Thursday, September 25, 2008

Mercy Streets Movie Review

Mercy Streets (2000) Rated PG-13, Directed by Joe Gunn, Written by Jon Gunn and John Mann Staring Eric Roberts, David A. R. White, Stacy Keach, Robert LaSardo.

Mercy Streets DVD cover

Blows Facing the Giants out of the water. While the dialog isn’t particularly witty, Mercy Streets is ably directed, well acted, and has an interesting story. Yes, if Ridley Scott had directed it would have been more intense, but as a “Christian movie” it is the best I have seen.

The story is about twin brothers (David White plays both), one who is going to become an Episcopal priest (Jeremiah), the other is fresh out of prison (John). The convict accidently (but without regret) gets his brother involved with Rome (Eric Roberts), who forces the soon-to-be-priest to participate in a counterfeiting scam. John takes on the life of a priest for a while and shakes things up for all those Jeremiah knows.


alternate cover which I like better

This movie is rated PG-13, which shows there is something very wrong with the ratings system. There is no way that the violence or intensity of this movie matches something like The Two Towers. It is more on par with National Treasure, which is only PG. Some reviewers have complained that there wasn’t any cussing, which made it unbelievable. Perhaps I watch too many black-and-white movies, but swearing doesn’t make a bad guy bad, his actions and vibe do.

Eric Roberts has screen presence. David White does a good job with the two roles and Stacy Keach makes a great one scene appearance. Netflix has it, or you can buy it. I recommend Mercy Streets for a nice clean show.

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

King Kong vs. Godzilla and Son of Godzilla Movie Review



Boy these are awful movies. But awful fun at the same time. The plots are so full of holes I won’t bother to point them out. Even my preteen kids were trying to figure out how to patch the holes. The acting is generally horrible. You know what though? Every time Godzilla gives his trademark roar, I’m an 8-year-old boy again and all is forgiven.

In King Kong vs. Godzilla, Godzilla returns to Japan and starts destroying things. At the same time (zeitgeist?) a television executive with ties to a pharmaceutical company (or is it a pharmaceutical executive with ties to a television company ?) decides to go get King Kong to boost his ratings. Someone comes up with the idea to put them together an let Kong and Godzilla fight it out. The general hope is that King Kong will win. When I was a kid I had heard that the Japanese version had Godzilla win at the end, but that is not true. Godzilla came to Japan on his own and started going destruto, so Kong was always the “good guy.”



The Son of Godzilla shows the giant lizard’s paternal side. Some scientists are on an island trying to figure out how to control the weather. An giant egg hatches and Godzilla comes to take care of the critter. Also, there are giant praying mantis for no apparent reason. Not as much destruction in this one.

Fun to watch and the kids can enjoy them, just don’t expect too much in the way of story.

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