A while back the predicted ratings in my Netflix queue
suddenly shot up to just about five stars for all movies. Calls to customer service
left the clear impression Netflix does not know why this happened and could
care less. They as much as admitted nobody pays attention to those stars
anyway, which I sort of confirmed by doing some Google searching to see who
else was having this problem. So I’ll rate Netflix streamers when I watch them,
just to be able to quickly tell at their site that I have watched it, but I
will ignore their predictions for me. The average user rating for a Netflix
movie may be of some use, but I will also compare that to the IMDB user rating.
Netflix stock is riding high now but analysts are wary of
its prospects, saying the overseas ventures will not pay off and it is only a
matter of time before streaming from competitors eats away at Netflix revenue.
From my experience there is not much reason to stay with Netflix out of loyalty
once the competition offers something better.
Parenthood (SeasonThree) – 2011 (3.3). Except for one clinker episode about a family caravan
to visit the elderly family matriarch, the series maintains the same qualities
that appealed in the second season. As in our own lives, some people come and
go, while others stay and grow. We recognize issues family members are facing
as we have either faced them ourselves or watched our own family members or
friends face them. As in real life, when we watch others we tend to empathize,
criticize or both. This series provides
real families a vehicle for talking about handling very personal family matters
in a less threatening way, because the characters are fictional.
Parenthood (SeasonFour) – 2012 (3.2). Aging of the young is so more evident than aging of the
old. Each passing year brings rapid biological growth for youngsters while grownups
tend to look pretty much the same from one year to the next. But young and old
alike face ongoing changes in relationships and problems encountered. All of this
continues to be well presented in this series, though this season seemed more
hurried than last, even more than the drop in the number of episodes by three.
The Paradise (SeasonTwo) – 2013 (3.1). This is one of those series that gets better in the
second year as the characters and plot lines develop. The early episodes are
definitely worthwhile, but unfortunately the writing falls flat in the final
episode where instead of a batch of realistic cliffhangers, we are given a
disappointing assemblage of quick plot developments intended to bring
everything to an acceptable conclusion. This abrupt ending was probably caused
by the expected or realized failure to secure commitment for a third season.
Aftershock – 2010
(3.1). The Tangshan earthquake in China in 1976 killed hundreds of thousands of
people. This Chinese drama uses special effects to portray the quick
devastation followed by the rescue and recovery efforts, but that part of the
story is only the lead into the main thrust of the script. The aftershock of
the title is not the second quake but rather the mental trauma the survivors
suffer the rest of their lives. A couple with six year old twins, a boy and a
girl, are the central characters and we follow them in the immediate aftermath
and then in stages over the next three decades as they cope with the terrible
memories while trying to live normal livers. This film effectively delivers the
pain to produce empathy.
Altman – 2014
(3.0). This made for TV documentary tells the story of Robert Altman’s life and
career as a movie director in a straightforward way with narration by his widow
and children, archival interviews with Altman himself and lots of footage from
his movies and the awards shows involved. After WWII service as a B-24 pilot,
Altman bluffed himself into a job making industrial films as on the job
training in film making. That led to TV directing and eventually movies, where his
adventurous and innovative spirit ran afoul of studio execs and turned him into
essentially an independent artist. Never repeating himself, he had hits and
misses, and leaves a body of work definitely worth revisiting, encouraged by
this movie.
Cold War Roadshow
– 2014 (2.9). In 1959 Nikita Khrushchev became the first Soviet leader to visit
the US. Using wonderful footage of his 10 day tour of the country together with
memoir style interviews from people such as his son and the granddaughter of
President Eisenhower, this documentary shows Nikita as a genuine people person
who was fascinated by his visit, while also being a very astute politician
sensitive about his lack of formal education and lowly roots. One has to wonder
what would have become of the cold war if the U-2 spy plane had not been shot
down over Russia causing Nikita to cancel the planned summit with Ike. Shown on
PBS American Experience.
Solitary Nation –
2014 (2.9). Experts now seem to agree that long term solitary confinement
causes makes inmates so mentally deranged that they become even more dangerous,
but as this documentary set in a Maine prison chillingly shows, even a well-meaning
warden trying to integrate solitaries back into the general prison population faces
an overwhelming challenge. Shown on PBS Frontline.
History of the Eagles
– 2013 (2.9). Everybody loves their music and this two part documentary
includes lots of it as we see the band’s performances through the decades and
learn the inside story of how they came together and evolved over time, with
hard work, creativity, hard living, congeniality and conflict. Everyone
involved in all phases is interviewed and lots of archival footage is mixed
with some clever reconstructions to keep this longish movie moving. The first part
ends with the split up in 19890. The second part picks up with the reunion in
1994. You can’t help but sing along.
Muscle Shoals –
2013 (2.9). For many decades this small town in the northwest corner of Alabama
has been a mecca for blues, rock and related recording artists seeking a
special studio in which to record. Studio founder Rick Hall narrates the
documentary story of his life and his studio and its spinoff rival, abetted by
some dramatic reconstructions, many interviews with artists looking back and
lots of archival footage featuring great music. So many famous artists have
recorded in this small town that a shorter list might include those who
haven’t.
Happiness – 2013
(2.8). The King decrees it is time for
electricity and television to come to the mountains of Bhutan and this
documentary intimately follows one family of villagers struggling with their
daily lives and going through the process of raising money, traveling to the
city to buy a set and then bringing it back to the village. Central to this
quiet story are the beauty of the mountain scenery and the life of a young boy
whose father has died and who is now experiencing strange new prospects, such
as a time in a monastery, first car trip to the city and finally the awe of
being able to sit in the glow of a broadcast of American wrestling.
Powerless – 2013
(2.7). Woefully inadequate and derelict power infrastructure in an extremely
poor city in India causes massive outages, while daring power thieves
dangerously tap lines to provide power to the poor. Meanwhile the power company
puts the first woman executive in charge and she pushes to criminally prosecute
everyone who uses power without paying. The lines for conflict are drawn, but
this documentary does not quite capture the full impact, partly because it
spends more time on the personalities than on the underlying issues.
Who Is Dayani Cristal?
– 2013 (2.6). A documentary with much interlaced reenactment, this movie
tells about a body of a man found in the Arizona desert. He appears to be
someone who entered the US illegally and he has a tattoo on his chest “Dayani
Cristal”. The documentary shows the medical examiner and embassy people in
Arizona who work on trying to identify the dead man. We learn from them that
their work has increased tenfold as increased border enforcement in California
and Texas has forced immigrants to use more dangerous desert routes. We also
begin to meet the family of the dead man and some living people who have made
the same journey. The reenactments portray what the man likely encountered on
his travel. The interlacing technique is more distracting than effective.
Burn – 2012
(2.6). Documentary film makers followed some Detroit firefighters for a year to
make this movie but he result is not particularly organized and does not seem
to have any editorial intent. The helmet cam shots are exciting and the stories
of the personal lives of a 30 year veteran about to retire and a younger man
permanently disabled in a fire fight are engaging, but the film includes no introspective
dialogues among the fire fighters themselves or with community members whom
they protect. We see a new fire commissioner come in but get little feel for
the context of the fire department in the politics surrounding this terribly
damaged city.
Barbara – 2012
(2.3). East Germany in 1980 was very bleak and this German drama about a
medical doctor who was banished to a hinterland clinic because she had asked to
be allowed to leave the country certainly captures that bleakness. The problem
is the script is also bleak and the characters fit in perfectly.
The movies on this list streamed via Netflix were (though
some of the streaming rights may now have expired):
Parenthood (Season Three)
Parenthood (Season Four)
Aftershock
Altman
History of the Eagles
Muscle Shoals
Who Is Dayani Cristal?
Burn
Barbara
