Juiced Up

This month via Netflix streaming I finished watching an old BBC series and viewed several movies with streaming rights about to expire. A couple documentaries on healthy eating advocated drinking home juiced vegetables and were effective enough to get us to incorporate green drinks into our daily regimen.

Some of the movies that were up for various Oscars this month have been added to my library hold list, but it may be a few months before they show up and get listed here.

One of my two or so readers [Hi Shirley] wondered how she could search for a review I might have written on a particular movie. The way to do it is to use the search box at the top left of the blog web page (the blank that has the magnifying glass). Put the title in quotes, then click on the magnifying glass and it should take you to a web page list which includes the movie review, and maybe also some pages where the movie is otherwise mentioned by name. As with any search box, if the title is also a generic phrase, you may get some hits where the phrase is used without it being a movie title.

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].  

Downton Abbey (Season Three) – 2012 (3.5). The classy BBC soap opera continues the earlier story lines and adds some new ones, maintaining its high quality, but perhaps with a feeling toward season’s end that too many big developments are happening too fast. A story line about economic troubles that threaten the Abbey adds an effective new dimension. Brash American mother-in-law Shirley MacLaine visits in the opening episode but thankfully does not return. 

The Wildest Dream – 2010 (2.9). This nicely paced documentary from National Geographic Entertainment integrates the story of mountaineer George Mallory, who died near the top of Mount Everest in 1924, with the story of the man who found his body 75 years later and then decided to try to figure out whether Mallory could have actually been the first man to reach the summit and then died on his way down. A new expedition is mounted to recreate the equipment from 1924 and see if the final assault could have been accomplished with that gear. The integration of close up filming of the modern quest with vintage footage of the 1924 expedition is very effective.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead – 2009 (2.9). This entertaining documentary first tells the story of very successful Australian entrepreneur whose dietary and lifestyle abuses resulted in him becoming extremely obese and caused or contributed to a malfunctioning of his auto immune system. He uses his own freshly juiced vegetable drinks while he conducts man in the street interviews with people about their food and weight issues, first for a month in NYC and then for another month traveling around the USA. The last half of the film shows how some of the people he met gave the juice regimen a try and what results they achieved. Limited use of talking heads, cutely relevant animation, a genuinely engaging Aussie and some appealing protégés make for an uplifting movie.

Hungry for Change – 2012 (2.8). There is plenty of good information from nutritional experts in this documentary about our overly processed food supply and the medical conditions we suffer from eating it. The most interesting interviews are with people who had medical conditions, particularly morbid obesity, and then achieved a healthy state by dietary and lifestyle changes. At times there seemed to be too many talking heads saying pretty much the same thing.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home – 2011 (2.8). This dramedy had a script that was different enough to hold audience attention as we followed one day two adult brothers who don’t get along and their widowed mother who wonders what is going to happen in the rest of her life and the lives of her sons. Pat, the oldest son, has a disintegrating marriage, while Jeff, the pot smoker, feels his destiny is calling, but he doesn’t know for what. Sincere with a brash gentleness, it ends with some effective emotion.

Poldark (Season One) – 1975 (2.8). This old BBC series has an interesting time and place, Cornwall after the American Revolution, but it is quite dated with low production values, soap opera theme music, theatrical acting and melodramatic scripts. That said, it does offer authentic scenery, quality performances and interesting characters struggling with societal issues that were part of the reason for the Revolution. There is a second season, dealing with the impact of the French Revolution.

J. Edgar – 2011 (2.4). The underlying reason for making this movie is not clear from watching it. The overlong script jumps around in time and attention between the growth of the FBI, Hoover’s personal life and his paranoid obsession that he had to be the savior of America by corruptly becoming the most powerful man in the country. Interweaving the stories of his intense relationship with his mother, his apparently frustrated homosexuality and his empire building at the Bureau was never effectively accomplished. The unrealistically dark low key lighting in the interior scenes may have been intended to create some feeling of time past, but was instead just annoying. If intended as a biopic, some scenes of Hoover’s early family life and schooling would have been helpful, and showing how a man trained in the law was driven to push law enforcement to use scientific methods would have been enlightening. To make a good drama about the abuses of power by Hoover, we should have been shown one or more adversaries and critics trying to rein him in or end his regime, rather than merely being given the one scene of a Senate hearing where he is embarrassed for his publicity seeking. Di Caprio did a good job playing a man with a rather flat personality. Tolson’s makeup in old age looked like a cheap mask.

Me and Orson Welles – 2008 (2.4). Full of Broadway theater name dropping from the late 1930s, this drama sports high production values and decent acting but suffers from a slow starting script that doesn’t have much to deliver when it finally starts to get going a little, right before the end. A way too old looking high school student (and no, making his classmates look as old as him does not solve the problem) easily gets a role in a new play adaptation of Julius Caesar that Orson is debuting on Broadway. Depression, what Depression? We know nothing about this kid other than his wide eyed ambition and at the end he has only learned what everyone was saying from the start – Orson is a pompous ass who sleeps with all the attractive women.

Nothing But the Truth – 2008 (2.4). Inspired by the Valerie Plame outing as a covert CIA agent, this drama tells of newspaperwoman who writes an agent outing story given her by a source and corroborated by two other sources, none of whom she will reveal to a special prosecutor, who refuses to take no for an answer. Though some serious questions are touched on in this movie, the script is muddled as to what the news story actually said and why it was newsworthy beyond just outing an agent. There were implications regarding a report the agent wrote and op-ed pieces her husband published criticizing the Presidential administration, but they were never developed in any way that made sense.

The Homecoming -1973 (2.2). I streamed this TV version of the Pinter play because the Netflix rights were about to expire, and honestly I snoozed through a lot of it. Some of it was absurdly funny. I know there is supposed to be meaningful symbolism and deep meaning behind this. But it is just not my cup of tea.

Ho Hum

As this short and uninspiring list shows, I have not been watching much to write about lately. Not going to movies in theaters, renting them from kiosks or getting them in the mail from Netflix does not leave many sources. Netflix streaming and DVDs from the library offer much to choose from and I have about 40 in the Flix queue and another 230 on a list to get from the library someday, but I have just not been inspired to sit down and watch. Because it has been over a month since the last list posting, this short one is offered. At least it will provide a new place for John to comment about what he has been seeing.

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].

Modern Family (Season Three) – 2011 (3.1). As regular viewers have learned to know the characters more intimately, it is fun to watch them encounter new problems with the vestiges of the old ones. The wise choices made in the second year to not distract with guest stars and to keep the concentration on the central characters and their interactions continues into the third year and the scripts always feel fresh and continue to be quite funny.

Come Back, Little Sheba – 1952 (3.0). Shirley Booth is one of the few actors who won the best actress Tony, Oscar and Emmy. She only made five movies, and Sheba was the first, for which she repeated her stage performance and won the Oscar, perfectly capturing the middle aged Lola character, both pathetic and sympathetic. The movie is by nature talkative, making the direction a bit static, but overall it does not feel claustrophobic and holds its age well. The opening music over the credits is annoying, but the movie itself is devoid of obnoxious music because of the prevalence of dialogue and the integration of radio music into the script. The changing times have made the mannerisms seem dated, which they are, but the problems they encountered are still here.

The Abolitionists – 2012 (2.8). From PBS American Experience, this three part documentary covers the abolitionist movement to end slavery in the United States. Using dramatic reenactments and interviews with historians, the focus is on the leaders of the movement, primarily William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass and the ultimate affect they had on President Lincoln after decades of dedicated work. It is hard to avoid the dreaded “What If?” historical inquiry as to how the slavery, Civil War and Lincoln might have turned out significantly different but for Garrison and Douglass.

Bernie – 2011 (2.8). Jack Black gives a fun Golden Globe nominated performance as a dedicated Texas funeral director who becomes involved with an ornery but wealthy widow in this droll drama based on a true story. The interspersed interviews with local residents reveal the knowledge writer and director Richard Linklater has of his native Texas. The ultimately unsettling involvement of the criminal justice system in the story seems to call out for a documentary detailing that aspect.

My Fake Fiancé – 2009 (2.8). This ABC TV romantic comedy was better than expected thanks to good chemistry between the leads (who are also in an ABC situation comedy series, Melissa and Joey) and a script that had some tersely satisfactory exposition of why these two people had missed the love boat to marriage and were desperate enough to concoct a phony engagement and schedule their marriage in order to get the gifts. An early developing subplot about a loan shark and his goons is a weak cartoonish story line but thankfully it is not too disruptive if you prefer to ignore it.

Big Love (Season One) – 2006 DNF. A couple episodes of the first season of this HBO drama series about a modern day Utah polygamist and his three wives and seven children failed to encourage me to keep watching, especially knowing it goes on for five seasons. I found the characters and their beliefs and problems unappealing.

Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life – 1983 DNF. This was funny in 1983, if it was your kind of humor and if you were in the right mood. Trying it 30 years later, possibly in the right mood and open to the type of humor, after the first couple of enumerated parts, it was not funny enough to keep watching.

New Year and Some Updates

Movies and shows I watched in 2012, as well as some older ones I rated from memory have been added to the lists that are linked in the sidebar. They are listed both alphabetically and by rating. The explanation of my ratings method has also been updated and can be linked from the sidebar. You will note I have also added links to the PC World article on Power Tools to make Netflix more searchable and to my own article on Netflix Power Tools.

In the last half of 2012, I have been using the King County Library for DVDs that are not available on Netflix streaming. I dropped Netflix by mail back in 2011. Between the Library, Netflix streaming and some PBS TV, I am finding enough shows to fill my viewing time.

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].

Game of Thrones (Season One) – 2011 (3.1). Based on a series of fantasy novels, this HBO series is set in a mythical realm of seven kingdoms in a medieval age and tells the intertwining stories of the kings, lords and ladies, and their families, household members, advisors and warriors, as they plot, scheme and fight for power. Beyond the pretend geography and weather, the fantasy elements are kept to a minimum, leaving a constantly developing epic story. The actors (mostly Brits) are very good, but the ensemble covering seven kingdoms takes a while to become familiar. The writing is also fine, though a little too talkative at times. The graphic violence and sex, which are common on HBO, were apparently present in the books and are not inappropriate for the story, though sometimes they seem a little gratuitous or prolonged.

The Edukators – 2004 (3.0).  When the girlfriend of one of two male anarchists gets involved in their shenanigans, the plot thickens in this well done German drama. We see how love and friendship can bump into each other and we experience an interesting interplay between the anarchists and a wealthy older man who is one of their targets. Nothing too deep here, but the idealism of youth is nicely presented and compared to the attitudes of the older man.

Doc Martin (Season Five) – 2011 (2.8). A few replacement characters show up, some new ones pass through and a newborn one emerges as the series continues to deal with the tempestuous relationship of the Doc and Louisa, the problems of the other regulars and the foibles of the eccentric townsfolk. The series may be ready to start filming a sixth and final year and it is probably wise to use the final season to bring some needed closure.

Happy – 2011 (2.8). Interspersing interviews of scientists with footage of happy people in different places in the world, this documentary simply explores what makes people happy. There is nothing new or earthshaking here, but it is organized and presented in an efficient and pleasant way. This is not all Pollyanna; there are some elements of relevant pain and suffering. A segment of a comedian educator addressing a middle school assembly about bullying is quite moving.

Panther Panchali – 1955 (2.8). This summary from Netflix is accurate: “In the first film in director Satyajit Ray's acclaimed trilogy, A boy named Apu is born to a poor but proud Brahmin family. When father Harihar (Kanu Bannerjee) loses his treasury job, he sets out to find work elsewhere, leaving his family with depleted resources. In his absence, their condition deteriorates. Months later, Harihar returns to face the tragedy that forces the family to leave their ancestral home.” Simply filmed and a bit dated, but quite genuine in feel.

Inch’Allah Dimanche – 2001 (2.7). This French movie is about an Algerian woman who travels with her three young children and mother-in-law to France to join her husband who has been living and working there for a couple years. The film establishes the feelings of homesickness and desperation the woman experiences as she faces the domination of the husband and his mother, but ultimately her managing to cope comes on too suddenly and is unconvincing.

Light of My Eyes – 2001 (2.7). A nice guy loner pursues a relationship with an aloof single mother in this Italian drama, but it is not a straightforward romance movie. As we hear the narrator read from the science fiction book the man is reading, we see the parallels between the space alien posing as a resident and the man in the movie. In fact, we see and think about how many people are not who they seem to be or who they once were or who they want to be. Good acting and quite watchable direction ultimately are diminished by a script that sometimes wanders and an ending, as in so many independent movies, that is not up to the level of the rest of the movie.

Summer Hours – 2008 (2.6). This French drama always seems to be working around the edges of the story about three adult children handling the disposition of the estate of their mother after her death. Mom had been a devoted lover of her famous artist uncle and it was his house, filled with his collectibles, that she lived in and where her children and grandchildren visited with her and had numerous family memories. But one son has a career in China and needs money to buy housing for his family there, while the daughter has a design career in NYC and does not intend to visit France more than once a year. The son who lives in France would like to keep the house. We get a taste of the lives and relationships of these people, but bigger bites would have been better.

Gigante [Giant] – 2009 (2.4). In this simple film from Uruguay, a large sized and socially awkward Montevideo supermarket security guard becomes interested in a young country girl who cleans at the store, but he only follows her on the security cameras and then trails her from a distance in her off hours. He is like a stalker, but one who is protective rather than dangerous. This is basically a synopsis of the complete film and there is no plot to spoil by saying so.

Becoming Santa

When two shows from the same year are given the same score on this blog, I think the previously expressed protocol says they should be listed in alphabetical order, which is why Becoming Santa tops this list. And anyway, it is the holiday season. Ho Ho Ho and away we go.

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].

Becoming Santa -2011 (3.0). A pleasant surprise, this well-made documentary about a forty something man with no family left, shows how he decides to spend the holiday season volunteering his time as a Santa Claus and then gets professional training from a Santa Claus school and starts becoming the Santa man. In the course of the film, we enjoy the sincerity, gentle humor and marginally cynical personality of our hero as he has his costume made, selects and attends the school, meets other Santas and spends a holiday season at various events as Santa Claus. The history of the Santa tradition is documented and the meaning of the Santa spirit for adults and children is shown in touching ways.

Boardwalk Empire (Season Two) – 2011 (3.0).  The Prohibition Era takeoff on The Sopranos continues with a few new characters, escalated violence, loss [euphemism] of some old characters and the prosecutorial process starting to zero in on Atlantic City. Some of the freshness is off the series, but the story moves along and makes it difficult not to grit out the violence and start season three when it comes to DVD, just to see what happens next.

A Separation – 2009 (2.9). Winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar, this Iranian drama tells the story of a contemporary couple with a sixth grade daughter. They live with the man’s father, who has Alzheimers, but the woman wants to leave Iran to find a better life for their daughter. The man will not leave his father and refuses to let the daughter go, so they engage the legal system to get a separation and the woman goes to live with her parents. Desperately seeking a caregiver to watch his father, the man quickly hires a woman in-law of a friend of his wife, but she is incompetent and comes with her own problems and those of her husband. Almost like a documentary, we follow these people without music as they struggle with their marriage, the education plans for their daughter, the care of the father and the additional problems brought on by the caregiver and her husband. Along the way we see different ways in which moral decisions can be approached, religiously, ethically and by the civil law system.

Doc Martin (Season Four) – 2009 (2.9). The series perks up as the story arc moves along with Doc working on his hemophobia, struggling with his newly complicated relationship with Louisa, considering a move back to London and being pursued by an old flame.

The Dust Bowl – 2012 (2.8). On PBS from Ken Burns, an interesting subject told in the standard Burns fashion, with interviewees recalling the experience from childhood memories. Again, interweaving the stories of several people is a bit confusing and the anecdotes get repetitious, especially without any technical expert interviewees or enough in the way of historical context. This should have been cut down to two hours from four, or the extra time could have been given to providing more general information and less survivor interviews.

The Women on the 6^th Floor – 2010 (2.8). Set in Paris in the 1960s, this French film had potential for development of the initial story about a stuffy older businessman married to an insecure country girl turned socialite, and the disconnect with the Spanish maids who live upstairs [the reverse of the English Upstairs Downstairs] in the man’s ancestral home in an old apartment house [condo type]. The comedy was true to life in showing the different lifestyles. Unfortunately, the story took a turn for the worse when it veered off to follow the man’s romantic interest in his maid.

Patrik, Age 1.5 – 2008 (2.8). A gay couple think they are getting a one and a half year old boy to adopt in this Swedish movie, but the boy is really a teenager of 15. The men, who are adapting to living in their new hetero neighborhood, have trouble in their relationship and the boy is homophobic which adds to the problems. Well-acted and decently directed, the film starts a little slow but has some humor, sadness and enough drama to keep its audience.

The Pope’s Toilet – 2008 (2.8).  Based on the true story of a 1988 visit by the Pope to a small Uruguayan town on the border with Brazil,this Spanish language film centers on a poor man who smuggles goods over the border by bicycle in return for payment by competing corrupt smuggling lords. The battle between competing lords often catches the bicyclists in the middle and they lose the goods and the money they were to make. The man has a sympathetic wife and a teen daughter who wants to study to be a journalist. The poor villagers prepare sausages and other food to sell to pilgrims, especially better off Brazilians, who will come to see the Pope, and our hero gets the bright idea to build a public toilet and charge for its use. From the tile one might think this is a broad comedy, but it is actually a fairly gritty drama of these poor villagers and of the man and his relationship to his wife and daughter.

Alice – 1990 (2.8). A lesser film written and directed by Woody Allen, this tells of a devout Catholic girl who married a rich man and lives the life of a spoiled wife and mother of a young pampered child. Complaining of yet another ache, she is referred to an eccentric Chinese herbalist who identifies her problem as an unsatisfied heart for which he prescribes a succession of special herbs that introduce a fantasy element as she dabbles with an affair, re-evaluates her marriage and decides what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Not too heavy and not too light, this movie is watchable but ultimately does not have much to say.

Doc Martin (Season Three) – 2007 (2.8). Dropping off a little more, this season sees a new policeman with even more quirks, a silly detour with Auntie Joan, no sensitivity training for the Doc, the same disproportionate amount of medical emergencies and a continuation of the awkward relationship between the Doc and Louisa, which cools and then warms and then might be headed for really serious turf.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story – 2009 (2.7). Made for cable TV, this earnest biopic tells the true story of an African-American boy who overcame tremendous obstacles to finally realize near in middle school that he was actually smart and could learn. He went on to become a world renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, pioneering many wonderful surgeries. Trying to cover all personal and professional stages of such a life in a straightforward 90 minutes is a scriptwriting challenge, and this movie, by trying to cover some of all the stages, inevitably had difficulty finding the right balance of time to spend at the various life stages. It probably would have been better to concentrate on his handling of a major case in the impending prime of his career, with flashbacks for the relevant back story telling us how he got where he did.

A Series of Series

Catching up on a season or two of a TV series takes time and explains the delay in posting this movie list, which includes a trio of series, the silent Oscar winner, an early talkie classic and a few uninspiring  fill-ins.

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].

Modern Family (Season Two) – 2010 (3.1). A good TV series should get better in the second season, after the characters have become familiar to the audience and the writers can get deeper into the nuances and development of their personalities. Modern Family met this test and was not only funnier but more genuine feeling about the relationships between the various family members. As explained in one of the special features, the producers have limited the use of guest stars so as not to distract from the main characters, which is a good idea when the show has a diverse ensemble already.

Upstairs Downstairs – 2010 and 2012 (3.0). Trying to follow up on the classic series from decades past, this nine episode version shown on PBS has a new family taking over the abandoned residence and hiring staff to set up the household. Once again, the upstairs Lord is part of the elite class and the servants below are mere underlings, yet all have their own stories which sometimes intermingle. There seems to be an inordinate amount of famous persons in history passing through the episodes and much less time spent developing the characters that was done in the original. There is probably more pressure on the modern producers to grab the audience with plot than there was in the days of the original, and the new series may not have succeeded sufficiently to enable a third season. The story line covered the time from 1936 to the beginning of the war with Germany, so it would be interesting to see what happens to the characters during the war.

Modern Family (Season One) – 2009 (2.9). Three diverse branches of an eccentric family generate lots of laughs with their quirks and foibles as they struggle with their issues, but always manage to end up on a positive note of family unity. I haven’t watched situation comedy TV for years, but the praise for this series induced me to give it a try. I almost bailed out after a few episodes because it seemed repetitious, but it was funny enough where I watched the whole season.

Doc Martin (Season Two) – 2005 (2.9). The local eccentrics lose some of their freshness in the second season and the unsettled relationship of the Doc and school teacher starts to feel a little stale, but then there are visits from the Doc’s parents and the teacher’s  father that shed light on the back story and make both characters more sympathetic. We also get more of a connection with the personal life of the village policeman and the new receptionist. Doc’s brusque way with patients leads to an inquiry and the possibility he may undergo sensitivity training.

The Artist – 2011 (2.8). I have seen many silent movies through the years and read a fair amount about the history of film making during those early years, so The Artist was not anything new to me. The fact that such a film was made in this day and age was a surprise, but the fact that Hollywood embraced it at the Oscars was not. For Hollywood, watching the film was like a nostalgic look at favorite old home movies. The film has done reasonably well at the box office, I am not surprised that it was not a chart topper, because general audiences would not fully appreciate the quality of this nostalgic tribute to the silent screen.

The Girl on the Bridge – 1999 (2.8). French director Patrice Leconte makes movies in which the characters talk a lot, yet they always seem to be moving along, maybe without much conventional story but I always find the talk and story appealing enough to hold my interest. This one is a little quirky as a young girl who can’t say no to men is talked out of a suicidal bridge jump by a knife thrower in need of a new target. While following them on this new partnership, we are invited to contemplate what makes for a lasting hookup and what role luck plays in our lives.

The Blue Angel (German Version) – 1930 (2.8). At first this first German sound classic seems like just a vehicle to show Marlene Deitrich in garters, but once the prudish professor played by Emil Jannings becomes smitten with the nightclub entertainer we realize it it a movie about his downfall. Deitrich is so appealing as the sweet but wise girl he falls for and then she is so appalling as the wife who humiliates him. It is easy to see why she became a star.

A Voyage Round My Father – 1984 (2.7). The reason to watch this Brit TV movie is to see Laurence Olivier in the twilight of his career showing his acting chops playing the self-centered blind barrister father of John Mortimer (creator of Rumpole of the Bailey), on whose memoir the movie is based.

Rango – 2011 (2.6). This clever PG rated animated take-off on spaghetti westerns includes lots of classic cinema related homages all done with high quality animation, but the story itself was not that interesting and the cleverness never seemed to jell into anything memorable.

The Return – 2003 (2.4). The outdoor locations in this Russian movie were scenic in a way, yet ultimately bleak, and the same could be said for the script. Two sons, maybe 15 and 12, who never knew their father, come home one day to find he has suddenly appeared from a 12 year unexplained absence. The older boy wants to be thrilled by the prodigal father, but the younger one wants answers. The father takes them on a fishing trip to a remote island and acts like a survivalist military instructor, though there is a slight undercurrent of wanting to be a loving dad but not having the slightest idea of how to do it. Good acting and direction can’t make up for a story that takes almost two hours to tell us practically nothing.