Movies, Mom & Me

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  I'm truly surprised that I never mentioned this movie in the journals because, after I'd first seen it, the year it was released, I was mesmerized by it and talked it up to everyone who would listen, rented it endlessly and forced relatives to watch it with me, etc. I've often tried to explain why this movie has such a hold over me. Luckily, Mom always enjoyed it, as she does most big country-spectacle-epics. The acting is poor to fair to good to very occasionally excellent (usually the minor characters ring in the excellence in acting); the story is, well, the father-son story at the base of it is reasonably interesting but predictable; but the whole business about bears and the fall...it resonates with my own interest in bears and the fact that I've always been unreasonably proud of being a fall baby and feel "special" because of that accident of birth timing. I tend to feel as though I am in a dream when I watch this movie. Weird, I know. But, I expect to unreasonably love this movie for the rest of my life. I was lucky that Mom enjoyed it, too, I think it was like reading a sprawling novel, for her, thus she indulged my need to watch this at least once a year, if not more.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, dream, haunting, me-favorite, period, spectacle, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 14:33    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  none
3. Commentary:  One of the advantages, for Mom & me, of subscribing to a DVD rental service was (and remains) the availability of foreign films. Slowly, because of my interest in films from everywhere, if they're good, she learned to handle foreign language films with subtitles. Our favorites, though, were the sweeping epics that communicate mostly without language. This movie became one of our favorites in 2008. You'd think, because it is mostly about conflict, sometimes bloody, short on specific cultural information, etc., we would have found it boring. Quite the opposite. Mom loved the scene-after-scene sprawl of the steppes. I loved the mythical ambience of the film.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, historical, period, political, spectacle, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 13:21    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Yet another one of those teaching videos, for Mom. The Mention says it all. Yes, we made it through the entire series before she died. Yes, she was shocked and intrigued at the vaccination and breast cancer episodes; worthy of pauses and further discussion between us. During the breast cancer surgery (which wasn't completely displayed), she speculated, aloud, how lucky MCS (who is a breast cancer survivor) was that "we" weren't living during "those days". The surprising aspect of this was that my mother remembered that MCS had breast cancer, several years ago.

Labels: drama, historical, period, political, presidential, TV, war

# posted by gail @ 19:17    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1* *2* *3*
3. Commentary:  As covered in one of the above Mentions, this movie was suggested by MFS. I was surprised at how much Mom loved it. I enjoy it, too. It's yet another spectacle movie for me (I should create a "spectacle" category, shouldn't I...I think I will, then add to it later) and I love a variety of the acting performances in this movie, particularly (but not solely) Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius. Before he ever says anything in the movie his acting makes many aspects of Marcus Aurelius' character clear. We watched this movie on TV several times, in "to-fit-your-screen" format, before I finally purchased it. Much better in widescreen. On a whim, I watched the movie last night. I continue to find it supremely entertaining; and, as well, now that Mom's dead, surprisingly emotional, specifically at the end when Juba says, as he buries Maximus' personal idols, "I will see you again, but not yet." If you have any interest in this movie, I urge you to click into the link to the title of the movie, above, which will send you to a thorough and compelling critique of the historicity of the movie. Believe me, despite the astonishing number of historical inaccuracies in the movie, the critique renders watching the movie even more enjoyable.

Labels: action, adventure, drama, historical, period, political, shared-favorite, spectacle, suspense, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 14:15    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  G, I think
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  My confession is this: I think I've probably seen this entire movie, but I've never seen the entire movie in one sitting. I have memories of seeing parts of it while watching a football game. Weird, I know.
       I got it because this, also, was at a very low sale price, not Costco, and I have, for some time, very much wanted to see the movie of a piece.
       I don't think my mother has ever seen the movie, in whole or part, and I don't think it would command her attention. I think she'd consider it boring.

Labels: period, political, satire, war

# posted by gail @ 17:21    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  This is one of what I consider to be Peter Weir's more mysterious movies. Every time he does a movie about obvious political conflict, I come away with a sense that the big picture is disastrously easy to miss in the detail of living politically.
       I never think of this movie when Mom and I are deciding what to watch together. I expect she will never see it, simply because I don't think of it, even when we have a Peter Weir fest, which we do about once a year. I think she would find Linda Hunt's performance entertaining and noteworthy, but in a Samuel Johnson kind of way. Otherwise, I don't think she would find the story at all involving. Although I may be wrong. If I ever discover that I am, I will certainly update this report.

Labels: adventure, drama, historical, me-favorite, political, war, weir

# posted by gail @ 17:56    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 (half) & G (all)
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Well, I'm thrilled with this movie. It engaged me from the very beginning and entranced me to the very end. I bought the DVD immediately after seeing it so I could watch the special features and would have many chances to watch the movie again. It engaged Mom, too, but I guess I started it too late, she decided to take a nap about halfway through, then, remembering that it didn't keep her from taking a nap, has refused to watch it since, even though she watched the special features with me. I think I'll pop it on her by surprise. It's not as though she's unfamiliar with the subject or prey to what are considered the standard female predilections against fire arms. She used to be a crack shot and a gunnery instructor in the Navy, after all.

Labels: drama, haunting, me-favorite, political, violence, war

# posted by gail @ 22:30    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I originally watched this movie some years ago when I was self-studying war. I've watched it since when I desperately need to be reminded of everyone's essential humanity and of the root of all conflict.

Labels: drama, haunting, historical, me-favorite, political, war

# posted by gail @ 07:23    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  Mom introduced me to this movie, and Greer Garson, soon after I moved in with her. Although the relentlessly chin-up attitude of this movie may seem hard to tolerate, these days, I think what I enjoy most about this movie is that it is, as I believe Winston Churchill pointed out, clearly England's and America's secret weapon.
       One more footnote, Greer Garson, I think, is probably the only actress with whom I've ever been familiar who can pull off the perfect, long suffering war-heroine-on-the-homefront.

Labels: drama, period, war

# posted by gail @ 22:53    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Mom doesn't remember this movie from watching to watching, but, each viewing rivets her, nonetheless. Her memory of WWII and her service in the Navy snap to attention in frequent spasms throughout the movie.
       Me? It's one of my all time favorites, not just for performance, or other film-making qualities, but I often think of this movie when I meditate on the subject of Conflict.

Labels: biography, historical, me-favorite, war

# posted by gail @ 10:31    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M [lots more than] G
2. Mentions:  *1* *2*
3. Commentary:  This is one of my mother's haunting movies. Her reaction to this movie is similar to my reaction to Little Buddha: During some parts, she experiences trance-like states; during others, she becomes fully engaged in the finest detail of the culture of the Native American community portrayed in the movie; throughout, she follows the story meticulously and often attempts to engage other viewers in conversation about the movie, which means that she remembers enough of it from viewing to viewing not to feel as though she has to pay close attention every minute.
     Sometime in late 2007 "they" finally came out with the widescreen version, which I quickly snatched up. This version also cuts in close to an hour of extended footage. I was surprised how much of the original cut the extended footage explained and very pleased with the additions

Labels: action, adventure, drama, haunting, mom-favorite, period, spectacle, war

# posted by gail @ 10:29    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M
2. Mentions:  *1* (added 2/10/05 after watching movie)
3. Commentary:  So, I was wrong. There is one movie that Mom has seen that I have not...this one. In fact, she was the one who suggested we get it, when Costco has it, when we saw a commercial on TV for the dvd. She may have seen it at MCF's house...we visited there a lot up until just about a year and a half ago. Anyway, I'm not quite sure this is the movie she is remembering...I'm thinking she must be thinking of some kind of Liberace production type of movie, but she insists this is the one.
       Which is fine with me. I am, generally, a Roman Polanski fan, and usually try to watch all his movies. I hadn't yet thought of owning them. This should be an interesting start.

Labels: drama, musical, period, war

# posted by gail @ 15:20    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  None
3. Commentary:  I know, this is the movie, not the series, and Mom loves the series, too, but that's on TV so much we decided not to buy it. This, however, is not.
       Because, when I came to live with her, she liked this series so much and had been in the military just previous to the Korean conflict, so she identified with a lot of the show detail, I challenged her, once, to see the original movie from which the show was adapted. We were both surprised how much she liked it. I remember that she was surprised at the words of the theme song, with which one does not become familiar if one watches only the television series.

Labels: period, satire, war

# posted by gail @ 15:19    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:  *1*
3. Commentary:  Although I was doomed to own a copy of this movie because it is a Peter Weir movie, and although both my mother and I have watched it, once, and enjoyed it although wondered throughout where it was going, then, at the end, where it had gone, I have to say, we enjoyed the booklet that came with the movie much more for its interesting exposition of life in the Navy "at that time".
       I will probably watch it again, someday, when I'm feeling the need for a Peter Weir fest. My mother may watch, again, by default.

Labels: action, adventure, historical, war, weir

# posted by gail @ 15:01    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  We even had, the second time we watched it, a Watching Lawrence of Arabia party. Very successful.
       Both my mother and I are surprised at the things we learn about my father knowing that this movie was one of his two favorite movies, the other being Khartoum. He and I saw Khartoum together, a very memorable event, one I'll probably remember as though I'm going through it when I'm old and mentally creative. It happened in Honolulu, probably 1966, the year the movie came out, and involved a long evening stroll along the Ala Wai.
       I have, however, had no desire to see that one again. Lawrence of Arabia, though, sometimes I put the disc in and zone out on it for a half hour or so. My mother doesn't do this, but she enjoys the movie.

Labels: adventure, biography, dad-favorite, drama, historical, me-favorite, political, war

# posted by gail @ 14:58    0 comments    email......this post

1. Who's watched:  M & G
2. Mentions:  *1*
3. Commentary:  As I recall, my mention of this one in my journal, which is fairly recent, says it all.

Labels: drama, historical, war, weir

# posted by gail @ 23:17    0 comments    email......this post