My friend, Oscar.

A quirky, heart-warming tale
My husband and I saw this film when it was showing in New Orleans, where it was made. We both enjoyed it and we kept talking about it. It's a heart-warming story with excellent acting and a good soundtrack. If you enjoyed "Benny and Joon" you'll like this film, too.

This is a must see movie
I saw this movie when it made it's premiere in New Orleans. What a wonderful movie about friendship and unconditional love. Taylor Slade does a remarkable job in her role as an awkward pre-teen and Blake Balu gives a tremendously touching performance as her mentally challenged friend, Oscar. The entire supporting cast is stellar with stand out performances by Luis Q. Barroso and Micheal P. Sullivan.

A must see
This is a great heartwarming movie. Blake Balu and Taylor Slade are both great and convincing in their roles.A must see for teenagers and adults alike, to learn about acceptance of people who are not like us.

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The Sword Identity

SHADOW AND SOUND
This is another Chinese film that had me scratching my head. The bad guys in this are the Japanese, who we never see. There is discussion and fighting among the various martial arts schools and the military as to what weapon and technique to use against the Japanese. A sword copied from the Japanese and altered in China is being promoted by one man, who is thought of as a Japanese pirate. Hence the title.

The movie appears to have some levity by design in an attempt to keep the action/drama from becoming too boring. However the foreign humor is well...foreign humor and only the slapstick aspect translates well.

The martial arts aspect of the film is stressed in some minor fighting hints in a technique the old master calls, "Shadow and Sound." The film appears to have some Chinese cultural appeaL that is not universal unless the theme is pirating from foreign countries is okay for the defense of the nation. The fighting is minimal and even the women who dress in...

A master strikes once - this film strikes out
THE SWORD IDENTITY (Orig. title WO KOU DE ZONG JI, 2011, 111 minutes) must be one of the most simultaneously rewarding and downright confusing martial arts films ever conceived. A master from China conversant with its history might appreciate this in full. I could only appreciate it in pieces, or rather, piecemeal.

Set in the Mind Dynasty - though I rather question both the costumes I saw and the dialect as I heard it - an argument sets in among the martial arts school masters as to how to deal with a Japanese pirate who has infiltrated the unidentified city.

To simplify the background: a military general previously perfected a technique that would defeat the Japanese katana as it was back then. Another general, and I think this was the first general's brother, developed a technique that would defeat the warrior rather than the sword.

The military strategy was an attack formation to defeat the Japanese "pirates"; the martial arts technique was designed...

form follows function
When is a sword not a sword? That is a question asked by this film. In a land of tradition (and traditional weapons), how does something new get added to the mix? This interesting film tries to show some of the ways in which that question could be answered. A good, off-beat look at a martial arts genre film.

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Inga Collection

Review of Inga (1967).
Inga is the weakest Joe Sarno film that i have seen. It's quite boring without any plot! It does not progress and it never climaxes. On the back cover, it says that this is an erotic masterpiece, which is far from the truth. I think that Joe Sarno tried to make an art film but the result was disappointing for me! I expected a lot with INGA. A film that was a huge hit. Earlier films by Sarno like "Sin in the suburbs" and "The love merchant"are much better. They are more dramatic with good stories. The transfer by retro seduction is very good, just watch the dubbed version and not the "original" swedish. I have not seen the other two films, yet.





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The Edge [HD]

Back to Siberia....
This movie is about an isolated labor camp in Russia. A war vet chooses the camp because he wants to continue to pilot trains, but he has been deemed unfit by his superiors. Out in the middle of nowhere, he figures he'll find his last chance. He does and that's what this movie centers around. Of course they try to squeeze in a bit of romance, but the whole premise is boring. I did watch the entire film. Its ok for what it was. The only Russian language film I have ever seen. It's probably the only one I ever will see.

builds steam but.....
The characters are two-dimensional for my taste. However it is no worse than many other american films with the focus on what's going on than a relationship.That it is full of colourful Russian characters makes up for it somewhat.
Despite this complaint it is more likely to be a 4 star film as it is well made with good photography and direction. This is a solid film with great scenes of snow bound forests and an iron beast ( - the steam train and a pleasing spirit-mascot in a large bear)
Thankfully it is not a depressing film about camps and broken spirits but about endurance and care.

Well worth watching
I didn't know what to expect with this movie. I was very pleasantly surprised. I rated it 5 stars and hopefully this will attract some attention. It is probably a four star movie, but given that it is up against all the popular Hollywood fare, it is not unreasonable to give it a bit of a push. First of all for train fans, it does have trains. They are a central part of the story. Set in Siberia, in World War II, refugees of all types try to find their way. A romantic triangle of sorts, with individual Russians and Germans trying to find their ways through the mess they are in, provide the raw materials for this reflection on life, war, and morality or more accurately, the making of ethical decisions. And there are some great scenes of the beauty of the countryside, mixed in of course with the brutal conditions under which people are trying to survive. I am not a film critic, but the directing, story line, acting, etc., all seemed to be top notch.

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The Great American Pastime

Very average...
I really didn't know anything about this movie, but I like movies about baseball and thought I'd give it a try. This is definitely not a movie I'd plan to watch again, as it was merely ok.

Basic premise is that a busy father gets convinced to try teaching a little league baseball team. The team is awful, his kid is assigned to a different team, his wife hates baseball and thinks another kid's mother is flirting with him, etc. Basically everything that can go wrong does--until it all works out in the end. Sound like your cup of tea? If you like harmless and silly old movies, you might just like this! :0)





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Dancing Sweeties

sweet music
Cute movie, not great, but fun to watch. The opening sequence with credits is quite interesting to watch with couples dancing to the 1929/1930 music. Sue Carol did not make many films after this, but if I'm not mistaken became involved in behind-the-scene portion of film making. She also married actor Alan Ladd. The main song "The Kiss Waltz" is very pretty and danceable. They sing it several times in the movie. I read recently another song was cut from the film before release, "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" which became a big hit in 1930 with recordings by many of the top orchestras of the day. Too bad the producers didn't keep that song in the film. Tommy
Forgot to mention, Grant Williams, the male lead in this film, was married at the time to 17-year-old Loretta Young. Marriage was annulled by her mother during this same period. Williams was cocky and obnoxious and not very likeable. There's one very funny scene when Carol's role brings him home to meet her mother...





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Closer [HD]

Great character study! Which one are you?
This movie is RAW. If you want a feel good, bubble gum and lollipops type of movie, this is not for you.

This is one of the BEST character studies I have seen in a long time. It's ugly, it's raw, but it's REAL and that could be why some felt so ill at ease. To like this movie is to accept that people really are this selfish and ugly-hearted. This could very well happen and that's what turns your stomach.

By far, Clive Owen owns this movie! You are disgusted by him from beginning to end, but find yourself rooting for him on several occasions, then mad at yourself that you are doing so. But then when you look at the alternative for Anna (Julia Roberts) in Dan (Jude Law), you allow yourself the moral misstep. Dan is quietly selfish and insecure. You realize early on there's an invisible bar that he's set that no one can meet or sustain.

At the end of this movie, you'll ask yourself (in regards to family, friends, and intimate relationships) are you the...

You Always Hurt The One You Love
"Closer" is a handbook about how not to act in a relationship. It is about deception in all its various permutations: lying, cheating, pretending to love someone, pretending not to love someone.
"Closer" is about anything other then actually being close. In fact "Closer" is about staying as far away emotionally from people as you can: playing games with each other, taunting each other with frank descriptions of intimate encounters and instigating brutal arguments in which the need to hurt and cut as deeply as possible is paramount.
The four involved are: Alice (Natalie Portman), Dan (Jude Law), Anna (Julia Roberts) and Larry (Clive Owen)
Adapted from Patrick Marber's play of the same name, "Closer" several times retains the artificiality of a stage play. Movies are naturalistic, the Stage is artificial and at times the screenplay and Mike Nichols direction leads the actors down the wrong path artistically: for example Julia Roberts, the warmest of screen actresses...

Sweeter
"Closer" is a heavyweight breathtaking drama that rivets the viewer's attention. The characters are not entirely likable, although each is eminently watchable. Director Mike Nichols won the Oscar for Best Director for "The Graduate" in 1967 and has been nominated 3 other times for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), "Silkwood" (1983), & "Working Girl" (1988). Along with films like "Primary Colors" and the TV mini-series "Angels in America," he has an unparalleled ear for dialogue. No, it's not particularly pleasant. No, these are not the people your pastor hopes you will be. But each of these characters represent needs and desires that are shared by most people and are as confused by them as are many. Patrick Marber's screenplay adaptation of his stage drama is heart-wrenchingly truthful.

Of the four strong performances here, the most revelatory for me was Julia Roberts' portrayal of American photographer Anna living in London. She is selfish but has a...

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