The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968)

Entertainment Rating: 4 of 5

This along with The Ghost and Mr. Chicken are two of my favorite Don Knott’s movies. He does such a good job at playing a weenie. Check this one out with your family and you won’t be disappointed (it looks like you can watch the entire show on youtube.com in 10 minute increments).

Moral Rating: 3 of 5

Maybe you could say that even weenie’s can do some good sometimes, so don’t underestimate them. Don’t always trust your preacher, he could be selling guns to the Indians. People in California have a great need for dentists, being out in the wild west and all. The word “wahtay” can be used to get yourself out of all kinds of trouble, even though it’s translation is something like “this baby needs a diaper change, you change it.”

Batman: The Movie (1966)

Entertainment Rating: 4 of 5

We watched this with our kids and they seemed to like it quite a bit. Nothing terribly ingenious here, but a well spent hour and forty-five minutes. It definitely came before the dark Batman we know now, making it more family friendly. I really don’t have a whole lot to say, other than it was fun!

Moral Rating: 2 of 5

No real moral lessons here, just pure fun.

Cool Hand Luke

Synopsis

This is the story of a man who fought against the system. Lucas Jackson gets thrown into a work camp for "destroying municipal property," and even while there continues to fight against anything that gives him rules to follow. The men in the camp admire him; and even Dragline, the assumed leader of the prisoners, gives Luke his respect. Luke gets tired of being the only one who seems to care about breaking free, even God seems to have abandoned him. Read on to find out why this is one of my favorite movies.

Entertainment Value - A

For the longest time this was my absolute favorite movie and it still ranks among the top ten. Paul Newman's and George Kennedy's performances are awesome. The multiple attempts at escape from the prison never get boring. You never get tired of the constant change and rebellion Luke introduces to the prison. Some people can't seem to make it through the first part of the movie, and I can't understand why! Mostly people who have a hard time watching anything that isn't newer than the 1980's (though that's even pushing it for some!).

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 5

Why is this movie the theme for our blog? For one, it was one of my favorite movies and "Cool Hand Critics" had a nice ring to it. From there, we were able to introduce other elements of the movie into our reviews (World Shakers, Nights In The Box, etc.). Here are some of the reasons why it is among my favorite movies:

Unwritten Rules

At the beginning of the film, when Luke first comes to the camp and the other prisoners are playing cards, he makes pretty clear his disdain for rule makers. Dragline and the other prisoners are explaining all the "unwritten" rules of the prison and that Dragline is basically the king of the coop. Luke just laughs and when confronted, he responds that there just seem to be "a lot of guys laying down rules and regulations."

Unwritten societal rules (e.g., might makes right, herd mentality, etc.) sometimes keep us from progressing, whereas true rules (i.e., commandments, covenants, etc.) should help us in our progression as human beings and children of God. This isn't the case for all unwritten rules (e.g., etiquette, chivalrous manners, etc.), but we need to do more than just follow someone blindly like most of the prisoners ended up doing with Dragline and later with Luke. We need to live/know for ourselves and understand what impact our decisions and actions have on our spiritual and physical well being.

"Nothing Can Be a Real Cool Hand"

Luke and Dragline had a boxing match and even though Luke was very badly beat-up, he never gave up; in fact he told Dragline, "you're gonna have to kill me." Luke later ends up winning a poker game with a hand of nothing and states that, "Sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand." Dragline admits that he was beat in the fight with nothing just as Koko was in the poker game (meaning even though Luke didn't beat Dragline physically, Luke sure didn't lose).

Sometimes by just standing your ground, no matter what the odds are against you, you can come out on top. This constancy exhibited in one's faith and conviction of principles or standards can define a person's being.

"Get Out There Yourself!"

After one of the many times Luke escapes the prison and is brought back (bloody and beaten) all the men can do nothing but comment on what a grand ol' time he must have had while he was out (particularly because Luke had sent them a picture of himself between two attractive ladies, revealed at this time to be a phony). Exasperated he yells, "Stop feedin' off me! Get out there yourself! I can't breathe!"

How often do we live our lives through other people's experiences instead of getting up/out and doing things for ourselves?

Later on, after Luke has been "broken" by the bosses (forced to labor to the point of physical exhaustion and beaten brutally in the process) and enters the sleeping quarters where all the prisoners (who sat and watched the breaking process) are gathered, he collapses. Not a single person went to him to help him out. They were disillusioned by the breaking of the high and mighty man they once esteemed as their hero. Luke was never a real person in their eyes; they invented a person who was invulnerable, a superhero that could never break. When he broke they became the selfish, brutal, despicable creatures men tend to be when they see good men fall. They were too weak (too smart?) to try to break out of prison themselves, to push the rule makers to the limit, to discover who they really could be, making them all the more happy to see strong people fall. It makes them feel good about themselves, even if they aren't truly happy (still locked up, never having attempted to get out in the open).

Failure to Communicate

During Luke's last escape attempt, Dragline can't help but come along with him. Dragline's as giddy as a school boy to see that Luke was "never" broken. But Luke corrects him and tells him he was as broke as anybody could have been. After Dragline starts planning all the world shaking he, Luke, and Koko are gonna do when they're all out Luke says that he's "done enough world shaking for a while." At this news Dragline doesn't know how to react, he begins to regret ever leaving the camp realizing that he only had a few years left if he would have stayed put. (The disillusionment sets in again.)

Luke approaches a church and decides to enter it and that it's time he has a talk with God. He wants to blame God (not angrily but questioningly) for his situation. Luke feels that God has things "fixed" against him and at the same time made him like he was, so how was he supposed to fit in? When does it all end? What does God have in store for him? What should he do now? Luke then gets on his knees to ask and concedes that he's a hard case and ends up supposing that he'll have to find his own way (not having received any communication from God).

This failure to communicate comes up a couple of times in the film, and is up there with some of the best known lines in cinematic history. There seems to be a lot of failed communication, a lot of "unwritten rules" that seem to catch people off guard left and right. You could argue that it wasn't God that was messing up the communication, but Luke. He never wanted to submit to any kind of authority, and he was constantly running away from it or flat out pushing back. Even Luke says "there ain't a whole lot worth listening to" (specifically referring to all the rules and regulation being put out). How many times do we say we want an answer but do nothing to make sure we are prepared to hear what we need to be told?

With regards to this movie review site, I hope we can communicate some of the insights we receive on the quality and moral value of films that we see. We in no way assume our ideas and interpretations are the only way to view the content of the films, but invite others to comment and help us mold our philosophy in a non-threatening way.

Charade

Synopsis

Reggie Lampert must try to find the $250,000 her late husband hid before her husband's army cronies find it or kill her in the process.

Entertainment Value - A

This show had a great mix of comedy, romance, and suspense.  It was as good as any Alfred Hitchcock movie I've seen.  The actor line-up contributed to the enjoyment (Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, George Kennedy, Walter Matthau, and James Coburn).

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 3

There were several disturbing murders, but the overall message was very similar to that of the Treasure of the Sierra Madre - greed makes no one happy and can eventually lead to your demise (physical as well as spiritual).  It also can cloud your judgment, diverting your attention from what the real problem actually is.

I would definitely make an effort to at least see this once.  It may be a bit too much for a young audience.

A Pocketful of Miracles (1961)

Synopsis

Annie is an apple peddler who fakes her residency at a high class hotel to hide her impoverished situation from her daughter who lives in Spain.  Annie finds herself in quite a predicament when her daughter writes of her engagement to the son of a Spanish count and that they are all coming to visit, including the Count.  Annie's friends seek the help of Dave the Dude who believes that Annie's apples are the source of his good fortune.  The Dude and his gang must choose between winning their rights to "own" the city of New York or trying to work some sort of miracle to help Annie out.

Entertainment Value

This film included a great group of actors, and pretty much anything by director Frank Capra great.  The credits at the beginning start off with Christmas music, but I don't recall anything Christmasy in the film.  While Capra's films have strong moral messages, they can sometimes feel a little too forced making them somewhat preachy and unrealistic.  This show, however, seemed more natural (the interaction between the actors) making this film very enjoyable.

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate?

The film contains a wonderful message on being selfless and the blessings that come when we sacrifice our time to help others.  Dave the Dude pretty much put his life (and the lives of his close friends) on the line, in order to help out someone who he perceived helped him.  With the help of many friends, the Dude was able to pull off a miracle in the end.

We really can be happier when we lose ourselves in the service of others.  We can't do so irresponsibly (completely ignoring our higher priority duties - families, jobs, etc.), but by pushing ourselves to give as much as we can, we'll be surprised at how far our good-doing goes (especially when we seek for divine assistance in the process).

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Synopsis
A cinematic piece of art that comments on the sometimes destructive nature of intelligence.  From apes, to humans, to computers, each are portrayed as scheming, murderous creatures.

Our Take
I'd put this film up there with Citizen Kane, another cinematic piece of art that isn't amazing but worth seeing at least once.  I've definitely never seen anything like this before, with almost half of the movie containing no dialogue and a good part of it just flashing lights and intense music.  Very creative to say the least, and visually stunning especially for it's time.

Moral Value
I didn't get a whole lot out of the movie until I read the summary provided on Wikipedia and made a few more realizations.  For instance, the satellite that resembled the bone that was thrown in the air was actually used to control nuclear weapons, an obvious parallel to the apes use of the bone as a weapon.  Intelligence brought great advances to both the primitive and futuristic societies but also pain and destruction.

Maybe I could have gotten a little more out of it by first reading Nietzche's essay that supposedly discusses the origin of man entitled Thus Spake Zarathustra, which is also the name of one of the orchestral themes of the movie.  In addition, the ending was rather bizarre but seemed to parallel HAL's reverting back to his "childhood."  Given the abstract format of the film I'm sure I did not grasp the whole meaning of the film, and due to the fact that Kubrick (the writer) never published the "philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film," any interpretation is pure speculation.

Why can't directors (or whoever's in charge of getting a movie to get a certain MPAA rating) try to give more mature-themed (thought provoking, philosophical, inspirational) movies a 'G' rating instead of thinking that mature audiences will only appreciate films if they have a lot of sex, violence, and profanity?

Dirty Dozen, The

Luke

Rating: 2

We had initially given Disturbia a rating of a '2,' but after some consideration we decided to drop it to a one, since it had zero moral value and this movie had some promising moments, though flopped at the end.

I had some hopes that this would turn out to be a good movie. Tom Hanks described how touching of a movie it was, the ultimate guy-flick, in the movie Sleepless in Seattle, and Orson Scott Card also mentioned that it was a must see movie. I was excited to see it.

Everything was going pretty good (about three-quarters of the way) until the Major decided that his unit needed a "reward" for working so hard and relieve stress before their operation, so he brings in a bunch of prostitutes! Maybe it emphasized his desire to not conform to the rules, but it was totally not needed.

I also didn't care for the graphic display of the soldiers' deaths at the end, I've seen much more tactful ways of displaying death in war or in other circumstances.

Maggot was also just plain evil, and I think the evil was glorified through his character. Sure his religious fanaticism is what creates the whole predicament they end up in which makes the movie that much more intense, but something else could have easily been setup. All in all I just didn't feel good after watching the movie, it didn't inspire me to do good either. The one thing that keeps this from dropping to a 1 is that I did enjoy the first part and could label that as descent entertainment.

Carr

Rating: 2

This will be an easy review. I did not feel uplifted at all; I could even feel a spirit of contention by the end of it. There were a few humorous parts, but I see no real value in this movie at all. There was too much graphic violence for my taste. There wasn't necessarily an evil feel to it that I have unfortunately felt in a few other movies, but like I said, it wasn't a good spirit...it wasn't virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy in any way so it shouldn't be sought after. Not only was I not inspired to do good, but I felt very negative feelings.