Manufacturing Dissent (2007) R - 2½ Stars

I believe we are spoon fed so much B.S. watching T.V., listening to the news, reading the newspaper, listening to the radio and now even the Internet, that it's hard to make an intelligent choice without getting all the facts. I feel most people, including myself at times, just go along with the flow and allow the media to dictate what we eat and buy, how we vote, feel, live our lives and even react to situations. And heck, if we get out of hand, there's always some new pharmaceutical drug we can take to comply with society.

Michael Moore is one of those controversial film makers you either love or hate. I didn't use to think too much of him until I started watching some of his documentaries. The one thing I ABSOLUTELY LOVE about Michael Moore is he gets under your skin causing a twitching reaction. Even though you can see his dramatics in his films, I still think they make a point and cause awarness. Too often we sit back and just allow someone else to solve the problems instead of wanting to be involved. Michael Moore makes me what to have a voice and has done a great job of getting people motivated to stand up for what the believe.

Now having said that, a Canadian team of film makers, Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine, made this documentary to show that you can't believe everything you see - read - hear, even if it's from Michael Moore - the supposed truth speaker. It gives you an in dept look on how Michael has used a lot of footage for his documentaries, manipulating the context to his advantage. He's claimed, on more than one film, he can't get interviews with people he's going after. Here, with the tables turned, the film makers can't get Michael Moore to speak with them for more than 4 minutes. They're banned from plugging into the audio feed, they're cameras are not allowed at certain events and just lots of off limit areas for someone wanting to make a documentary of one of the master of documentaries.

The film shows another side to Moore. It implies he's making films just for his own ego and the money he can bring in. But after viewing the film, I still feel sparking controversy and reaction into people is the only way to bring about change. Remember, the first part of solving a problem, is admitting there is one.

Liberation Entertainment
Directors: Debbie Melnyk, Rick Caine
Writers: Debbie Melnyk, Rick Caine
Producers: Rick Caine, Debbie Melnyk

I viewed 5/08

Buried (2010) R - 3½ Stars

Being semi claustrophobic, I wouldn't last 5 minutes under these conditions. Perhaps that's why this movie made me totally uncomfortable, leaving a knot in my neck. It's pretty hard to make a good movie with just one on screen actor but if you crave edge of your seat thrillers, you'll love this one.

You'll find there are many things you think he should be doing in this situation and at least for me, I found myself yelling at the screen. Also, there are way too many calls and videos sent from just one bar of phone charge left. Perhaps the bag should have shown a spare cell phone battery inside and when he finds the cell phone number, why does he only leave a message for his wife? So don't spent too much energy over analysing what he should or should not be doing, instead sit back and enjoy this intense and horrifying thriller.

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a truck driver in Iraq and he's just awakened to find himself bound and buried alive in a coffin. Reaching around in the dark, he finds a lighter to scope out his dyer situation. A sudden ring finds he's also been left with a cell phone. An Iraqi voice on the other end tells him 5 million dollars will get him out. With 90 minutes of time, a limited supply of oxygen, and trying not to panic, Paul must blindly call numbers to find someone to locate and free him.

Awards:
2010 - National Board of Review - Best Original Screenplay
2010 - National Board of Review - Best Independent Film

Projectes Mevi, The Safran Company, Versus Entertainment, Dark Trick Films, Lionsgate
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Writer: Chris Sparling
Producers: Peter Safran, Adrian Guerra

Frozen (2010) R - 4 Stars

I really don't remember hearing about this movie coming out but I have to say, I LOVED IT. The movie made me completely eerily uncomfortable with chills and the feeling of coldness. For that alone, I have to give it 4 stars for evoking that "edge of your seat" feeling throughout most of the movie. Frozen is a simple yet believable story line of 3 teens getting stuck on a chair lift as the mountain closes down for the weekend and everyone goes home not realizing they are still aboard the lift. Though the movie is sometimes slow it manages to raise your blood pressure significantly at times. I really loved the concept of the story line and you will think twice about being one of the last to get on a ski lift.

Parker O'Neil, (Emma Bell), her boyfriend Dan Walker, (Kevin Zegers), and his best friend Joe Lynch, (Shawn Ashmore), are all looking forward to a full day of snowboarding on Mount Holliston. Unfortunately they don't have enough money to all afford the lift tickets so they talk Parker into sweet talking the lift operator Jason, (Ed Ackerman), to let them ride for a flat cheaper rate. Jason agrees to pocket the extra money and look the other way. Parker is just learning how to snowboard so much of their day is spent with her practicing rather than racing downhill. Right at dusk, the three decide to take one last ride up the lift and give it everything they have coming down. Jason again lets them on the lift one last time but is called away after they depart and his replacement is told to look for three last kids coming down the mountain. As he sees three youths make their way down the slope he turns off the lift unaware these are not the three just sent up. Mount Holliston is in a small town and only open on weekends and now they are closing down until next weekend leaving Parker, Dan and Joe dangling in mid air. With a snow storm approaching, their cries going unnoticed and the trio must find a way off the lift before frostbite and hypothermia set in. That won't be an easy task as other unknown obstacles are in their way.

A Bigger Boat, ArieScope Pictures
Director: Adam Green
Writer: Adam Green
Producers: Peter Block, Cory Neal

Treeless Mountain (2008) NR - 3½ Stars

These tiny girls are great little actors! In Korean subtitles, this is the touching story of two little girls, who's mother's financial difficulty and can no longer afford taking care of them. She brings them to their father's sister's urban house and begs her to take the children in until she can get on her feet, reconciling with their father and then can return for them. She gives the children a piggy bank and tells them everyday the aunt will give them a coin to fill the bank. Once the bank is full, she will return. What starts out as an okay living arrangement turns badly when the aunt grows tired of minding the "bratty" children and finds passing out drunk a comfort rather then feeding the girls. The girls feel loss and abandonment and are oblivious to the dangers of the outside world, but quickly become survivors as they discover the trick of BBQing grasshoppers to peddle the streets, making extra coins to fill their bank. They discover that smaller change fills the bank faster so their larger coins are exchanged for 1 cent pieces. This subtle change fills their bank to capacity. But as they wait each day at the bus stop for their mothers return, they sense she is not coming back.

A letter arrives from their mother saying no changes in her life have been made and the girls are forced to be uprooted again to the farmland of her parents. The grandfather denounces their arrival but they make friends with their grandmother who teaches them great lessons of contentment and respect as they await the return of their mother.

Six year old Jin (Hee Yeon Kim) and her three year old younger sister Bin (Song Hee Kim) , live with their mother (Soo-ah Lee), in a tiny one bedroom apartment. Jin loves attending school while her younger sister wait at home for her arrival. One day when Jin arrives home from school, her mother is packing their belongings as they take a long bus ride into the urban ghettos to be dumped off at their Big Aunt's (Mi-Hyang Kim), home to live. The children are left feeling abandoned as they try to make due with the Aunt as they await the return of their mother. But their loss is great and Big Aunt has never had children around and in her drunken stoop, neglects the children to fend for them selves. Jin and Bin must decide what their next move is to hurry up the process of their mother returning. They roam the dangerous streets, peddling grasshoppers they have cooked, in order to gain more coins for their bank. They are certain if they fill their piggy up, mom will come back for them sooner.

The days pass and their mother never shows only sending a letter of their once again movement to their grandparents farm. As the girls feel no one wants them, their kind hearted grandmother (Park Boon Tak), takes a quick liking to them and shows teaches them the virtue of patience.

Oscillscope Laboratories, Parts and Labor, SoandBrad
Director: So Yong Kim
Writer: So Yong Kim
Producers: Bradley Rust Gray, Lars Knudsen, So Yong Kim

American Me (1992) R - 2½ Stars

Santana Montoya (Edward James Olmos) is a gangster from East L.A. in the 50's. A big player in the Mexican Mafia, he spends 18 years of his life running the drugs scene from behind bars at Folsom Prison. When he finally gets out, he chooses to lead a clean life but his old buddies drag him back into bad habits which finds him up back in jail, eventually being killed.

Universal Pictures
Director: Edward James Olmos
Writers: Desmond Nakano, Floyd Mutrux
Producers:Irwin W. Young, Robert M. Young, Floyd Mutrux

I viewed 9/17

The Reaping (2007) R - 3 Stars

Katherine Winter's (Hilary Swank), whole life was with the ministary. But after her husband and daughter are killed in Sudan through a sacraficial event, she stops believing in God. Now, a university professor and theology scholar, she believes more in studying facts rather than beliefs. She has traveled the world investigating all sorts of phenonomin like bleeding palms and weeping statues.

After the town of Haven, Louisiana has been swarmed on by locust and seen their rivers turn blood red, they believe a revisiting of the Biblical ten plagues has been thrust upon them. They also believe that a child Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb) is the work of the devil and most want to destroy the girl in order to bring peace back to the town. However Katherine's tries to save the young "choosen" girl as she can be the one to defeat Satan's work.

Warner Bros Pictures
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Writers: Jacob Aaron Estes, Carey Hayes, Christopher Markus
Producers: Robert Zemeckis, Herbert W. Gains, Susan Levin

I viewed 11/17

Control Room (2003) NR - 3½ Stars

The Vietnam war gave the public a glimpse behind the scenes of the ugliness of war. With Kuwait and Iraq wars, society was media-managed as to what we were to see and not to see. There's only so much reliable information on the Internet, which is mostly biased, to form an objective opinion. Watching this film shows how easily American propaganda takes over in our media as opposed to how media allows the people of the middle east to complete reality.

I  watched this movie back in 2007 while the war in Iraq was still active on the ground. The images shown to us were exactly as our government and media wanted us to see. Direct hits on bad guys, front line pushing forward while sheltered from any reality of bombs hitting civilian targets. For me, watching documentaries that show all points of view allow me to form my own opinion of what I believe the truth to be.

We are invited into the headquarters of Al-Jazeera television to see how the news of the Iraq war is reported in the Arab nations. American television avoids the death and destruction where Al-Jazeera focuses on it and they make good arguments on it's benefits. For anyone who wants to see the Iraq war from all sides, search my site under war for the movies I've reviewed.

2004 - Control Room - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Documentary.

Magnolia Pictures
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Producers: Rosadel Varela, Abdullah

I viewed 11/07

Puncture (2011) R - 3½ Stars

As I began to watch this film I immediately formed a bad opinion of what I thought was to come. With lots of drugs, not great acting and a confusing mix of the characters, it looked like we were going no where at all and I lost interest. However, after watching for a while, I found myself more engaged and it became pretty interesting. Even the acting improved.

Based on a true story, there was no surprise to learn big players in the health industry are more interested in making money than treating the sick or prevention of disease. I had to list this is my political category because it really is all about the politics of major corporations, and in this case the health industry with the tightly knit circle that surrounds them.  Free trade is definitely kept out of this circle. At the end, I feel the writers intentionally leave you with a doubt as to what happened to attorney Weiss as if they seem convinced of foul play. You just might be convinced too.

Nurse Vicky Rogers (Vinessa Shaw), has an violent emergency patient which she must administer a shot to calm him down. But, in his restless stage, the needle punctures her skin and she becomes infected with AIDS. As she becomes sick, and her insurance is about to be canceled, she seeks the help of attorneys Mike Weiss (Chris Evans), and Paul Danziger (Mark Kassen). She shows them a retractable new safety needle invented by engineer Jeffrey Matthew Dancort (Marshall Bell). Dancort own a company called Safety Point where he has patented and produced this new idea that could potentially save many lives. The problem is, he's unable to sell the product to the any other hospitals besides San Antonio Memorial. This one hospital, San Antonio Memorial, will try his product but it appears the United Medical group stands between Dancort trying to sell his product as they will not allow his product on the market. Mike and Paul soon learn fighting with these big boys, headed by attorney Nathaniel Price (Brett Cullen), and their ruthless techniques, immediately shoot down any attempt they can possibly try.

Cherry Sky Films, Kassen Brothers Production, LikeMinded Pictures, Millennium Entertainment
Directors: Adam Kassen, Mark Kassen
Writers: Chris Lopata, Ela Thier, Paul Danziger
Producers: Craig Cohen, Paul Danziger, Rod De Llano,

I viewed 8/12

Rear Window (1954) PG - 4½ Stars

I can't say enough about one of Hitchcock's best!!! An all time classic that if you have'nt seen it yet, make a point to. A true classic that never gets old. Stewart and Keyy are awesome and, for me, the innocence of the era adds to the excitement of the film.

L.B. Jeffries , (James Stewart) is confined to his apartment after breaking his leg. With not much to do he takes comfort, with his binoculars, watching his neighbors through his window into the courtyard. While watching their normal daily routines and lifestyles, he develops nicknames for his neighbors. But suddenly, he can't believe what he thinks he sees. Could one of his neighbors just have murdered his wife and now trying to dispose of her body in a suitcase?

On the brink of obsession, he can't take anymore and involves his model girlfriend, Lisa, (Grace Kelly). Voyeurism at it's finest.

Awards include:

1998 - Rear Window - American Film Institute - 100 Greatest American Movies.
1997 - Rear Window - Library of Congress - U.S. National Film Registry.
1954 - Rear Window - National Board of Review - Best Actress.
1954 - Rear Window - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actress.

Paramount Pictures
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: John Michael Hayes
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock

I viewed 6/07

Sicko (2007) PG13 - 3½ Stars

You either like Michael Moore's work or you hate it. For me, any movie that stirs me up and makes me angry and causes a reaction in me is a good thing. Michael produces directs and stars in this documentary on the health care system here in America as well as other parts of the world. When you see how much the costs we pay for prescription drugs and medical treatments here in the United States versus other parts of the world, well something isn't right.

Though Michael gets a bit dramatic towards the end of the movie, it was very sad to learn that detainees in Guantanamo have better health care then most American citizens do. Yet we as a society don't do anything to protest it but just complain.

Awards include:

2007 - Sicko - Chicago Film Critics Association - Best Documentary.
2007 - Sicko - Las Vegas Film Critics Association - Best Documentary.
2007 - Sicko - Phoenix Film Critics Association - Best Documentary.

Lions Gate Films
Director: Michael Moore
Writer: Michael Moore
Producers: Meghan O'Hara, Michael Moore

I viewed 1/08

Dan in Real Life (2007) PG13 - 3½ Stars

What fun a large family reunion like this one would be. This movie, set in the great back woods of Rhode Island, is a wittey comedy that gives you that farm fuzzy feeling of finding love.

Dan Burns, (Steve Carell), is a single father and writes an advice column for the local newspaper. His column is directed toward parents and being one himself, he can relate to how hard it is to make intelligent choices. It's been four years since his wife died and he is struggling with the needs of his fast growing and outspoken daughters. Jane, (Alison Pill), Cara (Brittany Robertson), and Lilly (Marlene Lawson).  On a family reunion to Rhode Island, he meets the woman of his dreams Marie, (Juliette Binoche), only to find out his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), has brought her to the reunion as his guest - girlfriend, Situations clash and Dan finds out from his daughters what true love really is.

Buena Vista Pictures
Director: Peter Hedges
Writers: Peter Hedges, Pierce Gardner
Producers: Brad Epstein, Jonathan Shestack

I viewed 3/08