dsboud Reviews

The Gathering Storm (2002 TV Movie)

Fascinating slice of a great man's life

[3/10 · 27 April 2002]

Albert Finney as Winston Churchill, Vanessa Redgrave as his wife Clementine and Linus Roache as Ralph Wilgram star in a fine, pre-WWII biographical look at Winston Churchill from his being viewed as a minor irritant and alarmist to his rise to the head of the Royal Navy, before his becoming Prime Minister. At the start, Winston is a vocal opponent of the appeasement policies of the Prime Minister Chamberlain but few pay any attention until a man with access to top secret information begins to feed him real data revealing the truth of the buildup of Nazi military forces which indicate a definite goal of European domination. Frequently despairing of ever being listened too, we see Winston go into times of deep depression overwhelmed by the feeling of powerlessness in a nation whose memories of WWI still horrify the populace into desiring peace at nearly any cost. However, always at his side is his rock, his beloved Clementine, not only consoling but encouraging him to remember his motto to ?keep buggering on? no matter what. Armed with the top secret data, he begins to finally get the attention of the nation as he desperately pleads with his countrymen and women to build up the vastly depleted British military just in case the demented madman, Hitler, turns a lustful eye to Winston?s beloved country. Absorbing and insightful, I wasn?t bored for a minute watching the story of this great man?s beginnings and the great woman who bore with him and supported him through all the frustration and aggravation of trying to turn around a nation still grieving the horrendous losses of the previous war. 3.5 out of 5 stars

King of the Grizzlies (1970)

Pleasant wildlife story for a quiet evening's viewing

[26 April 2002]

John Yesno as Moki, Chris Wiggins (I) as The Colonel and Hugh Webster as Shorty in a pleasant enough family film, more of a grizzly life?s documentary with a sparse human element wrapped around it than an actual movie, about the life of a male grizzly from cub to adult. During his life as a cub, he loses his mother and is rescued from certain death by a Cree Indian, Moki, and released in the high mountains surrounding the ranch Moki works on for the Colonel. The story shows the viewer a gentle, laid back view of the life of a typical bear with beautiful high mountain scenery and a glimpse of the rugged life of those intrepid souls who went west with a dream and established the big cattle ranches that eventually lead to the settling of the wide open country once owned by the Indians and animals, who unlike these, lived together in harmony. Good for a time when you just want a quiet nature story and great mountain photography as not much in the way of excitement happens until near the end when the big bear?s future becomes very uncertain after he crosses the tough rancher. 2 our of 4 stars db

'Twas the Night (2001 TV Movie)

Decent, fairly funny with good moral conclusion

[6/10 · 9 December 2001]

A decent little story in which we learn how Santa is able to visit all the kids in the world in one night without being seen. Unfortunately, when he visits the Wrigley home waiting for him are chief scammer Uncle Nick and his protégée and nephew Danny. When Santa makes an error he is not only seen but ends up unconscious with Uncle Nick and Danny in his new hi-tech sleigh, but for different reasons. Danny wants to complete Santa?s mission while the larcenous Nick has altogether different plans. Good story to teach kids, and adults, the value of honesty and how cheating hurts those most important to us. 6 stars out of 10

Fugitives for a Night (1938)

Cute piece of fluff

[4 October 2001]

Mystery Romantic Comedy Drama A cute little piece of fluff worth viewing when you just want a quiet, pleasant diversion for the evening. A young man is falsely accused of killing another at a party and with the help of a young woman flees to give himself time to think and the two end up falling for each other while hopping trains and forcibly renting a car to elude the pursuing police. Not bad at all! 2 out of 4 stars

The Rousters: The Marshal of Sladetown (1983) Season 1, Episode 1

Cute little tale

[6/10 · 27 August 2001]

I don't know why no one has commented on this cute little flick about a bouncer at a circus Wyatt Earp III (Chad Everett) grandson of the original legendary Wyatt Earp, his feisty mother (Mimi Rogers) and his dim witted brother, Evan (Jim Varney). This has a little bit of every thing, all tongue in cheek fun, car chase with exploding car, armored car robbers, a helpful lion, yes lion, rescuing an abused woman from her very nasty boyfriend, a blazing shoot out with the robbers with Wyatt using a Buntline Special (replica of course) and believe it or not, it all ties together quite nicely. This is one of those movies for a quiet evening when you just want a humorous easy going flick with no profanity, sex scenes or the like. I enjoyed it! 6 stars out of 10.

Wrangler (1989)

Fairly tense, small rancher vs. big bad rancher down under.

[10 August 2001]

Jeff Fahey and Tushka Bergen in a fairly tense story of a battle between little ranchers and a big one down under. The big one is greedy and crooked and wants everybody's else's land including Bergen's family ranch. When her daddy dies she is left alone to try and stop him but gets an ally in Fahey a local business man. Of course that turns the bad rancher's sights on him and the bad guy sets out to ruin Fahey's business so he can't help Bergen. It comes down to a last desperate cattle drive that the bad men are willing to kill to prevent. 2.5 stars out of 4

Winterhawk (1975)

Made on a shoestring budget and looks like it.

[10 August 2001]

I never finished this picture so this may not be a completely fair evaluation. Seen on AMC it was introduced as a film made in the spirit of Tarentino and others like him where the film maker found his own extras and essentially financed it on a very limited budget. I watched only a half hour and kept dozing off. The actors mostly acted like they had never acted before. No emotion, no realism to what they did or said. And the score! I got so tired of hearing bass voices droning "Winterhawke" in the background that I had to mute it several times. Maybe it picks up further along and gets better. The lead lady was decent in her acting as was her little brother. Who knows, I don't expect to ever go back and find out. 1.5 stars out of 4