Starting the Wire

This list includes some movies I streamed because they were about to disappear from the Netflix instant view list. Also, I thought I was through with newer movies for a while, but several more managed to trickle in. But the best this time around was the HBO series, The Wire, which I finally started watching.

So again, here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

The Wire – [Season 1] 2003 (3.7). Telling the story of drug dealing in the Baltimore projects by getting inside the dealings of the pushers and the strategies of the police and by beginning to track how the money from the drugs buys corrupt influence, the first season of this highly recommended HBO series is impressive. At first there are so many characters it is hard to keep them straight, but gradually their individualities emerge, even as we see how they play roles that are stereotyped in real life. Lines between good and evil get blurred by a fatalistic cynicism. Even those who want to try to do the right thing can easily become frustrated, but a few manage to succeed, if success is measured by integrity rather than organizational status. Though the episodes use different script writers and directors, the overall story arc is well maintained by the underlying core writers.

Ira & Abby – 2006 (3.1) Streamed. Jennifer Westfeldt wrote and starred in this NYC movie about a neurotic male psychology PhD candidate who meets an outgoing young woman who always seems happy. A sudden, serious unexpected relationship arises, followed by various relationship problems. A good ensemble of actors complements the leads as the story pleasantly unfolds, even in the face of problems. Co-writer of Kissing Jessica Stein, Jennifer tells fun stories with a laid back message.

Red Rock West – 1993 (3.0) Streamed. The script is the strength of this movie, a thriller harkening back to film noir, with good roles for Nicholas Cage and Dennis Hopper. Competent direction keeps things moving along, while our guessing what’s coming is sometimes a half step ahead and sometimes a half behind.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work – 2010 (2.9) Streamed. A fairly intimate look at Joan, over the course of a year, this documentary, also using archival footage, showed a woman who wanted to be an actress, supported herself as a female standup comic pioneer for several years until Johnny Carson showcased her into fame, then made a mistake for which Carson never forgave her, lost her husband to suicide and has had her ups and downs ever since. At 75 she is a workaholic who supports a fairly lavish lifestyle by taking virtually any paying job, and whose comedy, though still very funny, has become much more raunchy.

Farewell – 2009 (2.9). The title of this French spy drama is the code name of the reluctant French operative in this true story of a Soviet spy who in the Reagan years passed to the West information about Russian infiltration of the US intelligence community, in the hopes the pressure this would put on the USSR would lead to needed changes in that communist country. The movie is quite watchable, though not entirely clear at first. Rather than concentrate on scenes of spies about to be caught in the act, this film focuses more on the personal lives of the spies and includes aspects of the dealings between the governments of the US, USSR and France as the espionage came to their knowledge. Gorbachev is portrayed as using the affair to take the USSR in a different direction in dealing with the West.

The Company Men – 2010 (2.8). Numerous interviews of long term unemployed people and their family members were composited to form the characters in this movie about a greedy corporate executive who ruthlessly downsizes his workforce in order to pump up the stock price to maximize his gain when the corporation is bought out. The villain is a caricature and the other characters don’t seem to develop their own personalities enough to make them feel like individuals rather than composites. There is not much to learn from this movie, except for those who are quite uninformed.

Legendary – 2010 (2.8). A wrestler friend loaned me this movie [also available on Netflix instant view] with WWE wrestler John Cena playing his first straight dramatic role as the estranged older brother of a high school boy. Their father and the Cena character were both champion wrestlers, but when the father was killed in a traffic accident, the older son started a downhill skid and fell out with the family. A desire to take up wrestling and help his family reconnect prompts the younger brother to seek out the older one, in this indie film, which concentrates on the drama without overplaying the wrestling matches.

Secretariat – 2010 (2.8). Disney did this family friendly drama about the great racehorse and the woman who knew from day one her horse was going to be a special winner, and had to balance her roles as housewife, mother and race horse owner to achieve that goal. The horse and lady are the heart of the story and fairly well presented here. The other characters are not portrayed much beyond the minimum required by the formula.

True Grit – 2010 (2.8). I never saw the John Wayne version of this movie, so make no comparison. This one, though telling a story of a time and place where such things as it portrayed were not that uncommon, did so in a way that was too caricatured to be believable, but taken as a sort of filmed dime novel story intended for greenhorns it was passable.

Mine – 2009 (2.8) Streamed. Hurricane Katrina took a huge toll on the dogs and cats of New Orleans. They were not evacuated with their owners but instead abandoned in their flooded homes. Most of them died, but volunteer animal rescuers from around the country rushed in to save many others, quickly shuttling them on to various shelters where they were cared for and eventually reunited with their owners or adopted out. This documentary follows the story of five owners trying to find their dogs and then contending with adoptive owners who are reluctant to give them up. Straightforward work from a first time film maker.

The People vs Larry Flynt -1996 (2.8). This well enough done biopic concentrates on the pornagrapher’s legal battles against censorship, but also includes a little too much about one of his five wives. His battles resulted in a historic first amendment decision from the US Supreme Court, but the fine points of the legal arguments were minimally portrayed. There is a 2008 documentary which is supposed to provide better information, but for now, this film is enough Flynt for me.

In a Day -2006 (2.8) Streamed. I streamed this on impulse, supposedly being a short British romantic comedy about strangers who spend a day together. It was short and British but not particularly romantic and not funny at all. A low budget indie, it was a bit amateurish and boring at first, but then picked up a little steam and actually finished with an ending that was better than the rest of the movie.

Another Year – 2010 (2.7). Mike Leigh wrote and directed this disappointing movie about a year in the life of an older couple and some of their family and friends. Supposedly character driven, there is no plot, drama or character development to speak of and about the only reason to watch it is to see Lesley Manville deliver a top performance as a woman who is over the hill but pathetically does not realize it until near the end of the film, when she manages to bring some emotional impact into this otherwise lackluster movie.

It Could Happen to You – 1994 (2.6) Streamed. A cop in NYC really did win the lottery and share it with a waitress, but this movie reinvented the story to create distress in both their marriages, apparently hoping for more drama. The drama is tepid, as is the romance and the comedy. I didn’t expect much when I streamed this, and got even less. I hung in for the ending, which turned out to be stolen from It’s a Wonderful Life. So again, a 2 ½ star movie gets rated a 3 at Netflix.

Tattoo: A Love Story – 2002 (2.4) Streamed. This indie romantic comedy did have some funny dialog, but also a little too much profanity, especially from the supposedly straight laced heroine teacher of the year who falls for the biker who runs the tattoo parlor. Though it is pretty amateurish all around, especially the acting, it is not too unpleasant to watch.

Valley of the Bees – 1967 (2.2). Don’t bother with this old Czech movie. I expected a story of a medieval teenager in a monastery questioning religion, but instead got a tale of an adult runaway monk in a low budget semi-slasher film.

Last New Movie Batch for Now

Newer movies have still been showing on my home theater, but I am about ready to start spreading choices out over a larger date range again. This latest batch of new films has not been that exciting. I did finally manage to get a four DVD set of the 1985 documentary Shoah, which included over nine hours of viewing. Fair Game, a true political drama tops the list. Bringing up the rear is the disappointing Babel from 2006.

So again, here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Fair Game – 2010 (3.4). This drama effectively tells the story of the outed CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband Joe. For those who did not follow this news story over the four year course, the movie provides a good presentation starting by showing the type of undercover work Plame did for 18 years, working to prevent nuclear proliferation, and how her husband, who had extensive ambassadorial experience in Niger, was asked by the CIA to investigate whether there was any substance to reports that Saddam Hussein had obtained uranium ore from that African country, and he did travel to Niger and investigated, reporting back to the CIA the story was not true.  The film then touches on the fraudulent methods the Bush administration employed to push for an invasion of Iraq and how Wilson finally wrote his op ed piece exposing the lie about Niger. What followed was a carefully orchestrated campaign to take the focus off the lies that misled us into the war and place it instead on Plame and her husband, exposing her as an operative without regard to how that would jeapordize the non-proliferation mission, maligning her professional status and work and accusing them both of dishonesty, conflicted self-interest and lack of patriotism. For those who did follow the news, this film adds additional information about the nature of Plame’s undercover work and the terrible pressure this ordeal put on their marriage. The film was well written, acted and directed and I decided to watch it a second time, listening to commentary from Plame and Wilson, who were quite pleased with the accuracy of the movie and the importance of the message it gives, that Americans need to stand up for truth and speak out when the government is lying.

Shoah – 1985 (3.2). Eleven years in the filming with five years of editing, this almost ten hour documentary by Claude Lanzmann, a WWII French resistance member, is a holocaust movie that does not use archival footage. What Lanzmann did was track down surviving prisoners, some of whom worked at the gas chambers and crematoriums of some German Nazi concentration camps in Poland, some guards and other Nazis (a few clandestinely filmed) and some townspeople who lived near the camps during the War. His interviewing style, usually with interpreters, was exhaustive and almost excruciating in eliciting details. He had a way of drawing people out in a low key manner, validating the importance of what they had to say by the time and patience he put in to extract minute details from them. He also sought subjective comments from the interviewees on their own thoughts and feelings and on those of the other players in this horrible drama of extermination. Sometimes the interviewees are on screen and at other times the camera visits the remnants of the sites while the interview continues in voice over. Most interviews are sparsely subtitled, but some are spoken in English. This is a unique historical record, confirming the mechanical organization of Nazi brutality, the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism and the almost totally hopeless situation in which these Jews found themselves. Netflix does not have this DVD set. The King County Library, now number one in circulation in the US, has one copy, which is the set I watched. They should buy more; Amazon has vendors who offer new sets for $70. If you ever get the chance to see this film, it is worth the time.

IMAX: Hubble – 2010 (3.0). This short documentary should really be seen in 3D at an IMAX theater, but I settled for the DVD version on my home theater [I’m not screening Blu-Ray yet, even though I have the player, because my TV is only 42” 720p; whenever I upgrade the TV, I may spring for the extra Netflix charge for BluRay]. The movie concentrates on the most recent mission to repair the Hubble, but most fascinating is the imagery traveling through the vastness of the universe, and back in time, via this amazing technology. [Editorial comment, not part of the movie comment: I wonder if we’ll ever learn why, from the billions of options, God chose this little blue speck for the Garden of Eden. Maybe someday we will have a powerful enough telescope to go back in time and see how the choice was made].

Cranford: Return to Cranford – 2009 (3.0). This two episode sequel to the British miniseries was a bit disappointing. It apparently started where the series left off, but gave no recap or assistance in helping the viewer recall the characters and the plot, so it took almost all the first episode to start to get things back in memory. Then we had to wind up a few plot items from before and add some new ones which also had to be wrapped up promptly. All the usual British period piece qualities were present, except the script was not top notch.

Casino Jack and the United States of Money – 2010 (2.9) Streamed. After watching the dramatized version of the story of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, I streamed this documentary from Netflix. If you are going to watch both movies, I recommend watching the documentary first, to try to get the factual chronology straight, though it is still sort of complex to follow. The drama gives a personal side not contained in the documentary, though they both show how greedy scum lobbyists and corrupt politicians and staffers are hijacking our electoral and governmental process.

Unstoppable – 2010 (2.9). Being a railfan definitely adds to the entertainment value of this powerful action movie about a runaway freight train. Character development and subplots are minimal, but there is some good chemistry between the always watchable Denzel Washington and his inexperienced accomplice.

Welcome to the Rileys – 2010 (2.9). The auto crash death of their 15 year old daughter has left an Indianapolis couple childless and depressed. When he goes to a convention in New Orleans, he meets a young lap dancer who reminds him of his daughter and decides to hang around to try to influence her out of the tawdry life in which she has become ensnared. His wife, who has not left the house since the death of their daughter, decides to go to New Orleans to find him. Simply written, well-acted by James Gandolfini (except for his odd accent), Melissa Leo and Kristen Stewart, and thankfully non-indulgent in sex scenes, this movie presents the difficulty of opening up when life seems to have closed on us.

Flipped – 2010 (2.8). This Rob Reiner movie borrows from the Wonder Years for junior high romantic angst and Rashomon for dual point of view. It has a few moments that are touching, but the central premise of a 2^nd grade girl being attracted solely by the looks of a new neighbor boy who joins her class, and then she can’t shake the attraction even as her intelligence and sensitivity continue to blossom into junior high years, while he continues to be dull and timid left me annoyed. Why didn’t she give up on him and find a better match?

Tangled – 2010 (2.8). Disney and Pixar present the story of Rapunzel 21^st Century style. Pleasant enough with a few elements to hold adult attention, though I wonder how youngsters would do with its length. I don’t watch movies with my young grandkids, so I don’t keep up with what is available in this genre. This film did not have the usual celebrity voice overs, which was fine with me.

The Illusionist – 2010 (2.7). This is the French animated film from the maker of The Triplets of Belleville. The technique is quite accomplished and unique, but as with Triplets, I did not find the story appealing. This tale was based on an unfilmed Jacques Tati script, and the animated sad hero was a takeoff on the Tati character, playing a magician who is being passed over by the emerging new entertainments of the 1960s. The young girl who still believes in him is perhaps intended to be allegorical, but I never felt a connection with her or their relationship.

Casino Jack – 2010 (2.7). Kevin Spacey says he keeps his personal life hidden because it makes it easier for audiences to accept him as the character he plays. That doesn’t work for me. I don’t know or care about his personal life and yet he is one of those actors who always seems to me like he is an actor rather than the character, and he usually plays unlikeable characters to boot, like disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff here. A very muddled script makes the story hard to follow, except to know that Jack and his cronies are total jerks and Graham Greene is an honorable Indian. A better bet, also from 2010, may be the documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money, available now on Netflix instant view, to get the facts, and then maybe watch this drama to add a personal element. 

Babel – 2006 (2.0). Knowing this would be marginal at best, I finally gave it a try. That was a mistake. This is a nothing script which tries to seem profound by teasing us with how three story lines will intersect. The first two merge pretty quickly, while the last one waits almost to the end of the movie, by which time we could care less. Cate Blanchett is totally wasted, while the film rolls incessantly on a young actress whose role is just to be deaf and horny and flash her pantyless private area. The narrative interweaving is about as shallow as could be and we learn nothing of interest about any of the characters as people.

Some Newer Ones

Movies from 2010 occupy seven spots on this list, and there are only two from before 2000. I decided to peek at some current picks for a change of pace, but did not find them much different from the older films I have been watching. An exception is the documentaries, which cover more recent developments and take the top four spots on the list.

So again, here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Inside Job – 2010 (3.2). Charles Ferguson, who made the excellent No End in Sight about the Bush invasion of Iraq, also made this documentary about the financial crisis. The movie manages to legitimately simplify the technical aspects of the financial machinations of Wall Street, and also documents how Congress and our Presidents of both parties have been co-opted by the supposedly brainy insiders of the financial world, through campaign contributions and the resulting appointments to policy making and advisory positions. The film is particularly good for those who have followed this less closely; but for others there is not much new except for the shabby ethics of financial academics who allow the prestige of their university positions to be bought by means of undisclosed fees earned for writing articles supporting the questionable practices that led to the great recession, and the idea that our best young engineering minds were wasted on fabricating shoddy financial products rather than being put to good use inventing worthwhile tangible manufactures.  The fallen Eliot Spitzer is interviewed and comes across as a white knight against Wall Street blackguards, which is why they engineered his downfall as documented in Client 9.

The Tillman Story – 2010 (3.1). I was not familiar with Pat Tillman the NFL player, so when his death as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan was reported I assumed he was some sort of Toby Keith type patriot. What I learned about Pat and his family from this documentary was that they are free spirit humanists and that he and his brother volunteered for the Army because they believe in America as a nation that respects their beliefs whereas the 9/11 terrorists and the Taliban want to destroy them. When the military and the Bush administration tried to hide the truth of Pat’s death by trigger happy “friendly” fire, what was surprising was not the dishonesty and disrespect, but as this movie showed, the extent and shamelessness of it.

Restrepo – 2010 (3.0) Streamed. Spending a year in close quarters with an infantry platoon in an outpost on the edge of Taliban controlled territory in Afghanistan is a dangerous way to live, but a good way to make a documentary movie showing what it is like for the young soldiers facing mortal danger fighting a war that, at the extremely local level involved, is actually quite futile. The film makers let the soldiers tell their own story through scenes of firefights, down time and post exit interviews following their 15 month tour of duty.

Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer – 2010 (3.0) Streamed. This documentary was slickly made by Alex Gibney, who has a good track record as a documentarian. Gibney scored some inside interviews with former NY Governor Spitzer and some of those who wanted to see him taken down, but the film was a little disappointing in not giving enough background and in concentrating too much on the sexual aspects of Spitzer’s fall. I would like to have learned a little more about Spitzer the man and a lot more about how the Republicans influenced the FBI to pursue the escort service Spitzer used and how the Republican US Attorney geared the public phase of the charges to out only Spitzer as a patron. Spitzer made it clear than he blames no one but himself for his downfall. One commentator observed that if Spitzer was a French politician, this scandal would have helped his career.

Nowhere Boy – 2009 (3.0). This Brit movie tells about John Lennon’s rascally teenage years when he struggled with conflicted feelings on reuniting with his mother who had given him up to her sister to raise. Mom was a flakey free spirit and Aunt was somewhat of a tough love advocate. Mom brings out his hidden musical talent, while Aunt tries to keep him disciplined, which renews the conflict between the sisters and creates an awkward love triangle. The younger Paul McCartney meets and musically mentors John, and George Harrison signs on, but the film ends before Ringo and the evolving band being named The Beatles.

Dirty Pretty Things – 2002 (3.0). Deserved praise for the script attracted me to this movie, which tells the story of two undocumented aliens in London. As if their struggle to eke out a living isn’t tough enough, she is subjected to unwanted sexual advances and he is pressured to engage in illegal activities. Well directed and acted, the film maintains an underlying hopefulness.

127 Hours – 2010 (2.9). This movie struck out on all its Oscar nominations, but the one for best adaptation screenplay attracted me. It is quite a feat to hold attention on a man pinned in a tight canyon, even though it is a true story, but with creative writing interweaving subjective delirium it was accomplished. Throughout the ordeal I tried to figure how I would get myself out of such a predicament, even though I have no experience or particular knowledge of such endeavors.

Conviction – 2010 (2.9). A troubled childhood ends in a young man being in the 1980s convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Convinced of his innocence, his sister, who doesn’t even have a high school diploma, decides to become a lawyer so she can work to overturn the conviction. This drama of the true story shows a little of the childhood encounters with the law and shows a little of the personal life of the sister, mostly how she relates to her two teenage sons and how she finds a supporting friend in another older female law student, but it concentrates mostly on the woman’s perseverance through the years as her brother experiences emotional swings. Though the movie was intended to be a story about the sister, the drama could have been enhanced by showing a little of what was going on through these years in the lives of the incriminating witnesses and investigating police officer, and with the man’s daughter who grew up believing her father, with whom she had no contact since he was convicted when she was still a toddler,was a murderer.

Made in Dagenham – 2010 (2.9). Sort of a British Norma Rae, this movie is about the 1968 strike of 187 women who sewed seat covers in a Ford factory in England. They were led by an unlikely young activist wife and mother of two small children. She rose to the occasion at the right time and shut the entire factory down, caught media attention and the sympathetic ear of a female cabinet member in the Labour Party government, forcing Ford to back down and give the women a raise to 92% of what the men were paid, with equal pay legislation to come in two years. The script is straightforward, with some coverage of the personal toll taken on the young leader and some good business about a corrupt male union official and a very sympathetic one. I would like to have seen more drama about the hardball tactics of Ford and the pressure it put on the government by threatening to pull out of Britain. A little more on the personal lives of some of the women would also have enhanced the tale.

Vanity Fair – 1998 (2.9). This A & E miniseries of the classic novel was fairly well done, considering the obviously low budget production values. It is supposedly a faithful adaptation. I just found all the characters rather unappealing, Becky because she was such a terrible person and never got her comeuppance to my satisfaction and most of the rest of the characters because they were so stupid. This may be as much a compliment to the actors as a criticism of the novel. I don’t feel like I learned anything from the film about the era portrayed or about human nature. The music score seemed inappropriate and was much too loud.

Fat Head – 2009 (2.8) Streamed. This documentary does a pretty good job of debunking Super Size Me, the popular attack on McDonald’s junk food, attacking the holes in the methodology of that experiment in eating nothing but McDonald’s food for one month. Unfortunately, it seems to be a curious mix of parody, science and libertarianism. The science is the most worthwhile part of the movie, pointing out the fallacies underlying the conventional wisdom of the food pyramid and the cholesterol scare, and advocating the paleo type eating style. The doctor interviews and animated diagrams are very helpful, but seem rather scholastic compared to the sillier material that precedes it. Interviewing McDonald’s diners was a waste of time. Curiously missing is any mention of sodium in food, especially in McDonald’s.

Islander – 2006 (2.8) Streamed.  An island off the Maine Coast is home to a lobster fisherman who makes a mistake that sends him to jail for five years in this low budget indie movie. During his incarceration, his young wife divorces him and takes their young daughter with her as she moves in with another fisherman. On release from prison, the convict is shunned by most of the islanders, as he struggles to learn from his experience and move on with his life. Bottom line seems to be you either like living on a fishing island off the Maine coast, or you don’t.

A Simple Plan -1998 (2.8). This thriller novel must have been pretty good, because the Oscar nominated script for the movie tells a good morality tale of how one bad choice can seem to force a crescendo of cover up challenges. A dramatic triangle involving three male culprits gets expanded as two wives become involved. The acting seemed a little weak at first, but that disappointment was soon overcome by the interest in following the story. Billy Bob Thornton got a nomination for his acting as a bit of a dim wit, but I thought it was an uneven performance.You couldn’t root for these characters, but you were tempted to sympathize with them a little as their moral rationalizations continued to fizzle.

Breach – 2007 (2.7). Robert Hanssen was a highly respected FBI agent, devout Catholic and dedicated family man, with many years of public service, when he was arrested in 2001for having been a spy for the Russians for 15 years. His treason was the most serious security breach in US history and caused 50 US agents to be identified and executed. This movie about the final phase of the operation to catch him in the act should have been very exciting, but the script was too weak, trying to show his idiosyncrasies, both blatantly and subtly, and detailing a few supposedly suspenseful incidents of trying to gather evidence before he returns to find the searchers. We know from the start he is a spy and will be captured and we keep hoping for a twist or plot enhancement, but the film just plods ahead to its conclusion. Chris Cooper does a good job as Hanssen, but it is wasted.

The Stream Widens

This list includes almost as many Netflix streams as Netflix mails – just one less. But in terms of hours watched, because of the top rated miniseries, I watched more streaming than via mail. Four of the top rated six were mail DVDs, as were two of the bottom rated four, so the quality mix is getting more equal  for mail and instant view. As more movies show up on instant view, I expect I will be watching more that way than by mail.

A couple of Oscar nominees tied at 3.2, but were edged by a Czech sleeper at 3.3. But Masterpiece did it again, playing to one of my favorite genres with Downton Abbey.

Here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Downton Abbey – 2010 (3.6) Streamed. This Masterpiece miniseries evokes Upstairs Downstairs in its British social and political themes from the years before WWI, but also weaves in some Jane Austen themes with three daughters of marriage age. Add the wonderful Maggie Smith as the Dowager mother of the Lord of the manor, and the classic is complete – almost. Is it a spoiler alert to tell you not to expect all issues to be resolved in the last episode? A second series is brewing, and I’ll be there for my fill.

The Country Teacher – 2008 (3.3) Streamed. The premise for this Czech film sounded like a romantic dramedy, handsome gay city teacher flees to a country teaching job after a breakup with his lover, and the pretty village farm widow is attracted to him without knowing his sexual preference. But this surprising drama was much better than that. First of all, the leads were not very good looking, which combined with the authentic village setting to create a feeling of legitimacy. The teacher is attracted to the widow and her college age son in a familial way, while the widow, who had been abandoned by her good looking philanderer husband, is interested in romance, and her son is dallying with a college girl visiting from the city on weekends. All three characters struggle with self-esteem issues and the story proceeds dramatically without artifice of plot. Sexual typecasting and the meaning of intimacy are subtly challenged in this film, prompting the viewer to ponder seriously without feeling pushed.

The Fighter – 2010 (3.2). Developing the quirky family aspects before getting too heavily into the actual boxing made this movie more appealing to me. Melissa Leo and Christian Bale deserve the praise they received for playing the screwed up mother and brother. Filming this truth based story in the real setting, integrating the supposed filming of a documentary about the brother and having Mark Wahlberg well trained for boxing matches filmed by HBO boxing crews were also effective moves. We can’t choose the family into which we are born, but this film shows we can choose whether we want to stay involved with the family even after it has hurt us. The DVD special feature on the making of the movie was fun to watch after the movie, to show the real people and how well the actors captured them; George the cop and trainer was played by the real man.

The King’s Speech – 2010 (3.2). The story of King George working with a commoner speech therapist to overcome his stammering was not well known, and this movie did a good job of showing how uncommon the therapist actually was. Their bond was a closely personal one that lasted for 25 years, though the movie only shows the first part about coaching the new King into speech making capability by the start of WWII. Well written, directed and acted, though the concentration on the stammering and the coaching left little room for developing the other dramatic elements taking place at the time.

Evelyn – 2002 (3.2) Based on a true story of an Irish father whose wife abandoned him and his three small children, this heartfelt movie tells how the Church and State stepped in to take the children away and put them in Church run foster care because the father did not have a regular income and the mother could not be found to consent to him trying to raise the children alone. The man decides to challenge the system, with little hope of success, especially since he has no money to pay for the necessary legal help. This movie is Capraesque in style and almost as appealing.

Housewife, 49 – 2006 (3.0). Victoria Wood, who usually does comedy, wrote and starred in this BBC production, playing Nella Last, a London housewife who volunteered during WWII with a women’s group involved in numerous activities in support of service members. The script is based on a diary Nella wrote for many years, as part of another program to let the government know how ordinary people were doing. Starting with her depressive frame of mind feeling trapped in a dull marriage, with the second of her two sons about to leave the nest, Nella wrote about how her volunteer work freed her from her depression. The script gives a fresh viewpoint of what the War was like on the English home front, through this very personal sharing.

Pierrepoint – 2005 (2.9) Streamed. Albert Pierrepoint followed in his father’s footsteps when he became an English hangman, and from 1933 to 1955 hung 608 people, including scores of Nazi war criminals. This movie provides an intimate look at the man and his wife during these years, including the changes brought about when his anonymity was ended by the high profile Nazi executions. He believed efficient and humane execution was the proper entitlement for convicts forfeiting their lives in payment for their crimes. In later years, he came to believe capital punishment was wrongful retribution, but this phase of his life was not included in the film.

All or Nothing – 2002 (2.8). Mike Leigh really impressed me with Secrets and Lies, but nothing else he has done, including this movie about an alienated family living in a London housing project, has risen to that level. The whole family is depressed and depressing. The son is so obnoxious that when he has a heart attack you kind of hope he dies. The mousy wife engenders some sympathy, until you realize she makes her own contribution to the familial malaise. If this family somehow could make some changes for the better, you still can’t imagine wanting to be involved with them.

A Perfect Candidate – 1996 (2.8) Steamed. In 1994, Iran-Contra conspirator Republican Oliver North ran for the Virginia U.S. Senate seat of Democrat Charles Robb, son-in-law of LBJ. This documentary, largely from inside the North camp, shows a really nasty campaign with each side accusing the other of character defective lying, North about Iran-Contra and Robb about an extra-marital affair and attendance at parties where drugs were present. The rabid fervor of some North fans seems prescient of Sarah Palin, and the stiffness of Robb a precursor of John Kerry’s run for President. In the end, former Governor Wilder, an African-American Republican running as an independent, tipped the scales by endorsing Robb. Filmed extensively in action, without interviews except for a few with a Washington Post reporter, and without narration.

The Human Experience – 2008 (2.7) Streamed. The Netflix prediction was way too high on this documentary and I failed to read the very accurate and most helpful member reviews which point out that the young film makers were a little too self-centered and superficial in their approach to learning about human suffering. Young and naïve they were, but sincere enough to be given credence by the sufferers and those who are helping relieve their suffering, all of whom welcomed interacting with these young people. The Netflix stream was slightly out of sync, but I watched it anyway and don’t think the problem lowered my rating.

The Rector’s Wife – 1994 (2.7). This 1994 British miniseries starts out really boring and only gets slightly better. The 42 year old wife feels trapped in her life, especially when her husband is passed over for promotion and it appears they will be stuck indefinitely in their small town setting. When she challenges conventionality by taking a job as a supermarket stocker in order to pay for a private school for their daughter, her husband and community are not pleased. As a couple of men make advances to her and her husband becomes tyrannical, she must decide what to do with her life, and as depicted it was hard for me to understand what we were supposed to take away from the story.

Paradise Road – 1997 (2.4). Australian Bruce Beresford meant well when he wrote and directed this movie about the courage of colonial women who became prisoners of the Japanese on Sumatra during WWII, but as good as the story could have been, the script was so uneven, inconsistent and disjointed that disbelief never became suspended. Acting level was almost irrelevant in view of the script deficiencies. Production values were fairly high, but the costume and makeup work on the prisoners was pretty pathetic. Frances McDormand provided the only humor, unintentionally delivering one of the worst German accents I have ever heard.

The Pajama Game – 1957 (2.4) Streamed. The positives: a pro-union story, peppy Bob Fosse choreography, and two good songs (Hey There and Hernando’s Hideaway). The negatives: low quality streaming image, not much of a story and mostly forgettable songs. Bottom line: if you like fast paced ensemble dance numbers, give it a try, otherwise forget it.

Disappearing Streams

When a movie in my Netflix Instant Queue is only going to be available for a few more days, it is tempting to squeeze in an instant viewing to save the use of a future mailing. But if I’m really not in the mood for it, I’ll let it pass and then either put it in the mailing queue or on the “Not Yet” sheet in my computer movie database. If the film is short or marginal enough that I might bail out on it early, I’m more likely to give it a quick try. There are a few of those on this list. Also included is a five disk series 2 of a BBC show which the library had on hand. My Netflix mail queue has shrunk to half the size of my instant queue, so it is time to add more to the mail list, watch more instant or both.

Here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

Twin Sisters – 2002 (3.4). Orphaned in the 1920s at 6, German twin sisters are separated and taken by different relatives to be raised out of touch with each other in this Oscar nominee from Holland. One is exploited as cheap farm labor in Germany and the other is raised in urban luxury in Holland. They reunite briefly as young women just as WWII is starting, with little time to reconnect in any depth, and then fall out of touch during the war. Meeting again after the war, their union has problems, which they finally try to work out as they meet again finally in their twilight years. Touching and thought provoking, this movie presents some different perspectives on the impact of the war on German civilians. The script uses frequent flashbacks, but they are not annoying because they are always moving the story forward.

Duchess of Duke Street - Series 2 – 1976 (3.3). I didn’t want to use up Netflix mailings for the five discs of this series, so when a set became available at the library, I went into enjoyable power watch mode. This second set picks the story up on the brink of WWI and takes it through the war and into the mid 20s, mostly following the story arc of the main characters without so many guest star diversions, and concentrates more on the personal issues of the characters and the impact of the War, and less on the business aspects of running the hotel.

The Last Days – 1998 (3.2). In this documentary, five Hungarian Jews who survived the Holocaust tell the stories of their lives as children in pre-war Hungary and then of the horrors of life in the concentration camps. They tell about their lives since being liberated and how they deal with the past, including visiting the places of their youth and the infamous camps. Also included are interviews with some of the liberating American soldiers and a troubling interview with a German doctor who ran a camp clinic that experimented on prisoners and whose claim that he did harmless experiments in order to save them from extermination was enough to gain him acquittal of war crimes.

Desperate Crossing: the Untold Story of the Mayflower – 2006 (3.1). Produced for the History Channel, using Royal Shakespearean actors and Wampanoag Nation Indians, and based largely on the history written by William Bradford, Mayflower passenger and successor Governor of the Plymouth Colony, this documentary with dramatic re-enactments presents the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians in a more accurate manner than what we learned in school and folklore, and does it in a very watchable manner. The 60 or so survivors of the first year after the 1620 landing of the Mayflower were a prolific lot, with an estimated 30 million current American descendants not quite 500 years later.

Moolaade – 2004 (3.0). The Netflix summary of this movie is quite accurate, so I will quote it and add a little. “Senegalese writer-director Ousmane Sembene makes an impassioned plea against the practice of salinde, or female circumcision, in this moving portrait of a society in transition. In a West African village run by uncompromising Muslim males, fiery Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly) provides safe harbor for young girls fleeing their ‘cleansing’ rituals. But what one man terms "a minor domestic issue" soon puts the whole town on the verge of bloodshed.” Collee is the middle of three wives and the favorite of her husband. Mindless tradition, religion, superstition and ignorance are all effectively attacked by this film which leaves the viewer with a strong sense of authenticity about the village setting and inhabitants.

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears – 1980 (3.0). This Russian winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, holds it age well and is still fun to watch. It tells the story of three young women who come to Moscow to work in factories and meet potential husbands and of their friendship in 1958 and then 1978. A charming script, appealing cast, pleasant music and restrained direction combine to produce a good movie, though the ending could have been a little more developed.

The People Speak – 2009 (2.9). Actors and entertainers give readings from Howard Zinn’s accurate alternative “People’s History of the United States” and sing related songs as part of a theatrical presentation filmed at two different venues for this documentary. The stage productions and this documentary are aimed at new audiences who may not be familiar with the progressive populist message of Zinn or with his rendering of American history. For those already familiar, there is nothing new, but still interesting to see and hear the performers.

Children of Huang Sui – 2008 (2.9). Filmed mostly on location in China, this movie is based on the true story of George Hogg, a young English journalist who wants to uncover the story of the brutality of the Japanese occupation of China and the civil war between the Nationalists and the communists in the 1930s, but gets sidetracked into taking over an orphanage full of boys of all ages when the home is left without an adult leader. Generally well done, though a little formulaic in parts, with some genuinely emotionally affecting moments. The closing credits include filmed tributes from some of the now elderly orphans.

Blue State – 2007 (2.9) Streamed. A vegetarian 28 year old liberal progressive blogger vows to go to Canada if Bush wins the 2004 election, really doesn’t want to, makes contact with an encouraging Marry a Canadian (to become a Canadian citizen) web site and interviews for a ride sharer, choosing a young girl with blue streaked hair and a nose ring. More of a dramedy, there are a few laughs here and there, but mostly it is a road trip movie that holds our interest because we are not sure why the girl is going and whether and when any chemistry will develop between the pair. The film takes opportunities to comment on war and politics and the comparison of American and Canadian cultures, all fairly low key and mildly humorous. The ending felt too quick and incomplete and I did not understand the final scene until I let it roll to the credits and reminded myself of the name of the blogger.

Late Spring – 1949 (2.9) Streamed. This Japanese movie, made right after WWII by the great film maker Ozu, tells the story of widowed professor and his devoted daughter who lives with him. She is quite happy dealing with his idiosyncrasies and wants to spend her life caring for him, but he thinks the time has come for her to get married, rather than spend her life all on him. Slow but authentic feeling in its portrayal of their life on the outskirts of Tokyo, this well done film is a cultural time capsule.

Only When I Dance – 2007 (2.8) Streamed. From Brazil, this documentary follows two aspiring ballet dancers from lower income households in Rio. Both sets of parents are supportive but financially challenged to raise money to send their child to prestigious competitions. The boy, who is brown skinned, is a wonderful dancer and it is when he dances that this film literally soars. The girl is very talented but has two extra obstacles to becoming a world class ballerina, her black skin and her robust body.

My Boy Jack – 2007 (2.8). Brit actor David Haig is a ringer for Rudyard Kipling and plays him in this Masterpiece Theater version of the Haig written play about Kipling’s son Jack, whose extreme myopia kept him out of the war with Germany, much to the disappointment of his father, who eventually got him a chance with the Irish Guards. Though only 17, Jack wanted to join and fight, as much to become a man in his own right as to please his father. Though well done, the script lacks depth and fails to explain character backgrounds or show much character development other than Kipling questioning whether he should have pushed so hard.

Zelig – 1983 (2.8) Streamed. This Woody Allen mockumentary was short enough to squeeze in before the instant viewing rights expired. I don’t recall ever seeing the whole thing before, though I know I have seen parts of it and knew what to expect. It is like a standup comedy routine presented as narration to quite well done integration of old newsreel footage and new film made to look old. The joke of a man who can morph into character types like the people he is around could wear a little thin, but the show moves at the faster pace of the old newsreels and finishes in 79 minutes counting credits.

Sunshine – 1999 (2.6). The idea to tell a story of one man from successive generations of a Hungarian Jewish family and how they dealt with anti-Semitism under the Emperor, the Nazis and the Communists was a good one, but the resulting movie was a disappointment, mostly because of the script but also because having one actor play all three roles actually distracted from the story. The problem with the script was that it often seemed to ramble without proper pace for three hours, most noticeably in spending disproportionate time covering one man’s skill at fencing and for all three men spending too much time on promiscuous sex scenes without showing any other intimacy or the emotional consequences of lack of other intimacy. Having Ralph Fiennes play all three roles, fencing prodigiously and demonstrating multiple acts of sexual prowess may have been fun for him but constantly called attention to him as an actor rather than as the three separate characters.

Henry V – 1989 (2.2) Streamed. For more than a score this tale of Henry hath laid within my list. In days of tape I shortened once a try. Its stream about to disappear I pulled it from the mist. Then did it play unto my ear and eye. Alas though fear of Bard I do not have, his words passed sadly undiscerned. Though mine eyes beheld the movement on the screen, my heart beat mildly unconcerned. Others about it have made much ado, but I cannot gift it over two point two.

A Forgotten List

I just remembered why I have so few movies in my Netflix mail queue. It is because it had gotten so big a while back, that I removed the majority of them and put them on a new “Not Yet” sheet in my movie database, and maybe even added a few more to the sheet while I still remembered it was there. When rediscovered, the sheet had over 250 movies, twelve of which were promptly moved to the top portion of my mail queue. Some of them, at the top of the list below, were pretty good. Again there is a tie at the top, hence two pictures.

Here is what I have watched on DVD and streaming since I posted my last list. The ratings I give are on my own number system explained at the link on the sidebar. Those watched via Netflix instant view, include “Streamed” after the numeric rating.

For My Father – 2008 (3.3) Streamed. Per the Netflix filmographies, the young talent in this Israeli movie is all new. The first impression they have created with this film about a Palestinian suicide bomber who can’t get his bomb to work is very promising. The script has lots of back stories, none of which are developed, but that is OK because the story is really about the bomber, a talented soccer player whose father got caught up in Palestinian politics and the Israeli girl who has made a moral mistake and become a social outcast. Mutual attraction, curiosity, defensiveness and a kind of desperate fatalism mark their attempts to relate, and somehow we sense that is also the case between their nations.

Under the Same Moon – 2007 (3.3). Patricia Riggen does not sound like a Spanish name, but the young director of that name is Mexican and did a good job on this Spanish language movie filmed mostly in her country. She also worked closely with the script writer. The story is about a young Mexican single mother who has illegally entered the US and is doing domestic work in LA and sending money back for her 9 year old son, very well played by Adrian Alonso. They have not seen each other for four years, but she talks with him every Sunday morning from phone booth to phone booth. A change in Mexico starts the boy on an unapproved road trip to reunite with his mother, just when the anguish of separation is prompting her to return to him.

Lemon Tree – 2008 (3.2) Streamed. The Israeli Defense Minister builds a house on the border of Palestinian territory, with an old family lemon grove, now run by a lonely Palestinian widow, on the other side of the border fence. When the security authorities decide the grove must be cut down, the widow fights it in Court, aided by a lonely young Palestinian attorney. Meanwhile the wife of the chauvinistic Minister begins to sympathize with the widow. An Israeli film well done all around, with an especially strong performance by Hiam Abbass as the widow.

Fugitive Pieces – 2007 (3.2) Streamed. His parents killed and sister abducted by the Nazis, a young boy is rescued and raised by a Greek professor and into his adulthood he struggles with his own version of survivor’s guilt in this sensitive and well done drama from Canada.

Thirteen Days – 2000 (3.2). I don’t remember following in detail the Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962, probably because I was absorbed in adjusting to my first quarter in law school. This well done movie takes viewers through the crisis with an inside look at it from the point of view of JFK and his top political adviser. Of course Bobby Kennedy is relied on heavily by his brother and there are many experts with divergent opinions, with the joint chiefs expectedly leaning heavily toward aggressive actions. This film realistically reminds us how close we were to nuclear world war and how important it was to have a level headed Commander-in-Chief.

Avatar – 2009 (3.1). Granted I did not see this on the big screen and in 3-D, but we got a pretty good impact viewing it on my home theater set up. Quite a production, well done and with some interesting though not particularly novel allegories, but is just not a favorite genre with me. I did like the concept of transporting the humans into their avatars and back and the way it was central to the script. I would like to see the special features, which apparently are not made available for rental [a new marketing ploy by the film industry to try to regain some sales lost to rentals], so I may have to borrow a collector’s set from a friend.

The Atomic Café – 1982 (3.1) Streamed. With the radiation leakages at the nuclear plants in Japan in the news, concerns over nuclear safety again come forward. Attitudes run the gamut from hysteric fear to ridiculous dismissal of any danger. This 30 year old documentary affords a double opportunity to view the history of the debate. First we can see very interesting archival footage of the first atomic and hydrogen explosions and film of radiation victims from the bombs dropped on Japan and from people exposed during bomb tests, along with government propaganda films telling us how manageable a nuclear attack on America would be. Second, we can see how those early atomic years were viewed 30 years later, during the early years of the Reagan Administration while the Cold War was still running and Reagan wanted to take nukes into outer space. Fast forward another 30 years to now, and see what you think.

Bloody Sunday – 2002 (3.0). Made 30 years after the event, this Irish production uses documentary style to dramatize the day that a peaceful demonstration in the Catholic part of Derry, Northern Ireland, took a bad turn as a few young rock throwers played into the hands of trigger happy British paratroopers, setting off a small massacre that dashed hopes for peaceful resolution of the political issues and fueling IRA enlistment. Local amateurs were used to good effect in most of the roles.

The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall – 2008 (2.9) Streamed. Based on a true story of the shooting by a Bedouin Israeli sniper of a young English peace activist in Palestine, this British movie chronicles the effort by his parents to have the Israelis properly investigate. It doesn’t get too much into the politics involved beyond the intensity of Israel’s security protocols, while it does an effective job at portraying the tension between the parents and the stress on the younger siblings of the victim.

The Song of Sparrows – 2008 (2.9). Majid Majidi is an Iranian film maker who does good work presenting movies that have an authentic feel about showing us life among the less affluent families in Iran. His actors may in fact be real people, not professionals. In this story a man who works on an ostrich farm loses his job and takes his motor scooter into Tehran on some errands which quickly lead him into making money driving people around in the horrendous traffic. Since he returns home every day to his wife and children, we can compare the city and the country, the rich and the poor, and the honest and dishonest, as we watch the man coping with all this new information and deciding on how to let it play out in his life, as he absorbs it and learns more about his family and friends also.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer – 2002 (2.9). This Indian movie is not a Bollywood musical. It does have good music on the soundtrack and a small amount of incidental singing, but it is a serious drama with an undercurrent of romantic potential. The principals are a young college educated Hindu mother traveling with her toddler and a Muslim man the family asks to look after her on the bus trip. When the bus gets stranded because of post 9/11 violence between Hindis and Muslims, the pair spends a couple days together discussing some of the issues and getting to know each other better. This is not preachy and the on screen chemistry is very good (both leads are quite appealing). The toddler is also entertaining.

Everybody’s Famous – 2000 (2.8). Not that funny for a comedy, this Dutch movie tells a variation of the story about kidnapping a celebrity in order to get a chance to show your talent in performance. This time it is dumb but loving Dad doing it for overweight but supposedly talented daughter. It starts like a dumb comedy, then gets a little more serious and turns into a reverse caper with what is supposed to be a heartwarming finish, but it falls a little flat.

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy – 1946 (2.8) Streamed. I always enjoyed the Andy hardy movie series, but not many of the 15 films have made it to DVD. This was the last of the series, done after WWII, with Mickey Rooney playing Andy as a returning GI, which Mickey actually was, having served 21 months in the Army as an enlisted man entertaining the troops and doing some broadcasting. Still funny, especially Andy dancing with a girl twice his height, the film also had some serious overtones about GIs returning home to their special girl. On the brink of the War, Mickey was number one at the box office, but after the War his career headed down hill, as did his personal life with many financial setbacks and broken marriages. Yet, like Andy, he always makes it through and has been married to his current wife since 1978.

Hula Girls – 2006 (2.7). Based on a true story of a coal mining town in northern Japan in 1965 that was in economic trouble because the mine was closing down, this Japanese movie tells how the mining company decided to try to turn the town into a Hawaiian theme park because it had hot springs. Townspeople were resentful of the plan but a few of the women decided to go along with the plan and train to become Hula dancers, taught by an experienced but troubled young woman professional from Tokyo. Clumsy and a bit amateurish, the broad humor at the beginning does not work well, but then settles into a drama with some sensitive moments but lots of missed opportunities. If you don’t watch it all, skip ahead to the end to see the long shots of the last dances, which apparently were performed by real pros.

Winter’s Bone – 2010 (2.4) It was hard to tell the professional actors from the real local yokels and the settings were real places in Missouri hillbilly country in this movie that had the right look but didn’t tell a story that ever got me as interested as I should have been. Drug cooker Dad put up the home property for bond and is now either a bail jumper or a doomed snitch. To save the place, and take care of her incompetent Mom and younger siblings, the heroine sets out to track him down, but meets only with resistance from her inbred family and neighbors who are also in the same pharmaceutical business. Sorry, but I laughed out loud during what was supposed to be the most horrific scene.

The Windmill Movie – 2008 (2.4). I’m not sure how I got wind of this windmill. Only a few people rated it at Netflix and they all liked it. Maybe they were part of the Hampton set often shown in this posthumously assembled selection of self-indulgent home movies of a documentary film maker, Richard P. Rogers, who despite his privileged upbringing, struggled with self-esteem issues, while at the same time, being stuck on himself. This will be coming to streaming, but then you won’t get to see the two shorts by Rogers that were on the DVD extras, and which weren’t as bad as the main show.

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall – 1980 (2.4) Streamed. I streamed this old TV drama of a Katherine Anne Porter short story because I had an hour to kill and I have seen every other movie at Netflix by the director, Randa Haines, and liked them all. This was well directed and acted and captured the feel of its era, but it also felt like an old TV drama. The material itself had little appeal to me and to be honest I slept through a lot of the show, so maybe this review is unfair.