he's spent time of the voyage in learning, he evidently left his scientific mind behind.
Noomi Rapace, for her scientific inquisitiveness, is completely overwhelmed by her religious bias, and desire to find out why a strong alien life form would want a weaker life form dead. Sorry, nobody signs up for a voluntary human sacrifice.
The rest of the cast, as has been mentioned, has no depth at all. The dialog is random, with one liners thrown in, in an attempt to bind the disjointed script together. The other characters would have been as memorable had they been cardboard cutouts. Hardly any transition, and the entire movie seems like a series of cut and paste functions.
In order to make Dr. Shaw the sole survivor, the deaths of the others are merely forced scenes to make the story come out the way Ridley Scott wanted. And Noomi Rapace is no Ridley.
The visual impact is rather stunning. At the start of the movie, the scenes are such that you really expect an epic movie. But, alas, no.
The first time I watched in on cable, I thought I missed something, but after several viewings, I've come to the conclusion, that the only thing I missed, was the time I could have spent doing something else.
A Few Good Men (1992)
A Skewed Depiction of The Military
Rob Reiner's production provides a very skewed view of the United States Marine Corps.
While misconduct occurs in any branch of the U.S. military, Reiner makes a caricature of of a Marine colonel, who is on track to be selected soon for his first star.
There are obvious holes in Colonel Jessup's character, which would have emerged long before becoming a full colonel. Nicholson's characterization in the courtroom borders on Jack Torrance from "The Shining". No officer in a position of command and responsibility, puts on such a show in the courtroom. Emotional, over-the-top types do not get command of such a critical post. As others have mentioned, Colonel Jessup, while not demurring, would certainly have shown the utmost in courtesy to peer and subordinate officers and NCO's.
Tom Cruise comes off as he usually does, stiff and overly emotional, occupying the middle of the scene.
It's no wonder that the U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps did not cooperate with the film.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Fighting the demons
Having read many of the comments on this movie, I agree that it does have its warts. However, these in no way, detract from the job that Russell Crowe and Ron Howard do in depicting the world in which a schizophrenic, such as John Nash lives and copes. I had to ask myself, "How I would portray the world of John Nash?" Since I've never been there, I accept Ron Howard's magnificent interpretation of depicting the demons John Nash fought all these years. How else does a director depict the downward-spiraling world of the untreated schizophrenic? The highs (Herman), and the lows (Parcher) must be depicted this way to give the audience some reference point. We can't possibly understand his vision, since the majority of us do not suffer from schizophrenia.
In our modern world we can't grasp the concept for treatment of mental illness in the 1950's. Medicine has come a long way since insulin and electric shock treatments, and lobotomies. While true that John Nash has had a number of problems not dealt with in the film, this was not a mini-series. Ron Howard could only deal with a limited treatment of John Nash's story, and some artistic license needs to be applied.
As with any heroic epic, the title character must have a chance at redemption after losing nearly everything. And make no mistake - this struggle is as heroic as anyone can make. Besides, don't we all have our Charles Hermans and William Parchers to some extent? Russell Crowe does a superb job of depicting that struggle. Think honestly and admit that you've stared at a person who shows outward signs of mental illness; that you've looked on in some disbelief at a person who suffered a grand mal epileptic seizure; or that the little eccentricities people display you find humorous. The geniuses among us are replete with those eccentricities. Thank goodness they are here and have them!
A 9+ out of 10.
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
Enjoy the movie for its own self.
While it strays significantly from James Fenimore Coopers novel, it is one of the great "histo-dramas" of the late twentieth century. Daniel Day Lewis' Natty Bumpo (based on Daniel Boone) brings the spirit of the long hunter to life extremely well. No movie will allow the full development of the characters as found in the original book. Remember, Natty Bumpo is based on Daniel Boone, and the exploits are an amalgam of events occurring during the French And Indian War. Boone's exploits took place during and after the Revolutionary War. Colonel Munro actually survived the attack on Fort William Henry. Magua is patterned on the famous Indian Pontiac. In the novel, Cora dies. Uncas is killed by Magua in error. I don't believe there can ever be a reconciliation of the differences. So let's enjoy the movie for what it is - a great French and Indian War tale of love, loyalty, hate, heroism, and sacrifice.
Director Mann does an extraordinary job of bringing out the "darkness" of the era. It seems typical of his ability to create a moodiness to his films. For my taste, the movie could be lengthened, and really be made into a classic for all times.
There have been earlier comments relating to the accuracy of the rifle which Hawkeye uses. He does not use a British Brown Bess smoothbore musket. His rifle, patterned on early Pennsylvania rifles, was very accurate. Killing shots at ranges beyond 100 yards were not rare for the expert rifleman. His shooting skills were demonstrated early on during the deer hunt. To get a real feeling for the period, try reading Montcalm and Wolfe, by Parkinson. It's a very accurate history of the time, and written only 50 years after Coopers novel.
For pure entertainment and the feeling it gives for the period, I would rate it an "8".
Band of Brothers (2001)
Best of the best!
I've never been "pulled" into a mini-series, or movie, quite the same way as I was by "Band Of Brothers". Having read most of Dr. Ambrose's books, I was prepared for an excellent mini-series. I was not prepared for the emotional roller coaster as the story proceeded. From reading his other books, I knew that some of these men would die, or suffer horrible wounds. But, the manner in which death and wounds came, almost at random, mostly by artillery and mortars, brought a realism not found in movies. While "Saving Private Ryan" was a good "yarn", this mini-series is unsurpassed. With the exception of having seen David Schwimmer before, all these actors were unknown to me, and that's what made it so believable.
The humanity and care shown by Major Winters for his men, just prior to pulling them out of the line in France, was nothing short of noble.
The last episode couldn't have been done better. The final speech by the German general certainly was a great way to end things, and truly show what a band of brothers really was.
The "Greatest Generation" certainly deserves the title.