Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA. She is also the owner of the successful young RU-vid channel Virgin Rock, a place dedicated to one of the challenges that she took up: listening Rock Music for the first time. “As a lover of Motion Picture Arts, I decided to take up the challenge of recording movie reviews and this is what Amy’s Cut is about. Fun, full of ideas and challenges, sprinkled with music (of course; did you expect otherwise?!), my takes on movies are meant to bring you at least one smile on your face. If that’s achieved, I am happy!”
A very large challenge: Peter Jackson's director's cut of "The Lord Of The Rings" released as three films: "The Fellowship Of The Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return Of The King"; same as J. R. R. Tolkien's book publisher broke up the epic novel into three shorter, but still thick, volumes. And as a classical musician, I'm sure that you will love Howard Shore's soundtrack. It is masterful.
From several historians point of view..."Napoleon" was one of the worst. 1...Anyway...take a look a Frankenheimer's, "Seven Days In May"...A look at the overthrow of the US government. This movie created many "liberal-thinking" people....and one of Pres JFK's favorite movies. 2...Then look at "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf"...Mike Nichols FIRST film (FIVE Oscars). You will know why Richard Burton and Liz Taylor were considered the best. 3...Then "Midnight Cowboy", another movie in the Library Of Congress, considered iconic, and a national treasure. A slice of New York life. 4..."Richard III" with Lawrence Olivier...5 British Academy Awards. The greatest Shakespearean actors all in one movie.
Perhaps since music is your first love, scores and film soundtracks could be your priority. You watch a movie, talk a little about it and then break down the soundtrack or score in detail. Sometimes in film, the music adds ambience, scope and character to what we see and hear as an audience on the screen. Two amazing film scores are Ennio Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and Basil Polidouris' "Conan the Barbarian". Perhaps, you could teach your viewers about this music and why it's so effective in motion pictures.
As a student of Napoleon for more than 50 years, my verdict is that this is the biggest load of trash you are likely to find in any film about him. The MOST serious failing is that his character is depicted as languid - not to say lazy - when his most documented aspect is activity, to the point of rushing his meals so that he could get back to work. Add to this the INCREDIBLE (literally) depictions of cavalry charges and troops in trenches, etc., and the showing of historical events out of chronological sequence, and the film really is a complete waste of time. I only watched it, because I had free tickets !
Amy you sound like you had a great upbringing. May i ask what a couple of your favorite books are? Mine would be "The Razor's Edge" and "Dr. Zhivago". Have you seen the movie "The Man Facing Southeast"? There is a beautiful scene where a psychiatrist takes his patient (who claims to be an alien) to a Beethoven concert. The alien is overwhelmed by Ode to Joy and implores the conductor to let him conduct this magic, which he does.
Casablanca? Or why not start with film versions of the books that you read? Problem is I don't know what you have read? Tale of Two Cities? Less Miserables? The Tell Tale Heart? Dr. Zhivago? Lawrence of Arabia? Fiddler on the Roof?
Spoiler: In the book, Red and one of his friends come across a dead Jake in the exercise yard. Like Brooks, he had lived for so long in captivity that he didn't know how to take care of himself.
perfect script. perfect set design. perfect character development. perfect cinematography. perfect acting. perfect score. perfect ending. ipso facto, perfect movie. I just visited the Ohio State Reformatory last weekend and it has renewed my obsession with this movie.
What was really clever was using reverse psychology to convince the bad guy they were for real ''Watch him - he cheats.'' One of my favourites was In The Heat Of The Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.
I say, If you haven't yet saw the movie, go read the book. The movie is actually quite loyal to the book in terms of not changing many things, and if I remember correctly, it shows some of the beginning, some of the middle parts and some of the ending. So if you want a more wholesome experience, go read the book. BTW, it's one of Stephan King's fewer non-horror novels
Just watched the epilogue you made! Brilliant review and great addition to this review! Thanks for taking the time to do these ! There was a small section of this video where all sound cut out though thankfully not for long but wanted to let you know in case you didnt know yet.
Hi! This is a great film i cant wait to watch this now i didnt realise you did film reviews too! Argh! I love your reviews and watch them from time to time, though i have yet to watch one of your film reviews! I would love to put in a request if i could be so bold! If you have never watched it that is, to see your take on the 1994 black beauty film. 1.because of it's beautiful scenes of nature. 2 the narrator is perfect for black beautys inner voice. 3 its just such a beautiful film made for all ages apparently, but highlights the stories horses used to go through and how we treated them poorly and so on and has really powerful moments, dramatic moments, silly/funny moments, sad and beautiful moments and the music that was made for this film is just ... Top notch film composing in my humble opinion 😅 I would LOVE to hear your review of this film and it's soundtrack i hope you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Just wanted to add this is some of the cast list for black beauty 1994 Alan cumming (the narrator) Jim carter David thewlis Eleanor Bron Peter Davidson Sean bean (yes 😅 and he doesn't die for once) Alun Armstrong Rosalind Ayres Not sure if any of those actors will jump out at you but thought could be helpful so why not list some of the more well known ones 😅
A year after this film came out, my family got an organ and my sister and I started taking lessons (both piano and organ). After we progressed past our starter sheet music, the first two books of sheet music we got were ABBA’s Greatest Hits (learning that run of notes for “S.O.S.” still gives me nightmares!) and The Sting.
I was 7 years old in 1973, living in my hometown of Joliet, Illinois. My whole family went to the Rialto Theatre downtown, a then-aging movie palace (since restored-it is gorgeous and worth seeing a show or just taking a tour of the building!). It was my first “grown-up” movie seen in the theater. When that place card appeared saying “Joliet, Illinois,” well, I had never seen an audience just ERUPT like that! It took a while for everyone to calm down enough to follow the film. I am sure due to my age, I missed a lot of the twists and turns of the script, but I enjoyed it enough to have a lifelong love of ragtime, grifter drills, and Robert Redford (I had a lifesized poster of him on my bedroom door at age 12).
Late to the party here but Thomas Newman's score is ABSOLUTELY is so important to the film. I'd love to see you review more of Newman's scores and film scores in general!
Amy, I grew up as one of five children and The Sting (and Young Frankenstein before it) were the two movies my father made time to treat me alone. It was wonderful that both turned out to be classics. I worked in Manhattan in the early 1980s and bought he and myself each a Stetson fedora because of this movie. I remember wearing mine down to the bone and Dad proudly wearing it one Easter. Dad died five years ago but I still retain his fedora in its original hat box and will cherish it to the day I die. The Sting is a brilliantly written, acted and directed movie.
The director is a Briton. Hereditary enemy of France. So Napoleon is an idiot - If Barbie is the best movie of 2023, is Napoleon the worst? - Oppenheimer Ferrari Saw X Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny The Exorcist: Believer Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Cocaine Bear Shazam! Fury of the Gods Fast & Furious 10 The Flash Haunted Mansion Blue Beetle Gran Turismo Five Nights at Freddy's Freelance 10 The Marvels The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Silent Night Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Argylle Madame Web Love Lies Bleeding Monkey Man Challengers Boy Kills World Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Civil War Dune: Part Two Deadpool & Wolverine † Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
A neutral, impersonal, dispassionate comment will follow: 2019. The movie The Joker by Todd Phillips with Joaquin Phoenix (The Joker) - 2024. Joker: Folie à Deux (title in French and English) Todd Phillips Joaquin Phoenix Lady Gaga (who is a genius) - The first film The Joker is a masterpiece and, we add Lady Gaga (Harley Quinn) (previously played by Margot Robbie (remarkable actress - Barbie)- (I just saw the trailer in the cinema) - so I'm waiting calmly for this sequel in cinemas on October 4, 2024 (65 days)
This is in fact my favourite movie ever. I even bought it in BluRay, a thing I don't do often. It's full of magic quotes, fabulous acting, drama .. and epic redemption. Not even Stephen's book comes close (and I love King). A real achievement.
Is this movie good?yes .I actually think violence is a powerful tool and i think its something i probably enjoy .Now as a person raised in classic protestantism christianity of the King James Only variety this movie counts as little more than christian right wing propaganda not that i think that is a bad thing.At the same time this movie does leave us with a question of how important God and the Bible are to the structure of society.This movie seemingly says take the Bible away and within a few years the world will become a nightmarish hellscape. Theologically that is very powerful but it also allows the movie to justify God returning to a pre incarnation of CHrist eye for an eye sort of morality no where seen in the new testament .By not only giving denzel the ability ot walk by faith not by sight literally but also seemingly granting him preternatural hearing reflexes and martial arts abilities that allow him to kill the wicked with impunity is a deeply problematic form of theology that has no place in the new testament potentially.
My favorite line is when Redford asks Newman if he thinks he can get enough guys to hel work the big con. Newman : "after what they did to Luther,i dont thonk i can get more than a couple hindred guys" So many great lines in this movie
This is my all time favorite movie. But you're wrong about one thing....they weren't trying to con Robert Shaw out of 11 million dollars. It was 500,000
I left a recommendation on the comments of your first review, this as the other movie was also relatively unknown, which I think is sad that such beautiful movies never reached larger audiences because of certain aspects I wish not to discuss here, this one also brings us to the world of someone who, like all of us, didn’t choose his past nor escape from what’s about to be revealed, another great story about, sacrifice, grace and forgiveness. Very recommended if you haven’t watched it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0vA-s_rthrI.htmlsi=0ob4ZKckn92b3OpI
First congratulations on this new venture, I will recommend you a relatively unknown movie I watched years ago, it’s also about hope, perseverance and something sometimes more difficult, forgiveness, in case you haven’t, here’s a link to the trailer, beautiful music too. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HSKX690OF0c.htmlsi=esH1Qih1ddvHy1R5
I stopped watching when i saw the Royalists insurrection army consisting of a handful of unarmed people and Napoleon butchering them with cannons. The movie looked good and i love Joaquin Phoenix and the era but not when it's just a joke. Heard that there was a lot of bs in the movie.
It was not a royalist army, but a mob - probably mostly unarmed - of Parisian sans-culottes. Napoleon DID butcher them with cannon, passing into historical phraseology as "the whiff of grapeshot" (probably actually canister shot).
Thank you for doing this. One of my favourite films, along with - also Anthony Hopkins - Remains of the Day. Saw it first as a play (Nigel Hawthorne as Lewis) some years before the movie came out, which was also outstanding. I will watch the movie again now. :-)
I have a fairly unpopular opinion about the ending. No it's not that I don't like the ending, I just partially interpret it diferently: I believe the ocean meeting scene after the shot of the bus Red's travelling, is not necessarily the reality, it's just a depiction of what Red hopes. Of course it's not a definite way of seeing it as I can't prove it's whay they really intended which is why I'm saying it's just an opinion but I have some reasons to believe that: - The story it's based on ends with the "hope" lines of the narration, it doesn't get into them meeting on the beach. The narration of the movie also ends the same way, word by word from the book if I'm not mistaken. The beach scene starts with the unfinished "I hope..." comment as if it's completing the sentence. That's why it depicts what Red hopes. - In the scene Red finds Andy doing the exact thing he told Red before escaping, fixing a little boat and there's nothing else on the beach, just the sea, the sand and Andy repairing the boat. Not even a slight nuance. It makes sense that Red imagines finding Andy exactly as he described because he's clueless about any other thing he might find there, Red's imagination for a the beach is understandably quite limited. - Also, the beach scene is filmed quite dreamy compared to the rest of the movie, the ocean depiction is exactly how a person who has never seen the ocean would imagine it to be like. Just endless dreamy blue with a touch of golden sand. The ending "I hope" monologue in the narration also mentions it. Red says something like "I hope the Pacific is as blue as in my dreams" which we get to see how he dreams it in his "hope" depiction. The way they meet is also depicted from a very very wide shot keeping it simple, vague and dreamy. - It thematically fits. It doesn't matter if Red really will be able to cross the border and find Andy there because what matters most is RED DIDN'T TOTALLY LOSE HOPE. His friend Andy gave him the hope he needs. It would be great if they meet again of course but the movie isn't about them being together again, it's about hope. If Red is hoping again, it's a win for Andy because that's all he wanted for Red. It's also a win for Red because even if he can't find what he hopes to find in the end of that journey, he now has the ability to keep hope fortrying again or hope about some other things. He won't just give up on living. So Red hoping again is already a happy ending, we don't need to see they actually meet. - Many years ago, I've read that originally the movie was meant to end with bus going away to the horizon or something without the beach scene at all but the producers insisted a happy ending that shows them meeting again which is why the beach scene added. I like to think Darabont added that beach scene to satisfy the producers but shooting it as a imagination scene and as a result keeping the ending secretly the same ambigious way he originally intended. To be frank, since that, I've seen interviews of Darabont talking like the scene is real but It makes sense that he doesn't want to take away people's way of interpreting the ending. If he actively says the scene meant to be just Red's imagination it will be disappointing to many fans. I think he wants everyone to reach his own conclusion and most people seems to interpret that scene is real, so he is fine with that.
Just listened to your Scorpions:Holiday commentary and found this channel listed in the sidebar! Just subscribed to this one too. I also grew up in NorCal. Where was your ranch?
Great idea! I personally would like to watch your review on some art-house movies of Takeshi Kitano "Dolls", "A Scene at the sea" or Kubrick's Barry Lyndon...
Everyone mentions Antony Hopkins films ,, Why not speak off his first role , In The Lion in Winter , Or the spectacular 1972 BBC television series Off War and Peace , These are sadly never spoken off , But theses productions are excellent in classic historical good drama , Within themselves.
