"Horizon" starring Kevin Costner

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 ... 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 "𝐧𝐢𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦" 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 - 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 ... 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 - 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 ... 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 "𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬" ... 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 "𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞" 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 ... 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 Horizon 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧.

"Civil War" brief review - Tom Eggebeen

Yes, unique and fresh ... well acted ... and the purpose of photo journalism - "get the shot" - it's the shot that will tell the story to others. 

I thought the music was some of the best I've heard - it's fit with the images was seriously moving, unnerving, heart-pounding.

The play between Kirsten Dunst (the hardcore veteran) and Cailee Spaeny, as the youngster who wants to be a photojournalist is powerful - both revealing what war does to the soul. 

A shoutout here to Jesse Plemmons - one of my favorite character actors - he portrays the "true American." Ha. 

But politics take a backseat in the movie ... 

It doesn't focus on the civil war, which was a smart move, I think, but on the journalists covering it - and, I thought, they didn't arm the journalists, which some action movies might have done - here, take a gun; guns will solve the problem. 

In some ways, it's an anti-war film ... because war is terrible, and does terrible things to the soul. 

Yes, a very good movie; thought-provoking. I give it a 20 - my point system: 

Excellent: 20 - 17

Very Good: 16 - 13

Good: 12 - 9

Fair: 8 - 5 

Poor: 4 - 1

Goofy movie, that's for sure - a mishmash of Indiana Jones with his fedora, and all those dinosaurs roaring the bellowing (in place of a plot), and everyone screaming, all the time. Was this a horror movie? Special effects were great, but they can't make for a movie. Fun to see everyone, but this was pretty much a bunch of moments in search of a story. I didn't really care about any of the characters; found myself mostly bored by it all. 

"Belfast"

A fine piece of story telling - the pathos and pain of Belfast, the poverty, the conflicts, the power struggles and violence - Protestants and Catholics - background to the life of a young boy - a child full of hope and love, surrounded by a kindly neighborhood, and a family, caught up in its own struggles. 

Father, Grandfather, the Boy

The young boy is a cheerful bundle of energy; but sensitive to the times, and to the family undercurrents.

Fascinating use of Van Morrison music and Country Western.

Fine acting, great script - some really humorous lines, but it's not comedy.

I was the only one in the auditorium, so I missed what might have been audience-reaction.

The dedication at the end says it all - to those who left, to those who stayed, and all those who were lost.

The showing I attended had captions; helpful for the music lyrics, and some of the Irish brogue. But if captions aren't your thing, the sound quality is such that everything was clear. I closed my eyes a time or two to listen rather than "watch."

Yes, this a movie to see.

"In the Heights"

Incredible - story, music, dance; every human emotion: joy, delight, inspiration; sadness, sorrow, tears; hope, laughter, love,  and then some ... and some surprising SFX ... music, dance, everything, superbly done. Yes, yes, yes ... and yes, again. Don't miss it.

And, and, and ... a post-credit trailer ... I mean, post-credit ... right at the very end ... a lovely little moment!

"The Tribes of Europa"

Finished the series yesterday - wow ... so very good ... lots of commentary about the present state of affairs in Europe ... and some darn good story telling - it's all about power, what we do with it, how it affects us, how some go crazy with it, while others know how to limit its allure. In the midst of it all, family - it is, for better or for worse, our origin.

Yet, we have other origins, too - our tribe.

Special effects, superb. Cast, terrific. Violence? Of course - life is violent, but here in this series it's handled well. It's all part of the story, like it or not. It's the kind of world in which we have to live and work, and find our way.

At the end, I was hooked on the three main characters, siblings, separated from another, striving to be a family again ... each with their own story ... I cared about them, wanting to know more, wanting to see how it works out.

There has to be another season.

Don't miss it.

"The Last Word"

Finished first season of #TheLastWord, a terrific German #Netflix "comedy" that deals with death, grief, and just about anything else we can throw at the wall. Superb cast, scripting, acting. It's all here.

Hope there's a Season 2.