thepepperlanders Reviews

5 Broken Cameras (2011)

Injustice Israeli Style

[10/10 · 7 May 2014]

To those that say "there are two sides to this conflict". I say, that thinking reminds me of "who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" The movie is quite disturbing. Children are hauled off in the middle of the night and arrested. A man is shot and killed in front of your own eyes during what appeared to be another non-violent protest. Jewish settlers are allowed to steal land by building a structure and claim land as their own. When Palestinians try to use the same law, the structure is torn down and violence is used against them. Essentially what you have is a modern army, with young soldiers that are allowed to shoot to kill and maim against unarmed yelling civilians. It starts with Palestinians protesting and "yelling loudly" at the Israeli soldiers. They yell at them to have a conscience but unfortunately the some soldiers don't have a conscience and start firing. The soldiers then fire tear gas canisters (maybe a 100 or so) and fire a few bullets into the smoke for good measure. Sometimes the Palestinians are lucky the soldiers only arrest someone for waving a sign or flag in the soldiers faces. The most disturbing moment is a sniper equipped with a modern scope killing an 11 year old deliberately. Maybe the kid was throwing a stone but does that merit the execution of someone in grade school? To some of you "Israel, love it or leave it" types that think it does, I say you people are nuts and evil. If the situation was reversed, you'd be screaming bloody murder to the high heavens. These Arabs deserve to live in peace like anyone else but that's not going to happen. Israel was not deeded to the Jews by God, it is just being stolen bit by bit by men using God as an excuse. It's the oldest story in the book. The English did it to the Irish, The Americans did it to the Indians, the Germans did it to the Jews, and now the Jews are doing it to the Arabs. It never ends and it's always in the name of some God. You'd think everybody would have that scam figured out by now. Anyhow if you want to see how it works ....here it is .....on film right in front of your lying eyes. There are "two sides?" Give me a break.

Hard Times: Lost on Long Island (2012 TV Movie)

This generation is the "Screwed Generation"

[10/10 · 4 May 2014]

A fascinating documentary of life for those that are educated and unexpectedly unemployed. The older you are the less likely your will find a job. Any debate in congress will show a dearth of any leadership on this issue. Quite simply, the leaders really don't give a damn. The politicians have jobs and their friends have jobs. That's all that really matters. I felt for all of those people and thought afterwards that the government should have a job for anyone that wants to work. Even if it has to be paid my increasing my taxes. The existing state of affairs is wrong.

Read any newspaper and it seems the American politicians answer to the unemployment problem is allowing more companies to outsource, adding more immigrants (to supposedly do the jobs Americans refuse to do, nothing to do with lowering wages) and lowering tariffs so that those foreign workers can continue working those outsourced "what used-to-be American" jobs. Does that make any sense? Doesn't to me either, until you realize those politicians work for corporations and pay lip service to ordinary voters. We have a different breed of American leader compared to those during the depression. The public wouldn't stand for immigration during that time and there also were tariffs. Even educated Jews facing persecution in Germany had difficulty immigrating to America during the 1930's because Americans knew that adding more immigrants in a time of high unemployment was exactly the wrong answer.

One last observation. There are only a couple of reviews of this enlightening show that should have been seen by all Americans. Sad that shows like "True Blood" or "Game of Thrones" are so much easier to watch on television. It appears the media's real work is just to distract Americans from the issues that matter. Shows like this never get the publicity they deserve.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

The Book is great......... The movie ? ...so ...so

[5/10 · 11 March 2014]

If you want to watch how modern day Hollywood elites view slavery then by all means watch the movie. The visuals are outstanding. If you prefer historical accuracy, you should read the book (free online since the copyright has long since expired. In the movie, Soloman Northrup is kidnapped and taken aboard a slave ship with other blacks (and of course with evil white sailors) and sold into slavery. In the book he is kidnapped and held by a decent crew. One crewman even sends a letter to his family in New York letting them know about the kidnapping. His family contacts the governor of New York and all decide that it's best to wait until he is purchased to better find him. In the movie his decent owner doesn't want to hear about any kidnapping. In the book Soloman Northup's biggest regret is not telling his decent owner of the kidnapping because he later realized it's likely he would have been released from bondage. The book is an outstanding read about slavery from an very observant and wise man. He sees the world in shades of grey. Some southern whites are good and some are bad, just like up North. He is consistent in finding slavery as a terrible institution but also understands how a persons environment shapes their beliefs. An interesting tidbit is that the original asking price for Soloman Northrup is $1500. In the book, he gets smallpox and gets very sick soon after arriving and is sent to the hospital where he says he is treated decently. After a few weeks he comes back pockmarked and is sold for $1000. One should note that most people couldn't own slaves and that there were even a few wealthy blacks that owned slaves. The price of slaves ran from several hundred dollars all the way up to several thousand (not surprisingly) for a beautiful & female slave. The average income of a printer in 1850 (a well paid profession at that time) was over a bit $300 year. The majority of whites in the south didn't make enough money to even own one slave. The dialogue of the whites and blacks in the movie is a terrible interpretation of a wonderful book that should be required reading in all American middle school classes. Unfortunately Americans don't read and the movie will become part of our "official" history. My advice, read the book instead and you will get a much better understanding of what he went though and the institution of slavery.

The Heat (I) (2013)

Pretty Good

[8/10 · 5 December 2013]

The movie was enjoyable. It's sort of an odd couple movie and it really works because the director hired the right actresses for the parts. I don't normally like Sandra Bullock as she's a bit to snobby for my taste but she was right for her part.

Melissa McCarthy is always funny and even if she's a bit over the top her antics were a lot of fun to watch. It's a silly movie but it will still show you a good time because it has a plot and a good script. Anytime I go to a movie (with my wife) expecting not to enjoy it and am surprised otherwise means yahoo..."TWO THUMBS UP". Go see it or rent it, you won't be disappointed.

Prisoners (2013)

The Movie that Ate My Brain.....Worst Ever !!!

[1/10 · 5 December 2013]

This is the worst movie I have seen in so long I can't remember a worse movie. Perhaps there was one that was worse in the past but this movie is the new champion of "worst movies I have ever seen in my life". If you believe that suspects can shoot themselves while under custody at police stations and torturers can stay out of prison after being found out, then this movie might be for you, especially if you enjoy watching torture. They even throw in a pedophile priest who murders a murderer. After all Hollywood can never resist a slam at Catholicism given Hollywood's high moral compass. I rarely write reviews but this piece of crud is such a waste of time that I'm writing it for those people that enjoy Hugh Jackson (I like his stuff) and want to see a movie with him in it. Even the acting stunk the place up, including Hugh's (I guess torture really isn't his bag). If I could give this movie a minus 1000 I would.

Skyfall (2012)

The Worst Movie of the Decade

[1/10 · 7 January 2013]

The worst Bond movie ever. The plot is absurd and you have to check your brains at the door. This movie was so bad I signed up for IMDb just to warn someone "DO NOT SEE THIS MOVE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE EVEN MORE BORED". There were so many scenes that defy reality I don't know where to start. I'm not talking about ordinary reality. I mean the world of Bond reality. I was surprised they didn't give him a time machine and star trek teleporter to get around, "beam me to China Scotty". They could have put a few Martian bad guys and you wouldn't have known the difference. This movie was about the money Hollywood makes from Bond movies. I just can't believe this movie got an 8 out of 10. Is the public really this stupid or were a lot of people paid to write how great this movie was. I wish I were a real critic so that I give justice in describing this mess.I'll just say if you watch it YOU WERE WARNED !!!