Shaun of the Dead, Festival Express, & Steal This Movie (Reviews)
If you liked the Dawn of the Dead old version or new.. Or even if you didn't, this is the movie to see! Shaun is the run of the mill guy in a crappy job until zombies start attacking. What begins as funny ends up being even more scary after the lauging is over.
4 out of 5 Stars
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A missing and forgotten railroad version of Woodstock, Bob Smeaton's FESTIVAL EXPRESS is awesome! A documentary of a 1970 train tour through Canada with some of the great rock 'n roll groups of that era. The movie shows an innocent backstage era, before excess killed off the party.
Performers ranging from Jerry Garcia to Janis Joplin jam together as the train tours through Canada, and, in the larger cities, everyone gets off to give big concerts. The movie's bizarre subplot has a band of anarchistic kids demanding, in violent protests in which it is the cops ("pigs") who are injured, that the concerts -- as well as food and drugs -- be provided for free. You, however, won't be complaining at all for the opportunity to buy a ticket to this movie, as you'll be having almost as much fun listening to the music as the bands did producing it.
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Steal This Movie
If you liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,
The Doors, or other great movies about the
Sixties Steal This Movie!
I was walking through the video store and saw this catchy title and decided to rent it. When reading the back I noticed that it was a movie covering the life of the Sixties protester Abbie Hoffman. Steal This Movie has Vincent D'Onofrio and Jeanne Garofalo staring in the main rolls. The movie is lightly based off of the book Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman.
The movie begins with Abbie's protests against Segregation and Freedom of Speech. He joins in the sit-ins and other protests where he begins to hone his craft. This leads him to the National Democratic Convention in Chicago, Illinois. He fights with city leaders for the permit to let the young protesters use a local park for sleeping. The City and Mayor Daley refuse which leads to a large riot and another bloody chapter in history. (See 1968 Democratic Convention)
Abbie Hoffman is eventually tried as part of the Chicago 8 and is convicted. After serving a short sentence he jumps bail and goes into hiding until the late Seventies. He deals with trying to hide his identity and deal with Bi-Polar Disorder.
The actors do an excellent job! I was skeptical about Vincent D'Onofrio (He was the actor who commits suicide in Full Metal Jacket), but he played the role excellently. He has a bit of a Minnesota touch as he starred a few years back in Beautiful Girls. The story is interesting, the actors perform well, and it gives the greatest message of all: HOPE!
In the end I give the movie:
Acting: 4 Stars (Out of 5)
Script: 4 Stars (Out of 5)
Total: 4 Stars (Out of 5)