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Sinamaniac
Reviews
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Great Movie, Terrible History
I wonderful, poetic film, but the James brothers were actually cold-blooded murderous criminals who ran with Bloody Bill Anderson and Quantrill's Raiders in 1864. They killed innocent civilians, farmers, women and children, and Union prisoners with no remorse. Sadly there is no mention or even allusion of this fact in the movie and therefore it could be seen as a disservice to the truth, if not outright propaganda. Otherwise as I mentioned, I enjoyed it very much. But remember it is a MOVIE not a documentary. I will never watch "Jesse James" the movie made in 1939 and starring Tyrone Power as the caring, thoughtful Jesse in the same way again.
The Son (2017)
Whitewashed version.
I was enjoying this series until there was a major deviation from the book, which I had read previously. In the book Eli McCullough, the male members of his family, as well as a bunch of Texas Rangers and neighbours (70 in all), in an act of bloodthirsty vengeance, annihilated the whole family of their Mexican neighbours, women and children included - all because they stole a few cattle and wounded his young son. In the TV series it seems the producers and writers decided that this would not do, fearful their predominately American audience who might turn it off if it didn't show Americans in a positive light. I am particularly dismayed with the writer of the book Philipp Meyer, also an Executive Producer of the show, who probably buckled under the pressure of Showtime executives and others who felt they should change this important element of his book. If they had maintained the integrity of the original story they would have had a powerful and uncompromising series. But as it stands it's a disappointing, whitewashed ghost of the original story.
It Follows (2014)
Sadly, if this is what "horror" means in 2015...
then we moviegoers are in big trouble. How is it that this turkey gets a 96% critical rating on RT and one of the scariest movies of all time, The Exorcist, gets 87%? I spent most all of the movie waiting for something
anything, to actually scare me. The by-rote sudden appearances of "it" were wildly inconsistent and sometimes laughable, but never scary. The best of the movie was the backdrop of Detroit's abandoned neighbourhoods, which were actually more horrifying than the rest of the movie. I gave this three stars because of the distinctive soundtrack, and for the technical efforts. I can only hope that the writer/director of this lazy and mediocre monstrosity can up his game for the next project.
Dead Air (2009)
So bad it's mildly entertaining (for those who can stomach it)
This film is putrid. Not only does it have completely amateur production values ( my niece could have done better with her iphone) but the acting and makeup are an embarrassment. The film's script and storyline are so bad I almost laughed out loud more than a few times. In fact I wondered how I managed to get through through the whole thing, then realized it was one of those films that was so bad it was mildly entertaining. But beware, it might not have the same effect on you.
Pontypool is vastly superior in all areas, I suggest you check that excellent film out before spending your hard earned money on this mess.
Corbin Bernsen should stick to his second-rate TV career rather than direct third-rate movies such as this laugher.