POWER, PASSION & GLORY

POWER, PASSION & GLORY - The real story of Texas football madness. (2004)

RATED - PG Very family friendly.

RATINGS - 6 Amazon (4.5/5), 694 Netflix (3/5), 9 IMDB (7.6/10)

STORY - Celina, Texas (30 miles north of Dallas) is a small community of about 2,000 people with a big reputation for its high school football program. They were riding the crest of 57 straight victories and 4 state championships in their division, 2A and then lightning struck during the summer before the 2002 season. Their legendary coach, G.A. Moore, resigned, seemingly for no reason, and moved down the road to their biggest rival, Pilot Point, along with 3 of the nine coaches. Their enrollment for the coming school year also put them over the 2A limit by three students and they were bumped up to 3A where they would compete as the smallest school in the division. Can they continue their streak under new coach Butch Ford, who coached under Moore for 25 seasons but had never been a head coach and handle the bigger schools? Narrated by NFL great Pat Summerall, the documentary takes you behind the scenes with the players, coaches, parents and fans as well as highlights from the season. In Texas, football is life, whether the NFL or the smallest communities. As one of the former players summed it up, 'the season lasts about eleven and half months in Celina". If you love football, high school sports and small town America, this is for you. It is fun, lots of good football action and a look behind the scenes at the winningest football program in Texas history. Hollywood could not have crafted a better ending to a film. Enjoy!! Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/26/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, WIKIPEDIA

BEING THERE

BEING THERE - 1979

RATED - PG Probably best suited for older teens and above. Some sexually related dialogue and a scene where a woman fully clothed masturbates (mostly off screen) to attract a man who is not interested. No nudity and one scene of language from a gang member.

RATINGS - 16 Amazon (4/5), 445,118 Netflix (3.8/5), 22,017 IMDB (8/10), Roger Ebert (4/4).

STARRING - Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine,

AWARDS - 1980 Academy Award for BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR & BEST ACTOR nominee. AFI TOP 100 Laughs, 1981 BAFTA nominees for BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS & BEST FILM. 1980 Golden Globe awards for BEST ACTOR & BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR and nominees for BEST MOTION PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR & BEST ACTRESS.

THEME - Satire, relationships.

STORY - Peter Sellers plays Chance the long time gardener for a wealthy gentlemen who dies early in the film. Chance's life revolves around television and gardening. He has a TV close by wherever he is, even while working. His ability to communicate with others is limited to parroting what he hears and sees on TV. Put out on the street (literally) when the owner dies with nothing but a suitcase full of the owner's custom made suits (perfect fit except about 3 inches short in the legs) he tries to find what life has next. A minor accident lands him in the home of a wealthy and dying industrialist who has a powerful influence on the presidency. (the film is set in D.C.) who assumes that his cryptic speech and tailor made clothes represent an eccentric genius. (The real genius is Seller's acting in the film) His 'words of wisdom' (often the most recent words he has seen on TV) take on a life of their own when coming from the mouth of this 'genius'. Read Roger Ebert's review for a more in depth discussion of the various levels of interpretation one might read into the film. While not everyone (action oriented viewers) will appreciate this film, it is a terrific satire on our culture and the way people react with pre-conceived perceptions of the way people dress and talk. While set in D.C., a great deal of the movie is filmed at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, an unbelievable landmark. People have discussed the meaning of the last scene, where Chance (appears to) walks on water across the pond, since the film was released. Great discussion potential, terrific acting and a fun (although somewhat quirky) movie. Enjoy. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/19/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB/TRAILER, ROGER EBERT

GEORGE WALLACE

GEORGE WALLACE - 1997 (TV)

RATED - NR but probably PG-13/R for a scene of sexuality (passionate embracing on the bed clothed), violence in scenes of racial protest, various foul language of all sorts and cigar and cigarette smoking and drinking by almost all major characters. No nudity or sexual scenes except above. Mature teens and above.

RATINGS - 12 Amazon (4/5), 2,801 Netflix (3.5/5), 601 IMDB (7.5/10).

STARRING - Gary Sinise (Wallace), Mare Winningham (1st Mrs. Wallace), Angelina Jolie (2nd Mrs. Wallace), Clarence Williams III, directed by John Frankenheimer.

AWARDS - Three EMMY'S for OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR, OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR, OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Winningham). Jolie was nominated for an Emmy and won a Golden Globe for her supporting role and there were many other nominations and wins in various categories.

THEMES - Racial prejudice, hatred, reconciliation, forgiveness, justice.

STORY - The film begins with Wallace and second wife, Cornelia (Jolie), passionately embracing on the bed. It seems an odd beginning but as we learn later, this would be the last or one of the last times George Wallace experienced any physical pleasure. The movie then begins a series of flashbacks and flash forwards of the life of this man who become such a lightning rod for the civil rights movement in America. He came to represent what so many saw as what was wrong with the South and their policies of segregation. Wallace's campaign slogan became 'segregation now, segreation tomorrow, segregation forever'. Was he a true racist or a populist who played the cards he thought would get him elected. He ran for governor of Alabama four times and for president four times. Many thought he had a serious chance to be elected President before the assassination attempt. This would have been the reverse of what happened in 2008, only 36 years earlier. Is this a summary of how far our country has come in the last four decades or was Wallace simply a political aberration? This is an outstanding film, the acting (especially Sinise) is terrific and it gives a balanced picture of this unusual politician. George Wallace is a very real part of American history and anyone under 40, especially, should watch this to understand why the subject of racism, while different than the 60's, has not gone away. There are actual archival scenes of civil rights protest mixed in the film. It is a three hour mini-series, not the 370 minutes it says on Netflix. Well worth watching to get a fair picture of this man and the period of civil rights struggles in our country. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/12/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CAPITALISM

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CAPITALISM - 2008

RATED - NR but G/PG for mature themes and discussion.

RATINGS - 16 Netflix (3.5/5)

STARRING - Ted Koppel

STORY - Imagine if the population of the U.S. quadrupled and the increase came mainly from rural areas and earned a fraction of what the rest of us earned. That would be something like the great contrasts that exist in China as it establishes itself as an economic superpower and the U.S. and China go forward, awkwardly 'joined at the hip', possibly irreversibly so. In this four part documentary Koppel takes a look at this complex love/hate relationship. We hate China when they take our jobs with their cheap labor but the same people who lost their jobs are the same ones (with millions others) who love shopping at Wal-Mart and other retailers with cheap, imported goods from China. We all probably know that but what doesn't seem to make the nightly news is the appetite the growing Chinese middle class have for high end 'American-made' products such as Ethan Allen furniture where the fabric and some components come from China, assembled here and shipped to China. Same is true autos. GM & Ford are flourishing in China and Asia. A Black Buick is a status car in China where 25,000 new cars are added to the highways EVERY DAY - 9,000,000 every year. 80% of Chinese car buyers have never owned an automobile. Think of America's love affair with the automobile back in the 1950's. The segment on auto insurance and how they handle the tsunami of accident claims is entertaining. Making money is the new religion in China. It comes before everything else - product safety, environmental concerns and even morality. In 2006 over 24,000 government workers were convicted of graft. While clearly many more goods come from China than are exported, our relationship is not as simple as the sound bites make it seem. Many American companies have established a very strong presence there and will benefit from the continuing growth of this amazing country and the seemingly unlimited potential of its growing middle class. To understand our future and the future of the planet, we need to understand China, both the good and the bad (huge environmental and energy issues, lack of political freedom). Will we compete or cooperate or both? This excellent documentary is a good beginning for those of us who are not experts. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/04/2009.

LINKS - AMAZON