What We're Watching: Cathy

A Cat in Paris (DVD)

 

A little girl, Zoe,  who hasn't spoken since her father was killed. The evil villain who killed him. The neighbor who takes her cat, Dino, with him when he burgles other peoples' homes at night. Zoe's mother is a police detective who is hunting both the villain and the burglar and is very surprised to find that her own household is involved in both problems. This is a wonderful family film with chases over the rooftops of Paris and a dramatic ending at the cathedral of Notre Dame. The animation and the colors are great. The film was made in France but this edition is totally in English with the voices of Anjelica Huston and Marcia Gay Harden. You can also view it in the original French if you like. Magnifique!

What We're Watching: Cathy

Bag It
This film starts out as a protest against the ubiquitous plastic bag and how these bags are found all over the earth on land and water. It becomes a more general inquiry into how plastic has invaded our lives. Narrator Jeb Berrier looks at plastic bags, then all single-use plastic, the actual recyclability of plastics (not much is really recycled), and finally how plastics have got into our bodies and - as they are hormone interrupters - may be responsible for some of the developmental problems in young children - problems like autism, allergies, thyroid problems - and fertility problems in adults. He uses lots of humor but he is also very serious. At the end of the film he gives us a list of things we can do:  bring our own cloth bags to the store, don't use single-use plastics (plastic knives, forks, plates, bottled water, disposable cameras, take-out cups, etc.), don't microwave your food in plastic containers, choose products with less packaging, buy used items when possible, buy less stuff. All great New Year's resolutions!

What We're Watching: Laurie

The Apartment directed by Billy Wilder. Starring Jack Lemon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray and Ray Walston.

C.C. "Bud" Baxter (Lemon) is a lonely clerk who is employed by a huge corporation in NYC. Baxter lives alone and soon comes to realize that the quickest way up the company ladder is to loan out his Upper West Side apartment to his philandering bosses for their extramarital affairs. Baxter is rapidly promoted and enjoying his success until he falls for the company's lovely elevator operator Fran Kubelik (MacLaine). Baxter hopes to begin romancing Kubelik until he makes the unfortunate discovery that she has been romantically involved with his big boss Mr. Sheldrake (MacMurry). Will Baxter be able to win over the woman he has loved from afar? Will his newfound success last?

What We're Watching: Cathy

The Conspirator

This is the story of of the trial of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) who was accused of being part of the conspiracy to kill president Lincoln. She is defended, reluctantly at first, by Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) who was a Union war hero. Aiken is at first certain of her guilt, but that slowly changes to uncertainty and he fights for her right to get a fair trial, thwarted by the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) who believes he is justified in doing anything that will preserve the Union - even possibly convicting innocent people. All of the performances are excellent and the costuming and lighting are wonderful. You really feel that you've been given a window back to that time and place. Robert Redford (director) and the American Film Company are planning on more films of this sort and I can't wait.

Highly recommended.

What We're Watching: Laurie

Somewhere written and directed by Sofia Coppola. Starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning.

Johnny Marco (Dorff) has a successful acting career. He drives a Ferrari and lives at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. Marco has plenty of things to distract him and numb his pain. Johnny realizes that his life may not be as glamorous as it appears to the outside world when he has to take on the unexpected responsibility of caring for his adolescent daughter Cleo (Fanning). Living with Cleo opens Johnny's eyes as he realizes he is in desperate need of making some serious changes in his life. DVD FIC Somewhere. Rated R.

What We're Watching: Laurie

127 Hours directed by Danny Boyle. Starring James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Burton, Kate Mara and Treat Williams.

Aron Ralston (Franco) loves the outdoors and craves adventure. Ralston has a passion for mountaineering, canyoneering, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking-anything that poses a physical and mental challenge. In this true story, Aron finds himself in his toughest battle with nature. He went out to Blue John Canyon in Utah for a typical weekend of biking and hiking, and found himself trapped between the canyon walls when a boulder gave way and pinned his arm against the rock. Ralston was trapped for five days with very little food and water, and no one to help him out of this jam. He did not let anyone know where he was going, he did not have a mobile phone and there was no one around to hear his calls of distress. Dehydrated, completely depleted and on the verge of death, Aron found an immense inner strength and will to survive. After five days of literally being caught between a rock and a hard place, Ralston amputated his own arm with a cheap, dull multitool, rappelled down a 65 foot sheer wall, and planned to hike the 8 miles back to his truck in the terrible heat to try to save himself. This is an incredible survival story of a 27 year old man who searched deep within himself and unleashed unbelievable physical and mental strengths to survive. Rated R. DVD FIC ONE. Read the book Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Aron Ralston for a more in-depth account of this survival story. B Ralston.

What We're Watching: Laurie

Temple Grandin directed by Mick Jackson. Starring Claire Danes, Catherine O'Hara, David Strathairn and Julia Ormond.

Temple Grandin (Danes) was diagnosed with autism at age four. Needless to say, life was not easy for Temple or her mother. Temple did not speak until age four and the recommendation to Mrs. Grandin was to institutionalize her daughter. Being a graduate of Harvard, Mrs. Grandin refused to lose hope and believed that Temple had the potential to live a full, happy life. Mrs. Grandin sent her daughter to a private high school and then to college. Mrs. Grandin explained to all of the admissions faculty that Temple was "...different but not less", that she had a great mind and was capable and deserving of higher education. With the love and encouragement of her mother, Aunt Ann (O'Hara) and a few teachers along the way, Temple graduated with a Ph.D. in animal husbandry and is currently a professor at Colorado State University. Fantastic story of courage, love and perserverance. DVD FIC Temple

What We're Watching: Laurie

Inception written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger and Michael Caine.

Is it possible to enter a person's dreams? Is it possible to plant thoughts in one's dream in order to change the course of events in one's life? This is the concept explored in Inception. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is highly skilled at entering dreams to extract information from a person's subconscious. Cobb has a lot of inner turmoil and is offered a chance to release all of his pain by accepting his most difficult job to date-inception. Can he pull off the dangerous task of trying to plant an idea in one's mind? This is a complex film filled with intrigue, action and espionage.
PG-13. DVD FIC Inception

What We're Watching: Laurie

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World directed by Edgar Wright.
Starring Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, Alison Pill, Anna Kendrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jason Schwartzman.


Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is an adorable 22 year old bass guitarist with no job and no plans for the future. Scott is in search of the girl of his dreams. Literally. He keeps having vivid dreams of a redhead and thinks that life would be great if she existed and he could actually meet her. And then Scott sees her at a party. He introduces himself to Ramona (Winstead), asks her on a date, and then discovers that if he wants to be with her he must defeat her seven evil exes. What is in store for Scott? Will he be able to handle these battles? Is Ramona worth fighting for? PG-13.

What We're Watching: Laurie

Milk directed by Gus Van Sant. Starring Sean Penn, James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin.

Harvey Milk (Penn) was a gay rights activist who was determined to fight to make significant changes to his small world in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco. Milk believed that every person had the right to work, live and love in harmony with his fellow man regardless of sexual orientation. He fought hard against discrimination in his local neighborhood and his friends recognized that he had potential to make his voice heard on a state level. Milk ran for local office three times and was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977. Harvey's courage and tenacity paid off as he became the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States. Milk's fight really began when he led people across the nation to vote down Proposition 6, which denied equal rights to gay citizens. One year after his election, he and George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco, were assassinated by Dan White (Brolin), the former city supervisor. White claimed that the mayor and Milk were trying to block his attempt to rescind his resignation from the board. This film is full of outstanding performances and tells the story of courage, friendship and how one man's determination and belief for what is right and just can change the world.

What We're Watching: Laurie

Persona written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, and Margaretha Krook.

This story unfolds as actress Elisabeth Vogler (Ullmann) finds herself in the hospital after freezing onstage during a performance. The cause of Vogler's suffering is unknown and she refuses to speak to anyone. Vogler does not seem to be making any progress after being placed under the care of an inexperienced nurse named Alma (Andersson). As hard as Alma tries she cannot get Elisabeth to communicate with her, and Alma ends up sharing intimate secrets with the mute actress while her personality ultimately submerges into Elisabeth's persona. In Swedish with English subtitles.

What We're Reading: Jan

The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History by Jim Piazza and Gail Kinn

It's award season and perhaps looking at past Oscar contests will get us in the mood for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 7th, this year. This title will accomplish the goal. It has decade-by-decade facts about the ceremonies and the winners and losers. However, it also includes background information like who may have missed out on a particular role, important firsts in the movie business and a section called "Unmentionables," - anecdotes and controversies. For example, Russell Crowe won the Best Actor award for the film Gladiator and also acquired a broken foot bone, fractured hip and punctured cheek for his efforts. Another anecdote is a quip from The Exorcist director William Peter Blatty when he lost out for the Best Picture statue and complained, "The Exorcist is head and shoulders the finest film made this year." There are also 500+ photographs in the book that remind the reader of their favorite films and ceremony moments. Special sections of the book called "The Look of the Decade"cover fashion and glamour do's and don'ts through the years. All in all the book is a treasure-trove of fact and fun for everyone that loves the movies.

What We're Watching: Cathy

Food, Inc.

This is a documentary film on the food industry. You see how cattle, pigs, and chickens are commonly raised, slaughtered, and chopped up for market in the US food industry and then also how it is done on an organic farm. They interviewed farmers and processors from both camps and also a woman who became a food regulation activist after her son died of E. coli. I grew rather fond of organic farmer Joel Salatin and his enthusiasm for a truly sustainable and healthy way to farm - and eat. It truly makes you think about what you are actually eating (you're eating more corn than you think) and whether you want to continue this way.

What We're Watching: Mary

Venus Beaute (Institut)

This French film, originally released in 1999, features a 40 year old, somewhat jaded beautician Angele (Nathalie Baye), who seems destined to fail in love. The plot line follows her constantly seeking love in the wrong places, with the wrong men. On either side of her search, are juxtaposed two men: One is a former lover, towards whom she feels eternally guilty after accidentally scarring his face when a gun she was holding went off; and a new prospective lover who develops an infatuation for her that borders upon stalking.

Adding to the development of the plot, are the personalities of her co-workers. One is young and innocent; another somewhat cynical; and the third is her responsible boss. Angele's character is well crafted, in that she has all three of these elements with in her own personality, and they are seen waxing and waning in different situations throughout the film.

The background of the film is very inviting, as much of Angele's life is seen in the context of her work a day world of her somewhat "posh" beauty salon. The staff and clients come in and out of her world accompanied by a delicate bell like tinkling each time the door opens or closes.

After several steps, both back towards her old relationship, and forward to a possible new one, in the end a final, satisfying direction is taken, that seemlessly pulls in the few straggling lose ends.

What We're Reading: Jan

A Short History of Film by Wheeler Winston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster

Have you ever wondered how and where movie making got its start? This title is an enjoyable and readable trip through American and foreign film history for "movie-lovers" and "movie-learners" alike. Directors, actors, genres and more are covered from the 1880s to the present. A timeline is included that puts filmmaking in a historical context and the essays show how social events influenced the movies and how movies influenced society. More than 240 photos and illustrations highlight the text. There is an extensive bibliography in case you'd like to read more about film noir or Fellini or any other topic. Overall, the book is a concise and entertaining history of the movies...the movies that delight and enlighten us all.