All About Steve was the worst movie of the year. The films that made me feel I could hear my brain cells melt as I watched were Next Day Air, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Old Dogs, and Miss March.
As always, there were some on other lists I wished I had included like “Law Abiding Citizen” and “The Ugly Truth.” As always, there were some on other lists that I actually enjoyed like “Paper Hearts” and “Away We Go.” And it wouldn’t be a worst list if it didn’t have some contrarian provocateurs who just like to go after the big movies that are on everyone else’s ten best lists — there were some votes for “Precious,” “Up in the Air,” and “Avatar.”
It is one of the perverse pleasures of the job that I get to see more truly awful films than most people. But if you saw something truly terrible this year, I’d be glad to hear about it.
The highly respected Kaiser Foundation has issued the third in its series of reports on children and media, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18-year-olds. They found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth.
Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours. The amount of time spent with media increased by an hour and seventeen minutes a day over the past five years, from 6:21 in 2004 to 7:38 today. And because of media multitasking, the total amount of media content consumed during that period has increased from 8:33 in 2004 to 10:45 today.
It will not come as a surprise to anyone that the increase in media use is driven in large part by ready access to mobile devices like cell phones and iPods. Over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in ownership among 8- to 18-year-olds: from 39% to 66% for cell phones, and from 18% to 76% for iPods and other MP3 players. During this period, cell phones and iPods have become true multi-media devices: in fact, young people now spend more time listening to music, playing games, and watching TV on their cell phones (a total of :49 daily) than they spend talking on them (:33). For the first time, however, actual TV use declined.
The study pointed out some racial differences. Black and Hispanic children consume nearly 4½ hours more media daily (13:00 of total media exposure for Hispanics, 12:59 for Blacks, and 8:36 for Whites). Some of the largest differences are in TV viewing: Black children spend nearly 6 hours and Hispanics just under 5½ hours, compared to roughly 3½ hours a day for White youth. And the racial disparity in media use has grown substantially over the past five years.
It is also not a surprise that the study found that the heaviest media use was associated with poor grades. But what I found particularly distressing was the failure of parents to exercise any oversight. According to the report, only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours less media per day (2:52) than those with no rules.
Worst of all, about two-thirds (64%) of young people say the TV is usually on during meals, and just under half (45%) say the TV is left on “most of the time” in their home, even if no one is watching. Seven in ten (71%) have a TV in their bedroom, and half (50%) have a console video game player in their room. I strongly recommend that parents not allow televisions or other media except for music in bedrooms or at mealtime. Connections are nourished by silence and it is time to remind families that there is no connection via texting, ims, Facebook, phone, blogging, tweeting, or anything else requiring a charger that is as important as in-person, looking-at-each-other conversation. In law school, we learned about “demeanor evidence,” the things you can learn from watching and listening to the way someone says something. Teaching kids how to understand this is more important than all the LOLs and POSes ever typed.
Erich Segal, who died today at age 72, was a classics scholar who studied ancient literature. He also wrote a blockbuster movie script that became a blockbuster novel, Love Story. We know from the first sentence that its irrepressible heroine is going to die, leaving the narrator, her young husband, devastated. And her explanation to him that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” became a cultural phenomenon. (Ryan O’Neal, to whom the line was delivered in the film, got to say it as a joke later on in “What’s Up, Doc?”) Segal also contributed to the deliciously witty script of “Yellow Submarine” and wrote several other novels, but he will always be best known for Love Story, corny, yes, but one of the all-time great tear-jerking romances.
Ricky Gervais has come up with a fresh and enticing premise but — I have to be honest — it is imperfectly executed. It has the gloss of a romantic comedy because it gives us the fun of knowing that the couple will end up together long before they figure it out for themselves. But it also takes on some very big issues and has some surprising insights.
Gervais has imagined a world that looks exactly like ours, except that the people can only tell the concrete, literal truth. That means that they always say exactly what is on their minds, most of which is, to be brutally frank, brutally frank. This is not a crowd you want to ask whether these pants make you look fat.
And so when Mark (Gervais, who also co-wrote and co-directed) goes out on a date with a woman he has had a crush on named Anna (Jennifer Garner), she tells him up front that he is not in her league. He is repeatedly told that he is fat, dull, and unappealing. And then he is fired from his job as a screenwriter. But since fiction is a form of lying, all of this world’s movies are merely footage of people sitting in chairs reading aloud text about historical events. Mark, assigned to the 13th century, is fired because the only thing he can write “movies” about is the black plague.
About to be evicted because he cannot pay the rent, Mark goes to the bank to close out his account and the movie’s title event occurs. He informs the teller that he has more money than the bank’s computers show. And since no lie has ever occurred in this world, the teller believes him. Mark is thrilled with this new power, especially when he discovers he can ease his mother’s passing at what our world would politely call a nursing home but in no-lie world is identified with a sign that reads “A Sad Place for Hopeless Old People.” She is upset because she does not know what happens after death, so he tells her that she will be in a place where everything is loving and plentiful and she will be reunited with everyone she has loved. She dies in peace and the doctor and nurses who overheard want to know more. And soon Mark’s new ability to imagine gets him his job back and everyone wants to hear all about heaven and the “Man in the Sky.”
Gervais is not as imaginative as a director as he is as a writer but we get to see what a subtle and even moving actor he has become. The flatness of delivery of the no-lie world is a challenge for the cast, including comedian Louis C.K., Jason Bateman, Rob Lowe (looking unnecessarily seedy), Tina Fey, the inescapable Jonah Hill, and John Hodgman, and the talented Nathan Corddry and Christopher Guest are on screen too briefly to make much of an impression. Jennifer Garner is a great pleasure, as always, giving us a chance to see the wistful longing for something she cannot define because it is beyond her ability to conceive.
Amid the jokes (just imagine what soda ads look like in a world without exaggeration and implication) there are some provocative and meaningful insights. Lies are impossible without abstraction and the ability to imagine. And so is fiction. And so is faith. And even love. Without the ability to conceive abstraction, marriage is only about genetic superiority. There is no kindness, no compassion, no real understanding.
Some audience members will be uncomfortable at the suggestion that God is portrayed as a lie but this underestimates the film. While Gervais is an acknowledged atheist, the movie does not have to be seen that way. The emptiness of the lives of the people in a world devoid of anything but the literal truth and the way they are enthralled with the concepts of faith and meaning argue just the opposite. Just because someone lies about something does not change the underlying reality. Watch Gervais’ face as Mark uses his new ability to depart from concrete truth to provide encouragement and inspiration, and enjoy a comedy that may be about the invention of lying but knows how to tell the truth.
Too cold to go outside? This is a great time of year for families to spend some quality time together with some stories to warm the spirit. These are some of my favorite movies when I need some cinematic vitamin C, sunshine for the soul.
“The Snowman” (all ages) This is the brief, wordless story of a cherished but necessarily brief friendship between a boy and a man he made of snow. The exquisite illustrations and score perfectly complement the story, evoking the simple joy and childhood magic of playing in snow. Some children may be upset when they see that the next morning, the snowman has melted. But even small children can understand that the boy will always cherish his time with his special friend. This movie can inspire children to build their own snow friends, and should lead families to talk about how what is most familiar to us (like a light switch) can seem interesting or strange or even scary to others. And what is familiar to others (like the Northern Lights) can seem exotic and thrilling to us.
“Enchanted April” (MIddle school-Adult) Four women in post WWI-London, bedraggled by the cold, rainy weather and feeling invisible and unappreciated, share their resources for a vacation at a villa in Italy. Their spirits bloom in the sunshine and they discover in themselves a gentleness and an ability to love and be loved that they never suspected.
“Pollyanna” (7-Adult) Hayley Mills is “the Glad Girl” in this sumptuously produced Disney film based on the classic novel about the girl who transformed a town with her ability to see the best in every situation and, more important, in every person. Top talent in the cast includes Jane Wyman as starchy Aunt Polly and Karl Malden as the preacher whose heart is not really in his fire and brimstone sermons. If you like this try: the remake called “Polly” with “Cosby Show” stars Keshia Knight Pulliam and Phylicia Rashad.
“All Creatures Great and Small” (10-Adult) The best-selling series of books based on the real-life adventures of a Yorkshire veterinarian has been lovingly adapted for this completely charming miniseries filled with endearing characters, lovable animals, and touching stories.
“Rudy” (Middle school-Adult) In this true story of determination and courage, a young man from a blue collar family wants to play football for Notre Dame, despite the fact he has neither the athletic nor the academic skills. Rudy’s spirit and insistence on giving everything he can every single time inspires them. Rudy becomes an indispensable part of the team, and in a deeply moving scenes each of his teammates goes to the coach to insist Rudy play in his place. (NOTE: strong language for a PG movie.)
“Our Vines Have Tender Grapes” (7-Adult) Edgar G. Robinson is best known for playing tough guys and hoodlums and Agnes Moorehead is best known for playing Endora on “Bewitched.” But in this lovely film, they are utterly believable as gentle Wisconsin farmers devoted to their only daughter, played by Margaret O’Brien. As the seasons pass, the family and the community face challenges from small (teaching the importance of sharing) to frightening (lost children, a barn fire), based on the real-life memories of the child of Norwegian immigrants. If you like this, try: “I Remember Mama”
“To Be and To Have” (Middle school-Adult) This documentary about a French one-room schoolhouse shows us a gifted and devoted teacher whose classroom includes students from age 4-11. As he patiently works with them on reading, writing, a sense of mastery, and learning to get along with each other he reminds us of the power we all have to touch the lives of others.
“The Spitfire Grill” (Middle school-Adult) A young woman just out of prison picks a small town in Maine called Gilead to start her life over again. Her kindness and honesty at first seem threatening to a community that is comfortable with its discomforts. The Biblical name of the town is well-chosen for this story of simple decency among neighbors and what we can do for others just by giving them a chance.
“Anne of Green Gables” (7-Adult)The classic series of books about the red-haired orphan girl who lives on Prince Edward Island farm was lovingly adapted for a miniseries starring Megan Fallows as Anne and Colleen Dewhurst and Richard Farnsworth as the sister and brother who wanted an orphan boy to do chores but find themselves unexpectedly loving the big-spirited, imaginative girl.
“Outrageous!” (Adults) A gay man who does not have the confidence to pursue his dream of performing as a female impersonator and his best friend, a woman prone to psychotic hallucinations find that while they may not be able to help themselves, they have unexpected strength of spirit to help each other. Canadian cabaret performer Craig Russell plays a character based on himself. One of the highlights of the film is seeing him as Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Peggy Lee, and more. But what makes the film unforgettable is the sweetness and devotion of this unbreakable friendship. (Very mature material)
“Beauty and the Beast” (7-Adult) One of Disney’s loveliest romances is the story of a beautiful girl who loves to read and the monster whose heart she learns is as tender as her own. Gorgeous animation features some of the earliest merging of hand-drawn and computer-generated images, giving the film’s sensational ballroom dancing number an enthrallingly immersive sense of space. The musical numbers are some of Disney’s most memorable, including the gorgeous title love song and the rollicking “Be Our Guest.”
“Strangers in Good Company” (Middle school-Adult) Eight women traveling through Canada by bus are stranded when the bus breaks down. They find an abandoned farmhouse and talk to each other about their lives, with stories that are sometimes sad but always teach important lessons about resilience and survival. The movie was largely improvised by non-professional actresses which underscores its message about the value of people who are all too often overlooked.
. We know from the first sentence that its irrepressible heroine is going to die, leaving the narrator, her young husband, devastated. And her explanation to him that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” became a cultural phenomenon. (Ryan O’Neal, to whom the line was delivered in the film, got to say it as a joke later on in “What’s Up, Doc?”) Segal also contributed to the deliciously witty script of “Yellow Submarine” and wrote several other novels, but he will always be best known for