Movie Review - Buccaneer's Girl (1950)

I have a thing for pirates. I love pirate movies, most of them anyway. So when I saw pirate movies on Netflix DVDs, I had to add them to my queue.

Buccaneer's Girl (1950) was a great movie. I didn't have a lot of expectations going in, but found myself enjoying it immensely. The acting is pretty decent, the costumes funky, and the story solid. The songs, yes it is a musical, are short and sweet and easy enough to live through.

Debbie is a stowaway on a pirate ship. She's running away from an unsatisfactory life, looking for a better one. She's got attitude and spunk leaking from every pore, but not in the grumpy annoying modern teenage fashion. She's light-hearted, mostly happy, but she doesn't take anyone's garbage.

Of course the ship she's on is captured by the notorious pirate, Baptiste. Yes, they fall in love. The romance is understated and very fun to watch. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone.

I've been involved in a lot of discussions about what makes a strong female character. For me, this movie totally nails it. Debbie is strong without being witchy. She knows her own mind. She has her own goals and ends. She is definitely her own person. She doesn't need a man to define her. The relationship she builds with Baptiste is an equal partnership. And so what if she decides she wants to get married? It's her choice, completely. And she won't settle for just any man. She isn't looking for someone to dominate her or run her life. She wants someone who offers her respect, autonomy, and the space to still be herself.

It's an awesome movie. If you can find it, spend a couple hours to watch it. It was a fun romp.

5 stars
G - mild sword fighting with no blood and obviously fake stabbing, very mild suggestive lyrics and dance in one song

Movie Review - "Cowboys and Aliens" and "Home"

Movie binge time again at my house. The Netflix DVD option may be my downfall. But since we rarely make it to the movie theater and it takes forever to get the movies on Netflix streaming, if ever, so ordering DVDs works for me. Up this week: "Cowboys and Aliens" and "Home."

Cowboys and Aliens was a huge disappointment. It had Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. It had cowboys. And aliens. And explosions. But even with all that, I can sum it up in one word: Boring. Everything was grim and dirty. Everyone was grim and Serious. Notice the capital S. They were all Serious. It was like the entire cast was constipated and needed a truckload of prunes so they could loosen up and have fun. Daniel Craig looked old and angry. Harrison Ford looked older and angrier. The movie should have been fun. But it wasn't. It was painfully boring. You don't have to be silly to have fun, but when the actors look like they're sitting on porcupines covered in napalm the entire movie, it's just sad to watch. And boring. Porcupines covered in napalm would have made the movie so much better.

Another nitpick of mine: Why are these aliens who are supposedly advanced enough and intelligent enough to travel between stars always naked and always just roar and growl? Why do they kill people with giant claws when they have all sorts of cool tech and weapons at their disposal? They don't have to be human or humanoid, but PLEASE, for the love of Pete, make them more than just rampaging monsters. Or else have a really good explanation WHY they have the brains of rabid squirrels but can still fly spaceships.

Cowboys and Aliens was a huge bust for me. I give it a giant tomato and raspberry. If I want to watch grouchy old men fight things in the wild, I'll watch "Up." At least he was a likable old grump.

"Home" was highly entertaining. The story is really predictable and childish and in-your-face with the moral, but the characters were so much fun that I didn't mind. There are some really funny one-liners, too. The aliens were childish, but very believable. Smart but very stupid at the same time. Like small children. Or the Paklids at the space center. For an animated kids' movie, I thoroughly enjoyed it as an adult. It wasn't dark and dismal and depressing, and no one was Serious, at all. I laughed, and yes, I cried a couple of times. I cared about the characters. I wanted to take them home and make them my friends. That's when you know a story is successful, when the audience makes that emotional connection with your characters.

I give "Home" an A. It's definitely finding a place in my movie collection.