August movie reviews

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. Quentin Tarantino brings two WWII stories together. Chapter One opens in a farmhouse in rural France. Nazis, led by the unctuous Colonel Landa, drive up. Immediately you feel foreboding about the fate of the farmer and his daughters. In Chapter Two, a group of American soldiers (led by Brad Pitt) make it their mission to hunt down and terrorize Nazis. There are three more chapters (including Revenge of the Giant Head), and the Colonel, the Basterds, and a young woman from the farmhouse will eventually meet in Paris. That's all the plot I will give away, but this is the ultimate revenge fantasy. If you liked PULP FICTION, I would think you would like this. It's classic Tarantino - sudden violence, unpredictable turns of events, great dialog, humor, acting, cool music. I liked it a lot.



DISTRICT 9. This is a science fiction action movie with a brain. Here, a spaceship hovers over Johannesburg for months. Finally the humans break in to the ship, only to find all the aliens weak and dying. So, in a humanitarian gesture, they bring the aliens down and settle them in a relocation camp. But it quickly becomes a violent slum and the humans start stereotyping the aliens. (Humans refer to the aliens as prawns, although I think they are more lobster-like.) So the humans attempt to move the aliens to a camp further out of town. Apartheid, anyone? Anyway, stuff happens when the humans try to relocate all the aliens. There were lots of explosions, and an evil corporation, but still pretty smart for an action movie. Pretty entertaining stuff.



FUNNY PEOPLE. Ira Wright (Seth Rogan) works in a deli and does stand-up comedy during open mike nights. He really isn't very good yet. He has one roommate (Jonah Hill) who is becoming more successful at stand-up, and another (Jason Schwartzman) who has gotten a lowbrow cable TV show. On a whole other level is mega-successful George Simmons (Adam Sandler), a former stand-up comedian who has become very rich and famous making movies (like Merman and Re-do, where he reverts to being a baby). One day George gets bad news from the doctor - he has leukemia and only a slim chance to live. So as a way to cope, he goes back to doing stand-up, where he meets Ira, and asks Ira to write some jokes for him and be his assistant. George has alienated most of the people in his life, so in his time of need he and Ira become friends. Ira convinces George that Ira should bring his former friends and family back into his life. He does, and he contacts the "girl who got away". This Judd Apatow-directed movie (KNOCKED UP, 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN) has some really serious themes (death, friendship, infidelity) but because it revolves around the lives of comedians (lots of cameos, too), it is also very funny. Well worth seeing.



AFGHAN STAR. This documentary follows four finalists in Afghanistan's version of American Idol. Two are women, two men, and all four from different ethnic groups. One of the women isn't traditional enough for many Afghans, and singing on the show will get her on the conservatives hit lists. The two boys, it seemed to me, were like boy-band teen idols. The show's producer was a man on the make. Quite an entertaining movie. What really struck me was how, despite all the hardships they have been through (being at war for nearly 30 years, more or less), most of the Afghans were seeking to join the modern world. And the TV show was bringing Afghans together on some level, because people would vote for favorites who weren't in their ethnic group. Interesting.



FLAME AND CITRON. The movie, based on fact, follows two members of the Danish Resistance in WWII. Flame (a redhead) is younger and more impetuous. Citron is older and more aware of the chances for things going wrong. He is trying to maintain his relationship with his wife, but given that he is mostly in hiding, his marriage is falling apart. Their job is killing Nazi collaborators. It's not an easy job, and is having a psychological toll on them both. Then a woman, who claims to be a courier between the Danes and the Swedes appears, and Flame starts getting really paranoid. Are people they work with actually infiltrators? Flame even starts to suspect that their manager is misleading them, and having them kill people he wants eliminated. And the Nazis are closing in. Because these aren't famous people, I didn't know what happens to them, and found it a gripping movie, very good. In Danish.



PRESSURE COOKER. Documentary about high school kids in an inner city school in Philadelphia who are studying culinary arts in hopes of getting scholarships and getting out of the ghetto. One is a football star, one is a girl who immigrated from Mali and needs to get away from strict parents who won't let her do anything, and the third takes care of her blind sister (who she loves), and wants to go to college so she can live her own life) . Their teacher is a tough task master, because she is committed to helping the kids. She is also, as one of the students says, somewhat lacking in social skills. She can be a hoot. I like most documentaries, and although this one isn't a great movie, I liked the kids and teacher enough to enjoy the movie.



JULIA AND JULIE. The movie beings with Julie (Amy Adams), a failed writer with a job that is drudgery. All her college friends have passed her by, success-wise, and she isn't happy about it. She gets the idea of writing a blog while she cooks all 500-plus recipes from Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. Then the movie switches to showing Julia Child (Meryl Streep) in 1949 Paris, where she is the at-loose-ends wife of a diplomat. The movie then moves back and forth between the two stories, and tries to show parallels between the two lives. The Julia Child story is more interesting, as Julia faced quite a few obstacles in her journey from housewife to cook to writer. Although Amy Adams is adorable as usual, Julie's story is less compelling, because she basically is just writing a blog and having periodic meltdowns, which doesn't make her all that attractive. Julie says that Julie saved her life, but I am not quite sure how, other than the blog got her a book deal and made her famous. But regardless, this is a good movie, nothing monumental, but an OK way to spend two hours.


TAKING WOODSTOCK. Demitri Martin stars in this Ang Lee movie about how the Woodstock festival came to be in Bethel, New York. Demitri has failed as an artist/designer in New York City, and has come home to help his parents run their rundown (really rundown) hotel. His dad is pretty beat down, and his mother is flat-out a horrible person. But he tries to help them out, and the town, and becomes head of the local Chamber of Commerce. When he hears that the first venue has backed out of hosting the concert, he works to bring it to his town. You probably know the rest. Honestly, this movie just fell flat for me. None of the characters (Vietnam vet with PTSD, drag queen, hippie chick) has much depth. The horrible mom is probably the most interesting character. I wouldn't even rent this movie, although I might watch it for free on TV.



YOO HOO MRS. GOLDBERG. This documentary is about Gertrude Berg, a pioneer on early television. She started writing and acting on radio doing a show about a Jewish immigrant family. When TV started, she created what was essentially the first family sitcom on TV. (She had the I Love Lucy time slot before Lucille Ball was on TV.) She also was tangentially involved in the McCarthy blacklisting of the 50's. A well done documentary, with lots of interviews of people who were there skillfully interwoven with clips from the times. I had never heard of the woman, and since I am interested in history/pop culture, I thought it was worthwhile to see.



YOUSSOU NDOUR. I BRING WHAT I LOVE. This documentary on African singer Youssou Ndour briefly touches on his background, and then revolves around his decision to make a record celebrating his religion. He is from Senegal, where 90% of the population are Sufi, a mystical version of Islam. He makes the album, but it is not a real success in his country, although it is more so in Europe (it appears). There is also some controversy from people who feel one shouldn't sing pop songs about Islam. Anyway, he gets nominated for a grammy, etc,, etc. He is a fascinating person, because he has done a lot of work for human rights in Africa, but I found the movie way too long, with clips of his singing the songs at the concerts repetitive. It didn't help that I didn't care for the music (to my untrained ears it sounded like a mix of some African rhythms, but more a Middle Eastern vibe). And the lyrics, for someone not into Sufisim, not very enlightening. So, no. But well-reviewed by the critics.