marky-b

I'm not sure why this movie is hated so much. I'm a rather cynical fellow, and I thought it was pretty cute and fun.

It's always risky bringing animated characters to life with real actors, and I don't think anyone could have done better.

The very capable cast gave it their all. It was great to hear June Foray do her unmistakable voice of Rocky. I felt the spirit of the old show intact, thanks to Ms. Foray and an excellent, enthusiastic voicing of Bullwinkle by Keith Scott. Of course, Piper Perabo was adorable as expected.

The story itself was not groundbreaking, and probably not quite interesting enough for a feature length movie. That covers most movies these days, so don't consider that a deal breaker.

All in all, and fun way to blow an hour and a half... as long as you're old enough to know the original series, and keep your expectations as low as they were back in the day.

I really expected something just dreadful from the hating reviews here, but I have a soft spot for Christian Slater and Sean Bean. So, I took the plunge, despite the ample warnings.

The story is indeed somewhat predictable and uneven, and really just sophomoric. Nevertheless, it's still a good ride, and the acting from most of the cast is pretty good. Slater, Bean, and Cromwell are all committed, as well as most the lesser known lead actors. Rhames is always ridiculous, so it's difficult to fault this film for his typically unconvincing, smirking performance. Meaney just played his usual typecast baddie. Some of the lesser characters were played by what feels like friends and family of the producers, so maybe that's where they got some breaks on their budget. Good for them! I was actually impressed what they did for only $8 million, considering the big names involved. They managed to get some great actors to carry this through, and it was worth it and hopefully didn't tarnish their precarious careers. It can't be easy in the movie business, so I condemn them not. I didn't find the special effects and stunts to be the shambles suggested from the other reviews, and found them adequate to the task. Yeah... I'd like to see someone do something as passable with their iPhone app, as one reviewer quipped. That's just mean and ignorant.

All in all, an action movie that I didn't regret watching, but probably wouldn't watch again. Oh, well.

While the draw for many would be Billie Holiday's interpretation of this famous song, it is the background stories that make this film so engaging.

This film peels away the popular veneer from the song Billie Holiday once claimed she wrote, revealing many intriguing layers. Not only do we delve into the racism that bore this song, but also the interactions between racism, the early labor movement, McCarthyism, and popular culture. Everywhere this documentary's journey takes us, there are the fearful reactionaries meeting the creative and hopeful artists and activists... All of it brilliantly, patiently intertwined and paced by the filmmaker. So patiently executed in fact, I was led into a mid-film, historically surprising plot twist without a clue it was coming.

Yet, with all this depth and craft, the documentary remains very easy to watch.