Movie Review 10.June

Title:The Shining
Staring:Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Rating: 4 Psycho Axe Murders
Review: This movie has a lot of reputation to being one of the best horror films in recorded time. By title, reputation and original author, you have to agree that this book turned movie by Stephen King has to be one of the best. Even I will admit I can’t stand trying to read Stephen King, his work drives me insane, but the movies that proceed books are getting good.
If it wasn’t a pointless idea to deduct points for bad hair, I’d do it, but then this movie would be a building from the ground up in terms of points, considering that nobody seems to have a decent hairstyle throught the movie, except perhaps Lloyd the Barman.
What does bug me about this movie otherwise, and many other movies before and after is the screaming. Will Wendy kindly put a sock in it? There is no one nearby to hear her scream and therefore it is doing no one any good. But I didn’t take a point off for that because otherwise these movies wouldn’t get abywhere anyway.
The one thing that brought this movie down for me was having seen the Simpsons abridging parody of the movie, which gave me an idea of what happened from start to finish, but I was still game to see the film properly and how it all worked out. I notice that Stephen King is not one for writing what happens to everyone after the event except in one exception (thus far0, that being Misery.
I took a point off simply because there were many times when this film could have used some abridging itself, and that if there were less of a few things, or those things gave off more explanation, than that owuld have been better. Like how did any of the major characters develop such great third sight? How are their worlds so powerfully affected by the paranormal, and so forth. We know Danny has the Shining, those two words never appearing in the movie, and that perhaps it is a combined gift from his parents bloodline. No ther conclussion drawn. And that there were a number of things in the film that went without explanation or logical links. They are just there randomly, have no real point and connect to nothing dramatic. The ghosts here and there around the Hotel while Wendy is trying to find her son, the blood in the elevator and ‘Red Rum’ being a few of them. And what was Danny doing while Mummy and Daddy played victim and killer in the main hall? I know he was listening in (the little eavesdropper) but could you be a little more specific? Either way, get the kid a councilor, a shrink and a psychoanylist.
Jack Nicholson has a bad habbit of taking on folms where his character shares the same first name, this and Tim Burton’s Batman being primary examples. If I searched Wikipedia, I am sure I can find more of them. But at the same time, the former movie certainly laid the ground-works for the latter, and you can see that jack Nicholson, either through psychosis or mental advancement, is a perfect villain of a psychopath. Just give him a new character name, please.
Would this movie appear on my shelf? I’m not sure, simply because it dragged for too long. There were so many logical points where this whole situation could have been avoided and if characters spoke up and certain times, things might have averted. But if you ask me, this relationship was doomed from the getgo, it just boiled down to here.
I decided to follow the story of the Shining to its original source; the book. Reading the Wikipedia abridging, this explains more clearly why things are happening and what events are taking place. Laying this over the top of the film, removing plot changes, etc, it makes the film a little bit easier to understand in places where it previously wasn’t. I also chased down some of the Music, selecting my favorite song for your listening pleasure.
FYI: The image of Jack in the snow was more freaky than any shot of him as the Joker you will find.

Title: The Color Purple
Staring: Whoopi Goldburg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey
Rating: 4.5 Purple Flowers
Review: Well, this film/play caught my attention through one of its songs, entitled Push Da Button (enter code and it should work) performed at the local Drag bar. Annoyingly, the song didn’t appear in the film. After a lot of work, I found its origins and then discovered the movie. Now, after seeing a few movies taken from plays, I had a few ideas of what The Color Purple might entale. What I didn’t expect was the story it told. But with an all-star African-American cast, I couldn’t tell you how much I enjoied this story. I laughed, I cried, and I enjoied watching Oprah Winfrey punching people out left, right and centre, which was a major bonus.
The story is basically about African-American women and their rights form the late 1890’s to the late 1930’s. It demonstrates the difficulties of not only being black, but also being a woman in a time where neither had a great number of rights. How two sisters go through such hardships together and what a rat bastard their father is, and he then marrys off one of his daughters (to whom he ahs had two kids) to another rat bastard. The story goes on to watch Celie (Whoopi Goldburg). This man pulls her and her sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) and how she swaers God will never keep them apart. And so we follow Cilie as she loses a lot of hope for her life until she meets Shug Avery (Margaret Avery) who gives her the corage and hope she needs. Fueled by the independant friend Sofia (Oprah Winfrey) she discovers that her two children are not incest-bred.
I took all of .5 of a pint off. I’m sorry but a movie that brings me to crying fits twice can’t lose that many points. I took it off because there are times where the movie seems to have jumps in time passing. Sometimes it is only hours or days, and then we jump whole years. I also took it off because whenever the season ‘Fall’ appeared on screan with a year, it went by so quickly it looked like ‘Fail’. If it was any quicker I’d have to pause and go back to check the time and date.
This movie is inspiring and brings out the novelist one me. I just want to sit down and write, despite the late hour and the things I have to do tomorrow. But it also reminded me why I have always been in support of everyone having equal rights, reguardless of race, religion, sexuality or gender. There is always a reason, and people who have no idea about how tough life was back then for people less... I don’t want to say privilaged, but I’m short on words, they should see this and get a better idea of what you might of gone through if you were black, a woman, or both. God help you if you were a black lesbian.
Will this movie be on my shelf? Stupid question, considering I only took .5 off the top score. The Color Purple is definately a good movie for a night in, and a reminder of who we are as humans.

Title: Amber’s Story
Staring: Elezibeth Rohm, Teryl Rothery, Myron Netwick
Rating: 3.5 Amber Alerts
Review: This movie, based on a true story, is probably one of the most touching in the list of movies I will ever watch and present here in the review. The story is based on the abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman in 1996, and how her Mother took charge with her grief and created the Amber Alert.
The movie in itself is not very telling, nor is it very specific after the first half hour. It lives through what the mother went through, then how she set up the Amber alert while it cross-sections with another abduction story. In short, the two mini-stories tell how the alert was created and slowly adopted into every state of the USA while it depicted the abduction of another girl and how the Amber Alert tracked down and caught another kidnapped girl.
After doing a little background reading, I discovered that this is more of a film made for TV than it is anything else, but it is still a touching thing to watch.
I am a Taurian Moon in my astrology, which apparently will make me a great Father one day, and sitting and watching this film through had me on the virge of tears from start to finish, and there were certain points that the film had me leak a tear or two. I couldn’t imagine the pain and suffering that comes with being the parent of a lost/abducted child, and I’m really glad that part of Australia also adopted the idea. And that leads me to say that if George W. Bush signed the Protection Act of 2003, creating the American Nation-wide Amber Alert, he can’t be all bad.
Not something I would see again, sadly enough, simply because there was little suspence to it. It is an interesting movie documentory and an insight into what it takes and how to do it for setting up such things.
In prayer to the soul of Amber Hagerman. May the afterlife be a p[lace of peace and that fear is nothing more than an idea. From where you are, may it be seen that even in death, you have created something most powerful and saved many more lives. I am sorry you went through whatever ordeal led to your death, but may you find comfort in the web created in the American System protecting innocent children. Rest now in peace and love.


This weeks ratings

(*) The Color Purple (4.5)
(?) The Shining (4)
(x)Amber’s Story (3.5)