Hailed as one of the greatest movies of all time, I was a little disappointed. The story was inventive and well put together. I enjoyed the way everything slowly tied together from beginning to end, even though it all seemed like separate stories at first. While there was an over abundance of swearing, looking back at the movie (replaying scenes in my head) the language is not what I remember. Can’t say that I’d recommend this one.
Moral Rating: 2 of 5
The coolest part of the movie was Samuel L. Jackson. I’ve always been curious about this movie and my curiosity was increased after reading Thomas Hibbs Arts of Darkness. Hibbs states,
“Tarantino’s repudiation of linear narration suits a world out of joint where character development and unified story telling are impossible. The sequence of events in the film pivots around a remarkable chance event, the interpretation of which determines the destiny of the two central characters, Jules and Vincent.”
This is considered one of the best comedies of the 20th century, and at one point I agreed. After watching it over the Christmas break I’ve had second thoughts about it. The acting is great and it really is a funny show, but there’s a bit too much sexual appeal to it for my comfort.
Moral Rating: 2/5
There is no moral to this movie. The only message is that if you lie and cheat you get everything you want and your buddy gets stuck engaged with a person of the same sex.
Seriously, though, Joe takes advantage of Sugar's frustration with men and capitalizes on the information she shares with him. In the end when she finds out Joe's just another sax player (and not a millionaire who owns a yacht) she throws out all her previously set upon standards and reverts to making the same bad decisions that made her unhappy in the first place.
Jerry seemed to be one of the few level-headed characters in the movie (though he fit in a little too well with the girls). However, any reason or precognition he exhibited was rewarded by getting stuck engaged with a rich millionaire who ends up not caring that Jerry is not a Sherry.
If you’re looking for some witty comedy that is cleaner than any contemporary comedy, but still has a bit of an edge to it, this is worth checking out; though, I'd hesitate showing it to young kids due to the few scenes of automatic weapons massacring people and Marilyn Monroe's very revealing attire.
Great romance movie with no sex (explicit or implied). A little slow at first, but seeing Charlie and Rosie's relationship grow is very rewarding. My wife particularly liked the film because Rosie wasn't your typical damsel in distress that Charlie came to save. She's the one who came up with the plan to blow up the Louiza, worked side by side with Charlie even though she knew nothing about boats or metallurgy or explosives.
Moral Rating: 4
This was a fun story with depictions of virtue and integrity. Rosie’s prayer when they got stuck in the reeds was particularly inspiring when she told the Lord that they had done everything they possibly could and now left everything up to Him. Her prayer of faith was answered and their mission miraculously gets accomplished.
Dr. Malcolm Crowe feels obligated to help Cole Sears, a young boy, who has serious problems (very similar to a previous patient of his who Crowe failed to cure). As Cole gradually begins trusting Dr. Crowe and opening up, we see both Dr.'s and patient's lives change for the better while each is able to help the other overcome their challenges.
Entertainment Value - A
Very good, suspenseful movie; perfect for a cold Halloween night (especially when the lights go out!). Though probably mild by most people's standards of a scary movie, it was still a little disturbing thinking back on it, but overall I enjoyed it.
Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 4
The Sixth Sense did a great job showing the importance of communication and how it helps us overcome our fears, show love, and strengthen relationships.
[Spoiler Alert] When Malcolm helped Cole realize he needed to confront the dead people and find out what it was they wanted with him, Cole's fear disappeared and he was actually able to help the ghosts find rest. Fears need to be faced; sometimes in the process of confronting our fears we find that they were not really all worth being scared about.
There are many ways that our failure to communicate causes problems. Too many people gossip and complain about things they dislike others doing, but they do nothing to communicate these frustrations to the people that are causing the annoyances; they would rather live in their misery than muster up a little courage to help others come to terms with them.
Cole's mom had a very difficult time knowing how to love and help her son. She was able to help a lot, but it wasn't enough. Not until Cole opened up could she really help him. We can't ever give up on trying to communicate with those we love, no matter how obstinate they may be. Our trying shows that we do love them regardless of their unwillingness to reciprocate those emotions.
Communication strengthens marriages. This is a bit of a stretch, considering Malcolm was dead, but he was able to come to terms with the confusion he had been feeling since his death. He was able to tell his wife she was never number two and that he still loved her. This act brought the movie to a close and really made me feel good about the overall message of the movie.
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?
This movie could be summed up quite well in one statement: "War is Hell". I haven't seen too many anti-war films, and though I believe war is necessary in some instances (almost never in provoking, but primarily in defending) this film did a very good job of portraying the terrors of war. Having never been in the military, I can't imagine how terrifying and desensitizing it can be on the war front, but can relate to the false concepts of power that seem to spread amongst those not directly involved.
The movie is set in Germany during WWI. When Paul, a young German soldier, is allowed leave to visit his family he visits with his father and some of his father's friends who seem to have the war all worked out to be won by Germany. They assumed that everyone fighting had a deep passion for the success of Germany and desire to dominate its enemies. The reality was that a lot of the young kids that got fired up about the war really had no clue what they were fighting for or who they were fighting against and ended up regretting even being there. They even began to see their enemies as human beings, not just political rivals.
One of the things I gleaned from the film is that we can't afford to be afraid of the truth. We need to be willing to search out and listen to the whole truth from the mouth of those who have first-hand experience. For instance, there are positive first-hand stories from the U.S. presence in Iraq and other places in the middle east that the mainstream media tends to ignore and instead panders to the political left by publishing nothing but horror stories of the over seas wars we are waging distorting the truth.
I also appreciated the depiction of the need for God in such dire circumstances. Faith in God is what can ultimately bring us out of the darkest trenches of our lives and give us hope in Christ and courage to live righteously in this immoral and amoral world.
This is a classic, must-see movie. It is definitely a faith promoting film. The story is set in the Middle East during the life of Jesus Christ, in fact Christ and Judah Ben-Hur are about the same age. Even though Judah doesn't personally know Christ, it is inspiring to see how Christ touches and inspires his life. Judah shows faith at different stages of his journey and is blessed in each instance. It's a story of familial love, the poison of anger and revenge, and faith in Jesus Christ.
One of the strongest lessons presented in the movie is that just because we are doing what's right or standing up for what is right does not mean that we will be rewarded. However much evil happens to us for choosing the right, God will be with us every step of the way offering us life sustaining water and ultimately eternal life if we stay the course.
This movie is a world-shaker. It is very inspiring and really makes me want to stand up to the Jonny Friendly's of the world. The internal struggle with Terry Malloy and how his conscience weighs on him to do what's right is very inspiring.
The movie realistically shows the difficulty of changing your philosophy on life and how crucial role models are, especially those of family. The film showed how much Terry loved his brother Charly (and vice-a-versa). This is particularly evident in the famous "I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody..." scene. When Charly got killed the contrast of this brotherly love and the supposed "family" bond of the union bosses clearly teaches the important influence (for good or bad) family members can have on each other.
Another important message is the pastor's humility and his realization of the need to stand up and practice what is preached.
Terry's choice to be a "canary" lets him see who his real friends are.
I felt disgusted as the longshoremen just looked on and didn't seem to care when Terry took on Johnny and his cronies. Maybe the longshoremen weren't supposed to get into it, but they sure did out number them, they cared more about their jobs under corrupt union bosses (their lives could have been at stake, but when they out number them what could they do?) than breaking free and standing up for what's right. If you've never seen this, make it a point to do so and tell us what you think.
I had forgotten why this is considered one of the best movies of all time. I remembered that it was a romance with a lot of famous lines ("Here's looking at you kid" or "We'll always have Paris" or "Play it again Sam", though the latter was never actually said) and I was anxious to introduce it to Carr. I was very pleased to be reminded that this is another one of those movies like Guys and Dolls that teaches a wonderful moral lesson in a very entertaining way.
Even though the love affair (and we learn from these older classics that "affair" doesn't always mean that someone has comitted adultery/fornication) was purely honest and in no way deceitful, Humphrey Bogart knows what his morals are and sticks to them. Even though Bogart's life has been torn apart by Ingrid Bergman's unexplained withdrawal from his life, Bergman's desire to return to him causes his love to be rekindled and we see that it is a pure love, one that permits him to act in the best interest of both her and him.
Carr
The hard part is that both guys are good guys. Nowadays the scenario would be that the husband is some evil guy and thus not only make it "ok" for something immoral, but have the audience rooting for it. It's so nice to see the good moral decisions being made and shown as the right choices. However, as in "Guys and Dolls," it is interesting that it is the man who has the courage to do what's right and the woman is shown as too weak to make such a decision on her own. It'd be nice to see the girl stand up on her own two feet for once!
This movie should never have been remade (though I haven't seen the Christopher Reeves version). We watched Disturbia a while back and it is a movie that will forever spend a night in the box. Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece doesn't have to create a gory film or a terrifying background for the killer, the suspense around the murder is enough. When you start displaying the evil (serial killings, gore, etc.), it becomes either too frightening or too cheesy to enjoy.
On that note I really enjoyed this original version. It all takes place in an apartment living room and is never slow or dull. This type of movie isn't made to inspire, but primarily to entertain, and I believe it achieved it's purposes.
Jeff is a nosy, crippled man with nothing better to do than to involve himself, uninvited, in the lives of his neighbors. He ends up neglecting his own real-life relationships for his imaginary ones he forges through a telephoto lens. It is very unrealistic in the fact that he is able to understand each neighbor's situation by simply observing them and never interacting with them. This may be the purpose of the film to display the risks of being a busy body and the importance of focusing on strengthening real life relationships.
Lisa did end up relinquishing her efforts to dissuade Jeff from pursuing his new hobby of prying and immersed herself in it, though she denounced it at first. This was a selfless act that showed her devotion to him and her willingness to bring their relationship closer proving she really was interested in marriage (which was a qualm Jeff had in the movie with regards to whether or not she was ready or not for marriage).
