eisbarjeff2k Reviews

Heaven Is for Real (2014)

Read the book, don't waste money on the movie

[1/10 · 24 April 2014]

I went to see this movie with great anticipation after reading the very well written book by Pastor Todd Burpo a couple of years ago. In fact, I went to see it the very first weekend it was in the cinema. However, after having read "The Client" many, many years ago and then seeing the movie on the silver screen, I was very disappointed with what Hollywood can do to a book when they try to turn it into a movie, so I had a bit of apprehension, too, when "Heaven is for Real" started playing. About halfway through the movie, I wanted to get up and leave. The screenwriters left about 75% of the book out of the film entirely. The film wasn't centered around Colton Burpo and his incredible glimpse of Heaven, but rather it was largely about his father, Todd, and the struggles he encountered in dealing with young Coltons' revelations. Even the way Colton initially divulged his experience to his parents was different from the book. It seemed to me that the screenwriters wanted to dramatize the movie and create some suspense where there shouldn't have been any in the depicted struggles between Todd and his wife. Do yourself a favor and read the book instead. You will be sadly disappointed with the film if you've read the book beforehand.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Really disappointing

[3/10 · 19 October 2009]

Maybe I just don't "get it," but this movie was seriously lacking something. A plot, maybe? I wanted to like this movie, I really did. It had a very animated, handsome, believable boy in Max Records playing the role of Max. It had reasonably good character costumes. It just didn't "reach out & grab" the audience. The kids in the theater were pretty mixed in their opinions as well & didn't quite know why the movie seemed sad, even depressing. This is a movie I think you can afford to miss, I hate to say. Try renting the DVD of The Neverending Story instead. THAT movie had a plot & really grabs the audience's attention.

Hair (1979)

Great, over & over!

[10/10 · 7 August 2004]

I have seen this movie more than 50 times in my life, and each time I watch it the movie is just as entertaining as it was the first time! George Berger (played by Treat Williams) leads a small group of 1960's-1970's era anti-war "hippies" living at large in New York City. This small group happens upon a young man, Claude Bukowski (played by John Savage) who has been drafted into the US Army for service in Vietnam. Despite their best efforts to dissuade him, Claude does eventually report for basic training in the Army. Still distressed over his having left them, the hippie group steal a car and travel across the USA to visit Claude "...for a couple of hours," in the words of George Berger (to an M.P. stationed at the entry gate of the Army base Claude is temporarily stationed at in Nevada). The outcome is truly touching, so I won't spoil it for those who have not yet seen this fantastic movie. The musical score is equally fantastic! Don Dacus (of the rock group Chicago), who plays the part of "Woof" - one of the hippies, is a not a key character, but the movie wouldn't have been the same without him. Beverly D'Angelo (who plays Sheila Franklin, an uptown girl who is befriended by the hippie group) is sensational in her role! A MUST SEE film!!