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Awix (3310 KP) rated Harriet (2019) in Movies

Nov 26, 2019 (Updated Nov 27, 2019)  
Harriet (2019)
Harriet (2019)
2019 | Biography, Drama, History
6
6.9 (10 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Earnestly worthy (or possibly worthily earnest) bio-pic. Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery, helps many others do the same, makes many stirring speeches while music swells behind her, and receives the odd vision courtesy of God (or may just have seizures as a consequence of brain damage).

A powerful performance from Erivo, and the film initially manages to bring the horrors of slavery to vivid life in a way that even 12 Years a Slave didn't quite manage, as well as presenting a more complex view of life in the slave states before the American civil war. But the story soon becomes a bit disjointed and repetitive, and by the end it has turned into a rather clunky melodrama only partly redeemed by reasonable performances and production values.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated How the West Was Won (1963) in Movies

Jun 24, 2021  
How the West Was Won (1963)
How the West Was Won (1963)
1963 | Action, Western
6
7.5 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Sprawling account of fifty years of American history, as encountered by various members of one pioneer family. Starts with the initial settlement of the west, takes in the Civil War, the coming of the railroads, and concludes with the triumph of law and order (well, sort of).

At least partly sold on the sheer number of stars involved, but in the end there's hardly any John Wayne, not much more Jimmy Stewart, and probably a bit more George Peppard than you'd honestly care for. It's quite naive, sentimental stuff, in many ways, and the technical side-effects of it being shot in VistaVision are very obvious. There's some magnificent photography, the odd effective cameo, and very occasionally a moving moment - but too often this is stodgy and episodic rather than a stirring saga.