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Reviews
Badland (2019)
Better than anything by The Duke...
..except maybe Hondo. It's so good to find that great Western flicks are still being made. Badland is one of these, reminiscent of the classics that starred Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford, and Gregory Peck. And what a delight to see Bruce Dern working harder than ever at age 83. Thoroughly enjoyable performances by all involved. I'm not giving it a 10 only because I feel that the last scene with Wes Studi is redundant. Our hero should have went straight to the ranch to be "taken care of" so to speak. No matter... I'm proud to add Badland to my collection of great Western movies.
Hustlers (2019)
Good movie... only one complaint
Frankly, we found this movie to be very entertaining as well as educational. I see IMDB's rating includes the word comedy, although I don't recall seeing anything to laugh about in this tale based apparently, on fact. The acting was top notch as well, but again I must complain about the overbearing music. I really am a music lover, but am not happy with the trend these days of nearly drowning out the dialog with music or weird sounds to enhance the mood. I truly do hope that technology will soon give home viewers the ability to control the level of what used to be called "background music." Sound engineers please note. If your backing sound is good enough, it will win its deserved award without being blasted into the foreground.
Hotel Mumbai (2018)
Powerful, gripping entertainment!
We just watched Hotel Mumbai, and were on the edge of our seats for the entire two hours. I can't say that about many movies these days, so I consider this a jewel of a movie that I will keep for future viewing pleasure, and to lend to my friends. I don't know how accurate it is in comparison to the actual event, but it serves as a graphic reminder that New York is not the only city to suffer an attack by terrorists. The movie seemed so realistic that it was easy to forget that the characters were acting. Also, we are usually turned off by foreign movies due to the problem of trying to understand the dialog. No problem here. Further, it is strange to see so many reviewers complaining about the violence in Hotel Mumbai. Compared to any of today's action or Western flicks, this one is tame in comparison.
The Hummingbird Project (2018)
The Hummingbird Project has restored my faith in movie making.
What an enjoyable, suspenseful ride. Besides keeping us enthralled through the entire story, the production and direction were such a huge breath of fresh air. The way movies have been going in the last few years, much of the dialog is inaudible due to "background" music that is actually in the foreground, or actors that whisper or mumble, or BOTH. We heard every word spoken in The Hummingbird Project, and were never distracted by overpowering music or weird synthesizer sounds that spoil so many modern movies. This is our first time to see any of the actors (I think) and their performances were all quite fabulous. After seeing this one, I couldn't wait until it came out on DVD. It's a keeper for sure!
The New World (2005)
Quite wonderful... as a Silent Movie
It's surprising to read that so many viewers were bored with A New World. Being both highly interesting and educational, the movie held our interest throughout. At our age, we often fall asleep during movies, but neither I nor my wife lost interest in this well acted story, in spite of its 2¼ hour length.
The problem for us was the inaudible dialogue, comprised of much whispering and low muttering by the actors as well as an unnecessary and unwanted narrator. The soundtrack (other than a deafening, indefinable roar during the opening and closing of the movie) was beautiful, although it too managed to drown out much of the dialogue. By the end, I was reminded of the silent movie era, when the only sound was that of a theater organ.
This movie's shining accomplishment is the rich cinematography, in my opinion highly deserving of the Oscar it was nominated for but strangely, did not win.
Replicas (2018)
GOOD movie that we enjoyed watching
What a treat to see a decent sci-fi movie that isn't so far-out as to be ridiculously unbelievable. The story moved along just fine, keeping my wife and I riveted to the screen. And Keanu Reeves played his part just fine. People that think a player can't act just because doesn't smile all the time, are either looking for something to complain about, or trying to get on a bandwagon.
Another pleasing surprise in Replica was the absence of overbearing music that drowns out the dialog in the majority of movies made in this century. It used be background music, but lately most of it exists in the foreground.
Here's a hint on how to get the best from reviews posted on IMBb. Disregard those containing spelling and grammar errors, and even typos. I find that those reviews are usually posted more to get attention than to provide worthwhile information.
And once again, Replicas is excellent entertainment!
Front Page Challenge (1957)
A TV favorite when there were only two channels and no color.
From the mid-fifties to the mid sixties, Front Page Challenge was one of my family's favorite TV shows. This was the period in which we only received two channels over a fifty-foot Yagi antenna connected to a black & white Sears TV receiver. We loved the regular panelists and their host, but we also looked forward to the guest-panelist, who often was quite famous and had to be hidden from the panel along with his or her voice disguised.
Besides always being interesting, there were plenty of laughs and usually an opportunity to learn something, as the guest was subjected to even more questions from the panel, once his or her mystery subject was revealed.
I was always proud of the CBC for coming up with such a unique and original program, that is, until the Internet came along and I stumbled across a YouTube video showing an episode of CBC's I've Got A Secret. I then learned that this show began in 1952, about 5 years earlier than did Front Page Challenge.