Movie reviews

At a friend's request, I'm doing some more movie reviews. As always, * ratings are out of a possible ***** (five stars)

"7 Up" Series ***** - a series of documentaries that followed a set of children in different parts of England every 7 years into their adulthood. The premise was that the kids with different social advantages would turn out differently as adults, a bias that became increasingly annoying to some of the subjects. The last one was "49 Up" and I suppose there will eventually be a "56 Up".

Enchanted *** - a cutesy fanciful movie about Disney-esque characters accidentally wandering into the real world. Enjoyable fluff.

Emmanuel's Gift **** - documentary about a young man with a disabled leg who embarks on a campaign to inspire better lives for his compatriots in Ghana. His story was very impressive and the influence he has made in his home town was very hopeful.

Crazy Love **** - Wow! This one was weird and fascinating. About a very strange relationship featuring overbearing possessiveness descending into abuse. The thing that was fascinating was to hear both parties justifying their actions and choices. This kind of film reminds me how capable the human mind is of committing heinous sin and denying it.

Little Dieter Needs to Fly **** - another documentary. Are we seeing a pattern here? This one is an amazing story of survival.

The Lady Vanishes **** - Black and white Hitchcock. Nice!

Julie and Julia **** - I really enjoyed this movie. How could you go wrong? Meryl Streep does a very endeering portrayal of Julia Child. We learn about how she built her remarkable career. Amy Adams is always nice to watch, though her character was rather self-absorbed. And lots of cooking. Made me want to go out and buy Julia's original cookbook. (but I didn't)

Doubt **** - Meryl again, this time with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is one of our favorites. Did he or didn't he? (the priest abuse the boys in the school) Surprisingly, Denis and I came to different conclusions!

African American Lives **** - This was a television series special. A handful of stars trace their roots back in time through the slave era in the US, and for some back to a specific region of Africa. This was quite interesting.

Pixar Short Films *** - some of these were really cute and funny! Some were less so. But it was also an interesting look at the evolution of computer animation through the years.

The Blind Side **** - This one is rather main stream for our tastes, but it was a good film with a positive plot. Nice.

12:08 East of Bucharest ** - Gosh the critics loved this film, but what a dud. So slow, Denis fell asleep pretty quick. I stuck with it to the end, but there was no payoff.

My Sister's Keeper *** - Ok, we actually quite liked this movie. But a disclaimer - we found the medical situation quite unrealistic. With suspended disbelief, what we enjoyed was the character portrayals and acting. It was an interesting dilemma for the characters to be in and we went along for the ride.

Movies

It's been a while since I've given any movie reviews or reports. Here are a few we've watched lately. * ratings are out of a possible ***** (five stars)

The Bridge **** - a documentary about people who kill themselves by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. There were 24 suicides in the year 2004... Who knew? Not an uplifting film, but an interesting look at what drives people toward taking their own lives.

Sweet Land *** - We just watched this one the other night. I was looking forward to it because Kristina said she really enjoyed it. This is a story about a mail order bride who comes to Minnesota during WW2 and how difficult it is for her to be accepted because she's German. The first few scenes were confusing and I thought that it could have been improved on to eliminate the confusion. The story itself was nice, though.

Darwin's Nightmare ** - a documentary about the massive export of a non-native fish species that is devastating the habitat of Lake Victoria, while the local Tanzanians suffer from a famine. We have friends who were missionaries in Tanzania, so the topic was very interesting to me. However, the filmmaker seemed to have his own agenda and he took his time making the point. The movie just dragged on with the same topics being covered over and over. So I ended up turning it off without finishing it.

The Devil's Playground **** - this was a fascinating and disturbing documentary about the teen years in Amish communities. Apparently, the doctrine of the Amish religion says that church membership and baptism cannot happen until you are an adult. In the teen years, you are allowed to experience "the world" and decide whether or not to get baptized and join the church. In some Amish communities, the teen years seem to be a huge distorted experience of "the world" that is just drunken parties, drugs, etc. The doco follows about 6 teens as they decide whether they are going to join the church or not. After watching the film, I did some searching on wikipedia and found that this is certainly not a universal experience in the Amish church. Some communities do not give their teens such free reign. But the movie seems to be an accurate portrayal of some Amish communities. It made me really sad to see that, at least these Amish groups do not have a true understanding of sin and grace...

Who Killed the Electric Car **** - another documentary... This one about an electric car that was produced by GM in the 70's in response to a mandate by the state of California that a certain percentage of cars on the road be electric by a certain deadline. As the deadline was approaching, three auto makers worked on producing the electric cars as they simultaneously fought the mandate. When they finally won and the mandate was removed, they removed every last electric car from the roads. Again, a disturbing look at the auto industry.

Letters from Iwo Jima **** - We'd been looking forward to this one for some time. It was very well-done. Interesting to see WW2 from the Japanese perspective.

The Railway Children **** - placed on our Netflix list because Ruth is so fond of the book. This was a nice story about a family having to give up their privileged life, but keeping faith in each other and God's care of them.

Wah-Wah *** - kind of a quirky story, a period peice set in Swaziland in Africa. An alcoholic father, divorce, remarriage, a child trying to figure it all out. It was interesting.

Stranger Than Fiction **** - This one was really well-done and interesting. Emma Thompson is writing a novel and Will Ferrell is her main character who figures out that he is at her mercy. Dustin Hoffman is the English professor who counsels Will in what to do about it. Some really funny lines and a clever plot.

Movies

Here is a short review of some of the movies we have watched recently:

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang - This was a clever and funny crime/action comedy with Robert Downey Jr. (looking a bit older these days). However, it had quite a bit of language and nudity in it, so not one that I highly recommend.

Lost Boys of Sudan - A documentary that follows a group of young refugee men from Sudan who are brought to the States to study and make a "better life" for themselves. Poor planning and follow-through on the part of the assistance agencies that initiated the program left the boys largely on their own to sort things out. The perspective of the young men themselves and the challenges and cultural issues that they face were all very interesting.

The School of Rock - A very silly Jack Black movie. I don't remember anything terribly offensive in it. It was okay; enjoyable fluff.

Glory Road - The story of the college basketball coach who first dared to play an all black line up in 1962. The story itself was interesting, but the execution was rather cliche and the characters lacked good development. There are similar stories that are better done, IMHO.

Touch The Sound - Documentary about deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who has an uncanny ability to "hear" sound with her whole body. It is hard to believe that she is really deaf as you watch how well she interacts and collaborates with other musicians all over the world. This is a very slow movie that most people would not enjoy, but would be interesting to musicians or other artists.

Seducing Doctor Lewis - A cute Canadian comedy about a rural town in Quebec that needs to find a town doctor. They go to elaborate lengths to try to coerce a temp. Dr. to stay on.

The Devil's Miner - Documentary about a young boy who works in the mines of Potosi, Bolivia to support his family. This is an excellent portrayal of the struggles of the working poor in Bolivia, their religious beliefs (which are a blend of Catholicism and ancient traditional animistic beliefs). I have been to the mine in Potosi and seen the "devil" of the underground.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan - Documentary about the early years of Bob Dylan's singing career. He was just a bit before my time and I was completely unaware of the controversy surrounding his switch from folk music to rock and roll. This is long and at times it was hard to follow the chronology as they kept showing scenes from a single concert in London (which was the culmination of controversy). But my opinion about Bob Dylan completely switched from the early part of this two disc set to the end of it.

I'm Home

I know, I know. You guys didn't even know that I was gone! I left Thursday afternoon for a work-related conference in Bend, Oregon. The conference was all day Friday and today until the afternoon. All of the nurses that I work with went and we carpooled. We had a nice time together. Bend is a wonderful place, with about 8 mountains visible to the west. We didn't have time to do any exploring, though. So, anyway, now you know why I haven't been around the last few days.

On another note, Wednesday evening Denis and I went to see the movie Amazing Grace at the theater with some people from our church. It tells the story of William Wilberforce who as a young man in the 18th century entered British parliament and attempted for years to abolish the slave trade in England. He persistently promoted bill after bill that were all defeated for years. After 15 years of frustration, he and his friends were finally successful. It was a great story and the driving force behind his passion about slavery was his strong faith in the God who created all men in the image of Himself. Some of the historical details were hard for me to follow (I'm pitiful at history), but the details were not entirely necessary to understand anyway. If this film is showing in your area, I do recommend it.

Movies

It's been quite a while since I gave any movie reports. Here I will give a brief synopsis/recommendation about the recent movies that we have watched lately. (The stars denote my rating out of 5 possible stars)

"Promises" - **** Documentary featuring interviews with Palestinian and Israeli children ages 11-13. This movie was interesting on several levels: 1. helped me understand the Palestine/Israel situation much better (I'm pitiful with current events) 2. gave the viewpoints of both sides of the conflict through the eyes of children. 3. interesting study of how children form their own ideologies and how those can change over time with age, experience, maturity. I recommend this one.

"Walk the Line" - *** The story of Johnny Cash focusing primarily on his struggle with drugs and romance with June Carter. June's portrayal does show her faith in God and attempt to keep moral standards in her life (though imperfect).

"Jarhead" - ** Troubling war movie about Operation Desert Storm focusing on the boredom and futility that many of the troops felt. Not recommended.

"Bubble" - **** Quirky movie set in small town USA with novice actors who were cast locally. It was an interesting experiment. Not necessarily the kind of movie that would appeal to most people, but I liked it.

"Nine Lives" - **** This was a very interesting movie. Nine vignettes featuring a female lead character who is in a crisis moment of her life. All of the scenes were about 15 minutes that were shot in one continuous take. The stories connect slightly with a couple of the characters showing up in another scene. However, there is NOT a big secret plot there with hidden meaning, so don't worry trying to find it.

"13 Conversations About One Thing" - **** This is one that I had seen before, but Denis had not. Very thought-provoking. This one does have an over-arching story that emerges through the various plot lines. All the scenes contain conversation about the source/meaning/possibility of happiness.

Please let me know if you decide to watch any of them. I would love to read your take as well. Also, please research for any potentially offensive material as my standards are likely different from yours.

Pride and Prejudice

I coerced Denis to watch the BBC miniseries with me. It's the version that I was introduced to by my British roommate when I was living in Bolivia, so it's my favorite. There have been so many different TV and movie adaptations of this famous Jane Austen novel. I think this version is the least known by Americans, but I have read opinions that it does the best job of developing the secondary characters.

Denis' assessment was that it started out slow, but by the end it was more interesting. He quite liked the sarcastic lines delivered throughout by the Bennett father. I really like the way the story develops and how it explores different character's points of view. Charlotte is my favorite story line. When she first tells Lizzie of her theories of marital happiness, Lizzie doesn't believe that she means it. But as time goes on, we see that Charlotte did indeed mean every word she said.

And then Mr. Darcy. I like the scene when Lizzie is walking the grounds of the Darcy estate and finally starting to get an idea of what the man is really like. And it turns out he is not at all what she thought.

If you have never been acquainted with Pride and Prejudice, you get another chance with the recently made movie version. It has gotten good reviews.

What are your favorite lines or moments from Pride and Prejudice?

Home Again

I flew back into Medford at 11:30 yesterday morning. We awoke at 5 AM so that we would have plenty of time to check in before our 9:30 departure time. It turned out that it only took us 30 minutes to make it through all the security steps and arrive at our gate, so we spent 2 hours waiting, reading, visiting.

It is so nice to be home. My cats were underwhelmed by my return but they have been pretty much following me around the house since I got home. Right now they are curled up on the desk while I type. :o) Denis was more visibly enthusiastic about my homecoming, and we just spent the afternoon relaxing. We went out for lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant and both had the buffet and a mango lassi. Yummy! It was fun to get the chance to try a variety of dishes, since we usually stick to our favorite two when we go for dinner.

Later in the day we watched the movie "Enron, The Smartest Guys in the Room". It didn't really make it any easier to understand the particulars about the financial aspects of the scandal. But it did give an idea of the corruption of the people. The interviews hightlighted how unchecked greed leads people to do terrible things and rationalize their actions. An interesting comment by Bethany McLean, a coauthor of the book, was that she believes that Ken Lay (the chairman of the Enron Board) was the one who had most gotten away with denying his guilt in the affair. She said, "I'm not saying that I think he was criminally guilty, but that he was ethically guilty, which is an entirely different thing." It was an interesting movie. (Those who read regulary may be noticing that I tend to really like documentaries. It's true, they are some of my favorites.)

Movie Review - The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

We have finally seen a movie that I can whole-heartedly recommend! This was a great film. It is a documentary about a man who spent about 10 years of his life befriending and studying a flock of wild parrots that live near Coit Tower in San Francisco. The Netflix description of the movie did not do it justice. It describes the man, Mark Bittner, as a "bohemian St. Francis of Assisi" - an eccentric searching for meaning in life. In reality, I didn't think that Mr. Bittner seemed that eccentric or bohemian. However, he did become fascinated with these birds and basically adopt a full time job of observing them. This was in spite of the fact that no one was paying him and he could find no one else interested in his research.

No one is sure what the origin is of the wild flocks of parrots that live in SF (there are two). Somehow they escaped from captivity and have been propagating and doing quite well in the city. What surprised me about the film was how studious it was. Mark Bittner did his homework over the years, finding out more and more about the parrot social network, behavior and where they likely came from. In an interview with a zoo-keeper, we find out that not a lot is known about these topics because it is so hard to study parrots in their natural habitat. Bittner has maintained contact with this zookeeper over the years to ask him questions about the observations he makes.

And unlike Timothy Treadwell, who spent his years studying grizzly bears in Alaska and was profiled in the movie Grizzly Man, Bittner kept his role in perspective. He interfered in the flock very rarely, only when there was a bird that was severely injured or ill and then released them back to the flock if they were able. He was able to accept the natural cycle of life and death that is inherent nature. All in all, it was a very informative film about a fascinating group of birds and a very interesting and intelligent man.

Movie review - Sound and Fury

I watched this movie which was released in 2000 on the Independent Film Channel and I can't get it off my mind. It is a documentary about the hot issue (among the deaf community) of cochlear implants. If you are not familiar with this procedure, it is a device which is implanted in near the auditory nerve and connected to a receiver under the skin. An appliance is used like a hearing aid, but instead of simply amplifying the sound and sending it through the ear canal, the sounds are processed by a small computer and sent into the cochlear implant to be "heard" by the auditory nerve directly. This can restore a great measure of hearing to certain deaf people.

So the hot topic is that now, many children who are born deaf to hearing parents are being given these implants while they are infants so that they have the greatest opportunity to learn spoken language. These kids can hear when the device is on, and often do not learn sign language or perceive of themselves as deaf. And this is shaking the deaf community and causing fear that deaf culture itself is threatened and will become obsolete.

The documentary follows the incredibly complex and interesting family dynamics of two related families who are considering cochlear implants for their children. The fathers of each family are brothers themselves. One of them is deaf, his wife is deaf and so are his three children. And now his 5 year old daughter is saying that she wants to have a cochlear implant so that she can hear the world around her and better communicate with her hearing friends. The other father is hearing but signs (due to his brother being deaf). His wife is also hearing, but her parents are deaf. Her first language was sign language and she spent years in speech therapy so that she could overcome the speech patterns that she learned from her parents. They now have twin sons, one of whom is deaf and they are considering getting him a cochlear implant as soon as possible.

What ensues as the documentary follows this extended family is chaos as everyone has an opinion about the "right" thing to do for the kids. One set of grandparents, (hearing) are in favor. The other set is against (deaf). At the heart of everyone's opinion are deep-seated emotions about what it means to be deaf. The children's identity and culture is at stake. It is a fascinating look at an emotional issue and at the end, I want to know what happened to each one down the road. It has been six years since this movie was made and decisions were reached about whether to subject their kids to surgery or not. Fortunately, I found out by looking at the movie's website that they have just produced an update film. It is only 29 minutes, but I am dying to see it. At this point, you can only order it from the filmmakers.

Movie Review - Trekkies 1 and 2

This is a two for one special review. Denis and I recently watched these two documentaries that go behind the scenes at several Star Trek conventions and interview the die-hard fans. I had seen the first one a few years ago and wanted Denis to see it too when I discovered that they had made a sequel. If you like funny, quirky movies about interesting people, then you will enjoy these. I have a fondness in my heart for Star Trek that dates back to college when a friend got me hooked on The Next Generation (TNG to those in the know). I never was able to get into Deep Space 9, but I did like Voyager. The latest Enterprise did not live up to the dynasty in my opinion. But suffice it to say that I am enough of a fan that I can relate a bit to the people portrayed in these movies.

Here are some of the people you will meet in Trekkies 1: the woman who wore her Star Fleet uniform to the Whitewater trial each day for jury duty, the very bright but geeky teenager who designed his own uniform for use in his own movie, the dentist who has decorated his office completely with Star Trek paraphernalia and makes his employees dress in uniforms, the young woman whose cat is named Bones and attends the conventions with her, and many, many more.

In Trekkies 2, we go to conventions around the world. Yes, there are fans all over, even in France where, apparently, you have to hide your fandom or face ridicule. The fans in the former Yugoslavia were touching when they described the hope that they have found in the ideals portrayed in Star Trek. We also get to revisit some of the extreme fans from Trekkies 1. Yes, the jury member is still wearing her uniform to work each day. The teenager who gained a measure of fame from his scenes in the first movie is now 21 and married.

All in all, both films are enjoyable to watch and I highly recommend them.

What's new?

Well, let's see. It's been quite a while since I posted anything about our life here in the Rogue Valley. There must be something going on...

We had some friends over for lunch after church on Sunday. It was a family of five who we really have enjoyed getting to know. I made black refried beans a la Rachel Ray and we had a tortilla bar. Afterwards, we played some games. We finally broke out our game of Taboo and had a lot of fun with that.

We have been trying to invite people over more often lately to entertain. We are going to try to have a family over at least once a month.

To change the subject - I taped the movie Chicago when it played on TV and watched about half of it. What a dumb movie. Here is the review that I wrote and posted on Netflix:

"So I have been wanting to watch this movie since it came out because of all the awards that it received. I was curious about these actors doing their own singing and had heard that they performed quite well. I tried, I really tried, but I could not sit through the whole thing. The main characters of this story are entirely unsympathetic characters. The women have killed men in cold blood. These murders were not the aftermath of years of physical and mental abuse, which is why most real women are in prison for murder. The only prisoner who might have an interesting story, sings her tale in Russian, so we don't even know what her plight is. The lawyer is in it for his own gain. The prison matron takes money for favors. So if it's not about the characters, then maybe it's about the musical numbers? If so, they certainly didn't float my boat. All sexy, scantally-clad women dancing around in suggestive ways. I suppose that really appeals to plenty of people, but I found it unattractive and rather offensive. I found no good reason to keep watching Chicago past the half-way point. Frankly, I should have turned it off about 30 minutes in."

But we did recently watch an interesting documentary about the Debolt family. They adopted a bunch of special needs kids so that now they have 20 children. Four of them are biological and the rest are all adopted. Most of the adopted kids have physical disabilities and many are from Vietnam. It was encouraging to see the independence that they have fostered in all their kids. Inspiring stuff.

Movie review: Crash

Denis and I just watched the movie Crash last week. It's been out for a while, but we are on the Netflix delayed viewing plan. We add new movies to our list before they have been released and then they work their way up to the top eventually for us to see them.

You may have heard of Crash, a movie about racial discrimination. It is an ensemble piece with many characters whose lives intersect in a period of 36 hours in LA. This movie is intended to explore the issue of racial discrimination and because of that, it is definitely a very heavy-handed plot. At first I didn't think that I was going to like it, because I don't generally like movies that are really obvious in the way that they make a point. Every scene involves racial discrimination. Some of it is really horrible and blatant and some is more subtle. The targets of prejudice are varied; blacks, latinos, asians, syrians.

This is certainly not a pleasant film. Many of the scenes are hard to watch. The value comes as the characters develop and we learn some of the reasons why they have developed their opinions and views. Some of the problems stem from misunderstandings, cultural differences or past experiences. We are made to sympathize with each character even though we disagree with their actions.

The real payoff comes starting about halfway through the film as each person is confronted with the consequenses of the actions that they have taken. There are wonderful moments of realization in each character's life as they are challenged to question their beliefs. The plot is certainly not predictable as there is always something to surprise you. Denis and I gave it two thumbs up.

This movie is rated R for "violence, sexual content and some language".

A Sociological Observation

Denis and I recently watched the movie Big Fish. This is the one in which a young man visits his dying father and wants to get to know him better. The father has always told tall tales - his life stories embellished till they are unbelievable and his son wants to know the truth. Well, Denis really enjoyed this movie. It seemed to me that he liked it an inordinate amount compared to the quality of the plot. This supports my developing theory about movies that men like.

Now we all know what kind of movies are "Chick Flicks". Romantic comedies - men generally watch them to humor us, movies that focus on relationships between women - a la Ya Ya Sisterhood. But what kind of movies do men gravitate toward? Stereotypically, movies for men are action movies. But I think there is another category out there. A small number of movies that are made with men in mind and get to the heart of the male experience.

The first movie that started my theory here was "Wrestling Ernest Hemmingway" with Robert Duvall and Richard Harris. Denis recommended this movie to me while we were still emailing long distance. He told me that it was one of his favorite movies of all time. So I rented it. It is about two aging men who meet at a diner and strike up a friendship. This is not an action movie; it is all about the relationships in their lives. At the time, I coined it a "chick flick for men".

Another recent movie in this category would be "In Good Company" with Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace. A movie about an older executive who finds his company being taken over and led by a man half his age. It explores the differences between the two men's values and approaches to their work and lives. Again, Denis really like it, and so did I, but he reacted to parts of the film differently than I did. He laughed in some spots and I didn't get the joke or think it was that funny.

So what do you guys out there think? Have you seen any of these three movies? What did you enjoy about them? Does anyone have a nice catchy name that we can call them? Do you have any titles that would fall into this category of film?