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Uninhabited (2010)
Seems Better If You Follow It Up With Something More Apocalyptic
Scanning the reviews thus far, my take on this film is a bit more charitable than some have given. True, the storyline and plot devices are hackneyed (as is the word 'hackneyed'). Yet, I enjoyed the scary drawings on the hut walls, and the scrawls on the pages of a found book. The the obvious overdubs give a charm to things. Anyway, I watched this film as part of a bleak trilogy late one night: It was preceded by Casa De Areia (House of Sand) and followed by The Road. It just seemed to make sense that way. And, like the other two films, Uninhabited made the most of some fantastic scenery. I think that its surface creepiness magnified the more apocalyptic feel of The Road. And, I've got to say that was far more than I expected from this movie.
Zorro (1975)
Not Bad For $0.50!
Yes, the 'Hollywood DVD Classics' from Double-D print of _Zorro_ is overexposed and awful, but I didn't expect much to begin with. In fact, the DVD quality was so bad that I used it to test DVD drives and video software. However smoothly it ran gave an excellent indication of how well the buffering in a system I played it on was! Anyway, you can't go wrong if you think of this as just a rainy day DVD. The movie has nearly continuous and lavish action sequences, the acting is good, and it was worth every penny. The 'Zorro's Back' song by Oliver Onions is scarily contagious. There is also a good amount of humor more generally, but sometimes you will be laughing 'at it' as much as 'with it'.
Eat the Document (1972)
This Document Got Chewed
A PREFACE: IF this (admittedly refried) print which I had the pleasure of viewing had even one (1) complete song from the live set of Dylan and the Hawks, it would have earned an extra star. Also, I will refrain from including the 'limousine scene' with Dylan and Lennon from my review, as it was never Pennebaker's intent, so far as I can determine, to include it.
OK, so if the point of this movie was that 'Ol Bob went through some crazed times during the British tour of 1966, I don't think anyone, including Bob Himself, could have spared that impression from being salvaged from any amount of footage. A previous reviewer noted that the performed songs bear little resemblance to their studio prototypes here...
Yes, the old folky tunes ('Baby Let Me Follow You Down' is a great example) are indeed verging on swirly psychedelic territory at this point, and I must confess that I like these versions better... this movie is a perfect companion piece to THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL 4 - THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL (live Dylan , and is best enjoyed as such...
As for Bob's bad behavior and film editing, well, guess you'd have to be a musician to appreciate the context or something if you can't figure that out... this is 1966 we're seeing here for crissakes... and Bob is looking, acting, and possibly sounding not far off here from Syd Vicious of the Sex Pistols ten years later (see 'FILTH AND THE FURY')... Give granddad some credit, will'ya! If much of this has been left irreperably on the cutting-room floor, too bad, so sad, but this is enough to tell the story...
This Document got chewed. Amazing it survived at all.
The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam (1965)
A Classic Documentary
'Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam' was created just as the conflict was beginning to reach its most intensive phase, with the full involvement of US and allied ground troops superseding their previously advisory role. The film (originally made for Canadian TV) captures the moment of transition between these roles, and it does so with no narration and in stark raving black-and-white.
There is no sugar-coating here, and the movie fits into contemporary context all too well. The soldiers could have belonged to any age in history. What is especially clear, even at this early stage of the Viet-Nam conflict, is that the strategies of strategic hamlets & small-scale temporary occupations to disrupt and disperse Viet Cong operations were flawed from their design at the highest levels, and not from the efforts or intentions of the US troops themselves.
Safari (1956)
Where's the DVD?
A real big-screen picture, but I can only imagine... Even on my ancient Beta videocassette taped circa 1983, the Technicolor treatment amazes! Yes, there is a lot of stock footage there, but what scenery! The chase scenes, including elephants, tribal Kikuyu warriors, and the entire main cast, are so well put together as to make the transitions transparent. Much of 'Safari' has the feel of a spaghetti western, but its authenticity is never in doubt.
My only complaint is that of historical inaccuracy, since the Mau-Mau revolt (and characterization) is only viewed from the side of the Brits. If you can get past that issue enough to treat this purely as an action film.