Memorable Movies and Books

A Good Woman (Lady Windermere's Fan)

2012-01-28T01:22:00.000-08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, A Good Woman, movie adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play, Lady Windermere's Fan. Helen Hunt does a fantastic job as the "ruined woman" and scarlet Johansen does okay. It is filmed on the gorgeous Amalfi coast in Italy. I watched it again with Joe who seemed preoccupied with the implied adultery but I loved how he drives his moral lesson home "do not judge" and redemption, etc. come at the end. The characters are descriptively rich and true to their natures. Funny, witty, charming, etc. So many good quotes, like from the playboy bachelor to the married man drunk on their yacht after a big misunderstanding, "We are all lying in the gutter. Some of us are looking at the stars."

The War: What's worth fighting for?

2009-10-03T15:03:00.000-07:00

This movie stars a young Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings trilogy fame) and Kevin Costner. It is the summer of 1970 in Mississippi. Stu and Lidia Simmons, with the help of their frineds (white and black alike) have high hopes of building a tree house in an ancient tree. Their father, a recently returned Vietnam vet, has hope to rebuild his family and dreams also. In this short summer, their father teaches them many valuable lessons about who they are and not to be influenced by the circumstances around them. Costner's character shows mercy on another man and his family that has plagued them. In turn, Wood's character ends up saving the little brother from drowning. Christian examples displayed, quotable quotes worth learning.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

2009-03-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Win a date with Tad Hamilton surprised me. It was a cute, funny movie about a threesome friendship where Rosalee is charmed by a "bad boy" movie star who is going to "set his priorities" and mend his ways after a date she won with him. What will happen to love with Pete? Watch and find out!

Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School

2009-03-07T11:08:00.000-08:00

Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005)

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei Director: Randall Miller Rating: Format:
When lonely hearts want to connect, is there any better way, really, than dancing? Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing & Charm School is a sweet indie valentine to dance, and to the connection of lost, broken souls. The stellar cast is led by English Everyguy Robert Carlyle, a widower who believes he's fulfilling a dying man's last wish--to find a long-lost love--by showing up at a Thursday night dance class. Carlyle is by turns awkward, warm, sincere and bewildered, perfectly believable as a man awash in grief yet hoping to rejoin life. It turns out that dance class, led by the theatrical Mary Steenburgen, holds his lifeline.
The film suggests, once the body moves and the soul is stirred--can love be far behind? The answer is: May I have the honor of this dance? Extras include the short 1990 film this feature was based on and an audio commentary. --A.T. Hurley (Edited)

This was an interesting film which I though looked "fun" about dancing. Dancing is actually a sub-plot in the film which is about a man and other men dealing with the grief of losing their spouses. On an average day when a rather traumatic (miraculous?) event leads the protagonist to do something he would not normally consider doing, his life is changed forever...

Speak (book adaptation)

2009-03-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

Speak

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Michael Angarano Director: Jessica Sharzer Rating:
Speak is an unexpected gem. Adapted from the popular novel by Laurie Halse Anderson and first broadcast in 2004, the film features an excellent lead performance by Kristen Stewart (Panic Room) as Melinda Sordino, a deeply troubled teen facing her first year of high school and all its attendant perils, including student cliques (here called "clans," such as "the Marthas--very Connecticut, very prep"), hostile teachers (with the exception of Steve Zahn's art instructor), and so forth. Melinda appears to be just another misfit, alienated, shunned, and sullen ("the most depressed person I've ever known," as one classmate puts it), burdened with clueless, hopelessly self-absorbed parents (Elizabeth Perkins, D.D. Sweeney) and her own introverted nature. But there's much more to it than that, and director Jessica Sharzer, who co-wrote the screenplay, deftly balances flashbacks of the traumatic event that turned Melinda into a virtual mute with her pained attempts to deal with its aftermath; the two stories, past and present, unfold together, keeping us involved all the way to the film's unsettling but cathartic conclusion. Powerful, moving, and well-acted (the adult roles occasionally veer toward stereotype, but the kids' performances are consistently good), Speak is a compelling and admirable piece of work. --Sam Graham

Relevant Topics : Teen drinking, Rape, High school cliques, friendship, judging...
I am not sure what about this film fascinates me. I have watched it several times and feel it was very well made. I have also recently read the book. This movie "speaks"out for a young, hurt girl who is trying to sort out "High School" the odd "world within a world" that it is and how she will ultimately react to something that happened to her the previous summer.
As a parent I ask myself "Am I listening to my children?" or am I like the parents in the movie, missing all the clues, totally absorbed in my own selfish world of concerns.
In high school a friend of a long time boyfriend, an acquaintance, was at my house and began to say some inappropriate things. Then he leaned into me and whispered in my ear, "Every girl dreams of being raped!" It was a moment frozen in time. I grappled to bend my mind around what he had just whispered to me and what he was implying.
"Get out! I think you should go! Now!" I think my blunt response took him off guard. Typically I was an obedient, subservient, quiet, withdrawn type. I was on my guard around him after that.
A few years later, in college, within my family, were close encounters similar to the kind that Melinda experiences. I awoke to heartrending, piercing screaming--sobbing. I will never forget the fear I felt hearing that emotion in the middle of the night. Of the physical verses the verbal form of rape--by far the one that effected the family member involved was the verbal form...haunting, real, subconscious.
As a society we need to confront the double standards that loom up between our young women and men. There should be no leniency for "boys just being boys." No church, no institution, no name to hide hideous behavior behind. It should not be tolerated! It is, now, in our society.

Ballet Shoes with Emma Watson

2009-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

This movie is rated PG because of some adult topics and some smoking.
It was fun to watch with my older girls because of the determination of the Fossil sisters to make something of their lives. Each little girl was abandoned by her birth parents and sent to live in a house in London.
It was fun to see their personalities develop and their relationships to those around them. An entertaining film.

The Emperor's Club (2002)

2008-03-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

The Emperor's Club by Universal Studios is PG-13 for some sexual content (pornographic magazines, partial undressed teens talk of skinny dipping,...) 108 min. Fiction, based on the book by Ethan Canin, The Palace Thief. ***
Kevin Kline plays William Hundert, an inspirational Western Civilization teacher, at a private school for young boys. This is a movie which will impress upon teachers the value student hold for their instructor. Similar movies include: Dead Poet's Society and Mr. Holland's Opus.
"Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance. What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?"

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

2008-03-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Akeelah and the Bee (Fiction) Lion's Gate Entertainment, 112 minutes. PG--"s" word, mild language. ***** (5 stars, I would enjoy seeing this film again)

Akeelah and the Bee is a heartwarming movie beautifully preformed about a young girl who applies herself and realizes her true potential. It addresses the role of a community pulling together, racial prejudice, family struggles, and overcoming personal fear.
Akeelah, is competing for the national spelling bee. Along the way she is coached by a college professor who has her read something from his wall. (See below quote. I have marked in bold the words left out of the original quote by the movie). Motivational in content, this movie encouraged my little ones that education is something to work for and to speak proper English.

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles .

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”