CAPTAIN ABU RAED - 2008
RATED - NR but PG/PG-13 for some violence although almost all is off screen.
RATINGS - 13 Amazon (5/5), 5,729 Netflix (3.7/5), 518 IMDB (7.4/10).
THEMES - Relationships, justice.
AWARDS - 15 wins and 3 nominations at various film festivals including winner of AUDIENCE AWARD at Sundance Film Festival.
STORY - This Jordanian film, nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film division, is the story of an aging widower who is a janitor at the airport in Amman, Jordan. Mistaken by neighborhood kids as an airline pilot, he begins to tell stories of travel and far away places that awe these poor children. The story develops as "Captain" Raed gets to the know the kids and the challenges they are facing at home. What I like about so many foreign films is that they are built on character development not fancy dialogue or non-stop action. They actually make you think about the characters and what's going on in their lives and what the film is trying to say. At the end of the film, it leaves you wondering about some of the characters and what might have happened. Foreign films often do not have nice, neat, tidy endings like American films. There is some ambiguity. This is true of Captain Raed. If slick screenplay and unbelievable CGI's of action are your thing (nothing wrong with that) this will probably not interest you. If you enjoy realistic characters and a good story this is a worth watching. It is also a slice of life and humanity and geography in a country many of us don't know much about - Jordan. Highly recommend. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/18/2010.
LINKS - IMDB & TRAILER, NETFLIX
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
AMREEKA
AMREEKA - 2009
RATED - PG-13 for brief scene of teenagers smoking marijuana and some language. A pretty mild PG-13.
RATINGS - 11 AMAZON (4.5/5), 57,102 NETFLIX (3.5/5), 1,105 IMDB (7/10).
THEMES - Relationships, justice.
AWARDS - Nominee for BEST FEMALE LEAD & BEST FEATURE in the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. Winner at 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
STORY - What happens when your life is turned upside down by your husband divorcing you for a slimmer, younger woman and walls are built around where you live adding hours every day to your commute to work and you spend every penny to keep your son in a private school? You take the first best opportunity that comes along to get out of that situation. Muna, a Palestinian single woman, does just that when she receives an offer to relocate free to America. This begins the adventures and misadventures of someone immigrating to America with the hopes and promises of a better life. She lands in a small town in Illinois to live (temporarily is the plan) with her sister and physician husband and teenage children until she can establish herself and son. She has two degrees and has had professional experience in the work world so it shouldn't take long - wrong! Told with humor as well as heartbreak (it's just after 9/11and anyone from the Middle East is the enemy), this National Geographic film is a reminder of why people still come to AMREEKA and how easy it is to be misunderstood and to struggle to make a living no matter how hard you are willing to work. It is worth watching by families whose children may be finding it difficult to accept those who don't talk or dress or act just like us. Changing schools as an American teenager can be very difficult. Try coming from another country, especially one we see as an adversary. Highly recommend. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/04/2010.
LINKS - IMDB & TRAILER, NETFLIX.
RATED - PG-13 for brief scene of teenagers smoking marijuana and some language. A pretty mild PG-13.
RATINGS - 11 AMAZON (4.5/5), 57,102 NETFLIX (3.5/5), 1,105 IMDB (7/10).
THEMES - Relationships, justice.
AWARDS - Nominee for BEST FEMALE LEAD & BEST FEATURE in the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. Winner at 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
STORY - What happens when your life is turned upside down by your husband divorcing you for a slimmer, younger woman and walls are built around where you live adding hours every day to your commute to work and you spend every penny to keep your son in a private school? You take the first best opportunity that comes along to get out of that situation. Muna, a Palestinian single woman, does just that when she receives an offer to relocate free to America. This begins the adventures and misadventures of someone immigrating to America with the hopes and promises of a better life. She lands in a small town in Illinois to live (temporarily is the plan) with her sister and physician husband and teenage children until she can establish herself and son. She has two degrees and has had professional experience in the work world so it shouldn't take long - wrong! Told with humor as well as heartbreak (it's just after 9/11and anyone from the Middle East is the enemy), this National Geographic film is a reminder of why people still come to AMREEKA and how easy it is to be misunderstood and to struggle to make a living no matter how hard you are willing to work. It is worth watching by families whose children may be finding it difficult to accept those who don't talk or dress or act just like us. Changing schools as an American teenager can be very difficult. Try coming from another country, especially one we see as an adversary. Highly recommend. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/04/2010.
LINKS - IMDB & TRAILER, NETFLIX.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
PARIS 1919
PARIS 1919 - 2009 (TV)
RATED - NR but probably PG-13 for some graphic archival pictures of dead soldiers in WWI.
RATINGS - 7 AMAZON (4.5/5), 364 NETFLIX (3.2/5), 41 IMDB (7.2/10).
AWARDS- Winner of Banff World Television Award for BEST HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY.
THEMES - Justice, relationships.
STORY - This docudrama with both archival footage and drama tells the story of the peace talks in Paris in 1919 at the end of WWI which ended in the Treaty of Versailles. WWI was truly a world war and at the end dozens of nations wanted reparations or a piece of the spoils. They all convened in Paris for what they thought would be a 3-4 week conference to settle all the post war divisions. Nations' borders were being redrawn and people groups were being shuffled around like livestock. To Paris came kings and queens and caliphs and emirs and THEN the deity, Woodrow Wilson. The United States had entered the war and ended the war so everyone looked to the U.S. for answers and Woodrow Wilson was godlike, at least in the beginning. A large conference room was set up where nations could present their case in front of the representatives from Japan, Italy, Great Britain, France and Woodrow Wilson (U.S.). Japan was eliminated from the group after a short time and Italy had little influence in the end. This is a well done summary of a behind the scenes look at the Paris Peace Conference which stretched on for six months as countries jockeyed for position on the world scene, unknowingly setting the stage for WWII as they punished Germany into the ground, creating a backlash that produced evil like the world had never known and thought impossible. Even today we see and feel the effects of this peace treaty which spawned the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations and the brainchild of Woodrow Wilson. Another slice of history which helps to understand the world we live in today. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/03/2010.
LINKS - IMDB, NETFLIX
RATED - NR but probably PG-13 for some graphic archival pictures of dead soldiers in WWI.
RATINGS - 7 AMAZON (4.5/5), 364 NETFLIX (3.2/5), 41 IMDB (7.2/10).
AWARDS- Winner of Banff World Television Award for BEST HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY.
THEMES - Justice, relationships.
STORY - This docudrama with both archival footage and drama tells the story of the peace talks in Paris in 1919 at the end of WWI which ended in the Treaty of Versailles. WWI was truly a world war and at the end dozens of nations wanted reparations or a piece of the spoils. They all convened in Paris for what they thought would be a 3-4 week conference to settle all the post war divisions. Nations' borders were being redrawn and people groups were being shuffled around like livestock. To Paris came kings and queens and caliphs and emirs and THEN the deity, Woodrow Wilson. The United States had entered the war and ended the war so everyone looked to the U.S. for answers and Woodrow Wilson was godlike, at least in the beginning. A large conference room was set up where nations could present their case in front of the representatives from Japan, Italy, Great Britain, France and Woodrow Wilson (U.S.). Japan was eliminated from the group after a short time and Italy had little influence in the end. This is a well done summary of a behind the scenes look at the Paris Peace Conference which stretched on for six months as countries jockeyed for position on the world scene, unknowingly setting the stage for WWII as they punished Germany into the ground, creating a backlash that produced evil like the world had never known and thought impossible. Even today we see and feel the effects of this peace treaty which spawned the League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations and the brainchild of Woodrow Wilson. Another slice of history which helps to understand the world we live in today. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 07/03/2010.
LINKS - IMDB, NETFLIX
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