katyzone

Definitely NOT meant to be accurate or an actually detailed horse documentary, it is a story made by film makers about a girl and a horse, not a film made by horse experts. An expect on call would of been nice, but I like how an effective film about people was made to the point that I didn't care.

I wouldn't know a quarter from a stallion or whatever, and the closest animal I have been close to is my cat, but I love that others love animals and actually do stuff in real life with them, like competitions and shows. And that they have a capacity to LOVE them and be loved in turn.

It makes us as humans so much more, more dimensional and more conscious that we share this planet with OTHERS, and how we act toward them reflects on us.

The movie goes for all the heart string clichés. And don't think for a moment that is a bad thing. I LOVE heart tuggers and the more one can put in a drama, the BETTER. And what better than a hurting young family that struggles and copes with devastating loss and still manages to live and love... and learn from each other.

I love National Velvet as well and the spunky and spirited young actresses reminded me of each other. I also love the siblings (many in National Velvet, the older sister in Virgina's Run) as growing up I know that they may mess you and compete with you but will be there for you if the chips are down.

I just know this one is a keeper.

Really. Good acting. Fair production values. Thinking persons script. Make your own opinions and don't let the hate win! Bennet's acting was very good. She can definitely hold her own. Look forward to seeing her in more productions once she gets past this. Hopefully the critical pan of this movie won't taint her, even though I thought the movie was okay.

Bennet is a truly beautiful and expressive actress (I read she sings and has a lovely voice as well).

I thought it was realistic, and watch, it will be a semi-cult movie once the critical debris fades and the haters move on and the thoughtful move up.

Well, the flick took no chances. Straight forward good verses bad and with no budget, I think that was a mistake. I feel the lower the budget, the more chances one should take. They could of put something, humor, whatever, into it.

As it was, it is what it is. Fluff and sub-par to slightly par. I did like many of the actors in it, the Centurion ought to get more parts, he has the dignity and charisma foe a big budget picture.

I thought the main female lead was Alantis Morrissette (sp) for a second, lol, a real LONG face but cute nonetheless.

Anyway, a light view, nothing special, but at the same time not taxing in anyway. Watch it, enjoy what is there, and forget it.

=====Small spoilers=====

I guess perhaps one reason people don't like the movie is because the lead is not handsome, strong or even likable. I myself like it when the lead stars are handsome or beautiful, but I have to make an exception here, though the good girl is very pretty in a different way.

This movie does not need the old "pretty girl in glasses and hair pinned back" who becomes a princess just by removing the glasses, unpinning the hair and removing the frumpy clothes and putting on a sexy dress cliché. The lead is a guy, but I hope you know what I mean as the guy here, even transformed (that is and keep the same actor) could never be made to look the part of a popular jock.

And the lead is not as wretched as the guy in the "New Guy" at least, even though that was part of the comedy in that movie.

The movie is fun. Maybe not funny, but fun in a way that you feel when a practical joke you and others put together is about to be sprung. I guess it deteriorates as it as it goes on, but I enjoyed the beginning and middle enough to watch it through. The plot gist or device may have done better in a series and dream sequences I must bring out.

BIG SPOILER***************************************** I guess perhaps another reason people don't like the movie is because he becomes a real "loser" (I think winner) in the embarrassing sports sequence near the end of the movie. BIG SPOILER*****************************************

Anyway, I give it a 7, but with a "one-time" watch only limitation.

Done lovingly and so wonderful to see a few of the old faces some of us knew so well. I actually liked the CGI used, it was crisp and clean and relied on the person watching it rather than making the person a subjective viewer, kinda put the viewer in league with the movie, it is up to the viewer to decide how much they will enjoy it.

Heck, the graphics reminded me when computer games were about the puzzles, tactics and maneuvers inherent rather than the gee whiz blow you away factor with a hollow center in most I run across- simply human nature I guess- "a beautiful person need not be as deep as one plain"- not that I buy that, I don't, it's just, unfortunately it is just that way betimes.

SPOILER

If you can get past the first scene, it gets better. "Charlie X" doesn't get his "acting shoes" quite laced till his next scene.

To me, overall, I like this addition to the universe of Star Trek, heck, better than Nemesis IMHO anyway. The acting is good. Think BBC (Doctor Who, Blake's 7, "bad" effects and all are easy to ignore, but actually the effects in this are a tad better than the older BBC stuff, which I love BTW).

I give it a 7/10, but I am biased!

Give it a chance. It is watchable. If you are 12 don't even start it, it is the type of camp that absolutely repels 12 year old's of all ages. You kinda have to buy into the drama heart strings thing, ignore some of the really campy acting- not real bad, just a competent high schoolish type of acting.

Very low budget but quite an attempt at a complicated script back when it cost actual imagination and film technique instead of todays fair to slick computer fx key punching.

It is a story of redemption with a saccharine sweet ending but not for the kids due to over the top killings (though "clean", like back in the days of 'BANG' and people fall down with some fx, but not overly gory like a real shooting is).

Almost a silly movie in some aspects, think TV show with this one. I gave it a 7 because it is a 4.something and deserves at least a 5.

Gotta kid? Then you know all about this movie cause that is all you hear about. It is all I heard about for the last week and so I finally saw it with my cousin who is a mother to a 7 year old- she really wanted to see it first. So, let me say this: There will be no problem letting her 7 year old watch it.

I kinda enjoyed it too seeing how I had to be dragged to it. But once there I was not bored and there seemed to be a crowd that apparently was expecting a treat of some kind as several appeared to be veterans of earlier showings who had then gone out and grabbed their posse to watch it again (only with them this time).

Nice way to spend a Saturday with the kids and grab a laugh or three. Anyway, I'll give it a thumbs up!

*****May contain tiny spoilers.***** Great flick. At 1:50 it is long enough to flesh out the main characters and all the minor characters look like they are having fun! Not too preachy about the differences in the two cultures, just factual asides that are not really delved into, which is very lifelike; after all, pretty much everyone is their own person in the end no matter where you are from.

The old 'boy meets girl, boy loses girl then boy gets girl back' plot is twisted a bit for freshness, and fate plays a tremendous part, but doesn't it always? This movie was perfect for me on a rainy Thursday afternoon, and I think you will enjoy it too.

Subtitles, of course. Halfway through the movie I didn't even read half the subtitles as there is lots of English spoken. I also really enjoyed seeing the foods they have over there and I would love to try some out from there!

****Tiny Spoiler, About the Beginning so TINY****

A bit soapy if you know what I mean, which as an older experienced viewer means I love it! Watched several US/GB romances lately and they seem to have lost it completely! The it being the untenable to explain thing that makes a movie enjoyable. They try too hard to be hip and fresh, and you know what? THERE IS NO such thing. It's all been done, okay?

The SK are doing well with sensitivity and yes it is a bit cliché how things happen, like the scene where the girl is terrified that the man will want her to sleep with him when all he wants is another chance at a comeback.

You know what? cliché is good! We are all the same when it is said and done, and one generation after another, human nature IS THE SAME.

Anyway, the humor is great! That is for older viewers. Most of the young and teens WILL NOT GET IT nor want to. Or hate subtitles or foreign film.

7/10

Too funny! This movie is _way_ underrated. C'mon people! 3.2???? Have a heart (and a funnybone).

The piano music that the detectives dad played coming as muzak finally had me laughing out loud. Too MUCH! I was still playing over and over in my mind the mime that was going for help by RUNNING IN PLACE! I was crying laughing when the mime put his elbow on the imaginary support and she was like "Don't just stand there! Go get help!" I feel for the actual real life actor who played the part of the alien eater and know his health can't be good. I have a friend that is almost as large yet eats like a bird, so I really feel empathy for the big guy.

Anyway, a perfect movie at 3am after watching "Mr. Brooks" and "The Island", it sorta broke the somber mood and I was able to go to bed in light spirits.

Neve is SO gorgeous here but the plot tries too hard and includes so much history and preaching it is a lot like a history film like we used to have to watch in the AV room in school.

Not for the very young because of seedy violence and teens won't like the preachyness, so definitely adult fare.

****SPOILERS***** My guess is the makers didn't quite reason out who the audience was they were trying to reach. It is a way too brutal film to get any pleasure out of it since it contains scenes where small-pox wipes out ALL the Indians, a brutal BAD white man that captures ALL the clinches of the evil that the white man brought on this land.

Then there are Disney film type animal action sequences with peril from a big bear and of course the wolf, dog, and nature scenes are nice.

5/10

My other favorites include Total Annihilation, Real War, and Earth 2150, so I am very experienced with real-time strategy games. Warzone 2100 stands with these even though it came out 8 years ago.

I have played more modern or recent titles, and all they do is have greater graphics- something I don't need as TA and Wz2100 are sufficient graphics, especially when you start to have battles with hundreds of units! These new games that eat up all your computer resources for a gee-whiz factor often lock up as you start stacking up massive armies.

I have a 256 MB video card as well as 1 gig RAM so I do have a fair setup.

There are many mods available as well as many custom maps for Warzone 2100! Actually, up until recently, as the actual code has been released to the public, several new versions have shown up for our gaming fun!

Anyway, you owe it to yourself to try this game if you enjoy real-time strategy games!

I really enjoy (note I watch it still time to time) this hopefully soon to be classic! And what a wonderful plot twist. I also like how Mr. Schneider portrayed his role in a strong protective way. It was his way or the highway, as it should be, but tempered with a fathers love for the most precious thing in his life, (SPOILER!!!!!!) his adopted daughter! The character Mary was a breath of fresh air! An imperfect and mistake making women who no longer acted like a young girl with experience enough to be able to take things as they come and make the best for everyone, not just herself, out of the various situations.

Dukes of Hazzard may of been a silly show, but you must note that if you watch it, it moves along briskly staying interesting with the correct camera shots that are never tedious or for the sake of the art of the shot itself. I can see where John gets his chops as a director and I think he did an excellent job!

I rented several movies in the last week (slow/rest week) and this is the only one I enjoyed. Sorry, sadly, and an indication of how bad movies have gotten I guess?

The other movies I rented were Ultraviolet, The Last Drop, Denny Decker, Waterborne, Green River Killer, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Mesmerized, Sound of Thunder, and Around the Bend. Quite a difference in genres, so you can't say that is the problem!

At least this movie was about people and not things. Sure it had a lot of problems, but it is hard to fit such a long story into an hour and a half or whatever. And it was funny! For example: "Look, there are plenty of branches left that will hold you!" (When branch broke when guy was trying to hang himself.)

C'mon, lighten up everyone, I bet the next movie from this production company will shine!

Absolutely awful. Don't say its for kids. A 9 and 6 year old had me turn it off when I got sick of it, and very lightly suggested we watch Toy Story or Monsters Inc. instead! Usually they say "NOOOOO!", but in this case, in unison, they said "Yeah!!!!". I will admit it was a good 10 - 15 minutes after the public transportation scene, which they did like, but yuck!!!!

What a trite useless bit of un-entertaining fluff. I like ENTERTAINING fluff, but PC take no chances we don't want to offend anyone and use jokes and clichés that were old when Atok made his first comic cave drawing is a colossal waste.

Everyone in the "normal" world of this movie smiling and low key but no true warm feelings or bonds are anywhere to be found. For example: Why was the father running around town disrupting everyone's life who were strangers just because he was having a baby? I live in a big city, but if I was having a baby, I KNOW all the vendors and store keepers on my path to work and would bask in their EARNED friendships, their daily lives that interact with mine- the countless relationships that everyone (who is human anyway) has in their daily life.

While a stranger looking incrediuosly at the antics of another can be funny, as a rule, people shouldn't be used as mere props to somehow squeeze humor from a situation- unless you are a rich actor or movie executive who has no clue what life and real relationships are _really_ all about.

Tell me, where in the film does it get fun? Or funny? With babysitting over, maybe I'll try to watch it again. Maybe I was in a bad "mood", but really, please, SOMEONE go to where they make this stuff and shake them up! Sorry, I'm ranting. But still....

The movie moves through its plot in subtle ways- no big explosions or car chases, not even any prolonged suspense- you know exactly what is going to happen as it happens, yet I found myself glued to this movie.

The atmosphere was really gritty and things... just happen. Almost like being a cab rolling through unfamiliar territory with a cabbie who is speaking about unpleasent things, the movie takes you on and on but you just can't get off.

Ernest plays a charactor that is rare in a sincere form- an American with backbone combined with wisdom willing to take action.

Unfortunately, his daughter is (forboding of what is coming down the pipeline?) jelly spined and totally with out active morals. She is content to sit back and judge everyone, breakdown emotionally, and then ignore the situation completely by running off with yet another man/support system. She couldn't be blamed, that is until her father sought to teach her an important life lesson, and... she still didn't get it.

Yes, Ernest's charactor goes too far and his daughter practices inconclusive thinking. So the charactors are way too extreme- it turns into a situation that just wouldn't happen with real people. This can be explained that the movie was made in the seventies, when a lot of movies tried to "preach at us" (as opposed to today's movies which now "show us a lesson"). They seem to try to make Ernest's charactor into some kind of bizarre villian, when to me he comes off as an okay guy living in a bizarre world thrown into a situation he never made in the first place.

Everyone says the acting is poor- I don't think so, maybe just a little over played, but I think it is fine for this genre.

I give this movie a 10 because I have watched 15 movies this week that have come out recently and this one is better than all of them, and:

It's watchable.

You want to see how everything comes out.

No where in the movie does someone say "your other left".

It doesn't try to explain much, just lays it out there.

The sound mix was very good- it was gritty and sharp as any professional track I've ever heard.

The acting, as pointed out earlier by many, was very theatical- I guess the ensemble was really into representing this era and a little less the living breathing people who had to exist through this hellish time. Can't blame them due to the subject matter.

A new affect I haven't really noticed used in a movie before was that English was used throughout (abeit with contrived accents- not really necessary!), without even attempting to use already tried affects, like using the actual languages (Polish, Hungerian, German, Yiddish) with subtitles. I liked it! I had no problem detecting when one person who could only "speak " German could not understand another "speaking" Yiddish even though they were all speaking English! Good affect!

Much has been said about Keital's lack of dramatic acting- but I think it was a combination of silly accent (like I wrote- it wasn't necessary! He should of just spoke normally- I think we are smart enough to figure out he was "German") and the fact that most people don't realize just how banal evil really is (ask a cop, lawyer, etc...).

The surviving (for a while longer) girl was an interesting aside, a "setup affect" allowing the dramatic ending over-voice at the end of the movie. BTW, such a girl actually existed and was well treated and provided with makeup and other luxuries before her captors grew bored with it and- well you know.