Videos I've watched lately

[The blockquotes are Netflix's descriptions of the movies.]

Shrek the Third (2007)

I enjoyed the first two Shreks so I got the third. It too was most enjoyable.

I give it three stars.

Evan Almighty (2006)

In director Tom Shadyac's raucous follow-up to the 2003 comedy Bruce Almighty (also helmed by Shadyac), God (Morgan Freeman) summons narcissistic newscaster turned congressman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) to build an enormous ark in preparation for a devastating flood. Unfortunately, Evan's perplexed family interprets his latest hobby as a midlife crisis gone wrong rather than as a divine assignment from the man upstairs.

I didn't like Bruce Almighty all that much but this one was recommended by Libertas - a forum for conservative thought on film and I'm glad I got it. It was a real treat.

I give it three stars.

Miss Potter (2006)

Blending lush animation sequences with live-action drama, director Chris Noonan constructs this biopic about the personal life of beloved children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. Featuring the Academy Award-winning Renee Zellweger as the title character and co-starring Emily Watson and Ewan McGregor, the film traces Potter's private life as well as her contributions to literature such as the timeless "Tale of Peter Rabbit."

Apart from the animation sequences, this is a pretty accurate and realistic bio of Beatrix Potter. If you didn't read her books as a kid, it may not mean much to you. But I grew up reading Potter's stories and it was wonderful to finally find out about the woman who created Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck and all the other whimsical farm and woodland creatures she brought to life in her delightfully illustrated books.

Potter's life was as magical as that of her creatures and she almost single-handedly saved the Lake District of England from over-development by buying up hundreds of farms and preserving them as working farms.

I lived in the Lake District with my first wife where, in 1972, we were married in the Kendall Parish Church where Henry VIII married Katherine Parr, his sixth and last wife, in 1543. We lived a few doors down from the church in a 14th century building that had had once been an inn.

I give this movie four stars.

Red Road (2006)

Far removed from the world, Jackie (Kate Dickie) uses her job as a security surveillance monitor to zoom in on her little corner of Glasgow, Scotland, through cameras placed throughout the city. One day, she sees the familiar face of Clyde (Tony Curran), a man whom she never imagined she would see again -- and who figures prominently into a dark episode in Jackie's past.

I got this movie because it was filmed in Glasgow where I once lived. It's one of those British "fake mysteries" where the only mystery is because the writer withholds information to keep you guessing and, when you do get it, it makes you annoyed that he toyed with your intelligence.

I give it one star for socio-anthropological accuracy.

Stardust (2007)

A young man journeys to a magical world to win the heart of his true love in this charming fantasy based on Neil Gaiman's novel. Tristan (Charlie Cox) has promised Victoria (Sienna Miller) that he'll retrieve a fallen star to secure her love. Along the way, he battles a pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro), an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) and other assorted goblins and ghosts. Peter O'Toole, Claire Danes and Rupert Everett co-star.

I didn't expect much more than a few hours of fantasy from this but it turned out to be excellent - and quite funny too.

I give it three stars.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

I bought the video so that I could be sure to have it for my Christmas guests from South Africa who had never seen it before. They were glued to the TV while we cooked Christmas dinner.

Obviously I give it five stars.

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

This Christmastime angelic intervention sparkles with good humor. Dudley the angel (Cary Grant) is sent to help a bishop (David Niven) and his wife (Loretta Young) survive their attempt to finance a new cathedral and the strain it's putting on their marriage. The Bishop's Wife includes complex undercurrents, especially when the bishop sees Dudley as a rival for his job and his wife.

I also got this one especially for my guests who had never seen it before. Yep, they were glued to the TV.

I give it four stars.

A Christmas Story (1983)

Humorist Jean Shepard's nostalgic view of Christmastime in Indiana during the 1940s is a holiday classic. Nine-year-old Ralphie desperately wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas and wages an all-out campaign to convince his reluctant parents (Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon) that the toy is safe. Meanwhile, as Ralphie prepares for the big day, his brother has a strange relationship with food, and his dad fights the never-ending furnace battle.

I also got this one for my Christmas guests but it arrived too late - after they'd left. I had never seen it but it was recommended by Libertas.

I give it three stars.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

Deck the halls with boughs of laughter -- the Griswolds are back! Clark (Chevy Chase), Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and the kids (Juliette Lewis and Johnny Galecki) gear up for the holidays in this installment of the "Vacation" series. As per usual, all the good intentions in the world can't save the family from disaster...or Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid, who practically steals the show).

This one also arrived too late for Christmas. It was also recommended by Libertas (which surprised me) and was quite funny.

I give it two stars.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

I had seen this when it first came out but I got it to show my guests who our next President (Fred Thompson) will be. It arrived too late but it was worth seeing again. Fred only appears for about ten minutes but the story is great.

I give it three stars.

Spartan (2004)

U.S. government secret agent Scott (Val Kilmer) likes doing things his own way. And that's a good thing, because when he's assigned the task of rescuing the kidnapped daughter (Kristen Bell) of the president, he discovers a larger, more insidious plot that originates within the White House itself -- and it's up to him to get to the bottom of it. William H. Macy co-stars in this twisty thriller written and directed by David Mamet.

I got this because it's a Mamet movie. Apart from the fact that Kilmer looks too soft and decadent to play a Marine secret agent, it was a good story.

I give it two stars.

8MM (1999)

Director Joel Schumacher's mysterious thriller pulls no punches. When a widow hires private eye Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) to determine whether a snuff film in her late husband's possession was faked or real, Welles descends into an abyss of evil that he can't shake. With porn-bookstore clerk Max California (Joaquin Phoenix) as his guide, Welles is drawn deeper into this malevolent world, and what he finds could cost him his sanity and his soul.

Prof at Right Wing Nation recommended this. I had read about it and decided against it because of the horrible subject matter. I commented on Prof's blog that I'd get it since he had enjoyed it. He emailed me and said: "I wouldn't have picked you for someone who would enjoy that kind of movie."

I replied:

Just finished watching it. I got it because I figured, if you liked it, there must be more to it than "just" a thriller. There was. It was brilliant.

When I first saw it advertised on Netflix, I decided against it because it's about a snuff movie and, you're right, I usually don't like "that kind of movie" - too dark and heavy for my tastes. But I enjoy a good thriller occasionally - especially if the good guy kills all the bad guys by the end which I guessed would happen since it's a Cage movie.

Because it's a Cage movie, I was expecting simple entertainment not art. What I didn't figure for was the stylishness, the mood of darkness sustained by making strangely familiar backdrops look eerily bleak, the clever soundtrack of melancholy Indian music and mostly - Cage's performance. He was perfectly cast. His usual boring woodenness is exactly what was needed for the character.

The story was also believable - enough to move me and I was in tears at the end.

I give it three stars.

Emma (1996)

The other night I was feeling too sleepy to watch a video so we turned on the TV to see if there was something short to watch. This movie had just started on PBS which is the channel the TV is most often tuned to. I thought, "I'll watch a bit of this because I'll probably nod off anyway." I did nod off for a while and, when I woke up, I noticed that Chas and Andy were glued to the TV so I had another sip of wine to refresh me and was very glad that I did. It is one of the best films of Jane Austen's novel ever. I don't like Gwyneth Paltrow much but she was really good as Emma Woodhouse.

It's based on Jane Austen's comic novel, "Emma," which was first published in 1816. It's the story of a young woman, Emma, who is the only one of Austen's heroines who is rich and, as a result, is not being pressured by her family to marry a wealthy man so she plays the role of her town's "matchmaker." She's not at all interested in marriage but has a male friend whom she treats as a brother. She does not realizes that she loves him in a more than brotherly fashion until she hears one day that he is engaged to another woman.

The delicacy and tact with with they approach each other when they first realize that their mutual attraction is not simply platonic is one of the finest examples of Austen's understanding of sexual love as a baring of one's soul to another, standing naked before each other spiritually more than physically. They realize, as few people nowadays seem to, that they are becoming emotionally vulnerable to each other and have it within their power to hurt each other badly if they misunderstand each others' intentions.

So, they tread carefully, slowly testing each other to see just how much they can trust being open and defenseless before each other. And, when they finally declare their love for each other, it is like watching Adam and Eve making love in the garden of Eden, as marriage (the merging of two souls) should be; innocent, pure and childlike.

Austen understands how powerful and dangerous sex is and that sexual relations have serious consequences. Kids nowadays think that the only dangers of sex are pregnancy and STDs. They are not taught of sex's dangers to the psyche; how it can damage your character if it is engaged in as mere animals instead of the beings with immortal souls that we are. Jane Austen's six novels should be mandatory reading for all teenage girls - and boys.

I give this movie five stars.

Medium (TV show)

Tonight we watched the first episode of the new season of Medium, which is the only network TV show that we watch anymore. I wondered how they got around the writers' strike so I Googled it and found out that NBC ordered six scripts in advance last April in anticipation of the writers' strike.

I'm skeptical about psychics and that sort of stuff but this show is never boring. The executive producer, creator and director Glenn Gordon Caron did Moonlighting. Medium was inspired by the real-life story of research medium Allison DuBois, played by Patricia Arquette. Kelsey Grammer is the executive producer. No writers are credited but whoever they are, they sure know how to write good stories.

I give this show four stars.