Last of the Year

Here is a list of the movies that I enjoyed watching the most in 2010, which is not really a list of the best movies released in 2010. Since I watch movies at home, my viewings are too delayed to make a 2010 list until the next year is half over. The ratings I give on this blog are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Letters to Juliet – 2010. (3.3) The love of Romeo & Juliet brings us to Verona and a romantic and fun story of a search for a lost past love that may not be too late, and young lovers whose star crossing may turn out to be fortuitous. Good cast, nice story well told and beautiful Tuscan scenery provide quite pleasant enjoyment.

Temple Grandin – 2010. (3.3) Claire Danes does a good job impersonating an autistic woman who was first diagnosed in the 1960s when doctors told her parents she should be institutionalized, but who instead was encouraged by her family to pursue her education and ended up getting a master’s degree and becoming a college professor. Temple used her autism in her animal studies to help her understand what animals experience and how that experience can be applied by man in dealing with animals. Special effects in the movie were quite good at showing how the autistic mind interprets experience. Time constraints limit what bio pics can show, but leaving Temple’s father and her siblings out completely left me feeling I missed something of value. If this had been streamed, special features showing the real Temple would have been omitted, and the opportunity to see how well Claire captured her would have been missed.

You Don’t Know Jack – 2009. (3.3) The physician assisted suicide issue has been around for decades, but Dr. Jack Kevorkian is the man who brought it to the forefront in America. Though his involvement with the issue was in the news for years, the title of this HBO movie was very accurate for me – I knew practically nothing about the man himself. This film provides much of the missing information on this fascinating man. Al Pacino does a great job of playing the title role, with an excellent supporting cast and able direction by Barry Levinson. Be sure to watch the brief special feature to see the real Dr. Jack, who reminds us we are all going to die and go to the nothingness, from which we came, then comforts us with the rhetorical question, “Was that so terrible?”

Mademoiselle Chambon -2007. (3.0) Streamed. This movie says a lot without so many words, but rather with context and drawing the personal experience of the viewer into the characters themselves. A female substitute teacher, new in town, and a construction worker father of a student, are each socially awkward and not particularly attractive, but still somehow make a connection, as awkward as the couple themselves. This is one of those films that leaves you feeling you understood, while at the same time making you wonder if you really did – kind of like our own life fels sometimes.

The Pillars of the Earth – 2010. (2.9) Streamed. Based on a Ken Follett book, this miniseries tells about the political intrigue and fighting for power in 12th century England, centering on the building of a new cathedral. Tons of plot and characters, good production values and competent direction and acting, with practically no attempt to use the language of the time, which, though English, we would not recognize.

Adventureland – 2008. (2.8) Recent college grad James planned a European summer with his buddies before heading to journalism grad school at Columbia, but hard times in 1987 hit his family and he had to stay home in Pittsburgh and work as a game carnie at Adventureland. He made some new friends, had some new experiences and learned some things they don’t teach in college. Tastefully done, a sort of college kid comes of age movie. Netflix calls it a comedy, but it is more of a light drama.

Prodigal Sons – 2008. (2.8) Streamed. This very personal documentary starts covering the story of the filmmaker, the popular high school quarterback, returning to Montana for the school reunion after having become a woman, then it expands to cover relationship problems with the older, adopted brother who suffers mental problems resulting from accidental brain trauma. As the brother struggles with his medical and mental problems, he also has issues about his adoption and curiosity about his biological family, which adds an inyeresting twist. This material may have been better handled as two separate films.

The Cake Eaters – 2007. (2.8) Streamed. This directorial debut of Mary Stuart Masterson shows good skill, and the cast did a generally good job, but the story did not effectively grab attention or maintain a focus. Trying to cover too many people in a short movie did not allow time to get to know any of them well enough by the end of the movie. Much of the back story was presented via dialogue, whereas showing the back story directly or by flash backs would have been more effective. Budget constraints probably limited the length of the film and dictated the use of dialogue for back story.

How About You – 2007. (2.8) Streamed. I watched this to see if young Hayley Atwell, whom I find quite appealing, is a good actress, and was pleased to find she is, holding her own with an ensemble cast of cranky nursing home residents, in this enjoyably simple story, which is more a light drama than a comedy.

No Reservations – 2007. (2.8) About the time this movie came out, I watched the German film, Mostly Martha, of which this is a remake. I gave Martha 4 stars and remember it as being both touching and encouraging about overcoming grief and emotional pain. The remake didn’t come very close to my recall of the original, having less emotional impact and seeming more contrived. Maybe some of that is due to inflated memory of the original (though I did give it 4 stars at the time), and maybe some is due to less impact the second time, since I already knew the story.

Steal a Pencil for Me – 2007. (2.8) Streamed. Archival footage and contemporary interviews tell the story of a Dutch Jewish couple who conducted a courtship by letters during their time in concentration camps in WWII, and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Invincible – 2006. (2.8) A true story of a 30 year old Philadelphia Eagles fan who in 1976 responded to an open tryout stunt by the long suffering team, and ended up becoming a three year special team player, this drama, though fairly well done, was not that dramatic, not just because we know what is going to happen, but also because there was little other tension in the script. Maybe a documentary would have been better.

Bill Maher: But I’m Not Wrong – 2010. (2.7) Nothing much new here except maybe more foul mouthed, Maher’s progressive libertarian point of view is well known and a little stuck in the past, with just a trickle of commentary on President Obama.

Italian Fascism in Color – 2007. (2.7) Using archival footage, some colorized, and some unimpressive reenactments, this documentary pedantically tells the about the politics and failed strategies of Mussolini. I did learn a few things, but probably could have done it quicker using Wikipedia.

Sabah: A Love Story – 2005. (2.7) Streamed. After building up an interesting case of a Syrian Muslim family in Toronto, headed by a strictly chauvinistic older brother, and concentrating on the dutiful daughter stuck taking care of her widowed mother, while starting a clandestine relationship with a non-Muslim Canadian, this film disappoints by ending with the proverbial whimper instead of a bang.

Group of Twelve

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Here are a dozen more, of which five were streamed via Netflix. This group includes an original and a remake, three documentaries, only two foreign films and eight from this century. Half are probably worth watching for most readers and half are only worth viewing if they have particular appeal to you.

The Shop around the Corner – 1940. (3.5) From the play of the same name, remade in 1999 as “You’ve Got Mail”, this is Lubitsch flawlessly directing a wonderful MGM ensemble in a very enjoyable story. Though older even than me, the film does not appear that dated, and in spite of the limitations of its theatrical origins, it does not feel too stage bound. This was an early lead role for Jimmy Stewart, whose career had been encouraged by his co-star, Margaret Sullavan, a Broadway actress of considerable talent who hated Hollywood and only made a dozen or so films there, of which Netflix has only three, this being the best.

Kissing Jessica Stein – 2002. (3.2) A personal film written by and starring two young New York actresses, exploring the meaning of sexuality, friendship and happiness, this gentle and humorous movie prompts reflection on being open to life. A male blind date, concerned he might be coming across as boastful, delivers this fun line, “I’m usually more self-defecating”.

Everlasting Moments – 2008. (3.1) Streamed.  The best early films of Jan Troell are not available on DVD, but this visually appealing movie from the Swedish director might prompt consideration of making them available. A WWI era wife bears a parade of children to her boorish husband, and while struggling with the decision to leave him, finds an unexpected muse who encourages her to pursue photography. The images are better than the story, but they are reason enough to watch.

The Ritchie Boys – 2004. (3.1) Streamed. The Ritchie Boys were young Jewish men of an intellectual bent, mostly immigrants who fled Nazi Germany for the US before WWII, who were trained at Fort Ritchie, Maryland for intelligence and psych op work as members of the US Army. Ten of these men are interviewed in this documentary, accompanied by archival footage. Their stories are quite interesting and the movie allows them to be told fairly straightforward. At the end of the film we learn what the men did with the rest of their careers.

Cherry Blossoms – 2008. (3.0) Streamed. Another spin on the what to do with the rest of your life after being diagnosed with a terminal illness question, this German film adds in a twist and also touches on the choice between rooted stability and traveling adventure, and the disappointment of non-pursued exotic dreams.  

The Family Stone – 2005. (3.0) Streamed. Good ensemble in a film directed by its writer, again with a secretively terminal parent, with adult children assembled for Christmas and engaging in sibling dynamics mostly at the expense of the newcomer girlfriend of the oldest son. Shifts in romantic allegiance are predictable and not that convincingly portrayed, but the overall family feeling remains interesting.

Glass: Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts – 2007. (2.8) Streamed. The composer and this film about him were actually more interesting to me than his music, but if you really like his music then you may be more interested in this film. There was much about the man personally and we saw him in a variety of situations, but I can’t say I actually learned much about his music.

You’ve Got Mail – 1998. (2.8) I always figured this would be a little too cute for me, but decided to watch it after watching its original source, The Shop around the Corner. Like many remakes of classics, this one pales by comparison. Much of the charm of the original was the workplace dynamics in the shop where all the characters worked, but that is totally scrapped in this remake. The interplay between the leads in the new version never rises to the level of the original, and the extra half hour of running time makes the whole piece feel puffy, in contrast to the original, which was a tightly scripted cohesive whole. It is interesting to recall how just twelve years ago the idea of an intimate connection via e-mail was considered so fresh and exciting. And are we being told that a chain supermarket of books is better than a venerable little book shop?

Catherine Cookson’s The Girl – 1996. (2.8) Probably the last of the Cookson stories that I will be watching, this movie is a little subpar for the course. The heroine here is not particularly likeable, nor for that matter is the supposed hero. The morality that prevails is open to question. It may hold your interest if you like stories of mid 19^th century English women from questionable backgrounds who are given an opportunity to rise a little in life and then encounter a set back with which they cope in a questionable manner.

Noel – 2004. (2.7) Streamed. In spite of a couple brief moments of touching Christmas outreach, there’s no reason to add this movie about lonely people on Christmas Eve to your list of Christmas favorites. The ensemble never assembled and the story never grabbed, but because of the absence of half stars at Netflix, I’ll have to give a 2 ½ star so so movie a Flix 3, that I liked it, because I’m not enough of a Grinch to give it a 2 and say I didn’t.

Hubert Selby, Jr.; It’ll Be Better Tomorrow – 2006. (2.7) Streamed. Those who made this documentary were so in awe of the subject author that they produced a film which comes across as a collection of interviews of choir members singing the praises of their pastor. I’m not familiar with Selby and this barely piqued my interest. If you know his writing, you may be more interested, but will probably not learn much more about his writing than you already know.

Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby [etc] – 1982. (2.0) Jennifer H at Netflix hit the nail on the head: “This a low-budget made-for-TV film that just isn’t polished or creative enough to be of much interest today. The acting, music score, editing and camera work are amatuerish. Gwynne was the only decent actor in the bunch. The movie lies somewhere between an episode of the Waltens and a public service film. It’s categorized under Children & Family but most kids would be terribly bored by this film. The only adults that might be interested are literary buffs or Bradbury fans...or older folks who like squeaky-clean sentimental dramas and don’t care about outdated/low production value.

Netflix News Too

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

I was just looking at Netflix to see if any of my few friends there (my one social networking venture) had rated a film I just watched, and I discovered that Netflix closed down the friends feature about two months ago. The reason for the closure was low usage (confirmed in my case by the fact I had not looked at it for two months), and also the desire to shift Netflix resources from the friends feature to the growing streaming business. I also suspect Netflix found the hassle of maintaining the friends feature was something they did not need in order to keep their business growing.

Netflix reports business is indeed booming and subscriber views by streaming are expected to exceed DVD mailings by the end of the year. It has been obvious for a while that streaming is going to replace DVD rentals, especially now that the streaming video quality has improved and the streaming library is growing. A Netflix price increase starting with January (more than 17% for my 3 in the mail program) appears to be designed to wean us off mailings. For example, if I am willing to cut back to 2 mailings, I can actually have a price reduction of about 12%. [I think Red Box kiosks fill a niche for people who don’t have Netflix or a similar subscription, but they hold no attraction for me. Kiosk fees are expected to increase soon also].

I have been slow to embrace Netflix streaming, even though I can watch streams on my home theater setup and they look and sound good (though the best sound quality I can stream seems to be DTS, rather than Dolby Digital). I get 17 mailings average per month on my 3 DVD subscription, but I have only been watching about 5 streams a month, even though there is no limit. The reasons for my reluctance to stream more movies include the novelty, lingering doubts about sound quality, fewer new releases, the lack of my own methodology for deciding what to stream, and the unusually ease of bailing out of a film early at no cost. My own experience and improvements by Netflix should make these reasons fade over time.

Until 7 months ago, I used to get about 20 movies a month from the library in addition to my Netflix mailings. That was too many movies and often I felt burdened to watch them and get them back to the library on time. Without the library movies, I increased the speed of my Netflix mailings to take up some of the slack. Now, as I embrace Netflix streaming more, and as Netflix expands the streaming choices (my instant queue has already been running about twice the size of my mailing queue), I may find that I can reduce my mail subscription from 3 to 2, and gradually transition away from mail altogether, just as Netflix has planned.

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale – 2009. (3.5) Lasse Hallstrom makes movies that have a professional finish and often an appealing charm. This one, based on a true story from Japan, stars an Akita dog, whose life we follow from puppyhood to death, and who experiences and shows a full range of emotions with an Academy Award caliber performance. Of course the dog is in fact several animals being led through the motions (and emotions) by its trainer, but the script, human actor interaction, direction and editing make us want to believe. Such is the magic of movies. There is a message in this very touching G rated movie, but it is not preached. In spite of the rating, because of the theme, this is probably not something you would want your younger kids to watch. Macho men should watch this alone, lest their cover be blown. Netflix way underestimated my rating for this film, probably because of lack of comparables, for it is an unfortunate fact that there are so few movies like this being made in America these days.

The Street – 2006. (3.4) There are only six episodes (two discs) of this BBC anthology series about the families who live on a contemporary London street. Each episode concentrates on one family, but there is some intertwining with the stories of the other families. I thought this would be the ususal TV fare, mixing humor with serious content, the overworked “dramedy”, but was pleased to find that it is just good, solid drama, well written, acted and directed, with interesting plot and excellent character development. I particularly liked the episodes on the first disk and would give them a 3.7, whereas two of the episodes on the second disk, one about a young footballer who gets trapped into involvement with drug pushers, amd one about spousal abuse, seemed to have more violence and less overall story value, perhaps a 3.1. Following seasons apparently have not yet made it to DVD.

The Narrow Margin – 1952. (3.2) If you want a quick look at a well-made and interesting film noir story that will hold your attention and keep you on your toes, check out this 72 minute movie. No major actors and a capable but not spectacular director still yield a very good film when the attention stays on the efficiently told story. There are some nice filmic devices used here to keep things moving rather than just to call attention to themselves.

Fatal Love – 1992. (3.0) An early Aids awareness TV film, in which Molly Ringwald plays an unlikely victim coping with her anger and fear, the anguish of her parents and the confusion and awkwardness of her friends, this movie does a fairly good job, until it necessarily ends up in the air, because that is where life stood for the real person on whom the story was based.

Mary and Max – 2008. (2.9) Australian clay animation here, with a lonely, unpopular, young Australian girl randomly picking for a pen pal an obese, atheistic New York City Jew with Asperger’s. Quirky as expected, but with a tenderness too.

Introducing Dorothy Dandridge – 1999. (2.8) The first African-American actress to be nominated for an Oscar in a lead role had beauty, talent and courage, but they were not enough to protect her from prejudice and the tragedies that life too often brings. Halle Berry produced and starred in this HBO TV movie which, like Halle, did a competent job of telling the story, but never quite grabbed the attention of the audience. Biopics like this have lots of ground to cover and we are often left feeling we want to see more of what is left out and less of what is included.

Dance With Me – 1998. (2.8). The romance and drama here is a bit shallow, but still fairly appealing, but the best thing about the film is the Latin ballroom dancing and Afro-Cuban music. Vanessa L. Williams had the female lead and her dancing looked great to me. Though she has a fairly long filmography, this is the first time I have seen her act and I thought she was alright, but I don’t see anything else of interest in her filmography. The male lead was Chayanne, an incredibly handsome man whom I do not know, though he is a famous Latin singer. He has acting talent, which he has failed to develop because of conflict with his movie career. I selected this movie from the filmography of the director, Randa Haines, who has made only a few films over a span of thirty years, but I have liked them all.

Emily Dickinson: A Certain Slant of Light – 1977. (2.7) This very short documentary was filmed (with a crew including Ken Burns) in the outdoors of Amherst and in the two Dickinson houses, which is about the only reason for watching it. The limited biographical information and quotes from some of her poems show that it was intended as a film for use in schools.

Something to Talk About – 1995. (2.4) Streamed. A good cast and fine director cannot make a poor script of an uninteresting story worth much, which is what happened with this Lasse Hallstrom film about a contemporary southern horse farm family with marital fidelity issues.

Gates of Heaven – 1978.  (2.4)  Streamed. An Erroll Morris documentary supposedly about pet cemeteries, this polyester time capsule of interviews with Californians does not tell much about the subject but includes many ego centric interviewees, a few of whom are sadly humorous.

The Lightkeepers – 2009. (1.4) A ludicrous New England accent by Richard Dreyfuss, in a boring story that takes way too long to even get started, corny music, amateurish technical work and the squandering of Cape Cod beauty make this a loser all around. I suffered through the first 20 minutes of banal set up dialogue before the two male characters, static at one location, were finally augmented with the female players, only to confirm the women did not make this any more tolerable. Love that super fast forward button so I could zip through the rest, just going through the motions – like this movie did.

Upstairs, Downstairs

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

In the weeks since my last list posting, I have spent most of my DVD viewing time finishing the Upstairs, Downstairs five season series, and the fourth season of Brothers & Sisters. About ten years ago I bailed out on the last TV series I was watching regularly, NYPD Blue, and I have not been even a casual viewer of any series since then. This was around the time I retired, and maybe the idea of watching a series on a regular basis seemed too much like a job. PBS documentaries, some sports, too much news and commentary, and my “one weakness” – Survivor – constituted my TV viewing time.

Watching a season on DVD can be a fairly efficient way to digest an older series, but watching several years in a row can eat up a lot of time. I’m glad I went back to an English series from the 1970s, to learn about England in the first 30 years of the 20^th Century, but a good editor could cull out maybe a third of the episodes as being a bit of a tangent or lark, unnecessary to the story arc and not particularly informative. An attempt for a sequel to this venerable series is being filmed now, as a couple of specials with hopes that it will lead to a new run.

A series that appeals to a particular audience, which in turn appeals to commercial sponsors, could arguably go on forever – look at the old soaps that are just now ending their runs - but the creative people involved eventually burn out or retire before they go down in flames. It is sad to see good shows fail to find an audience fast enough to keep sponsors happy, ending in premature cancellation. But it is pathetic to see shows stay on too long, not seeming to recognize they have become an embarrassment.

How a series or movie portrays a time period is always interesting to examine. Contemporary time is the easiest to portray – just show things the way they are. Showing the past requires research, and portraying the future adds intelligent speculation to the mix. If we view these portrayals when they are first released, we can judge whether they seem to honestly portray the now, whether we think they are accurately showing the past [confer the discussions about Mad Men], and speculate about the believability of the predictions of the future.

As DVD viewers of old movies and series, we have additional opportunities for evaluation. Old “contemporary” movies are like time capsules. Old movies about even older times can be evaluated for any historical “revisionism” that may tell us more about the time of the movie maker than about to time setting of the movie. Old science fiction movies provide a chance to see what they got right about the way we live today.

My evaluation of Upstairs, Downstairs from this perspective is that it was not revisionist but was highly accurate in portraying those early 20^th Century years, and that it is also a very good time capsule showing where Britain was in the 1970s in trying to understand and remember the changes it went through back then. Brothers & Sisters may someday be viewed as a time capsule of an upper middle class early 21^st Century California family whose members are all unable to live without continual cell phone communication, but I wonder whether it will have any lasting entertainment value. Maybe someone in the 2070s will make a five season series looking back at the changes the Walker family experienced through the 2020s. Hopefully the current B & S series, season 4 of which went downhill in my opinion, leaving me in doubt whether I will bother to watch season 5, won’t stick around long enough to become pathetic.

I’m really looking forward to getting back to watching a diversity of movies, rather than just lots of episodes of a couple series,

Upstairs, Downstairs – (Third through Fifth Season) 1974. (3.7) The story arc of the masters and servants continues to the start of WWI, as characters come and go, some permanently, and some new ones appear. A couple episodes off the main story arc feel a bit like clinkers, but the bulk are right on, as the characters develop and adapt to the War, deaths, injuries and the changing times and relationships. By the fifth season, with the 1929 crash of the American stock market, we understand that those who have moved on are not coming back and those who have stayed are settling in, so it is time to end the series.

Brothers & Sisters (Season 4) – 2009. [Supplemental comments and reduced rating] (2.9) The series made a mistake in my opinion, by very early uncomplicating the Callista complication that enabled her and Sally Field to show their acting chops. The rest of the characters and story lines are only marginal and I found myself being easily distracted by the really sloppy editing of dialogue scenes that are composed of an excessive number of cuts back and forth between the characters for no apparent reason. Someone must think that quick cutting close ups goes with the actively overly communicative style of the characters. But the technique is grossly overused and poorly executed, with many of the cuts not even matching. And it is even used in gently tender scenes, as in one short, quick kiss that was shown from three different angles in the couple of seconds it took for the lips to travel the one foot distance. As my viewing companion Susan said, “You must be bored if you are noticing those things”.

The Messenger – 2009. (2.8) Streamed. “Taking Chance” showed the dignified and respectful way our Armed Services and citizens treat the body of a service member killed in war. A different side of the story is told in this movie, how the military swiftly sends messengers to make personal contact with the next of kin of the dead warrior and give a perfunctory notice and expression of condolence. After a few disturbing scenes of death message delivery, the movie concentrates more on the messed up lives of the two messengers and their relationship. Woody Harrelson got a supporting Oscar nod for his role. Well meaning and well done, this story is probably understood better by those who have had pertinent military service. The movie did not have much drama or story depth, and the character exploration never quite developed. Though the Netflix stream was HD, the sound was poor. 

How to Make an American Quilt – 1995. (2.8) Winona Ryder is very good at playing sensitive, vulnerable young women, and here she is deciding on what direction to take her life, mentored by a quilting bee of older women who tell snippets of their past that has brought them to where they are today. The problem is the snippets are too much like a patchwork quilt that doesn’t really come together that impressively.

Falling for a Dancer – 1998.  (2.4) I suspect the writer whose novel, about an upper middle class 1930s city girl who comes up pregnant and is forced into marrying an older country widower,was made into this four part Northern Irish miniseries, had little experience adapting novels for the screen, because her screenplay was marginal at best and had so many gaps in the story she was telling that it was too hard to form any attachment to the characters. The Netflix algorithm was way off on this one, predicting a 3.3 for me.

The Buccaneers – 1995. (2.4) Streamed. Based on the Edith Wharton novel about daughters of noveau riche Americans being sent to late Victorian England to marry impoverished nobles, this four part BBC series was not up to the usual writing and acting standards for such pieces. By the time the script started zeroing in on particular characters, and chance for empathy had been lost in the confusing array of cast members and lack of story focus.

A Mixed Bag

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Watching a couple seasons of an old BBC series and several disks of an HBO mini series took a lot of viewing time in September, making for a longer delay since the last list and fewer entries this time. Your comments on what you have been watching are always welcome, so keep them coming.

Sometimes I feel tempted to start borrowing DVDs from the library again. They have an excellent collection and many that are going into my Netflix mail queue are readily available from the library. Maybe as fall and winter close in I will make more time for movies.

Upstairs, Downstairs – 1971-1972. (Seasons 1 and 2). (3.5) I saw some of this early BBC five season series, either first run back in the 70s or else in the 80s as reruns. I remember parts of it being quite fascinating, as it followed the lives of the aristocratic family upstairs and the servants downstairs, portraying the changes in social decorum from the turn of the century through WWI and into the roaring twenties, with a touch of high class British soap opera thrown in, and I have been wanting to give it a try for a while. The first disk had me hooked, in spite of the narrow screen and teleplay style of production. The DVD is good quality, especially considering the source media is dated. Though it is about a very refined household, the first season managed to convincingly weave sexual harassment, rape, abortion, adultery and suicide into the stories. I plan on watching all five seasons.

Brothers & Sisters (Season 4) – 2009. (3.2) We have started the fourth season without much anticipation, having grown a little weary of the whole ensemble by the end of season three. Sally Field and Calista Flockhart are the best actors in this cast and it is Calista’s new complication introduced in the first disk of the fourth season that has us wanting to keep watching. I never saw any of her old series, Ally McBeal, but her excellent acting in Brothers & Sisters makes me interested in checking it out.

Band of Brothers – 2001. (3.2) Based on the book by Stephen Ambrose this miniseries tells the story of a unit of paratroopers from the time of their training through the end of WWII. The computer generated aspects of the large scale operations is suitably impressive, though now more common. Some parts of the battles and fighting resemble many combat video games, which is not necessarily a criticism or a compliment. The disk includes brief bios of the characters, which helps people like me who have trouble keeping track of all the similarly uniformed characters in war films. Episodes begin with brief interviews of some of the surviving real soldiers. Realistic combat movies like this generate awe for what these men did and doubt about whether we would have been able to do the same.

Babies – 2010. (3.1) A few years ago, I realized how much I had aged when I would see an attractive young mother out in public with her little baby and I would be more interested in checking out the baby than the mother. This charming documentary follows four babies, from Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and the USA, from birth to their first steps. Though it is French made, it is virtually a silent film, except for some catchy music, a fair amount of baby talk and a little parental babble. A brief special feature gives a three year follow up look.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John – 2006. (3.0) Home movies, personal narration and contemporary filmmaking join together in this documentary to tell us the story of a third generation family farmer in Wisconsin who struggled with reconciling his desire for a free and creative lifestyle while constantly being drawn back to the hard job of running a small farm. In spite of the expected setbacks, the film is not oppressive.

Country Life – 1994.  (2.9) Another variation on Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, here set on an Australian sheep ranch, this Aussie film did a pretty good job of ditching it’s stage origins, and was fairly well done, but the story itself offers nothing new.

Bright Star – 2009.  (2.8) Streamed. Australian director Jane Campion’s movies are always a visual treat. This tale of the doomed love of the poet Keats and his young muse includes many intimate extreme close up shots that enhance our connection to the characters developing intimacy. The script is confusing at first because the patron of Keats has a similar name to the muse, and we are not informed of any relationship, until we figure out there is none. The integration of poetry into the story did not work for me and I was left with a visually stunning period piece about a somewhat awkward love that blossomed but was doomed.

Carla’s Song – 1996. (2.4) An angry young bus driver in Glasgow is attracted to an enigmatic Nicaraguan woman, with whom he gets involved in a trip to Nicaragua to find out what happened to her boyfriend after they and fellow rebels had been routed by the Contras, whom the Scotsman learns are actually CIA agents. A marginal movie anyway, this DVD left me missing most of the dialogue, first in Scotland without any subtitle help for the hearing (or dialect) impaired, and then in Nicaragua, where the subtitles worked briefly and then stopped working (even though tried on two different players).

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – 1996. (2.4) Streamed. Proving that a Brit production of a Bronte novel is not an automatic winner, this Ann Bronte story did not have much to offer and this short miniseries adaptation, though it managed to hold me out of curiosity, did not have anything about it to make me say I liked it.

Ten Again

Here is what I have watched on DVD since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained previously in this blog. Those watched via Netflix instant view, now include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Watching a series on DVD can use up a lot of Netflix mailings, but since my mail queue is so small, I am going to add more series disks from my library list to that queue. The library list is still not being used for actual borrowing. It is tempting to add lots of items to the instant view queue, but not that easy to find the time to watch them.

Lark Rise to Candleford – 2008.  (3.5) I caught some current episodes of this third year BBC series about life in small town England during the late 19th century and was captivated. We have now watched the first two seasons on DVD. Good writing inspired by memoirs, fine acting by an excellent cast and expected production values and direction make this another British winner. The episodes written by the series creator, which are my favorites, revolve around the ensemble cast,whereas episodes from other writers usually involve guest actors in one time roles.

Facing Ali – 2009.  (3.3)   As a contemporary of Muhammad Ali, I followed his boxing career and also paid close attention to his political statements, particularly his opposition to the war in Vietnam. This story has been told in film in many ways, but this documentary found a new approach, using interviews with ten men who fought Ali and who were changed by the experience. Ali was not interviewed, but was shown via restored archival footage. The interviewees were chosen because their fights with Ali also had a transformative affect on him. Some of these men have held up better than others, but they, like Ali, have all paid a health price because of their combat in the ring.

The Most Dangerous Man in America – 2009.  (3.3)  Streamed. When Daniel Ellsberg stole incriminating documents from his employer, the Rand Corporation, an analytic contractor for the Defense Department, I had long been opposed to the War in Vietnam and was not surprised by the fraud and deceit our government had engaged in to fool the American public into supporting that shameful venture, so I never followed very closely the story of the man and how his action played out. This documentary filled in that information, showing who Ellsberg was back then and the man he has been since then. As for the story, the audio recordings of the reaction of the profane Richard Nixon are fascinating, and the professional courage of the many newspapers who published the Pentagon Papers in the face of government litigation is encouraging. Young Idaho Democrat Senator Frank Church also showed heroism in submitting the Papers into the Congressional Record. An interesting tale, well presented, but not quite good enough for four stars. 

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – 1958.  (3.2)  Writing a movie script from a stage play is a lot easier than writing one from a novel. However, the constraints of stage sets can make such movies feel static, and the dialogue is so continuous that such a film cannot help but be very talkative. This movie of the Tennessee Williams Pulitzer prize winner had young Paul Newman and young but more experienced Elizabeth Taylor, with Burl Ives in his most noted role, and a good supporting cast, all of whom performed quite effectively. The movie holds its age well and kept my attention. The only distraction was the technically poor editing, with many adjoining shots not matching across the cuts. That may have been due to fewer takes of shots with Liz, after her husband Mike Todd was killed in a plane crash early in filming, leaving the editor Ferris Webster, a three time Academy Award nominee and editor of many Clint Eastwood films, with less footage for matching.

9/11: Press for Truth – 2006  (3.1)  Streamed.  I remember watching the group of 9/11 surviving family members who pushed for an independent commission to investigate, and the commission being appointed and doing its job and the bi-partisan co-chairs being celebrated for their accomplishments, but I cannot remember much of anything about what the commission found. This documentary tries to explain the push for the commission, the resistance by the Bush administration and the poor job done by the commission and the media, with one exception. The exception was a History Commons website which continuously monitored all sources and maintained the best time line of what happened. Footage of the inept George Bush and the evil Dick Cheney renewed disgust, and the pain and resolve of the widows were touching, but the documentary would have been better if it just covered the most interesting points of what the time line reveals.

The Dwelling Place – 1994. (2.9) Another Catherine Cookson based melodrama from the BBC, this time about a poor orphaned teenager in the 1830s raising her younger siblings and being pursued by two men from different classes, this film managed to produce some sympathetic emotion for the plight of the girl and her siblings but did not rise beyond that.

Laila’s Birthday – 2008. (2.8)  Streamed. In this fairly short Arabic language, we spend Laila’s birthday following her father as he drives a taxi around Palestine, interacting in a frustrating way with a variety of passengers, officials and other people. Part of his frustration is due to the fact he was a judge who returned to Palestine, after ten years away, to help in the administration of  the legal system, but because of a foul up he is not able do what he intended, and must drive a taxi instead. The film is like a tour of Palestine, which does give a feel for the confusion and chaos, midst a thin plot line with no character development.

The Matchmaker – 1997. (2.8) A US Senator struggling for re-election sends his aide, Janeane Garofalo to find some small village kin in Ireland for some family values photo ops. She experiences culture shock and a frustrating search, all of which could have made a much better movie, but this script failed to capitalize on the opportunities. The scenic locales and quirky village residents make it passable.

Taking Woodstock – 2009.  (2.4)  Ang Lee has directed some fine films, but this is not one of them. The main problem here is the script, which jumps all over the place in this telling of how the son of floundering motel owners in upstate New York became a link in the process of bringing the iconic Festival into reality. The film makers said the Woodstock story is too big to tell directly, so they tried to do it by having us experience it through this young man, who ultimately never even made it to the show. I suggest viewers not bother to make it to this film.

Revolutionary Road – 2008.  (2.2)  Based on a 1961 novel about a disenchanted suburban Connecticut couple in the 1950s, this story took almost 50 years to make it to the screen. I have not read the novel, but I have read about it in the film reviews and I expect it was a hard book to make into a movie. But even so, this script was a shambles, as if someone was trying to cook something by using some of the ingredients from the recipe, improperly measured and cooked the wrong temperature. The young screenwriter is credited as writing only one other film, which also seems to have been not good. The acting and direction were immaterial to me, since the script was so bad that after giving it a chance for the first 15 minutes, I could see that it was making no sense and generating no interest. But because John from Phoenix liked it, I watched it all the way through, which only confirmed my initial impression. In fairness, the book apparently is about a couple who seem not to have a sense of themselves, so perhaps the movie captured some of that confusion, but it sure did not make for good cinema.