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johnceast
Reviews
The Neighborhood (2017)
Horrible.......Don't!
Anytime a director insists on showing the main character driving/riding from one place to another, and absolutely NOTHING happens during the drive, it is a sure bet that this is a stinker! Do we really need yet another hackneyed "mood" shot of the Brooklyn Bridge? Every scene looked like a bad commercial, and yes, even 10 chimps could've written the script and they would've been done in 15 minutes. And these ridiculous reviews! Think maybe they got seniors from the neighborhood church to write these reviews after Bingo, but before coffee? Actually, I was looking for Danny Aiello's portrayal of Jack Ruby when I came across it, and worse yet, I spent $3 on this "Mozarell..." of a flick! I would rather have spent my $3 on a "Slice," from Sal's Famous in Spike Lee's, "Do the Right Thing." Now YOU do the right thing and run away from this one....quick!
Ozark (2017)
A Grand Slam!
One user described this series as a home-run. It is, indeed, but with the bases loaded and 0 outs. Been watching crime movies and TV series for decades. When I watch a movie or series episode and I'm not fooling around with my mobile, playing with the dog, eating, or writing reminders to myself, I know I'm watching a masterful work.
As a crime drama, it is on a level with "I Was a Fugitive From a Chain Gang," "Godfather's, I and II," "Goodfellas," "Heat," and "New Jack City."
The Promise (2016)
A Piece of History Americans Must Learn
I was curious which version of the Armenian Genocide this movie would tell. A fiction, that 1.5 million Armenians, 500,000 Greeks, and 250,000 Assyrian Christians were victims of a "civil war?" Or would its makers place responsibility where it belongs -- on the leaders of the Ottoman Empire in WW-I?
To this day, the Turkish government refuses to admit the crime and its supporters took great lengths to derail this movie by flooding internet cinema sites with poor 1.5 ratings to discourage Americans from seeing the film. This, despite the courageous efforts of Turkish dissidents and opposition political leaders who have dared to speak up on the ugliest episode in their country's history.
The story portrayed against the backdrop of this crucial period of history is a simple one. A gifted medical student, Michael played by Oscar Isaacs (Inside Llewyn Davis/Ex-Machina/A Most Violent Year) whose acting matches the intensity of the times -- receives his betrothed's dowry to complete his medical education in Constantinople. Michael arrives just as the genocide begins and falls in love with the beautiful Anna, an Armenian music protégé --performed by French-Canadian Charlotte Le Bon (The Hundred Foot Journey/The Walk) who lives with her lover Chris Meyers, an AP reporter determined to expose the genocide (played by Christian Bale (Empire of the Sun/American Hustle/American Psycho).
Director Terry George, a native of Belfast, Northern Ireland (Hotel Rwanda/In the Name of the Father/Hart's War) skillfully factors in crises of the heart without trivializing the gravity of the horrific massacre in Anatolia.
I digress here to confess a lesson learned. Coming from a Hellenic heritage scared by 400 years of Ottoman occupation, I expected a larger Greek presence in this movie. My ethnocentric desire to see a Greek army coming to the Armenians' rescue, made me miss entirely the message conveyed in this work. I selfishly asked "...why were my people left out of this flick?" Fortunately, as the end of the movie approached, two thoughts came.
First, the Armenians deserve to have THEIR story told uncluttered by others. Besides, at least we Greeks HAD a country to escape to.
Second, I realized that my people were in the movie and yours were, too. The Cambodians under Pol Pot, Native Americans, the Armenians and the victims of Naziism in Europe: Gypsies, Homosexuals, the horribly so-called "Mental Deficients" the peasants/workers of Russia, and of course, the Jews, are all our people!
Perhaps someday when we realize that our Humanity is all we have to share with one another, such movies will no longer be necessary.