Jews Telling Jokes and Stories: Doc Club

Posted on December 6, 2013 at 3:55 pm

“Jews Telling Jokes & Stories” on Doc Club in December

The Jewish legacy of storytelling and humor enlivens December Doc Club’s diverse selection of films on IFC’s SundanceNOW, a virtual destination for streaming independent films online. From classic Jewish comedy to a look into Jewish worlds rarely seen by the public, no topic in the history of Jews and Judaism is off limits in this comprehensive selection of films.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVgxRD4s9BU

Films included in “Jews Telling Jokes & Stories” are:

A TICKLE IN THE HEART follows the kings of klezmer music on a tour as joyous as their music.
DEFAMATION takes a witty and irreverent approach to examining anti-Semitism.
ARGUING THE WORLD traces four New York intellectuals who came of age in the 1930s and took different paths of thought.
FOUR SEASONS LODGE looks at an aging group of Holocaust survivors driven by an unquenchable passion for living.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lzDl5BAhKQ

A LIFE APART takes us inside the closed world of Hasidism.
JEWS AND BASEBALL interviews players and fans in a film that’s about more than just sports.

Finally, the two-part WOODY ALLEN documentary delves into the life and career of the iconic comedian and filmmaker.

Related Tags:

Neglected gem Spiritual films

Out of the Furnace

Posted on December 5, 2013 at 6:00 pm

“Out of the Furnace” gets no credit for its good intentions because it collapses under the combined weight of pretentiousness and condescension. This is Hollywood’s idea of a searing drama about life in recession-era heartland, as phony as a painted backdrop. It is clearly intended to be a sympathetic portrait of two brothers betrayed by America. Russell (Christian Bale) lost his job when the steel mill closed down. His brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) went into the military and came home shattered by what he saw in four tours in Iraq. With no alternatives, their problems get worse. Rodney makes money in bare-knuckle fights, but keeps getting into trouble because he cannot bring himself to take a dive when told to do so by the fight promoter, Petty (Willem Dafoe). As their situations become more desperate, Rodney insists that Petty introduce him to meth dealer DeGroat (Woody Harrelson), so that he can make more money.

Co-writer/director Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”) tries to convey a sense of relentless pressure, crumbling infrastructure, and ever-constricting choices that force Russell and Rodney into making decisions with catastrophic consequences. But the film could easily be used to make the opposite points. Over and over, the brothers are told not to do something — like get involved with a murderous meth dealer — and they do it anyway. Russell is losing his job because the economy is bad. But he loses the girl he loves (Zoe Saldana) because he goes to prison. He goes to prison because he goes to a bar, gets drunk, drives, and causes an accident that kills two people. He has a lot of strong feelings and sense of loyalty for his brother and he is very upset about the death of his parents and his girlfriend leaving him for another man. When it comes to the innocent people he killed, he does not seem to have a sense of responsibility. We are supposed to be on his side because he is a decent guy who loves his brother, cares for his dying father, and misses his girlfriend, who married the decent local cop while Russell was in prison. But it is hard to be sympathetic when he — and the film — make no distinction between the limits imposed on him and the bad choices he made. Indeed, the movie ultimately becomes condescending, even contemptuous, in ignoring one of the core principles of narrative, which is respecting just that distinction. We are supposed to be on Rodney’s side because something in him, some core integrity, will not allow him to lose a fight he knows he can win. The metaphor is off-base and heavy-handed.

These are all great actors, and they all work hard to give good performances, but that in itself finally seems distancing. If they understood the essential humanity of the people dealing with these circumstances, the veterans struggling with PTSD, the factory workers whose jobs are gone, they would not distance themselves with such obvious artifice. Harrelson’s over-the-top sociopath seems to be from another movie entirely. Only Dafoe and Forest Whitaker as the sympathetic policeman create characters with any sense of authenticity, with Zoe Saldana relegated to a sad girlfriend role, doubly dreary because it is so tiresomely predictable. The real Russells and Rodneys deserve better, and so does the audience.

Parents should know that this film has very strong and disturbing violence with graphic images, fatal drunk driving accident, murder, brutal fight scenes, guns, description of wartime violence, constant very strong language, substance abuse, and non-explicit sexual situations.

Family discussion: What does the title refer to? Why do the characters constantly ignore advice that will keep them out of trouble? What does this movie want to say about our economy and political system?

If you like this, try: “Killing Them Softly” and “October Country”

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Carrie Underwood’s Live Sound of Music — Dec 5

Posted on December 2, 2013 at 8:00 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaNEZkv87FI

Carrie Underwood stars as Maria von Trapp in NBC’s live broadcast of “The Sound of Music” on December 5. Stephen Moyer of “True Blood” plays the Captain, “Smash’s” Christian Borle plays Max, and, thrillingly, Tony winner Audra McDonald plays the Mother Abbess. This is a good time for families to try out the old-fashioned concept of watching everything together in the same room at the same time while it is actually being broadcast. Enjoy!

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Musical Television

Contest: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas

Posted on December 1, 2013 at 3:59 pm

Veggie Tales: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas is the latest holiday treat from Bob and Larry and the gang, and it is one of their best. “Merry Larry” is an enthusiastic employee of the Spring Valley Mall who serves as “Head Elf” during the Christmas season. Each day he hears countless children’s requests for what they’d like under their Christmas trees. But one little girl’s request catches his attention. Christina just wants to help her friend, Mrs. Crespie, who lost her house in a fire, get a new house for Christmas. Merry Larry sets off on a caper to create the biggest light show EVER to bring attention to Mrs. Crespie’s situation. Meanwhile, the mall manager, Philip Fleagle (Bob the Tomato) finds he has NO lights and no head elf for the mall’s spectacular Christmas display, right on the day the owner of the mall is supposed to visit! Will Philip realize what the “true light of Christmas” is really all about and help Merry Larry rally the community to get Mrs. Crespie in a home by Christmas?

I have a copy to give away! Send me an email with Larry in the subject line and tell me your favorite silly song. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only) I’ll pick a winner at random on December 6. Good luck!

Interview: Bruce Boxleitner of “Silver Bells”

Posted on November 30, 2013 at 8:00 am

Bruce Boxleitner stars in Silver Bells, premiering on UP TV tomorrow, Sunday, December 1st at 7pm, 9pm and 11pm ET. It is the story of a Type A, very competitive dad who wants everything his family does to be the best, including Christmas. He talked to me about his own family’s Christmas celebrations and making the movie in a small and very cold town in Michigan.

Are you at all like your character? Are you kind of a pushy guy when it comes to holiday celebrations?

I was more so in the past when my kids were younger. I always felt the enthusiasm to make the most out of Christmas for my kids and decorating and all that comes with that. You want to keep that alive with them as long as possible. They’re all grown up young men now so they realize there’s something fishy about Santa Claus, but we would all love children all their lives to believe in Santa Claus.

What kind of holiday celebrations did you have growing up?

Well, my mom was very just sort of classic, with the anticipation when you set up the tree the week before and then you wait for that much anticipated evening. We had Christmas carols playing all the time on the little hi-fi. That’s how old I am, all the Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, all those kinds of classics. And of course there was baking going on. I have my mother and three sisters so they always have their Christmas cookies and pies and stuff. And then on Christmas day, when you’re up before the sun and got everybody up, you just couldn’t wait. I don’t think that ever changes whatever generation. We had opening of presents and celebration all day and then we went up in my grandmother’s farm for a big Christmas dinner with everybody.

Are there any special holiday movies that you try to watch every year?

I love Christmas movies. That’s why what attracted me to “Silver Bells,” the way it had a similar theme to “It’s A Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart. I think that’s everybody’s favorite. It’s always been my favorite. I’m still at tears at the end. They’re not the same, but this one also has redemption in the end, redeeming himself in the eyes of his son, and his wife, and daughter, and ultimately his community after he humiliated himself. And the Anthony Vargas character was sort of his angel.

Also I love “A Christmas Story.” I had that rifle Every kid in the 1960s did. “Be careful. You’ll put your eye out!”

Tell me about making this film, working with the other actors.

You instantly form these relationships. Long winter days after in Manatee, Michigan, that’s the town, and was perfect. It looks like it’s right from the 30’s or 40’s. I blessed with actors who had a lot of chemistry and were all professional and know what’s required. I have grown sons, my boys so it wasn’t hard to play the father of a teenage boy. It wasn’t hard to look at Kenton as my own son. I think you just sit around and in between sets and stuff and we all have the same cold. And this was a low budget film so there weren’t a lot of frills involved. We all huddled together under the service tent in the cold in our parkas. So when you have those kind of adversities, when there’s something like that, where none of us were from there, we all had that bonding right there.

I love working with everybody and the kids are my family but I especially got along with Antonio Fargas. We just got on because we like old rock music, blues music, and Dylan, and Elvis, and all those things so that bonding was right away. He and I would sing, try to stump each other and sing songs on the way to location. And we all would go to the hotel at night and have dinner. Yeah, we did. Those are the things that we do that bonds us together to see that chemistry in the film.

When families watch this movie together, what do you want them to talk about afterwards?

How you’ve got to take the time to enjoy the people in your family, that precious, precious time before everybody split up and go to their way in life. And I think that my character appreciated that he didn’t get the credit, someone else did, and the satisfaction that comes with that.

Related Tags:

Actors Family Issues Holidays Interview