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Reviews
Atlas Shrugged: Part III (2014)
Best of the three in capturing philosophical essence.
Just got back from the 7pm showing. More than 30 people in the theater. Had three theaters showing it in the Twin Cities Minneapolis/St Paul Minnesota.
I have to say this third and final installment was the best of the three in terms of capturing the philosophical essence of the novel. They used narration to good effect, and used the device I think is the most effective ... having philosophical discussions amongst themselves rather than some contrived debate or speech. Though John Galt's radio speech came off well condensed, capturing the spirit of the three hour version.
My only nit in casting was that I thought Joaquim de Almeida was quite a bit too old for the part. He looked more like Dagny's grandfather than her childhood boyfriend. My favorite D'Anconia was Jsu Garcia of part I. He had the young playboy look.
Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike (2012)
True to the spirit of the novel
Both Rand's enemies and her purists are unlikely to be pleased by any effort. For the rest of us (especially Atlas Shrugged novel fans) the 2nd installment is a pleasure. It's true to the spirit of the novel, has more philosophical meat than the 1rst and is action packed with good pacing. The first part of the book was more slowly paced as the world was just beginning to unravel. In the second part the pace picks up as things get worse and the government grabs for absolute control. Dagny is still on the chase to save the world from itself, but she knows time is running out. In part 2 as in the book, Francisco begins to reveal more of his true intentions to Dagny and Hank. So viewers of part 2 who haven't seen part 1 would benefit from doing so.
Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011)
Want to see parts II and III
I'm giving this a score of 10 to offset the ideological zero scores of you know who.
In reality no movie is perfect. As a movie (rather than an adaptation) it is a bit too busy. As an adaptation of the wordy book, it isn't busy enough. So the watchword is compromise which can't please everyone.
I did enjoy the show and didn't have any problem with the production values, as I didn't notice them and therefore they captured the level of reality needed to maintain the illusion of a movie.
I teared up at the running of the Galt Line over the Rearden metal bridge.
Anyone giving this very low scores is doing so from an ideological point of view. That's understandable as long as you take it into account when assessing the meaning of the collective viewer movie rating.
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
Whipsaw emotions beyond ability of any actor
I chanced onto this starting with scenes between Robards and Richardson and then watched it through several scenes with all four of the main characters.
You could set your watch by the regularity of the emotional 180 degree turns. It became too patterned, to formulaic. Everyone including Hepburn was called on to switch in mid-sentence from angry to forgiving and back again, or some other pair of opposing emotions.
Yes, that happens in real life, but not 10 times a minute.
I don't fault the actors, they gave as convincing a go at is as would be humanly possible. But the end result was unconvincing, even a bit more than irritating. One could never forget they were watching a play and not real life.