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gary1792-1
Reviews
The West Wing: Stirred (2002)
Teachers
President Bartlett's "gift" to Donna was simply wonderful. Contacting Mrs. Morello was one thing, but prompting Donna to tell her old teacher where she was calling from was inspired. Now, since I don't know where else to look this up, can anyone tell me who voiced Mrs. Morello?
Giant (1956)
What a disappointment!
I had never seen this movie before tonight. And here I am, one-and-a-half hours into it and I am bored stiff. I fail to see how this turkey has gotten to be considered such a classic. The only redeeming quality is La Taylor. The writing is dull, and the pace is stultifying. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I have never thought that James Dean was a great as his reputation.) I'm going to see it through to the end. If I change my mind about it, I'll come back and admit it. But right now, meh!
Cattle Empire (1958)
Waste of Time
There are plenty of good B westerns out there. This isn't one of them. To be brutally honest, this movie plays like it was written by 10-year-olds. Even the great Joel McCrae can't save it. I noticed that one other reviewer complained that the film was too short. I disagree. I think it was too long. In addition to the weak plot and some truly awful dialogue, the supporting cast is none too good either.
The story concerns a man just out of prison, having been wrongly accused of letting his trail crew shoot up a town. He returns to the same town at the request of its leading citizen (who was blinded in the ruckus created by the trail crew, no less) in order to head up a cattle drive which is supposed to save the town. I'm not sure I've ever encountered such a lame premise for a dramatic film. Maybe a comedy, but that's not what "Cattle Empire" purports to be.
All in all, I'm sorry I sat through the whole thing, but I guess I just expected it to get better. It didn't.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Now there's an hour and a half out of my life that I'm never gonna get back!
What a contrast this movie offers. There are any number of violent and spectacular action sequences.
On the other hand, there is some of the crappiest dialog ever written. And much of it is delivered in remarkably amateurish fashion.
I usually classify films in one of three different categories:
Movies I'd gladly watch again and again (Casablanca);
Movies I'm glad I watched but have no desire to see again (Sophie's Choice);
and
Movies I'm sorry I watched (Master and Commander).
This movie may have started a new category for me: Movies that should never have been made.
Submarine Seahawk (1958)
Best seen while in a coma
Oh, lord this is a bad movie. I was in the hospital awaiting gall bladder surgery when I first saw this piece of crud. The best thing I can say is that it made me look forward to the surgery.
A lousy storyline and awful dialogue. As an example, when the sub is ordered out to sea for a difficult mission one of the sub command officers says to an admiral, "I don't like it." The admiral responds, "Talk to the man who invented war." I almost choked on my red jello.
There is a whole load of very familiar stock footage in this thing. Normally, I've got no problem with that, but did they have to use everything they could get their hands on?
I will give them credit for economy, though. I think I counted a total of 9 sailors on this boat, including the captain. Every time the scene cut away from the bridge and showed the crew, it was the same five guys. Pretty funny.
If you happen to see this film is coming on, please miss it. Go to Europe if you have to, just miss it.