44/50x2: Schindler's List

This film was not exactly what I was expecting. I can't believe such an epic film from so many years ago I hadn't really known what it was exactly about.

Schindler's List stars some amazing and talented actors. Liam Neeson stars as Oskar Schindler, Ben Kingsley as Itshak Stern and Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth.

Schindler and Goeth are both part of the Nazi party. Schindler's main concern, however, is finding a way to get richer during the war, while Goeth actually enjoys the killing of Jews.

Schindler comes up with an idea to start a business for pots and pans, fronted by some Jewish businessmen (because Jews at the time couldn't own a business) and led by Stern as the bookkeeper.

Schindler is first alone in Poland when coming up with this idea and grabs Jewish workers from the Krakow Ghetto where they are all being forced to live.

Goeth comes in later to set up a new concentration camp and ends up poaching a few of Schindler's workers, but soon Schindler bribes Goeth into allowing a sub-camp and is able to keep his workers and continue earning money. Stern, meanwhile, is the eyes and ears for Schindler and as he hears Goeth may execute some people, Schindler asks to use them at his camp - pretty much saving their lives.

Soon, Goeth receives orders to destroy all of the remains of the dead and ship everyone, including Schindler's workers, to Auschwitz.

Schindler, though, uses a lot of the money he has gained throughout the war in order to save his workers. In fact, Schindler and Stern draw up a list of over 1,000 Jews that he wants to keep for his new factory in his hometown of Czechoslovakia.

Though his original intent during this war was to become rich, Schindler's heart is changed and he becomes friends with his workers, especially Stern.

Much like Brian's Song, I feel the story that this film was based on is historic and what Schindler ended up doing for these people was amazing. The film itself wasn't as great as I was expecting. The main three actors are amazing, but I just felt it was far too long and really didn't get going quick enough for me.

I had to switch DVDs when watching this film, which is odd nowadays and shows how long this film is. The best part of the film for me was on DVD No. 2. When Schindler began to realize that all of his workers and people has grown to care about could be taken from him and murdered, he did all he could to act to save them - including giving up most of his fortune. And, in the end he felt he hadn't done enough.

One cool thing for me though, I didn't really notice that the film was in black and white. I am not a huge black and white fan, but this film really did work very well in that aspect - so much so that I hardly even noticed.

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Theater Review: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D

It's pretty much a known fact that I am a huge Star Wars fan, and although I do feel the prequel trilogy is a bit subpar compared to the original trilogy, I still find the need for them and have learned to enjoy what they do have to offer.

That being said, I know I am not going to chance anyone's feelings about the films. If you are like me and have learned to enjoy them, then you already enjoy them. But, if you like to pick things apart and truly hate the film, there is no way that I am changing your mind.

So, I was able to take my family to see Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D in the theater. Say what you want, but being able to experience a Star Wars film on the large screen is truly spectacular. The first time I heard John Williams' epic score as the crawl came on the screen always gives me goosebumps. And, it did again when I heard it this time.

My son has really started to enjoy the Star Wars franchise, much like I have. This was his first experience seeing one of the films on the big screen - and I am very excited that he was able to get that experience.

I guess I will just talk about a few parts of the film. The Phantom Menace, although needed in my opinion, is probably the worst of the six films.

There are two things, however, that The Phantom Menace has that may be superior to some of the other films.

First, the pod race. That is one of the most breathtaking scenes in the entire franchise. And, seeing it on the big screen - and in 3D - was spectacular.

Second, Darth Maul. I have said it before, but it is worth repeating, Darth Maul (Ray Park) is one of the best villains ever created. And, he hardly gets any screen time - and even gets killed off (though if you follow the Clone Wars this may not be true) near the end of the film. Maul was experienced in the Force, had martial arts training, and carried a double-bladed light saber - how cool is that?

Plus, he took on two of the most powerful Jedis - killed one and was surprised by the other. That is a great villain - and I am sad that we got saddled with Count Dooku over two films while Maul was limited to part of this one.

Now, the 3D portion of the film. If you are expecting crazy 3D like light sabers coming out of the screen at you, don't bother. This is the type of 3D that I enjoy - it shows the depth of the images and I felt it worked amazingly well.

I am truly excited to see each and every film in this franchise, and it is only going to get better as the movies progress. I wasn't expecting for these releases to take six years to finish, but I guess they are trying to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the original Star Wars when Return of the Jedi is finally released.

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The A-Team

There were very few movies that have come out this year that I absolutely wanted to see in the theater. I don't get to the theater as often as I would like, so it is imperative that I scan the summer movies and find the cream of the crop that I would like to see in the theater - and this is one of the few that stuck out.

I was a very big fan of the television series - through repeats - when I was a kid. And, I don't know how many theme songs are as iconic as the one that goes with this series. I remember taking my old cassette player and recording the theme song off of the television just so I could listen to it again whenever I felt like it. Now I can download it as a ringtone, crazy how far we have come.

Anyway, to me, The A-Team lived up to everything that I hoped it would be and more. It was downright entertaining from start to finish. There was unlimited action and humor - and the 'love story' was kept more in the background, which was great.

The casting of this film was stupendous - and I definitely had my doubts when they were all announced. Liam Neeson steps into the role of Hannibal and does so like he was doing it all along. The new it-guy of the past few years, Bradley Cooper, is the new Face and definitely handled those duties in stellar fashion.

The two names that I was not as familiar with are the two I had my doubts about - but was actually very impressed. Rampage Jackson takes on the iconic role of B.A. Baracus - stepping into Mr. T's shoes is hard to do, but Jackson did a pretty good job. The standout to me, however, throughout the whole cast was Sharlto Copley as Murdock. Hilarious the entire time and made a good film - a great film.

Is it an Oscar-worthy film? Heck, no. But that isn't what we come to expect with summer blockbusters (my apologies to The Dark Knight). The summer is for fun, popcorn flicks and this one did exactly what it set out to do - at least for me.

It was pretty interesting the way they handled everything - they show how the 'team' comes together and how they have become a pretty darn good secret mission team over the years. They also show their wrongful imprisonment and subsequent escape.

This gave me high hopes because, like I said, this was a pretty fun movie. I felt that they may have left us with the possibility of sequels - which I am hoping for.

It is actually pretty sad that this film has suffered domestically at the boxoffice. With so many uninspiring film releases this summer, this one was surely a hit. I hope that through DVD sells and foreign boxoffice it can make enough money to give us the sequels that it deserves.

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