tree1957 Reviews

After Death (I) (2023)

It was great!

[10/10 · 30 October 2023]

I identified with every moment of the movie, have never had a near death experience but am somehow connected to the other side, started planning my next life on autopilot a few years back, have been trying to pre-perform a life review to identify problem areas, make amends whenever possible and correct thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors while still here. Somehow, as a child, I decided that only Reason mattered, and gave not a single thought to Love, and then found out that Love is what matters most!!! At maybe age 55, I had to put on the brakes and change direction. It's been a challenge, lol!

I've wanted to return to the other side for a visit, because you know they can do anything, with a pre-existing agreement that I would be coming back, not trying to stay. I found the movie to be very helpful, and it resonated as has everything I've read about the afterlife. Even though nothing in the movie was new or surprised me, it still gave me renewed and needed perspective, reinforced my beliefs, and was overall inspirational.

For some reason, I'd never looked into Near Death Experiences. Between lives, out of body experiences, past life regressions, I've read about all of those, and everything about them was familiar as well. I guess because NDE's are one-off's, I wasn't interested in learning about dying and being turned away. It is actually very interesting and a dramatic learning lesson for the outside observer getting a glimpse into this phenomenon.

War Room (2015)

i liked it

[8/10 · 7 April 2019]

I think Dish gave War Room two stars, but i watched it anyway and am glad i did. they made the case for the genuine personality changes that took place in the characters. not a big one for agenda-driven films, this crossed the threshhold into a film that was worthy of being seen regardless of having an agenda. if i am going to watch this type of film, this message of faith and trust, that, to the extent it can take place, would help a lot of families. am i drinking the kool-aid? maybe, but it is a good kool-aid to drink. the actors did a good job. the mom reminded me of Michelle Obama, and i wonder if that was done on purpose. i don't like Michelle Obama. this film was Conservative in message, but seems to have a perhaos misleading Democrat element, in that a Christian association with the Obamas would not be an accurate representation.

Sarah, Plain & Tall: Winter's End (1999 TV Movie)

I think Palance is the star here

[8/10 · 10 December 2018]

I have never liked Palance better, although he has been in better movies. This was a sequel, and I tried to add Palance's name to the original, then found my error.

Ben-Hur (2016)

we didn't like it

[4/10 · 4 September 2016]

four stars was the highest stars given, by my son. my mom gave it one or two stars. i give it two or three stars. maybe if none of us had seen the older version, we would have liked it better. we will never know.

i am struggling with what to say without giving anything away, but felt strongly enough that i wanted to have a voice and vote. after it has been out long enough for everyone who is really interested to have had time to see it, i will return, offer more detail, and identify my review as a spoiler.

the acting was pretty good.

Hereafter (2010)

saw this for the first time in 2016

[10/10 · 28 August 2016]

i should have given this a 10, may still do it. this movie was so interesting. i don't go to theaters, or pay for premium cable channels, so often see movies for the first time years after their release. this was stunning, even on a regular big-screen television.

i have always been curious about past life experiences and what is on the other side. Edgar Cayce crossed those lines from the time he was a little tiny boy. i have tried to let go of that curiosity but am so drawn by it.

i don't even care that the three major character's lives came together to connect in a most unlikely way, because if one starts at the end and follows their respective stories backward, all coming from death/near-death experiences is a long-shot reach no matter how you look at it, but who cares? it made for a tremendous story. taking a lot of dramatic license paid off.

for every genuinely psychic person out there, i think the movie got it right that most psychics are mere wannabe's.

this is a great movie!

Mortdecai (2015)

really funny!

[8/10 · 21 June 2016]

i've read a few reviews and definitely side with the group who likes this movie. i will probably watch it again and again, appreciating it more each time. but then, i like slapstick humor. Pee Wee's Big Adventure is one of my favorite movies, and Road Trip, and several other silly movies that i can't think of right now. Depp is fabulous, and i have never liked Gweneth Paltrow better, didn't really like her role in Emma. in this movie she plays the bored, spoiled woman very well. someone compared Mortdecai to an Austin Powers movie, but i think it is much better!

in particular, the way he talks about his mustache being a baby, and that he is 'invested' in it, is priceless. the sympathetic gag reflex isn't quite as good. i would give Road Trip and Pee Wee's Adventure both a 10, because essentially every moment in both of them is hilarious. this movie, however, gets an 8 from me because most of it is hilarious, and a bit of it is tedious.

Heaven Is for Real (2014)

for a religious movie, it was pretty good

[8/10 · 27 April 2014]

first of all, i don't go to movie theaters very often, only now and then when my mom wants to see a Christian film, and they are typically awful. the subject matter of these films is fine, it is rather the presentation that usually stinks: all agenda with bad acting.

my mom and i had each read the book, and i had read all the reviews, which were overall pretty good, so we decided to go this afternoon. the movie theater was filled to the point that it was a challenge to find two open seats together. everyone was quiet except for laughing at some funny parts, and afterward, everyone seemed pleased enough, no grimacing or disrespectful boo-hooing of colton's experience in heaven. i didn't notice any.squirming or talking during the movie; kids and adults alike seemed captivated. i heard only positive comments afterward. my mom and i agreed that it was pretty good but not fantastic. i dozed off a few times during the second half, but stayed awake most of the time.

i'm glad we went. i didn't really like the actress who played the mom. compared to the book, she seemed to overplay the role of skeptic, and i thought she was actually whiny (in the movie, not the book). my impression of the real mom is that she is much stronger, robust, and emotionally mature than what we were exposed to on the movie screen.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

seemed pretty realistic to me

[8/10 · 16 March 2014]

i've been watching this movie in a fairly captivated state, almost as though i am in someone's dream. not being a movie reviewer or a psychologist, i have only a sensory perception to offer. it is a good movie, where the unexpected happens as a matter of course. martha's sister and brother-in-law are left as clueless as those of us in the audience. they are, in essence, part of the audience to martha's reactions to the recollections and impressions made on her by the cult.

i don't know what critics of this movie expected of the sister and brother-in-law. i guess they want the perfect television or movie fake. in the real world, people often don't know how to deal with serious problems and they flounder. i think what happens so often in movies and on television is that we see the surreal in people, and come to expect it. when realistic reactions are shown, there is a letdown, as though someone failed.

this movie presents a genuine dramatic possibility: if x then y. someone could have gone through this, and it could have been their reaction. the reactions of the family members weren't givens, they Could have reacted differently, as there are so many different ways to react to uncertainties and bizarreness, but their reactions would certainly be possible in the real world as opposed to fantasy television or movie miracle responses.

i think the ambiguity in this film just hits some viewers too close to home. this isn't to try and dismiss all criticisms; it is rather my response to reviewers who criticize the sister and brother-in-law for not being more sensitive, caring, or intuitive.

all of this film lies within the realm of possibility.

Tarka the Otter (1979)

Awesome movie!

[10/10 · 28 July 2010]

I taped this on DVD a few weeks ago and finally got around to watching it. The photography alone is stunning, and the otters are so beautiful. A sad ending was referenced, and at first I didn't know, but was watching with my mom, and when Ustinov narrated three bubbles leaving the scene, she was convinced and convinced me that it was the three otters: Tarka, his mate, and their baby moving to a new location. My almost 4-year-old granddaughter was watching, too, and LOVED it. She handled the deaths just fine, including Tarka's mother bleeding after being shot. The movie shows some death, but much more life. I like the music, the story, the scenery, everything.

Since writing this review, I have read other reviews about the movie, watched again alone, and watched it with the 3-year-old referenced above, as well as her 7-year-old sister. No doubt, Tarka died in the end, and the 7-year-old was very sympathetic with Tarka's difficulties throughout the movie. It didn't bother her when Tarka and the otters ate the eels or fish or went after chickens, her loyalty was with the otters and she kept saying she couldn't keep watching. Each time, though, she did keep watching and enjoyed the movie, and perhaps thankfully fell asleep before the last hunt. As the scenes went forward, the 3-year-old remembered the entire movie from scene to scene and was as enthralled the second time around as much as the first. But with the sensitive child, it offered what I perceive as an opportunity to see that nature is, among other things, cruel.

Tarka encounters marvelous and varied experiences in his full, albeit difficult, life. This little otter stepped out of the normal path because of being alone. It enabled him to be a worthy opponent for the trained dogs and even to take out one of the enemy in the end. This movie represents a triumph over adversity. Tarka finally succumbed, but what a valiant little creature from a fierce breed. Butterflies can be fierce, hummingbirds are fierce, dolphins live passionately and fiercely. It seems to me that this is an aspect of nature to embrace and celebrate, maybe to emulate, not to run from and condemn. Because he was so resourceful and good at surviving, he was able to leave cubs behind. His difficulties weren't limited to being hunted by dogs.

A final note about varying comments about anthropomorphism in the movie. My understanding of this fallacy is to attribute human qualities and feelings to non-human creatures and things. This movie does that in abundance, but I don't have a problem with it. I tend to take an anthropomorphic view oftentimes, anyway. Looking at Tarka's life from a perspective we can relate to helps us to relate to the life experiences of the otters. So I say, yes, anthropomorphism runs rampant in the move, and that this is okay. It takes the movie out of the realm of being a cold, emotionless documentary, the narratives of which, btw, are frequently highly anthropomorphic in their presentation.

The Last Mimzy (2007)

Awesome

[10/10 · 6 December 2009]

It isn't coincidence that this is actually an intellectually interesting children's movie, taken from a famous science fiction story 'Mimsy were the Borogoves' written by Lewis Padgett (Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore). It is one of my favorite short stories, although the story ends differently, and they had to embellish the story for the movie. Still, the deviations are acceptable and in the spirit of the story, and I understand why the ending needed to be as it is for the movie.

My six-year-old granddaughter was enrapt as she watched the movie tonight, and I am going to buy her the Mimsy doll for Christmas along with a copy of the movie.

This movie is seriously satisfying to watch in many ways. It treats children as being intellectually worthy and really plays on their intuitive superiority. It addressed the dullness that takes place over time and the way our brain processes crystallize as we age. Richard Posner discusses this in more than one of his books on law and economics, but particularly in his book Aging and Old Age. One example that comes to mind is that even children's cameras are crappy, they are cheap items that don't have the capability of taking high-quality pictures, because, after all, they are just for children. I say hogwash to this, and I wonder what pictures would come of high quality, albeit necessarily sturdy cameras in the hands of young children. Children are underestimated, talked down to, and it is simply a joke that we as adults come off our pedestals to present things in ways that children can understand them, when in actuality, we need to raise ourselves to higher levels to comprehend the sensibilities of children. The short story 'Mimsy were the Borogroves' and to a lesser extent the movie 'The Last Mimsy' explores the possibilities of childhood and the potential of children, in hyperbole, but it is aiming at something real. At least, that is what I believe the authors intended to convey.

This was a movie that needed to be made, and it was well done to boot. Great acting, and the shooting looked good, high quality all around. They obviously had to take some dramatic license. Much like the ghost in Hamlet, you have to accept the terms of the story as presented even though in reality it would be absurd. There is a lot to glean here.

After reading many comments criticizing the movie for not following the short story as written, it may have turned out great had they followed the story, but it could NEVER have been a family movie. They chose a direction with their embellishments and likewise changed the ending to be consistent with a family movie. Is that really such a terrible thing to do?

Wait Until Dark (1967)

Shocked by insensitivity of husband, Sam

[9/10 · 16 November 2009]

I probably saw the movie when it first came out, or shortly afterward, and maybe once again in the late 1990's. Then, I watched it in high definition last night, 16 November 2009. On this viewing, I came away with a clear distaste for the insensitivity of Sam toward Suzy's blindness, to the point that I actually felt disgust for him. At the end, when he gets home to find his wife alive with two dead men in the house, having survived beyond all odds, he actually makes HER walk to HIM!!! That was too much for me. I didn't like Sam's attitude all the way through the movie, but the end was the last straw.

Perhaps his role in being so hard on her was to prepare her for the ordeal with the criminals. He probably gets partial credit for her ability to be tough in the face of disaster. There was likely some such purpose to his character, in order to make Suzy's manner believable.

I actually visited IMDb.com tonight to see if other posters shared my sentiments, and no one seems to; this wasn't brought up in any of the several comments that I read.

In spite of this, I also share most of the good sentiments from other posts. Wait Until Dark is a fabulous movie.

My Boys (2006–2010)

It seems contrived

[5/10 · 31 December 2006]

My impression of the first show was that they were working too hard to bring viewers into an established group of friends, to put the group across and show the rapports between characters. It didn't seem to be representative of the interactions between a real group of friends, or perhaps if representative, representative in hyperbole. I could watch the show without too much pain, but would definitely prefer to avoid it. OTOH, Sex in the City was a favorite, and I found the relationships between the women to be generally believable, even though their relationships with men didn't always play, for me, often. For instance, Charlotte not having sex during the entire first month of marriage, and this other hairy man that she liked but she expected him to remove his hair for social/aesthetic reasons, both of those plot lines were ridiculous, but maybe they were meant to be. If the intent was to be an overt satire about the absurdity of relationships, those two cases would be fits and served their purpose.

Getting back to the relationships between the My Boys characters, they aren't a fit for me. Somehow, they have tried too hard.

Open Season (2006)

Favorite animation

[9/10 · 15 October 2006]

This is definitely my favorite animated comedy. When I watched it at a local movie theater, everyone was laughing, the adults as much as the kids. There was no back-door, off-color humor for the adults to snicker at and pass meaningful glances over, it was simply funny: good, clean fun across the board. My 3-year-old granddaughter made it through the entire movie, usually she can't do that. She laughed a lot, although, part of that was from getting caught up with the laughter in the the audience. It was probably the visual funniness that she was able to latch onto within the movie itself, a few times she also caught the funniness of some dialog, evidenced by things she would say. It was visually funny, the words were funny, it was a great movie that I could see again and again. I had no idea it was out in 3D, and now hope to see it at an IMAX.

Most of the animals were equally funny. The ending is priceless, too. Another review mentioned Looney Tunes, and I can see a comparison, a bit. The animals make these little "aside" comments now and again, maybe a lot, I don't know, but one of those times is when the dachshund makes a comment to the audience about its owner that just brings the house down, so tongue in cheek it is, it takes a second to absorb the surprise, and then it is funny to remember for weeks. The dachshund's comment reminded me of something Jack Benny might have popped out with impromptu if he were alive. And if Johnny Carson were alive, he would fit into this movie REALLY well as one of the animal characters, maybe as an animal that got tickled over things, not that Carson would make the movie better, my point is that such a character could fit into this entourage delightfully. To me, it lives up to that kind of quality. Many of the reviews, though, appear not to reflect this high regard, and I find it hard to understand why everybody doesn't agree that this movie is stellar.

In comparison, Over the Hedge was not so memorable. I recall it being acceptably funny, but it quickly faded into a distant memory. Open Season will be with me vividly for years, even if I don't get to see it again. I would say that a comparable regular movie would be Mr. Deeds.

Road Trip (2000)

Fabulous movie

[10/10 · 15 October 2006]

I'm almost 50, a female, love Seinfeld, and this movie. I compare Road Trip with Seinfeld because they are both on the idiotic side, reveling in silliness.

There is no need to go into the plot, as it is stated and restated. If you are looking for something deep, this isn't the movie. And I understand that people have different tastes. For my part, I love almost every minute of this movie every time I see it. This time around, the character who has stayed with me and cracked me up ALL DAY is the hotel clerk that shows everybody the hand. That is one of the things about this movie, is that EVERYONE was cast well. It also doesn't have dull spots, it flows from funny to funny to funny, all the way through to the end of the movie, there are no sections to "get through", which is amazing in itself. The (intentionally) obnoxious, cocky guy was the hardest sell for me, and I even like him, and he seems to be the or a favorite of most of the reviews I've read. The snake and mouse scenes are priceless. I couldn't begin to even pick a favorite scene, because every scene is a favorite.

Whoever made the film seems to have been giving in to having fun as opposed to creating contrived funny scenes. Like Bob Hope, it is said that humor came bubbling out from inside of him. This movie was made with hilarity bubbling out from the inside. That is what makes it good, and it most closely speaks to character of Kramer in Seinfeld.

Another funny movie I would compare it to is the animation "Open Season". This was definitely my favorite of any animation ever. In Shrek, for instance, the donkey was hilarious. In Open Season, just about everybody (who is meant to be funny) is about as funny as the donkey in Shrek. And the energy is sustained throughout the movie, moving from funny to funny to funny. All clean humor, too, which is right for that movie. Off-color humor, on the other hand, works nicely for Road Trip.