If the arts are what is a part of what it means to be human, this movie captures this--WITH A PASSION. When I went to hit "play", I was in a pretty happy mood. This movie managed to bring me to heart-felt tears 11 minutes into the movie. What film manages to do such a thorough job in such a short amount of time? And then, once that point was reached, knew what to do with story then.
(after watching the rest of the movie:)
Very nice film with a sweet ending--a comedy that needs a tissue box at the beginning and the end, and they were sweet tears at that. And the music award is well deserved!
I thoroughly recommend this movie!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
"If I Had Wings" (2013)
For a "simple" story, it has a quite a number of little themes that work together for one solo story line with two faces. Even the resolution in the ending has a nice "big smile" quality to it.
The various themes or facets touch on who you make friends with, relationships across classes, across disabilities, delinquency, reputations, bullies, and reacting to bullies (and not just from the main characters--the reactions are "true" in that there is a variety--not just polar).
And the story didn't seem forced in anyway.
I enjoyed this movie and felt it a good watch. And while not as complex as others, it is complex enough, and it carries it out well.
The various themes or facets touch on who you make friends with, relationships across classes, across disabilities, delinquency, reputations, bullies, and reacting to bullies (and not just from the main characters--the reactions are "true" in that there is a variety--not just polar).
And the story didn't seem forced in anyway.
I enjoyed this movie and felt it a good watch. And while not as complex as others, it is complex enough, and it carries it out well.
Monday, July 20, 2015
"Crooked Arrows" (2012)
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
While it is a sports movie with all the classic loosing team turns around and makes it to the play offs pieces, it is really just a secondary story mechanic for the real story that this movie is. The main story line very wonderfully puts the sport in the background subservient to the main one--except that main line then takes that sport and shifts the prism that you look through at it bringing it back into the center of the picture being taken. No longer is the sport one of competition, but it becomes part of the cultural identity quest that the main character and the lacrosse team are a part of--a reconnecting that a number of the characters go through.
And it was a wonderful combination. It had the familiar--as I said, all of the elements familiar to a sports movie--so those expectations were met. This allowed the possibility of just enjoying the unfamiliar, that is the cultural themes surrounding the refashioning of character and the camaraderie of the team that comprised facets of the main line. And those two facets are not even the complete main story line picture.
When a movie ends, and I find that I've totally enjoyed myself and yet want more--because that depth was there--that definitely makes the movie tops for me.
I can't speak for the portrayal of the Native American culture in the movie, but since the credits, beginning and end, state the movie was made in consultation with the Onondaga Nation (if not others), I can only hope that the camaraderie shown in the ending of the movie and in the end credits was the same camaraderie in existence behind the scenes in the making of the movie. And if it wasn't, there is something to strive for with future films. And if there was, all the more satisfaction for me. And based on the end credits, I choose to believe that it was more than likely the latter.
This is one movie I would enjoy watching again.
While it is a sports movie with all the classic loosing team turns around and makes it to the play offs pieces, it is really just a secondary story mechanic for the real story that this movie is. The main story line very wonderfully puts the sport in the background subservient to the main one--except that main line then takes that sport and shifts the prism that you look through at it bringing it back into the center of the picture being taken. No longer is the sport one of competition, but it becomes part of the cultural identity quest that the main character and the lacrosse team are a part of--a reconnecting that a number of the characters go through.
And it was a wonderful combination. It had the familiar--as I said, all of the elements familiar to a sports movie--so those expectations were met. This allowed the possibility of just enjoying the unfamiliar, that is the cultural themes surrounding the refashioning of character and the camaraderie of the team that comprised facets of the main line. And those two facets are not even the complete main story line picture.
When a movie ends, and I find that I've totally enjoyed myself and yet want more--because that depth was there--that definitely makes the movie tops for me.
I can't speak for the portrayal of the Native American culture in the movie, but since the credits, beginning and end, state the movie was made in consultation with the Onondaga Nation (if not others), I can only hope that the camaraderie shown in the ending of the movie and in the end credits was the same camaraderie in existence behind the scenes in the making of the movie. And if it wasn't, there is something to strive for with future films. And if there was, all the more satisfaction for me. And based on the end credits, I choose to believe that it was more than likely the latter.
This is one movie I would enjoy watching again.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
"The General" (1926)
A Buster Keaton movie. Confederates are the protagonist and Union the antagonists in this story line, but otherwise, movie isn't political. It's an adventure action comedy, with a romantic twist threaded through it. Mildly slapstick/physical humor, of course, since it is a silent movie. Absolutely delightful movie. Grins and smiles throughout this movie where I found me sitting on the edge of my seat without the stress of a supercharged suspense movie.
Trying to decide of Buster Keaton was a short man. This movie made it look so. The movie definitely highlighted the strength and agility needed by train engineers--or abilities had and used by Buster Keaton--or both. "A Crash Course on How to Run a Steam Engine in 1861" certainly crossed my mind, but the character Johnnie Gray didn't need the crash course; he already knew. Still, the various adventures along the way opened up to me details I hadn't pieced all the way together--things that were matter-of-fact, day to day things then. Interesting.
Trying to decide of Buster Keaton was a short man. This movie made it look so. The movie definitely highlighted the strength and agility needed by train engineers--or abilities had and used by Buster Keaton--or both. "A Crash Course on How to Run a Steam Engine in 1861" certainly crossed my mind, but the character Johnnie Gray didn't need the crash course; he already knew. Still, the various adventures along the way opened up to me details I hadn't pieced all the way together--things that were matter-of-fact, day to day things then. Interesting.
"Fantomas V: The False Magistrate" (1914)
Once again, great story-telling in that I had no idea how and where the story was going to go even up to the end. The one exception was that Fantomas would somehow escape (so that there could be more stories to come) and that otherwise everything else would be found out and resolved.
And once again I'm affirmed in my thinking that movies need more bassoon music.
And Fantomas's lover/girlfriend/romantic interest? She sure has a time of it, poor girl.
This Fantomas movie had more lost filmage then others I've seen, so there were screens of narrative writing to help cover gaps in the story. As far as fantastic stunts, the scene in the bell tower is worth considering. Not a lot of Juve and Fandor this time. Compared to other Fantomas stories, this one seemed to have a lot more letter writing and just sitting and talking--which is a challenge for silent movies.
Once again, well done, people.
And once again I'm affirmed in my thinking that movies need more bassoon music.
And Fantomas's lover/girlfriend/romantic interest? She sure has a time of it, poor girl.
This Fantomas movie had more lost filmage then others I've seen, so there were screens of narrative writing to help cover gaps in the story. As far as fantastic stunts, the scene in the bell tower is worth considering. Not a lot of Juve and Fandor this time. Compared to other Fantomas stories, this one seemed to have a lot more letter writing and just sitting and talking--which is a challenge for silent movies.
Once again, well done, people.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
"The Single Moms Club" (2014)
Very good. Very very good. Just repeat that over and over about 50 times. (balanced stories, and balanced types of stories; balanced types of characters.) Very nice. (49, 48, 47 ...)
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
"Lemonade Mouth" (2011)
This was a very good movie. It is a musical, a teen movie, and a Cinderella story all rolled into one solid smooth-flowing summer delight. Many of the songs start in either found music moments or poignant story moments that spark a song. The characters are real--the guys and girls alike, including strong girls and ones less so (but that learn to be strong in other ways). The "bad guys" take a mild form of other band rivals and of a school with an out-of-balance focus on which extra-curriculars are important. While the school may be out of balance, there isn't any program bashing. The energies center more around a principal that is played a comic edge off of center. Same goes for the rival band in that, while the rival band stirs things up, this movie isn't about bullies bashing, bully bashing, or bashing bullies back. This movie is sooo, nicely done--and without ham-y acting.
Why have I resisted this movie for so long?
If you enjoy any of the above elements, then I would hardily recommend this movie.
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