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JJBustamante
Reviews
Hildegarde (2001)
Excellent
This isn't a big-production movie. It didn't hit the top of box office sales. It isn't glamorous. But it is a great film.
It is a great movie, not only because it is clean, without harsh or unnecessary violence, without sex, without swearing, and without other vice, but it also gives a good real-world portrayal of life. TV shows and movies almost always show families that are upper-middle-class. The family in this movie is much more realistic. They're not rich, they don't come from influential families, they aren't out-of-the-ordinary. That may sound like a bad thing, but it really is good, as it teaches viewers of all ages that money and prominence aren't everything.
The West Wing, for example, involves staffers of the White House. Government employees do not get paid much, and real White House Staffers have commented that in real life, they can't afford the expensive clothes as seen on the show. Hildegarde doesn't try to make such pretensions. The main character, a very-goodlooking Chris, is seen wearing a shirt that even has a hole.
The plot generally is about kids who venture out to get back their duck, and that of course isn't usual in normal people's lives, but it is still done realistically -- the kids aren't mutants with mighty morphin abilities or anything silly like that.
Yes, this is supposed to be a kids movie, but I'm 21, and I love it. I'm not a weird sort of 21-year-old. I do watch Family Guy and The Simpsons. I almost never see any PG or G movies. I'm not in the target demographic for this movie, but I like it anyway.
With Honors (1994)
Nice little movie, but easily forgettable
Nice story, nice acting. This is a good movie, but not great.
The movie does have a nice message and all, and it has A-list actors (Joe Pesci and Brandon Frasier), but this movie was never monumental, and I am pretty sure it never will be. It won no awards and hasn't received much attention. It's a shame actually -- this really is a nice little film. I think it's tons better than Titanic, but it will never be recognized as such. This movie was made almost 12 years ago, and soon it will fade into obscurity.
I doubt that most people would want this in their DVD collection, unless someone sells it for under a buck or someone gives it as a gift. It's worth it though, if you go for these nice small movies rather than big thrillers or cheap comedies.
Angel in the Family (2004)
Very warming movie with excellent values
The story basically is about a widower father and his two daughters who often had disputes. The father got really ill near Christmas, so he and his two daughters spent the Christmas in their old family home.
By some miracle, their mother who passed away several years previous suddenly came back to help straighten things out.
I suppose that this is a fantasy that everyone who lost a loved one has, and this movie was a nice exploration of what could happen in such a case.
Aside from that, this movie has excellent moral values and is perfect for the whole family. Subtly but surely, this movie illustrates mainstream Judeo-Christian values. It successfully showed us the problems of addictions, abortion, fornication and obsessions without showing us the ugly side of humanity -- an extremely unusual feat.
Those who do not like being preached to would likewise enjoy this movie, as even though it is a movie of morality, it does not try to indoctrinate or preach.
This is the perfect movie.
Family Plots (2004)
What's the point?
Frankly, Family Plots isn't worth the electricity it takes to bring it to you on your TV set.
The show goes into the daily happenings in a family-owned mortuary, which initially sounds potentially interesting, but once you really delve into it, it's quite dull.
Though I'm not into reality shows, I understand that they can be interesting because the characters are given extra provocation and testing; for example, networks would take a bunch of urbanized Americans and put them in the middle of nowhere, and they'd have to adapt and compete to win. It's not my taste, but it has potential.
Family Plots is nothing like that. There is no provocation or anything really out of the normal. It's probably the closest to reality as reality shows get. This sounds like a virtue for a reality show to have, but if you think about it, it's silly. TV was invented to entertain and, at times, to teach; reality shows, particularly of this type, are as exciting as a walk around the block. You can get the same stimulation from your every day life.
This show just plain unenlightening. Regular life is more exciting.
Out of ten stars, this show deserves zero. At least cheesy, vulgar comedies can get up to two stars. But if, really, there is no plot, the show shouldn't get any stars. Instead of a thumb up or thumb down, maybe a thumb in my mouth, because when I was a baby, I sucked on my thumb when I slept.
This show is almost as dull as watching a security camera's monitor.