Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    I didn't know about this film until just now, today. It's a bit pricey but so intriguing that I don't think I'm taking a chance. I think I will be astonished by it and pleased that I've added it to my collection. And, by the way, this movie has received every kind of review from highest to lowest (one prominent reviewer gave it one-and-a-half stars, which leads one to wonder, what quality in the movie led to elevating it above one star status? One other observation, professional critics are, in chief, those who are hard on the movie. "Casual" viewers are much more likely to rate this movie highly. Kind of makes you wonder ...
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jürgen Vogel	Rainer Wenger	Frederick Lau	Tim Stoltefuss	Max Riemelt	Marco	Jennifer Ulrich	Karo
  Cristina do Rego	Lisa	Christiane Paul	Anke Wenger	Elyas M'Barek	Sinan	Maximilian Vollmar	Bomber
  Maximilian Mauff	Kevin	Jacob Matschenz	Dennis	Ferdinand Schmidt-Modrow	Ferdi	Tim Oliver Schultz	Jens

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2008
    Directed by Dennis Gansel.

Labels: political5, teaching

# posted by gail @ 11:31    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Michael Redgrave	Andrew Crocker-Harris	Jean Kent	Millie Crocker-Harris	Nigel Patrick	Frank Hunter	Ronald Howard	Gilbert
  Wilfrid Hyde-White	Dr. Frobisher	Brian Smith	Taplow	Bill Travers	Fletcher	Judith Furse	Mrs. Williamson
  Peter Jones	Carstairs	Sarah Lawson	Betty Carstairs	Scott Harold	Rev. Williamson	Paul Medland	Wilson

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1951
    Directed by Anthony Asquith.

Labels: birth-year, Criterion7, teaching

# posted by gail @ 17:05    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Never seen this one. Always wanted to. Stay tuned.
    Peculiarly, although I've seen most of her filmography and enjoyed most of what I've seen, I have very, very few films that feature Reese Witherspoon. I mean, for instance, I love Legally Blonde but I don't own a copy, mostly because I haven't thought to own it, mostly because it remains imminently available on even the few streaming services to which I have access and through my local library system, as well. Looking over her filmography, though, there are at least a few more I'd like to add to my collection, including the sometimes-difficult-to-appreciate Vanity Fair. Say what you will about the production, Reese Witherspoon, in my opinion, is devastatingly good in the role of Becky Sharp, at least as good, if not better, than Miriam Hopkins, whose version I also love (and own).
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Matthew Broderick	Jim McAllister	Reese Witherspoon	Tracy Enid Flick	Chris Klein	Paul Metzler	Jessica Campbell	Tammy Metzler
  Phil Reeves	Principal Walt Hendricks	Molly Hagan	Diane McAllister	Colleen Camp	Judith Flick	Nicholas D'Agosto	Larry Fouch

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1999
    Directed by Alexander Payne.

Labels: black-comedy, Criterion6, political5, reese-witherspoon, satire3, teaching

# posted by gail @ 22:02    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  I have watched this movie only once, so far, in the past, in the theater, but have never forgotten it.
    Roger Ebert was so pleased with this movie that he immediately preceded his review with a delightful interview of Shirley MacLaine in which he questions her about her thoughts about and preparation for this role, which is quite a bit different than her ouevre up to that point.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Shirley MacLaine	Madame Sousatzka	Navin Chowdhry	Manek	Shabana Azmi	Shushila	Peggy Ashcroft	Lady Emily
  Robert Rietty	Leo Milev	Twiggy	Jenny	Leigh Lawson	Ronnie	Lee Montague	Vincent Pick

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1988
    Directed by John Schlesinger.

Labels: aging, coming-of-age2, dramaF, shirley-maclaine, teaching

# posted by gail @ 21:51    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  none
• 
  Commentary:  Although Mom and I regularly watched all kinds of teaching movies, this is one of only a few we have in our collection. It's also a late comer, although both Mom and I saw it, both on TV and in the theaters, at least a few times before we bought it. It excites Mom to watch this movie, as it does all well done teaching movies. I like it because it's a Peter Weir production (so, we were destined to own it) and because it's done so well. Every time we watched this movie Mom would say, "This just makes me want to get back to the classroom," and work her arms as though she was revving herself up for a dash to the nearest school.
  Update 5/24/22:  Yet another post published on 4/09/09 that "disappeared" and I had to recapture.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Robin Williams	John Keating	Robert Sean Leonard	Neil Perry	Ethan Hawke	Todd Anderson	Josh Charles	Knox Overstreet
  Gale Hansen	Charlie Dalton	Norman Lloyd	Headmaster Gale Nolan	Kurtwood Smith	Thomas Perry	Carla Belver	Mrs. Perry

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1989
    Directed by Peter Weir.

Labels: drama7, mom-favorite1, peter-weir, robin-williams, teaching

# posted by gail @ 11:00    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  This movie isn't well known here in the U.S. It got middling reviews, in the sense that about half the reviewers praised it and the other half either panned it or didn't bother to review it. I own it because I'd seen it somewhere on some channel and couldn't get the portrayal of Hypatia out of my head. I knew nothing about this woman when I first watched the film. It seems, if you refer to the article to which I've linked in the title, that a fair amount of the "facts" in the movie were drafted onto the story from either before or after Hypatia's life, or have no reference, at all. Still, I like the movie, I like the story, and I especially like Rachel Weisz's portrayal of Hypatia. There are a few special features. I know I watched them. I always watch special or bonus features. I remember nothing about the ones for this movie, however. I'll need to check on them, again, when I rewatch the movie.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Rachel Weisz	Hypatia of Alexandria	Max Minghella	Davus	Oscar Isaac	Orestes	Michael Lonsdale	Theon of Alexandria/Hypatia's Father
  Homayoun Ershadi	Hypatia's Research Asst.	Sami Samir	Cyril of Alexandria	Manuel Cauchi	Theophilus of Alexandria	Rupert Evans	Synesius of Cyrene

  
    For those who care, here's the Wikipedia write-up on this film.
    Release Date: 2009
    Directed by Alejandro Amenábar.

Labels: biography1, drama2, historical1, oscar-isaac, period1, rachel-weisz, teaching

# posted by gail @ 15:34    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  none
• 
  Commentary:  The Collection contains the following movies:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Corn is Green - directed by George Cukor
    This was Mom's favorite of the collection. Of course it was. Mom was a teacher, not by default, as so many are, but by choice. She believes in the importance of good teaching. When she was in the Navy she was an instructor, in fact; a gunnery instructor. She was a crack shot, in and out of uniform. That's how she met my father. He was one of her students in the Navy.
    I think she would have liked to have been in a situation like the one laid out in the movie. In fact, considering that she taught in country schools in very rural areas before going into the Navy, perhaps she was.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Katharine Hepburn	Lilly Moffat	Ian Saynor	Morgan Evans	Bill Fraser	The Squire	Patricia Hayes	Mrs. Watty
  Anna Massey	Miss Ronberry	Artro Morris	John Goronwy Jones	Dorothea Phillips	Sarah Pugh	Toyah Willcox	Bessie Watty

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1979
  
  
  
  Morning Glory - directed by Lowell Sherman
    Although the idea of the movie attracted me because I have actors in my family, in many ways I find this movie uncomfortably jittery, rather like Hepburn's portrayal of Eva Lovelace. Mom found it too jittery to watch for long. I don't think she ever viewed the entire movie of a piece. I don't blame her but, frankly, I'm glad I have a copy of it, if for no other reason that to remind me of the crazier aspects of pursuing the acting profession. Not everyone who does exhibits behavior like Eva's, but, believe me, such aspiring actors are not in the minority.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Katharine Hepburn	Eva Lovelace	Douglas Fairbanks Jr	Joseph Sheridan	Adolphe Menjou	Louis Easton	Mary Duncan	Rita Verdon
  C. Aubrey Smith	Robert Harley Hedges	Don Alvarado	Pepi Velez	Fredric Santley	Will Seymour	Richard Carle	Henry Lawrence
  Tyler Brooke	Charley Van Duesen	Geneva Mitchell	Gwendoline Hall	Helen Ware	Nellie Navarre	Robert Adair	Roberts

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1933
  
  
  
  Sylvia Scarlett - directed by George Cukor
    Mom didn't find this one interesting, despite her interest in gender-bender movies, but I did. The caper part of the story was beside the point, to me, but Hepburn was able to play a superb boy, I think.
    Since Mom's death, though, I've learned more about the film itself and now that "we're" in an LBGTQ kind of mood, I find watching the movie for trans detail pretty interesting. I've done this twice within the last couple of years. It has a strong feminist undercurrent.
    Although the movie has certain peculiarities that could be (and were, at the time of its release) considered flaws, those same pointed-out flaws now seem more like societal misunderstandings that included both critics and audiences, like it just wasn't time, yet, for this movie or this idea.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Katharine Hepburn	Sylvia Scarlett	Cary Grant	Jimmy Monkey	Brian Aherne	Michael Fane	Edmund Gwenn	Henry Scarlett

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1935
  
  
  
  Undercurrent - directed by Vincente Minnelli
    I honestly don't remember anything about this movie, even though I'm sure we watched it. I have no idea if Mom does.
  Update 5/23/2022:  As of this day, I still don't know whether I, or we, ever watched this film. That's something I should do tonight. Maybe it's one of those movies, like Keeper of the Flame, that's so turgid that the only way you can remember it is by watching it yet again.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Katharine Hepburn	Ann Hamilton	Robert Taylor	Alan Garroway	Edmund Gwenn	Prof. "Dink" Hamilton	Marjorie Main	Lucy
  Jayne Meadows	Sylvia Lea Burton	Clinton Sundberg	Mr. Warmsley	Dan Tobin	Prof. Joseph Bangs	Kathryn Card	Mrs. Foster

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1946
  → film-noir2
  
  
  
  Without Love - directed by Harold S. Bucquet
    I found this movie minimally intriguing, because of Hepburn's and Tracey's IRL relationship, but for me, that was almost all that was intriguing about it. Mom liked it very much.
    I was disappointed because it was one of the few Tracy/Hepburn movies I hadn't seen and the description interested me...but, I don't know, their chemistry seemed off in this film, as though they were having a long personal argument underneath the script. It was distracting. However, Lucille Ball plays a fun part in it and Gloria Grahame (Violet Bick in It's a Wonderful Life)
    Mom really liked the character that Hepburn played in this movie, which didn't surprise me...I think Mom imagined herself as "that type".
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Spencer Tracy	Patrick Jameson	Katharine Hepburn	Jamie Rowan	Lucille Ball	Kitty Trimble	Keenan Wynn	Quentin Ladd
  Carl Esmond	Paul Carrell	Patricia Morison	Edwina Collins	Felix Bressart	Prof. Ginza	Gloria Grahame	Flower Girl

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1945
  
  
  
  Dragon Seed - directed by Harold S. Bucquet & Jack Conway
    I would have loved to have managed to link to a full copy of James Agee's review of this film. Not being able to find it, though, I did find a description of it that included excerpts, thank you Claude Rains Fan Club. The Dragon Seed review is the first review on this page. That being said, both Mom and I were a little off-put by this movie, almost too much to enjoy it. Both of us have always been annoyed with yellow-black-red-any/face. Although all were a common practice during a certain time period in Hollywood (and, sometimes, even now), it's very distracting. Hollywood, find actors who are of the ethnicity you need! If you can't find anyone, look harder! They're out there!
  Update 5/23/20:  Regarding yellow face: While putting together the Actor/Role table, below, my curiosity got the best of me and I searched for a really full cast listing of this movie to see if the one Asian American named among the first sixteen actors listed was the only Asian American. Turns out, quite a few Asian Americans appeared in this movie but, of course, not in any upper lead roles. The further down you go on the Cast & Crew list, the more likely you are to find an Asian American actor. Shameful for its time, indeed! The Asian American actors were out there, and, apparently, were enlisted in this cast, but only one appeared in an leading role.
  P.S  DVD Savant's article on this collection, linked to the title of this post, gives meticulous, interesting reviews for each one of the movies above. It's easy to find them in his write-up.
    This collection was clearly put together to make a little money off Hepburn's lesser known works. That's okay. I'm always interested in viewing odd movies by, so to speak, "even" (in this case, meaning "famous") people. This collection is a doozy! I'm surprised The Madwoman of Chaillot wasn't included! Yes, Virginia, I saw that film. 'Nuf said.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Katharine Hepburn	Jade	Walter Huston	Ling Tan	Aline MacMahon	Ling Tan's Wife	Akim Tamiroff	Wu Lien
  Turhan Bey	Lao Er Tan	Hurd Hatfield	Lao San Tan	J. Carrol Naish	Japanese Kitchen Overseer	Agnes Moorehead	Third Cousin's Wife
  Henry Travers	Third Cousin	Robert Bice	Lao Ta Tan	Robert Lewis	Captain Sato	Frances Rafferty	Japanese Official
  Leonard Strong	Japanese Official	Jacqueline deWit	Wu Lien's wife	Clarence Lung	Fourth Cousin	Paul E. Burns	Neighbor Shen

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1944

Labels: cary-grant, film-noir2, gender-bender, katharine-hepburn, marjorie-main, melodramaB, pre-code, spencer-tracy, teaching, tracy-hepburn

# posted by gail @ 19:30    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  None
• 
  Commentary:  We first saw this movie on TCM one evening about a month before I ordered it. Mom became so involved in it that she visibly cried at the end, and she doesn't cry easily. It's extremely idealistic.
    My mother did become a teacher, of elementary school and in the military as a gunnery instructor (that's how she met my dad, he was one of her students). She did not, however, have any intention of becoming a spinster teacher. I can well imagine, though, her attitudes toward teaching and education were much the same as portrayed in this movie.
    As well, I couldn't help but recall the line in Mona Lisa Smile in which the president of Wellesley, in 1953, states that higher education for women was unheard of a century ago. This movie accurately states that it was well heard of, which I already knew, anyway. Watching this movie in view of Mona Lisa Smile reminded me to be ever ready to reflect on the fact that, just as the 1950's clearly rewrote women's history according to its dictates for women, all history is rewritten, by era, according to what we want to see in it and get out of it. Made me wonder, too, as I have before, if this glitch in Mona Lisa Smile was intended or inadvertent. You'd think Julia Roberts' character, considering her championing of women's education, would have been aware of the presidents' blatantly incorrect reinterpretation of history and would have (mildly, probably) countered the president.
    I found this movie so charming and so much fun as far as watching Mom watch it that first we rented it, then, when Mom yet again, sobbed at the end of the movie, I decided we had to have a copy. I ran across it in the A2ZCDS.com remastered version at my favorite local movie trade-in store and snatched it up. Not a good copy, though; not nearly as clear, visually or audibly, as the copy we saw on TV. I'm going to hunt for a better copy. I notice TCM has one on sale...hopefully, it will be the same as the one they broadcast. So, eventually this one will go back to where I purchased it; but not before I obtain a better copy of it. We've watched it twice since I've purchased it and I'm sure it will become one of our most watched movies.
    TCM has two links for this film. The first, linked above in the title of this post, contains an interesting video of a bit of the history of the film that is run previous to broadcast. The second page contains links to two articles that have been written about the movie.
  Update 1/17/21:  Well, I've obtained yet another copy, yes, remastered, but it is about the same quality as the one above. I've scoured the internet, including the most likely place to find a good copy, TCM, but the best version they sell, like at other outlets, is not available. How strange. I suspect, considering how much my mother liked it and how I warmed to it, that this movie is popular. But, it remains hard to get a really good, pristine copy. I'll keep this one in my collection, this time, until I can obtain a good one. This version is watchable. It's just, well, dark and muddy around the edges.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Martha Scott	Ella Bishop	William Gargan	Sam Peters	Edmund Gwynn	Professor Corcoran	Sterling Holloway	Chris Jensen
  Dorothy Peterson	Mrs. Bishop	Sidney Blackmer	John Stevens	Mary Anderson	Amy Saunders	Donald Douglas	Delbert Thompson
  Marsha Hunt	Hope Thompson	John Archer	Richard Clark	Lois Ranson	Gretchen Clark	Rosemary De Camp	Minna Fields

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1941
    Directed by Tay Garnett.

Labels: drama7, mom-favorite1, period3, popcorn-and-soda3, teaching

# posted by gail @ 01:40    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  Just an absolute gem of a movie, from the casting of every part to the story. Quietly inspirational. Whenever we watch this movie Mom always sighs at the end and says, "That just makes me feel good about being alive."
    Ditto.
    Additionally, this movie is loaded with amazing actors, from the leads to the bit parts. They all deserve recognition for this effort, so I've listed just about all of them in the table, below.
    In case you're interested, you might like to access this link to the script for this movie.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Max Pomeranc	Josh Waitzkin	Joe Mantegna	Fred Waitzkin	Joan Allen	Bonnie Waitzkin	Ben Kingsley	Bruce Pandolfini
  Laurence Fishburne	Vincent Livermore	Robert Stephens	Jonathan's teacher	David Paymer	Kalev	Hal Scardino	Morgan Pehme
  William H. Macy	Tunafish father	Dan Hedaya	Tournament director	Laura Linney	Josh's school teacher	Tony Shalhoub	Chess club player

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1993
    Directed by Steven Zaillian.

Labels: ben-kingsley, biography1, drama9, joan-allen, laura-linney, laurence-fishburne, shared-favorite, teaching

# posted by gail @ 09:04    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  Mom likes this movie because of John Houseman's character and performance, and, of course, the school atmosphere.
    I like the movie for things like this: The first sound (including music) that is heard after the film begins is the opening of the door to the law classroom in which Knightsfield hold's sway. I am also amused by the conventions of rigorous schooling of the time and the use of women in the movie. This was probably one of the last movies in which the female lead had an utterly throw away part. It is interesting to me to contemplate that Lindsay Wagner, who played the female lead, went on three years later to become The Bionic Woman.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Timothy Bottoms	James T. Hart	Lindsay Wagner	Susan Fields	John Houseman	Charles W. Kingsfield Jr.	Graham Beckel	Franklin Ford III
  Edward Herrmann	Thomas Craig Anderson	James Naughton	Kevin Brooks	Regina Baff	Ashley Brooks	Blair Brown	Miss Farranti

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1973
    Directed by James Bridges.

Labels: coming-of-age2, dramaB, teaching

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

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  I wasn't sure if Mom would like this movie, even though it is one of my three favorite education movies. I needn't have worried. She got it, and she enjoyed it, although she prefers education movies like Stand and Deliver (the link to this movie, by the way, is to a site which details the fate of Jaime Escalante's legendary high school calculus program). She even said, "I've known teachers like that."
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Maggie Smith	Jean Brodie	Robert Stephens	Teddy Lloyd	Pamela Franklin	Sandy	Emmeline Mackay	Celia Johnson

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1969
    Directed by Ronald Neame.

Labels: dramaB, maggie-smith, me-favorite3, period5, political4, teaching

# posted by gail @ 15:13    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  None
• 
  Commentary:  This is one of those movies that has a magnetic affect on both my mother and me. Although it's not the best school movie I've ever seen (my vote on this score is for The Paper Chase, although I'd consider The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, as well, and, a few others, come to think of it, The Blackboard Jungle, Goodbye Mr. Chips), from the cords of the opening music it drafts both of us into college, again, from our own perspetives. When we view this movie we always review the featurettes.
    I have to admit, though, she and I are both suckers for school and education movies. Sometimes it's pathetic.
    Directed by Mike Newell.
  Update 6/13/2006:  Since I first wrote this short review we've watched this movie on the average of once a month, at my suggestion. During tonight's watching I was uncustomarily analytical about some of the aspects of this movie that I love.
  
  • All the performances are a delight to watch and utterly convincing, with the exception of Julia Roberts' performance. Tonight I finally figured out why, in this movie of incredibly performed roles (even the bartender at the wedding and "Mrs. Stone" the waitress are spot on) the star fell just short of matching her colleagues' level: She's, well, Julia Roberts and, as such, is no longer able to be a character. She is always Julia Roberts playing a character. This is unfortunate in movies such as this.
  • The romance between Roberts' character and West's character is inauthentic, unconvincing, distracting and boring. It's possible that Roberts' character needs some sort of quickie affair in this movie as a device to underline her single status and her attitudes toward sexual attachment, but the one written and acted didn't work.
  • The background music is both unobtrusive and evocative; so much so that the strains of the theme played behind the menu evoke pleasurable anticipation for the movie.
  • The subject matter, despite being heavily covered in many other movies and, at the time of this movie's release, seemingly dated, lurks in women's souls deeply and is still not well addressed by society, thus, continues to have a powerful effect. As well, the characters and the story are so well developed that the period piece effect actually contributes to the emotional effect of the layout of the issues.
  • The camera work is subtle and masterful. No camera effect is used for the sake of the effect alone.
    The more I watch this movie, the more I realize it is a gem of a movie. As I watched it tonight I realized, if asked, I would bet that this movie is going to be one of those It's a Wonderful Life movies...not appreciated in its time nearly as much as it will be appreciated, decades later than its time, as a classic.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Julia Roberts	Katherine Watson	Kirsten Dunst	Betty Warren	Julia Stiles	Joan Brandwyn	Maggie Gyllenhaal	Giselle Levy
  Ginnifer Goodwin	Connie Baker	Laura Allen	Susan Delacorte	Marcia Gay Harden	Nancy Abbey	Donna Mitchell	Mrs. Warren
  Marian Seldes	President Jocelyn Carr	Juliet Stevenson	Amanda Armstrong	Dominic West	Bill Dunbar	Topher Grace	Tommy Donegal
  Ebon Moss-Bachrach	Charlie Stewart	Jordan Bridges	Spencer Jones	John Slattery	Paul Moore	Tori Amos	Wedding Singer

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2003
    Directed by Mike Newell.

Labels: dramaB, julia-roberts, kirsten-dunst, maggie-gyllenhaal, marsha-gay-harden, period5, political4, shared-favorite, teaching, women's-movie1

# posted by gail @ 22:55    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G, both more than many times
• Mentions:  *1* *2* *3* *4* *5* *6*
• 
  Commentary:  That's right, we've finally got it, watched it the same day I purchased it for us, and enjoyed it, once again, as though we only vaguely remembered it.
  Update 5/2/2022:  It's hard for me, nowadays, to say enough about this movie. The portrayal of older people, "Ancient Ones", as I call them, is quite on point, as individuals and as members of a group. The astonishment of the children at the desires, whims and behaviors of their parents and older people, in general, well, I became so familiar with this when members of my family visited my mother and I (rarely, I might add). It was hard, sometimes impossible, for them to think of us and treat us as other than "old relative" and "caregiver"; as, companions, for instance, or people who simply enjoyed each other's company and had a good time doing it. This movie, in very subtle ways, addresses these concerns. It doesn't display ingenious solutions, it just illustrates and leaves it be.
    The background music for the film sometimes gets to me. It apes my relatives' attitudes, more than the experiences of Hoke and Miss Daisy.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Morgan Freeman	Hoke Colburn	Jessica Tandy	Daisy Werthan	Dan Ackroyd	Boolie Werthan	Patti LuPone	Florine Werthan
  Esther Rolle	Idella	Joann Havrilla	Miss McClatchey	William Hall Jr.	Oscar	Crystal R. Fox	Katey Bell

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1989
    Directed by Bruce Beresford.

Labels: caregiver, dramaB, morgan-freeman, period5, popcorn-and-soda5, shared-favorite, teaching

# posted by gail @ 22:51    0 comments    email......this post