Dhanak...

Darling film. This is a sweet story of a little girl desperate to help her blind brother. 

In Search of Beethoven

In Search of Beethoven is part of a wonderful documentary. It seems to end in the middle of the story as if they ran out of money.
That said,  it's well worth your time. It's a story of triumph over trial and faith in God's plan. The world would be far poorer without Beethoven's beautiful music,  without his Ode to Joy.

Endure courageously, millions!
Endure for the better world!
There above the starry canopy
A great God will reward.

Love & Friendship

This film is simply delightful.

Long Way North

Creative,  great story, beautiful art. Viewable on Amazon Prime right now.

Monumental by Kirk Cameron

See this film with your children.

Song of the Sea

Song of the Sea is a perfect film. I loved everything about it.  The art is gorgeous.  The music is beautiful.  The story is tender and sweet.

The Way Back

Incredible film based on a true story. See it.

Obama's America 2016

I went to this movie and I think it was very well done. It was interesting to me to see the different places that are connected to this story. It was fascinating to me how Dinesh D'Souza parallels his own life with that of President Obama's. I loved brother meeting brother George.

But, I learned very little about President Obama's life that I didn't know before the 2008 election. Very little. The big story of this film is that the media has sold out, not news either I know, but nothing shows it more starkly than public reaction to this film.

This film is a good test of media consumption habits. Less than 10 Corporations own 90% of the media consumed by Americans. Did you know that? Have you ever noticed how similarly stories are reported, or how local papers will just post the AP (Associated Press) story? Getting a little diversity into your media diet is not that easy, but it's important. How to do that? Hmmm. That is a question.

Below, I'm going to post 10 some things that I think are important to know about President Obama. Look through them and see how many of them have received coverage in the media you consume:

1.  Rev. Jeremiah Wright Obama's Pastor for over 20 years. Have you seen these comments?
2. The History of Agenda 21 How anti-colonialist views are expressed in the Obama Presidency a. Obama on Coal, Obama on food, Obama on high gas prices, Agenda 21 & Obama's Rural Council
3. Fast & Furious, Eric Holder on guns, UN Gun Treaty
4. Obama Administration sues Arizona over Illegal Immigration
5. Obama Administration sues to take over New Mexico's water supply
6. Executive Orders of Presidents. This would make a great research project for someone. Some feel that the last few presidents have used extra-Constitutional powers in their issuing of these orders. Here is a list of all presidents. Here is a list of 137 of (I am aware of 138) Obama's Executive Orders with links to PDF.. you can also find them on the White House web site. These Executive Orders are usually not long documents, a couple of paragraphs. Read through some of them and see if you agree with where Obama is leading the country.
7. Where is the stimulus money? Did it really go to fixing crumbling infrastructure? HERE
8. Common Core Implementation. If you look at the above site again, you can browse by recipient HERE. To look at this you would suspect that teachers in your state got a fantastic raise. NO!?! No. The money  didn't go to save teacher jobs or increase their pay, it went to implement a federal take over of education called Common Core. Read what you won't hear about it on the news HERE.
9. Green Energy Failures: Abound Solar is the latest, but the money wasted on "Green Technologies" is astounding. HERE is a pretty good list, it's missing some major players like Sun Power (which received a 1.2 BILLION Federal Loan Guarantee and will therefore be a bigger fiscal catastrophe than Solyndra WHEN it goes down) HERE
10. Obama's Convention beautiful convention speech spoke of fair play in the market place and yet his record more than any other president is one of picking winners and losers based on political donations and cronyism. This is not new in and American government that has granted subsidies and foreign aid and grant money to some and not others for years, but we now no longer have a free market in the United States.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. It is just the first 10 concerns off the top of my head. There is so much more, but the public is plagued by political personalities the likes of Sandra Fluke, whose mission to provide every woman with free birth control really does not affect the lives of that many people and yet for how long did that story dominate the news? It's no wonder so many Americans think politics is a trite and a pointless waste of time. But, there are grave issues being decided behind the spotlight of media frenzy that beg for the thoughtful concern of an informed and active citizenry.

The Train

I picked this up at the library yesterday and we watched it last night. The film is losely based on actual events that occured in the days just before the Allied invasion of France. Any film that honors the courage of the French Resistance is usually a film I want to see. This one is a little disappointing in the script which could have been tighter.. yet I really found it quite gripping even though it's lengthy as well. I think this is a classic to see. And, this is a drama you can invite the husband to watch with you.

Downton Abbey...

I'm obsessed. My shelter friends were discussing this and I hadn't even heard of it. When I looked it up and found the Elizabeth McGovern was starring as Lady Cora... I bought the first season and gobbled it up.. and then went to Costco and gobbled up the second season like a novel that you can't put down. I tried folding laundry, but you really can't take your eyes of the screen.. so that didn't work.
What will happen to Mr. Bates and his faithful wife? Will Matthew and Lady Mary ever make it work? What will happen to Downton in the new age? Lady Sybil and the chauffeur? I can't wait to find out.

Maggie Smith is so brilliant. I love watching her roll her eyes, plot, manipulate and act all tough.. we know she's a marshmallow on the inside. Love it...

Downton Abbey

Don't miss.

Little Dorrit...

This was one that I missed when it aired on PBS... Goodness. This adaptation is brilliant and all family members but one are obsessed. I should buy it though. I hate how everything from Netflix comes scratched.. Netflix is on my list this week.

The Secret World of Arrietty...

I have to say that this film moved a little slow. However, my children were mesmerized by it... they barely blinked. TRAILER HERE..

One Day...

In many ways this film was really well done. Just watching Anne Hathaway's changing hair and costumes kept my interest since it takes place during my own coming of age decades. But, though I'm also old enough to be a little more of a realist than a romantic. In high school and college.. this would have been a five hanky movie... no more.

With age and wisdom, this film is more of a cautionary tale. Love is a choice. Choose wisely. Instead of a love story, I saw a woman who wasted her life on a Heathcliff. Do you read Wuthering Heights as a cautionary tale? When my daughter reads Wuthering Heights, I might show her this film. Well, apparently, that's all I have to say about that. 

Official Trailer...

Red Tails... The Tuskegee Airmen

TRAILER:

I love this movie. It could have been better. It could have had a much tighter script although there were some really fun lines. It could have had greater depth in the character development. There is some language and a small love scene where one of the actors is standing at the window with his girlfriend who is wearing a short silk nighty and it's made obvious they've been sleeping together. I say this right out because other than that, I think this a really great movie for kids, especially boys (although my girls loved it!) I really want to take all my nephews to see it. It is PG-13 mostly for war violence, but to me (I've seen a lot of war films) it's very minor stuff. This is NOT Band of Brothers. For example, one of the airmen is captured by the Germans which could be a terrifying scene.. it's not. They do make one of the German Pilots a very 2 dimensional stereotypical "bad guy" snarly, surly and racist of course.

There isn't a ton of depth written into any of the characters. This is a George Lucas Film so think Star Wars. But, it's a handsome group of very fine actors and they do a great job with it. The film is made to showcase just a few of the accomplishments of the AWESOME Tuskegee Airmen and it just makes you want to stand up and cheer. The special affects are really stunning to me. I would think all of the flying scenes have to be computer animation and they are amazing. If you have a 6-16 year old boy in your family.. you really might want to consider taking them to this in a theater with a NICE, BIG screen.

There are so many stories of courage like this in American History that could be told and should be told on the big screen.. Hats off to George Lucas for choosing this one! I hope it will be a huge hit for him.

Hooray!

Larry Crowne...

Full disclosure. I went to this film with a group of my best good friends and there were mixed reviews. But, I loved this movie. At first I thought so much of it was just too implausible to even consider. Who goes to their speech class and falls in love with the teacher who happens to look exactly like Julia Roberts. Then, I remembered the many friends I've have, every bit as gorgeous, who have been left by jerks. I was impressed that in this one Hollywood film, they admit that pornography has victims and they are not just the objectified women in the pictures. When I started thinking about some of the divorces that I know any details about.. pornography was a problem in most of them.
Who joins a scooter gang whose mission is to Feng shui everything and make it beautiful... umm.. I'd LOVE to! :)
The themes of being divorced, down-sized and broke are pretty depressing, but they are reality for so very many people around our country right now. The answer to healing our broken country has a lot to do with healing it's homes.. but a Feng shui scooter gang couldn't hurt. See it!

Dark Passage: Bogart and Bacall...

The only reason to watch this film is to see how truly ridiculous a film can be. Bogart's character accidentally KILLS 3 people during the LONG saga.. But, don't worry he shrugs it off pretty well as does Bacall's character, THE weird girlfriend. Bad luck can happen to anyone ... right? This film drove me crazy from the start, but I kept watching because I just couldn't believe that these 2 very fine actors would participate in this cinematic train wreck.. it's started to be funny by the end. Who wrote this?? Cinematography .. weird ..F. Acting F. Script.. what's worse than F? Skip this.. and see Key Largo instead.

Bogart & Bacall: Key Largo...

This is a GREAT film. Loved it! One of those movies that for the most part is still current and relavent. The dialogue is fairly gripping. HERE is the trailer. See it.

Waking Ned Devine...

With a charge not to rent Nazi, Government Conspiracy, films about failing schools worse foreign policy.. .. There was only one place to go. Rest in Peace Ned Devine.... you make us smile in every line.

Woman of the Year...

From what I've read and from interviews I've seen of Katherine Hepburn, this character may be the closest one she played to herself and it's a great performance. But, the script needed a bit of tweaking. The ideas in the film are still very relevant.. and this is a film that could use a great re-make. Still, it's worth seeing the original.. it's is long and could easily be cut by at least half an hour and the ending leaves something to be desired.. that said.. It's Hepburn and Tracy and their wit and banter and chemistry is unrivaled still.

Wait Until Dark...

This is one of Audrey's most amazing performances and this is also one of the scariest movies I've seen.. but it's really, really good. See it!