Some Better Movies

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. This list has some better movies than my last batch.

I have now set up my living room HD TV with a Blu-ray player and wired Internet connection so I can stream Netflix movies. The quality is good and the connection steady. I can use it for older movies and TV shows for which enhanced sound is not that important. The stream does not include surround sound, but my home theater audio can be tweaked to pep it up a little if I want. Many such movies that I was getting from the library I can now stream from Netflix, and with my Netflix queue getting paltry, I can add newer movies to it, even though they are also fairly available from the library. So for now, I am still passing on library movies.

I thought I would start getting movies in Blu-ray format from Netflix, but since they charge 22% extra for that option even though less than 3% of their movies are available as Blu-ray, and since my 42 inch HD TV is only 720p, I decided it is not worth it.

Planet Earth – 2007.  (3.8)  This BBC documentary series boasts marvelous cinematography of the geography and fauna of our planet, organized according to types of features, such as mountains, fresh water and caves. The crew went to great extremes to capture extraordinary footage. If I could make one change it would be to spend a little less time on predatory chases and show more diversity within each type of feature. This was not intended to educate the viewer in an academic manner, but rather to leave us with our jaws dropped, which was where mine was. I have posted this review after watching three of the five disks, because I anticipate the last two,which I will be watching shortly, are of the same high quality.
[Added July 25th] The last disk of Planet Earth contains interviews with conservationists and sustainability advocates discussing environmental threats to the planet. They all demonstrate passion for their work, while differing somewhat in their assessments. The two interviewees less environmentally friendly views appeared ridiculous, especially the Bush administration official who urged oil drilling in ANWR because oil companies are so smart and know how to prevent problems to the environment.

Owl and the Sparrow – 2007.  (3.7) This impressive movie, written and directed by an American who was born in Saigon, was shot digitally on a micro budget in 15 days on location in Saigon, using an all Vietnamese cast and crew. It tells the story of three people, a ten year old orphan girl who runs away from a small factory where her uncle has put her to work somewhat oppressively, a disenchanted stewardess trapped in an affair with a married pilot and a shy zookeeper whose fiancée has broken their engagement. A fourth star is Saigon, which the director incorporates into the story almost documentary style. The young first time actress is a natural, and it is a naturalistic style that is used to tell the story. At first the close-up camerawork is a bit shaky, but then it settles down and the close-ups bring an intimacy which benefits the story. The characters are real people, not ideals, who are lonely with heart aches, but they maintain a degree of realistic optimism and are so appealing that you cannot help but wish them well. After the movie, watch the short featurette, and then if you really liked the movie, watch it again with the commentary from the director.

Colors Straight Up – 1997.  (3.6)  Netflix misled me on this documentary, making me think it would be another one of those films in which kids who are trouble makers join a new program and start spouting Shakespeare. In fact, there is only one line of Shakespeare, but a whole lot about what these kids from Watts feel about their lives. They have to be tough to survive, but they are so vulnerable and so in need of a loving hug. This Oscar nominee is bound to touch you strongly. Director Michele Ohayon is an excellent documentarian.

Martin Chuzzlewit – 1995.  (3.2) It is pretty hard to go wrong with a BBC miniseries on a Dickens piece, with lots of characters, all well acted, plenty of plot, well scripted, and all with the expected production values to put the viewer in the place and time.

Great World of Sound – 2006.  (3.1) I heard about this independent film from the Zoom In documentary I rated in my last posting. It got good reviews and the preview looked interesting. The story is about a young white man and older black man who start working for as talent scouts for a recording production scam company. The white man is naïve and the black man cynical, but they make an effective team and have an effect on each other. The people who audition were real wannabes and the movie had a feel of immediacy and some improvisation. Kene Holliday, who played the older man, is an absolute delight.

As It Is In Heaven – 2005.  (3.1) This Swedish Oscar nominee told of a renowned musical conductor who returned to his native village after retiring early for health reasons. The residents did not recall him from his early years in their village, because he has assumed a stage name. He was recruited to work with the church choir and the movie tells how that developed and affected the conductor and also many of the villagers, in particular a few of the women. This was a well done film but it covered so many characters and I wanted it to go deeper into some of them than time allowed. It could have done that as a TV miniseries.

Jesus of Montreal – 1989.  (2.9)  This French language film from Canada makes social commentary about religious hypocrisy by telling a story of an avant garde passion play put on by a group of young actors who want to go through with one final performance after the religious authorities reject this new telling of Christ’s death. The intensity of Jesus and the obstruction of his message by the authorities is well presented by this low budget production that holds its age well.

Christ Stopped at Eboli – 1979.  (2.9)  Another Italian film from Francesco Rosi, set in a peasant village in the hills of southern Italy at the time of Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopa, this social commentary on how the peasant needs are ignored by the authorities uses the vehicle of a political prisoner, a doctor from Turin who has been sent to the village under a form of arrest. The doctor experiences the peasant life first hand and comes to appreciate their simple approach to life and how the authorities exploit them.

Mandabi – 1968.  (2.9)  This movie from Senegal is like a trip back in time, because it was made by an African filmmaker with real people in the streets and buildings of the newly independent country. It tells the simple story of an illiterate man of modest means but strong Muslim faith, who receives a money order from a nephew in Paris, with the request that he use the money to pay some bills and make some other distributions and then keep some for himself, since the nephew says he knows his uncle is in need. Uncle then spends a couple weeks dealing with bureaucrats, con artists and spongers in a story that has some humor but more pathos.

I.O.U.S.A. – 2008.  (2.7)  This documentary about our Federal government’s dire fiscal situation was slickly done and had interviewees with good credibility, but somehow failed to come together for me. I think part of the problem was that it tried too hard to avoid appearing politically partisan and so did not contain any historical analysis and exploration of future ways to improve the current situation. Pointing out the seriousness of the problem and then simplifying it to a choice of either cutting expenditures or raising taxes is ultimately about as helpful as weight loss diets that say either burn more calories or take in fewer – they do not work in the long run.

Star Trek – 2009.  (2.4)  This movie is probably better than my rating, but I am not much for sci fi, especially with lots of action and special effects. Telling the back story of young Captain Kirk as a wise ass seemed a little irreverent to me. I don’t know how Trekkies took it. I got it because I thought someone else might want to watch it with me and because I thought I should give the genre another look, but nobody else was interested, and when I started playing it I realized I had already seen it when a friend brought it over.