Movies, Mom & Me

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Our collection consists of the following:
   • The Complete Collection (European)
   • Sister Wendy's American Collection
   • Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum
     Aside from the comments in the Mention, above, you should know that the theme for the series casts a spell over me, as well. My mother never tired of watching these videos. Neither do I.

Labels: collection, documentary, shared-favorite

# posted by gail @ 16:24    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  I keep this movie as reference. I think it will come in particularly handy in the next few years. Mom and I both watched it. I think it bored Mom, especially since I insisted on watching all the special features which were, in many cases, more interesting than the movie. I care about this movie because I am one of Uninsured America. Since I was 22, I have ha medical insurance for only nine months out of my entire adult life. In addition, I earned my fighting chops defending my fully insured mother against the USA Medical-Industrial Complex, including the insurance industry. Shouldn't surprise you that I'm a fan of this movie.

Labels: documentary

# posted by gail @ 16:02    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  This is another spectacular BBC series that charts the evolution of the earth. Fascinating. We watched in when it broke on TV then decided we had to have it for reviewing. We watched it, in its entirety, a couple of times before Mom died.

Labels: audio-visual, documentary, science

# posted by gail @ 14:06    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  I purchased this DVD while Mom was in rehab in 2008, so it's definitely a late-comer to our library. I'd rented it and was so pleased with the movie and the accompanying website (linked above to the title) that I decided to purchase it. I was sure that Mom wouldn't be interested in watching it and hadn't planned to run it for her but I'd accidentally left the jacket on the coffee table next to her rocker. When she came home she noticed and asked about it. I gave her a little enthusiastic review, than told her I wasn't sure she'd be interested in it, but she wanted to "give it a try". Much to my surprise, she really enjoyed it. It was one of those videos which we occasionally paused to discuss points and issues. She never watched it more than once, it wasn't one of those for her, but, well, suffice it to say this movie taught me never to underestimate my mother's interest in anything, always check, first.

Labels: documentary, political

# posted by gail @ 13:43    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  This is another excellent series produced by the same people who brought us Planet Earth. I have a preference for nature shows that explore water environments and this one stacks up very well. Unlike March of the Penguins, it lives up to its hype, even if you're a regular watcher of the variety of channels that frequently host animal and geographical specials. While I have tended, over the years, to become a bit jaded in the company of Animal-Vegetable-Mineral programs, seeing as how we view so many of them, this one, like Planet Earth, engages me, every episode, every time, and, because of my sub- an unconscious veering toward water videos, adds an extra "dreamy" dimension for me.

Labels: documentary, dream, film-art, political, science, shared-favorite, TV

# posted by gail @ 12:08    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Don't tell me you're suprised we purchased this series! Thank the gods, the version with David Attenborough was available. Although we watched the series on TV when it aired on Discovery at the beginning of April (and immediately pre-ordered it), both of us had problems with Sigourney Weaver's narration. I didn't say anything until Mom spoke up and said, "That woman sounds like an old-time school marm! Couldn't they get someone better?!?"
     Yes, they could and did.
     Even if you're a veteran of animal and nature shows, as many Ancient Ones and their caregivers are, this series is a stunner. The addition of the three episode "Planet Earth-The Future" is oddly intriguing, since it involves interviews with died in the wool Greens and those who take issue with all the propositions included in the current global warming hysteria (yes, it is an hysteria, even if it turns out to be reliable), as a well as a smattering of people who are depressed by the realities inherent in trying to get humans to cooperate across the board in changing the ways we live on our planet.
     I noticed that the script is, first, a little contradictory. In one place it mentions that glacial movement is the most devastating eroder of landscape. Then, in another episode, it states that moving water is. Granted, they both states of H₂O, but their different states and properties have vastly different impacts upon the land. I vote for glacial movement. As well, I'm not sure how long this series was in development from the very beginning, but it inaccurately states, in the forest section, that a redwood is the largest living organism on Earth. A few years ago it was discovered that a mushroom was, in fact, the largest living organism. Truth is, we'll probably discover something that's even larger, one of these days.
       Nonetheless, this series is a stunner. We watched it again tonight (which is last night, now). I know we'll watch it again. And again.

Labels: documentary, film-art, interview, mom-favorite, political, science, spectacle, TV

# posted by gail @ 02:19    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  I think my "mention" says it all. We have, by the way, seen this movie twice since purchasing it. The second time I cued it immediately after we sat through a viewing of The Fog of War, using it as a painlessly painful history reminder.

Labels: documentary, war

# posted by gail @ 13:30    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  I think I covered everything in the "mention" above. Despite this, I've kept it. Although we haven't seen it again, I'll bet, one of these days when Animal Planet, Discovery and National Geographic all have shit on them and Mom's not interested in anything but animal stuff, it'll come in handy. I think it's the only animal special we have on DVD. Well, besides The Planet of the Apes movies, which I'm sure Mom considers the best of animal specials.

Labels: animal, documentary, mom-favorite, science

# posted by gail @ 22:31    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Mom and I have caught this at least three times when it's showed on PBS during their funds drives. For both of us it's the Cosmos of philosophy/spirituality.

Labels: documentary, shared-favorite, spiritual

# posted by gail @ 17:07    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I bought this because we never caught the entire show on PBS and it intrigued both Mom and me. We haven't had it very long but have watched it twice. After the second watching I ordered the book. I'm sure it will be one that she and I will read aloud together. Although my mother considers herself a Christian and has a grounding in and much respect for C. S. Lewis' theology, both times we've watched this, during some of the explanation of Freud's thought journey to atheism, my mother has said, "You know, he's got a point, there."

Labels: documentary, shared-favorite, spiritual

# posted by gail @ 17:06    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This is a ditty of a movie, and this little ditty is a delight. This is my idea of a cartoon, even though it's a docu-drama in the best sense of the word.
     It is this type of movie that is responsible for turning my idea of what movies are for and can do for me. There are, for instance, movies that one would want to have in one's own collection for pure enjoyment. My mother and I, for instance, spell the words along with the participants (we've seen the movie twice).

Labels: documentary, mom-favorite

# posted by gail @ 07:24    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Both my mother and I found Kathryn Hepburn's participation in this project especially revealing, and the letter she wrote to "Spence" after his death especially touching.
     This video is a part of the Tracy/Hepburn Collection.

Labels: biography, collection, documentary, tracy-hepburn

# posted by gail @ 02:01    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  This series is our church. We watch episodes of it often, reverentially and alertly. The music has a tendency to blur the experience for Mom, but the stories and cosmopolitan view snap her out of it. We have been known to lose entire afternoons and evenings to episodes of this series. In a way, I consider it the essence of the spirit that keeps Mom around.

Labels: documentary, dream, science, spectacle, TV

# posted by gail @ 01:56    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  I'm sure you'll be surprised to know that my mother (and, thus, me) had a very successful experience with this movie. I continue to use it as a meditation on conflict. Often, when I'm using it for this, Mom will sit down and watch it from wherever it is when she notices I'm playing it.

Labels: documentary, haunting, historical, me-favorite, war

# posted by gail @ 20:33    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I supposedly got these for my mother. She haunts cable looking for replays of the That's Entertainment series. I have to admit, though, I really enjoy them. They are especially good for generating energy. My mother and I both sing along to them. Sometimes, I dance along to them, too. Just for your info, the 4th disc, "Treasures from the Vault", is repetitious and boring. Don't bother.

Labels: collection, dance, documentary, historical, mom-favorite, musical

# posted by gail @ 19:18    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I've watched this a couple of times: Once in depth and then speed watched through it. When I purchased the dvd the book was offered free. I've consulted the book more than the movie.
       My mother doesn't seem fazed by this kind of documentary. I gather she's heard it all before. We don't watch either of Micheal Moore's movies for pleasure. Well, that's not strictly true. I love the comedy of all his movies. It strikes me as George Carlin doing performance comedy.

Labels: documentary, political

# posted by gail @ 23:14    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Although I enjoy such documentaries and this is one of my favorites, this type of documentary isn't Mom's cup of tea. I'm sure I'll watch it again, I'm sure Mom won't.

Labels: documentary, political

# posted by gail @ 23:08    0 comments    email......this post