House of Flying Daggers
Rating: A/3 – Beautifully done (acting, music, and art), just like Hero. And also like Hero and many other Chinese flicks, it was rather sad. Not a very complex story, but the simplicity of the story adds to its beauty. (Visit website for moral review).
Alice in Wonderland
Rating: B/3 – There weren’t any real strong messages presented. Alice supposedly realizes who she is and that instead of marrying into a wealthy family, she should become an apprentice to her father’s company. Is this saying that a woman’s potential cannot be fully met in the home as a wife? Or that education is important in a woman’s life?
Roxanne
Rating: B/3 – This adaptation displayed a good message on looking past physical appearances when associating with people. The original play was a hundred times better for the following reasons…(visit blog to continue reading).
In The Good Old Summertime
Rating: A/3 – Fun show. This movie didn’t seem to have a whole lot to do with the summer time, in fact the only scenes in the summer time were the opening few minutes and the ending few minutes (the setting for the title song). Maybe it had to do with the fact that good things happen in the summer time and we need to wade patiently through the autumns and winters of life.
State of Play
Rating: B/3 – Like the Informant! I had a hard time getting drawn into this film. Russell Crowe does a good job as a journalist, but he’s kind of an unbelievable character in that he’s up against all kinds of trained people trying to keep the Senator from falling, and his only weapon he wields is a pen. Maybe this is symbolic because a sub theme of the movie is the difficulty the newspaper industry is having with online news sources, and the juxtaposition of Crowe and these renegades underscores it.
Benny and Joon
Rating: A/3 – The film produced a good message on the importance of making life happy. Life’s too short to look for excuses to not be involved. We need to have the courage to make decisions that will increase our happiness.
The Informant!
Rating: B/3 – The Informant! did a good job of showing the consequences of lying and trying to cover up the lies as they become discovered. If you try to cover things up, things don’t get better or disappear. A right action doesn’t always make-up for a wrong action, especially if that right action is by no means a restitution of the wrong doing.
Back to Top | Comments Off
Coraline
Rating: C/3 – If anything could be gleaned from this, it might be that no matter how dull and busy your family may seem, they really are (should be) the main source for happiness in your life. We all need to be patient and not expect the world to revolve around us. Parents make a lot of sacrifices for us each day; we should try to do our part in supporting them in their endeavors.
The Lost Boys
I saw this movie a while back, but thought it would be appropriate to post a review after hearing the news of Corey Haim’s unfortunate death yesterday. I don’t know why, but I’ve come across this film (never seen it) quite a few times in my life and for some reason thought it was more highly acclaimed than it actually was. It was a special on whatever channel does “Movies for Guys who like Movies,” so they obviously thought it was good. Even edited for TV the film was rather violent. I’m perplexed at whatever the rationale is of creating an R-rated film targeted to young teenagers, when they normally can’t watch the film without an adult. Granted I’m an adult and I saw it of my own accord, but I didn’t really enjoy it. At first I thought it was rather a waste of my time having sat and watched it, but reflecting on it more I came to some pretty neat realizations. [Visit movies.losanderson.com to read the rest of the review.]
24: Season 1
Synopsis A Senator who is close to making it into the White House is the target of an assassination attempt. CTU Agent Jack Bauer’s family is kidnapped and he must try to rescue them as well as stop the assination. Meanwhile, an affair that he had frequently comes back to haunt him. Entertainment Value – [...]