Two films watched this week - most unlike us.
The Notebook
Recorded while we were on holiday, this charming love story didn't really impress me. It was a simple couple-meet, couple-torn-apart, couple-get-back together story, wrapped up as an old man reading the story to his wife who's suffering from dementia and amnesia. Touching and cute, but for me, ultimately lacking in a special something.
An Inconvenient Truth
We got this out of the library to watch now that Sally is involved in climate change projects.
It's a good documentary, mostly based around a lecture given by Al Gore. It's a well-made documentary film with good graphics explaining the science and facts, and Gore is a great speaker. An hour long lecture on climate change could easily be dull, but I was far from bored and found the whole thing informative and challenging.
In fact, I found it quite scary. It'll certainly get me rethinking my own impact on the climate.
Showing posts with label Films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Films. Show all posts
Monday, October 13, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Film: Run Fatboy Run
We saw the trailers for this film ages ago and, as we like Simon Pegg (of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), we thought it would be worth a bash. But we totally missed it at the cinema.
However, Sally's borrowed it from a friend and so we sat down with a curry after a long, hard week, and watched it as light entertainment.
It was a slight disappointment. Pegg plays a security guard who's low in self esteem and fitness. It's 5 years since he chickened out of marrying his pregnant girlfriend and ran off and he's trying to get her back. But she's found anther man. And so the fight is on.
Pegg's character trys to redeem himself, and find himself, through running. The ex's boyfriend is running a marathon and Pegg promises lots of people that he will run it. He has three weeks to go from being able to run half way up the street, to being able to run 26 miles. Not likely.
I won't tell you if he makes it (no spoilers here!). But the file was vaguely entertaining - Pegg and his fellow actors are high on physical comedy and that alone carried the film for me. But it was sorely disappointing in other places. The plot was cheesy and the script pretty awful - though there were some nice scenes and certain themes that ran through the film worked well. I felt I should have been more emotionally involved with the characters than I was - perhaps the comedy got in the way of that. I didn't notice bad acting or direction so maybe it wasn't there, but there was nothing startling either. Oh, and the product placement was pretty blatent! Grrr.
So, all in all, a mildly funny and entertaining rom-com (the "run-com" pun doesn't quite work), but definitely not Pegg's best.
However, Sally's borrowed it from a friend and so we sat down with a curry after a long, hard week, and watched it as light entertainment.
It was a slight disappointment. Pegg plays a security guard who's low in self esteem and fitness. It's 5 years since he chickened out of marrying his pregnant girlfriend and ran off and he's trying to get her back. But she's found anther man. And so the fight is on.
Pegg's character trys to redeem himself, and find himself, through running. The ex's boyfriend is running a marathon and Pegg promises lots of people that he will run it. He has three weeks to go from being able to run half way up the street, to being able to run 26 miles. Not likely.
I won't tell you if he makes it (no spoilers here!). But the file was vaguely entertaining - Pegg and his fellow actors are high on physical comedy and that alone carried the film for me. But it was sorely disappointing in other places. The plot was cheesy and the script pretty awful - though there were some nice scenes and certain themes that ran through the film worked well. I felt I should have been more emotionally involved with the characters than I was - perhaps the comedy got in the way of that. I didn't notice bad acting or direction so maybe it wasn't there, but there was nothing startling either. Oh, and the product placement was pretty blatent! Grrr.
So, all in all, a mildly funny and entertaining rom-com (the "run-com" pun doesn't quite work), but definitely not Pegg's best.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Book: The Northern Lights (and Film: The Golden Compass)
Philip Pullman is an author with a reputation. He is the children's Dan Brown. He's known more for the controversy about what he writes than for how he writes.
I don't like Dan Brown's writing. I read the Da Vinci Code and though I thought it was gripping and exciting, it was also patronising and unbelievable. I also read the first chapter of "Angels and Demons" and decided it was the SAME book! I won't mention Brown's weird ideas about history and religion.
In contrast, though I approached the Northern Lights with scepticism due to the author's reputation for bashing religion and the church, I'm thinking that Philip Pullman is an excellent author!
I confess that I saw "The Golden Compass" - the film version of "The Northern Lights" - just before Christmas and before I read the book. It was very much a children's film, albeit quite a violent one, but an enjoyable romp with some imaginative scenery and special effects. The "daemons" were entirely believable! Though I thought the compass effect was done about three times too many.
I went to see the film with people who HAD read the book and they said that the book made much more sense.
And it did. Not only is Pullman an excellent author who provokes the imagination with enchanting descriptions and clever dialogue, he also spins a good yarn. The world(s) he has created is large, varied and yet coherant. He draws on reality but uses it flexibly to create somewhere of this world, possibly from another century, but also not of this world.
Does he attack the church? Well, I think so. Somewhat. He's certainly very political and implies that the church has lots of influence on the state and indoctrinates children with it's nasty ideas. But he's not attacking the church that I know. I don't know his background - maybe he has issues with the church - his own "demon", if you like. But I, as a member of The Church (meaning the body of people who follow Jesus Christ), didn't feel particularly put out by it. Plus, it's allegorical, so, unlike the Da Vinci Code that presents itself as almost-factual, you're free to see the church as being that of Pullman's world, not of our own.
The only REALLY weird thing was the Bible being translated into the context of Pullman's world. Oh, and his interpretation of it. Most odd and made me feel slightly uneasy.
The film and the book are a little out of synch. Having seen film 1 and then read book 1 it will be interesting to read book 2 and THEN see film 2 to see how things progress.
I found the book more grown up than the film - a better place for an adult to be. I would sincerely hope that children would be reading it too! The film - OK for kids but plain confusing for adults.
I don't like Dan Brown's writing. I read the Da Vinci Code and though I thought it was gripping and exciting, it was also patronising and unbelievable. I also read the first chapter of "Angels and Demons" and decided it was the SAME book! I won't mention Brown's weird ideas about history and religion.
In contrast, though I approached the Northern Lights with scepticism due to the author's reputation for bashing religion and the church, I'm thinking that Philip Pullman is an excellent author!
I confess that I saw "The Golden Compass" - the film version of "The Northern Lights" - just before Christmas and before I read the book. It was very much a children's film, albeit quite a violent one, but an enjoyable romp with some imaginative scenery and special effects. The "daemons" were entirely believable! Though I thought the compass effect was done about three times too many.
I went to see the film with people who HAD read the book and they said that the book made much more sense.
And it did. Not only is Pullman an excellent author who provokes the imagination with enchanting descriptions and clever dialogue, he also spins a good yarn. The world(s) he has created is large, varied and yet coherant. He draws on reality but uses it flexibly to create somewhere of this world, possibly from another century, but also not of this world.
Does he attack the church? Well, I think so. Somewhat. He's certainly very political and implies that the church has lots of influence on the state and indoctrinates children with it's nasty ideas. But he's not attacking the church that I know. I don't know his background - maybe he has issues with the church - his own "demon", if you like. But I, as a member of The Church (meaning the body of people who follow Jesus Christ), didn't feel particularly put out by it. Plus, it's allegorical, so, unlike the Da Vinci Code that presents itself as almost-factual, you're free to see the church as being that of Pullman's world, not of our own.
The only REALLY weird thing was the Bible being translated into the context of Pullman's world. Oh, and his interpretation of it. Most odd and made me feel slightly uneasy.
The film and the book are a little out of synch. Having seen film 1 and then read book 1 it will be interesting to read book 2 and THEN see film 2 to see how things progress.
I found the book more grown up than the film - a better place for an adult to be. I would sincerely hope that children would be reading it too! The film - OK for kids but plain confusing for adults.
Film: Gagh, no, I can't....OK, it was "Clueless"...now let me explain
Please, bear with me. This is like admitting to enjoying watching "Spice World" (oh come on, it was worth it just for the fake bus jumping over Tower Bridge "Speed"-style). Yes, this was on TV. Yes, we recorded it. And yes, we actually sat and watched it. And, heck, it was FUN!
This is a cheesy, 90's, American movie about teenage schoolgirls... BUT!!!!! It has it's tongue firmly in it's cheek and is more than what you might think it to be.
Alicia Silverstone very cleverly plays a very kooky and spoilt American school girl who's rich daddy buys her everything she could ever want. Lots happens but, basically, for me this was the story of her finding out that there's more to life than the American Consumerist Dream.
It's not a great film but it's funny and entertaining with some great one-liners. Am I ashamed I watched it? Hell yeah! But I'm a little bit proud that I did too!
This is a cheesy, 90's, American movie about teenage schoolgirls... BUT!!!!! It has it's tongue firmly in it's cheek and is more than what you might think it to be.
Alicia Silverstone very cleverly plays a very kooky and spoilt American school girl who's rich daddy buys her everything she could ever want. Lots happens but, basically, for me this was the story of her finding out that there's more to life than the American Consumerist Dream.
It's not a great film but it's funny and entertaining with some great one-liners. Am I ashamed I watched it? Hell yeah! But I'm a little bit proud that I did too!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Film: Black Gold
It's fair trade fortnight! I hadn't actually realised - communication on it has been quiet this year.
However, as part of the week, a film called Black Gold was on the telly.
We're all into sustainability and fair trade anyway, we understand that the trade that we do greatly affects the lives of people in the third world, we see the bigger picture of how we in the UK are very rich and yet we exploit the poor people in the developing world, and we're compelled by our faith and our conscience to do something about it. So we probably didn't need to see this film.
However, it was a good documentary! Unlike things like "Super Size Me", "Farenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine", there is no star of the show. There is no man on a quest. The filmmakers show only their interviewees and the subjects merely speak for themselves. There is a central character - a man who runs a coffee co-operative. But even he is really just a subject of the film. I liked this. I didn't feel someone was desperately trying to prove a point. There weren'y awkward questions; there were just truthful answers.
The film outlined well the difficulties of growing coffee, selling it for a good price and making a living as a coffee farmer. It showed that there are many middlemen in the selling process, who all take their cut of the money. It demonstrated that the price of coffee is mostly decided by rich businessmen in America and the UK.
And it showed how unfair the standard process of trade really is!
Here's some of the figures that I recall. Ethiopian coffee beans sold for 2 Ethiopian Birr per kilo - at the time of making the film this was 57 US cents.
A kilo of beans makes 80 cups of coffee. This equates to 0.71 US cents per cup.
One of the farmers says that selling for 5 Birr instead of 2 would change his life dramatically. 5 Birr is 142.5 US cents per kilo or, given the 80-cups-per-kilo figure, 1.78 US cents per cup.
This means an extra 1.07 US cents, per cup, would dramatically change this guys life.
1 US cent!
Per cup!
And the middle men and Starbucks and Nestle and Tesco and probably even the Fairtrade coffee companies are making millions!
Now, I know that fair trade isn't a long term solution to the problems of the developing world. But for 1 cent per cup of coffee we could transform lives, give people some healthcare, send kids to school.
So what we do? What can I do? I already buy fair trade so I'm already helping in some way. I did have the idea of having a pot by the kettle and putting a coin (of any denomination) in it each time I made a cup of coffee, and giving this money to a development agency. But I'm already paying the fair trade premium, so how much will this help.
Better is to get other people to buy fairtrade and push more of the market that way. Better to campaign for the multinational coffee buyers to set and pay a fair price. Better to make sure others know that such a small amount of money makes such a big difference!
However, as part of the week, a film called Black Gold was on the telly.
We're all into sustainability and fair trade anyway, we understand that the trade that we do greatly affects the lives of people in the third world, we see the bigger picture of how we in the UK are very rich and yet we exploit the poor people in the developing world, and we're compelled by our faith and our conscience to do something about it. So we probably didn't need to see this film.
However, it was a good documentary! Unlike things like "Super Size Me", "Farenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine", there is no star of the show. There is no man on a quest. The filmmakers show only their interviewees and the subjects merely speak for themselves. There is a central character - a man who runs a coffee co-operative. But even he is really just a subject of the film. I liked this. I didn't feel someone was desperately trying to prove a point. There weren'y awkward questions; there were just truthful answers.
The film outlined well the difficulties of growing coffee, selling it for a good price and making a living as a coffee farmer. It showed that there are many middlemen in the selling process, who all take their cut of the money. It demonstrated that the price of coffee is mostly decided by rich businessmen in America and the UK.
And it showed how unfair the standard process of trade really is!
Here's some of the figures that I recall. Ethiopian coffee beans sold for 2 Ethiopian Birr per kilo - at the time of making the film this was 57 US cents.
A kilo of beans makes 80 cups of coffee. This equates to 0.71 US cents per cup.
One of the farmers says that selling for 5 Birr instead of 2 would change his life dramatically. 5 Birr is 142.5 US cents per kilo or, given the 80-cups-per-kilo figure, 1.78 US cents per cup.
This means an extra 1.07 US cents, per cup, would dramatically change this guys life.
1 US cent!
Per cup!
And the middle men and Starbucks and Nestle and Tesco and probably even the Fairtrade coffee companies are making millions!
Now, I know that fair trade isn't a long term solution to the problems of the developing world. But for 1 cent per cup of coffee we could transform lives, give people some healthcare, send kids to school.
So what we do? What can I do? I already buy fair trade so I'm already helping in some way. I did have the idea of having a pot by the kettle and putting a coin (of any denomination) in it each time I made a cup of coffee, and giving this money to a development agency. But I'm already paying the fair trade premium, so how much will this help.
Better is to get other people to buy fairtrade and push more of the market that way. Better to campaign for the multinational coffee buyers to set and pay a fair price. Better to make sure others know that such a small amount of money makes such a big difference!
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