Cini34

This documentary, an excellent look into one of the most paramount Supreme Court decisions in American history, explores the events leading up to Brown vs. Board of Education, especially highlighting the work of Charles H. Houston. Houston pulled together a team of competent lawyers, mostly black, and began to challenge segregation in the area that he thought would most ripple out to effect all the other areas of segregation, of which there were a multitude: education. The film highlights Houston's brilliance particularly well. His case is so well crafted, and his research and work so thorough, that it's hard to think of any judges actually disagreeing with him (there were a few, though). With the help of the NAACP, Houston essentially attacked current educational practices where it would hurt the most: educational funding. He fought for the equalization between black and white salaries, of textbooks, and of school buildings. Houston's point all along had been that any school that was separate and segregated according to color was by no means equal. In summary, then, this documentary is particularly helpful in aiding one's understanding of the Brown vs. Board of Education case, the events leading up to Brown, Brown's aftermath, and all the hard work and dedication put in by black and white alike to end what is one of America's darkest periods. It is well put together with a montage of stock video footage from the period, interviews with some of the individuals who helped shape the Brown case, music, and powerful images. If you are looking for a good documentary highlighting the decision to end segregation, then this is definitely the one you should see.

9 stars out of 10.

To be honest, you don't really see many films specifically about writing very often. When you do find them, though, you hope they are as good as this film. Finding Forrester is an entertaining and intelligent film that strives to knock down cultural barriers and even personal barriers. It has several strong points including performances, story, and direction. First of all, Sean Connery's performance is wonderfully truthful and inspiring. It's entertaining to watch him, especially when he's given lines that only he could possibly get away with. New-comer, Rob Brown, is also very good, perhaps not as good as Connery, but considering this is his first film, he does an excellent job. There were certainly some interesting camera angles as well, which made the film more interesting; props to director Gus Van Sant on that.

A weaker point in the film was the music which, although it worked in this particular film, was not terribly interesting to listen to, nor did it really heighten the film for me.

On the whole, Finding Forrester is a strong film with good messages about overcoming obstacles, racial issues, and our own personal fears. Highly recommended.

8 out of 10 stars.

Don Bluth's masterpiece, The Land Before Time, is a wonderful children's feature with beautiful animation, a great story, adorable characters, and good direction.

As a director, Bluth's use of color and texture in this film is absolutely brilliant. He has this wonderful soft blending of mainly the background colors (usually most notable in the sky), which suggests use of chalk pastels to create this effect. In every film of his that I've seen, he always has great (what I like to call) atmospherics. In this film, you notice it in the blowing of dust/fog, some of the fire effects with the volcanoes (mainly the falling fire sparks), the falling black ash before the characters reach the "mountains that burn," as well as certain water effects.

The vocal cast was really well suited to all their roles. There were a few instances where some of the lines were a bit muffled and hard to understand, but for the most part, the cast did really well with their lines, made them sound natural, and child-like, and managed not to be overly cute and obnoxious as some characters made for children's films inherently are.

The score by James Horner is a wonderful addition to the film's atmosphere and really does a great job setting the mood. Horner always has a way of infusing his scores with a sense of romanticism that is often lacking in today's film composers, and this film is no exception. He makes really good use of his strings section, especially in this period of his work.

To be sure, this film is a masterpiece! All of its excellent qualities are apparent while watching the film, most notably the animation (which is excellent for a late 80s film), the voice cast, the score, the story, and the art direction. Without a doubt, it would be well-deserving of a spot in any animated feature hall of fame.

9 Stars out of 10!