David-Keith Movie Reviews

Standoff can be read both as a parody of virtue and as a philosophical look at multi-sided conflicts. Despite the fact that only one main location was used throughout the film, one hardly gets bored watching it thanks to the concrete and cunning narrative. It may not be a masterpiece of cinematography, but the kind of characterisation it depends on is one hard to find in today's cinema. Standoff is "Reservoir Dogs" meets "Seven" meets "The Untouchables"; and what makes it different is that it underlines the inevitable dissapointments awaiting innocence and idealism while awaking a long-forgotten kind of heroism in the personality of a real-life Luke Skywalker.

Obviously a work of love and hard work, this movie puts the viewer in the belly of the beast. Like any work of true art, each individual will appreciate it on a different level. It is a truly unpredictable whodunnit, an action movie and to me as a mental health professional, an allegory about the heartbreak and upheaval of what happens when a "family" turns on itself...be it a cult, law enforcement, or buddy unit.
Hats off to Andrew Chapman for writing deeply in a genre that rewards slick superficiality.

This movie is kind of like 10 LITTLE INDIANS. Someone told me that this movie is, "Taut, but not derivative." I must agree. Watch for a suprisingly wonderful performance from Natasha Henstridge. While this movie does have guns and girls - it is really a wonderful look at what it means to be a heroe. I hope that the director - Andrew Chapman does more movies. I'll be first in line!

The Pirates of Orion; When Spock begins to suffer from a rare Vulcan disease, Jim Kirk and the Enterprise crew must battle Orion pirates in order to acquire the antidote needed to save Spock's life. But they must hurry as the disease becomes fatal in 24 hours. Another well written Star Trek animated show.

Volume 10 of Star Trek - The Animated Series offers up a pair of episodes from the early part of the show's second season. "The Pirates of Orion" (Episode #17, September 7, 1974), finds the Enterprise rushing to meet up with the U.S.S. Huron carrying the only drug that can cure the disease fatal to Vulcans contracted by Spock. Unfortunately Orion pirates attack the ship and steal the drugs forcing Kirk to track them down before it is too late. But at least we finally get to see the dreaded Orion pirates we hear so much about in the 24th-century. Then in "The Practical Joker" (Episode #19, September 21, 1974), the Enterprise is being pursued by three Romulan warships when it enters a strange cloud that turns the ship's computer into a practical joker. You can never have too many good episodes about the Enterprise's computer. These are both solid episodes from the cartoon Star Trek, which makes this one of the best volumes in the collection.

Two excellent pieces of Star Trek lore, lost in the "official" history of Star Trek.

Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the entire classic cast live on in these episodes. I wasn't even around when these episodes were produced for NBC in 1973-1974, but managed to catch the series in reruns. Some of these stories were so good, they could have been produced as live action episodes. But unfortunately, they suffered from the fact that they were meant to be kiddie fare. I recommend purchasing these eleven volumes for your Star Trek collection.

This last volume in the "Star Trek - The Animated Series" collection presents the final pair of episodes from the show's abbreviated second season, both of which are variations on shows from the original series. In "How Much Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth?" (Episode #21, October 5, 1974) the Enterprise encounters a shipe in the shape of a giant winged serpent who turns out to be Kukulkan, a god of the ancient Mayans. Kirk has to solve a puzzle left by Kukulkan, who has been waiting thousands of years to be summoned back to Earth and once again be worshipped by humans. Obviously a twist on "Who Mourns for Adonis?" Then in "The Counter-Clock Incident" (Episode #22, October 12, 1974) Kirk and crew are taking Commodore Robert April, the "first" commander of the Enterprise (this was the name Roddenberry toyed with before coming up with Christopher Pike) and his wife to Babel. The Enterprise pursues a ship into a supernova and ends up in a universe where time runs backwards. Of course this means the crew begins to grow younger. Not to be confused with "The Deadly Years" where the command staff grows older. These are decent episodes, and working in Bob April is certainly a nice move, but the animated Star Trek was always committed to timidly revisiting the same ground as the original series.

Then, they should look no further than "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth." This is, without a doubt, one of the best Trek episodes ever. It ranks above many from THE ORIGINAL, THE ANIMATED, THE MOVIES, and THE VARIOUS REINCARNATIONS.

An earlier reviewer has basically told it all, and I cannot add any more to his glowing words. 'Just have to say, "Sharper" is the essence of Trek: thought-provoking, literate, and just plain GOOD.

These episodes are original, thought provoking, and well told. They both would have made exelent live-action shows, though Koo-Koo-Khan would have been quite expensive to produce. It is truly a shame that NBC decided to cancel the series after these two episodes aired. Since it was shown early on Saturday mornings, young children were the prominant viewer, and they just didn't "get" the show. If they had simply moved the show to prime-time, it may have thrived and lasted for five more seasons. Of course, if that had happened, Star Trek history would have been changed forever.

I just finished watching the movie this evening. I really like the movie. It is one of the more Biblically accurate movies I've seen on the life of David. The movie covers the period of Saul's rejection by God to Absolom's rebellion. However, it skips lots of things in the middle.

The acting is at the same time wonderful and lacking. They do a great job in acting, yet they always seemed a bit reserved when it came to emotion. Events that would seem to be full of emotion were acted with a bit of monotone.

Yet, this is a good movie. Set in Israel and hearing the blessed Name, YHWH, in a movie is such a treat! There are definitely anachronisms such as the battlements and 3 story houses displayed. They didn't exist at the same time. And you wonder why they leave certain things out that would appear to have made the scene more powerful.

But all these critiques are trifles. It is still a great movie and I recommend it to anyone. The pace is good (considering the movie was made in the 70s) and it kept my attention. Some parts were absolutely brilliant. Parents, you'll enjoy this movie with your kids because there is little violence overall. Some suggestive places in dealing with Bathsheeba, but nothing that forces you to explain anything!

If you want more action, I'd recommend Turner Network's David. It's also very good and has a bit richer/deeper acting.

This is the most accurate story of David movies you can possibly see. I admittingly have not seen EVERY single movie/film that has ever been produced about the life of David, but ive seen all major ones released in theaters and available at Blockbuster Videos etc.

This one is the longest in length of time as well and still is full of accurate details taken from the bible. There is some small inconsistencies but nothing to really get upset or offended about. You can tell it was done with the utmost respect for the scriptures and accuracy was a priority.

Definitly one to add to your collection of biblical story films..

This is a wonderful movie. The best part is the use of the Sacred Name Yahweh. When I started the video, the first word is Yahweh, and then from that point on it was a winner to me and my family. I hope that there will be others that I can view with my family that have the most important Name that any of us will ever know in it. Thank you Ylisha

This 3 part mini-series is about students at the Lawrenceville School. As a former student there, i found the film most interesting. Unfortunately, it is a way more innocent version of my high school experience. It is still entertaining. The antics of Hickey, Doc McNooter and Tennessee Shad are quite fun while the Headmaster fights to keep it all together. An enjoyable 3 hours.

Starring Zach Galligan of "Gremlins" and "Waxworks" fame, "The Lawrenceville Stories" are an innocent and impish foray into the friendships and rivalries of silver-tongued "Hickey" Hicks (Galligan), entrepreneur Doc Macnooder (Albert Schultz), and the sly Tennessee Shad (Nicholas Rowe). Set in a turn-of-the-century boarding school, these American Playhouse adaptations of Owen Johnson's "The Prodigious Hickey" and "The Tennessee Shad" are gently funny programmes suitable for the whole family. Movies which do books justice are few and far between, but when you have such fine actors in roles replete with witty dialogue and good-natured pranks, it's easy to overlook a plot change or two... Well worth the purchase if you're a fan of PBS programming.

Well done piece of British escapism. Wide range of suspicious characters and Joan Hickson is the one and only Miss Marple. One of my favorites in this series

Mrs. Dolly Bantry (Gwen Watford) tries to inform her husband of the reported body and is accused of imagining the report due to reading trashy books in bead at night. As usual Jane is always in the right place to view the potential suspects. Clues are everywhere yet who would mix body's and books?
Speaking about night I would not start this film to late, as it seems to go on forever at 151 minutes. As it was a made for TV (1984), I suspect that this video is a composite of a series. And there are places where it takes leaps to different situations with out any transition. You can guess the plot in general but the details are surprising. It is wrapped up so quickly that you will need to run the ending a few times to put it all in perspective

Well done piece of British escapism. Wide range of suspicious characters and Joan Hickson is the one and only Miss Marple. One of my favorites in this series

Mrs. Dolly Bantry (Gwen Watford) tries to inform her husband of the reported body and is accused of imagining the report due to reading trashy books in bead at night. As usual Jane is always in the right place to view the potential suspects. Clues are everywhere yet who would mix body's and books?
Speaking about night I would not start this film to late, as it seems to go on forever at 151 minutes. As it was a made for TV (1984), I suspect that this video is a composite of a series. And there are places where it takes leaps to different situations with out any transition. You can guess the plot in general but the details are surprising. It is wrapped up so quickly that you will need to run the ending a few times to put it all in perspective

Despite its interesting subject this DVD release is a technical failure. The sound is bad and forsomebody that English is not his mothertongue it is very difficult to understand. Why the producer of this important DVD did not work a little bit harder to to put a subtitle feature for hearing impared people as well for less knowledgeable people in English. The subtitle feature should be a routine feature no matter what language is spoken in the movie. I was very disappointed by its quality.

The horrors of real war experienced by soldiers are vividly explored in this excellent movie. There are few, if any, neutral scenes as the film shows typical conditions that fightingmen go through. And, Courtenay's performance as a normal person in uniform is credible and compelling.

Despite its interesting subject this DVD release is a technical failure. The sound is bad and forsomebody that English is not his mothertongue it is very difficult to understand. Why the producer of this important DVD did not work a little bit harder to to put a subtitle feature for hearing impared people as well for less knowledgeable people in English. The subtitle feature should be a routine feature no matter what language is spoken in the movie. I was very disappointed by its quality.

The horrors of real war experienced by soldiers are vividly explored in this excellent movie. There are few, if any, neutral scenes as the film shows typical conditions that fightingmen go through. And, Courtenay's performance as a normal person in uniform is credible and compelling.

This 3 part mini-series is about students at the Lawrenceville School. As a former student there, i found the film most interesting. Unfortunately, it is a way more innocent version of my high school experience. It is still entertaining. The antics of Hickey, Doc McNooter and Tennessee Shad are quite fun while the Headmaster fights to keep it all together. An enjoyable 3 hours.

Starring Zach Galligan of "Gremlins" and "Waxworks" fame, "The Lawrenceville Stories" are an innocent and impish foray into the friendships and rivalries of silver-tongued "Hickey" Hicks (Galligan), entrepreneur Doc Macnooder (Albert Schultz), and the sly Tennessee Shad (Nicholas Rowe). Set in a turn-of-the-century boarding school, these American Playhouse adaptations of Owen Johnson's "The Prodigious Hickey" and "The Tennessee Shad" are gently funny programmes suitable for the whole family. Movies which do books justice are few and far between, but when you have such fine actors in roles replete with witty dialogue and good-natured pranks, it's easy to overlook a plot change or two... Well worth the purchase if you're a fan of PBS programming.