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Hey, you! Yes, you with the computer. I hope you realize that you've just wandered into dangerous territory.
This is the place when I get to showcase my personal projects and talk about my opinions about
the entertainment industry. You'll have the oportunity to read my movie reviews and read about the films that I like,
so don't take this opportunity lightly. You have entered another dimension of websites. You have entered StephenFilms.com.
You may have noticed that I finally wrote up a new review, this one for Walk the Line. Yeah, I know I'm very late with this review, considering that the movie was released way back in November; but considering my average rate of actually getting around and seeing these movies, I've changed my review policy to allow full-page reviews for new DVD releases as well as in-theater releases. You can read more about it in my Never Asked Questions page, if you so desire.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've spent most of my time on this site making formatting changes to some of the pages. Capsule review pages now contain DVD images of each movie I review (which believe me, was harder to accomplish than it looks), and a few other odd and end pages have gone through formatting changes. The bad news is, you probably don't care about any of this. But the good news is, I can now spend more time concentrating on actually writing up content. Now how's that for a crazy idea, huh?
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To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal: 1962) |
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Directed By:
Robert Mulligan
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Written By:
Horton Foote
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Based On:
To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee
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Starring:
Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford
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Profanity: Mild-to-Moderate |
Violence: Mild |
Sex/Nudity: Mild
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Review:
To Kill a Mockingbird is the classic tale of two young children, Jem and Scout, who have to face the shameful realities of racism in 1935 Alabama when their father, Atticus, chooses to defend in court a black man who was falsely accused of raping a young white woman, the daughter of local Bob Ewell. To Kill a Mockingbird was first written as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee in 1960; and the movie, which followed shortly thereafter, is a very accurate, yet synthesized adaptation of the same story. Fans of the book may argue that the movie doesn’t quite reach the standards that had already been set by the book, but I would argue otherwise. While the novel certainly has great elements which have been understandably cut from the film, the film contains several elements which certainly add to particular features of the story. For example, the acting of Gregory Peck brings to life the character of Atticus Finch with a phenomenal performance, and Elmer Bernstein’s soundtrack for the film is perhaps one of the most beautiful movie scores that I have ever heard. Certain key scenes from the book have even been adapted to the movie in such a way that seems to supersede the book in emotional power, including an unforgettable confrontation between Atticus and Bob Ewell. There are so many other positive comments that can be made about this film, but they simply would not do the movie justice. If there’s one thing that is certain, To Kill a Mockingbird is undoubtedly one of the greatest book-to-film adaptations that has ever been achieved.
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Score:
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War of the Worlds, The (Paramount: 1953) |
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Directed By:
Byron Haskin
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Written By:
Barré Lyndon
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Based On:
The War of the Worlds, a novel by H.G. Wells
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Starring:
Gene Barry, Ann Robinson
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Profanity: None |
Violence: Mild-to-Moderate |
Sex/Nudity: None
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Review:
Long before Steven Spielberg had ever considered helming a modern film adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel, a "modern" retelling of The War of the Worlds had already been created under the supervision of legendary science-fiction film producer, George Pal. Of course, by today’s standards, this 1953 production of The War of the Worlds would no longer be considered modern; but just like nearly every other War of the Worlds retelling that has ever been produced, the 1953 movie does not take place in the book’s setting of 19th Century England. The War of the Worlds movie instead takes place in 20th Century California, where one of several extraterrestrial cylinders arrive uninvited from the planet Mars. Dr. Clayton Forrester is the scientist who is sent to investigate this strange phenomenon, just before the fallen cylinders begin to open and reveal spectacular alien machinery that are virtually indestructible to all human weaponry. Although the movie has a bit of a cheesy script and a second act which tends to lag as the audience awaits the film’s climax, the crew of The War of the Worlds performs a magnificent job of exceeding the technological limitations of the period. The alien ship designs in the 1953 film are even more memorable than the alien creatures in any of the modern War of the Worlds remakes, and the special effects team for the 1953 film took home a well-deserved Oscar for their creative efforts. Yes, the technological aspects of the film were certainly ahead of their time, even if the final film script was in need of a minor rewrite.
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Score:
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(Read More Reviews)
A Direct-to-Book Release
(April 17, 2006)
Over the course of Easter weekend, I finished reading House, a newly-released novel that was co-authored by Frank Peretti (one of my favorite authors) and Ted Decker. One thing that I noticed about the book when I had bought it was a quote that sat in the upper-left corner of the cover. The quote was from X-Men, X2, and Fantastic Four producer Ralph Winter, who said, "Only Peretti and Decker could have delivered this full-tilt supernatural thriller. They had me ripping through the pages... then blew me away with a final twist I never saw coming. Can’t wait to see the movie!"
Wait. Hold the phone for just a minute. A movie? Don’t you think we’re getting just a little bit ahead of ourselves?
[more...]
(Visit the Rant Department)
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United 93
The Visitation
Walk the Line
