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Male Star is Solid–Ready for Prime Time Movies, May 10, 2010

Mark Valley

I had no idea this was a television series when someone loaned me the DVD, nor am I completely used to the idea that I am seeing stuff before it gets released on Amazon–but glad that Amazon allows those of us so privileged to add comments now instead of waiting for the material to be shipped from what is obviously a delayed system.

The star of this TV series is every bit as good as the best of the James Bond actors, and I give him very high marks for combining a physical presence with a mental calmness and a human touch that is rare in this kind of setting. His two co-stars are superb as well, and I for one am absolutely ready to see his trio offered in a prime time movie and then some.

See also:
Quantum of Solace
From Paris With Love
XXX (Full Screen Special Edition)

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Five if you are former CIA or SOF, rest of world will not get it

May 7, 2010

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges

An extraordinarily talented and experienced international law enforcement officer watched this on loan from me before I saw it, and hated it. Now that I have watched it myself, I understand–if you have not been deeply engaged with CIA and all of its idiocyncrasies including remote viewing, acoustic-kitty, the pigeons that came before Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and then over to SOF (Special Operations Forces) where “unconventional” had to go covert to survive the straight-leg generals with no clue, you will simply not appreciate this movie.

DanD nails it–this is satire and also a brilliant documentary of what can only be decribed as a well-intentioned long-running Goat F..k. The movie is a collage of several different real initiativces including the First Earth Battalion (I knew a couple of the principals, decades ahead of their time); the Peace Warrior initiative, and of course Remote Viewing, the CIA’s notorious MKULTRA and LSD for unwitting victims, and so on.

At one point in the movie the two principal actors are discussing the remorse–the angst–over having used his power to actually kill a goal, and the other guy pops in with “Silence of the Goats.” That just about sums it up–this is, for someone steeped in the well-intentioned lunacy of the past–a perfect five, and I have to believe that the world-class actors that decided to do this did it knowing that it would be misunderstood by many, but a real hoot among the veterans of the seventies and eighties.

The only thing not in here, certainly worthy of a sequel to this movie, is extra-terrestial encounters, leveraging extra-terrestial technologies, warnings from extraterrestials [humans now being in a state of quarentine for being stupid squared], and the exotic, wasteful, and generally hilarious methods used to keep Area 51 and related projects “secret.”

See also:
Peaceful Warrior (Widescreen)
First Earth Battalion Operations Manual: Reprint of Original Manual from the 70′s
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence
Psychic Warrior
Psychic Warrior: The True Story of America’s Foremost Psychic Spy and the Cover-Up of the CIA’s Top-Secret Stargate Program
Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of U.S. Government Remote Viewer 001
Hidden Secrets: The Complete History of Espionage and the Technology Used to Support ItHidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge
Disclosure : Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History
Hidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge

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  Lovely in every way, including unlisted Magic Flute after the flowers

May 7, 2010

Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel

 I am not an opera expert, but I like opera and I especially like duets, and that is why I ordered this knowing little of the stars.

The other reviews are more expert, for me this was a hit on voices; on beautifully timed focus on specific instruments and specific musicians contributing to the larger event (a third of the DVD); and finally, not listed and after the flowers, an “unscheduled” duet, Mozart’s Magic Flute, Pan Pan…etcetera.

I will certainly use this totally satisfactory offering to search for “more like this.”

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Worthy of Serious Viewers, May 4, 2010

Woody Harrelson,  Ben Foster

I take with great seriousness some of the critical reviews, but on balance have to come down in favor of five stars and an enthusiastic recommendation of this movie and its actors. While I know little of current military casualty notification procedures, over-all this movie resonates with my own past as a Marine Corps infantry officer (40 years ago) and I found several things compelling:

1) America does not see enough of the down side of war. From 935 documented lies by the Bush-Cheney Administration to stark ignorance and corruption as the Obama-Biden Administration sells out to the military-intelligence-industrial pork complex, to the absolute and utterly immoral concealment from the public of the actual number of amputees including many many multiple amputees and the rising number of suicides, I find the disconnect between the public and reality to be catastrophic.

2) For me, these two characters are portrayed superbly, in detail. In my own life as a former spy we were obscenely proud of having the highest rates of alcoholism, adultery, divorce, and suicide in the US Government, and I have 19 professional suicides and 1 personal suicide in my life to date. The depth of the pain felt by those who survive was well-portrayed here.

3) The humanity of the protagonist and of the surviving widow, and the nuances of how that developed, were fully developed and expertly acted. This movie held my attention in detail for the duration.

See also:
We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition)
Gardens of Stone
Hamburger Hill
Apocalypse Now
Lord of War (Widescreen)

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Great as far as it goes not as good as Walk the Line, May 1, 2010

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges is indeed gifted in his portrayal of the alcoholic song writer and guitarist, but the script is a bit too simple and starts in the middle of the story–would have been much more engaging if we had seen him at his height, even if only an opening scence and then “six years later,”–so I personally was somewhat disappointed.

The female supporting star is absolutely wonderful, comes into the film not a second too late.

There wasn’t enough music for my taste–same song over and over, and I could not hear the words for the so-called great song that got him back on his feet financially.

Not as good as:
Walk the Line
Pure Country/Honeysuckle Rose
Beyond the Sea
De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story
Coal Miner’s Daughter – 25th Anniversary Edition

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Every actor a star including the kids, superb script, April 28, 2010

Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser

Sure, there are tear-jerker moments in this movie, but it is a true story and I give very high marks to the script writer that condensed a much more complicated history into a very smooth movie.

Every single person in this movie is a star down to the kids and especially the young lady playing the oldest child with the disease, and shame on the sponsors of this movie for not giving Keri Russell more credit–she added class and grace and femininity with a touch of family love and sex that was much needed, or this would have been a fat guy and an angry guy taking on the money vultures.

Super movie, take the negative reviews with a huge grain of salt or even better, ignore them.

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Superb in every way, intelligent, April 26, 2010

Emily Blunt

There are some really fine reviews here with detail unknown to me and I recommend them for broader background. This DVD joins my list of recommended DVDs for those who normally focus almost exclusively on non-fiction.

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Dark, Worthy, Held My Attention to the End, April 26, 2010

I salute the other excellent reviews, this is primarily a short note for those who follow my reviews, including the sub-set, DVDs for intelligent people.

Definitely there. Sombre, thoughtful, and very worthwhile. See all my DVD reviews at Phi Beta Iota, the Public Intelligence Blog, under Reviews, DVD Only (bottom of second column). We’re recovering from an attack that Word Press was not ready for, so it may be a week before we are clean and locked up against outside attack.

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Recommended–An Intelligent Movie, April 26, 2010

Mel Gibson

I cannot improve on the lead review, this review is primarily for those who follow my reviews, and the sub-set within my reviews, DVDs for intelligent people.

This is certainly a top-notch film with great acting, what I liked about it was the depiction of one lone person’s ability to get to the bottom of a government conspiracy against the public interest. While things happen that are arguably improbable for the average person, this film is both a revelation of just how much government can do that is NOT in the public interest (but assuredly at the public expense) and an inspiration on how possible it might be to stop such high crimes and misdemeanors by demanding integrity at all times.

Some oldies but goodies to make use of the excellent link feature that Amazon provides:
The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition)
The Pelican Brief (Snap Case)
Three Days of the Condor

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