Movie reviews

Thanks for the review, EP!

For Bukowski fans, Hulu is carrying this:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/337491/bukowski-born-into-this

Thanks, goldendog!

This looks really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0WUpsErUBA

Thanks, Lisa!

We are at 96,000 views for this thread. I recently watched my favorite religious film. It's called "The Shoes of The Fisherman". Highly recommended from me

I haven't seen that one, but I had enough of that kind of stuff forced down my throat in Catholic school. I know a lot of people think The Passion of the Christ is too violent, but it's faithful to depictions of the crucifixion in the gospels.

We were taught this stuff in great detail as children. Paintings that show nails in Jesus hands are inaccurate. If placed in the hands, the criminal could have freed himself from the nails by pulling and ripping his flesh. The Romans nailed their criminals to the cross above the wrist so they couldn't escape. I don't remember what the deal with the feet was.

Jesus was said to have received 40 lashes with a cat -o- nine tails. This would be fatal. There's a good chance that this claim is exaggerated.

For those of you who aren't Catholic, we have a thing called the stations of the cross. These are 12 events during the passion that culminate in Jesus' death on the cross. Every Friday during Lent our elementary school would walk to the church and say prayers as a priest and a couple altar boys with sensors dispensing incense would stop at each of 12 paintings depicting Jesus getting the shit knocked out of him. The movie wasn't that shocking to me. Ironically, the paintings were really beautifully done.

I just thought The Passion was torture porn. The Shoes of the Fisherman is about some cardinal, I believe, condemned to a Siberian labour camp, who is given his freedom so he can serve in the Vatican. The world is on the brink of WW3. The Pope dies and he becomes his successor. He must find a way to stop the impending catastrophe. Anthony Quinn has the main role, and he's quite brilliant. One of my favorites, Oscar Werner, is also very good.

oh you  should see also ,when the  trumphets fade, afilm of world war 2 before the the battle of the bulge took place,it was a hard fought battle for the americans entering germany, what amuses me is the heroism of a private  who rose to theranks  promotion becauseof numerous ranks death, his bravery and his team volunteers save the day of many american  lives in their assault of a well defensive lines of the germans,the artillery outpost of the german were quieted or silenced by the teams suicidal mission. whatsaddened me  was one only able to return alive.

Thanks, Benju!

tunnel rat, a movie i watched last night which depicts how the vietnamese tunneled themselves in mountain places where they refuge and  fight for another day. tunnel warfare is new to the americans as seen from the movie and that vietnamese forces use it as a base for operating for they are not easily located and can hide when cornered, in a film also starred by melgibson, we were soldiers. awhole division of vietnamese army was tunneled in a mountain as their sanctuary, the very army that destroyed the french legion  away from vietnam, tunnel fighting is also done by the talibans in afghanistan. a very primitive style of warfare where the odds are great.

I've seen the movie Falling Down with Micheal Douglas a couple times, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Has anyone else seen it?

I haven't. What makes you so unsure about it, EP?

Micheal Douglas plays a nerdy engineer who loses his job in the defense industry. His skills are outdated, and he can't find another job. He is controlling and abusive with his wife and young daughter, and they leave him. He is clearly an anti-hero, yet I empathize with him. He goes on a violent crime spree, and you're cheering for him, but he's clearly a bad man. I don't want to give away too much of the movie, but the spree violence seems out of synch with the rest of the story. Still, I liked it.

Now I remember it. Yes, I've seen it, but it's been a while.

I think the audience cheers for him because he has so clearly reached his limit. And as part of his rebellion against reaching his limit, he hits on some popular, hot button issues that create empathy in the audience.

He's controlling, abusive, goes on a crime spree, and you cheer for him? Sounds like how people reacted to A Clockwork Orange.

Benju:  In 1969 I was stationed near Nui Ba Den (The Black Virgin Mountain).  Was it mentioned in the movie?

It starts out with him stuck in horrible traffic in the heat. Most of us can empathize with that.

I wasn't a fan of A Clockwork Orange. It was just too violent for me.

Yes. I think A Clockwork Orange and Lolita, were Kubrick's worst films.