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luckins
Reviews
Wild at Heart (2006)
Great family series
I wish they had more of these types of shows in the United States. Big on family values and respecting nature. I also liked how they portrayed the local people. Sometimes, the story gets a little contrived and there are stupid moments, but it's good overall. I didn't like the characters coming and going throughout the series, though.
The last season, however, was not very good. It almost seems thrown together like the series was planned to end in season 6, but a season 7 with a happy ending was put in place to please fans.
I wish this series was fully available to buy or rent in the United States.
ABC Afterschool Specials: The Last of the Curlews (1972)
Really affected me; About the song
I actually don't remember seeing this as a kid as I was really young and I was not into birds. I think my brother watched it and was affected, or I saw it later. I actually didn't care much for any of the After School Specials when they were on.
I came across the video for this show on Youtube, but it had the beginning and ending cut off. I know many of the other reviewers mentioned the song. The only true lyrics I have found was for the song about 2/3 of the way in when they're in the Gulf of Mexico. I do not feel comfortable listing the entire lyrics due to copyright reasons, but here are the parts that had the most impact on me:
"This is a song of how it used to be. . . .This is the way the world was for you and me/ How free we glided on the air/ Only pure and lovely there! . . . .
Ahhhh, you're gone away/ You were mine, a little while./ The sounds on golden wings,/ I remember and I smile."
There was more to this song, but I didn't want to post the whole thing. If you would like to know the entire lyrics, drop me a line.
As to the second song, I am still tracking down the lyrics for the ending. But, here's what I got so far. The pace was similar to the end of the song above with a slow pace of a ballad:
On golden wings/ You and I/ Went wandering
Then, I think it went similar to the way that Fredflounder said, but I'm not sure about the lyrics:
With no one there/ To say golden wings /Would melt alway
Then, I think it picked up faster, but, again, not sure of the lyrics. I think it went on for at least three or four sentences, but I am not sure what they were and am still tracking them down.
I think it ended like the song above:
Ahhhh, you're gone away/ You were mine, a little while./ The sounds on golden wings,/ I remember and I smile.
I know this was in syndication around the world and am hoping that someone still has a copy of the complete show from beginning to end including credits and theme song. I believe that many people were not listening closely to the song at the end because they were either crying their eyes out or had turned the show off. I don't remember watching the show, but I seem to remember the ending song. I think the music is what caused people to be sadder than they would have otherwise.
This is just about the saddest show I've ever come across. I've seen lots of animal movies where the animal died and even experienced many animal deaths in my years of watching and caring for animals, both wild and domestic, but this really affected me. I think it's because of the loneliness of the male who may or may not know he was the last one. Finally, all his dreams are fulfilled only to be taken away. He will now be alone for the rest of his life. Also, I remember reading a story where the female curlew who was shot in 1963 on Barbados. There was a pair seen in 1962, then in 1964, a male was seen alone. No other physical evidence of Eskimo curlew have seen seen since (though many sightings have been reported). I wondered if this lone male in 1964 felt like the male in this story.
The last statement, "The were once thousands of Eskimo curlews, then there were two, now there was one, soon they'll be none." Was really strong. Unlike a lot of other children's shows, this one wasn't wrapped up with a cute little bow that said "everything is going to be OK".
I got the book and I loved it, especially the copy with the T.M. Shortt drawings.
East of Eden (1981)
Very faithful to the book
I have to say that I loved the book and was not impressed by the earlier movie with James Dean because I didn't think it did justice to the storyline of the book.
This miniseries follows the book fairly faithfully, the way it was written. I do seem to remember Sam Hamilton's wife being more fleshed out in the book, though. I also liked the scenery, sets, and other production items of this series.
There were times, though, were the acting made me cringe. For one, when Cathy was being beat up, it was obvious that the fists missed her by a mile. I did think that Soon-Tek Oh did a fantastic job as Lee and Jane Seymour did a great job as Cathy/Kate.
One thing that I felt should be improved is in make-up. They could have done a little more to show the characters aging. For example, they could have at least made Adam's and Kate's hair appear more gray as they aged. Afterall, they were in their sixties at the end of the story. And, they could have done more to Kate's hands to make her arthritis seem more convincing.
Into the Wild (2007)
Good, but could be better
I was holding off reviews of this film until after I had read the book and actually seen the movie. I like how faithful it was to the book, though parts had to be condensed for brevity. I found it interesting because I had actually been to many of the places that Chris had visited and was glad to see that it was filmed on location except for the part at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (I did not see it in the film credits I am familiar with the area where Chris lived). An area near Palm Springs was substituted instead.
I found the acting and storyline to be very good, but parts of the film seemed overdone and over dramatic. Some of the slow-motion shots were not necessary and seemed a little dumb, though.
Overall, I thought it was a good movie and was interesting to watch all the way through. If you've read the book first, you won't be disappointed. I usually don't like to read the book first because I don't like the changes they make in the movies, but this film did the book good.
All the King's Men (2006)
I thought it was pretty good. . .
I actually thought the film was pretty good, but definitely not for everyone. I actually don't like either Sean Penn or Jude Law, but I thought Jude Law's performance the best I've ever seen from him. The story is actually more about his character than of Sean Penn's. "Jack" is actually what the film was about. Most of the other characters were barely seen except for him.
My main complaint about the film is that it shows nothing new. I guess that's to be expected from a movie that was based on a 1946 novel that many future plots were taken from. I was annoyed, also by the photography (being a photographer myself). I found there was too much contrast in some parts, not enough in others. Depth of field was also kinda strange, too shallow in some areas. I mostly attributed this to me sitting near the front.