dwpollar

1st watched 3/2/2025 - (Dir-John Milius):*version watched not original* Excellently told story of the adventures of Conan the Barbarian looking for revenge upon the evil entity that killed his mother and father, Thulsa Doom(played by James Earl Jones). Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the role of Conan is perfect for this character that says very little but wields strength in his every being. Upon the killing of his mother and father, he becomes a slave to the snake-like group, because they apparently don't kill children. Once he becomes older, he eventually gets released --- and than his whole reason for being is to hunt down Thulsa and his group. Along the way he has varying encounters and picks up a few cohorts including a character played by Sandahl Bergman, who does great in her role. What the movie does well is develop the character and tell's Conan's story including some humor thrown in. You understand his quest because of the way the story is so specifically laid out. Jones is great as the evil snake man, which always helps in these kind of movies. In my opinion, this is the best Schwarzenegger movie with a story written by Oliver Stone and the director that is first rate making a movie that should not be missed.

1st watched 2/16/2025 - (Dir-Julian Doyle) Somewhat interesting for fans of the original Monty Python movie, but overall just lacking a good connection to the original piece. Twenty-five years after the filming Terry Jones & Michael Palin take us to the locations where the original "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" was filmed - trying to simulate where they were when this person said that etc.... Jones becomes worn out climbing up steep fields and castle steps as he recalls the events and the hauling of camera equipment thru this same terrain. A good idea, but it seems like they ran out of ways to make it interesting and ended up hiring young kids to simulate the last scene. Sometimes when you admire a film, anything about it's making is fun to watch - but this one ran tiresome before it ended. Not sure the necessity of this 47 minute piece, really....could have been a much shorter addition to the movie's DVD.

1st watched 1/9/2025 - (Dir-Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske & Jack Kinney) *version watched was missing Pecos Bill with cigarette/tornado scenes* Well done group of shorts showing the inventiveness of the Disney animators once again. This set, for the most part, focuses on the music of the time with jazz, some classical remixes, country and even Mexican. A few longer stories like "Johnny Appleseed", "Little Toot", and "Pecos Bill" finish the set. Unfortunately, the headlined "Pecos Bill" segement with Roy Rogers is the least satisfying and ends the movie on a low note. The other shorts shine through, especially "Once Upon a Wonderland", "Blame it on the Samba" , the Johnny Appleseed story, and "Little Toot." This is a somewhat forgotten feature that should be a normal part of their canon. It's obvious that the part live-action "Blame it on the Samba" , where a live piano player is super-imposed with animation was a test for further efforts like "Mary Poppins" and "Song of the South" and showed that it was a success. Bravo to Disney - Disney and animation fans alike should cherish this effort and have it in their collection.