FunBlog

This movie is a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, which I saw a few months ago. (Both were directed by Clint Eastwood.) I found this one even more impressive.

The earlier film showed the Battle of Iwo Jima from the American perspective. Half the screen time was devoted to the aftermath of the battle for three of the participants, and the survivor’s guilt that they felt. The second film shows the battle from the Japanese perspective, so survivor’s guilt should not be much of a problem.
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Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
–Robert Frost

After finishing this I felt a bit numb for several days. It is one of the darkest and most emotionally draining television series that I have ever watched. I found some of the scenes quite upsetting, but to be fair there were also some that were rather beautiful. And somehow or other the ending really got to me, so I guess I have to give it a positive recommendation, but with some strong caveats. It is very well done, but very dark and unsettling.
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If I tell you the premise of this movie it is going to sound awfully familiar. There’s an inner city high school, plagued by gang violence. Within that school there are some kids who are considered the worst of the worst. A bright, enthusiastic but naive young teacher is assigned to teach them. At first they treat her with disdain, but she gradually wins them over, teaches them to respect themselves and turns their lives around.

Hollywood manages to release a movie like this every few years, all supposedly based on a true story. Take the Lead was one of the most recent (and most ridiculous.) The classic of the genre has to be To Sir with Love (1967).
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This movie is a class act: a historical drama filled with beautiful images, well-drawn characters and fine acting. Based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham, it has a rather old-fashioned sensibility, but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing.

Naomi Watts plays Kitty, a London society girl in the 1920s, who marries a taciturn, undemonstrative doctor (Edward Norton). She doesn’t love him, but he wants to marry her and she is under pressure from her family to marry someone. (Apparently the First World War had killed off most of the eligible bachelors.)

He takes her to Shanghai, where he manages a medical laboratory. She doesn’t like it there and ends up having an affair with a smooth-talking diplomat. When her husband finds out he is furious, and forces her to accompany him to a remote town that is suffering from a massive cholera epidemic.

This is the beginning of a story of self-discovery and personal growth, set against a backdrop of tragedy, suffering and violent social upheaval. This is a thoughtful story for adults, and well worth seeing.

This is a film adaptation of the Broadway musical about a singing trio with a suspicious resemblance to The Supremes. It is top-level entertainment with rousing songs and some first-rate performances that are already generating Oscar buzz.

Jamie Foxx does a fine job playing the brilliant but unscrupulous manager who masterminds the group’s rise to fame and fortune. Beyoncé Knowles delivers a workmanlike performance in the thankless role of the singer who get the lead because her looks and voice have a bland commercial appeal (in other words, the Diana Ross character.)
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