Posted on May 10, 2014 at 8:00 am
I’ve posted several times about my favorite movie mothers, all loving, kind, supportive, and wise. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite mean movie mothers, too.
1. Now, Voyager
2. The Manchurian Candidate
3. Carrie
4. Precious
5. Mommie Dearest
And don’t forget that my ebook 50 Must-See Movies: Mothers
Posted on May 9, 2014 at 8:54 am
53 years ago today my dad, the new 35-year-old Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission appointed by President John F. Kennedy, made a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters that was on every list of the most influential speeches of the 2oth century. We are very proud of him. Last weekend, he was presented with the Lincoln Award by the Governor of Illinois. It is the state’s highest award for public service.
And did you know that television writer/producer Sherwood Schwartz was so angry about the speech he decided to name the sinking ship on his new television show after my dad? Yes, that’s how the S.S. Minnow on “Gilligan’s Island” got its name. Really.
Posted on May 8, 2014 at 6:00 pm
B+| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG for thematic elements, some language and brief smoking images |
| Profanity: | Some brief language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking, smoking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Sad death of parent (offscreen), tense family confrontations |
| Diversity Issues: | Race and gender issues the theme of the film |
| Date Released to Theaters: | May 9, 2014 |
Writer Misan Sagay, director Amma Asante, and actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw have created a film of exceptional understanding, honoring the life of the real-life woman who inspired the story with intelligence, sensitivity, and insight that illuminate her time and our own. Mbatha-Raw plays the title character, who must navigate her way across lines of gender, class, race, and legitimacy — in its legal and broader senses. Mbatha-Raw (“Larry Crowne”) is mesmerizing, a beautiful, thoughtful performance in a film that has all of the trappings of the best sumptuous costume dramas but has a story with unexpected contemporary meaning.
Dido Elizabeth Belle was the illegitimate daughter of a titled officer in the British navy and a West Indian slave woman. When her mother died, he brought his daughter to live with his uncle, Lord Mansfield, the chief judge of England (Tom Wilkinson), his wife (Emily Watson), and their other niece, Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon). The girls are raised like sisters but there are always distinctions. They eat together as a family if they are alone, but if there are guests, Dido is not permitted to eat with them but can join them in the parlor afterward. After her father’s death, Dido is an heiress with a respectable fortune while Elizabeth, a legitimate heiress, is cut off from her inheritance by her father’s second wife. As Dido and Elizabeth are introduced to society (Elizabeth formally, Dido does not “come out”), the eligible young men rate the women as shrewdly as Jane Austen characters. Does an impoverished young man of good breeding in need of money find Dido’s fortune sufficient to overcome her race and unmarried parents? If he does, will Dido have a choice in evaluating his proposal?
Meanwhile, a case is wending its way toward the judge that is of vital interest to Dido. Slaves being transported were jettisoned from a cargo ship. Are they to be seen as property or as people? Dido gets more information about the case from a fiery but poor young law student, risking his opportunity to study with the judge by communicating with her. As she learns more about her mother’s people and understands more about the kinds of restrictions she and Elizabeth face — some alike, some different, she begins to understand that some of those restrictions are freeing as well. If she cannot travel the usual path for young women in her society, she can learn to forge her own.
Parents should know that this movie includes discussions of legitimacy, mixed-race relationships, and slavery. There are references to the slaughter and mistreatment of slaves.
Family discussion: How many different distinctions did the family and the culture make between Elizabeth and Dido? Between the two women and the men around them?
If you like this, read more about the real story in Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice
Posted on May 8, 2014 at 6:00 pm
“Oh, Toto,” says Dorothy (“Glee’s” Lea Michelle), “This doesn’t look like the Oz I remember.”
Tell it, sister.
Why why why why why take the most beloved family film of all time, based on a cherished book, and make a charmless sequel based, not on the other books by the original author, but on a story by the original author’s stockbroker grandson?
The original The Wizard of Oz
Here is what is not too bad. The voice talent is excellent, with Broadway divas Bernadette Peters (as Glinda) and Megan Hilty (China Princess), a kindly Patrick Stewart (a tree), a dashing Hugh Dancy (Marshal Mallow — he’s a marshmallow, get it?), Martin Short as the wicked Jester, and shambling Oliver Platt as an enormous owl called Wiser (names are not this film’s strong point, either). The opening credits spin out of a 3D tornado that is pretty nifty.
That’s about it. The animation is garish and uninspired. The songs range from forgettable to not awful. The story is dreary. And the dialog is painful. “Emerald City needs all the heart and courage it can get right now!” says the Scarecrow (Dan Aykroyd) to the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammar) and the Lion (Jim Belushi) — Cowardly has been dropped from his name. This is apparently a cue for some excruciating bro-talk like “Can it, rust-bucket!” Can you imagine a line like “I have a large piece of bark lodged in my hindquarters” in the original? TMI, Wiser, way TMI. The attempts at humor are especially tough going. When Dorothy is hauled into court, she has to face the “peanut gallery” of candy peanuts and a jury of her peeps made up of Peeps. When Wiser says he is scared of the dark, the response is, “You’re nocturnal. Get a grip.” Oh, and the flying monkeys are here, and their leader has a pink mohawk.
Emerald City is indeed in trouble and they need Dorothy’s help. In Oz, years have passed, but back in Kansas it is the morning after the tornado and yet taking place in modern times — Auntie Em wears jeans. Dorothy’s house has been destroyed and this movie’s version of Agnes Gulch is an appraiser (Short again) who says he is “government-adjacent” and condemns all the property in the area. Before Dorothy can do something about this, she and Toto are whisked through a rainbow vacuum tube and find themselves back in Oz.
It turns out the Wicked Witches of the East and West had a brother, the Jester. He is capturing people and turning them into marionettes, so he can take over Oz. He has even captured Glinda, using the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West plus a magical orb that intensifies its power.
Dorothy and Toto meet up with Wiser, Marshal Mallow, and China Princess on their journey. They have dreary adventures and finally arrive for the confrontation with the Jester, which is surprisingly violent for a film for children. Weapons include a sort of gatling gun. The China princess appears to shatter. But all is resolved, finally, so that Dorothy can go home and set that appraiser guy to rights.
The best one can hope for from this movie is that it will be a potent deterrent to those who want to try to make more Oz movies, and a powerful reminder to families that they can best go over the rainbow by watching the classic.
Parents should know that this movie has fantasy violence and peril and scenes of post-storm destruction.
Family discussion: What could Dorothy do that the others could not? How did what she learned in Oz help her back home?
If you like this, try: the Judy Garland “Wizard of Oz” and the books by L. Frank Baum (great for family reading aloud)
Posted on May 8, 2014 at 6:00 pm
I admit it. My always-thin ability to finds humor in movies about irresponsible jerks who won’t grow up has long since evaporated, and if I ever found irresponsibility entertaining, I can no longer remember why. Though I suspect this development has something to do with an overdose of the Apatow atelier, including Seth Rogen and writer/director Nicholas Stoller (The Five-Year Engagement). I keep remembering Mae West’s answer when she was asked what advice she had for the youth of America.
“Grow up.”
“Neighbors,” which Rogen has described as a loose sequel to arrested development comedy “Knocked Up,” is the story of Mac (Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne), a couple with a new baby who are not ready to cross the line into being grown-ups. They love each other and they love the baby, but cannot quite relinquish the notion of themselves as primal in the world of what is cool and happening. When a friend calls to invite them out to a club, they decide the thing to do is pack up all the baby gear and bring him along. “Baby’s first rave!” they exclaim. Then, because being a parent is so exhausting, they fall asleep. Funny!
Not.
Just to hammer the final nail in the “you’re old and boring now” coffin, who should move in next door but a fraternity, led by Teddy (Zac Efron), who, Mac admits with admiration as well as envy, is so handsome and buff that he looks like he was designed by gay men in a laboratory. Mac and Kelly convene on how to best introduce themselves to their new neighbors in a manner that shows that they are totally cool and yet conveys that it would be super-nice if the guys could just keep the noise down as there is a baby next door. A few rehearsals to make sure they have the coolness down (not too much of self-deprecatory head shake), and they go over, immediately showing themselves to be idiots by joining in the frat’s housewarming party and getting very, very high.
Mac promises Teddy that if they have any problems they will go straight to him and not call the police. Then, after his baby picks up a condom from their lawn, he calls the police, anonymously, he thinks, until the cop reminds him that they have caller ID. Teddy, feeling betrayed, declares all-out war. Mac and Kelly, unwisely, decide to escalate.
There are some funny moments, especially a Robert DeNiro-themed frat party. But they get lost in a tidal wave of stupid humor like an extended sequence with the frat members raising money by selling dildoes modeled on their own…members. Did you think you could avoid a joke about getting stuck in the mold? Sorry. Really sorry.
Rogen does the same thing he does in every other movie. Byrne is, as always, beautiful, on target, and delightfully game for whatever. It’s nice to see a female character in one of these boys’ club movies who is not relegated to telling everyone to grow up. Efron and Dave Franco as his sidekick deserve better. So do we.
Parents should know that this movie is exceptionally raunchy, with very explicit sexual references and situations and nudity and many crude jokes. Characters use very strong language, drink, and use drugs and there is comic violence.
Family discussion: Why did Mac and Kelly want the frat to think they were cool? Why didn’t Pete tell Teddy the truth? What will Teddy do next?
If you like this, try: “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up”
