Fahrenheit 9/11 was quite the movie, very disturbing; a hit piece, no doubt about it. But, still, one of those movies that even those who don't agree with Michael Moore should have the courage to see. And, courage is what it takes; a kind of being willing to put aside preconceived notions and to realize the sheer idiocy of war under any circumstances. I'm sure that much of his movie footage is selective, but very, very powerful.
Two or three things really stuck out. First, there was a realization of something I already know: the poor and those who often are the most disadvantaged in America end up fighting America's wars. And, that the Congress is relatively gutless and unscathed as relates to real personal sacrifice: only one single member of Congress has a youngster in the military.
And, to Michael Moore's credit, he is not shy about confronting the powerful. In a sense, he is pretty amazing: unattractive, without any of the ploys of modern pretensions and charges in where "angels fear to tread." I've changed my mind about him personally. He doesn't for a moment pretend that the movie is anything but a movie with a distinct purpose and angle; and, he is not kind to Democrats either, as often is thought.
Is the movie anti-American? No! Quite the contrary, very much pro-American. But, stripped of political posturing. If I was not already voting for "anybody but Bush", this movie would have swung me over. I doubt that it will anybody else, however; those who go to see it will already have made up their minds. Wait for the video but definitely see it.
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| MARIA FULL OF GRACE MOVIE REVIEW BY MAJORIE O'KEEFE |
This movie is about a teenage girl who is so desperate for a better life she gets involved with some shady characters.
Maria Full of Grace is a very heavy movie. Maria is a "mule"(or mula carries drugs across international borders). She swallows twenty-three two-inch bags of heroin, makes it to New Jersy, is interrogated, almost arrested, but remains incredibly cool. Her black eyes stare right through people. Security finds out she is pregnant so they can't x-ray and she walks.
Maria is one gutsy youngster, just seventeen according to the movie.
Two scum bags waiting on the drugs pick her up along with two others. They go to some sleazy motel and do the "thing" to give them the heroin; one girl gets sick, apparently a bag ruptures and she dies. Maria and a friend run away. They have only one address, the sister of the dead girl.
They go to the sister's house, a series of events follow. The movie is heavy, sad, tragic, no way to do it justice in a review.
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| GARDEN STATE MOVIE REVIEW BY MARJORIE O'KEEFE |
Main Characters of this independent film:
Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff; TV Show, Scrubs, etc.)
Samantha or Sam (Natalie Portman; Movies, Star Wars Pre-quel, Where The Heart Is;etc)
Garden State. Andrew Largeman, a somewhat successful actor comes home after many years for his mother's funeral. He, after just getting off his anti-depressant medication has to confront the past including his psychiatrist father(his father prescribed the anti-depressants to him as a young boy). He also reconnects with old friends as well as meets a quirky new friend, Sam, a young woman who helps him deal with his past.
Good movie, a kind of "cogitate your navel" movie. The movie centers around youngsters(at least to this reviewer) trying to figure life out: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?
Natalie Portman steals the show; while ditzy in a way, she is disarmingly strong. She was In one of my favorite movies Where The Heart Is where she was abandoned by her boyfriend and had her babe in the Walmart, but learns to support herself and her child while in the end gets the guy.
In Garden State she not only wins, but transforms the guy, Andrew. I think that what Garden State does is reinforce that all of us have a story in one form or another. Part of the story here is a dysfunctional family with a twist and a turn here and there.
The movie didn't develop much of this, but they only had a couple of hours. I would have liked to see the Father fleshed out a little.
The movie is definitely an anti-psychotropic drug film. It asks the question: Do we really need all those antidepressants? Like all movies, what happens is what the director and writers want to happen and that is truly a good thing about movies. Zach Braff, writer, director, and star (Andrew Largeman) did his job well.
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Kill Bill II was very interesting and I am a little amazed that I liked these movies. Uma Thurman is really good and dynamic. The movie is very violent but interesting .
Kill Bill II builds on the first ONE.
Kill Bill I is the attempted wholesale killing of Uma, her potential husband, the preacher and his wife, all at this wedding rehearsal.(All of this killing is done by her former boss,"Bill", David Carradine and his assassin group.) Uma Thurman "The Bride" survives. After four years, "The Bride" Uma wakes up and goes after her enemies including Bill. (The Preacher and his wife? Maybe they should have been killed as Tarantino made such a parody out of them. Take every "countryfied" view of preachers and put it in a five minute clip and you have it.)
The story basically is: Uma "The Bride" is an assassin, who has been taught and trained by a superb and "one of a kind" martial arts master. Uma gets pregnant. Her potential husband lives in El Paso, Texas and runs a second-hand record store. Oh great, who came up with this! She is helping him and gets to listen to music all day. Her former boss, David Carradine becomes aware of her new life. Uma decides to leave the assassin life. Therein, is the loyalty thing, and plot.
Although much of the movie is built around the martial arts, family loyalty is also a "driver." The movie is very unrealistic, but some interesting scenes of "mind over matter." Uma is very powerful and comes across with a steel will and you get the idea that regardless of everything, she is not going to be beaten.
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In a sense, you can only understand KB I if you see II; it is hard to know what Tarentino meant to do. Most think that there should have been only a ONE. Having seen both now, I think that the way he did it was pretty good. The KB II did make it all come together. Rent the DVDs for the extras. Good with a pizza. The movies are full of flashbacks so enjoy the ride.
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