Contest: Alice in Wonderland

Posted on January 23, 2011 at 3:47 pm

I am overjoyed to have two copies of one of my very favorite Disney classics to give away. This is the Blu-Ray/DVD 60th anniversary edition of “Alice in Wonderland.” I have loved this film since we watched it at my own 6th birthday party. Of all the many versions of the book by Lewis Carroll, this is my favorite. Alice took Walt Disney full circle, as he began his career with films that featured a real-life girl playing Alice in an animated wonderland.
In addition to the movie with its memorable score (“A Very Merry Un-Birthday,” and “I Give Myself Very Good Advice”), the package includes some behind the scenes footage hosted by Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice for Alice (and for Wendy in “Peter Pan”), and some deleted scenes — featuring a newly discovered Cheshire Cat song called “I’m Odd” and the “Pig and Pepper” episode. There’s also a Mickey Mouse through the looking glass cartoon, for the first time in Hi-Def.

Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Alice” in the title and tell me your favorite Alice character. On Feb 4, I will randomly select two lucky winners.

My policy on conflicts and accepting prizes from film-makers.

Johnny Belinda

Posted on January 4, 2011 at 3:59 pm

Celebrate the birthday of Jane Wyman with her Oscar-winning performance in the classic Johnny Belinda.

Belinda (Jane Wyman) lives with her father and aunt on a farm on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Her father, Black McDonald, is hard and angry. He resents Belinda because her mother died when she was born, and he treats her like an animal because she is deaf and mute. People in the town refer to her as “the dummy.” Dr. Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres) teaches Belinda to communicate through sign language, and for the first time, her sweet and loving personality emerges. She is raped by Locky McCormick, a drunken brute, and becomes pregnant. The baby is named Johnny Belinda.
Everyone assumes that Robert is the father, and he must leave the comÂ¬munity. Belinda’s father finds out Locky was responsible and confronts him. Locky kills Black, making it look like an accident. When Locky’s wife cannot have children, he wants Belinda’s baby, knowing it is the only child he will ever have. The people in the town believe that Belinda cannot take care of the baby and decide to take it away from her.

Locky goes to Belinda’s house and tries to take the baby, but she thinks he means to harm him. Trying to protect herself and the baby, she kills Locky. She is charged with murder. It looks as though she will be convicted, until Locky’s widow comes forward and tells the truth. The community understands that even though Belinda cannot speak, she is loving, devoted, brave, and intelligent. Robert returns to be with Belinda and her child.

Jane Wyman spoke of trying to achieve an “anticipation light” when she was preparing for this role, the look of interest and attention she saw in deaf people who were trying to understand what hearing people were trying to communicate.

This movie does a good job of showing that learning a little bit can make a person hungry to learn more, and that having even one person believe in someone can make that person feel capable of achieving anything. The key themes of this movie, recognizing the humanity in those who are different and the impact that having that humanity recognized has on people and everyone around them, are well worth discussing.

Some kids may want to know more about rape as well, and this provides an opportunity to discuss it as a crime of power and aggression rather than of sex. Young girls often misunderstand and worry about somehow sending a signal that invites rape. It is important to make sure they understand , as shown in this movie, rapists are not accepting an invitation and , on the contrary, it is the idea of overpowering someone who does not want to consent to sex that is exciting to them.

Parents should know that this movie includes a rape scene that is not explicit, but still disturbing, as well as a violent confrontation that proves fatal.

Family discussion: Why is Belinda’s father so hard on her? How much do you think Belinda understands before she learns sign language? How can you tell? What makes her decide to be more aware of her appearance? Why does Aggie change in the way she treats Belinda? What does she mean when she says their family may fight with each other, but they support each other when any one of them needs it? How is this movie similar to The Miracle Worker? How is it different? See if the kids can recognize this “anticipation light” look and even try to create it themselves. They also may want to wear earplugs, as Wyman did, to help adjust her reactions to those of someone who does not respond to auditory cues and signals.

Twelve More Great Christmas Movies Without Santa, Tiny Tim, or A Message from Ovaltine

Posted on December 19, 2010 at 3:58 pm

I love the classics, but if you’ve seen them all and want to try something new, take a look at these holiday gems:

Desk Set Before smart phones and Google, there were people like the character played by Katherine Hepburn in this romantic comedy, her first color film with her favorite on- and off-screen co-star, Spencer Tracy. She is old school as a researcher for a television network who relies on her reference books and prodigious memory to answer all questions. He’s the tech guy who is installing a computer (the size of a small house). Sparks of all kinds result. (Ages 10-Adult)

Die Hard One of the greatest action films of all time has Bruce Willis as a cop visiting his estranged wife at her office on Christmas eve, just as a group of super-genius bad guys (led by the magnificently malevolent Alan Rickman) take over the building. (Very strong language and explicit and graphic violence — Ages 15-Adult)

It Happened on 5th Avenue A homeless man moves into a mansion while the owner is away for the holidays and soon finds himself hosting some WWII vets and their families. The owner’s daughter comes home and finds herself pretending to be another squatter. (Ages 8-Adult)

An Affair To Remember Get out your handkerchiefs. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr play a couple who meet on a ship as they are returning home to get married to wealthy, upper-class types who can support them in the manner to which they would like to be accustomed. When they fall deeply in love, they realize they must earn their right to be together. And when tragedy strikes, it will take all the magic of Christmas to bring them a happy ending. (10-Adult) Note: the original version, “Love Affair,” with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne, is also a wonderful film, but skip the third version with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.

The Shop Around the Corner Before You’ve Got Mail and the musical version In the Good Old Summertime was this charming black-and-white romance with Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart as warring co-workers in a department store who do not realize that they are in love with each other via a secret pen pal letter exchange. There is also a stage musical version called In the Good Old Summertime. (10-Adult)

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Jim Carrey live action version is all right, but this animated film from Chuck Jones is the real Grinch movie, with the deliciously sinister voice of Boris Karloff. (All ages)

“Period of Adjustment” The only way to see this one is in its annual broadcast on Turner Classic Movies as it is not available on DVD. So set your TIVO for this story of newlyweds (Jane Fonda and Jim Hutton) who have something to learn about communication. He brings her to visit his old war buddy who is having some marital problems of his own. This is the only comedy from legendary playwright Tennessee Williams and it is a heart-warming gem.

The Gathering Ed Asner plays a tough, type-A businessman who neglected his family to pursue his career. He asks his estranged wife (the superb Maureen Stapleton) to bring together his grown children and their families for Christmas, and we and they later discover why it is so important to him to make peace with them at last.

Joyeux Noel On Christmas eve 1914, as officers prepared their troops for battle, the soldiers on opposing sides reached out to each other for a spontaneous celebration of Christmas, exchanging chocolates and playing soccer. The famous “Christmas truce” becomes an affecting and inspiring movie. For a similar story, see A Midnight Clear, based on the autobiographical novel by William Wharton.

Little Women “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” begins one of the most beloved of American novels, the autobiographical story of four sisters from Louisa May Alcott. All three filmed versions are fine, but I especially love this one, with Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale, and Gabriel Byrne.

This Christmas A superb cast including Delroy Lindo, Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, Columbus Short, and Regina King, and Chris Brown nicely captures the rhythm and volatility of adult sibling interactions, a mash-up of in-jokes, old and new and often-shifting alliances, the need for acceptance and approval, and affectionate teasing that sometimes flares up to reveal or aggravate old wounds. Director Preston A. Whitmore has a sure hand in balancing half a dozen different storylines and multiple switches of tone from light-hearted romance to lacerating confrontations and gritty drama. The plots may be predicable but the individual cast members are all superb and completely believable as family, the whole greater than the sum of the parts. And Chris Brown sings “Try a Little Tenderness” and the title song.

Twelve Great Christmas Movies That Don’t Feature Clarence the Angel, Bing Crosby, Tiny Tim, or a Leg Lamp

Posted on December 3, 2010 at 3:59 pm

Reprising from 2007:

I love It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, and A Christmas Story as much as anyone. I love the bittersweet struggles of George Bailey and never get tired of seeing him try to resist falling in love with Mary when they’re on that phone call to Sam “Hee Haw!” Wainwright. I love the way Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as Wallace and Davis preserve the old general’s pride when they help him keep the resort going. And I love the way that Ralphie and his family find that Christmas is not about neatly wrapped gifts and perfectly harmonized carols or even a turkey dinner. That last scene, when they all laugh, knowing that this will be one of their best Christmas memories ever, is one of my favorite moments in any film I’ve ever seen. I’ve already written about how much I love every version of A Christmas Carol.

So, let’s assume you’ve seen all those already this year and are looking for something else. Here’s a list with one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. And I’d love to hear about your favorites, too.

(From #6, Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Plus Halloween & Easter Celebrations)

Magnificent Obsession

Posted on November 15, 2010 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	NR
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, references to drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Off-screen accidents
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	1954
Date Released to DVD:	2009
Amazon.com ASIN:	B001ILTUL0

Celebrate Rock Hudson’s birthday this week with the movie that really made him a star, a remake of a Robert Taylor movie based on a popular book by Lloyd C. Douglas, who often included religious themes in his stories. (Both movies are included in the Criterion edition.)

Hudson plays a careless playboy whose boating accident deprives a beloved doctor of lifesaving equipment. The doctor dies. His widow (Jane Wyman) discovers that he had been quietly helping dozens of people, requiring only two things: that they never tell anyone and that they never pay him back. He asked them to pass the aid along to others instead. That was his “magnificent obsession.”

No one was better with melodrama than Douglas Sirk. In his first American film, he amped up the luscious technicolor but it was still not as purple as the emotions, especially after the playboy has another catastrophic encounter with the widow before finally finding a magnificent obsession of his own.