Dan Culberson
Dan Culberson is an author, TV performer, editor and publisher who has been writing about culture, politics and religion since 1994. He was graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in English literature in the Honors Program from the University of Colorado and was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He was born in Carmel, CA, but grew up all over the U.S. and Europe, living in Monterey, CA: Medford, OR; Lawton, OK (twice); Pampa, TX; Minot, ND; El Paso, TX; Tacoma, WA; Kennewick, WA; Erlangen, Germany; Lebanon, MO; Colorado Springs, CO (where he attended high school); Boulder, CO (where he attended college and now lives); and Heidelberg while serving in the U.S. Army and Sindelfingen, Germany while on assignment for IBM. He served three years in the U.S. Army, retired from IBM after 25 years with a career in publications and is a writer, editor and publisher who came of age in the Sixties, which he remembers quite well. He was named a Boulder Pacesetter in 1985 by the BOULDER DAILY CAMERA in the first year of that program and was a film reviewer from 1972 to 2014 for newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV programs.
Homepage: http://c1n.tv
Posts by Dan Culberson
“Johnny English Reborn” Inspector Clouseau As a Bumbling Bond
Oct 27th
Official Website
“Inspector Clouseau As a Bumbling Bond”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Johnny English Reborn is a sequel we could have done without to a movie I had never even heard of, the 2003 Johnny English.
Again starring Rowan Atkinson as the title character in what was intended to be a spoof of the James Bond movies, this movie is so bad that it needs to be put at the top of the list of a whole new category: “Movies I Never Want to Hear About Again, Much Less See in the First Place.”
This so-called comedy is so bad that it caused only one chuckle from the entire audience, and that was from the only other person in the auditorium with me at the first showing on the opening day of its release.
This movie is so bad that it gives a whole new meaning to “piece of crap.”
This movie is so bad that the rest of this review could consist entirely of sentences beginning with that phrase.
On the other hand, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times, this same movie “is a hit overseas,” which just goes to show you that there is no accounting for taste.
Atkinson plays British spy Johnny English, who five years earlier was the top agent for MI7, but then he was in charge of security for an incident in Mozambique, things went badly, and now just the mention of “Mozambique” causes his right eye to twitch uncontrollably.
Johnny claims that he was only partly at fault, but when the movie opens, he is in Tibet, where he went to forget his shame and study martial arts with Tibetan monks.
However, MI7 wants him back for a special mission, although he is told that guns, fast cars, and chauvinism are on their way out in the modern world of international spying.
In Tibet, Johnny was told, “You are not young, but with age comes wisdom,” and he gets a chance to prove that in his new assignment.
He gets a chance to prove it, but of course he doesn’t in a movie that is just one sight gag and bad joke after another.
The late, great Peter Sellers could have made this movie much better with his Inspector Clouseau character, but Atkinson is no Sellers.
Johnny English Reborn is a poor man’s Inspector Clouseau as a bumbling James Bond.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Way” a Beautiful Film
Oct 23rd
“Beautiful Film on Different Levels”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Martin Sheen in The Way
The Way is one of those rare films that you will remember for a long time to come, because it can affect a wide range of audiences in many different ways.
The film stars Martin Sheen as Tom Avery, and it was written and directed by Emilio Estevez, Sheen’s son, who also plays Tom’s son, Daniel, in flashbacks.
The title refers to the Camino de Santiago, the route of a centuries-old religious pilgrimage that begins in southern France, crosses the Pyrenees Mountains, and ends at the Cathedral de Santiago in Compostela, Spain.
Tom is a widower and an ophthalmologist in California, and one day he receives a phone call from France, and a man asks, “Are you the father of Daniel Avery?”
Tom learns that Daniel was going to walk the Camino de Santiago, but he was tragically killed in a sudden storm on the very first day of his journey.
So, Tom goes to France to retrieve Daniel’s body, and we learn that Tom and Daniel weren’t close ever since his mother died, he was Tom’s only child, and he wanted to see the world.
While he is in France, Tom learns more about the Camino de Santiago, and so he decides to have Daniel’s body cremated and, using Daniel’s backpack, take the ashes with him while he walks the pilgrimage himself, which will take months to complete.
We are told that the pilgrimage is a very personal journey, but shortly after he begins, Tom encounters three other people with whom he will spend most of the journey: Joost from Holland, Sarah from Canada, and Jack from Ireland, all with different reasons for wanting to make the pilgrimage.
Also, along the route, other interesting people are encountered, some making the pilgrimage themselves and others in the villages through which they pass, including some who own and run the inns where pilgrims can spend the night.
Needless to say, Tom has interesting experiences along the way, some touching, some pleasant, and some not so pleasant.
Although Tom walks and acts as if he wants to complete the journey in as short a time as possible, events occur that slow him down and allow him to appreciate the trip and to come to a better understanding of his son Daniel.
The Way is a beautiful film on many different levels.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Ides of March” Shows Dirty Politics
Oct 13th
Official Website
Movie Trailer
“Excellent Portrayal of Dirty Politics”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Ides of March is one of the best movies of the year, but one of the most difficult to enjoy, one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most frustrating, and one that should be seen by everyone who follows politics, but is also a handbook for what not to do in politics.
And expect to hear its name often at the Academy Awards ceremony in 2012.
Now, about the title. To the person who wrote “WTF the title? It doesn’t even take place in March,” I say, “Google it, Dude.” It is a famous expression from a famous play by a very famous author.
George Clooney produced, co-wrote, and directed the movie. He also stars as Gov. Mike Morris, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
The action takes place in Ohio, where the Democratic primary election is coming up, and we are told, “As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.”
Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Myers, Gov. Morris’s press secretary; Philip Seymour Hoffman plays his campaign manager; Paul Giamatti plays the campaign manager for the Democratic rival running against Gov. Morris; Evan Rachel Wood plays an intern working for Gov. Morris’s campaign; and Marisa Tomei plays a reporter for The New York Times.
Stephen is very good at his job and is told that all the reporters love him, even the ones who hate him. However, when the rival’s campaign manager arranges a secret meeting with Stephen, tells him that Stephen is working for the wrong man, and offers to hire Stephen to come work for him, a chain of events are set in motion that will change Stephen’s idealistic views of Gov. Morris.
And then when Stephen learns a secret about Gov. Morris that could damage his campaign severely and perhaps even ruin the governor, Stephen has to battle his own idealistic views, because he can use that information either to further his own career or to damage the governor’s reputation.
We are told that loyalty is the only thing valued in politics and the only thing that can be counted on. We are also told that if you stay in the political business long enough, you become jaded and bitter.
The Ides of March can do the same and is an excellent portrayal of dirty politics.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
