Rain Man (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Rain Man (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Decoys for the US Autism Pandemic
Summary: 5 Stars
[Rainman]
This was a profound movie about a completely bizarre outcome (a relatively erratic data point) in the phenomenon of what is loosely diagnosed as autism. The savant Raymond is probably in the top five, best performances in film or stage, ever. Dustin Hoffman is outstanding, a talent in class by himself. Actor Tom Cruise is becoming more and more an interesting fixture on the American media scene; i.e. a public personality.
The more elaborate, dictionary definition is `autism spectrum disorder', why such unique description? Because it's such a varyingly spread, or spectrum-like ROY G BIV of impairment it is a medical cause still basically poorly understood.
Somewhere along the way, this movie picked up enough popularity to become cultural literacy, and in turn distorted what the public really takes for understanding the disorder of autism. Take the book: "The thing about the dog and ...etc..." by Marc Hadden (upside down black poodle on pink jacket, can't miss it); that author actually tries to capture some of the myth momentum generated by the film Rainman and other spotlight stories in the media showcasing the so called `idiot savant'--not a very humane, and I think out of use label. True freak of natural capacity somewhere in them. Yet not all developed memory stems from people who are otherwise, more or less mentally retarded, requiring supervised care. Patrick Stewart, the actor, can read and act all parts of the Dickens play `A Christmas Carol', on stage, in person, from memory.
You don't have to be `dumb', to be smart...let's remember...in case anti-intellectualism tries too hard to popularize that misconception. There is no reason to surrender your unenumerated rights of conscience to a second class citizen status just because you will do your own thinking about things. We have no idea what grave danger a society is in when the wheeze box of the media propaganda starts to manufacture such conformity for the people's raw intelligence. This is what George Orwell wrote about in his novel "1984". Oh yeeeeee'ees!--has come home to roost. Otherwise anybody who thinks they know something is automatically dismissed, why? Because they're obviously speaking without a license to do so and must therefore be some babbling mental incompetent. Don't let the Snot's Sector for Immoral Abuses pull that con on you.
Most autistics are not so unusual. They form part of the population of challenged and exception people who struggle with enormous disadvantages each and every day--and not pulling off feats of extraordinary computation or selective recall; by in large, incoherent and unable to interact in the mainstream. Fortunately there is still enough humanity in this society to provide substantial care giver support and a happier life for them, housing and activities, nursing and so on.
The mentally retarded, portrayed in this false light of super-human intellectual skills, is a double disservice deception: it tries to disguise epidemic casualty in epidemiology as some heroic fantasy (in order to go on manufacturing those victims with obvious mass population fluoropoisoning), while it recycles the aftermath to chide the idea the public has any recourse to reasoning.
That is unfortunately how ugly the situation is where populations are being parasitized by predators lurking amongst them. The predator does not want exposure it is preying and profiting through human destruction and ramified corruptions its dirt imposes on the institutions of law enforcement and government, even mainstream religious organizations, the health organization and disaster response professionals (who weren't `born yesterday' either). Therefore that predator has to invent a conspiracy that no one can ever expose it for what it is. Nobody else, (by definition), from that point forward, can have the intellectual capacity to fathom the mastery of its world-beater agenda. They are Aldous Huxley's indulgent `Alphas', the favorite children of a malevolent system of socialistic fascism in the living novel "Brave New World"--there's more than one way to suffocate the perfectly manageable gradation of intelligence in the population. But that industrial syndicate will inevitably be caught by its own avalanching evil exploits. Too many epidemics, too many dead babies, too many rube-frauds so idiotic in pretense it makes people ashamed to see adult collaborators put on an act for it, like it's perfectly ok; too much lingering advancement of knowledge leaking into public education. `Who authorized they teach the autonomic nervous system in those worthless American public secondary schools, or any anatomy!?', the most grotesque opportunists are always in for their ultimate upending, especially when their operation requires closing down public education in order to insure the public doesn't think. In the lah'lah land of Happy Valley Mormon Utah, that fantasy has obviously been too temptingly believable, that is why Utah is one of the escape patterns for that titanic political corruption's movement in America, a holed-up, out in nowhere hideaway, a sovereign haven where enormity might still be able to escape the light of day.
Science, as it must be contorted to the whims of ultimate corruption, is centered on the authority to pontificate `intelligent design' to school kids, or for what the uneducated, at least unaware public will mistake for the only debate or branch of science. The language rights of the biologists must be impounded and seized on the pretext `evolutionary theory' offends, moreover to just shut down critical thought in general and along with them the climatologists who dare speak the words: `global warming'. A disagreeable, irrational population is not permitted. That is the only thing abject ignoramus `leadership' comprehends. With that nuisance distraction whipped up to a frenzy, by the usual suspects in the past year or so, hopefully nobody will care or bother with what words like: oncology, histology, cytology, nephrology, neurology, pathology, epidemiology, ... et al, could ever mean or be useful for. Quite a neat little arrangement, the media is. Ask 60 MINUTES what an autism epidemic is. Tell them it is not a million 6 year old concert pianists.
Another disappointment, the film's idea any mental ability (the unnatural kind) ought be best exercised at the Las Vegas gambling table, in the dim witted, short sighted Hollywood estimation of intrinsic value.
Movie Review: "Rain Man: Special Edition" -- Good DVD, Even Better Film!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Rain Man" reigned in the 1988 "Best Picture" Academy Award, and deservedly so. This film is everything a "Best Picture" Oscar winner should be, in my view. It has tenderness, romance, drama, compassion, likeable characters, and a biting humor as well. It's a "road" picture, while at the same time encompassing so many other things too. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman give highly-memorable and powerful performances in "Rain Man". Some of the moments in the movie that I find particularly memorable (and deserving of multiple replays whenever loading this up into the DVD Player) include these
> The first meeting between "Charlie" and "Raymond", when Charlie finds Ray behind the wheel of his rare 1948 automobile (excellent "first meeting" of these characters).
> The "shorts on the highway" scene.
> "Qantas never crashed".
> The Blackjack scene in Vegas.
> "I like having you for my big brother".
This "SE" release of "Rain Man" includes an enhanced (anamorphic) 1.85:1 Widescreen version of the movie -- and it gets an A+ on my "PQ Report Card". The digital video is beautiful throughout, with radiant colors.
The audio comes through loud and clear via the disc's bold English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track. Two foreign-language DD tracks are also part of this DVD -- a 2.0 Surround in French, and a Spanish 2.0 Mono track.
The DVD Special Features are a wee bit on the light side for a so-called "Special Edition". Although, if you like Audio Commentaries, you've come to the right place with this "Rain Man" DVD. Three separate filmmaker Commentary Tracks are featured on this one-disc "SE", including one by Director Barry Levinson.
Other bonus material includes Original Featurette. -- This short bonus is fairly thin on content, but does provide a few comments from stars Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise (circa 1988). Not much to sink your "Making Of" teeth into here though. The video for this featurette is Full Frame (1.33:1). Length = 6:55. .... It would have been nice to have had a feature-length "Making-Of" documentary included on this "SE" DVD. But, maybe next time.
>> One Deleted Scene. -- I kind of liked this. This excised scene shows Raymond entering a convenience store, where he begins helping himself to the store's stock of food and beverages (to the dismay of the shop's proprietor). Charlie enters at the end of this short scene to "rescue" Raymond. It's a pretty good scene, but certainly not essential to the storyline; and I can see why it was cut. Especially considering the film's already-lengthy 134-minute final running time. This deleted clip lasts 2:01, and is presented in 1.33:1 Full-Frame ratio.
>> Original Theatrical Trailer. -- A fun and funny trailer. Shown in 1.33:1. Run time -- 2:14.
>> Photo Gallery. -- This Gallery (which *is* anamorphic) is broken up into five different segments.
>> Bonus DVD Trailers.
No "Chapter List" paper insert is included with this DVD. The case looks kind of bare without any insert, I must admit. But, starting in late 2003 (approx.), many studios began to go the "el-cheapo" route on us, and no longer provide physical paper enclosures inside the DVD cases anymore. Gee, you'd think a "Special Edition" release would at least warrant a slim, one-page insert. Oh, well...what are ya gonna do? No biggie really. But I'd still prefer to have an insert for all DVD releases (even if it's only an ad for other DVD products).
Even with the rather skimpy selection of supplements here, this DVD still comes highly recommended by this "Rain Man" fan. The picture and sound quality are dazzling; and the film itself is ... well ... I'm sure you know ..... Oscar worthy! Get this today!
Movie Review: Mixed Metaphors
Summary: 5 Stars
The first thing that pleased me about this purchase was the new cover, synchronously both the same but not the same as the original. Gone was the huge tree-lined drive of the institution from which Charlie was springing his autistic brother, and in its stead appeared a country road underfoot and a beautiful blue sky towering above them, stretching forever and ever.
The Internet is overloaded with reviews of the movie Rain Man that have missed the main point of the movie, but the Special Edition of the movie will at the very least have put paid to most of them. Just watch the featurette. It lasts only a few minutes but explains all that had hitherto been missing from those tens of thousands of words.
I remember watching the movie on its release and reading in the acknowledgements mention of the role that the autistic society of America played. Yet only concentrating on this and the fact that Hoffman won the Oscar for his role as the autistic Ray (not Cruise who played his brother Charlie) has led many to falsely assume this movie is about Raymond, and thus autism. The producer sets this sidetrack straight in the featurette when he states that the movie is not about Raymond but Charlie, as he is the one who changes.
Films communicate their stories through the metaphors they contain. Once you can understand the metaphors, you can understand the movie. By realizing that autism is the vehicle and Charlie's change is the tenor, we can finally get the story's meaning the right way around.
To confirm this fact, Tom Cruise comments that Charlie learns to live life again through his brother, Raymond, who is autistic, and that Charlie is an "emotional autistic". Most films' appeal is a character with strong emotions who changes. Although Charlie changes, Ray is not emotional and does not change. But it was Hoffman who won the Oscar for Best Actor, not Cruise, and he had even suggested that Ray be autistic for the final shooting script. The subject is Charlie's change which we measure by Ray's lack of one. The main metaphor is autism, more than the car or even the journey. Ray's immutability is the yardstick that allows us to savor all the more Charlie's transformation into a feeling human being.
The final word from the featurette must go to Hoffman as he made the movie such a major part of himself and vice versa. He spells out his own heart by explaining that, when we meet people whose lives are touched by autism, we can't help but to be affected by them. And we hope that if we could just give them enough love they might somehow be released from their condition. The movie wanted the audience to somehow feel the same way.
Charlie has to travel the breadth of America to find out that, though that's impossible, trying to do so can help us heal ourselves. And finally, returning to the box cover, another often missed facet of the movie is also made clear - from the puff of sand when Charlie u-turns at the news of his father's death, through the dead roses, dried up pool, then the rain that weeps into it like tears, the background also transmogrifies as the sky expands in ever deeper shades of blue, love blooming in the gorgeous greening, and the high point, the fountains shooting high into the sky outside the casino hotel after Charlie's new family, Ray and Suzanna are all reunited.
Movie Review: Open your minds and hearts for this one of a kind experience!
Summary: 5 Stars
A movie that will truly speak to you in many ways, `Rain Man' hits all the right chords over and over again. As Raymond Babbitt, Dustin Hoffman truly deserved that Oscar for he evokes so much emotion from the viewer it's almost impossible to keep from tearing up. Tom Cruise on the other hand is easily overshadowed by the depth in Hoffman's performance. I'm not a fan of Cruise and feel he's overly praised by many. His performance here was better than the majority of his others and he in no way detracts from the power of the film, but he could have been substituted and I'd have no issues with that.
Charlie Babbitt (Cruise) is a pompous, self centered, materialistic jerk who's in dire need of some cash. When he hears that his estranged father has recently died (a man he hasn't personally spoken with since he was sixteen) he travels with his girlfriend (Valeria Golino) to the funeral. Upon discussing his fathers will he discovers that he wasn't left anything but a classic car and some roses. His fathers millions on the other hand were left to Raymond (Hoffman), Charlie's autistic brother whom he's never known off. In a purely selfish attempt at receiving his share of his fathers fortune Charlie, in a way, kidnaps his brother to force the trusties hand to pay up. Because of Raymond's fear of flying the two brother's end up on a cross country trip towards LA that causes Charlie to slowly change; realizing that this is more than money, this is about having a real relationship with a brother he never knew.
There are two scenes in particular that really got me, both involving a dance. The first is when Raymond wants to learn to dance. Charlie then teaches him, and the reason this scene really touched me was because it was the first act of pure selflessness on Charlie's part, the first scene where Charlie was doing something for Raymond, not because he wanted something from him but because he wanted to do something nice for him. The next involves Raymond and Susanna (Golino) in an elevator. After Raymond is `stood-up' for his first date Susanna stops the elevator and has Raymond show her how he would have danced with his date, and then she kisses him. It's the single sweetest scene in the film for here is a person with no ties to Raymond whatsoever doing something for him; I mean I can't even begin to explain how touching that one scene is for me.
So, in closing, `Rain Man' is a movie that is meant to inspire, to move and compel others to open there hearts, and to that effect it truly works. To watch Charlie transform over time from loathing his brother to accepting and loving him (although my pet-peeve with this film is that at the end when his brother is on the bus Charlie doesn't TELL him that he loves him) and that transformation is just so emotionally moving. Thanks in a large way to Dustin Hoffman's brilliant Oscar winning performance, and even to Tom Cruise's development of character (I will admit he was convincing as a jerk who leant a lesson, as much as I despise him) `Rain Man' pays off in the end as a wonderful cinematic experience that EVERYONE should and can enjoy!
Movie Review: Awesome Autistic!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Rain Man is a truly special film that involves two brothers of two totally different worlds,mentally 'n so forth. However,Charlie has this thing where he's all about money even to the point that he tries to play his brother,Raymond,for "a sap." In other words,Charlie is willing to do whatever it takes to get "the lion's share"
of inheritence...money and all!! To me,I'd say that's a shame because it is so sad to have to take advantage of a family member as a pawn in the game...especially if that family member has a mentally or developmentally disorder. I'd hate to think about what would happen if Charlie and Raymond were to never get along yet what Charlie would do to shake the cash out of Raymond's pockets,ya know?
I'm pretty sure that Raymond got "picked on"...did Raymond ever get bullied,mocked,made fun of,etc.
or did he just get left alone with only the burden of his own semi-normal brother(Charlie)with money-hungry out for blood issues just to get some cash on the side?!!
I can only help but wonder on since he lived at Wallbrook
in which I take it,is an adult foster care home or more commonly referred to as an AFC Home but you could only picture the part of if Raymond was in Special Education at one time or another...I bet he was the smartest student if he were a Special Ed. student since it's hardly ever that one comes up to an Autistic individual with so many advanced talents and/or abilities beyond belief!! I'm not disparging Autistic people as a catagory,mind you but I was amazed at Raymond's unique "powers" if you wish to call them "powers." All I have to say in mental terms is: "What a weapon!!" He's ahead of the ball game in his mental abilities on numbers(math),cards,knowledge on
baseball+"Who's On First?" let alone remembering phone numbers+names out of a phone book up to half-way through "G"?!! That's unheard of,if you ask me!!!! Dustin Hoffman has created an inspiration for me.
WHY? Because I have a rare Autistic Spectrum known
as "Asperger's Syndrome" and my abilities are similar to Raymond's in terms of math,games(Video Games+Yu-Gi-Oh!),
numbers(birthdays+phone numbers...not address', though.)
but Rain Man has helped me to somewhat understand Autism but I'm disappointed to know that I can't find any movies with somebody that has "Asperger's Syndrome."
I rented Rain Man a few years ago and my mother watched it with me to help me better understand Autism and the "powers" hidden within. Therefore,being that I have such a rare Autistic Spectum...Rain Man has inspired me to find the "magic" within myself!!
God Bless Rain Man,You'll Always Inspire Autistic Truth!!
*J. Allen*