Life at the Movies

We may choose which we way we go in life, but life cannot be always as clear cut as that.  There are complexities involved in decision making such as circumstances. Losing mother and brother can be one of those circumstances.  The Indian boy Saroo in Lion (2016) has lost his mother and brother. Saroo asked…

You may have your preferred section–the newspaper interview with Jacqueline Kennedy or her handling of grief–but Jackie (2016) comes together all very well as a whole. The film goes back and forth from Jackie Kennedy’s newspaper interview at her home in Massachusetts, to her grief immediately after her husband President John Kennedy’s assassination. Interview and grief…

There are no ballerina pivots in Jackie (2016), but it is about “pivots” in life or pivotal events.  Something happens and life revolves around this, it is pivotal. The event can be untimely and disturbing, but life is not forever altered by the event. The event and its aftermath passes. This movie is about how…

Transformers (2007): it’s about sorting out the problems between machines in earth’s backyard. But will the people on earth be neutral? In the neighborhood, or in the vicinity, are the machines, the transformers. They are from another planet, but fighting on planet Earth. That’s somebody else’s backyard. Earth would be neutral and not involved whatsoever…

No joking, didn’t Shrek have a lovely face? Really. It’s in the contours and curves. I reckon most if not all of us didn’t judge Shrek by his appearances. Some characters in the movie did, though. He’s feared for all the wrong things about his appearance. No one likes to be judged skin deep as…

It occurred to me, after posting last, of the wasteful handling of food, a theme, as I see it, in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009). I could write about themes in other posts that I see in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but I won’t go into such detail. I could write…

Food makes us happy. The plentiful scenes of fare on display in abundance in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) will make us smile, but may also make us think. When is too much more than enough? We have probably never seen anything like this on the screen—raining cuisine in abundance. This would be…

A teacher, a mother and her teenage daughter are a mess in The Edge of Seventeen (2016). The Edge of Seventeen is a comedy drama about the angst of living and what can be done about it. Are they just going through a phase? The teacher is played by Woody Harrelson who has just enough…

Kids who go wayward may get the impression that their families don’t really care. Dad is too busy. There is no time for Mom and Dad to hang out with me, some teenagers may think. Some teenagers may bond with surrogate families. They bond with a group of friends that may or may not be…

Moana (2016) presents a myth that we don’t see that often. Moana is a very Polynesian story. This animated film has beautiful characters, a good story, a tropical island, music and song, and a lovely look. There is no mistaking its roots with the culture firmly embedded. There’s Polynesian garb, way of life, and characters.…

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