The title describes the top three on this list.
Here is what I have watched since I posted my last list. The
ratings I give are on my own number system which is explained at the link on
the sidebar. Clicking on a movie title will open a new browser tab with the
IMDb page for the movie.
Parenthood (SeasonOne) – 2010 (3.2). There may be some laughs in this series, but it is
actually a pretty good and realistic drama about a couple wed 46 years, and their
four children and their families. Such extended families offer multiple
relationships to explore and various stages of life’s journey through the years
to encounter and the scripts intelligently address some of them. After a few
episodes to get to know the characters, viewer appreciation increases as we see
the people become more familiar and believable. There is plenty of drama as in
all families without the farfetched fabrications too many series are quick to
foist on the audience.
Chasing Ice –
2012 (3.1). Environmental photographer James Balog leads a team tracking the
recession of glaciers in Iceland, Greenland, Alaska and Montana in this eerily
beautiful documentary. Time lapse photography was employed over several years
to show the amazingly rapid ongoing demise of these enormous warehouses of ice.
The movie shows how the team developed and deployed the cameras and how James
is challenged by repeated injuries to his knees. Also included are spectacular
movies of huge ice “calves breaking off and falling into the sea. There is not
a lot of science or politics here, just wonderful images of glacial reality.
Crime after Crime
– 2011 (3.1). The number of women in prison has skyrocketed in recent decades
and many female inmates have been abuse victims. Sometimes an action they have
taken against the abuser is what has sent them to prison. In this effective
documentary, two volunteer attorneys embark on an effort to use a unique new
California law to present previously inadmissible evidence of the abuse a woman
suffered at the hands of the man whose killing she pleaded guilty to being
involved with, in hopes of gaining her release after serving 20 years of a 25
year to life sentence. The lawyers did not know how many years they would have
to work and with what frustration. The movie covers some of the legal aspects
and maneuverings, but is most effective in presenting the life and personal
journey of Debbie Peagler and how her attorneys and she became so personally
bonded.
Greenwich Village:Music that Defined a Generation – 2012 (2.8). There is not much apparent
organization or any particular messages in this pleasant documentary, but it
contains lots of archival footage of 1960s folk singers interspersed with
present day interviews of the performers. It is always fun to juxtapose now and
then images and the music is still appealing.
Treme (Season
Four) – 2013 (2.7). With only five episodes, the final season seems like maybe
the plug got pulled. Feeling like an extension of the previous season, the show
continues to jump around through the characters although knowing it was ending,
there is a bit of story arc resolution. There is still plenty of eclectic music
and lots of food and other New Orleans flavor.
Getting Back toAbnormal – 2012 (2.7). In the post-Katrina
years, New Orleans gets some white gentrification in this documentary which
focuses on a young white city council member who is challenged by a young black
minister in her re-election campaign. The central issue is whether she is a
racist or a sincere friend of the racially mixed community. The only actual
issue that gets attention is the tearing down of a long time black housing
project and its replacement with an upscale mixed use development, but we are
never given either side of the debate in any depth. The personality and
character of the council woman get more attention than the City itself.
From Time to Time
– 2009 (2.7). The actors and production values are in place in this Brit tale
in which a boy visiting an ancestral property during WWII encounters ghosts of
residents from the past, but the script starts too talkative, the characters
whether dead or alive never seem real or hold appeal, and the story is too
farfetched and predictable.
Mansfield Park –
1983 (2.7). Dated and theatrical in presentation, this six part miniseries from
the BBC probably does justice to the Austen classic, but seems a bit too talky
and drawn out.
Rid of Me -2011
(2.6). A mousey California girl returns to Oregon with her new husband who is
re-uniting with the guys and gals he hung out with in his college days. Problem
is that the mouse does not fit in and is replaced by the former college
sweetheart. On the rebound, the mousse tries to reinvent herself first as a
repulsive goth and then as a toned down free spirit. Sincere and somewhat
fresh, this slightly amateurish indie black comedy has a few good moments and
avoids what could have been some really bad ones.
The Book Thief –
2013 (2.4). The book on which this movie is based may be very good, with many
storylines and characters interweaving around WWII Germany, but it does not
come across in this movie dramatization. The script seems to pick excerpts of
the stories and show snippets of them without making connections or
interweaving. Whenever anything approaching real drama comes along, it quickly
disappears. Characters at one time seem like they are important and then simply
vanish from the movie. Relationships experience no challenges or changes that
come across as real to the viewer. In spite of some obligatory scenes of mean
Nazis, there is no feeling of immersive reality about anything in this film.
Her – 2013 (2.3).
A boring nerd’s wife is dumping him and he falls in love with his new
personalized computer operating system but eventually realizes the female
sounding system is not actually real. It does not sound a likely subject for a
movie, yet this film won the Oscar for best original screenplay. Supposedly a
romantic sci-fi drama, it is best classified as a long bore. Ironic criticism
and social commentary about how people are personally involved with electronic
media while ignoring the real people surrounding them are proper goals for a
movie, but to be effective a film has to hold attention and create empathy for
the characters. As for futuristic visions, what I saw in this movie is actually
what I often see around me today. Figuring it was going to be a little weird, I
watched the first 15 minutes with all the sound except dialogue [an HDMI
glitch] and thought this is weird and stupid and that people who paid to see
this in a theater were probably stomping and hissing. After correcting the
glitch and watching with dialogue, I think it was better the first way – or at
least not as bad. But I did get a huge laugh at being stupid enough to think
this movie was as stupid as I thought it was.
The movies on this list streamed via Netflix were (though
some of the streaming rights may now have expired):
Parenthood
Chasing Ice
Crime after Crime
Greenwich Village: Music that Defined a Generation
From Time to Time
Mansfield Park
Rid of Me
