biography

Faith of My Fathers

Faith of My Fathers (2005) I wasn’t expecting much of “Faith of My Fathers“. The title is slicky and the DVD cover with the pair of military boots didn’t promise much.

Directed by: Peter Markle
Genres: Biography, Drama, War
Cast: Thomas Madell, Michael Arata, Tony Bentley, Brian Bossetta, Jude Cambise, Joe Chrest, Erin Cottrell, Korbi Dean, Carol Dupuy, Louis Dupuy, Brian F. Durkin, J.D. Evermore, Jeff Galpin, Scott Glenn, Nicholas Sean Gomez, Douglas M. Griffin, Justin Groetsch, Shawn Hatosy, Robert Heath Hickman, Elton LeBlanc, Jerry Leggio, Chi Moui Lo, Earl Maddox, Marc Preston, Glenn Robin, Johnny Rock, Troy Ruptash, Arthur Simone, Gary Michael Smith, Jason Alan Smith, Todd J. Smith, Spike Spencer, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Ashley Taylor, Louis Webre, Shea Whigham
IMDB raintg: 6.3
My rating: 3.0 [rate 3.0]

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Andrei Sakharov

Andrei Sakharov (1921-1989) was a Soviet physicist who became, in the words of the Nobel Peace Committee, a spokesman for the conscience of mankind. He was fascinated by fundamental physics and cosmology, but he had to spent two decades designing nuclear weapons. The acknowledged father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, he contributed perhaps more than anyone else to the military might of the USSR. But it was his top secret experience as a leading nuclear expert that was instrumental in making Sakharov one of the most courageous critics of the Soviet regime, a human rights activist and the first Russian to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He helped bring down one of historyâ€™s most powerful dictatorships.

The quote is from this site. If you are not familiar with this person, I suggest you browse through the link.

Ed Wood

Ed Wood (1994) “Ed Wood” has been the first movie on my wishlist for more than two years now. None of the local DVD rentals had it. I couldn’t find it in the shops. And I haven’t seen any trace of it online. That all was very surprising considering a high rating of this film at IMDB. Finally I managed to get my hands on the copy of the film.

Directed by: Tim Burton
Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Cast: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, G.D. Spradlin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Bill Murray, Mike Starr, Max Casella, Brent Hinkley, Lisa Marie, George ‘The Animal’ Steele, Juliet Landau, Clive Rosengren
IMDB raintg: 8.0
My rating: 6.0 [rate 6.0]

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Veronica Guerin

Watched “Veronica Guerin” on DVD.

This is an excellent criminal drama about drug business in Ireland. Main character – Veronica Guerin (excellently performed by Cate Blanchett) is a journalist who investigates the junkie lords and gets killed in the end. The film is based on a true story it seems.

It was a bit slow and boring at places, but overall very dramatic and poweful. It had excellent character development and dialogues. Great soundtrack too.

This film also provokes some thinking on the subject of “Is it worth it?”. Some people would say that what she did was plain stupid. Others would call it courageous. I guess there is no one without another as it has been displayed in many other movies, books, and real life stories. In case of Veronica it was probably worth it – laws changed, many guilty charged, crime levels dropped, many lives saved. And that is probably what she was aiming for and that is what she succeeded with. Same situation applied to another person could have ended with different results. You never know…

Anyway, 8 out of 10. Rent it, it’s worth the time and money. The scene of her walking down the neighborhood was worth the whole movie on its own. Very strong.

Born on the Fourth of July

“Born on the Fourth of July” was just on TV. It is a rather simple and shallow movie about Vietnam war and its veterans. It is also, supposedly, about how different things make people change. Like losing legs, for example. Or killing babies and stuff.

As I said, the movie is very simplistic. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it is because the film is a bit old (1989). Still. Single story line. Simple relationships. Simple cause-effect kind of happennings. Maybe someone a little bit more experienced than Tom Cruise could make it better. Playboy face and absolute lack of emotions on his behalf does not add anything to the movie.

On the phylosophical part: it is interesting that some people realize that war is bad for humanity without any external influence. Some need to watch a movie about it. Some need to talk to the veteran. Others need to actually go to war to see things for themselves. But that’s not all. There are some people, who need to lose something on the war, like a friend or an arm. These are not that bad. There are those who, even after shooting and sufferring, don’t realize how bad war is for them. They still talk some patriotic bull and everything. And I am not talking about an enemy invading your village. I am talking about American presense in Vietnam. Or Iraq these days. Or Russian presense in Afghanistan. Or Chechnya these days. War is crap. You don’t have to try it to know. Like heroin.

Anyway, the movie sucked pretty much, so I’ll give it 3 out of 10. And an evil smile towards all Cruise’ fans. :)