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Citizen Kane, a review by goodguy

Citizen Kane (1941) Written by: Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson Welles Directed by: Orson Welles Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore DVD: R1-US Warner (2001) My rating:

Cover Blurb: Orson Welles' timeless masterwork is more than a groundbreaking film.  Presented here in a magnificent 60th anniversary digital transfer with revitalized digital audio from the highest quality surviving elements, it is also grand entertainment, sharply acted (starting many of Welles' Mercury Players on the road to thriving film careers) and superbly directed with inspired visual flair.  Depicting the controversial life of an influential publishing tycoon, this Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winner (1941) is rooted in themes of power, corruption, vanity - the American Dream lost in the mystery of a dying man's last word: "Rosebud."

That's the third time I've given this a try, but it just doesn't improve. Yes, the cinematography is masterful. And the circular storytelling is probably pretty sophisticated, at least for its time. So I probably should appreciate it more, even if the story itself isn't really that interesting. The problem is, it is all so damn economical. You can explain every shot and every scene and it makes perfect sense (well, except for some awkward attempts at being funny). But it doesn't have a soul. And frankly, aside from Welles himself, the acting is less than stellar.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on December 1st, 2009)

The Hurt Locker, a review by samuelrichardscott

The Hurt Locker (2008) United Kingdom Blu-ray (rental)

Overview:
From visionary filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker is an intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When renegade Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner - 28 Weeks Later, The Assassination of Jesse James) takes command of a highly trained bomb disposal unit, he frequently risks the lives of himself and those around him with his suicidal methods and a complete disregard for danger. Caught in the middle are his subordinates Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie - Half Nelson, We Are Marshall) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty - We Are Marshall, Jarhead), who can only watch as their leader descends further into addiction: an addiction to war.

My Thoughts:
I was a little skeptical of this one because my old man said that he didn't like it as much as he thought he would. Usually this wouldn't mean anything to me, but he was a bomb disposal technician for his full Army service of over twenty years serving in the Gulf for over a year and Northern Ireland during some etchy times. Thankfully, he completed his full service just before the current war started and he now works for a private defence company. Despite this, I'm glad I did watch it because I enjoyed it. Not working in the field, I don't notice some of the technical stuff he was banging on about and instead I focused on the story which had me gripped. Bigelow manages to make the movie tense and suspenseful in all the right parts with a perfect spraying of both drama and action. Great stuff. 4.5/5

(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on May 29th, 2010)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Someone kills seemingly random Starfleet officers aboard DS9 and he or she uses an old-fashioned gun instead of an energy weapon. The killer seems to be shooting at point-blank range yet there are none of the expected powder burns on the body. Ezri uses an Trill ritual to call forth the memories of Joran Dax, the murderer. She hopes that his insight can help her catch the current killer.

My Opinion: Actually, this was an interesting episode. I liked it how Joran pushed her to solve the case but I also liked how she resisted him in the end. To use a Vulcan as killer was a surprising choice, but because of that it was a good one. It seemed logical () from a script POV not to use one of the usual suspects.

Synopsis: When O'Brien and Odo return from a mission their runabout is followed by some sort of space being. It enters the ship and turns out to be a shapeshifter. But it's not a Founder. He's one of the hundred like Odo that were sent into space to explore and experience. Odo tries to convince him to live on the station, but Laas is older than Odo and he's developed a certain dislike for "monoforms".

My Opinion: While I found the special effects and the idea that a shapeshifter could turn into fire or fog interesting, the rest of the episode was rather boring.

Synopsis: Vic's program contains a hidden Jack-in-the-box component which allows the gangster Frankie Eyes to overtake the hotel and turn it into a casino. Vic is thrown out. But the crew of DS9 can't simply reset and restart the program because that would mean that Vic would lose all his memories about them. They need to find an ingame solution and soon after the senior staff of DS9 is planning a robbery of a 1960s Las Vegas casino.

My Opinion: The last fun and also the last holodeck episode of the show. I enjoyed it very much. It's a bit like Ocean's Eleven (the original one, the one without all the computer stuff). And I liked the general idea that they were unwilling to reset the program and lose Vic as they know him. Basically Vic is to them what fictional characters are to us and I love my fictional characters the way they are.

Synopsis: Shortly before Bashir departs for a conference on Romulus he's contacted by Sloan from Section 31. Sloan gives him an additional job: To evaluate the health condition of certain members of the romulan Continuing Committee. Sisko and Admiral Ross order him to play along to find out what Section 31 is up to. But when it becomes clear that someone is about to kill the chairman of the romulan intelligence service Tal Shiar, Bashir reveals this information to the romulan liason officer, Senator Cretak.

My Opinion: "Inter arma enim silent leges." - "In times of war, the law falls silent." The theme of this episode was similar to the one in In the Pale Moonlight. What is allowed in times of war to win that war? Garak did the dirty work in the former episode and now Section 31 has done it. But this time it happened with the approval of a Starfleet admiral and not just a station captain. When does the price become to high to pay? What good are principles if you lose and become enslaved? But what good are principles if you only life by them when it's an easy choice?

(From Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Marathon on March 1st, 2009)