Well into spring, the PBS shows wind down their seasons
providing more time the glean Netflix and to resurrect check outs from the library.
This is probably a good time to go over all my waiting lists and build up
queues for summer watching.
Call the Midwife (Season Five) – 2016 (3.2). The series enters 1961 and encounters the
impact of new drugs on pregnancy, from Thalidomide to birth control pills.
Changing times and evolving characters are nicely interwoven and portrayed with
typically high British TV standards. By now we have become emotionally involved
in our relationship with all the cast, but usually with personal favorites. A
sixth season is on its way and if the series stays true to itself there is no
reason it cannot go on for many more.
The Galapagos Affair:Satan Came to Eden – 2013 (3.0). In 1929 a German couple left their
respective spouses and settled on a small Galapagos Island. Over the next few
years a few others followed. Typical of such back to nature adventures,
paradise did not ensue. This pleasantly engaging documentary uses a surprising
amount of archival footage from the settlers, along with dramatic readings from
their writings and interviews with living descendants and a few historians of
the history of humans on those islands. The resulting story is told in a well
edited chronology with conflicting points of view on what were thee relations
between the various inhabitants and what ultimately happened to them.
Tangerines -2013
(3.0). A grandfatherly Estonian living in a Russian Georgia village of
tangerine orchards is caught in the crossfire of the early 1990s civil war and
takes in two wounded combatants hostile to each other, A Georgian and a Chechnya
mercenary. His even handed treatment of the men gains their respect and
provides pause for reflection on territorial disputes and the resulting wars. A
neighbor with a tangerine crop in need of harvest pickers rounds out the small
cast. Good acting, particularly by the grandfather, evocative cinematography
and economical writing and direction led the movie to nominations for best
foreign film at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
Journey of Hope –
1990 (3.0). This German Oscar winning drama about a poor Turkish farmer and his
wife paying traffickers to get them to Switzerland in the hopes of earning
money to bring back home will probably always be a timely subject. The actors
appear to be real people and the filming of their journey has a documentary
feel of authenticity. Three kinds of people are encountered on the journey:
good ones who try sympathetically to help; bad ones who seek to cheat; and the
authorities who try to humanely apply the immigration laws. American viewers
may be inclined to feel the journey is too risky, but if our ancestors had not ventured
out, we would not be Americans.
The Return – 2016
(2.9). In 1994 California passed a "Three Strikes" law mandating life
imprisonment terms. By 2012 such laws were acknowledged to be overkill in many
cases and voters then passed by 70% a measure to allow such sentences to be
reviewed by judges to determine if the prisoner should be released as posing no
threat to public safety. This sensitive documentary follows two released men as
they cope with making the adjustment to life after prison. The technique used
is quiet observation of the men, their families and the attorneys and other
volunteers who work with them. Periodic titles provide information on the
status at various points in the months the men were observed. There is no
preaching or expert commentary, other than what is said by the attorneys in the
course of their work.
Brothers In War
– 2014 (2.9). In 1967 the last company of drafted American combat soldiers who
had trained together was sent to Vietnam for one year. After that, units in
Vietnam were supplemented with individual replacements as casualties were
incurred. Surviving members of the original company, including the commander
and some unit leaders, were interviewed for this documentary. Some home movies
and a few audio tapes were also incorporated. The chronicling of the one year
tour using memories of the men and footage from the time and place begin to
give a feeling of the fear and resilience of these men who survived patrols in
the Mekong Delta in which 26 of the original men were killed and over 100 were
wounded.
Mr. Selfridge (SeasonFour) – 2016 (2.8). The series concludes at the time of the 20th
anniversary of the store, and this final season emphasizes how Harry's gambling
and womanizing bring him down, ultimately being broke and squeezed out of the
store he founded. It all feels a bit rushed, as if the writers knew the plots
needed to build and conclude swiftly. Some of the supporting characters have
more nuanced dramas in their lives but Harry and his made up love interest Mae
are the main presentation. Viewers probably feel like the Board of Directors –
it was time for Harry to go.
My Nazi Legacy –
2015 (2.8). Two men born in 1939 whose fathers were Nazi commanders in occupied
Poland in WWII have a different view on the culpability of their father in this
documentary. One has bad memories of his early childhood and agrees his father
deserved the execution he received at Nuremburg. The other has good childhood
memories and cannot be convinced to believe his father, who died a refugee in
the Vatican where he fled to avoid prosecution, was in any way to blame for the
atrocities committed under his command. A Jewish international activist
attorney whose family was almost entirely annihilated under the command of the
two fathers joins with the man who accepts the truth of the villainy of his
father in trying to convince the other son. But the effort fails and the truth
accepter concludes the truth denier is in fact a modern day Nazi. He frustrated
attorney is not quite sure of that.
Winter on Fire –
2015 (2.8). When Ukrainians elected a leader who told them he was going to take
the country into the EU, the people were delighted. But when he reneged and
acted like a Russian puppet, they took to the streets, especially the young
people. The protests were met with violent response by the government and when
young people were injured the elders and ecumenical church leaders joined them
in support. The violence continued until finally the leader fled into exile in
Russia. This story is told in a documentary using interviews with protestors
and lots of footage shot during the months of protest. There is no historical
analysis or expert opinion, just film of what happened on the ground combined
with protestor viewpoints.
You've Been Trumped
– 2011 (2.7). Watching this documentary about the scoundrel Donald Trump scamming
the Scottish powers into letting him ruin a wondrous sand dune treasure to
build a golf course for the rich and then bullying local Scot farmers in an
attempt to get their homes removed as eyesores is like seeing a preview of his disgusting
2016 US Presidential run. The journalist who made the film lives only 40 miles
from the dunes and he could not believe the favorable press Trump was receiving
so he went to see for himself and tells the story from the point of view of the
little people Trump scornfully wants to trample. The movie does not have extra
content that would have made it better, because potential sources of financing
for the cost of including such material were afraid of being sued by Trump.
Funds were raised by the filmmaker mortgaging his own home.
Los Angeles Plays Itself – 2003 (2.7). This documentary is essentially a three hour lecture
class about how Los Angeles has been used in numerous movies. The narration
includes comments on movie making in general but most of the attention is put on
specific locations in the city that have been part of many movies through the
years. The editor has compiled great clips to illustrate the somewhat
professorial narration, all of which would certainly be of much greater
interest to a Los Angelino.
Time Out – 2001
(2.7). A Frenchman fired from his job wanders around trying to look and act
like the executive he imagines himself to be, but keeps his unemployment a
secret. Soon he starts bilking family and friends to raise money which leads
him down a dangerous path. This French movie is slow and overlong, though
well-acted and with some saving cinematography.
The Man Whose Mind Exploded – 2012 (2.4). Watched at Netflix on a bored whim, this documentary
was poorly made and was about an eccentric and unappealing man, so it ended up
being excluded by oversight from the previous blog list. My two stars rating at
Netflix with a benefit of the doubt produces a 2.4 here. Don't bother watching
it.
The movies on this list streamed via Netflix were (though
some of the streaming rights may now have expired):
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden
Journey of Hope
Band of Brothers
Winter on Fire
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Time Out
The Man Whose Mind Exploded
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