Posted on April 29, 2008 at 2:09 pm
B+
Two recent films showed the influence of this classic French film about a little boy befriended by a red balloon and now the original is available on DVD for the first time. “CJ7” from China and “The Flight of the Red Balloon” from France (with a Taiwanese director) both make direct visual references to the 1956 short film, the only Oscar-winner for best screenplay without a single line of dialogue.
The Red Balloon
Posted on April 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
A+| Lowest Recommended Age: | 4th - 6th Grades |
| MPAA Rating: | NR |
| Profanity: | None |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drinking |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Some violence, characters injured |
| Diversity Issues: | A theme of the movie |
| Date Released to Theaters: | May 23, 1962 |
Today is the 142nd anniversary of the birth of one of the most extraordinary teachers in American history, Annie Sullivan, who gave a little blind and deaf girl the power of language. William Gibson, who wrote two plays about the teacher and her student, says that when people refer to “The Miracle Worker” as “the play about Helen Keller,” he replies, “If it was about her, it would be called ‘The Miracle Workee.'” Sullivan, herself visually impaired, was first in her class at the Perkins School for the Blind. When she went to work for the Keller family she was just 21 years old. And Keller, who was blind and deaf due to an illness when she was 19 months old. When Sullivan arrived, Keller was almost completely wild, without any ability to communicate or any understanding that communication beyond grabbing and hitting was possible.
Every family should watch the extraordinary film about what happened next, and read more about Keller, who, with Sullivan’s help, graduated from Radcliffe magna cum laude and became an author and a world figure.
Ann Bancroft and Patty Duke won Oscars for their performances as Sullivan and Keller, repeating their Broadway roles and Duke later played Sullivan in a made-for-television adaptation. In this scene, after months of teaching Keller to fingerspell words, Sullivan is finally able to show her that language will give her the ability to communicate, with a new world of relationships, feelings, and learning. No teacher ever bestowed a greater gift.
Monday After the Miracle
Posted on April 7, 2008 at 8:00 am
B+Joseph Campbell believed there was “one great story of mankind” and he spent his life collecting the great myths and parables of world cultures and religions and showing us the connections between them. His work has influenced everyone from Hollywood screenwriters (George Lucas cites him as the inspiration for the “Star Wars” movies) to abstract expressionist artists, diplomats and politicians, and, through his appearances on PBS, millions of people around the world. The Mythos series, the culmination of his work on the way that myths reveal and guide us, is inspiring and illuminating.
Joseph Campbell: Mythos I
Joseph Campbell: Mythos II
Posted on March 31, 2008 at 8:00 am
A+| Lowest Recommended Age: | Preschool |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG for some language and kids chewing tobacco. |
| Profanity: | Mild language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Chewing tobacco |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Mild peril, no one hurt |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Date Released to Theaters: | January 1, 1970 |
Happy Baseball Season! I am not sure why baseball has inspired more great movies than any other sport. There are wonderful choices for every age and interest, from musical (Damn Yankees
This week, I’m recommending a great baseball film for families: “The Sandlot.” In the 1960s, a boy whose mother has just remarried moves to a new town and begins to make friends when he joins in a sandlot baseball game. The boy’s challenges include developing some baseball skills, trying to achieve a comfortable relationship with his new stepfather (Denis Leary), and finding a way to triumph over “The Beast” (a junkyard dog) and the bigger, tougher kids who challenge his friends to a game. All are well handled in this exceptionally perceptive story of growing up. NOTE: Some gross-out moments (which most kids will enjoy). And one of the boys pretends to be drowning to get a kiss from a beautiful lifeguard. Play ball!
Posted on March 23, 2008 at 8:00 am
B+Trevor Romain knows how to talk to kids about the problems they think no one understands. His DVDs are a great way to begin conversations at home, in school, in Scout troops, religious groups, or in other community gatherings. They are just right for that stage in life when children first begin to want to look beyond their parents for answers to questions that trouble them and they speak to kids in a frank but matter-of-fact tone that is very reassuring. Most important, they provide very concrete, practical suggestions for coping with some of the most complex troubles of childhood and early adolescence, from homework to bullies to divorce and loss.
