edlc Reviews

Facing Ali (2009)

Emotional Documentary

[10/10 · 30 December 2009]

I have seen boxing documentaries before but was never touched emotionally by one till I rented and watched Facing Ali tonight . The documentary looks at Ali through the eyes of 10 men who fought him, some of whom beat him: George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Ernie Terrell.

The documentary besides giving some inside revelations on the fights of those 10 men with Ali also gives some insight into the boxing careers and lives of the 10 boxers who are commenting on Ali. Some of their personal stories are pretty sad.

The documentary also covers what I found surprising statements from George Chuvalo concerning "mob" influenced events that led to the Chuvalo/Ali fight. I was also surprised by one of the fighters who was viciously verbally taunted by Ali in the days leading up to their fight come very close in the documentary to breaking down crying over Ali's present day condition.

The 10 men express some frank views on Ali and their fights with him but with the passage of a lot of time and events between now and when they actually fought Ali, there is no question that the documentary makes clear that they all deeply respect him now no matter what they may have thought of him in the past.

Garden of Evil (1954)

Garden of Evil on DVD

[7/10 · 20 November 2008]

My $10.99 three DVD set "Fox Western Classics" just arrived on Nov./18/2008. My first pick to watch was not Rawhide or The Gunfighter, the two black and white pictures in the collection, but rather the Technicolor, Garden of Evil.

The DVD print of Garden of Evil in the collection was gorgeous, unlike TV viewings of that movie I have seen. The "Fox Western Classics" DVD version of Garden of Evil reminded me in terms of picture quality of the first time I saw Garden of Evil, on a theater screen when it was originally released in 1954.

The movie itself is a fascinating story of greed, fear, honor, love, and lust. The on location scenery in Southern Mexico is spectacular (as seen on the DVD I referred to). The last 31 minutes of the movie in my opinion are the best. Those 31 minutes feature the 6 principle characters in the movie trying to save their lives by fleeing from the apaches who are following them and trying to kill them. Some of the six don't make it and are killed by the Apaches. To see who survives and why be sure to see the movie.

P.S. The prints of Rawhide and The Gunfighter the other two westerns in the collection are also very good.

Enigma (2001)

How I came to find and love this movie.

[10/10 · 15 May 2005]

I had never heard of this movie until last night. I was channel surfing on cable and came across the announcement of it just before it began on CBC (Canadian Broadcast Corporation). I stayed around long enough to see if it would interest me and ended up so engrossed by it, I watched the whole movie!

I loved the movie and the various subplots in it. In fact, I loved the movie so much I added it to my favorite movies list on my website in the what is, in effect, the political thrillers section which previously had only contained "The Third Man", "The Manchurian Candidate" (first version), and "The Parallax View".

In Enigma(2001) the tension and serious infighting between the various genius people in the team assembled to fight the Nazis and try to stop, or lessen the effect, of the wolf pack attack was enthralling.

I really lucked out on CBC last night!! Enigma(2001) was followed by "The Pelican Brief" which is also now in the list previously mentioned.