nova1942 Reviews

Murder of Innocence (1993 TV Movie)

Murder of Inocence

[11 February 2007]

I just watched this movie and was amazed at how well Valerie Bertinelli did in this serious portrayal. She was marvelous!

As for the reasoning behind the girl's illness, I got the feeling it was something from her childhood. Perhaps inherited from her mother, who seemed to have a deep seeded strangeness to her!

What I was upset with and confused about, was that nothing came about after her father was taken to her apartment and saw what condition it was in. It was definitely the work of someone who was quite unstable and possible dangerous! If that place wasn't a red flag for help I don't know what was!!

The Stand (1994)

A wasted 8 hrs of my life and a new non-fan of Mr. King.

[4/10 · 7 January 2007]

This was the worst movie for good vs evil I have ever seen! It was a good example of why people find it hard to believe in a Higher Power. Example.....the 4 men who were sent on their way by divine direction, without food to accomplish nothing but die!!! (Except for the one of course who surprisingly to me managed to survive.) There was no logic to it!! There was no redemption, no divine intercession, nothing!! It was heartbreaking to see all the good people being killed and the evil people keep going on and on and on and on and end up being destroyed by one of their own by accident!!!! When I watch a movie I know is fiction, I still expect it to make sense either physically or morally. As for physically, one scene was almost laughable if it wasn't so dumb. The 2 characters on bikes heading for Nebraska meet up with a truck along the road going in the opposite direction! They ended up all going by truck to Nebraska, in the opposite direction the 2 bikers were going! As a matter of fact they were heading back in the direction of the grave danger they escaped from!! After reading the other comments I have to say that it wasn't necessary for Mr. King to anonymously send in comments in disguise in order for people to go to their video store and rent the film. Not only does he make enough money, he doesn't need to gather an audience to watch his performance in the film a la Hitchcock. Especially in this one where in the end he almost kills the hero!! I also realize that my comment is wrought with disappointment and annoyance because the version I saw was not "under 6 hours" as stated in the comments, it was 8 long hours!! Perhaps that is the problem. I did think that the idea of the movie was good, and I did think that most of the cast were feeling their part. But that the teleplay was trying so hard to make a masterpiece that it dragged and lost its mission! That it often didn't even make sense!! Not in the way Storm of the Century and Rose Red did. I loved those two so much I cannot tell you how many times I have watched my tapes of them!!! But unfortunately, The Stand doesn't even come close to making sense or have the feeling of the former two. I am sorry for being the only one who thought it was a waste of time to watch the movie. Perhaps the book was good, perhaps the book did make sense, perhaps Mr. King got so carried away with the teleplay that he got confused about the theme of the movie plot and ended up on the wrong side.

National Treasure (2004)

Entertaining Fun

[10/10 · 18 December 2006]

Entertaining Fun with capital letters!! The action is exciting and the dialog is terrific, especially the delivery! All the actors are good and fun to watch and look forward to every time I turn it on! I can't wait to buy it!!! Even Jon Voight with his smaller part is worth watching, I love his lines and how he says them!!! And of course N. Cage is entertaining as usual. And I got such a kick out of his partner that played Mr. Poole...(sorry forgot his name). Also, always enjoyable is N. Cage adversary. This fella from Ireland always plays a good part, whether it is as a mercenary, killer, or pilot! Please forgive me for not remembering his name. I came here unprepared!!

Mockingbird Don't Sing (2001)

My view of the production of Katie's story.

[7/10 · 20 August 2006]

I don't understand everyone's laudatory comments on this production. Yes it was well acted, yes it was a true tragedy and yes the little girl did a marvelous acting job. But I feel it is lacking more of an explanation of the Mother's actions. It is appalling to me to see her hug her Mother as if she had nothing to do with her life as it was! There is no excuse for the Mother to have let her husband abuse her daughter for that length of time. She was not mentally ill. And it was alluded to that there was a deal made between the girl's parents which emphasizes that the Mother was not mentally challenged! It seems there are too many spaces missing in the story portrayed in the movie.

The Haunting (1999)

Remake vs Original

[8/10 · 29 October 2005]

I enjoyed watching the actors and the music was good. The scenery was also quite fantastic. And I do enjoy watching my DVD version now and then. However, I also watch my other DVD of the original with Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Clare Bloom and Russ Tamblin which was much more mysterious. I don't mean scary slimy bloody stuff they throw at the audience now to make money...I mean it was actually a good old fashion MYSTERY!!!! The house in this version was large enough to get lost in but they all seemed to have no trouble at all running around from room to room. Eleanor being a relative came out of the blue in a way that you weren't sure whether it was in her mind or not. If it was actual in this version, they should have had her find something to allude to it and surprise her! But I watch this version for the pleasure of enjoying the performances of the actors, especially Liam Neeson!