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apulrang

Member since 6/23/2007, last signed in awhile ago.

"apulrang"

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Personal statement:

The first movie I ever saw was "Herbie Rides Again" (1974). I can't remember all the movies I've seen since then, but I'm working on listing and rating all of them.

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Interested in:Avant-garde / Experimental, Comedy, Crime, Culture & Society, Drama, Epic, Film, TV & Radio, Historical Film, History, Horror, Music, Science Fiction, Theater

apulrang's movie tags

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Ikiru

A Must See ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"... for people who work in human services. "Ikiru" should be required viewing in counseling and MSW classes. " [More]

Taken

Fun, But Flawed
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"This could have been a better film with a few specific changes: - Less exposition, just give us the action and we'll catch up on the story. - Give Neeson's daughter and her friend a day or two in Paris before getting kidnapped, instead of having it take place the moment they step out of the airport. - Make the final villain someone other than a Middle Eastern sheik, too much racial / ethnic voltage there. - Could Nesson's character have spared maybe a thought for his daughter's friend? A moment or two would have been nice. That said, Neeson's at his most awesome in two scenes ... the one where his daughter's about to be "taken", and the dinner scene with his French intelligence colleague and his wife. A good thriller to watch with friends and a few drinks. " [More]

Wait Until Dark

How Come I Never Heard About Th ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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""Wait Until Dark" is thrilling, funny, smart, AND is one of the best disability films I've ever seen. Plus, I'm starting to understand why so many people love Audrey Hepburn. Alan Arkin is the standout though ... a seriously creepy villain. " [More]

Be Kind Rewind

A Celebration Of Creativity, Ec ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"This is a funny, lovely film in every way. While the central conceit stretches credulity well past the breaking point, I didn't really notice it until I thought about it later. During the film itself, I completely bought it. The main roles are ably played by Mos Def, Danny Glover, and Jack Black, but the true standouts are relatively minor characters played by one well-known, Mia Farrow, and a gorgeous newcomer, Melonie Diaz. Apparently she was in "Hamlet 2" as well, so I'll have to check that out again, and I'll definitely go out of my way to see Ms. Diaz's next film. "Be Kind Rewind" is a film geek's dream. " [More]

Wall-E

Really Good, Not Great, I Don't ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"Maybe I'm just not that into animation. I really enjoyed "WALL-E", but it didn't live up to the reviews I'd read and heard. I liked the satire of consumer culture, (Buy And Large), but Idiocracy did it better, in my opinion. More importantly, the WALL-E / EVA romance just didn't reach me. Maybe a moment or two, but not consistently. Again, I'm not sure why. Good movie, but not great. " [More]

Inglorious Basterds

Very Satisfying, Good Points
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"This is a very satisfying war film, and a Tarantino film in the best sense. And although it does, in a sense, make light of the Holocaust, it also makes one or to very hard-hitting and pertinent points about what lay behind the Holocaust, other than a few psychotics with power. First, we have the discourse on anti-Semitism by "Jew Hunter" Hans Landa. Then, we twice see that one of the "Basterds" practices is specifically designed to make it impossible for Nazis to blend in after the war and escape shame for their evil deeds. The bat-wielding "Bear Jew" is splashy and sensational ... both within the world of the movie and for us in the audience. But what the "Basterds" do to people they let go free is far more cruel, and just. I can't think of a classic WWII film, including "Schindler's List", that does a better job of tackling the issue of what ordinary people did in Nazi Germany, and what came of their guilt after the fighting ended. " [More]

Colossus: The Forbin Project

No Frills
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"This may be the perfect Cold War / technology-paranoid film. There's nothing extra, and no relief offered. I was pretty sure I knew the outcome by the time the President explained what "Colossus" was supposed to do. But that didn't make the relatively short trip to doom uninteresting. The acting is pretty good, though not spectacular, but what really makes the film is the brilliant twist on science out of control, with two computers working togeyher, like two people who meet by accident, and find themselves to be kindred spirits. The film can also be read as a backhanded argument for cooperation between the Cold War rivals, and also as an endictment of anyone's ambitions to do good in the world. The final speech by Colossus could have been written by a staunch libertarian about any modern welfare state. I disagree with the implications, but the film is good enough to make the point worth considering. " [More]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Re:Best disabled character
By apulrang in Disability On Film
"[quote user="joem18b"] I'd give a nod to Jean-Dominique Bauby in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Certainly the most disabled of them all. The same thing happened to a friend of mine; I used to visit him 4 times a week. But he was worse that Bauby, in that he couldn't even blink in a consistent way. [/quote] Thanks for contributing. I just saw "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly", and I liked it a lot. The depiction of the man may be my favorite at this point. However, taken as a whole, the movie falls just short of the "best" in my book. One thing bothered me. The film is so focused on Jean-Do, that the other residents of his hospital become pieces of the scenery. They serve to underscore the awful strangeness and sadness of his new situation in a couple of key scenes. This dehumanizes them, and reinforces that idea that disability is unrelentingly depressing. Which is not only offensive, it is out of sync with the rest of the movie, which superbly shows that even the most "confi ... " [More]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Nuanced Disability Depiction
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is a better depiction of disability than most reviews would indicate. It isn't "heartbreaking", or even especially "uplifting". It is, above all, authentic and absorbing. It seems like "Jean-Do" Bauby was absorbed by the experience of his disability, though obviously he also experienced heartbreak and uplift. What keeps him going, as he says in the film, is imagination and, of course, his one good eye. From the perspective of someone with a disability, I was very pleased to see that for the most part, we are spared splashy temper tantrums from the disabled person, calmed by a scolding non-disabled mentor. One scene suggests this familiar formulation, but steers away at the last moment. One thing I do wonder about is whether Jean-Do got to know any of the other residents of his hospital. In the film, they are treated as scenery, in a borderline offensive and definitely dehumanizing way. This is a very "good" disability depiction, in a "great" film. " [More]

Frozen River

In My Backyard
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"I wrote this email to a friend, about Frozen River, filmed in my backyard ... "I finally watched it. Wow. This is a really great film!I can understand why some local Native Americans don't like it. The depiction of reservation life is not flattering. This is especially true, I think, if the Native Americans who were at the screening really buy into or want to believe that reservation society is really quite noble. The movie depicts aspects of official reservation power structure as being fairly corrupt ... the bingo parlors, and the fact that they condone families stealing babies from disfavored family members. The smugglers are the closest things to good guys, yet they are the bad guys of the reservation ... or at least they are looked down upon.Then there's the fact that the white woman who upped the ante on the smuggling ... arguably getting the native woman in worse trouble ... ended up a selfless hero. That's gotta be a bit irritating to Native sensibilities.On the ot her si ... " [More]

In Bruges

Twists On Familiar Twists
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"At first, In Bruges appears to rely on plot and character "twists" that you've seen enough times that they aren't really "twists" anymore. The thoughtful hitman. Two contrasting buddies, one crude, the other refined. The comically-menacing crime boss. What you get here are new twists on these themes. The hitman is thoughtful in truly meaningful and difficult ways. The "crude" buddy may not actually be such a bad guy. The Mob boss's sense of "honor" is both familiar and refreshingly flawed. Meanwhile, the film truly is "a feast for the eyes". " [More]

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Big Mistake
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"The fatal flaw in this second installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series is the completely unnecessary addition of a sort of love story between Caspian and Susan. It's not at all even hinted at in the book, and adds nothing to the movie. In fact, it overshadows and ruins what would otherwise have been a fairly decent depiction of one of my favorite of the Narnia books. "Dawn Treader" could be outstanding, or horrible. " [More]

Lists

Films I've seen (272)
Films I've seen

Disability Movies (21)
Depictions of disability on film, good and bad.

Films I want to see (41)
Films I want to see

Films I want to buy (0)
Films I want to buy

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