DVD Collectors Online

Waltz With Bashir, a review by Danae Cassandra

Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir)
Year of Release: 2008
Directed By: Ari Folman
Starring: Ori Sivan, Ronny Dayag, Shmuel Frenkel
Genre: Documentary

Overview:
Inspired by actual events, Waltz With Bashir chronicles one man's descent into his own half-forgotten past. Filmmaker Ari Folman, an Israeli veteran of the First Lebanon War, encounters an old friend suffering from nightmares of the conflict. Ari begins to wonder why his own memories are full of gaps. In an effort to uncover the truth, he reconnects with old friends and dares to confront the horrors of war. Hailed as innovative and devastating, Waltz with Bashir fuses animation and documentary to create an experience unlike anything you've ever witnessed.

My Thoughts:
What is a man's culpability in the face of the horrific? How does a man stand by while others are slaughtered? And how does a man live with the guilt afterward?

A highly personal film, a recollection of traumatic events and the attempt to reconcile with those events years later, this is one of the best films about the horror of war, for all involved.

If the animation isn't the finest I've ever seen, its lack of fluidity fits the subject matter. It's appropriately realistic, somewhat gritty and ugly. Powerful film, troubling, and illuminated at the same time. Highly recommended, but don't expect a feel-good, happy ending.

Bechdel Test:  Fail

Overall:  4/5

(From March Around the World 2016 on March 10th, 2016)

2012, a review by RossRoy

WHAT THEY SAY

From Roland Emmerich, director of The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, comes the ultimate action-adventure movie, exploding with groundbreaking special effects. As the world faces a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions, cities collapse and continents crumble. 2012 brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover and Woody Harrelson.

MY THOUGHTS

CGI fest. An excuse to destroy the Earth, yet again. They want it to be a sort of modern retelling of Noah's Ark.. but in the end, the "plot" is there to show chaos, mayhem and destruction. Nothing more. It's along the very same lines as Day After Tomorrow...

RATING

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on March 28th, 2010)

My PILOT Marathon, a review by Rich

CARNIVALE - SEASON ONE - PILOT MILFAY



First aired: 9/14/2003     
An 18-year-old, Ben Hawkins, is taken in by a traveling Carnivale after his mother passes away. An evangelical preacher receives a sign that leaves him awakened to the possibility of mysterious powers.


(From My PILOT Marathon on May 18th, 2008)