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Hearts and Minds, a review by Antares

Hearts and Minds (1974) 82/100 - During this documentary an air force pilot talks about how everyone is either trying to forget the war or distancing themselves from it. When he spoke those lines it hit me that it was very true, and that I had put almost all of it behind me. I grew up as a child in the sixties, and the Vietnam War was news fodder every night on the national news. My two uncles fought in it and my best friend's brother was killed in it (They dedicated a little league field that we played on daily in his memory). I also had another friend, many years later, who was a few years older than me, who succumbed to throat cancer from being sprayed with Agent Orange. So although I never was really in jeopardy of actually going there, the war did touch me in many different ways. And as I watched this film, the memories started to creep back in, like the day one of my uncles left for the war. I distinctly remember my grandmother breaking down when his car pulled away, wondering if she'd ever see him alive again. The day that my friend's family got the knock on the door, telling them that their oldest boy was killed in action. I had forgotten so much of this because of how long ago it had all happened, but this brought it all back.

The documentary itself, is definitely a product of its time, in that, it is mostly told from the anti-war stance that many had at that time. While not completely balanced, it does also give insight into the pro-war side too. Unfortunately, it could have probably used a bit more of these people to help the viewer truly understand why this war was so divisive in the first place. I already knew that William Westmoreland was an arrogant, by the book marionette, and his appearance really doesn't shed any new light on why we fought. The only other pro-war proponent is a POW who was held in captivity for close to seven years and tows the propaganda line almost fanatically. In fact, it's his words and thoughts that actually dismayed me the most as you would think that he would be one of the voices of reason as to why this war was so unjust, not only to the sons of Americans who fought in it, but of the people of Vietnam who were sacrificed for the sake of halting the Communist domino theory.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on August 2nd, 2012)

The Golden Compass, a review by RossRoy

Original Title: The Golden Compass Year: 2007 Country: United Kingdom Director: Chris Weitz Rating: PG Length: 113 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital Surround EX, English: Dolby Digital Stereo, French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English, French

What they say
In a marvelous parallel world where witches soar the skies and Ice Bears rule teh frozen North, one special girl is destined to hold the fate of the universe in her hands.When Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) becomes the keeper of the Golden Compass, only she has the ability to read its portent messages and prevent her world - and all others - from slipping into an evil darkness.

My Thoughts
That was an underwhelming experience if there ever was one. Underused stars, overused child actor who obviously can't carry a movie alone, overused CGI, bland and routine direction, etc.

My main gripe about the movie though, is the lead child actress. Not that she's a bad actress or anything, but who the hell decided to greenlight a project where a child actor has to carry a whole movie with only 2 CGI animals as support? I've yet to see a single child actor who could pull that off.

And the animals.. Well, they are well animated and very well done. But the thing is, it is at times painfully obvious that there's nothing there. You'll see someone petting the animal, but not even touching it. Or, holding it in their arms, and it just becomes way too obvious.

The stars? Oh sure, you can put Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, even Kathy Bates on the promo material and posters! But, each one of them is on screen for about, oh, 5 minutes each? And two of them are only doing voices anyway (Ian and Kathy)!

But it's a shame really. Because the story itself could have been so much more. It really feels like an introduction of this world, with little regards to an actual coherent story, in the hopes it'll prove "good enough" to warrant sequels that will actually tell the story. Thing is, they leave so much open, and so little actually happens here, I'm not even sure people would want to see a sequel.

Rating:

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on July 24th, 2008)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Tom

1.22 Letting Go (1995-06-01)
Writer: Paul Haggis (Created By), Jeff King (Writer), Kathy Slevin (Writer)
Director: George Bloomfield
Cast: Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser), David Marciano (Detective Ray Vecchio), Beau Starr (Lt. Harding Welsh), Daniel Kash (Detective Louis Gardino), Tony Craig (Detective Jack Huey), Catherine Bruhier (Elaine), Melina Kanakaredes (Victoria Metcalf), Laurie Holden (Jill Kennedy), Jennifer Dale (Dr. Carter), Frances Hyland (Fraser's Grandmother), Gordon Pinsent (Fraser Sr.), Joseph Scoren (Kevin), Linda Griffiths (Bernice), Andy Marshall (Resident)

A good episode. It is Due South's take on Rear Window. This episode also deals with the aftermath of the previous two-parter.

Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on July 27th, 2009)