10 Great Movie Moms

Posted on May 10, 2009 at 8:00 am

Re-posting from 2008–Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and children! Here are 10 great movie mothers every family should enjoy. Many were based on real-life mothers, with stories and screenplays in some cases written by their grateful families. And don’t forget my all-time favorite, Mrs. Brown in National Velvet.

1. There are three lovely movie versions of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, inspired by her own family, and they have three lovely performances as one of literature’s greatest mothers, the wise and patient Marmee. Spring Byington (also one of cinema’s best movie mothers in the delightful best picture Oscar-winner You Can’t Take It With You) appears with Katharine Hepburn in the 1933 version, Mary Astor (also one of cinema’s best movie mothers in Meet Me In St. Louis) appears with June Allyson in the 1949 version, and Susan Sarandon is Marmee to Winona Ryder’s Jo in the 1994 version. (Don’t forget to read the book, too!)

2. Sounder Cecily Tyson plays a mother who keeps her sharecropper family going after her husband is sent to jail in this beautifully filmed and tender story.

3. Mask Based on a true story, Cher plays Rusty Dennis, the mother of a teenager with a facial bone deformity. Many classic movie mothers spend a lot of time wearing aprons while they make soothing and supportive comments, but Rusty is a biker chick who likes to party and makes some questionable choices about her own life. She may not bake cookies for her son, and at times it seems like he is the parent in the relationship, but she is a fierce advocate and defender who makes sure that her son gets the most out of every moment.

4. I Remember Mama Kathryn Forbes’ classic book about her Norwegian immigrant family was successfully adapted as a play, a movie, and a television show. The movie stars Irene Dunne, very warm and loving and homespun, far from her usual glamorous roles opposite Cary Grant and other leading men. As Mama, with an apron around her waist and a braid circling her head, she raises her children with love, patience, good humor, and a reassuring “bank account.”

5. Places in the Heart Another tribute to a real-life mother and an Oscar-winning role for Sally Field as a Depression-era widow whose indomitable and inspiring spirit instills resolve in her family and friends.

6. Sarah Plain & Tall Some of the best mothers come to us after the women who gave us birth are gone. Glenn Close is perfectly cast in this made-for-television adaptation of the beloved book about a woman who answers an ad from an 18th century homesteader who needs a new wife to care for his children. Followed by two sequels.

7. Cheaper By the Dozen One of America’s most remarkable real-life mothers is brought to life by Myrna Loy as Lillian Gilbreath, a pioneering engineer in the early 20th century who raised a dozen children. Be sure to see the sequel and read the books, too. (Not to be confused with the silly remakes that have nothing to do with the real story or the original movie versions.)

8. Dumbo There is no more devoted mother than Mrs. Jumbo, whose love for her big-eared elephant baby demonstrates that parental love is not just for humans.

9. What’s Cooking? is the story of four different families at Thanksgiving in this film from “Bend it Like Beckham’s” Gurinder Chadha. There are several great mothers in the movie but the one on this list is the fabulous Mercedes Ruehl as Lizzy Avila who knows that part of caring for your family is respecting and caring for yourself.

10. Terms of Endearment The mother I want to point out in this film is not the impossible (but irresistible) Aurora, played by Shirley Maclaine, but her daughter Emma, played by Debra Winger. Emma makes mistakes. She has a tendency to be headstrong (inherited from Aurora) and careless. But she is utterly devoted to her children. She says goodbye to her sons, with hastily applied make-up so that they will not see how sick she really is, and she gets right to the essentials, understanding what they most need to hear and what they will most need to remember.

Trekkies/Galaxy Quest

Posted on May 7, 2009 at 8:00 am

It was a failed television series 40 years ago, but it has become something between an industry and a cult. The original “Star Trek” show lasted for four seasons but only became a hit after it was canceled and went into syndication. The first convention for fans was in 1972. Many movies and series later, it is a part of our culture and this week’s new “origins” movie is featured on the covers of Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly.

It’s a good time to watch two affectionate tributes to “Star Trek.” Trekkies and its sequel, Trekkies 2 are documentaries about the passionate fans, from the woman who was excused from jury duty because she insisted on wearing her “Star Trek” uniform to the woman who has thousands of photos of Brent Spiner to the young man who has very firm ideas about the epaulets on his uniform to the dentist whose office and staff attire are based on the show. And many, many Klingons.

And Galaxy Quest is a hilarious tribute and spoof starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman as actors who once appeared on a “Star Trek”-like series and now spend their days living off their former fame and their loyal fans. They discover that those fans include some aliens who believe the shows they saw were historical documents and who have created a real-life spaceship that replicates the one on the show. It is one of the funniest movies of the last ten years.

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For Your Netflix Queue

Last Chance Harvey

Posted on May 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

It’s wonderful to watch young people falling in love for the first time. That’s why we get to see it so often in the movies. But it is even more wonderful to see people falling in love for the last time, and that is one of the three great pleasures of this touching grown-up love story.

It’s always romantic to see first love because we can share with them — just for a moment — the belief that happily ever after means that there will never be an argument or disappointment or loss. But it is even more romantic to see older people fall in love because they know there will be all of that and they go ahead anyway. That is the story of “Last Chance Harvey,” a man who has lost his job and whose daughter asks her step-father to give her away at her wedding because she feels closer to him. Which is what gives him a chance to think about what he really wants for the rest of his life — and then he sees Kate.

Not much more happens. They walk around. They dance at the daughter’s wedding reception. They think about whether they really want to take the risk of sharing themselves knowing in a way that young people cannot what it really means. And yet in those moments, everything happens, and we know it and they know it.

The other two pleasures of the film are Dustin Hoffman as Harvey and Emma Thompson as Kate. These two actors, so perfectly at home with themselves, fearlessly give us two people who are complicated, difficult, and very, very protective of their bruised hearts. And then they let us see them bloom, not all at once, more of a two steps forward, one step back opening up of their hearts to each other. And that leaves our hearts just a little more open, too.

Star Trek: The Enterprise Captains Interview

Posted on April 28, 2009 at 8:54 am

In an exclusive interview for the new Star Trek 1-6 movie box set, Whoopi Goldberg interviews the captains of the USS Enterprise, to boldly go where no interview has gone before.

Hotel for Dogs

Posted on April 28, 2009 at 8:00 am

Cute kids + cuter dogs = one doggone cute movie.

Emma Roberts (niece of Julia) stars in the movie based on the popular book by Lois Duncan about an orphaned brother and sister who rescue stray dogs.

Andi (Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have bounced around from foster home to foster home since their parents died. No one wants them because they insist on staying together. They are currently living with nasty would-be rock stars (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon), who padlock the kitchen cupboards, as their sympathetic social worker Bernie (a terrific Don Cheadle) tries to find them a better situation. They do their best to take care of their beloved dog Friday, even if it means lying, cheating, and stealing.

When Friday runs into an abandoned hotel and meets up with some stray dogs, the kids decide to turn it into doggie heaven. Bruce, a mechanical whiz, rigs up machines to handle the dogs’ needs (eating, exercise, and going to the bathroom) and their fondest desires (racing to see who’s at the door, riding in cars, howling at the moon). With the help of some new friends from the pet store and the neighborhood, they round up all of the local strays, creating their own family of humans and canines. And that is when things start to get out of hand.

It goes on a little too long, but the kids are appealing, the contraptions are very funny, the dogs are adorable, and the affection, loyalty, and resilience of the characters is touching and inspiring. It’s a family treat.