Title: Sleepwalk With Me Release Date: 18 November 2012 Director: Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish Production Co: Sleepwalkers Anonymous Country: USA Language: English Genre: Comedy Rating: **1/2
Summary/Review: Comedian Mike Birbiglia brings the story of his sleepwalking disorder (specifically rapid eye movement behavior disorder) to another medium after sharing the story in stand-up, storytelling, radio, and a book. The movie depicts a more complex confluence of events as Birbiglia’s semi-autobiographical character (a doppelganger named Matt Pandamiglio) tries to establish a career as a stand-up comedian while dealing with parental disapproval and fear of commitment to his longtime girlfriend. For a comedy, this is a dreary and depressing movie. Not that the ennui shouldn’t be depicted but I’d be interested in why this character puts so much on the line to become a comedian when there seems to be no passion or joy in anything. Lauren Ambrose is great in her role as the long-suffering girlfriend Abby who seems to be the only character able to enjoy herself despite all of that. Lots of This American Life regulars appear as supporting cast and it’s fun to play match the voice with the face. This is an okay movie, but if you’ve heard the story on The Moth or This American Life, you need not venture further out.
Title:Piglet’s BIG Movie Release Date: 2003 Director: Francis Glebas Production Co: Disney Country: United States Language: English Genre: Animation | Family Rating: **1/2
Summary/Review: This is the second in a series of contemporary adaptations of the Pooh franchise that Disney has released in the past decade or so. Unlike The Tigger Movie which I found surprisingly good, this is more of what I expect from Disney in milking the classics with some cheesy contemporary references thrown in. A soundtrack by Carly Simon features heavily in this movie almost as if the whole film was a vehicle for promoting her songs. Simon even appears during the credits. The story focuses on Piglet feeling unappreciated because he is small and wandering off and then his friends go looking for him. This is all a framing device for three flashback stories that show Piglet’s heroism. The flashbacks are the best part as they are based on A.A. Milne stories and are true to the originals. It’s a fun, sweet film – you really can’t go wrong with Pooh and Piglet – but they’ve done better.
Title:The Sound of Music Release Date: 1965 Director: Robert Wise Production Co: 20th Century Fox Country: United States Language: English Genre: Musical / Classic Rating: ****1/2
Summary/Review: It’s hokey, a bit saccharine, and historically inaccurate, but The Sound of Music is a fine movie worthy of its classic status. The music, the cast, the scenery, the cinematography — all wonderful. I watched this with my three-year old son, his first “grown-up” film, over a period of three days (hopefully making up for the fact that I didn’t watch it for the first time until I was 20). He enjoyed it as well, except for the boring parts when the Captain and the Baroness were just talking (“Where are Maria and the kids?”). He liked the music and we’ve been singing “Do-Re-Mi” and “The Lonely Goatheard.” Granted, there are some challenging aspects of trying to explain the Nazis to a toddler mostly because I don’t think he has a frame of reference to understand Nazis yet. Overall it’s a great movie and a great family experience and I’m sure we’ll watch it again.
Title: Don’t You Forget About Me Release Date: 13 July 2010 Director: Matt Austin Production Co: Country: Canada Language: English Genre: Documentary Rating: **
Summary/Review: This documentary is a tribute to the filmmaker John Hughes who wrote and directed many popular and influential teen films of the 1980′s including Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Filmed before Hughes’ passed away in 2009, it features four young filmmakers journeying from Canada to Illinois to find the reclusive filmmaker who has retired from making Hollywood pictures. The premise is a bit presumptuous, a lot boring, and I don’t think it’s too huge a spoiler to say that they never actually meet John Hughes. Luckily, the film also includes clips from Hughes’ films, interviews with people who worked with him, and interviews with people influenced by him. The point they keep returning to is that Hughes’ movies were more true to teenage life than other Hollywood films and even a generation later are very popular among teenage viewers. This may be true but I do feel that they belabor the point of how bad today’s films are especially since they interview Kevin Smith and the makers of “Napoleon Dynamite” whose movies have a level of cult popularity among teens in their own right. This documentary has some nice memories about a great moviemaker but it’s mediocre overall. Just watch John Hughes’ movies instead.
Title: The Secret of Kells Release Date: 7 March 2010 Director: Tomm Moore & Nora Twomey Production Co: Les Armateurs Country: France | Belgium | Ireland Language: English Genre: Animation / Fantasy / Adventure Rating: *****
Summary/Review: The illuminated manuscripts of the Irish middle ages come to live in this brilliant animated adventure set in the monastic village of Kells. The story focuses on a young monk named Brendan who is the nephew of the abbot. While his uncle is consumed with obsession of constructing a defensive wall to protect the community, Brendan wishes to carry on the sacred tradition of creating lasting illuminated manuscripts. He is aided in this effort by the arrival Brother Aidan and his cat Pangur Ban. Aidan takes Brendan under his wing and assigns him his first task to go outside the wall to seek ingredients for ink. There Brendan meets and befriends the forest spirit Aisling. There is of course conflict and confrontation with his uncle, but Brendan learns to set out on his own course.
This magical film combines history and myth, art and spirituality with some of the most brilliant animation I’ve seen and a gorgeous soundtrack. In many ways it is a good film to pair with Princess Mononoke as it shares similar thematic and visual qualities.
Title: Babies Release Date: 7 May 2010 Director: Thomas Balmès Production Co: Canal+ Country: France Language: English | Japanese | Mongolian Genre: Documentary Rating: ***1/2
Summary/Review:
It does what it says on the tin, 75 minutes or so of babies from birth through their first birthday without narration and very little context. And who doesn’t love babies? Four babies are featured, two from rural communities in Namibia and Mongolia, and two urban infants from Tokyo and San Francisco. There’s not much structure as it really is footage of babies doing the things babies do. I really like the scenes like the one of Mari from Japan having a really frustrating time with her toys and kicking the floor in a tantrum. Of course there is a hidden structure as the filmmakers have selected what scenes to include and arranged them so that they often show contrasts between the modernized and developing parts of the world. They also often exclude other people – even the parents although you can hear there voices offscreen – and focus on isolated babies in an almost unnatural state. Animals are popular theme too. Three of the babies have pet cats in the family, while Ponijao of Namibia lives on a farm and interacts with a lot of domesticated animals. Overall it’s a very mellow movie and while I kind of feel there should be something more to it, I did appreciate a lot of what it is.
Title: The King’s Speech Release Date: 24 December 2010 Director: Tom Hooper Production Co: See Saw Films Country: United Kingdom Language: English Genre: History / Biography Rating: ***1/2
Summary review: You see correctly, this is a review of a current film now playing in movie theaters. Susan & I had a date night. This is a good date night movie.
The King’s Speech tells the story of King George VI who grew up with a stammer and many anxieties. While still the Duke of York he begins treatment with an Australian actor named Lionel Logue who offers unusual methods in his speech therapy. The film follows a fairly predictable course as the Duke and the speech therapist slowly grow to be good friends but great acting on the part of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush carries the film (as well as a droll Helena Bonham Carter as the future Queen Mum). There’s a lot of great dialogue and funny lines. Everything leads up to the conclusion of the film where King George VI gives a stirring speech over the radio announcing that Britain is at war with Nazi Germany. It’s all very touching as Firth makes the speech and people around the world are shown listening and it ends with many plaudits. On the other hand part of me was thinking “So, the king made a speech, big deal. There are people dying in Poland!” All the same it was a good movie.
I found myself wondering what it was like for the young actress to be playing the current Queen Elizabeth II. I also found the actor who played Winston Churchill, perhaps the most recognizable character in this film, came off rather cartoonish. Colin Firth did a good job of capturing the constricting feeling of his impediment. Also he was dashingly handsome.
Title: Stop Making Sense Release Date: 1984 Director: Jonathan Demme Production Co: Music Television (MTV) Country: United States Language: English Genre: Documentary / Concert Rating: *****
Review: So it’s shameful to admit, but I’ve never watched this before. Oh, I’ve seen it because it aired constantly on cable television when I was a child so I saw many sections, but never sat down and watched it end to end. I’m happy to say that it lives up to its reputation as one of the all-time best concert films and the music holds up as well too. It’s interesting to see Talking Heads so young, so geeky, somewhat awkward yet planning everything out so thoroughly. I can imagine in 1984 that some glam metal band would be good at making a grand concert spectacle but David Byrne knew what not only how to make a great concert but what would make for a great film as well. The addition of members of the bands and the stage crew playing a visible role in setting up the stage is inspired. I also liked the transition of the band to the Tom Tom Club for “Genius of Love.” This is a great movie. I should have watched it sooner.
Title: The Damned United Release Date: 27 March 2009 Director: Tom Hooper Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation Country: United Kingdom Language: English Genre: Biopic / Sport Rating: ***1/2
Summary/Review:
This movie is a highly-fictionalized account of the life of English football manager Brian Clough (Michael Sheen) who was able to lead clubs like Derby County and Nottingham Forest to win the First Division championship. Central to this film is Clough’s short term as manager of Leeds United, one of the most successful clubs of the 1970s and one Clough had been critical of for their dirty style of play. The film is set up to focus on Clough’s relationships with two different men. One is Don Revie (the always great Colm Meaney) Clough’s predecessor as manager at Leeds United. If the film is to be believed Revie’s slight of Clough at a FA Cup match early Clough’s career provided both the motivation for Clough’s success but also his hubris and ultimate failure at Leeds. The other relationship is with Clough’s assistant coach Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall) who has great skill at scouting players for the team. The structure of the film with its historical inaccuracies comes off as melodramatic especially since the true story would make as good or better a film. The Damned United is saved by brilliant acting performances by the Sheen as the mouthy and flashy Clough, Meaney, and especially Spall’s portrayal of the long-suffering Taylor. I also enjoyed the gritty football action sequences that capture an era of sport long gone.
Title: Princess Mononoke Release Date: 26 November 1999 Director: Hayao Miyazaki Production Co: DENTSU Music And Entertainment Country: Japan Language: Dubbed into English Genre: Anime / Fantasy / Adventure Rating: ****
Summary/Review:
I don’t have much experience with anime so this was a wonderful introduction. Princess Mononoke is a gripping adventure, imaginative fantasy, and a feast for the eyes. There are many establishing shots that look like fine works of art. The story is centered around Ashitaka, a prince who slays a fearsome demon that attacks his village but is cursed in the process and thus has to go into exile. Seeking the source of the demon, Ashitaka finds himself between the spirits and gods of the forest and a town of ironworkers who threaten the forest’s existence. There’s a clear environmental message here but it’s not too heavy-handed, and I’m impressed that no side is ever seen as good or evil and the viewers sympathies keep shifting as the story goes along. A quite excellent film all around.
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