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Cry Macho (2021)
A sad decline of a once legendary man who now has troube fading off into the sunset with grace and dignity
I've noticed that as certain legendary stars get older and more senile, they stop making movies for audiences and start making movies for their own personal entertainment.
*SPOILERS*
Clint Eastwood plays a retired rodeo entertainer, just like he is in reality (because Eastwood can't make good movies anymore if he stars in them). Only instead of retiring from being on a horse in general because of an injury (in real life, Eastwood is 91 years old and should just make movies for others to act in and stop giving himself starring roles in his own movies), he decides to stay on a ranch hand caring for the horses (in real life, Eastwood still making movies when he stars in clearly can't make make good ones that he stars in anymore). He frequently shows up late and drunk for his ranch hand work (in real life, Eastwood on a good day making movies that he stars in when Eastwood in his prime wouldn't make even if he were drunk, hungover and had every bone broken in his body except for the ones that control his writing hand that he would star in). He gets one last special job trying to return his boss' son from Mexico (in real life, Eastwood making a movie that practically went straight to Redbox). Eastwood gets praised for his mission by various people (in real life, people who were so greatly influenced for the better by The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Dirty Harry, Coogan's Bluff, A Fistful of Dollars, Heartbreak Ridge, Escape From Alcatraz, The Outlaw Jose Wales, Firefox, The Dead Pool or Unforgiven (which should have been his real swan song from acting) that they don't have the heart to tell him that he can't make good movies anymore). He encounters people who threaten to call the Federales who are supposedly so corrupt that every one will apparently kill him if they see him (in real life, Eastwood is 91 and can't run, fight or do any stunts anymore, so he has to avoid people calling the police on him in a foreign country). He ventures down to Mexico and sees extreme poverty everywhere (ay dios mio! Those poor mexicanos!) and corrupt police officers he and the kid bribe (ay de mi! Those poor mexicanos!). He has a middle-aged woman throw herself at him (in real life, Eastwood thinks he can still make good movies that he stars in). And when he refuses the harlot's advances (in order to tell fans of his who are all about the same age as him to refuses those young gold-digging temptresses), she threatens to call the apparently all-corrupt police on him (ay de mi! Those poor mexicanos!). He later meets a grandma of his age and both of them are widowed (in real life, Eastwood has gone through a lot of gorgeous women that most men wish they could be with, but is 91, twice divorced and looking senile now). The viewer has to suspend disbelief in thinking that all these women in Mexico are going to throw themselves at a 91 year old white American who voted for Trump (just as Clint Eastwood suspended himself from reality by talking to an empty chair in front of hundreds of millions of people). He frequently calls the Mexican police a-holes (in reality, Eastwood is trying to reach a younger audience by saying "**** the police!"). Eastwood and the kid make it back to Texas (in reality, Eastwood believes that Texas is God's country and probably thinks that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will one day come in Texas rather than Israel/Palestine).
Mr. Eastwood has directed some amazing films like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, American Sniper, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby, J. Edgar, Invictus. He did a pretty good film with Gran Torino because his crotchedly old man character entertained millions of viewers (Eastwood did a racism!). But he is about as detached as reality as Mark David Chapman when he makes this or The Mule and has 20 and 30 year old women throwing themselves at him. The movies have become more about his own self-indulgence.
But if you want a sweet clean movie where some 91 year old man goes to Mexico alone and returns a boy without getting arrested, pushed or even punched, then this is the movie for you!
The More You Know (1989)
Excellent Use of Commercial Time
Whoever thinks that this is "socialist propaganda" must think that America stands for illegal drug use, intolerance, hate crimes and violence.
While most of the public service announcements were on pretty obvious issues, the ones about tolerance (is that really a "left-leaning" only message?) were very effective in getting the point across.
Given that some people actually look up to TV stars (the why of this is beyond me), it's a good idea for them to issue more positive messages.
The important thing here is that the stars used and the language employed in these TV spots were age-appropriate, meaning that Jennifer Aniston or Matthew Perry would give a public service announcement for the teenage/early 20-something crowd.
All in all, this can't be a bad thing for television. Have you even seen the other garbage put on it?
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Excellent cinema, in spite of its propaganda
It's hard to be completely objective about this film, but Griffith made a masterpiece for filmmaking. Unfortunately, given his Southern roots, it's expected that he would make a film with such a disturbing message. The truly strange part about this film is that the first half is very much accurate, yet Griffith sees them as a case FOR slavery! Of course, the cruelty that the slaves faced wouldn't be put in the film for obvious reasons.
The film then delves into fiction for the Reconstruction period. The "Making of" documentary even states that much of the scenery for this part of the film is mostly false or overwrought.
And yet I have to give this film a 10. Not because of the content. I'm a diehard liberal, but that doesn't mean I'm going to love every film with Barbara Streisand or Al Franken in it. This film was truly ahead of its time and has even aged well. No wonder it's been a successful KKK recruiting tool.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
deep and thought-provoking
This movie was not very well-received when it initially came out, but I believe that it was due to the timing of its release. It came out about two months before 9/11. Most people couldn't or wouldn't think of the deeper meanings in this movie at the time, be it the idea of artificial beings having real thoughts emotions or even souls; or the idea of humanity being able to accept these artificial beings as their own. These themes were explored in the Robin Williams movie "The Bicentennial Man" that came out two years earlier, but I think that A.I. was far better in terms of story structure and the overall tone of the movie.
Considering the number of recent posts lauding this movie, I think the tragedy of 9/11 and peoples' mortality has begun to weigh so much more heavily on our society that a movie that poses such deep questions is more easily understood by people today.
This film was loosely based on Brian Aldiss' short story "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" but digresses greatly from the initial point of that story. While the sci-fi story wasn't bad, I think that Kubrick and Spielberg did a phenomenal job in progressing with those themes than did Aldiss; though Aldiss did have some small contributions to the film when shortly collaborating with the late, great Stanley Kubrick before their egos took over.
Spielberg really proved he could do sci-fi w/o resorting to cheesy special effects (with the notable exception of those ridiculous Hounds costumes in the movie) or trying to tidy up little plot point for the sake of pleasing the audience. This films ranks amongst his all-time best after "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan."
American Beauty (1999)
overrated crap
I can't believe that amount of accolades given towards this movie. A movie about pedophilia, drug use and homophobia makes me question the sanity of anyone who might think that this movie is what best exemplifies America and the struggles within it.
Spacey delivers a wonderful performance while Benning gives a very overdone one. Most of the acting was very good, but the plot was so convoluted and based on a series of misunderstandings (Come on! How could the weird neighbor's father think that his son was gay based on a bad viewing angle from his window?) that it just detracted from the movie while I felt like I was yelling at the characters in the movie for all the stupid things they were doing and dangerous situations they were involving themselves in.
Most of American society is not this screwed up. Perhaps the main theme here was that characters in the worst situations can still find beauty in their lives, but if that involves a drug dealer falling in love with a flying plastic bag, then count me out of this idiotic mantra.
Akira (1988)
One of the best films of all time
This isn't just the best anime of all time. I feel that it trancends its boundaries as an "anime" film and can rank amongst the all-time greats. What many don't understand in their haste to compare this to films like Princess Mononoke or Ghost in the Shell is that it came out about 12 and 7 years before those films, respectively. Akira was so far ahead of its time, that it's actually aged very well.
The story, centering around two members of a biker gang, actually goes so far in depth about the nature of their friendship that you actually forget about the theme of "man vs. nature" in the story. The SE DVD was done really well and it plays really well on a good home theatre system.
You can't possibly think of a film this layered as just another Japanese cartoon. It set a high water mark for anime and along with films like Macross and Vampire Hunter D; was very instrumental in anime crossing the pacific to enjoy widespread popularity in the U.S.
The only complaint I could think of at the moment is that much of the plot was toned down from the even more adult themes of the comic book anime that this was based on. Although many people think that the original dubbed voices were poorly done, I think that they gave the movie some extra character and charm.