StrayLiteFocus Reviews

Keep Breathing (2022)

Story Well Told and Acted

[10/10 · 3 August 2022]

I enjoyed this series about surviving physical and emotional trauma. If I had read and believed all the unfair negative reviews on this site I would not have watched it. I encourage you to give it a fair view. It is a short series - 6 episodes and they are not long. This series deserves a much higher rating

It is a story about personal transformation. The story is well told and well acted through emotional flashbacks that parallel physical crises.

If you want to watch a two-dimensional series about physical survival you will be disappointed. If you want to watch a series about overcoming layers of hardship then persevere. I am glad I did.

Bluff City Law (2019)

At the Crossroads

[7/10 · 22 October 2019]

A group of idealistic lawyers battle greedy corporations who harm voiceless everyman. This cliché premise leaves the plots predictable while the relationships seem hurried and forced. Still, the acting is good -- and it's Memphis! I live in and love this area... with all its blemishes. The crossroad is a mythical place where demons lurk offering temptations of fame and Memphis represents the crossroads of America. This place is the razors edge of America. It's where good meets evil, where East meets West, where North meets South and where Black meets White. Those collisions have produced music that is powerful, unique and beautiful. Memphis is also a powerful, unique and magical place so I will watch more episodes in the hope that this series, too, will also produce something powerful, unique and magical. I *want* this show to succeed. Let's see what this show does at the crossroads.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Largely Disappointing

[4/10 · 6 June 2009]

When a film opens with a huge text narrative you know the filmmaker is going to have a hard time showing the rest of the story.

There were some interesting ideas, here, but the film just did not elicit any emotional involvement from me... it did not give me a reason to care for any characters except the little girl who did not speak. This film does not stand on its own like the first two and does not add anything of merit to the Terminator series, IMHO.

I had really hoped this film would salvage the Terminator franchise from the pits of T3... didn't happen. The Batman franchise has been reinvigorated with a gritty new Batman. 007 has been reborn tougher and cooler. I expected this film to follow the trend and reinvigorate the Terminator franchise.

John Connor *is* grittier in this film, but there isn't enough of a cool factor and very little to provide an emotional tie to this grittier John Connor.

Shooter (I) (2007)

Yawningly Mired in Agenda

[4/10 · 21 March 2007]

This film trots out many currently popular conspiracy theories but ultimately seems to be saying that the US Government is hopelessly corrupt, that there is no justice even in the face of irrefutable truth -- so the only solution is to shoot all the bad guys. This has been done before and way too often this day and age.

**YAWN**

Also, people who do military based films need to learn a few things about military protocol. It is totally improper to call a Gunnery Sergeant simply "Sergeant." While a Gunnery Sergeant is *technically* a sergeant he is not simply a sergeant. He has earned distinction as a GUNNERY Sergeant. While a Gunnery Sergeant may be called a "Gunny" anyone calling a Gunny simply "Sergeant" will likely end up with their privates nailed to the floor. Try it some time and you shall certainly receive a quick and highly effective lesson in military protocol.

300 (2006)

Long speeches punctuated by gleefully gratuitous violence

[9/10 · 13 March 2007]

I have never seen so much violence so artfully presented. If there were an Oscar for well-done gore this film would already have it cinched. Rapid Spartan warrior movements are immediately followed by a sudden freeze at the moment of impact... at which time the only movement seems to be some body part flying off into space along with copious blood and gore spatter.

The title itself is the number "300" formed from blood-spatter.

The opening sequences reminded me of Robert E. Howard stories. It would be awesome if someone made a film from Robert E. Howard source material this same way.

Deja Vu (2006)

Uncomfortable Plot Dump

[6/10 · 24 November 2006]

I enjoyed this film, but it had some uncomfortable moments. Denzel is his usual suave self and the story has some thought provoking, science fiction implications. Time travel paradoxes always make for interesting flights of fancy.

The major thing that bugged me, though, was Doug Carlin's rant at the scientists/technicians over the time machine after he realizes he can affect the past. I felt uncomfortable during his rant and felt that it was an unnecessary plot dump.

Magic technological devices in film just are ... they do not have to be explained. Explaining them insults the audience, IMHO. Explaining them via an angry tirade is truly unnecessary.

Æon Flux (2005)

Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Action

[7/10 · 25 June 2006]

This is an entertaining and thought-provoking sci-fi action film.

Duality is the theme starting with the main characters, the violently spontaneous "Flux" who wants to radically change society and the rigidly structured "Goodchild" attempting to maintain the status quo. Are they enemies? Are they lovers? Neither? Both?

Good and evil; friends and enemies; love and hate; life and death... this eye-catching film explores all of these dualities and blurs the distinctions, yet ultimately lets the audience decide.

Visually pleasing and intellectually stimulating... in the end, it is just plain fun to watch and escape into an alternate reality that is really not so far removed from our own.

Serenity (2005)

Well Done!

[8/10 · 8 October 2005]

Well Done! A good story with interesting characters engaged in vibrant dialog. The film features an excellent, well-paced mixture of action, humor and loss. It is sometimes tense, sometimes sad and often humorous... very well done. My only problem was with a scene where part of the dialog was missing.

I am not sure if this was a problem with my local theater's copy of the film or a case of bad editing. The scene with the problem involves a verbal judo match between Mal and Jayne. Jayne asks war veteran Mal how many people survived from his apparently doomed patrol in his war days. The camera moves to Zoe and her lips move but there is no sound.

Batman Begins (2005)

Best Batman, Perhaps Best Comic Adaptation, Too

[8/10 · 17 June 2005]

Without a doubt the best Batman movie to date and arguably the best comic book character adaptation to date.

Great story featuring the Dark Knight's origin, motivation and inner turmoil. Christian Bale is an excellent Batman/Bruce Wayne. He *OWNS* the character.

Lots of excitement. Some scenes are too dark, but that is part of the territory since Batman did most of his work in the shadows. :-)

"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely. Are you ready to begin?"

Looking forward to several of these!

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Hyborian Age in an Alternate Universe

[7/10 · 6 March 2004]

This is by far the best "Sword and Sorcery" film produced to date. Being a Robert E. Howard fan years before this film was made I have to say I liked it and I hated it. Accounting for these plusses and minuses I give this film a rating of 7 out of 10; mainly because one of the positives is extremely positive.

The extremely positive factor is the musical score by Basil Poledouris which I believe to be one of the finest musical scores ever to grace the silverscreen.

Other things tip the scale toward the positive, too.

Milius is a gifted filmmaker who pays homage to my favorite director of all time, Akira Kurosawa and relies heavily on visuals to show the film's story turning to the captivating voice of James Earl Jones, playing the antagonist, only when narrative exposition is absolutely required. This is a wise decision since the cast is mostly green. The aforementioned Jones is the only veteran actor in a key role although Max von Sydow and William Smith are good in their cameo roles as King Osric and Conan's father respectively.

Milius also pays homage to the stunning art of Frank Frazetta in the costumes/sets and scatters "Howard moments" throughout the film; such as the scene where Conan beds a witch taken from a Bran Mak Morn tale titled "Worms of the Earth", sneaky thievery reminiscent of "The Tower of the Elephant", Conan's crucifixion from "A Witch Shall be Born", and Valeria (a name from "Red Nails") returns from the grave to protect Conan evoking Belit, the "Queen of the Black Coast".

The film's ultimate treatment of Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age tips the scale back in the negative direction, though.

Milius paints the Cimmerians as a peaceful agrarian culture while Howard's Cimmerians are strong, grim and war-like. Milius provides a history of a young Conan that completely contradicts Howard's.

The Milius Conan is sold into slavery at a tender age after seeing his parents brutally murdered while Howard's Conan apparently never even had a tender age; born on a battlefield and respected by the Cimmerian war council when he was not yet fifteen years old.

Howard's treatment of the character Black Turlough who was tossed into a snow-drift at birth "to test his right to survive" in "The Dark Man" is an indication of how Conan may have actually been raised in Howard's Hyborian Age Cimmerian culture. Black Turlough is Gaelic and Howard's Cimmerians are the direct ancestors of Gaels in Howard's fictional essay "The Hyborian Age".

This film must be a Hyborian Age in an alternate universe since contradictions between the Howard Conan and the Milius Conan cannot be resolved.