Gunny Walker

  This weekends selection from Netflix is quite the doozy. I rented Ben-Hur, Stalag 17, Metropolis (2002).
  First off, let me get Ben_Hur out of the way. I have no idea what's going on in this movie. Oh, I have a basic idea of the plot. It's about this Jew in the time of Christ. He winds up getting put into slavery by an old Roman friend and vows revenge. He works his way through the Roman navy and becomes a chariot racer. He eventually races his old friend who winds up being injured in the race. Then it carries on some more with Ben-Hur's eventual freedom and the death of Christ.
  You know what? I didn't watch half of this movie. It's pretty long and drawn out. I will be returning this movie mostly unwatched. Charlton Heston is good in Planet of the Apes. He makes a pretty good Moses. I guess those movies have more than just his acting. All I know is that I can't try to watch it again. I'm done. I'm sending it back.
  The next movie was Stalag 17. What a movie. It's hard to believe this movie came from the same director as Some Like It Hot. Don't me wrong. Billy Wilder is a great guy. Some Like It Hot is a great movie. Really funny. Classic comedy. Everybody should see it. Stalag 17 is a completely different movie.
  It was recommended to me as the movie that Hogan's Heroes is based on. Of course, that's not true. It's kind of an insult to say so. Hogan's Heroes was a comedy. Very good at what it was, but it was nothing like Stalag 17. I was sucked in to Stalag 17 trying to find the mole. It's about a Nazi prison, in which the guys keep trying to escape. Unfortunately, every plan they have is foiled. It seems that there is a mole in Stalag 17. The mole tells the Nazis about how one of the new members blew up a munitions train. The whole movie is about them trying to find the mole and rescue one of their own from certain death. It's a good movie.
  Metropolis is the great movie. I have never had a taste for anime. It's always appeared to eye candy. This movie is completely different. Well, not completely. It's still got a lot of eye candy. Not, that I have anything wrong with eye candy. I like a good looking film, but when it has a poor plot, it's pointless. I guess I can't enjoy it for art's sake. I don't know. A painting is nice, but this isn't a paining. It's a movie. Movies have sound and, most of the time, a plot. I can't stand a movie that is just eye candy.
  Of course, Metropolis is different. The writer was inspired for the visuals after seeing a poster of Metropolis 1927). I'm a big fan of the original Metropolis. It's great. This new Metropolis is just as great. It's got great visuals, plot, and music. As matter of fact the best part of the movie is when the Ray Charles song kicks in.
  I've seen this movie in the store and have been intrigued by it. I've even pulled it off the shelf and looked at it a few times. My taste for anime has always made me put it back. Always. I think that I will have to buy this. I recommend it highly.
  This Netflix thing was supposed to save me money. I would rent that I was thinking of buying. If they were crap, then that would save me some money. Of course, I didn't figure for all the movies that I never thought of buying before. At least, I am getting some culture out of it.