Movie update
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Not so much. And I love Albert Brooks. I think age has mellowed him, removing the feistiness from his fussiness. I think you'd call it a gentle comedy. All I know is I gently ejected myself from my seat at the halfway point.
Junebug
I thought I'd had my fill of quirky Southern families, but this movie manages to stir in a couple of fresh female characters that make it worth watching--an eerily sunny pregnant youngun' and a sophisticated art dealer who is as clueless about life as she is savvy about art and her powers of attraction.
The Aviator
I avoided this movie for as long as possible, but people kept raving about Cate Blanchett as Kate Hepburn or saying what amazing stuff Howard Hughes accomplished in his life. Finally, I decided I'd set aside my Leonardo DeCrapio aversion and give it a try on DVD. Ohmigod, it was booooooring. And the editing was awful. The story didn't flow. Cate was good, but not good enough to make up for what the rest of the film lacked. It wasn't even fascinating to watch HH lose his mind--despite the "edgy" technique of showing a film projected on Leo's buttcheeks as he howled in his screening room. I can't believe it was nominated for best picture. Icky poo-poo. I wash my hands of it.
The Boys of Baraka
This documentary is simply terrific. Sobering, inspiring, eye-opening, haunting. It tracks a group of 12-year-old "at risk" black kids from Baltimore who are sent to a private school in Kenya as a last resort to save them from dropping out of school for a life on the streets. This film follows them in their first year in Africa and shows what happens when they return home for summer break. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming and, as my friend P-girl said, should be required prime time viewing. Here's the web site, if you'd like to learn more.
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