June movie reviews

BIGGER STRONGER FASTER. If you told me to see a documentary on steroids, I would have gone "eeew". But this one is getting great reviews, so I went, and the critics are right - this is worth seeing. The filmmaker grew up with two brothers and growing up they were all involved in strength sports. His brothers take steroids, but he doesn't, and he decides to explore the steroids issue in depth. He interviews doctors, athletes, congressmen, and family members. He isn't mocking people (mostly), but there is still a lot of humor here. He also relates steroids to the American quest to be the best at everything, damn the consequences. Both amusing and thought provoking; I really enjoyed this movie.

UP THE YANGTZE. This documentary follows two Chinese teens impacted by the construction of the Three Gorges dam, which will displace millions of people. Until the dam is finally closed, the Chinese are running cruise ships down the river so tourists can see the area before it is flooded. One teen is a young girl living in poverty at the edge of the river. Her parents make her go to work because they can't afford to send her to high school, so she goes to work in the kitchen on one of the ships. She is an understandably sullen teenager, and is depressed about her place in society. The other teenager is an older boy; seemingly from a middle class family (we don't see his family like we see the girl's). He is rather conceited, and his goal in going to work on the ship (tending bar, schlepping luggage) is to make a lot of money. The journey these two take isn't predictable. Always in the background is the threat of people's homes being flooded. This isn't a great movie, but it definitely kept my interest and was worth seeing.

SURFWISE. Another documentary. This one centers on "Doc" Paskowitz, a Stanford educated doctor who was living a traditional life in Hawaii, including being President of the local American Medical Association. It’s the 1950's, and he's not happy with his life (including his two failed marriages). So he dropped out, travels around, and decides surfing was what made him happy. He re-married, and he and his third wife had 9 kids (8 boys!). They lived the life of surf bums, living in a camper, and the kids never went to school. At first, it seems like the family led an idyllic life. But as the movie goes on, you start to realize that although Doc made decisions that worked for him, the choices he made completely limited the choices his children had when they grew up. Not to mention his hippie outlook didn't always translate to how he treated the kids. All the kids agreed to be interviewed, along with Mom and Dad. That plus a lot of video footage of the family (they competed in surfing contests, and actually were on TV quite a bit), makes for a fairly thorough look at this family. Despite having a rather narrow focus on this one family, it's a family like no other, which makes for an interesting movie.

MONGOL. I don't know much about Mongolia in the 12th century, but this epic movie gives what seems like a realistic look at the Mongolian environment and culture. The story just follows the son of a leader from his boyhood (where losing his father changes his life) to his marriage to his final eventual rise as Genghis Khan. He has quite an adventurous life, including being prisoner of enemies several times. I liked that part of the movie, but there are also three big bloody battles that I just didn't care to watch (blood spurting alert!). It's kinda like BRAVEHEART. But despite that, I'd still recommend.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Another in the comic book movie genre. In this one, scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is a guinea pig in an experiment gone wrong. Now, when his heart rate goes above 200, he goes ballistic and turns into the Hulk. Bruce goes on the run, because the military wants to use him so they can figure out how to use his powers in military applications. Bruce is pursuing a cure, and eventually returns home to connect with a professor (Tim Blake Nelson) working on his problem. Of course, the military (William Hurt and Tim Roth) catches up to them. Let the battles begin. I am not a big fan of the genre, but this one I was OK with. I appreciated its early focus on how Bruce dealt with what had happened to him. And if you are looking for lots of action and computer-generated mayhem, this is definitely a movie for you. {Note: see if you can catch the Iron Man tie-in very early in the movie.}

WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER? Family drama. Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth are father and son. The movie begins with Dad getting older and finally falling ill. The son has to come home for his last chance to talk to his Dad. But he realizes Dad is too far gone, and he never really will get the chance to have an honest conversation with him. The movie flashes back to when the son was a boy, and a teenager, and shows where the estrangement between the two began. Sure, the dad is a bit of a con man, and perhaps not a great husband, but children need to grow up and understand their parent's failings are usually because they are only human. The movie brings home the importance of letting go of childhood injuries and seeing parents through the eyes of an adult. This isn't a movie for everyone, but I thought the acting was terrific and the emotions were honest, and I liked it a lot.

INDIANA JONES AND THE CRYSTAL SKULL. Indy is 20 years older, but still at teaching part time and doing archeology. He gets caught up in the Red Scare and fired from his job. Just in time to keep him busy, he has to head to Peru to save an old friend (John Hurt) who has been kidnapped by the Russians in search of a crystal skull with mind bending powers (supposedly). Also in the story is Mutt (Shia LeBouef), a Marlon Brando wanna-be, Indy's old girlfriend Karen Allen, and Cate Blanchett as a Natasha-like Russian agent. If you can't rely on plot, which this movie can't (mind control and aliens? puh-leeze), then the action better put you on the edge of your seat. But this didn't. Not a horrible movie, but just so-so, I thought.

KUNG FU PANDA. Animated feature with a overweight panda (Jack Black) who dreams of being a kung fu master. Not only is he out of shape, but he also is a bit of a klutz. It may be his fate to end up like his father as a noodle vendor. But circumstances dictate differently, and the Master (Dustin Hoffman) must train him in kung fu, although the Master is pretty sure he can get Panda to quit. Throw into the mix a former pupil (Ian McShane) turned bad guy, and five other pupils who are experts in kung fu. This movie is fine for children, I think, but I was not all that entertained. There wasn't a lot of humor or content for adults. I guess I am keeping my string of not liking kung fu movies alive!

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN. Follow-up to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The four children are back in London, wondering if they will ever return as the kings and queens of Narnia. Along comes a subway, and lo and behold, they are swept away. But to a desolated Narnia a few hundred years later then their previous encounter, to a time where humans have tried to wipe out the creatures of Narnia. An evil ruler has taken control, even attempting to kill his nephew Prince Caspian, so he can become king instead. Caspian escapes to the forest, where he learns the truth about Narnia. This movie isn't quite the religious allegory the first one was, but is more about having faith in the absence of evidence. Overall, I liked the movie (there is only one scene that I didn't care for because of its medieval vision of God), and think children would enjoy it as much as the first.