An insufferable movie about an insufferable character.
This movie about a young man risking everything to become the world table tennis champion seems to be trying to make a comment on just how far someone would go to achieve their dreams even disregarding any sense of morality. This kind of story could work if either the character started out moral and that morality deteriorate as the story went on or if the character started as a jerk but changed into a better person at the end. However, our main character here is an irredeemable piece of crap from the opening credits to the closing credits. He does nothing to win our sympathy nor make us root for him in any way. He simply does one horribly immoral thing after another. The scenes involving a dog especially made me hate this character. The result is just plain unpleasant to watch. For a two-and-a-half-hour runtime it is also irritatingly repetitive. The whole movie is made even more unpleasant by a surprising number of violent scenes (for a film about table tennis) and a slew of supporting characters that also have no sense of reality. The violent scenes aren't especially gory, but they are done in such a way as to make them unpleasant to watch. If there is a point these bits of violence are trying to make, they are lost in a film with a disjointed story and no emotional center. What makes this movie even worse is the ending. While I won't give it away, it obviously expects us to sympathize with our main character and tries to even hit an unsuccessful sentimental note. If so, then the filmmakers should have given us a single reason to care about him and the over two hours that preceded this forced ending.
I know this movie is a critical darling but frankly I can't see one reason to recommend it. Even Timothée Chalamet's all-in performance as the main character is wasted on a character not worth caring about.
This is the final segment of the fourteenth episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest.
In this cartoon, Wonder Woman and the Atom team up to save passengers stranded on a cable car in the Rocky Mountains.
This is a wonderful cartoon. Taking place at the Rocky Mountains, there is a great sense of atmosphere throughout. The background art of the rugged and snowy terrain is fantastic, with great detail that makes it feel real to us. The effects animation with the lighting also adds to this sense of atmosphere. All this also works together to create a real sense of danger. You really feel the danger all the passengers are in and the episode gets a good amount of suspense out of this basic premise. The superhero action is pretty basic as well. However, it is also quite effective and exciting.
This episode may be very basic, but it is also Super Friends doing a great job at what it does best.
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Near the Cross. This hymn was written by Fanny Crosby, who had written many beloved hymns including Blessed Assurance and Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour. This song first appeared in an 1869 collection of hymns entitled Bright Jewels. One of those who put together this collection was William Doane, who would write the music for this hymn. Fanny had been blind since she was six weeks old. Evangelist Dwight L. Moody once asked Fanny, “If you could have just one wish granted, what would it be?” Fanny's answer shocked him. She said, “If I could have one wish, I’d wish that I might continue blind the rest of my life.” She explained this answer by saying “Because, after being blind for all these years, the first face I want to see now is the face of Jesus.”
This is followed by Red Sovine with If You Should Visit Heaven.
Afterwards comes The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1941 recording of What Wonderful Joy. Though many don't want to give their loves to Jesus because they don't want to give up their sins, the truth is that the joy Jesus can give us is greater than anything we may get out of sinning. This song is about the incredible joy that only Jesus can provide. This recording is very much a duet between two members of the band. Lloyd Perryman and Bob Nolan share the main vocal duties on this song, and both sound as great as ever.
Then comes Washington Phillips with his 1929 recording of I've got the Key to the Kingdom.
Next is Carl Smith with I Dreamed of the Old Rugged Cross.
Then come Bill Anderson with Blessed Assurance. This hymn came about when songwriter Fanny Crosby visited composer Phoebe Palmer Knapp. Knapp played a tune for Crosby and asked what came to her mind with that tune. Crosby said, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!" She then immediately followed it with more lyrics that would be in the finished song. The song was published in 1873 and first appeared in a monthly magazine for which the editors were Joseph Fairchild Knapp and Phoebe Palmer Knapp (who were husband and wife). When it later appeared in 1887's Gospel Songs, No. 5 by Ira Sankey, this we lead it to greater fame as it would be commonly sung in the revivals of Dwight L. Moody and Sankey. By 1889, the hymn commonly appeared in Methodist hymnals. This version of the hymn comes from Bill Anderson's 1967 gospel album; I Can Do Nothing Alone.
Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash singing Let the Lower Lights Be Burning. In the notes for the box set Unearthed, John wrote, "This is a very special song for me, and I'll tell you what it means to me now. When my father was dying, he was in a coma, and all my brothers and sisters and I were gathered around the bed, and we felt like telling him goodbye. But my oldest sister Louise said, 'Let's sing to him.' So we started singing 'Let the Lower Lights be Burning.' At some point I looked at him and, though he had been sound asleep in a coma for days, his lips started moving and he started singing that song along with us. The more we would sing it the more he sang. And he opened his eyes, and he looked around at us as we were singing. Ad of course everybody had a good cry as watched him and listened to him as he sang 'Let the Lower Lights be Burning' with us."
Now for a message from the Reverand Billy Graham.
Today's movie is The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen (1937) starring Tex Ritter.
Psalm 122
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.
4 That is where the tribes go up—
the tribes of the Lord—
to praise the name of the Lord
according to the statute given to Israel.
5 There stand the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels.”
8 For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
This film tells the story of a man who in 1977 Brazil goes back to his hometown of Recife only to discover that it has changed for the worse, turning him into a political refuge.
As this movie starts, we are quite unsure of who this character is as well as his past. Yet the opening sequence sets up a real sense of dread. We open with our main character pulling into a gas station where a dead body is lying outside because the cops haven't come around to pick it up yet (though it has been there for days). When we see the cops finally come, they do nothing about the dead body but instead search the car of our main character, despite his various objections. This is a perfect opening. It tells us little of anything, yet it pulls us in and intrigues us automatically. This is an opening scene that will stay with me for a good while. The film slowly reveals what is going on, a little at a time. This type of storytelling can be dangerous because it can either come off as intriguing or boring. However here it works perfectly. That is because the excellent filmmaking and well written script make it incredibly compelling, even before we fully figure out what is going on. The whole film is fully of beautiful looking shots and very intelligent dialogue. The musical score is also excellent and lends much to the sense of atmosphere. Meanwhile each reveal is fully worth waiting for as each one is very smart and makes what came before even more effective. The movie also gets more intense as it goes along with a climax that is very exciting and disturbing.
I am keeping this review short as to not give away too much. However, I give it my highest recommendation.
