Posted on June 6, 2011 at 8:00 am
B+| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | PG |
| Profanity: | Mild language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Characters in peril, injured and killed, some graphic and disturbing images |
| Diversity Issues: | Reflects the racial and cultural prejudices of the era |
| Date Released to Theaters: | 1975 |
| Date Released to DVD: | June 6, 2011 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B0045HCIZE |
Director John Houston’s “The Man Who Would Be King
Posted on June 2, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Malick has only made five films in nearly 40 years. Each of them has had a meditative quality, a haunting voiceover, exquisite images, and themes centering on the loss of Eden. “The Tree of Life” begins with a quote from the Book of Job, but even though very sad events befall the O’Brien family this is not the story of good people whose faith is tested by a series of unbearable losses. It is an exploration of how we fit into the grandest possible scheme of things, how the patterns repeat in the division of cells to make complex systems, the development of mechanical formulas so singular that they merit a patent, the awakening of the first adult thoughts in a child, innocence and loss, harsh reality and ethereal imagination. 
Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien are so archetypal they do not even have first names. They are just Father (never Dad) (Pitt) and Mother (pre-Raphaelite beauty Jessica Chastain). Pitt sheds his movie-star charisma for his Missouri roots, showing us a mid-century man from Middle America, every line of him as straight as the slide rule that like O’Brien himself is about to be out of date. He loves his three boys fiercely and fights down his own tenderness to teach them the lessons he thinks they must have to survive. He is all that is hard and logical and precise and mechanical. Mrs. O’Brien is gentle, almost silent, so in tune with nature she seems to float through it.
The movie’s near-miracle is the way it evokes the muddy, let’s-break-something boy world. Sending a frog up in a rocket, racing behind a truck spewing clouds of DDT, shoving against each other like puppies, holding in wonder a neighbor’s neglige, the heartless, heedless, long, long thoughts of a boy’s life are beautifully portrayed.
It is easy to understand why this film was both booed at Cannes and given its highest honor. I admired the film’s audacity but winced at its pretentiousness. There are some moments of stunning beauty and power. But other parts seemed overdone and empty.
(If you want to know what I think the ending means, send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com — and tell me what you think it means!)
Parents should know that this film includes an offscreen death of a child with devastating parental grief, children’s play results in death of an animal, a father is strict with children and his wife to the point of brutality, some dinosaur violence, some disturbing existential themes.
Family discussion: What is this movie about? How do the creation scenes relate to the story of the family? Why is there so little dialog? What is happening in the end on the beach?
If you like this, try: the short film “Powers of Ten” and the other films by Terrence Malick including “Days of Heaven” and “Badlands”
Posted on May 13, 2011 at 8:03 am
B+| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Profanity: | None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Social drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Off-screen |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Date Released to DVD: | May 3, 2011 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B002N5N4DA |
“Drop Dead Diva’s” second season is out and it is even more fun than the first. The delightful Brooke Elliot plays a beautiful slender model whose spirit takes over the body of Jane, an overweight but very successful lawyer. Only her best friend (April Bowlby) and guardian angel (Ben Feldman) know who she really is. Every episode features clients with legal problems and Jane’s progress in getting used to her new life while trying to connect to the fiance from her old one. The second season features the “Devil Wears Prada”-with-a-twist story featuring one of my favorite young actors, Laura Breckenridge. Here are some glimpses of the show:
I have one copy of the DVD to give away. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with your name and address. Put “Diva” in the subject line and tell me which episode is your favorite. I’ll pick a random winner a week from today. Good luck!
Posted on May 7, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Director Bruce Beresford, best known for “Driving Miss Daisy,” returns to the themes of cross-cultural connections in this film based on the memoir of Chinese ballet star Li Cunxin.
Li (Chinese surnames appear first) was taken from his poor, rural family at age 11 to study ballet. Madame Mao had declared the arts to be a priority and officials were sent to the furthest reaches of the country to find children who could be trained. Li succeeds more through determination than passion or natural ability, and despite Madame Mao’s insistence on ballet performances based more on political messages than on art. His family (with the radiant Joan Chen as his mother) is very proud of his contribution to China.In 1979, in the early, fragile days of US-China diplomatic relations, Li is sent to spend some time as a guest trainee with the Houston ballet, led by Ben Stevenson (the always-superb Bruce Greenwood).
His English is poor. His understanding of anything other than what he has been told by the Chinese authorities is non-existent. The Americans’ ability to understand him is not much better. But there is the common language of dance. And there Li is so dazzling he is quickly given an opportunity to perform in a key role on stage. The audience loves him.Li does not want to go home. He becomes romantically involved with a tender-hearted young dancer. He appreciates the opportunity to perform without regard to the political content of the ballet. He consults a lawyer (a crafty Kyle MacLachlan). He takes a very big risk for himself and also for those who have befriended him.The film feels episodic and oddly understated and remote. That may be in part because the key role of Li is divided between three actors, Wen Bin Huang as a child, Chengwu Guo as a teenager, and Chi Cao as an adult. Or, it may be because Li the character is reserved by nature and training and something of a cipher. But like its title character, the movie comes alive in the ballet performances, which are well-staged and convey not only the creative energy of their own story-telling but the ultimate expression of the performers’ passion for their art.
(more…)
Posted on May 4, 2011 at 6:00 pm
B| Lowest Recommended Age: | High School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for some sexual content |
| Profanity: | Some mild language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Tense family confrontations, slap |
| Diversity Issues: | Race and class issues |
| Date Released to Theaters: | May 6, 2011 |
| Date Released to DVD: | August 8, 2011 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B003Y5H58S |
Sabrina (Paula Patton) is from a wealthy, upper-class family with a mansion on Martha’s Vineyard. Jason (Laz Alonso) is from a blue-collar family in Brooklyn. They fall in love, he proposes, and there’s just one obstacle to their happily ever after ending — bringing those two families together for the wedding. When Shakespeare said that the course of true love never did run smooth, it might very well have been the culture clash that accompanies any joining of two families he was thinking of.
We meet Sabrina as she realizes she is about to take the walk of shame. It is the morning after what she thought of as a promising relationship but he thought of as a one-night stand. She decides to make a major change. If God will send her a true love, she will honor herself and that relationship by not having sex until they are married. And then she literally runs into Jason. They have to make a decision about their future together very quickly when she is transferred to China. He proposes, she accepts, and their perfect little bubble of love is intruded on by just about everyone. It’s hard to say which is worse, the family members who are trying to hide their feelings or the ones who are over-sharing.
Sabrina’s parents (Angela Bassett and Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell) are barely speaking to each other. She thinks he is having an affair and is hurt and angry. Jason’s mother (Loretta Devine) feels neglected and intimidated. As often happens at weddings, the happy couple reflects the strains of their family conflicts and has some of their own, as the “ever after” part of the deal sparks some panic. And, as often happens at weddings, a lot of the attendees are looking for love or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
Patton and Alonso are in every way the heart of the film. Patton is as effervescent and refreshing as a chilled glass of champagne and Alonso is endearingly open-hearted and gallant. While the script requires them to behave so inconsistently and immaturely at times that even by wedding craziness standards it is hard to reconcile, they are performers of such immeasurable grace and charm that we keep rooting for them. The script also throws a seasons worth of soapy complications their way, but director Salim Akil is skillful in balancing the drama and melodrama along with some romance and comedy as well. The situations and dialogue may be overdone but the characters always feel real, their poor behavior coming believably from fear and pain and not just the need for another confrontation. He stays well on the safe side of caricature but is not afraid to weigh into tough questions of race, class, faith, money, and identity — and to allow every side some dignity and grace.
