Kathryn Morris

Mindhunters
$19.99
Having seen this load of "@#$!", I am surprised this many people actually reviewed

it. Just kidding. It wasn't that bad, however, the acting was average, the stunts were

mostly computer gen, except for one scene of the most fittest middle aged black man

on screen to date(LL Cool J) in a fist fight with either Slater, or Johnny Lee Miller(sorry I

can't even remember that much of the plot, as there wasn't many memorable scenes

that I could recall).
And Val K. looks like he(excuse the pun) "telephoned in his acting").

The settings were the norm, the usual settings for people being

stalked,killed,maimed,mutilated(eg old abandoned warehouses).

I have to admit the music kept it on the edge and suspenseful.

The special effects were kind of cool. I won't give away any key

points, but the effects were generally minimal, with some nice computer

generated effects, and traditional hollywood effects (except for a

couple of cool Saw-type effects tricks, nothing real unusual was

done).
The actors themselves were along for the ride , almost like the first

Alien movie where the actors had no clue what is going to happen in some

scenes (thanks to the sneaky tactics/directing of the movie director.

And the plot is somewhat predictable as most of Rennie Harlins

movies have been in the past(eg. Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, that Pirate

movie).

Here are a couple of other movies that I suggest if you want good

character development and these are:

-Identity
-Copycat
-Secret Window
-Panic Room.

Also, please watch any of these old classic ones from the

past which are great movies:

-Ten Little Indians
-The Cat and the Canary
-Clue
-The House on Haunted Hill(The original version with Vincent Price please)

Other Rennie Harlin movies with better plot and less cheese:

-"The Long Kiss Goodnight"

-Exorcist: The Beginning (Directing after director Frankenheimmer died, which was a remake of a superior version by Paul Schrader : Dominion: A
Prequel to The Exorcist.

-"Cliffhanger"

Cold Case Files - The Most Infamous Cases
$19.95
this is a disc set worth having I have watched this countless number of times. Everytime I learn a little more or pick up a something I missed before.

Instruments of the Orchestra
$39.99
As a music educator, I've found the recorded excerpts to be wonderfully and logically organized and presented. I've always been an instrumental music teacher only, but find myself teaching general music classes this year, and absolutely love what I've used so far. The last disc alone shows the fascinating evolution of the modern orchestra. Every other track is narrative text, the script of which is printed in the booklet, and I present that info myself, modifying as needed and answering questions during that time. I've only skimmed the other information from the booklet on my own, and look forward to reading and learning more! I'll be buying another copy of Instruments of the Orchestra for my school to own in the near future.

Inherit the Wind (1999) [VHS]
$9.94
I did a little research on this movie and turned up some unpleasant truths: About once a decade, an "anti-religion propaganda film" comes out of Hollywood. I can name three of them and this is one. Really, if such a movie targeted blacks or gays or Muslims, it would arouse an outcry, and it should. This movie, produced by an atheist Christian-hater, is simply a thinly disguised attack on Christians. A teacher who shows this to his class is perpetuating this prejudice. The film does everything it can to portray southern American Christians as hateful, bigoted, intolerant, narrow-minded, ignorant, anti-scientific, and utterly unsophisticated. But, isn't such a hateful portrayal itself bigoted, hateful, & intolerant? Is such an image REALLY accurate about ANYONE? Here in Canada we are taught not to tolerate religious bigotry any more than racial bigotry. Anyway, "hate & mockery" truly describe the spirit of this film - it is so extreme, it is almost unique in this way. As for its content:

The film is technically fine - a courtroom drama. But unfortunately, it is not faithful to the facts of the trial; in fact, the whole picture is essentially a lie. For instance, no one arrested Scopes, the whole trial was initiated by the ACLU in order to overturn a penaltyless anti-evolution law. The ACLU convinced Scopes to play this role and even the prosecution cooperated as a test case. Scopes was not poor and defenseless either, a whole team of lawyers and scientists was brought from NYC by the ACLU. Thus, it wasn't really a normal trial - this is why the defense freely admitted Scopes "guilt". Scopes himself hadn't even taught evolution, the "defense" attorneys had coached the children three months later to say he had (read perjury). What Scopes had done is teach from a book which did teach evolution (the same textbook also declared evolution proved whites were superior to other races, by the way). Anyway, Scopes himself said in his autobiography that he was treated very well by everyone in town. As for the angry fundamentalist preacher and the violent lynch-mob, these were complete fiction - a straw man falsely representing only what the filmmaker WANTED to envision - in short, a lie. And...

It was Darrow, not Bryant, who was cited for contempt for his rudeness. Darrow was an avowed atheist who admitted in his own autobiography that his real goal for the case was to attack what he called "fundamentalists". In fact, the last day of the trial this man broke his word by refusing to testify. By contrast, Bryant, Darrow's opponent, was no intolerant, ignorant buffoon, as he is portrayed in the film - Bryant was chosen as the democratic candidate for president three times and was Wilson's Secretary of State. And the scientists? Darrow wouldn't even let them testify because he knew what Bryant could do to them on the stand! The whole movie deliberately twists the facts much like a Nazi or Soviet styled propaganda film. This movie is simply a deliberate slander: it has nothing to do with science - it was designed to slander Bible believers. Think about what you are really doing before you embrace this film. Using this film in a science class does not teach science; rather, it trains children to despise Christians.

There are few films I'd actually condemn - this is one of about ten. And by the way, before you mock creationists, intelligent design proponents, religious people, or atheists, be intellectually honest by taking a couple of hours to hear the specifics of what your opponents are saying; have you ever even heard what they have to say? Have you? Use science to carry on this controversy - not ridicule. Ridiculing others, as the filmmaker has so eagerly done, is just plain wrong.