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jpersone
Reviews
Night of the Twisters (1996)
Worth a look!
This movie has some things that are pretty amazing. First, it is supposed to be based on a true story. That, in itself, is amazing that multiple tornadoes would hit the same town at night in the fall-in Nebraska. I wonder if the real town's name was close to "Blainsworth" (which is the town's name in the movie). There is an Ainsworth, Nebraska, but there is also a town that starts with Blains-something.
It does show the slowest moving tornadoes on record in the the seen where the boys are in the house. On the other hand, the scene where the TV goes fuzzy is based in fact. Before Doppler radar and weather radio, we were taught that if you turned your TV to a particular channel (not on cable) and tuned the brightness just right, you could tell if there was a tornado coming. The problem was that by then you would be able to hear it.
Since I know something about midwest tornadoes, it made this movie fun for me. I enjoy it more than Twister. I mean, give me a break-there is no way you could make it through and F5 by chaining yourself to a pipe in a well house.
The Unchained Goddess (1958)
A timeless classic
Frank Capra stikes again! This is an interesting video. This used to be available free to schools through the old Bell System. It was listed as being for all audiences-and boy were they correct. Everyone from first graders to AARP types could learn something from this video and enjoy doing it. I have been showing this movie (now a video) for over 30 years and student get as much out of it today as they did 3- years ago. Why don't they make more science videos like this today!
Disneyland: Man in Space (1955)
Still tells it well.
This movie does a great job of explaining the problems that we faced and the fears that we had before we put man into space. As a history of space flight, it is still used today in classrooms that can get one of the rare prints of it. Disney has shown it on "Vault Disney" and I wish they would do so again.
Xanadu (1980)
Don't ask too much of it.
I feel that people are expecting too much of this movie. I saw it nice change from all of the violent reality movies of the time. I found it a very entertaining, light 1940's type musical. Sure, it was silly to try to blend 1940's swing with 1980's glam rock. However, the original 1940's musicals had the same kind of hokey themes in them and no one expected any more from them than light entertainment. In this time of war, maybe we need some of the same.
As long as you sit back and enjoy the music (and forget about the plot), watching this movie can be enjoyable.