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Glory, a review by Antares

Glory (1989) 4/5 - I hadn't seen this film for close to fifteen years, but I remember being surprised at how good a war drama it was. I've never been much of an Edward Zwick fan, but this time, he got it pretty much right. The battle scenes have a realism that shocks the viewer and which is pretty much transparent in other Civil War films such as Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. The gore and horror which is so invisible in those two films hurts the credibilty of the narrative. Not so with Glory. From the moment we witness the horrors of the cornfield at Antietam, a true sense of believabilty is created. As a way to placate the Northern abolitionists, the 54th Massachusetts regiment was comprised of ex-slaves and free blacks and led by white abolitionist officers. But the northern politicians never conceived of letting them go into battle, as they were afraid of alienating the white soldiers of their own ranks, who weren't fighting for emancipation. But after the costly battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and coinciding with the New York draft riots of July 1863, the 54th fought their baptism of fire at Fort Wagner, just outside of Charleston harbor. In their desperate attack and repulsion from the breastworks of the fortress, the seeds of a new fighting force would be sown in the sandy soil of South Carolina. With the influx of new recruits from this untapped segment of the population, it was a foregone conclusion that the war would soon swing in favor of the Union.

If I could change one thing in this film, it would be to have Denzel Washington and Andre Braugher switch roles. I'm used to seeing Washington play these angry young black man roles, it would have been interesting to see what Braugher would have done with the role. As good as Washington was in this film, I always felt that Braugher's performance was better.

(From Antares' Short Summations on March 11th, 2014)

City Lights, a review by addicted2dvd

City Lights: The Criterion Collection (1931/United States) The Criterion Collection, MK2, Janus Films (Canada) Director: Charles Chaplin Writing: Charles Chaplin (Writer) Length: 87 min. Video: Widescreen 1.19:1, Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: PCM: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles:

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Stars:
Virginia Cherrill as A Blind Girl
Florence Lee as Her Grandmother
Harry Myers as An Eccentric Millionaire
Allan Garcia as His Butler
Hank Mann (1887) as A Prizefighter

Plot:
City Lights, the most cherished film by Charlie Chaplin, is also his ultimate Little Tramp chronicle. The writer-director-star achieved new levels of grace, in both physical comedy and dramatic poignancy, with this silent tale of a lovable vagrant falling for a young blind woman who sells flowers on the street (a magical Virginia Cherrill) and mistakes him for a millionaire. Though this Depression-era smash was made after the advent of sound, Chaplin remained steadfast in his love for the expressive beauty of the pre-talkie form. The result was the epitome of his art and the crowning achievement of silent comedy.

Extras:

I have to admit that I have not seen much from Charlie Chaplin yet... but this one has to be my favorite so far. This one provided me with lots of laughs and the story kept my interest with ease. And it looked great on Criterion Blu-ray! Definitely worth watching... I highly recommend it!



(From AFI: 100 Years 100 Laughs on August 5th, 2018)

Death Note anime/manga/movies comparison, a review by Tom

08. Glare

- The detectives and L watch subway survaillence footage of Raye Penber's death.
- Light and Ryuk discuss one of the death note rules
- Watari and L receive a call and learn of Naomi's going missing. L concludes that she must have been onto Kira. And as she was Raye Penber's fiance, they are going to focus on the people Raye investigated. Among these was Light Yagami's family.
- They decide to put camera's and wiretabs in the Yagami house.
- Light notices that someone has entered his room and suspect that cameras were installed. Light tells Ryuk about this after they have left the house. He also tells him about all the tricks he has implemented to see if someone has entered his room. Only one of those has been discovered and resetted by the ones who entered his room. Light gets Ryuk to check for the positions of the cameras.
- Light looks at porn magazines in his room, so that the detectives think he checks for entry to his room because of these. L doesn't fall for this
- Yagami family has dinner and watches TV. L sends fake news report to check the reaction of Light. Light doesn't fall for it
- With a trick, Light can watch the news report without L knowing he has access to a TV. Light writes down names of criminals currently being reported
- L learns about the death of those criminals and survaillence is stopped

Manga: Episode is covered in chapters 16 and 17

Movies: Essentially the same but with some changes. Light only uses one trick to check access to his room and it wasn't noticed. Therefore the trick with the porn magazines is not needed. Also the survaillence takes about a week until Light can move suspicion away from him, instead of only one day. This is good for the character development of Light's father (the lead detective) in my opinion.

(From Death Note anime/manga/movies comparison on June 28th, 2009)