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shutterbug9000
Reviews
The L Word (2004)
The L Word Rocks
I am no fan of Chick flicks for the most part. But although this series comes across like a chick flick, after all it stars mostly chicks, hahaha, it is very well done. The camera work is nice. I like the fact that they don't use bright lighting and rely on what appears to be available light for many scenes. This makes the composition more realistic and warm. After all, who sits in a room lit like Kmart if you don't have to.
Remember Quin Martin Productions like Banaby Jones? Talk about lighting. They lit those offices like Buddy Ebsen was going to perform a Hemorrhoid operation or something.
This series is well put together. Well acted, scripted, directed, and they are in their second season! The characters are fun to watch....so go rent the damn thing already!
Shutterbug
The Grudge (2004)
The Grudge Sucks
This has got to be the worst horror film I have ever seen. Just make a quasi-burping sound and bulge your eyes out and that is how scary the film got. There wasn't even any flesh in the brief shower scene with Sarah from Buffy fame. If you are going to make a cheesy horror film at least toss in some flesh. But nooooooooooooo. Just a bunch of Japanese kids making burping sounds. Perhaps they ate some bad Sushi.
Not scary, interesting, sexy, or anything at all. They even shot most of the film during the day! What kind of a horror film is shot this way? Save your money and play Bingo with your grandmother.
Shutterbug
Inherit the Wind (1999)
Very Well done, a must see for the whole Family
I am sad that these two great actors are no longer with us. They both gave so much to us via Hollywood. This movie is one of many productions where their talent shined.
Inherit the Wind -1999- is about a teacher who was tried for teaching evolution back in 1925. The writers and director portrayed both men as honorable, intelligent members of society who simply had a different viewpoint. Unlike movies like Runaway Jury -2003- which demonized the firearm industry, and portrayed the other side as kind and caring. This film, Inherit the Wind, handled both sides of the Evolution debate seriously. Runaway Jury for example, had a jury member initiate the pledge of allegiance in court. A silly stunt that took the credibility of the movie away.
I highly recommend this film for the whole family and teachers should show this film for their students to watch. I am sure the discussions afterwards should be quite interesting.
--shutterbug--
Runaway Jury (2003)
Weak message; far fetched; silly; basic cinematography.
This movie is too weak and silly to be taken seriously. If you are a movie producer who doesn't like guns, then why not show us how you feel. Why not show the damage done by the lone shooter at the beginning of the movie who shoots and kills many people in some office? Instead, we get a sterile office shooting and poof, it's two years later. We do not see the impact caused by the person who goes postal and kills several people in that office setting. We see no fire shooting out of the "evil" gun, no blood, no crying, no pleading for ones life, just a few popping sounds in the background. I guess guns don't cause that much of a mess, people just die neat.
The cinematography in this film is basic. They use normal lenses, basic film or video, the editing is nothing special, and the musical sound track at times seems cheerful. Are guns cheerful? I am sure many would-be-rape-victims who have used guns to scare away an attacker think guns are mighty wonderful, but that is not the message of this film. They should have played music that fit the theme of the movie.
The movie is silly at times. John Cusack manages to get the jury to stand up and do the pledge of allegiance in court which is out of line and completely stupid. Is the movie a comedy? Is Cusack a comedian? Rodney Dangerfield should have played the judge. Cusack even talks back to the judge during the pre-trial jury selection process. This was completely out of line and took away from the credibility of the story. So what is the message of this film?
Are guns funny? Is Cusack a comedian? Are court rooms run like a circus? Maybe in California under Judge Ito, but not in most parts of the country.
The director of this film even showed the "evil" firearm company having a meeting in a, (you guessed it) smoke filled room. Which is kind of ironic, since the Book Runaway Jury is about suing the tobacco industry. There are some preachy moments in this film about second hand smoke too! Perhaps the smoke filled room the evil firearm magnates sat in was left over symbolism from the book. No matter, it looked corny.
The message of this movie was lost. The plaintiff's feelings don't count here. Her husband was killed in the office rampage at the beginning of the movie, but by the end of the film who cares? They even started selecting a jury foreperson before the trial started!!! I have sat on three juries in my lifetime and we always selected a foreperson after the evidence was heard. Judges instruct juries prior to deliberation to select a foreperson. Juries don't start doing this on their own. At least not in Chicago.
This film is a scream. If this is the best that anti-gun Hollywood can do to demonize guns, you can bet your Smith and Wesson your Second Amendment Rights will be around for a long time!