marcleif Reviews

The New Land (1972)

Dour and lugubrious

[3/10 · 19 February 2017]

Watched all 4 hours of it, but it was painful. Amazingly slow, long winded, repetitive and lugubrious saga of dour Lutherans working themselves to death. Hard to believe it was a sequel. Also extended passages of some of the most irritating music score in cinema --- prolonged, unaccompanied drums. Just endless drums for what seems like a 40 minute sequence.

Capsule (2015)

Inconceivably idiotic and boring

[1/10 · 18 January 2017]

Utterly idiotic and boring. Set in 1959, the film uses a Blair Witch premise of "found information" that follows a whining, whimpering, and apparently completely untrained and ignorant British test pilot sent into orbit in a secret British space mission to be the first man in space. Over the radio, Evil Russians convince him to kill himself. I'm not kidding. The idiotic film doesn't pay any attention whatsoever to any scientific or historic reality. As a result you have reference to NASA and Houston control which didn't even exist then. To say nothing of the fact that, in 1959, the British had no vehicle capable of orbiting a golf-ball, let alone a space capsule. (Theirs looks vaguely like a Mercury capsule painted white in the few scenes you sort of see it. )

The thing is an "Evil Russia" propaganda piece evidently produced by today's British intelligence MI6 for about $750. 99% of the movie is set in the cramped capsule until the ridiculous last 2 minutes, so in addition to being utterly stupid, it's completely boring. There's not a single redemption for this ridiculous movie. Not only should it not be seen, it should be destroyed. I would have given it less than a 1 rating, but IMDb has no 0. It makes Plan 9 From Outer Space look like Star Wars.

Trumbo (2015)

A flat-out masterpiece

[10/10 · 8 April 2016]

I've now watched this movie 3 consecutive times in a row.

It's a flat-out masterpiece. Should have won Best Editing, Best Actor, (sorry, Leonardo), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. Passionate, extremely intelligent, deeply moving, and eloquent.

And, man oh man, do we need someone like Trumbo today…

So I need 5 more lines of text… Well, we live a Matrix like culture today, in which our tweet culture has moved so far to the right, that an imperialist, neo-con Wall Street shill like Hilary is considered "liberal". I reiterate, the passionate, social conviction of Trumbo or a John Steinbeck is desperately needed today. And the both shameful and heroic story of the Hollywood Blacklist should be taught in schools. And this movie should be shown in every American history class.

Robin and Marian (1976)

A way under-rated masterpiece.

[10/10 · 3 January 2016]

This is simply the most beautiful love story ever made - ever. It is both profoundly moving and incredibly funny - remember Richard Lester, after all, directed it. The script is witty, literate and Audrey Hepburn's passages are simply the most beautiful dialog written for a woman in love - delivered as only the elegant queen she was could do. Everyone is at the top of their game in the movie; Sean Connery at his wry, world-weary most heroic - Audrey Hepburn as the only woman on earth capable of being loved by such a figure; Robert Shaw, Nicole Williamson, and Richard Harris -- all wonderful in terrifically drawn characters.

There's a beautiful, elegiac score by John Barry.

I've seen the movie a dozen times and love it more every time I see it. It's amazingly under rated.