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All reviews by user Date  Helpful Rating 1 out of 1 users found this helpful  Gangs, a noble missPosted: 3/26/2003A review of Gangs of New York by davidh118 Martin Scorcese's ";Gangs of New York"; takes us on a wild and improbable ride through 1860's New York. Unfortunately, it's blend of history and fiction doesn't satisfy in spite of tour de force acting from the wonderful Daniel Day-Lewis. The period is a fascinating and almost forgotten one(most of us remember Boss Tweed and Tamany Hall from American History class) which certainly is worthy of its own story. The invented story for Leonardo di Caprio just gets in the way and ultimately makes little sense. Di Caprio seems lost most of the time and his love interest, Cameron Diaz makes matters worse. The outstanding performance of course is Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher. What a treat to watch him immerse himself in this fascinating historical character that is part Robin Hood, part Sheriff of Nottingham (he steals from the poor, becomes rich, then literally carves fresh meat for poor families only to take it from some other poor sot all the while loving America and the ultimate sacrifice of blood made by those who defend her). Is this movie worth seeing? Yes it is. Could it have been better? Yes it could have. Was this review helpful? Sign In 1 out of 2 users found this helpful  Director Reiner can't handle the paradoxPosted: 5/18/2003A review of A Few Good Men by davidh118 "A Few Good Men" crops up on TV every few months and so it must have something that draws at least decent ratings(or the price was right). Of course having heart-throb Tom Cruise doesn't hurt the cause of commerce and Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore are stars in their own right (just not in this outing). I must say, I generally enjoy Tom Cruise playing a lawyer and he is the only good reason to watch this movie. Director Rob Reiner, a card carrying (one presumes) left wing Hollywood denizen pretends to seek the truth of a paradox in the military, how can one follow orders yet retain personal responsibility, but he is only fooling himself.Reiner loathes the American military and does his best to undermine its cause with his "objective" film. His absurd climactic scene between Jack Nicholson's off the tracks colonel and crusading neophyte lawyer played by Tom Cruise really is so silly that we are left shaking our heads. If Director Reiner likes Soviet styled Communism so much let him go to that island of enchantment, Castro's Cuba. If power corrupts those who have it, it also seems to do a pretty good job on those who desire it (like Herr Direktor Reiner). Do us all a favor sir, stay out of serious matters and go back to what Hollywood is really good at, fantasy. Was this review helpful? Sign In 1 out of 1 users found this helpful  Movie 'Lawrence' takes no prisonersPosted: 3/25/2003A review of Lawrence of Arabia by davidh118 That line ";no prisoners"; comes from a pivotal point in Major TE Lawrence's decision to attack a retreating Turkish Army column. It represents Lawrence's descent into the dark regions of his mind and of ";his"; war. It also describes the approach of master film director David Lean to the story of the Arabian Campaign in WWI between the Arabic tribes and their English allies on the one hand and the Turkish Army on the other.This is truly one of the great ";guy"; movies of all time. It is unrelenting, literate and bitter. Some of the great film actors of all time; Peter O'Toole, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn Alec Guinness and Claude Rains give riveting performances of great power but with an unusual, subtle undercurrent. Peter O'Toole in particular rides the ";whirlwind"; with an almost frightening level of manic intensity. This movie is for men and it doesn't have the usual banal side-show (read love story) which Hollywood often concocts to please its female ticket buyers. Considering the continuing importance of this part of the world to world events, I believe it sheds some light on the flow of life (and death) of these men and how we will need to frame our response to them in the future. Was this review helpful? Sign In 1-3 of 3 Per Page |
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