Manchurian Candidate. Good movie, I had read the book, plus saw
the older one with Frank Sinatra: Denzel Washington was great. The plot is basically way out: the military plants these micros or something in this squad of troops-mainly it had to do with setting it up as a scenario for the future, to be able to control the "Manchurian Candidate." Manchurian is an evil corporation ready to control almost the world (big business, great plans) and an evil scientist who is into genetically changing things; not far-fetched based on what we can already do.
Amazing how the movie is updated. It is now terrorism, etc. Acting is good and Meryl Streep is great. She is a senator, the Manchurian Candidate is her son, who is a congressman that she wants to become Vice-President. He is a war hero, medal of honor winner, saved his men and even his captain in a fierce battle in Gulf War 1. The only problem is that the battle where he won the medal never happened as all remembered and was part of the plot. The remaining men were programmed to recall it as the bad guys wanted. The Manchurian Candidate was created. Are you following here?
Without giving it away if you haven't seen it, the idea is pretty preposterous in many ways. Denzel is the Captain from Desert Storm who discovers all this through his dreams and the dreams of one of the members of his group who was with him in Desert Storm. He is a Major, has all kinds of hero medals and discovers an implant in himself, starts out on this quest.
Washington is a good actor who makes you believe; and, you even wonder how it all can happen. His acting makes it believable. A little scary when you line it up with our present day situation. The question: Can or do politicians act so ruthlessly and are they so power hungry? I think so, it is a way of life to them. Think present day politicos. See it or not see it? I think I'd wait for the DVD if I were you.
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Supersize Me is one remarkable film: a documentary but more. It is the story of this guy who ate McDonald's three times a day for a month; he had three doctors who recorded what happened to him. I never eat MCDonalds/or fast food in general, but if I did, noway from here on out. I was amazed at what he did to his body by doing this; cholesterol went from 160 to like 250; blood pressure went from a respectable, 130 over 80 to something like 160 over a 100; every single thing to include his weight shot up; his weight went from 185 to 215 (was very flabby), his sex life went to hell, and he became depressed-amazing consequences of eating fast food. And to make matters worse, one doctor doubt he would ever get back to where he was before he began indulging-all of this was about half way through the 30 days.
The idea that food can destroy your body is something that not even the doctors could believe. And, the sad thing, of course, is that those who need to see a movie like this or give heed to it, will not; very sad-they are the obese. I know that it is a problem for kids, who often, like their parents, let themselves go; it is almost impossible for them to gain control of their weight.
I think all kids should see this picture. If I were an educator, would insist that my kids see it- A powerful piece of film making with a powerful message. 7-31-04
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| BOURNE SUPREMACY MOVIE REVIEW BY MAJORIE O'KEEFE |
Bourne Supremacy. Not much of a movie and very predictable. I liked the Bourne Identity better. Somehow with both movies, I've had trouble seeing Matt Damon in the role; but, surprisingly other people have not. I don't know who I would prefer in his place. I guess he seems a little too baby-faced to be "besting" three-fourths of the western world. I wear thin usually with these actions movies as, about half way through, they are so predictable and preposterous. A car scene, Bourne, driving a taxi cab through the streets of Moscow where he upends hundreds of cars, smashing, rolling over, fires, but somehow keeps going-out besting much better and faster cars, trains, pedestrians, all sorts of bad guys. Too much for me. I had to go for popcorn.
I think that the issue of always realizing that the movies can do anything they want is no small thing. What there is not in this movie, which I thought interesting, is no real love connection. And let's face it , a girl wants to see a little "love" in a movie.
In light of the 9-11 Commission Report and the ineptness of the American intelligence apparatus, this movie shows our intelligence community way to intelligent (no pun intended) and smart and slick. For me, I immediately thought, this is definitely someone's imagination. (this is an an aside-- I thought the basic concept of the 9-11 commission that didn't blame anybody and simply said that almost unadulterated luck help the terrorists do what they did was a little like a movie). Oh well...wait for the DVD.
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| THEOLOGY AND THE MOVIE OPEN RANGE BY DAN BRAKE |
At the weekly meeting with my friend Peter, we were discussing our
struggles to work out this Christian faith in our lives - being candid,
sharing failures and frustrations - wondering how, in the Bible, does two
and two make five. "From the experiential point of view, it only takes
grace united with faith to make righteousness? How can that be?"
We discussed Romans 4 and 5: Consider Abraham, who did not always do
"perfect" things, but he somehow "got it" and hoped against hope and was
viewed by God as righteous and an example for us to follow.
Now that sounds vaguely familiar ...
Peter(my friend) and I are visual types, and so we like to discuss the movies we watch.
He started talking about
Open Range with Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner. He reminded me about the lead character, Charlie Wade, a hired gun turned cowpuncher. Charlie, in his penance and attempt to quiet the
demons of violence within, worked for Boss as a very quiet and obedient
cattle driver. Charlie could only see in himself a heart of darkness and
anger.
But the leading lady ,Annette Bening, saw that Charlie's heart was good and she told him. Her words took a period of time to sink
in, but they finally did. Why? Because he had faith in the woman(Annette Benning) he admired.
We are all like Charlie Wade, we think the worst of
ourselves and because of that we kick around life in a depressed funk.
But then a heroine comes along and sees us for who we really are
and can be.
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| DAN FOSTER'S OPINION OF THE TV SHOW SOPRANOS |
If you were to take the "F" word or those related out of the series, you would reduce the dialogue of the Sopranos in half or more. But, what makes it an interesting show is the dynamics of the families; how a Mafia family, amidst illegality, killing, etc. attempt to be normal, whatever that definition is. Much of the family's job is denial. The men's job is to be in the Mafia; amazing!
To watch it in several episodes on DVD, it is easy to get caught up in it: Tony is the Godfather of a crime family; they relate to another crime family who controls various illegal activities as they do. There's the constant interpersonal relations between the two families.
It is like a business--they have a chain of command like the Army. In the midst of it, Tony is concerned about his daughter and son and their lives; They go to Church, and are good Catholics(after immediately ordering a "hit" or doing it themselves). They might go to Mass; they are patriotic. They see no connection in their religion and living out their daily illegal lives as unrelated and God smiles on them. They follow all the traditional holidays. Tony and the guys are involved in some funny situations. Tony sees a shrink; loyalty in the family is paramount. It is easy to get hooked on this Mafia soap opera with little or no redeeming value.
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| DVD MOVIE REVIEW: VERONICA GUERIN BY MAJORIE O'KEEFE |
Veronica Guerin is based on a true story about an Irish reporter who was killed by drug lords for exposing them. I had read a great deal about this reporter, talk about one gutsy woman with all the conflicts of what she had to "do and be" while a wife and mother.
In a sense, I see that in all powerful women: the conflict between their capabilities and ambitions and the traditional roles such as wife and mother and careers; very, very difficult. And, especially in our culture and especially if the husband is not as supportive as he could be; or, there is no really good division of labor.
In this movie, as in almost all "crusader" type movies: Serpico, Braveheart, the question of why; motive. This is a good movie and makes us realize that to bring about change often, someone has to make the ultimate sacrifice. Veronica Guerin did.
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SHACKLETON. Shackleton, an interesting 3 Discs collective edition about the explorer, took place during WW I-1914-1916(trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-1916) In retrospect, a totally useless war; well, aren't all of them? Mostly fought over pride.
The explorer, Shackleton, is driven and a maxed-out self-promoter. He gave England another subject besides war. Good and interesting period piece; Shackleton, played by Richard Branagh, a good actor, was married to Emma Thompson--how could a guy divorce that woman? Shackleton has a wife, two kids all very devoted and another friend, female--she is equally devoted. The wife, when he is leaving to go on this expedition sees him with other woman; she is tormented by it. Later in the movie as he is lost, the mistress calls the wife to inquire about him. Very moving and the wife and the "other" woman both show great grace. Good movie, long but very educational, didn't know anything about the South pole or the expedition. Now I do.
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| DVD MOVIE REVIEW: MONSOON WEDDING BY MAJORIE O'KEEFE |
Monsoon Wedding. A really good foreign film. Good in terms of really letting you experience an Indian (India) wedding. The movie had a couple of very interesting twists; mainly one on child sexual abuse which comes out of the blue; several little subplots and also deals with the Indian "caste" system which is quite amazing. One interesting aspect of the movie is the interspersing of English and whatever language is spoken in India. The American influence is definitely in evidence. Many Indians work in the U. S. and in a sense, are viewed as the successful ex-patriots who come back to their homeland for special occasions and to dispense some of their wealth.
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| DVD MOVIE REVIEW: THE STATION AGENT BY MAJORIE O'KEEFE |
The Station Agent is really a thoughtful movie of improbable relationships. A dwarf, Fin, is obsessed with trains. A loner by nature, he inherits a train station and moves to this isolated spot in New Jersey where he encounters Joe--a maxed out extrovert who has never seen a stranger. Joe befriends Fin, even though Fin doesn't want any friends. And, then there's Olivia, a troubled and clinically depressed artist, still grieving over a dead son. The three join together in an impossible triad that eventually rescues them all. My favorite is Joe, who was Bobby on TV's 3rd Watch, before they killed him off: The Station Agent is really a good in this movie- very thoughtful and pensive flick.
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| DVD MOVIE REVIEW: UNDER THE SUN BY DAN FOSTER |
Under The Sun is a Swedish Foreign film. A forty year old bachelor, a virgin, is taken advantage of by his young friend, Erik. The forty year old bachelor, Olaf, is a farmer, who can't read.
He places an ad in the paper for a housekeeper. He gets two responses and one sends a picture: she's never been to a farm. Turns out she is quite polished so to speak but seems to have good motives.
Ellen, the housekeeper, turns things around for Olaf, cleans his house and puts the con guy, Erik,his supposed friend and helper, on notice.
Olaf never tells Ellen he can't read. They finally start to get it on, he doesn't know how. He is embarrassed; Ellen tells him not to be and it looks like the relationship is going south when he goes to her and asks her to teach him. She does and then it is powerful sex. They are in love. She is very moved and Olaf gives her a ring and says, "When my father died, he gave my mother his heart. This was her heart represented by this ring and now I want you to have it."- A Very Romantic Moment.
Finally, Ellen leaves to straighten some things out. We find out Ellen is married when she leaves a note which Olaf can't read.
Erik, supposedly Olaf's friend, reads Ellen's letter, but distorts it and tries to pull the wool over Olaf's eyes. Olaf says a great line to the guy: "I may not be able to read but I'm not stupid." He saves the letter.
Ellen comes back but is unsure what Olaf will do: he has her read the letter to him; she does and all is forgiven. A cute/sweet movie.
One of the things that makes it interesting, Olaf's a farmer, not all that attractive, overweight, has pulled the wool over folks for years as they don't know he can't read (which is common with those who can't--sad). Again, a Good movie.
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The Rising Place The story unfolds because a niece finds letters in a closet. A little like Fried Green Tomatoes. The niece reads the letters which told about the story of a relationships of a young woman. The gaps of the story are filled in by ailing Aunt Millie. Later it is revealed that the story is about Aunt Millie. Aunt Millie's sister (the
nieces' mother) is also in the story.
The Rising Place is a sweet, sweet movie-one of the millions of stories of WW ll and all that surrounded it. The setting is southern Missisissippi. This young girl meets a serviceman just prior to WW ll and becomes pregnant. There was no mention of abortion in those times. Terminating a pregnancy was not an option.
The young girl's family was not supportive; but her best friend, an African American kept the faith with her, along with a young man trying to find his way. The movie naturally showed the Southern underbelly: racial prejudice. In many ways, you almost have to be a southern to get all the nuances.
The DVD had an alternate ending which was really good and better than the original, I thought. It showed more emotions of the younger sister(the nieces'mother) having to deal with her older sister's pregnancy, the decisions and the conflicts.
The Rising Place is a very touching movie. Rent the DVD on a lazy Saturday afternoon. The movie had great music. Here are some of the words(maybe some paraphrasing): "Many times in our lifetimes, our hearts knows to spare
And I wonder why some souls might believe and I question just who would be there. I can be so uncertain with pain all around. Heartbreak is so hard to face for everything that is lost, there is another found and love seeks its own sacred space. God bless the heartaches, the reshape, the soul in return. God bless and keep our memories and God bless the lessons we learn. It is out of the shadows to the warm sunlight to the joy without sorrows and then be no warring for that is just how life seems to go. God bless the heartaches, the reshaping the soul's concern. God keep our memories. God bless the lessons we learn. God bless our heartaches. God bless the tough breaks. God bless the lessons we learn."
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Pretty powerful, wouldn't you say?
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