LaxFan94

I anticipated this film to be a lot better. But it was too dull, with barely any action. Lily Gladstone's character was too soft-spoken, with no flair. DeNiro and DiCaprio's characters could have been a bit more dramatic.

I think the real-life events were probably a lot more chaotic than the film's version. I have always supported Native American films, but Hollywood keeps portraying them as subhuman rather than actual people. I was appalled when I saw the women being murdered! That was a major no-no since Native women were and are the Givers of Life in most traditional societies. Seeing them get killed like that was so dehumanizing. I saw this film as having a mafia-like plot with criminals killing innocent people for money.

But I can see why this film never won an Oscar, like I was really hoping for. Ms. Gladstone got lucky; she earned a Golden Globe. Anyway, this film is only a 5 out of 10 in my books.

So far, I find this series to be realistic enough in terms of what the 60's Scoop kids went through when being forced to live in the death camps cleverly disguised as "residential schools".

But that one scene where those 2 kids got picked up by the cops and sent to the so-called schools just because they inadvertently broke a cop car's window with a slingshot, I don't think anything like that happened in real life. The Indian agents and police were usually sent to the kids' homes to pick them up.

In another scene, the female child welfare agent along with her assistant literally barged into the Native family's home with the help of the police, unfortunately that was commonplace. But what really burned me up was when even after answering all of the agent's questions in the most honest and truthful way, the agent still had the nerve to have the police take them away from their home! The mother told the agent that the kids were well-fed, clothed etc. But none of that mattered to the agent.

Anyway, I think this series earns an 8 out of 10 in my books.

Although I found this film to be slow and lacked any real action, it still looked at the Mohawks' lives with the French in early colonial days. But I think the beginning could have been much better with a game filled with lacrosse players rather than football players. The reason for that is because since this is a historical film dealing with Native Mohawks, lacrosse would have been a much more appropriate sport to present here. Lacrosse is the Creator's Game, NOT football. I realize this isn't relevant to the plot or anything but it just would have made the film more authentic in that sense.

I anticipated for this film to be better. It's just too bland with no real action. Local archaeologists just happens to excavate a sinkhole that occurred. Unfortunately, a life was taken but sinkholes had popped up at a few other locations in the film. But an archaeological team decided to see what caused stadium sinkhole to cave in. The ended up finding lots of Mohawk treasures. Anyway, I think this film earns a 7 out of 10.

I liked this western firstly because of its Mexican title. 'Charro' is a cool title for a western flick like this. The plot and storyline are well laid out. But I loved the fact there were no portrayals of Natives in it because if there were, they would have viewed with the false, racist stereotypes that Hollywood films have always portrayed them as. Throughout my life, I have only seen TWO films where Natives have been accurately portrayed: 1950's 'Broken Arrow' and 1990's 'Dances with Wolves'. Other than them, Hollywood's portrayals of Natives have always been an embarrassment to Native communities all throughout Turtle Island.

Anyways, getting back to the film itself, I found that Victor French's character's brother acted like a real spoiled brat in and out of jail. He truly deserved that slap across the face courtesy of his older brother because he said the wrong thing. When he was in jail, he still could never keep his mouth shut. I hoped that Elvis would have shut him up for good because he literally gave me a headache. But all in all, this film gets a 7 out of 10.

I couldn't help but cry throughout this whole film because of its sad nature. NO child should have to go through what those poor kids had to go through, NO ONE! This kind of thing never happened to non-Indigenous kids because their families would never put up with that nonsense. But only Indigenous kids were forced to go through with that. Of course, this not only affected the kids but also their families. Some families like the one I saw in this film, were forced to sign away their children's lives. If parents refused to sign, they usually went to jail. This was commonplace in real life as parents hated the very thought of being forced to send their kids to death camps like those darn residential/boarding schools. Anyway, I give this one a 7 out of 10.

I cried a lot through this film because of the sad reality of cases of missing and murdered Native women and girls that are always ignored by the police, governments, churches, etc. Why is it that there's never any official inquiry looking into all the missing and murdered? Because everyone in the bureaucracy always remains tight-lipped about it. This is just one of the many examples of this major problem. Therefore, the People just take it upon themselves to do their own inquiry. In this film, Carmen Moore's character does just that. The cops barely helped which is a common characteristic of the police. All police are in cahoots with child traffickers. Unfortunately, teen trafficking is too common among Native teens. Anyway, I give this film a 7.

Although IMDb sees this film as a "comedy", I see this one more as a drama since a young woman is forced to go back to her home rez to look after her ill mother. It is unknown to me why Mitzi's mother has always been bitter towards her family, except that one nephew whom she adores. But I admire the unselfishness of Mitzi when she put her personal plans on hold to return to the rez for her mom. I love people who puts their family first before others. But my favorite character here is Simone because she is so vengefully jealous of Mitzi's boyfriend. Simone felt that Mitzi took her boyfriend away from her so now she needs to get him back. Anyways, I give this film a 7 out of 10.

As with any other program that deals with Native Indigenous content, I gave this one a perfect 10 because it looks at Ms. Sainte-Marie's triumphs as a musician while also looking at her tribulations in her personal life. That one moment where she mentioned that she was molested as a child really tug at my heart-strings! She mentioned that her early life was hard enough as it was with the Sixties Scoop and everything where many Native kids were stolen right from under their parents' noses and forced to attend the death camps known as the residential schools.

But Ms. Sainte-Marie found her way to overcome her problems through her music. She is a true survivor and warrior woman! May the Creator continue to bless you Buffy and keep up the great work with your lyrics!

I LOVE old Civil War classics like this, especially when they are based on written works by famous authors. I should get a copy of the written work with the same title. Anyway, so I think that Pvt. Richard Thomas was a really brave soldier although the Union army lost that first battle early on in the film. Just like what that ghostly apparition told him immediately after the battle, retreating is not always a bad idea as long as you come back stronger the next time. This film is about how courage is an important characteristic for everyone to have to beat whatever problems you are going through in life. In this case, the Civil War was the perfect setting that saw how Richard Thomas showed his bravery in battle. I feel that this film has an important moral to its story in that we all need to overcome any odds in life, whatever the situation we are in. 'The Red Badge of Courage' is an 8 out of 10 in my books.

I'm sorry to say but this film does not even come close to being fair! There's no plot, no action, nothing. I feel that A. Martinez's character was the real protagonist, NOT Christopher Walken's character. But because whites are glorified while it vilified the Natives like many Hollywood films do despite that they filmed this in New Mexico. I think the only old time western film that looks at the Natives as real and true heroes is 1950s 'Broken Arrow' with Jimmy Stewart, Jeff Chandler and Debra Paget. I also think that Sacheen Littlefeather's character should have been a lot more prominent rather than being just a minor role. That one scene where she got shot by that white scalp hunter, not one of the others came in to help her, not even Walken himself! All of her other films are way better than this one. This film does not even deserve a nomination for the most amateur of all films. Therefore, I only gave this one a 4 out of 10.

I cried all throughout this film because it is so saddening what they forced those poor kids to go through!! I mean "they" as the bad guys! The Catholic, Anglican and United churches along with the Indian/Northern Affairs and the RCMP were all in cahoots with each other in making sure that every Native child were to be brought to these hell holes disguised as "residential schools". Of course, they were only death camps not designed to teach anything to any of the children but to destroy them from the inside out! The priests and nuns at these dastardly places were under orders to remove anything that was Indigenous out of the children. Thankfully, there are modern-day heroes like Kevin Annett who has been exposing all the truths and facts about the schools for close to 25 years now, if not more.

Anyway, this film deserves a perfect 10 since it exposes a lot of what happened in those places.

I have always loved Western films so long as they portray Natives in a positive, realistic light. I love Cara Gee's character here because she is a real badass. She is a real protagonist here and her character shows it. She is a true heroine despite her being all decked out in black. Too bad this series only lasted for a year but I think if it had better plots and more action, this would have lasted a lot longer. But who knows for sure. Anyway, I'm giving this one a 7 out of 10 because it is still a Western that attempts to make an honest effort in portraying Natives in a more positive and realistic light. 'Dances with Wolves' did just that back in 1990 and I feel that 'Strange Empire' does its best with that.

I found this film to be really bland with no real plot. Firstly, it's unrealistic that Pippi would ever get bailed out by her estranged "white brother". That's right, I said white because it seems that many Native characters in film always get adopted by white families. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence in real life and in film. It appears to me that Pippi can't ever just get to be herself, her own person with her own Indigenous culture. That's all she ever needed in this film. But it was never about her but rather the white family that she only knew. Again here, as with so many other films where Natives are the main characters, the focus is on whites "saving them" from harm. Even for this Canadian made film, Natives are always put on the backburner. Anyway, for bland film, I still give this one a 7 out of 10.

I liked this film because it's historically fictional during the Wild West. But I just cannot stand the fact that there are sci-fi elements in this!! NEVER combine historical fiction with sci-fi because it just spoils the entire mood of the setting! Historical fiction should especially avoid sci-fi altogether! HF goes perfectly well with other genres such as mystery/suspense, drama, etc. But it's like trying to mix oil and water. I have always hated sci-fi anyway since it's always been far-fetched. But to try and make it part of an historical fictional plot?!? That's taking it to the extreme if you ask me. I have always loved westerns/the Wild West and all because of their historical context. The only problem with westerns is that they always have to portray the Indigenous as bad rather than good. The only 2 films I know that portray Natives in the positive light are "Broken Arrow" and "Dances with Wolves".

Anyway, this film earns a 7 out of 10.

I don't think Tamara Podemski shouldn't have even been in this film since she usually stars in better films than this one. There was no plot, no action to this, nothing. The whole film was nothing but bland from start to finish. I'm surprised that it even made to the big screen. Talk about a real low-budget film with only 2 stars in it: Podemski and the other one being Cody Lightning. Even Lightning's character was boring. Nothing went on here. A father suddenly passes on but nothing ever rolls on from there. Sorry to say but this is one of the worst films I've had to rate. That's why I am only giving this a 4 out of 10.

This film reminds me a lot of the documentary "Our Spirits Don't Speak English". This film just happens to be a more dramatized version of it. Wes Studi's character was forced to attend those damn boarding schools and look what happened to him: he probably ended up hating himself for being Native and wished he was dead for being Native. This is what makes this film so sad: poor Native kids who were so traumatized by their boarding/residential school experiences that most of them were forced to run away, for which they were caught and taken back; or ended up committing suicide due to their own self-hatred.

The kids who attended these cursed places weren't allowed to let all of their fear and frustrations out because if they did, the nuns and priests were the first ones to keep them quiet. If anyone of them spoke out, they would have been severely punished. They were punished just for speaking their own languages! So, to try and cope, they had no other choice but to internalize their fears and frustrations. This unfortunately damaged the children a lot more physically, psychologically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc. If they ever made it to adulthood, they usually became homeless with no life/future or remained on their rez with no life/future. Many committed suicide as an alternative to homelessness.

Today, too many Native kids are committing suicide at alarming rates because many are feeling the effects of what their parents and grandparents went through, even for those who never attended those cursed schools. Wes Studi's character shows just that.

Anyway, this film earns a nine out of ten.

I shed many tears after watching this one. I have always empathized and sympathized with Native Indigenous people from all over the Americas. This is one of those documentaries that will for sure make viewers want to sympathize with them too.

What those poor Native kids had to endure is unfathomable! I have visited old residential schools before and you know what: I think those places are haunted with spirits of children who died at those places! In the States, those damn places are called boarding schools. Here in Canada, they are called residential schools. But they all produced the same result: remove the Indian out of the child by "assimilating" them! Damn those cursed places and damn the governments for forcing the kids to attend them.

This is an excellent program to watch for those who wonder why Native people have so many problems. THIS program will show you the reason WHY.

This is why I gave this program a 9 out of 10.

I think I saw this film a while back but I can't quite recall. But if memory serves correctly, the couple stops off at the border to visit relatives. However, I cannot be sure of that. But I love this Native film since it contains dream-like scenes that go back in time to the old days where the local Indigenous lived in longhouses, wigwams and such.

But the reason why I think this film is called "Frozen River" is because there are scenes that appear to be frozen in time. What I mean by this is that time stood still in a couple of scenes where the main characters went back in time to the old days. They witnessed some Haudenasaunee warriors who crossed their path in the snow. They were awestruck with fear, astonishment and wonder. But they dared not leave their vehicle for if they decided to encounter them with any physical presence, the warriors would have likely chased them away.

Anyway, this one earns a 7 out of 10 in my books.

I find this to be a good film but a sad film because I believed the girl was struggling to find herself in terms of where exactly she fit among her people, the Maori. I love the Maori, as I love anyone who has Indigenous blood in them. The Maori have been robbed of their lands, resources, etc. Thanks to the colonizing British! I believe the girl is in the direct and destructive path of colonization!

But I like she formed an intimate bond with the whale. I think the whale helped her keep her sanity by saving her life. Whales have always had that special bond with humans since both species relate well with one another. She had a tough time getting along with her relatives, or at least that's how it appeared. But she had no trouble with the whale.

Anyway, this one earns a 7 out of 10.

I liked this film because it really hit my heart hard. Towards the middle part, when Jesse is sleeping in the hay right before he wakes up to find his horse there waiting for him. I bawled my eyes out like a baby since I felt it was such a sad scene. Jesse really had a rough childhood from his infancy on! It's no wonder why he was mad at the world. I'd be mad at the world too if I kept on being bounced around from foster home to foster home! Of course, I think we all know that is one of the many nasty by-products of colonization! I don't think Jesse was the only one being hit hard from childhood. Adam Beach's character had a tough life as well when he thought that Jesse's grandfather killed his father. That would be tough on anyone!

But I loved the end scene where Jesse steps in to save Adam Beach's character. Sorry I forget his character name off the top of my head but that was a powerful moment for me: two proud young Native kids saving each other's lives! Don't forget that Jesse's horse helped him change his personality and character from a bitter young man to a loved hero in his own community!

Anyway, I give this film a 7 out of 10.

I LOVE these historical documentaries due to their accuracy. Here, I love how Wendat history is presented through archaeological evidence combined with events that occurred before settler contact. I know one of the actors here, George (Wolf) Thomas. He played his part well along with all the others. Wolf's many years of reenacting experience showed well here as he camped at many events. I never camped with him myself however I've seen him reenacting in War of 1812 battles and he certainly knew how to portray his role(s). Unfortunately, Wolf along with David Morris, another talented, experienced reenactor is no longer reenacting due to health issues. I don't know what happened to Wolf exactly. But it's too bad that neither no longer do what they love the most: to educate the public about Native history the way it should be portrayed.

Anyways, this one earns a 7 out of 10 in my books.

I just LOVE historical documentaries where Natives were always there to help the Europeans win wars. Unfortunately, the euros not only used the People in helping them win wars but they also used them for their own personal gain, wealth and greed. The War of 1812 ended in a stalemate but the People were always there to assist whichever side needed them the most.

I love the type of setting this series takes place. Most of the scenes occur in darkness or in dim light. I love dark or dim scenes since it helps add to the mystery/suspense of the program's setting.

Tecumseh's friendship with General Brock was very strong. But if it were not for Tecumseh's unexpected death in 1813, Tecumseh would have united most of the Native Nations east of the Mississippi River and thus making it more difficult for the Americans to steal their lands.

Furthermore, if Tecumseh's brother, the Prophet only stayed put and not engage himself at Tippecanoe in 1811 like Tecumseh specifically told him to, General Harrison and his men would not have been able to take the main Shawnee village. Mind you, Harrison took advantage of Tecumseh's absence before that battle and stormed in to take Prophetstown. So these were the main factors that aided the Americans defeat the Shawnee.

Anyways, this documentary earns an 8 out of 10.

I liked this film since it's an accurate portrayal of Custer and the REAL NAME to this battle was the Battle of the Greasy Grass, NOT Little Big Horn as many others call it. But I really thought I already had included this one in my Favorites list so I was surprised that it wasn't there.

Anyway, so I liked how the story was given from the perspective of 2 women. I found that interesting because accounts like these are usually given from the perspective a male or males. Unfortunately, men like to think that they are dominant and always in control, especially when they try and rewrite history in their own words. Well, when it comes to Native history, there is only ONE version and that is the version of the People themselves. These 2 women who gave the account were correct because they sounded very genuinely sincere with their words. It is hard to explain what I mean but it appeared to me that they didn't mince words with emotions and vice versa. They just gave an honest, down-to-earth account of how they saw things. But the actor who portrayed Custer did a good job looking the part, right down to the tee. I find this film earns a 9 out of 10 because of how accurately it's portrayed.

I loved this film because a) it's a 70's flick: the 70's were the best for film and b) it sympathizes with Native causes: in this case, revenge on the ongoing genocide against Turtle Island's original inhabitants. As it turned out, Johnny got his rightful revenge for his grandfather's murder and for the teacher's murder! How cool is that: 5 revenge killings for the price of 2 murders!! LOL It is clear that Johnny Firecloud is the protagonist hero in this one. I loved how his grandfather walked into the bar in his full traditional regalia and demanded his grandson's release otherwise there would have been a major war for which it began when Johnny's grandfather got murdered by those lynching hillbillies. And to top it all off, the cop decided not to charge Johnny in the end. Now THAT'S what I call real justice! Anyway, this classic earns a 9 out of 10 in my books.

Another good Native film despite Winterhawk being played by a white actor. In fact, there were no real Native actors playing the Native roles. That's what happens when Hollywood keeps stereotyping them. At least this one wasn't filmed in Hollywood but rather out in Montana and Colorado. So this had an appropriate setting. But the opening and closing songs really romanticized the film although Winterhawk was the main protagonist.

This one views the Blackfeet in a more positive light in that they respected the mountain men a lot and their knowledge of Blackfeet cultural ways as it showed in the beginning when all the re-enactors participated at that rendez-vous event.

Rendez-vous is a large gathering where historical re-enactors all converge into one large camp for a few days and target practice with their blackpowder guns, tomahawks, knives, etc., trade goods with each other, participate in Seneca runs, etc. I did that myself for a little while but it just got too expensive with all the clothing, equipment and everything so I stopped. But it is a real cool hobby for history buffs.

But getting back to the film itself: the main character Winterhawk only wanted to find the smallpox remedy for his people who were dying. So he went to the rendez-vous camp to ask where he could find it. Two of them then almost led him to his death by attempting an ambush in the nearby woods. Fortunately though, Winterhawk was not fooled by their trickery. But one of his warriors got shot and for that, Winterhawk rightfully sought revenge by kidnapping Dawn Wells' character and her little brother.

Those same two mountain men also raped Pale Flower. So for those 2 major mistakes, Winterhawk and his Blackfeet warriors sought revenge. That one mountain man played by Leif Erickson nabbed the one who killed that one warrior as well as Pale Flower. So Winterhawk didn't have to worry about him per se. But I loved how Winterhawk stood his ground there towards the end and vowed not to return Dawn Wells and her brother back to the mountain men UNLESS he was given the smallpox medicines. The end fight did turn sad since the boy got loose and ended up getting in the middle and eventually injured. I'm just glad he didn't die. Overall, the action picks up more than halfway through when the girl and her brother get kidnapped.

Anyway, this one earns an 8 out of 10 in my books.