Share Philadelphian's profile
Philadelphian
Philadelphian's stats
- Review count3
- Helpfulness votes2
- First reviewJune 19, 2011
- Last reviewMarch 29, 2013
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.3
Philadelphian's Reviews
Overall rating
5
/
5
Great Digital Restoration
PostedMarch 29, 2013
Philadelphian
from Philadelphia
Gender:Male
Dialogue
1
/
5
Special Effects
4
/
5
Art Direction
5
/
5
Acting
3
/
5
Story
5
/
5
Camerawork
3
/
5
"The Ten Commandments" is partly a spectacular movie experience, and partly an historical document. As a movie, both the colors and the spatial clarity of actors and objects within the frame are greatly improved by the recent digital restoration. The soundtrack is also cleaned up and improved. We viewers get to see amazing colors and a lot more detail in the images. Even some of the special effects are improved, at least as I recall them from television viewings of this movie. The parting of the Red Sea, which looks pathetically hokey on TV, is much more compelling and beautiful in this restoration. The engulfing of the sea over the Egyptians is downright scary.
Parts of the dialogue are as stiff and weird as ever, of course; a kind of Hollywood Bible-speak that is hard not to laugh at. It took talented actors to deliver some of those lines and still keep scenes dramatic. I think it would be a huge mistake to let this occasionally laughable aspect detract from the overall experience of this unmatched, perhaps unmatchable movie, however. The story is big and for me it came through even more powerfully than before. "There is no freedom without the Law" rings loud and clear. The opportunity for humanity to progress to a more just and civilized world, against a backdrop of cruelty and authoritarianism, or dumb anarchy, feels ever-more-precious to me. The movie reminds us that it may have been a miracle that it ever happened at all.
Pros great story
Yes, I recommend this movie.
Share:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Overall rating
1
/
5
Avoid for Your Own Sanity, or Be Prepared!
PostedDecember 1, 2012
Philadelphian
from Philadelphia
Gender:Male
Dialogue
2
/
5
Acting
4
/
5
Story
1
/
5
The rawness of "Silver Linings" leaves the viewer no relief. EVERY character is disturbed, loaded with painful anxieties, or quietly miserable. If it gets better after the first 30 minutes, I wouldn't know, because after the third huge 3-a.m. screaming scene (disturbing the family's entire neighborhood), I was out of there. Life provides us with enough anxiety; I made a mistake paying to receive someone else's. On the one hand, it was too believable; on the other, the script seemed from the "Juno" every-character-has-a-schtick school of writing. I laughed at mentions of DeSean Jackson, like any Eagles fan might; but the audience seemed to laugh at aspects of the characters' torment that didn't seem funny to me at all.
Cons unbalanced, take sedatives with you
No, I do not recommend this movie.
Share:
-1point
2of 5voted this as helpful.
Overall rating
4
/
5
Good 2 Hrs
PostedJune 19, 2011
Philadelphian
from Philadelphia
Stimulating, suspenseful, fun with just enough scare factor for us wild middle-agers. Good acting, very well-made movie, keeps you watchful, periodically surprised, and then thinking. NOT "Psycho;" nor on "Strangers on a Train" level, but close. Way above-average.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
Share:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.