WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[laffite]

This one does . . .

After one has read the Louis May Alcott novelette, seeing the movie is superfluous.

Utter rubbish!

No movie is superfluous.

[EP Millstone]

Utter rubbish!

No movie is superfluous.

Wrong . . . again!

[laffite]

Hoop Dreams (1994) is impressive. Not sure why I didn't see this when it first came out. Two African-American basketball players who dream of playing in the NBA are recruited by a suburban high school outside Chicago. Isiah Thomas played there, and one of the youths is compared favorably to Thomas. Both players live in inner-city housing projects, one in the notorious Cabrini-Green. The documentary follows their lives through high school, on court and off. Voiceover carries us through the gaps in time. Significant events happen offscreen.

Because the film doesn't set out to make political points, the problems and realities faced by the students and their families emerge all the more strongly. Prominent college coaches of the time, including Bobby Knight, Duke's Coach K, and Dick Vitale, are seen watching the players. The white high school coach is a jerk in the Bobby Knight tradition, though he probably sincerely believes he is helping his team grow up. Perhaps this is still common among coaches.

Wikipedia has extensive coverage of how the Oscar panel for documentaries managed to prevent Hoop Dreams from being nominated for Best full-length Documentary. It probably also should have been nominated for Best Picture.

A few year before came A Mother's Courage : The Mary Thomas Story, a TV-movie which as indicated follows the rigors that Isaiah' mother endured in making sure that her nine children would not break bad in a tough neighborhood. An emphasis was given to Isaiah as one might expect but appropriately so, not to upstage his mother. Alfre Woodard is splendid in the title role.

[Andree]

I've seen Hoop Dreams once or twice before. While it isn't overtly political, you don't have to drill down very far to
see some political themes, though this isn't the place for such a discussion. The good news is that while Arthur and William
didn't come close to playing in the NBA, the filmmakers gave them a nice chunk of change after college and their lives have
turned out to be successful and fulfilling. A good post-documentary ending that wasn't always assured in the documentary.

[laffite]

Just noticed a mention in the NYT movie section the 1988 Claire Denis movie entitled "Chocolat." It's a French colonial story set in Africa. The mention is because it is playing locally. It has been a fave of mine since its release. The comments in the article are not spoilers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/22/movi ... denis.html

[laffite]

Moon (2009) The far side of the moon. Lunar Industries is mining an alternate fuel, helium-3, when a massive oil crisis exists on Earth. The station is run by a single man, Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) with the help of Gertie, a Hal-like computer who drags itself around with a chain that has rollers on the ceilings of various compartments of the station.. He has a lilting voice (Kevin Spacey) just like Hal and is completely benevolent helping Sam in any way he can. I would prefer this thing over Hal any old day. Sam runs tests and makes reports, drives a mobile unit to the mines and packs canisters of H3 and sends back to Earth. But he is nearly done with all this. Sam Bell is getting short, as they say, having only two weeks before going home after a three-year tour of duty. Then things begin to unravel.

This is scy-fi that sticks to our own sensibilities. It's futuristic in a most limited sense. There are no extravagant elements, time travel, parallel universes, monster that walk through walls, Sam Bell would probably have the same attitudes towards these things that we do. In other words, it takes place in "real" life. The interior of the station is clever but there is an admirable restraint. I'm sure that Sf buffs know the terms and categories to explain this better. It's like Alien in this way.

There are other credits but Sam Rockwell has 99% of the burden. A wonderful resume item, succeeding as he does not only carrying the film but holding it up like Hercules who has the world on his back. He imbues Sam Bell with an exuberant child-like demeanor that pulled me into the movie. Thank Matt Damon in The Martian, totally opposite. He bobbles around the room to his fave rock n' roll. But not irresponsible or a ne'er do well with his job he is deadly serious but wavering with the events of his life in these last two weeks.

By not telling the story I am then also unable to voice a challenge which threatens the premise of the whole story, A question not to be asked, e.g. The Spoiler function is useless. No one ignores a spoiler alert. I would have to give up the whole story. If perchance a discussion should ensue here and it gets down to the nitty gritty, then anything goes (but sill with a spoiler alert, ha) but I can't say it now.

[laffite]

Eye of the Devil (1966) Oof, I should have known. A horror movie. I was fooled via noting that David Niven and Deborah Kerr were the stars. What could go wrong? It was not immediately clear to me that it was horror. The presence of Deborah Kerr seemed antithetical to that. The title did not make me jump to conclusions. And then we get that room with the people and all the hoodies and the face of a woman who looks like a psycho. But the thing that really killed me was David Niven. "Oh, hello dear, did you bring the children?" Are these kids going to get their eyes plucked out like in RB? When dear wife Deb mentions the hoodie room we get a close up of Niven's face. He attempts to look devious with perhaps a touch of depravity. It didn't work. Niven is slumming in a film like this. He doesn't quite get that you have to look earnest even is a crappy movie like this. If I fielded his audition I would have rejected him straightaway. "Listen, Mr Niven, this movie is below you, please return to your usual high standard. This garbage is not for you."

Okay, so I only watched about 14 minutes. More was not necessary. I have already mentioned in my history how much I dislike horror movies. Even if I didn't I care not a whit for the depiction of children as victims. Of course I now not whether these kids had their eyes plucked out or not. Maybe they were put on a spit and roasted. Then their black bodies put on a stick so all the hoodies can prance around to some crappy music. Bleah!

Please no reviews that tell how good this movie is. I won't be impressed, I'm sure.

Now if you will excuse me, I must return to the Hallmark Channel and see the same love story that is done over and over. Not really I would watch but the channel should be mentioned as the honorable flip side.

What, 14 minutes. I admire your patience. I was out of there after nine.