hackermc

This small independent/low budget film is built on extremely effective uses of science fiction coupled with religion coupled with political resistance to totalitarian power and a weird species of multidimensional autobiography that coalesces to provide a very, very satisfying conclusion and a sharp emotional experience. Shea Whigham carries the film, he's great. Hanna Hall is a most excellent villain. The story reminded me of The Man in the High Castle, another PK Dick novel featuring alternative parallel universes. The story is inspired by real paranormal events that PK Dick and his wife Tessa experienced in Los Angeles in the 1980s. highly recommend this for lovers of cerebral film.

I have a bias. This film charmed the freckles off me when I was 10. I fell in LOVE with it, a love that continues to this day. When I went to Germany, I visited Neuschwanstein castle, not because of Ludwig II or Richard Wagner--but because of this movie! It's perfectly cast, with brilliant, astounding music, and a design that knocks your socks off. There's only one moment where the magic languishes: when the picnic at the beach is almost over.

It's one of those films that, frame by frame, only get better with each subsequent viewing--because it's so rich and deep. Dick Van Dyke was never better. Sally Ann Howe is perfect. Gert Frobe, Sir Robert Helpmann and Anna Quayle are by turns menacing and hilarious, the script by legendary Roald Dahl is mesmerizing and the art direction is breathtaking.

However, this film about the love of a magical automobile may appeal more to boys than girls.

No wonder they've made a stage musical of this. The only mystery is why it took them so long!

The Wilhelm Gustloff was the Third Reich's classiest passenger liner when she was pressed into service evacuating German civilians from Poland as the Soviets advanced in the waning days of WWII. Loaded with 10,000 passengers (crammed into every public space available), the Wilhelm Gustloff departed from Gdansk (Danzig) sailing for the German port of Kiel. During the night she was torpedoed by a Russian submarine and sank in 45 minutes, taking 9,000 souls with her (some say closer to 6,000). It remains the worst loss of life from a single sinking in maritime history. There has been controversy with some on the German side alleging a war crime, in that refugee non-combatants were killed in large numbers. The captain of the submarine (Marinesko) lived under this cloud until his death in the 60's. His commanders recommended he not be given the highest honors because his alcoholism and history of being AWOL made him unsuitable to be a hero.