zarembazwoman Reviews

Public Enemies (2009)

One of the worst films I've seen in a long time

[1 July 2009]

Contrary to the opinion of the previous commentator, this film was an execrable mess. It was completely ahistorical, to begin with. In the year 1934, when three of the biggest strikes ever in the United States were called and the country was in ferment due to the Great Depression, this context didn't receive so much as a mention. Nor was it explained why the ordinary people were cheering John Dillinger as a hero. It was because he worked against the state and returned money that he took from the banks to the ordinary people who were being screwed out of their money, much as we all are today.

Depp, Christian Bale and the other actors should be ashamed of having participated in such a farcical rendering of the Great Depression and of the famous criminals that emerged from the financial devastation of the country.

The FBI and Hoover were rightly portrayed as the enforcers of capitalism and the police state, but this seems only to have been inserted into the film for violence value. There was no genuine analysis by the filmmaker of the true meaning of this American gestapo and the fact that it not only went after bank robbers and gangsters, but also union men, strikers, and ordinary citizens who dared to protest against government policy during the Depression.

What a shallow film. And the lengthy scenes of violence did not advance the story one bit. They seemed to be there to pad out the excessive length of this travesty.

What a piece of crap. I'm glad that I got a free ticket or I'd be even more disgusted. There are no filmmakers today creating anything meaningful about the history of this country or how it relates to the crisis we are living in today. I still await a legitimate treatment of the depredations of capitalism and the relation of what happened in the 1930s to the situation today.

Valkyrie (2008)

Not Historical - Stauffenberg was no hero

[3 February 2009]

Below is a selection of comments on this film from the World Socialist Web Site, written by one of its German correspondents:

Regarding Stauffenberg:

"This depiction has little to do with the real Stauffenberg—an opponent of democracy, an anti-Semite and an initial supporter of the war. Stauffenberg's political and ideological conceptions would fit badly into an epic about a hero, and are therefore excluded.

"In an article for the Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin, historian Richard J. Evans, a specialist on the Third Reich, described the convictions of the Hitler assassin as follows: "Stauffenberg's moral outlook was a multi-layered assortment of Catholic teachings, an aristocratic code of ethics, the ethos of old Greece and German romantic poetry." Under the influence of the poet Stefan George, Stauffenberg aspired to "an idealized medieval empire" through which "Europe, under the leadership of Germany, would acquire a new measure of culture and civilization." "These conceptions were compatible with the goals of the Nazis. Although Stauffenberg never joined Hitler's party, whose plebeian character contradicted his own elitist proclivities, he supported Hitler in the 1932 elections for Reich president and celebrated his appointment as Reich chancellor in 1933. He saw in the Nazis a "movement of national renewal that would put an end to the shabby parliamentary compromises of Weimar." And he "believed that a policy of cleansing the German race and of eliminating Jewish influences from it had to form a crucial part of this renewal," writes Evans."

So much for the "historical accuracy" of the film!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

I'm shocked at how few have actually read the books

[21 December 2007]

I'm shocked at the number of questions that readers of the books would know the answers to are asked on your "FAQ" board. Haven't any of you people read the books? The films are nice, but they are no way to really get the "Harry Potter Experience". There is so much more depth to the people and the stories in the books. "Order of the Phoenix" is my favorite of them all. I haven't yet seen the film of it and I may never see it, because I don't want it to ruin my favorite book. (I've read OOTP five times.) Also, nobody talks about how brilliantly Rowling has depicted the rise of fascism in her tale of the takeover of Hogwarts by the Ministry for Magic. I'll bet THAT doesn't come across in the film.

I think it is most important for young people to read the book and learn what rising fascism is like. After all, this is happening in the real world right now, and I believe J.K. Rowling has performed a real public service in addition to writing a terrific story of the world of magic.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Miscasting

[21 December 2007]

This film is badly miscast. Helena Bonham Carter is too young to play Mrs. Lovett and Johnny Depp is too young to play Todd. Actually, Alan Rickman should be playing Todd and someone like Jane Lapotaire should be playing Mrs. Lovett. I can't believe that nobody seems to know the least bit about the original Broaday musical, in which Angela Lansbury played Lovett (later also played by Patti Lupone) and Len Cariou was Sweeney Todd. I suppose casting younger actors is supposed to be some way to pull in what the studios consider a saleable demographic or some other idiotic thing. This is a brilliant musical, one of the best Sondheim ever wrote, and miscasting like this makes me sick.

I thought Bonham Carter was completely wrong for the Harry Potter movie, too. But then, the casting for those films NEVER matches up with either the author's descriptions or my imaginings.

State of Play (2003)

Brits have always been best at drama

[10/10 · 4 December 2007]

I take issue with some of the people commenting on "State of Play" who declare that they believe it to be "as good as American TV" or some other such nonsense. That's ridiculous! Perhaps it's a generational thing, but I have always thought that British productions, particularly drama, are light years ahead of American TV and the actors are in a whole different galaxy. The original "State of Play" is brilliant, suspenseful and a pleasure to watch. I cannot believe that there is going to be a "remake"! I love Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe, but there is absolutely no need for this series to be remade. Why can't they write something original for Mirren and Crowe? The Brits are the best. Period!

Maigret: La maison de Félicie (2002) Season 11, Episode 4

One of the best things I've ever seen on television

[10/10 · 5 September 2007]

This French series of Maigret stories with Bruno Cremer is one of the best things I've ever seen on television. Although I liked the Michael Gambon British series, Cremer is it! The music, the ambiance, everything about this French series is fantastic. I particularly love the music and the atmosphere it creates. The series appears on a local (San Mateo, California) PBS station as part of their International Mysteries series, which includes detectives from Germany, Italy and in the fall, Sweden, when they will be airing the Henning Mankell Kurt Wallender series. I very much look forward to this because I've read all the Wallender books and enjoyed them very much.

Cremer as Maigret is something not to be missed!

The Black Dahlia (2006)

Horrible Movie

[1/10 · 24 March 2007]

This was an awful movie. The writing was bad, the acting was bad (in some cases unforgivable, as in the case of Fiona Shaw. What was this great British actress doing imitating Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?)and the number of anachronisms was really bad. How it was ever nominated for an Academy Award is beyond me. What a waste of time. If I had paid to see it in a movie theatre, I would have demanded a refund. As it is, I watched it on TV on cable. And I wish I could demand my money back! Awful, awful film. According to the rules on this website, my review has to be longer than the number of words and sentences it takes to express my opinion of this dreadful film. All I can say is that the rule is stupid, too. And I don't appreciate being told I have misspelled words that I in fact have NOT misspelled.