Drama, Movies

The Motorcycle Diaries

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On an abstract level all novels are either stories about travel or character development.  The first half of The Motor Cycle Diaries falls solidly in the travel category.  Not being burdened by responsibilities for others, two young people decide to take a motorcycle tour through the different countries of South America. The camera captures arresting image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Finding Neverland

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This enchanting film dramatizes how the playwright James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) created with his best known work, Peter Pan. In 1903 Barrie’s latest play is a total failure with audiences and critics alike. To distract himself from his creative problems,  Barrie (Johnny Depp) starts playing daily with the four fatherless boys and their widow mother image [Read More]
Drama, Movies

The Aviator

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The Aviator received the most Academy Award nominations for the year 2004, with 11 total. This is very difficult to understand because the film is a painfully weak piece of work for Martin Scorcese (director) and John Logan (writer). Both Scorcese in Gangs of New York and Logan in The Last Sumarai have image [Read More]
Documentary, Movies

Bowling for Columbine

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My expectations were only moderately high after having been disappointed by Moore’s under-researched Fahrenheit 9/11. Already during the first couple of minutes, you get the sense that Bowling for Columbine is a superbly crafted film. The symbol of guns is so deeply embedded in the American psyche and the facts about gun violence in America image [Read More]
Comedy, Movies

Napoleon Dynamite

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The typical high school movie has a plot line that goes like this: Students collectively arrive at standards for deciding a status order for the group. Good looks, athleticism, and social skills typically form the standards by which each student is ranked. The high-status people form an in-group with a very strict social boundary, keeping image [Read More]
Astute Observations, Diary

Why It Often Rains in the Movies

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A few days ago, I read this wonderful short piece by Lawrence Raab in a book entitled “The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators, and Waiting Rooms” (p. 260). Because so much consequential thinking happens in the rain. A steady mist to recall departures, a bitter downpour for betrayal. As if the first thing a man wants to [Read More]