All Creatures Great and Small(Season Two) – 2021 (3.0). This typically all around high quality series continues with the story arc moving forward for the central characters and the season ends with what looks to be the brink of WWII.
Apart – 2021 (3.0). Filmed over three and a half years and shown on PBS Independent Lens, this documentary by Jennifer Redfearn follows three women inmates in an Ohio prison aas they work to prepare themselves for life after prison. The three woman were each addicted to drugs, one as a result of pain medication for injuries from an accident, and the other two by virtue of having grown up in families of addicts and pushers. The movie intimately follows the women and includes some footage of their supportive family members on the outside. All the women are mother of young children and long to be reunited with them. The film is so well done that it is a relief not to have any interviews with academics and other “experts” pontificating. In this production, the women are fully capable of speaking for themselves.
Around the World in 80 Days – 2021 (2.9). Surprising pleasant is this adaptation balancing humor and drama and walking a good line between realism and comic book. The production values are high and blend actual sets with cgi appropriately. The casting of the co-leads Miss Fix and Passepartout works well even with Passepartout now being black.
Touch the Light – 2016 (2.9). Known also by its Spanish title Tocando La Luz, this Jennifer Redfearn documentary follows three blind women in Cuba as they contend with their blindness while striving to live the fullest life attainable. This movie style was also used effectively by Redfearn in her later film “Apart” which followed three female prison inmates on their return to society. This movie was streamed via Kanopy through the public library.
The Wind Rises – 2014 (2.9). The gorgeous animation art of Studio Ghibli and direction by Hayako Miyazaki may have been brought to the screen for the last time in this story of the man who designed Japanese fighter planes for WWII. The hero is followed intimately as hi creative drive blossoms and he reunites with the woman who is the love of his life. The War itself is barely a minor character even as we occasionally see some of its aftermath such as a burning Tokyo. The love story, though relegated to second status, is surprisingly touching.
American Reckoning – 2021 (2.8). Shown on PBS Frontline, this documentary tells the story of an overlooked time in Natchez Mississippi when civil rights workers were physically menaced by the local white supremacists, but a local group of armed black men, calling themselves the Deacons for Defense and Justice, provided protection for black activists. An NAACP led boycott of local businesses eventually became successful, but the murder of a local back man was never solved. The movie has interviews with the surviving siblings of the murder victim and also uses lots of archival footage from the Natchez of that time.
Marian Anderson: The Whole World inHer Hands – 2021 (2.8). American Masters broadcast this comprehensive biographical documentary on PBS. Archival footage and interviews are the basis and the emphasis is on Anderson while still touching appropriately on the racial context of her life and times.
Roma – 2018 (2.8). Alfonso Cuaron wrote and directed this homage to his growing up middle class in Mexico City with a beloved indigenous servant nanny. Watching the DVD special features reveals it was a cathartic experience for him in some ways. He also put his heart and soul into getting the exact right look and feel of the 1970s times. The resulting directorial Oscar may have been well deserved for all the hard work. The special features also include a documentary about the efforts Cuaron expended to take the movie on a full Mexican tour including to plcs where indigenous people do not have cinemas. But ultimately the film lacks much character driven drama, except for the character of the nanny, that would help the audience care about the people depicted and learn about their lives and times.
Sanditon (Season One) - 2019 (2.8). Confession: Though watched in 2020, this first series season got overlooked in rating and writing, so what is written here is based on a revisit of episode summaries at IMDB and conjecture that it was good enough to watch all episodes but not exciting enough to remember to rate. The IMDB visit vaguely refreshed memory but maybe a rehash at beginning of season two will help more and seeing the characters again in season two will help even more. Promise to self: rate and write up season two promptly.
Sun Come Up – 2011 (2.8). This early short documentary by Jennifer Redfearn follows some residents of the Cateret Islands of Papua New Guinea as they embark on a journey and tour of Bouganville Island in search of a community that will welcome them and give then land to replace their home island which is succumbing to sea level rise. This early movie shows the effective style of Redfearn in directly and intimately following the subject people of her film. This movie was streamed via Kanopy through the public library.
When Calls the Heart (Season One) – 2014 (2.8). Hokey is expected from Hallmark via Michael Landon Jr and so is delivered in this series about an upper crust young schoolmarm sent to a fictional coal mining company town in the Canadian Pacific Northwest of 1910, shortly after a mine tragedy has killed over forty miners. The time and place are different but the labor and management dynamics familiar enough to modern times that the basics are present to hold attention. The schoolmarm and the young Mountie dejected by his rural assignment are obviously going to hook up, though it takes to the last episode of the season for the first kiss (well this is a Hallmark). Characters and problems rush through the episodes anthology fashion, but the schoolmarm, Mountie and noble miner widow [played by Lori Loughlin who would a few years later do a two month prison stint as part of Operation Varsity Blues and be dropped from the series] remain central. The series is still going, so coming in eight years late and getting DVDs from the library will allow catch up as long as interest does not wane.
When Calls the Heart (Season Two) – 2015 (2.8). The mine closes and a dynamic good guy comes to town and replaces the mine with a sawmill. Modernity starts to come to town with some automobiles and electricity. Most characters from season one remain and are developed further while many new characters join the cast. We now sometimes go to the big city where the schoolmarm stays at her palatial family home where the Mountie feels out of place. Character development includes some shading of people to see there is more depth. We'll see what happens in season three which is ready to put in the DVD player.
When Calls the Heart (Season Three) – 2016 (2.8). Fairly hokey and a fair bit religious, the appeal of this series is that good usually wins out even as some tragedies occur, and people grow as individuals and as part of a community. New characters and story lines get sprinkled in even as the central characters continue their story arc. Checking on some of the actors at IMDB gives a hint of what is to come in that the list of cast members also includes the number of episodes in which they appear. Curiosity about how they get written out is one of a few reasons to continue catching up on the seasons via DVD.
When Calls the Heart (Season Four) – 2017 (2.8). Apparently lack of ethnic diversity on the screen prompted some attention, because the first episode of this season had a middle age black character who actually spoke a few lines, but after that diversity meant only an occasional dark skin person in the background of a gathering and more diverse people walking the streets. There was one scene in which one of the walking women of color seemed to be moving extra slowly as if to maximize her cameo. There is also a male extra who could either be Asian or First People or a mix. As for character and content, arcs continue and new characters show up including new students, though none of color. The Loughlin character becomes mayor and plays a theme of giving people the benefit of the doubt and eligible for second chances [ironic, since in a couple years Hallmark will decide not to follow suit with Loughlin]. Some students and their parent have secrets and problems, but the capable schoolmarm usually resolves them. She even solves a problem which put her job in jeopardy. But she also is distraught as her love interest takes a dangerous temporary assignment elsewhere.
Big Hero 6 -2014 (2.7). An enticing preview led to a DVD viewing of this Disney animated super hero tale. The first half had heart as the real people nerds showed their creativity, but then it became an action superhero genre as the fight against the villain consumed the last half of the film. For someone not enamored of the genre it was at least a near miss.
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