What Happened, Miss Simone?

I have long been a fan of singer Nina Simone. Her distinctive voice and the way she sings the blues are a favorite of mine. In fact, one of my stations on Pandora Internet Radio is “Nina Simone.” If you are not familiar with her, she is an African-American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist, a legend of her time (she is now deceased).

But I didn’t really know that much about her as a person, other than that she was born in the United States, and had moved to France at some point in her life. That’s about it.

So it was with interest I watched What Happened, Miss Simone? on streaming Netflix. The film has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Academy Awards. It is not rated.

The film by Liz Garbus paints a portrait of Nina over the course of her life from being a gifted child on the piano, to her adulthood as a troubled woman trying to find her way. The turbulent sixties were a prominent time for her, and is a time I remember well having lived through them during my formative years as a pre-teen and teen, observing the civil rights movement and Vietnam from the comfort and safety of my home in the country with my family. At that time, Nina was an activist in her 30’s, daring to write songs that highlighted the struggle for equal rights in America. She moved among circles of people who were high profile in those years, and I was amazed at whom she knew, as well as about her radical nature concerning civil rights. She was a woman with a voice, and I don’t mean just in music.

Featuring archival footage from Nina’s public appearances, interviews with her daughter and her ex-husband, as well as musician friends she worked with, it is an honest and open glimpse into her life. It didn’t disappoint in the area of her music either, allowing us to hear several of her songs from start to finish.

If you don’t normally watch documentaries, I encourage you to do so. They can be entertaining, illuminating as to the history of a region or a person, as well as thought provoking. Documentaries probably don’t cover the things you’d learn in school. They are a way to continue your education about life on earth, how people think, what impact culture has on someone, learn about history not covered on the evening news, or in the newspapers. In the process, what you see may impart an understanding about others, developing a sense of empathy for humanity, animals, and nature, whatever it is you’re learning about.

This documentary allowed us to see Nina’s life unfold as it did for her, and as she struggled to find purpose and meaning and answers to her life’s experiences. As she discovered life, so do we. I highly recommend you watch it. It illuminates not just her life, but also America and all its troubles with race and inequality.

Spotlight

I’ve found my favorite film of the Academy Award season. Spotlight is based on the true story of how a team of investigative journalists at the Boston Globe brought to light the cover-up by the Catholic Archdiocese of decades of pedophilia perpetrated by priests. It is a film that will move you, perhaps to tears. It will draw you along with the Spotlight team as they discover the truth of the injustice done to the victims, all within the shortest couple of hours I’ve spent in a movie theater in recent weeks.

The film boasts an all-star cast including Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, and the Best Supporting Actor and Actress noms, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams. Also nominated were director Tom McCarthy, the film itself for Best Picture, and for Film Editing.

This drama (biography/history) is rated R for some language, including sexual references.

I remember hearing about priests molesting young boys sometime during the 1970’s. I wasn’t much out of high school, and not being raised Catholic, didn’t know what to think about that disclosure. But as I recall, the person sharing this information made a joke of it, laughed it off, happy it hadn’t happened to him (or had it?).

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse them,” is a quote from the film. Personal responsibility is brought into question for all who knew about the abuse and did not loudly protest what was happening. Instead it was ignored, and at its worst, involved attorneys taking money to pay off the families and victims. Where was their personal responsibility? It is time we all vow to break the silence where any abuse is concerned.

This is a film I’d recommend be first on your list to jog out and see while still in the theaters, prior to the Oscars. There are scenes where victims tell their stories to the journalists, both moving and revealing. It didn’t make me uncomfortable to hear since I have a background in counseling and therapy. These types of disclosures don’t set me off into a bout of PTSD, although I still empathize. There appeared to be some people in the theater having a hard time with it because I heard talking and someone asking them if they just wanted to leave. I can’t stand people talking during the movie so that was distracting and rude. But I could sympathize if that’s what was going on with them.

I have a couple more films to see this year that were nominated, but as of this point, I doubt that anything else will live up to Spotlight. In my opinion, a movie that wins Best Picture should be the greatest film of the year for future generations of movie watchers to seek out. It should be of the highest caliber, with an inspirational message, and I can’t imagine some violence filled picture fitting that standard at all.

This is the one.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Star Wars. It’s a film experience that started for me in 1977. I have seen every installment in the theater, all six of them (see my review of Star Wars Episode III:  Revenge of the Sith on this blog). It had me hooked. So it is no surprise I went to see Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

A coworker of mine who took annual leave on the day of the premiere said I would love this movie. I would meet old friends, be introduced to new friends, and that it was everything she’d hoped for and more.

With that recommendation, and her constant pestering me about why I hadn’t seen it yet, I finally went with my husband to a matinee after the crowds had thinned somewhat. The film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.

Sitting through all of the previews before the movie, I was getting kind of down. There were several previews clearly intended for teenage boys, who are the vast majority of the theater going public. This is something studios know, thus the constant action films, superhero movies, and violence spewing trash I was getting glimpses of. I said to myself, please don’t let Star Wars be like these awful films. Please. Give me the old Star Wars with good character development, characters we can root for, and a story where the Force is central.

It was good, much to my relief. I can’t say too much here, but the media has broadcasted it around so much that I knew we’d see our old friends in the characters of Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker.

We are introduced to new characters:  Kylo Ren, of the dark side (Adam Driver), Rey, an independent and resourceful young woman (Daisy Ridley), Finn, a stormtrooper who has deserted his post (John Boyega), and Poe Dameron, daring pilot (Oscar Isaac). One thing I really enjoyed was that the main characters are shown struggling between the pull towards evil and the centering of the Force. It makes for some suspenseful moments.

My husband said that seeing the film served to remind him of just how special the earth we live on is with all of its stunning nature, and amazing animals. We stayed for all of the credits to see where this Star Wars was filmed; it featured the stark landscapes of Abu Dhabi, Iceland, and Ireland. All of earth is thankfully not like those landscapes. He said that science fiction films always seem to depict devastated, unwelcoming planets, and that part of the film is disappointing. The violence is overwhelming, and the pace caters to a world of people who seek constant stimulation, rapid sound bites, twittering, and I phone-using fools who can’t look up and around them to see the beauty that is the earth.

That said, if you haven’t seen Star Wars yet, what are you waiting for? I’m looking forward to the next installment and hope it has more Yoda and fewer machine guns.

Brooklyn

My maternal grandparents immigrated to America in the late 1800’s from Denmark and Norway. My interest in Brooklyn stemmed from having such close relatives make that trip across the Atlantic with the hope of an opportunity for a better life.

Brooklyn tells the tale of Eilis, a young Irish immigrant (Saoirse Ronan in an Academy Award nominated performance) coming to America fully a half century later than my ancestors immigrated, but I figured some of the same issues they faced would be depicted.

Brooklyn has also been nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay at this year’s Academy Awards. It is rated PG-13 for a scene of sexuality and brief strong language.

It wasn’t until after I had seen the film and began to do research for my review that I found I had seen Saoirse Ronan in three other films:  The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Host (previously reviewed on my blog; search for it by entering the name of the movie in the search engine above on this page), and The Way Back. I enjoyed her characters in all of those other films, and since I never connected any of these four performances to the same woman, I would say she is adept at taking on different characters without being recognizable as herself. Of course, that may change as her list of movies grows and then she may become as easily recognizable as other accomplished actresses.

Back to Brooklyn. Another quiet film, set in the 1950’s where one’s personal conduct is always proper, especially for young ladies.  Father Flood (Jim Broadbent) is a kindly priest who helps Eilis adjust to life in America. She meets Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen) of Italian descent, and begins to blossom and not be as homesick as their friendship and love develops. This relationship seemed very natural as that’s what happened here; the children of immigrants from different countries meet and fall in love and we get the melting pot we are today in America.

Eilis needs to return to Ireland suddenly, and finds that things have changed. Or is it that she has changed? Once in Ireland, Eilis begins to realize who she is:  a good worker, educated in her trade as a bookkeeper, and a confident and ultimately loyal young woman. The suspense grows as we wonder along with Eilis about returning to America versus remaining in Ireland.

Seeing the city of Brooklyn portrayed from a 1950’s point of view made the movie charming and interesting, particularly the scenes in the department store where Eilis has her first job.  I recommend this film. It’s visually appealing, and a good story from a woman’s point of view, something we don’t get that often in films. Take your daughters or your mothers with you for an afternoon matinee and then go have a nice leisurely dinner to talk about it.

Let me know what you think of the films you see and about my reviews. You can leave your comments below. Happy movie going!

Joy

Joy. The name of a woman I had never heard of, and upon watching her story, will never forget. This film by David O. Russell is based on the story of Joy Mangano, doyenne of QVC. I was hoping the film would be joyful, and was pleased that it had a happy ending. It moved slowly at first, very slowly, and is told partially from the perspective of Mimi, Joy’s devoted maternal grandmother (Diane Ladd). The film is rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert de Niro, Isabella Rossellini, and Bradley Cooper, the film held a promise of greatness. I would call it a quiet film, however, with subtle performances, especially from Jennifer Lawrence who plays Joy, and Bradley Cooper as Neil Walker. Even dialogue is delivered in whispers at times, and it serves up the message of a woman who would not give up.

Having just seen this the day after The Big Short, a film that just left me angry (see previous review), I was once again inspired. Good things do happen to people providing they don’t give up, don’t allow themselves to be walked on, and believe in themselves.

It helps to be smart, finish high school, and be determined. How many women who could go on to college don’t, because they fall for a singing, dancing lothario who sweeps them off their feet, and before they know it, they have kids and a nowhere life. Joy didn’t let that stop her. Her role models weren’t very positive, like her mother who has given up and does nothing all day long but watch soap operas.

For all of you complainers out there saying, “If only I had (fill in the blank), then things would be different.” Don’t wait for a role model, be your own role model. Seek out those who can help you fulfill that dream you’ve buried deep within thinking you can’t have it now that you’re a mom, caretaker, breadwinner, you name it.

I saw Jennifer Lawrence in her two other Golden Globe winning roles with David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook (for which she also won the Academy Award) and American Hustle. But I was her fan beginning with Winter’s Bone, where she played a strong teenager caring for her two younger siblings, taking on that responsibility from her absent parents. She displayed a quiet intensity for that role, as she does for this Academy Award nominated performance. In this film as Joy, she is so consistent in playing the character, that we see glimmers of who she will become, we watch the integrity with which she approaches her life, all leading us on to the older, wiser Joy.

But she was wise all along. Go see this film (and be patient; remember I said it is slow in the beginning), especially if you are a woman who has a dream longing to burst out. Joy may be just the inspiration you need to push you to take that first step.

The Big Short

The Big Short was a film I was hoping would be understandable and entertaining, despite its subject: the housing crisis and fraud that transpired over the last years of the decade ending in 2010. It has been nominated for several Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale), Best Director for Adam McKay, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay from the book by Michael Lewis (who also wrote the screenplay for Moneyball), and for Film Editing. It is rated R for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity. All the nominations are well deserved.

I admit that even as early as high school, when one of my classes touched on the subject of the stock market, it confused me. I have since come to understand it a little better, but wouldn’t feel comfortable explaining it to anyone else. I saw the films Margin Call and Moneyball, and enjoyed both. The way these stories were developed made difficult mathematical subjects easier to understand. So it is for The Big Short.

The truth is, you don’t have to understand the financial crisis completely to get that the average American was screwed over in a big way in those years. This film has a stellar cast including Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt, who was also a producer. Lesser roles went to Marisa Tomei, and Melissa Leo. The film cleverly tried to make clear the situations that transpired and what the big short was. Basically, a few investors realized the housing bubble would burst and placed bets with the big banks that it would. If they were right, they stood to make a great deal of money. Essentially they were betting that the American economy would fail due to the practices of the big banks on the housing markets.

The film is based on the true stories of these investors. The market is explained in the film in ways even I could follow, via what looks like a Jenga game (pull one block at the base and it all comes tumbling down), and a cameo by Selena Gomez in Las Vegas. She places a bet, then someone behind her places a bet on her winning, then someone behind them places a bet on him winning when she wins, etc. It all falls apart when Selena doesn’t win, as it did for the housing market. The going to Las Vegas and explaining it at the gaming tables is an apt way to show that it’s all a game to the big banks and investors, a game where the public always loses.

We know that despite the fraud perpetrated by the big banks, it was the American people, who stay poor while the wealth of the few skyrockets, bailed them all out, while losing their homes, their jobs, and their hope.

This is a film everyone should see. It’s entertaining, illuminating, and will inform you of an issue that should influence the way you vote in upcoming elections. Enough is enough.

Beasts of No Nation

Beasts of No Nation is a film about the experiences of Agu, a young West African boy recruited into a rebel militia after his family is murdered or disappears. The name of the country is never disclosed, thus the name of the film. The actor Idris Elba, portraying the commandant, was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at this year’s Golden Globes. I watched the film streaming on Netflix, so it is easy to find right now. This drama is not rated, although I would suspect it would be an R rating if it was, due to the violence.

Some may ask why I’d watch a movie sure to be violent and depressing. This is Africa, a place on the planet I have never visited.  Africa is the Dark Continent, not called that due to the color of its people’s skin, but because it is a hard continent to live on; disease, extreme conditions, and dangers abound whether in the desert, jungle or oceanside. I like to be reminded that there are other people on the planet living very different lives from that of privileged Americans. It could be another planet for all we are aware of what goes on there.

The town portrayed is in a jungle, resources are unequally distributed, poverty is endemic, and yet the people have families, love fiercely, and just want to be able to enjoy their lives like we all do. Care for their babies, get the pretty girl in school to fall in love with you, learn and grow, and most importantly, enjoy life on planet earth.

But when there is civil unrest, and warring parties with machine guns try to get their way through force, all those desires and needs are left unfulfilled.

It was a captivating tale, and yes, there was violence. The part of me interested in human behavior found it fascinating how the young scared recruits become hardened soldiers, capable of committing heinous crimes against their fellow humans. Brainwashing at its most effective, preying on the vulnerability of the young.

I was spellbound throughout the whole film, which led to a surprising ending. I got to thinking about where the weapons come from. Where are the factories for the production of guns and ammunition, and who by working there contributes to the deaths of fellow human beings and the destruction of earth? With gun issues at a breaking point in America, what about broadening the discussion to the armed nature of this entire planet?

Every spirit that comes to earth wants the same things, to experience this world, and to be safe and loved. Breaking the cycle of the willingness to use violence as a means to settle disputes is a concept whose time has come and is long overdue. Violence is not a solution to a multi-faceted problem that encompasses lack of education for women leading to a higher birth rate, subsequent poverty, and despair. War does not bring peace for the children forced to fight or for the nations involved.

Jingle All The Way

Jingle All The Way is a 1996, comedy/family film, rated PG for action violence, mild language and some thematic elements.

The movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rita Wilson, and Sinbad, with cameos by Robert Conrad, Phil Hartman, Martin Mull, James Belushi, and Harvey Korman and Laraine Newman. (See if you can spot them as you watch.)

I admit that I enjoyed watching Arnold’s movies back in the day. There is something really funny about a big body builder playing comedic roles, like in Twins, and Kindergarten Cop (I liked the sci-fi films he did too, particularly The Terminator films), and then there’s True Lies. I didn’t doubt that Jingle All The Way would be a funny film I’d like.

Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a successful, driven businessman, overworking to the point that he neglects his son Jamie, and is seldom there for his wife Liz (Rita Wilson). All comes to a head when he realizes he did not get the one thing in the entire world his son wants for Christmas, a Turbo Man action figure.

With mere hours to spare, he sets out to find this elusive action figure doll that has sold out in every store. He meets another late shopper, postal worker Myron Larabee (Sinbad), and they proceed to travel their way around the city in search of Turbo Man.

Meanwhile, Ted (Phil Hartman), a divorced single father, is putting the moves on Liz, eating Howard’s cookies, and ingratiating himself with his neighbors by somehow getting a real live reindeer for his yard.

It is a fight to the end as to who will nab the last of the Turbo Man action figures. Lots of slapstick comedy ensues, and Howard gets to come to the rescue as he stumbles upon the Wintertainment parade float featuring Turbo Man. Here Arnold gets to do a turn in a bigger than life role reminiscent of other action heroes he has portrayed, redeeming himself with his son and wife in the process.

I liked the film, it was funny and made me laugh, sometimes just at Arnold delivering his lines in his famous Austrian accent. It was fun seeing all the actors from 20 years ago, and how the world has changed (no cell phones around; Howard has to use a pay phone). In a world where commercialism runs rampart around Christmas time and in fact begins much earlier, pre-Thanksgiving and then with Black Friday, these scenes of mad, desperate shoppers should not be foreign to anyone tuning in. There is a poignant sadness to the distance between father and son and husband and wife brought on by materialism and a disregard for the important (do not allow the urgent to displace the important).

The soundtrack features plenty of familiar Christmas songs you’ll like. If you let the credits roll while you’re cleaning up the popcorn you spilled, you will see a final scene with Howard and Liz at the Christmas tree. A priceless moment after all Howard has been through.

Four Christmases

This is a hilarious holiday movie from 2008 starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. It’s light entertainment (comedy, drama, romance) with a twist on most holiday films, and is rated PG-13 for some sexual humor and language.

Kate (Reese Witherspoon) and Brad (Vince Vaughn) are a young couple in love, unmarried, with no intentions of tying the knot. Normally they avoid their families, but when their plane out of San Francisco to Fiji is grounded due to fog, they reluctantly end up visiting all four of their divorced parents’ homes in one day. Having never met one another’s families previously, they are in for the revelation of family and personal secrets that are sure to stress their relationship, not only with each other, but also within themselves.

Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek play Brad’s parents, and Mary Steenburgen and Jon Voight play Kate’s parents. Their characters add to the charm of the story (and incidentally, all four are Oscar winners). That is quite a lot of talent as Reese is an Academy Award winning actress herself.

I have not seen that many Vince Vaughn movies, just Wedding Crashers and Couples Retreat, and enjoyed both of those films as well. He is a very good comedic actor and plays well opposite Reese’s more prim and proper lady. (I also recall him in a Sex and the City episode as one of Carrie’s beaus.) He will make you laugh!

Reese, as you know, starred in Walk the Line, her Academy Award winning turn as June Carter Cash. I like some of her other perhaps lesser known films, notably Pleasantville, Election, the more well known Legally Blonde, and just recently, Wild, the true story of Cheryl Strayed who walked the Pacific Crest Trail. Reese is an accomplished actress, equally adept at comedy as she is in her forays into drama.

Reese’s barely 5 feet 2 inch frame teetering after Vince’s 6 feet 5 inches in her extremely high heels is quite a contrast. The graphic on the DVD plays on this as Reese stands on four boxes wearing stilettos to be the same height as Vince.

These four families are so different, and the circumstances they encounter during the visits are exaggerated for humor. Often slapstick in nature, and always inventive in terms of dialogue and witty repartee, it is a movie that kept a smile on my face from beginning to end.

Kate and Brad are a likable couple, and realistic in that all couples try to hide those embarrassing moments and questionable events from the past in order to continue the relationship, for fear when they are found out, they will get dumped. Also similar is the apprehension at introducing the one they love to their family members. What will they think of a family who is less than perfect, and perhaps even a little crazy? Is there any future between us given the idiosyncrasies of parents and siblings? 

All these questions and more are answered in Four Christmases.

The Shift

I had the good fortune to hear Dr. Wayne Dyer speak at a conference I attended in Portland some 15+ years ago. I was initially not that interested to hear him speak as I thought he was just someone who had cashed in on a financially lucrative career publishing self-help books. I was wrong.

I was completely won over by Dr. Dyer, his sincerity, humbleness and wisdom. After he passed away, Facebook and the Internet blossomed with his lectures and videos, and I ordered on Netflix and watched a DVD called The Shift.

Cleverly designed, the film features interviews with Dr. Dyer as himself, alternating with fictional tales of three individuals/families at a crossroads in their lives. The setting is at a retreat center in Monterey, California. The fictional stories worked to illustrate the spiritual truths that Dr. Dyer talked about during his interviews with his fictional film crew. Better than perhaps watching a couple of hours of Dr. Dyer speaking to a PBS audience, it was filled with ideas about the shift, transitioning from the morning of one’s life to the afternoon, a metaphor for an awakening to a life of meaning, a unique soul purpose unfolding for each of us.

A couple of better known actors were featured including Portia de Rossi, and Michael DeLuise, with Louise Hay, matriarch of Hay House, appearing in a cameo. Also available are extra features, which included music videos (Song Inside is charming!), additional scenes and interviews with Dr. Dyer and the film’s director, Michael Goorjian. I watched all these features and enjoyed learning about how the film came to be made, and appreciated Dr. Dyer’s humor as he speaks candidly to the film crew.

The film is visually stunning, the views of the ocean waves and the gnarled trees at the windswept shore helping to create a sense of calmness amidst the characters’ crises. I didn’t care for the music very much, but I am not a fan of classical music and that’s what the score reminded me of. The music felt morose and kind of depressing to me. I learned to ignore it and focused instead on the visuals and the characters’ journeys. You may not have the same reaction to the music as I did.

Dr. Dyer was himself, as I remembered him from hearing him speak those many years ago, a little older, and just as sage. The three people at a crossroads in this story were believable:  a driven businessman and his wife struggling to create a shared life; a young mother who gives first to her husband and children, leaving little time for her own creative expression; and a film director hungry to make a name for himself at any cost.

The Shift is inspiring, and provided many ideas that my husband and I discussed after viewing it. I highly recommend this film; it’s entertaining and insightful, and may be just what you need for the place you are in your life right now.

Aloha

When I first saw Aloha advertised, I thought it had several things going for it:  Cameron Crowe, screenwriter and director; actors Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, and Rachel McAdams; and the gorgeous scenery of Hawaii.

So I put it in my Netflix queue. The film is rated PG-13 for some language including suggestive comments. Though it didn’t do well at the box office, this romantic-comedy-drama is well worth a night at home with popcorn.

I have been a fan of Cameron Crowe since Say Anything, and Jerry McGuire. It is well written, although top heavy on the musical selections. Cameron is into music (see Almost Famous for a semi-autobiographical take on his life on the road with bands), and the almost ever-present music interfered at times with the flow of the movie.

The main characters are Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper) and Allison (Emma Stone). (I have enjoyed both their careers since The Hangover and Easy A, the first two films I saw them in.) Brian has a job to do while in Hawaii, and is sweet, vulnerable, and a really great guy. Allison is a total air force military woman with a sharp salute and a mouth that fires at machine gun speed. She is charged with shadowing Brian, ostensibly to keep him out of trouble.

Complicating Brian’s life at this point is an old girlfriend, Tracey Woodside (Rachel McAdams), married to a strong, silent military man. They have two kids, Grace and Mitchell. Will Bradley and Rachel rekindle their love affair, or will he fall for Allison? What will happen with the space launch Brian is charged with completing for eccentric billionaire Carson Welch (Bill Murray)?

I enjoyed the emphasis on Native Hawaiians. We in the continental U.S. may forget that Hawaii was taken by force and coercion, just as it was for the many Native American tribes on the mainland. There is a deep connection to nature that European invaders did not bring with them from their own native peoples when North America and then Hawaii was conquered. The film touches on this connection to nature and spirituality, especially from Allison, who is one-quarter Hawaiian.

Issues no doubt still surface in Hawaii today between natives and the military, and I thought the film did a good job bringing this dynamic into perspective with a fictional, but plausible, story about the military throwing its weight around, along with rich, eccentric space junkie Carson Welch.

The word aloha translates from Hawaiian to “affection, peace, compassion and mercy,” an apt way to describe the characters’ journeys in this story.

The ending is really, really sweet, beautiful and unexpected. There are moments in the film where words are not used to express thoughts and feelings; Cameron allowed the actors to show what they were thinking through subtle expressions and body language, and nowhere is this more evident than in the ending.

I recommend this film. I liked the romance, the focus on the native Hawaiians, and the happy ending. (Next time though, Cameron, go easy with the music, please.)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

After watching Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter, my husband commented that I shouldn’t post a review, rather to save my reviews for good films that I can recommend viewing. But a reviewer doesn’t have that option. Roger Ebert wrote reviews for bad films. There was that whole thumbs up, thumbs down routine for him and Gene Siskel, so I feel I have a responsibility to post reviews even about films that don’t live up to expectations.

We had this film delivered from Netflix for some Halloween fun, and just got around to seeing it the other night. A film from 2012, it is rated R for violence throughout and brief sexuality. I was not familiar with any of the actors, director or writers (sorry!), although noticed that Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas and various off beat Johnny Depp films) was one of the producers. Obviously, it is pure fiction; vampires don’t exist, and Lincoln was not a sworn enemy of vampires.

But I appreciated the film for a few reasons. As a screenwriter, I admired how snippets of historical information that were true served as the starting point for fictional situations involving vampires. There seemed to be a comparison in the film with vampires and Confederates. Vampires, if they did exist, are pure evil (unless you’ve watched True Blood, then not so much). And one could say that the Confederates, in favor of slavery, and who used and abused people through slavery, are evil too.

In this story, vampires were paired with the Confederates, even meeting with Jefferson Davis, and of course Lincoln and his aides were with the Union. My husband said that he feared that younger people, given what we’ve heard is a sad state of affairs these days in school with not enough history being taught, might not even know that much about Lincoln and the period of the Civil War, and what it meant to the United States. A good place to begin would be to read A. Lincoln:  A Biography by Ronald C. White, Jr.

There are some action packed sequences, with some kung fu type fighting, and a tension producing train ride, all very well executed on screen. The film held our attention right from the very beginning, and we never once suggested turning it off, which we have done when a movie is so bad we just can’t waste our time.

My favorite quote from the film: “Until every man is free, we are all slaves.” And a clever graphic at the end may remind you of the bloodshed that brought the country together to the 50 states it is today.

I think teenage boys would like this story. And it is said that most Hollywood produced movies are for that teen boys group. Basically, if you like vampires, really well choreographed fight scenes, and spectacular chase scenes, yes to this film. But if you are offended by the thought of Abraham Lincoln being cast as a hunter of vampires, don’t rent it.

Hector and the Search for Happiness

Hector and the Search for Happiness is an interesting and enjoyable film about one man’s journey around the world to find what makes for true happiness. A comedy-drama film from 2014, it is rated R for language and some brief nudity.

Simon Pegg (Hector) is a psychiatrist, and the narrator of the film. Rosamund Pike plays Clara, Hector’s girlfriend. You may remember her from the recent film Gone Girl. (If that is the only film you’ve seen her in, you may be surprised to know that she is British, and nailed that American accent for her role in Gone Girl.)

Hector leads quite a predictably ordered life, and begins to wonder about happiness. Is he or any of his patients truly happy? Will his patients ever find the key to happiness, and can he help them if he is similarly clueless about finding it for himself?

I really empathized with Hector, as I’ve been a counselor and I know how draining it can get listening to other peoples’ problems. In fact, that’s why after several years, I moved into administrative positions for my jobs. You can only hear so much without it beginning to affect you and your own happiness in life.

But, back to Hector. To figure out what is happiness, he treks across the planet, his journey of self-discovery taking him to three continents, and a variety of emotional encounters. Stellan Skarsgard  (Edward) is one of the first strangers Hector meets, with surprising results.

Hector’s musings are shown to us through his drawings and the questions he poses in his journal. I enjoyed this aspect of the film. We are let in on the workings of Hector’s mind through the recording of his thoughts on happiness in his travel journal. He poses a question to people he encounters along the way: What makes you happy? He creates a list about happiness as revealed to him, and I enjoyed thinking about which ones I liked the best.

The film also features Christopher Plummer (Professor Coreman), who studies the effects of happiness on the brain, and enlists Hector to take part in one of his experiments. Toni Collette (Agnes) is one of Hector’s past loves.

Hector finds the humanity in people again, has a series of epiphanies about life, and experiences the growth he would want for his patients in himself. Grateful and in the present, Hector finds happiness in himself.

The film is very entertaining, and I applaud that director and writer took risks by having a narrator, which is looked on as not such a wise decision in order to have a successful movie. They also have Hector’s doodling in his journal come alive on the page and thus on the screen throughout the film. It was creative and effective in bringing this story to life (and contributes to our happiness as movie lovers).

John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” Hector might add that happiness can only happen when you’re truly alive. 

Poltergeist

“They’re here.”

So begins the ordeal of a family in small town USA when their daughter hears ghost/spirits coming out of their TV set.

I am of course talking about the classic Steven Spielberg film Poltergeist. Another of our Halloween selections, this movie from 1982 is truly a horror story. I had somehow never seen it, and found it to be much more scary than it’s PG rating would suggest it to be.

Diane (JoBeth Williams) and Steve (Craig T. Nelson) are the caring parents of three children. Steve is involved in real estate and Diane appears to be a full time mom. They are swept into a maelstrom of supernatural happenings when their daughter disappears.

Steve asks for help from a parapsychology department at a university, and a team visits the home, surprised by the prolific activity of the poltergeists, which translated means “noisy ghosts.” They in turn call in someone to “clean” the house, an interesting little lady, Tangina, played by Zelda Rubinstein; she is like someone’s bizarre grandmother. She gives a beautiful speech in way of explanation about the departed, and what could be happening in the family’s home.

These few scenes with Tangina were the most beautiful part of the story that Steven Spielberg wrote; the screenplay was written with the help of a team. I know something about this paranormal subject, and both my husband and I commented that the movie was confusing ghosts and poltergeists, two different types of spirits. Ghosts more commonly are from those who die and don’t know they’re dead and hang around appearing to the living.

Poltergeists, on the other hand, are frequently associated with teenagers, especially female teenagers, because their energy is so intense. Intense emotions can trigger objects being picked up and hurled, things moving, silverware being bent, etc.

This movie mashed it all up together. It was still a good film, but not entirely true to the field of parapsychology.

There were special features on my DVD entitled They Are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists; Part I Science of the Spirits and Part II Communing with the Dead. We watched both of these which featured interviews with professional ghost hunters and parapsychologists.

If you’d like to read a really good book about real life poltergeists, pick up a copy of Unleashed, of Poltergeists and Murder, the Curious Story of Tina Resch by William Roll, Ph.D. and Valerie Storey.

I’d also say little kids might be pretty scared by this film. It freaked me out, but then I don’t like amorphous monsters that can suck children into other dimensions. They were evil looking. It would make kids say their prayers at night, that’s for sure.

Finally, I wonder about Steven Spielberg and his beliefs in otherworldly phenomena. What has he encountered? Four otherworldly films to his credit may not be just coincidence. If I could invite anyone to dinner for an engrossing night of wine and chitchat, it would be him. “They’re here.”

The Devil's Backbone

I watched another foreign film recently, this one in the horror genre in order to get those Halloween vibes going last weekend. The Devil’s Backbone is a Spanish film by Guillermo del Toro, director of Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). I remember that movie as being quite violent, and hoped this one, which actually preceded Pan’s Labyrinth by five years, would not be as bad in that regard. The film is rated R for violence, language and some sexuality. Pedro Almodovar produced it; those aware of Spanish filmmaking will recognize his name, a prolific filmmaker himself.

Set during the Spanish civil war in 1939, this was a time when children were sent to orphanages to protect them from the ravages of war or when the opposing party killed their parents and they became orphans.

This is a horror film, one promising the specter of ghosts, secrets to be revealed, and for the boys in the orphanage, their courage to be tested. Early on in the film it is established that the Spaniards are a superstitious people, and the devil’s backbone explained (and shown in graphic detail!).

Carlos (Fernando Tielve), a 12 year old whose father has been killed, is dropped off at an isolated boys’ orphanage by a man he refers to as his tutor, who subsequently leaves him without saying goodbye. Carlos is despondent, but quickly tries to fit in with the other boys, all orphaned and abandoned children who are taken care of by headmistress Carmen (Marisa Paredes) and Dr. Casares (Federico Luppi). Carmen is a tough woman with the boys, but has a soft side, as seen in her fondness for the poetry Dr. Casares recites from memory.

Carlos apparently has “the gift,” because he sees the ghost of Santi, a young boy who has been missing for some time. Santi wants Carlos to know something and pursues him when darkness falls, much to Carlos’ horror.

Jacinto (Eduardo Noriega), a man who was an orphan and lived at the orphanage when he was young, has returned and now works there. He has many secrets, some of which he has in common with Carmen, their complicated relationship hidden from Jacinto’s girlfriend and the boys.

The boys hunt for slugs in a cellar where a well draws the creatures in, and the cellar ultimately holds the key to Santi’s disappearance. I found the bleak landscape, and the defused bomb sitting in the courtyard ominous and foreboding, and the ghost of Santi held me spellbound.

The film was less violent than Pan’s Labyrinth I thought, although if you are sensitive to violence, it could disturb you. Even though the ghost of the film is supernatural, the plotline and the events that transpire felt real, as if they could have happened in a country torn by war, where death was everywhere, and innocents had to grow up quickly.

If you’re looking for an adult movie, something creepy and with a good storyline, The Devil’s Backbone may be just the one for you.

Love Is All You Need

Finding a great foreign film is a treasure; I like watching stories about people who live in other cultures and seeing landscapes I have yet to visit. Reading subtitles does not faze me (nor should it deter you from renting a foreign flick). With a little practice, you will find that you can skillfully read the subtitles while still enjoying the visual piece of the movie.

When I came across the Danish film Love Is All You Need, I put it in my Netflix queue and it worked its way up. Set in Copenhagen, Denmark, and more extensively in Sorrento, Italy, the characters speak mainly Danish and British English. The film is from award winning director Susanne Bier, whose film In a Better World won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2010. In 2013, Love Is All You Need was selected as the best comedy film at the 26^th European Film Awards.

Starring Pierce Brosnan and a capable cast of actors who were unfamiliar to me, it is a character driven romantic comedy rated R for brief sexuality, nudity and some language.

Ida (Trine Dyrholm) is a Danish woman who describes herself as unlucky “lately,” her biggest challenge being treatment for breast cancer. Her daughter is marrying a young man Ida has yet to meet. The wedding is to be held on an estate in Sorrento, Italy owned by the groom’s father Philip (Pierce Brosnan), which includes a lemon grove and a spacious seaside villa. The two families of the happy couple soon to be joined, for better or worse, till death they do part, gather for the nuptials, rowdy friends of the bride and groom joining them on the eve of the event for the pre-wedding party at the villa.

This is a sweet story with a subtle, emotional performance by Pierce Brosnan, a widower who has never remarried and who doesn’t quite know how to be supportive of his son. Ida has her own challenges with her husband, and she has somehow stayed positive through everything, showing us this with her enchantingly beautiful smile. Everyone grows in this film, and Ida the most. The young couple appears so young, and it surprised me a bit that no one questions them about marrying after only having met three months ago. They have much to learn.

The landscape of Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast is simply stunning, and figured into the reasons I got this movie. If I’m watching a film with a good storyline, then the icing on the cake is a fabulous setting. You can practically feel the ocean breezes, smell the scent of lemons, and bask in the warmth of the Mediterranean.

That’s Amore, sung by Dean Martin, and other variations on that song, are woven throughout the film, tying together the storyline as much as the characters and scenery. I liked the entire film and it had a realistic ending. I think you will find it as wonderful to watch as I did.