Dagdason Reviews

Land of Mine (2015)

Sins of the Fatherland

[9/10 · 1 October 2017]

This is a very profound topic as it deals with the immediate aftermath of WWII and how a generation of young people were left to cleanup after the Nazis. It speaks to the cruelty of all participants, something to be considered these days with the world's fomenting nationalistic fervor.

The acting is outstanding and cinematography quite artful.

The Hitmen Diaries: Charlie Valentine (2009)

Director tried too hard

[5/10 · 30 April 2010]

First of all I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, I am familiar with all of the players in this film and had heard great things about it. I saw the trailer from the Sacramento International Film Festival and was quite intrigued.

As a fiction writer I have to say the story was great, as a screenplay writer I have to say that it was great and it hit all its plot points right on. As an actor I would have to say that the players were at least a 7 out of 10, but direction defeated some. Where it starts to fall apart is with the editing, sound and direction. The cinematography had it's high points but seemed to be defeated by the direction, sound and FX.

At points it was obvious that the editor and Foley were rushed to get this finalized.

I came in with elated expectations and came away really angry about the final product. I say give it back to a real hard core editor/storyteller and see what comes out of their efforts.