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The Bridge Of San Luis Rey, a review by KinkyCyborg

The Bridge Of San Luis Rey



Title:The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Year: 2004
Director: Mary McGuckian
Rating: PG
Length: 120 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: DTS: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:Plot:
Robert De Niro, Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, and Geraldine Chaplin co-star in this epic film adaptation of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize winning novel.

Five seemingly unrelated travelers cross the San Luis Ray bridge when it suddenly collapses. Were their tragic deaths the result of Divine Intervention, mere chance or perhaps something more sinister? Intrigued, a Franciscan monk investigates the victims' pasts, uncovering secrets in this moving tale of passion, ambition and destiny.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned


Five souls plummet to their deaths off an old bridge in Peru during a period of the Spanish Inquisitions. The movie delves less into the tragedy and more into the lives of the five people, their own personal tragedies, how their lives interconnect and the intrigues of the Spanish court. A pious priest played by Gabriel Byrne investigates what these people may have had in common, and if that denominator might have been the reason God might have taken their lives.

Pretty heavy subject matter which leaves the viewer with much to digest. The irony of the priest's findings is that they themselves lead to an inquisition, his assertions deemed heretic, and the priest burned at the stake.

Some excellent performances by an A-list cast make up for an at times excessively slow pace. I didn't find the ending very satisfying as many questions that should have been asked at the trial of the priest were not asked. Kathy Bates was incredible as the Marquess, a lonely old woman of power who only longs for the love of her petulant daughter who is off in Spain, playing the social game at Court, all the while ignoring her mother's many letters. You feel terribly bad for Bates' character, almost thankful for her death which was more of a release from her misery.

F. Murray Abraham and Harvey Kietel were also excellent in their respective roles. Robert De Niro seemed out of place as the Archbishop of Peru. His enunciation of the speech from that era was good, but his Goodfellas accent was evident which almost made it appear to be a bad voice over job. 
If you want to watch and appreciate some great method acting then you may enjoy this but I'm certain this movie is not for everyone and would likely be labeled as boring for many.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on February 6th, 2011)

Summer Wars, a review by dfmorgan

Summer Wars

Part of

Summer Wars / The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Year: 2009
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba, Mitsuki Tanimura
Overview: Kenji is your typical teenage misfit. He's good at math, bad with girls, and spends most of histime hanging out in the all-powerful, online community known as OZ. His second life is the only life he has until the girl of his dreams, Natsuki, hijacks him for a starring role as a fake fiance at her family reunion. Things only get stranger from there. A late-night email containing a cryptic mathematic riddle leads to the unleashing of a rogue AI intent on using the virtual world of OZ to destroy the real world, literally. As Armageddon looms on the horizon, Kenji and his new family set aside their differences and band together to save the worlds they inhabit in this "near-perfect blend of social satire and science fiction". AinItCoolNews

Watched: 2nd Apr. 2011
My Thoughts: A lovely enjoyable romp. A bright and colourful update to the premise of Wargames. This time a malevolent AI is loose in the cyber-world of OZ and because practically everything in the world is run through OZ accounts the whole world is in danger.

My Rating: A thouroughly enjoyable 4

ETA: Part of

(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on April 3rd, 2011)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season One (1993/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany) Length: 871 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1.01+02 Emissary
Writer: Gene Roddenberry (Original Characters By), Michael Piller (Screenwriter), Rick Berman (Original Material By), Michael Piller (Original Material By)
Director: David Carson
Cast

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 14th, 2012)