The_MOW Blog

Under discussion:

The Great Train Robbery  (1979)

Based on the movie's director Michael Criton's book about the real life events surrounding the world's first train robbery on May 15, 1855, where thousands of dollars worth of gold was stolen.

"Edward Pierce" (Sean Connery), along with his sidekick, "Robert Agar" (Donald Sutherland) and "Pierce's" lover (Lesley-Ann Down), plan to heist a moving train of gold meant to finance a war. First, the three must gain four keys, which have been separated for safety.

Now, the three have to get the keys, and get on board the moving train to get their prize.

The first thing you'll notice is the costumes worn by everybody on screen. They appear to be quite accurate, and some outfits appear to be thick and heavy. The outfits also appeared to me to be brand new on everybody. Not one outfit had that worn look.

The performances from the main cast is pretty good, as is the chemistry between the cast members. Connery is near perfect as the lead scoundrel who charms every one who comes across him, not knowing his true intentions. Sutherland is fairly laid back in his role, and can come across as boring at times.

The pace of the movie is real slow and deliberate. For many, it might be a bit too slow. I found it to be a nice, steady pace. It only picked up a little bit when the heist goes down.

If you are looking for a lot of action, there really isn't much in this film. The action kicks in a bit as the heist goes down, and you are rooting for the villains in this film.

Overall, this is not a bad movie. However, I wouldn't go out and rent it. Check it out if you come across it on television, or on Hulu.com.

Under discussion:

Trekkies 2  (2004)

I admit it. I am a professional wrestling fan (who hates the "Wrestling is fake" debate) and, believe it or not, I am a Trekkie. I am what the mainstream considers a nerd who, unfortunately, lives with his parents (only because I am physically disabled and uses a wheelchair.)

Trekkies 2 is a continuation of the 1996 documentary, Trekkies. It is hosted by Denise Crosby, who portrayed "Lt. Natasha 'Tasha' Yar" on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the granddaughter of Hollywood legend, Bing Crosby.

This film has a somewhat bigger budget. As the movie goes overseas to visit with European fans of one of the most beloved franchises in entertainment. In the original, they stayed in the United States.

It visits with some hardcore fans overseas and in the USA who live the life of a person obsessed with the franchise which began in 1966. One of those redesigned his apartment to somewhat look like it could be in the TNG (The Next Generation) era to the point where he built a "Transporter console", which he credits from preventing him going down a dark path when he wife divorced him.

You also get some interviews of people the crew came across at European and US fan conventions where people meet other fans, trade, sell and purchase merchandise, and embrace with world created by the late Gene Roddenberry.

You get to see how Star Trek is celebrated around the world. Although they are in the same fandom, each country featured in this film celebrates the franchise differently.

The producers were very respectful to fans who do not speak English. Instead of having Crosby do a voiceover explaining what the fan was saying, we get the text in subtitles in the now-famous Star Trek font.

In the film, they talk about the hard core fans who live and breathe Star Trek to the point that they seem to believe that they are in the Star Trek Universe. One of which is Barbara Adams, one of the fans featured in the original movie.

Adams made a name for herself when she wore her Starfleet uniform to court as an alternate juror in the Whitewater trial, which had former US President Bill Clinton and current US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as defendants. In the first movie, she claimed that her costume was a legitimate uniform and she had the right to wear it anywhere she wanted. The judge dismissed her because her wearing the costume became a distraction to the point that she was interviewed outside the court about it. She was under strict orders not to talk to media during the trial.

In this movie, she is part of a group discussing the hard core fans who seem to be out of touch with reality. One person brought her up, without knowing who she was at first, and said that she shouldn't have worn the costume to court out of respect and seriousness of the trial. She eventually asked another person in the discussion what's the difference between her uniform and the uniform of a soldier in the military. I would have loved to had the opportunity to respond to that question.

I was not too impressed with Crosby's performance as host. When she was talking with fans, she was quite comfortable as much as the fans were. But, when she read from the script it was painfully obvious.

I liked her interaction with the fans interviewed in this film. The fans probably did some hero worship when she came into the room when the cameras were off, but were very comfortable when the cameras were on them. You could see the passion they have for the franchise, and how comfortable they are with discussing it.

The fans who were interviewed were fantastic in this film. The majority proved that Star Trek fans are not nerds who live in their parent's basement at 34 years old. They discussed why they are fans, what Star Trek means to them and had some fun with showing their collections and costumes. Those who were featured in the film were quite interesting in fact.

One interesting segment is when the movie visits with people featured in the first film, and discussing their reaction to not only the first film, but how it was recieved. One, who now creates CGI effects for a living, discusses how the first movie created a sort of catchphrase for him, which he jokes about. He also talks about how a movie reviewer said in his review of the first movie how he (the fan) will never have sex. The punchline is that the woman who is now his wife is sitting next to him as his discusses what the reviewer mentioned. He even joked about how some people questioned his sexuality.

The music is completely original, and provided by a group of fans featured in the film. The majority of the tunes are only memorable due to the Trek-themed lyrics, which are filled with references from various shows in the franchise. If you are a fan of the franchise, you might just find yourself singing the tunes. However, if you aren't a fan, you will just think how nerdy these people are and just laugh at them.

This is not a high budget movie, so don't expect spectacular special effects. The most spectacular special effects are shown in clips from various fan-produced films, which can be viewed online. I have links on my computer to dozens of these fan-produced shows, and many have special effects which are surprisingly impressive. In one of these clips, it is obvious that the sets are actually green screen efects edited in in post-production, and it's obvious that they are computer generated.

If you think that people who go to fan conventions dressed up as a blue alien with white hair and blue antenna are virgins who live in their parents' basement, then you must see this movie to have your eyes opened up. This film, as well as the first one in this series, will prove to you that Star Trek fans are from all walks of life. They are parents, executives at major corporations, dentists, college students and even politicians.

Trekkies, some of which call themself Trekkers, are just like you. The only difference is that they are part of a unique fandom that has been around for almost 45 years. A fandom which believes in a peaceful future where there is, as said in the Star Trek Universe, universal diversity in infinate combinations. The world of a Trekkie is one where people of all races, creeds and sexual orientation are accepted, and hope that one day the mainstream will be the same.

Put this movie, and the original, quite high on your To See list if you are not a fan of the franchise. If you are a fan, then place this one in your Must See list.

Under discussion:

Of Mice and Men  (1992)

Two men, one mentally disabled (John Malkovich), the other (Gary Sinise, who also directed the movie) who swears to take care of the simple, but physically powerful man.

The two begin working on a farm, where "Lenny" (Malkovich) struggles to behave, as well as to try to remember that he has to be gentle as to not hurt anybody or anything since he is more physically gifted than mentally. All the while, "George" (Sinise) tries to put himself between "Lenny" and those around him to protect his traveling companion.

Based on the John Steinbeck book, of which I did not read, this is actually a pretty good movie with some pretty strong performances.

In fact, the performances are the only reason to watch this movie. The entire cast is near perfect. Malkovich and Sinise has pretty good chemistry as the two lead characters. Personally, I liked Sinise better than Malkovich, neither of which are my favorite actors.

There are also some strong performances from various members of the supporting cast. However, it appears that many of them were not given a lot to work with.

If you have not read the book, you may not think that the supporting cast was given much. I didn't think so either since I've never read the book. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a few of the supporting characters more.

There is some good chemistry with this cast, some better than others. You can really see where the chemistry was best by the scenes with the strongest performances.

The soundtrack is completely lacking in this film. In fact, I think I remember only one piece of music near the end of this film. And it sounded like they turned the volume down on that little piece of music that is completely forgettable.

The wardrobes, and other period pieces seen in this film, looks very authentic. It didn't appear that they tried to make it look like period clothing, it looked pretty authentic. They even went as far as making the clothing look like they were worn for some time, with little washing.

There is no spectacular camera work in this film. There are a couple of foot chases in here with some quick editing. The lighting is used well, and the angles are done nicely. There's just nothing memorable in any of the shots.

If you are looking for action, there isn't any worth looking for. This is pure drama, with no explosions or gun play.

Maybe because I never read the book, I kept looking away from my computer screen (I watched it on Hulu) because I was getting bored. If you haven't read the book, the only reason to see this is for the performances.

There is no reason to see this movie except for the peformances. In fact, I didn't even know it existed until it came up on my Hulu recommendations list. I am more familiar with the Lon Chaney, Jr./Bergess Merrideth version. This movie is only worth seeing once.

I do suggest that you read the book so you know what is going on. In fact, you may like it better if you familiarize yourself with the source material first.