Even Fewer Changes

Anna chuckled at my less than extensive blog changes mentioned in my last post. They definitely were minor, and now I am already backing away from a couple of them, having decided there is no reason to rush to stream a movie from Netflix just because instant viewing is about to become unavailable, nor is there a need to get a movie from the library just because only one copy is left, but I can still have Netflix mail me a copy. So that leaves the biggest change dumping the marquee graphic in favor of a DVD box. Admittedly this is not very creative, but on my previous Sense from Seattle blog, I often spent more time searching for the best graphic than I did writing the article.

Probably the biggest change since I started this blog in November 2009 is the morphing from articles on specific aspects of movies to just a listing of what movies and shows I have been watching and how I rate them. Sometimes a movie rating includes a mention of a more general aspect of movies, and often John in his comments does the same. I suppose we could try to do a little more of that.

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

Emma – 2009 (3.5). We watched this Jane Austen story on TV last year and then decided to watch it again on DVD, because we were not sure that we had seen it. This British production is so typically well done that, even though we recognized it as soon as we started the DVD, we were quite happy to watch it again and enjoy it once more. We have seen a couple renditions of this tale and are now quite familiar with the characters and the story lines. It seems we may be ready now to go to the source – and read the novel.

Amreeka – 2009 (3.3) Streamed. Cherien Dabis, a young American woman writer and director of Palestinian heritage, did an impressive job with this, her first movie, about a well-educated, overweight Palestinian divorcee who comes to Illinois with her 16 year old son during the early stages of the American invasion of Iraq. They stay with her sister and her Arab physician husband and daughters, and all of them encounter the prejudice that was rampant at that time. The divorcee, very well played by Nisreen Faour, is the heart of the story, drawing on her inner strength to try to meet the challenges she encounters. The film, is realistic about the persistence of the problems, but still projects a genuine hopefulness.

The Duchess of Duke Street (Season One)– 1976 (3.3). This BBC series is based on a true story of a maid who rose to become an accomplished chef and collateral member of high society, as proprietress of a fashionable London hotel. It covers the same time period (first third or so of the 20th Century) and class differences as Upstairs, Downstairs, but it concentrates heavily on the heroine and her rise to success, especially in the first few episodes,whereas Upstairs, Downstairs covers an ensemble of characters and goes much more deeply into the class structure and how it plays out in the lives of the characters. Later episodes introduce and develop the supporting players better and then include some episodes concentrating on guest characters, which I think detracts from time that could be spent getting to know the lead and supporting characters in greater depth. But still, I found myself hooked and looking forward to seeing the lives of the regular characters play out over the series. Though not wide screen, this colorful series has admirable production values and has held up well over time.

Starting out in the Evening – 2007 (3.2) Streamed. This review by member Frank W. at Netflix is right on the mark, except I did not think the script was that dull, so I am quoting it here. “Excellent performances by Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose and Lili Taylor enliven a rather dull but well-written script about a young graduate student who believes her master's thesis can resurrect the career of an aging author. A bit pretentious and very, very "art-house", but if you can stick with it, it's actually quite rewarding. Character and dialogue driven, so no action but plenty of drama. The subject matter will be better suited for book-hounds, authors and literary types, but lovers of well-crafted drama will certainly find it interesting too.” I would add that the movie covers creativity in fiction writing, the role of the personal life of the writer and how certain fiction books can influence our lives; and all this can also apply to movies and film makers.

Tumbleweeds – 1999 (3.1). British actress Janet McTeer gives an Oscar nominated performance in this movie, playing a flirty marginally employed single mom from North Carolina, whose romances quickly turn sour causing her to flee with her pre-teen daughter. We don’t really learn much about the character, except that she joyfully masks her hurts and really loves her daughter, on whom the peripatetic life has taken a toll. Kimberly J. Brown does a very good job in the daughter role, but her filmography since this picture is so poor, she should look for a better agent. McTeer, who lost the Oscar to Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry, is an excellent actress who also seems underutilized. Check her out in Songcatcher, a sleeper film from 2000.

The Real Buddy Holly Story – 1987. (3.1). Buddy Holly and the Crickets were a great part of the rock and roll scene during my high school years and I loved all their songs. Buddy was killed in a plane crash in 1959, the year I graduated from high school. He was just 22, only five years older than me. This documentary was produced as a reaction to the inaccuracies in the 1979 Gary Busey biopic. It benefits by some archival footage and by interviews with Buddy’s two brothers and with the three other members of the band and some of the record producers who were involved in Buddy’s short career. The interviews of admiration expression by a few other artists of the time, including Paul McCartney, do not add much. Netflix does not have this, but my public library had one DVD.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers – 2007 (3.0) Streamed. Chinese retiree comes to Spokane to get to know his divorced daughter with whom he had never bonded, and he has to deal with the culture shock of America and the coldness of his daughter to him as he tries so belatedly to converse with her. Director Wayne Wang’s movie holds our interest throughout as we watch the painful family process develop, relieved by humor in the old man’s lonely encounters with other people. We never get the full story but we do come to better understand the characters.

Down in the Delta – 1998 (2.7). First timer Maya Angelou did a good job directing this earnest story about an alcoholic single mother (well played as usual by Alfre Woodard) from Chicago who reluctantly takes her two kids to Mississippi to spend the summer with her uncle. The Chicago ghetto scenes were passable and the small town Mississippi scenes seemed authentic, but the behavioral turnaround of Alfre, as written, did not feel quite real, and her son, about 12, always seemed too wholesome for the story. The uncle (Al Freeman Jr.) was well written and played, as was his wife with serious Alzheimer’s, played by Esther Rolle. The autistic young daughter role was basically just annoying. If you try this film, stay with it to the end to get the full story on the family roots.

Z – 1969 (2.7). This French movie about the 1963 assassination of a popular opposition party Greek legislator by the repressively anti-communist government of Greece was such a politically dangerous subject at the time that the film had to be made in Algeria. The low budget of the film shows and this true story is probably not of much current interest outside of Greece.

The Usual Suspects – 1995 (2.4). Movies about cocky professional criminals killing lots of less clever criminals, all overshadowed by a mysterious bogey man who preys on such characters are not high on my list. For a supposedly intricately plotted Oscar winning script, the story was actually pretty uninspired – and Kevin Spacey seemed to be sleepwalking through his part.

Despicable Me – 2010 (2.2). For almost the first half of this animated movie little kids would not have gotten the jokes and probably would be bored and restless. I got the jokes but did not find them funny, and I was bored and restless. The movie improved a little after the hero (villain) got matched up with the little orphan girls, and any little kids still watching would probably stay to the end. I stayed, but did not find enough to recommend this film or say I liked it.

Heavens Fall – 2006 (2.0) Streamed. It’s hard to believe someone could write and direct a dud movie based on a case as sensational as the Scottsboro Nine rape trials, but Terry Green has managed to do it with this low budget film. Neither the period of the Great Depression nor the locale in Alabama seem to have any authenticity as portrayed, the script is muddled, all the characters are lifeless and the trial portrayal is a technical disgrace. I squeezed this viewing in because it was the last day of availability at Netflix. I’ll be more careful next time. To really appreciate this case, get the excellent documentary, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy.