The Reel Deal
It was a busy weekend! Here are three reviews!
The Reader(rated R) - starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and David Kross
Hanna Schmitz(Winslet) is a former Nazi SS guard, accused of allowing 300 Jews to suffer horrible deaths, in a single incident. In flashbacks, Michael Berg(Fiennes) tells of his involvement with Schmitz, as a young schoolboy, who befriends her for his earliest sexual experiences, and during her incarceration upon conviction. Winslet is superb, Kross(young Berg) is lucky, and Fiennes is an afterthought.
Winslet has won a Golden Globe for her portrayal. At the end, I'm not sure that justice was served, but the purpose of this film was not about justice, but rather injustice. So just see it!
Gran Torino(rated R) - starring Clint Eastwood
Walt Kowalski(Eastwood) is a Korean war vet whose has outlived his wife and his usefuleness, in his family's estimation. He still lives in his old neighborhood, now ethnically different from his younger days, as he struggles to repel local gang infestation. If this was another Dirty Harry film, I could have appreciated it more, but the ethnic and racial slurs, so over-the-top from the first scenes, wore the film out very soon. The dialogue seemed forced, and the situations unrealistic. Gran Torino was over-hyped. It's a Yugo!
Defiance(rated R) - starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and Alexa Davalos
Why would Craig ever make another Bond movie? This true story of the Bielski brothers and their freedom exploits during Nazi occupation(a repeating theme, lately), is riveting, exciting, informative and action-packed! It is hard to believe that Craig and Schreiber may not receive Oscar nods, and Eastwood may. To not see this 2-hour epic would be an act of defiance!
The Reader(rated R) - starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, and David Kross
Hanna Schmitz(Winslet) is a former Nazi SS guard, accused of allowing 300 Jews to suffer horrible deaths, in a single incident. In flashbacks, Michael Berg(Fiennes) tells of his involvement with Schmitz, as a young schoolboy, who befriends her for his earliest sexual experiences, and during her incarceration upon conviction. Winslet is superb, Kross(young Berg) is lucky, and Fiennes is an afterthought.
Winslet has won a Golden Globe for her portrayal. At the end, I'm not sure that justice was served, but the purpose of this film was not about justice, but rather injustice. So just see it!
Gran Torino(rated R) - starring Clint Eastwood
Walt Kowalski(Eastwood) is a Korean war vet whose has outlived his wife and his usefuleness, in his family's estimation. He still lives in his old neighborhood, now ethnically different from his younger days, as he struggles to repel local gang infestation. If this was another Dirty Harry film, I could have appreciated it more, but the ethnic and racial slurs, so over-the-top from the first scenes, wore the film out very soon. The dialogue seemed forced, and the situations unrealistic. Gran Torino was over-hyped. It's a Yugo!
Defiance(rated R) - starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell and Alexa Davalos
Why would Craig ever make another Bond movie? This true story of the Bielski brothers and their freedom exploits during Nazi occupation(a repeating theme, lately), is riveting, exciting, informative and action-packed! It is hard to believe that Craig and Schreiber may not receive Oscar nods, and Eastwood may. To not see this 2-hour epic would be an act of defiance!
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