Five Broken Cameras

 

Five Broken Cameras 2011

• Director: Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Documentary
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Documentary
• Why? The subject
• Seen:  14 November 2024      

       Emad has lived his whole life on the West Bank. When his fourth son is born he buys a film camera to record his family. He ends up recording his family during the spreading Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

       The camera is destroyed by Israeli soldiers. He gets a new one. It’s destroyed by Israeli soldiers. He gets a new one. Five in all. He and all his brothers spend time in prison. His baby son gets older and learns by the age of five that Israeli soldiers kill Palestinians.

       It’s now 2024. Now the Israelis are bombing and killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians, every day. Thousands of children, women and men have died. Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to evacuate their homes, thousands of homes have been destroyed. Starvation, untreated injuries and illness, blocked emergency supplies. Is this not terrorism?

       The film is from 2011. See it. 

5* of 5

 

 

 

Sacrifice

 

Sacrifice 2020

• Director: Collier & Mian
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Sophie Stevens, Ludovic Hughes, Barbara Crampton, Lukas Loughran
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? Good reviews
• Seen:  13 November 2024      

       Weird film. Young American couple, Isaac (Hughes) and Emma  (Stevens), come to Norway, to the village where Isaac was born and where his mother murdered his father some twenty-five years ago. According to the credits it was inspired by Lovecraft. There’s a lot of supposed Norwegian folklore, but I doubt it’s real. It feels very non-Norwegian to me. It’s creepy but unconvincing and mostly uninteresting. 

2* of 5

 

This Is Where I Leave You

 

This Is Where I Leave You 2014

• Director: Shawn Levy
• Based on book by Jonathan Tropper
• Cast: Jason Bateman, Tina Frey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stroll, Kathryn Hahn, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jason Bateman – The Invention of Lying, Juno
• Tina Frey – A Haunting in Venice
• Jane Fonda – Many
• Adam Driver – Many
• Rose Byrne – X-Men, I Give It a Year, The Place Beyond the Pines, 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine, The Dead Girl
• Kathryn Hahn – The Visit, Captain Fantastic, Tomorrowland a World Beyond, Mimzy, The Holiday
• Connie Britton – Promising Young Woman
• Timothy Olyphant – Amsterdam, Once upon a Time in Hollywood, Snowden, I Am Number 4, Go, Ellen Foster, A Life Less Ordinary
• Why? Might be good. Interesting cast
• Seen:  12 November 2024      

       Dad was a Jewish atheist whose dying wish was that his wife (Fonda) and four grown children sit shiva for the traditional seven days.

       It’s a motley crew, otherwise there wouldn’t be a film. It’s pretty standard stuff – well-to-do white middle class American family but it’s quite a good mix of comedy and dysfunctional family drama with some decent acting.

       I like it more than I expected to. 

4* of 5

 

Spiderman 2002

 

Spiderman 2002

• Director: Sam Raimi
• Seen by this director: Drag Me to Hell, The Gift, A Simple Plan
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tobey Maguire – The Great Gatsby, Seabiscuit, Wonder Boys, The Cider House Rules, Pleasantville, The Ice Storm
• Kirsten Dunst – Many
• Willem Dafoe – Many
• Why? Oh why not?
• Seen:  9 November 2024, possibly once before.      

       If you live on the planet Earth there’s a good chance that you know this story. Peter Parker (Maguire) is a science genius, a geek, constantly bullied by his high school classmates. Then he’s bitten by a spider and becomes Spiderman, the superhero who fights the good fight against all kinds of evil forces. And gets the girl (Dunst) but turns her down to fight the good fight etc.

       Spiderman has never been my favourite superhero. Contrary to many others’ opinion. I don’t think Maguire is right for the part. As a geek, OK. But as a superhero? Not so much. Nor do I like Dunst as the wimpy, vampy, damsel in distress. All the characters feel like, well, comic book characters. This film is simply in the same league as the Christian Bale Batman films, the whole X Men package, Iron Man, Terminator…Them I love. This one is OK but no more. I know Andrew Garfield is much better, I’ve seen part of one of his. Tom Holland I haven’t seen.

       But I will. I’ve bought them all. 

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

The Visit

 

The Visit 2015

• Director: M Night Shyamalan
• Seen by this director: many
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Olivia DeJonge – Elvis
• Deanna Dunagan – Unforgettable
• Peter McRobbie – Lincoln, 16 Blocks, Brokeback Mountain
• Kathryn Hahn – Captain Fantastic, Tomorrowland a World Beyond, Mimzy, The Holiday
• Why? The director
• Seen:  8 November 2024      

       Becca (DeJonge) and Tyler (Oxenbould) visit their grandparents (Dunagan and McRobbie) they have never met because their mother (Hahn) has been estranged from her parents for years. Becca is making a documentary film of the visit.

       At first they have a great time but things get weird quickly. This is M Night Shyamalan after all. It’s more sad than scary though as we see the results of dementia and paranoia in the grandparents.

       And then it gets scary. 

3 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

Honeydripper

 

Honeydripper 2007

• Director: John Sayles
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Danny Glover, LisaGay Hamilton, Yaya DaCosta, Charles S Dutton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Gary Clark Jr, Mary Steenbergen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Danny Glover – Many
• LisaGay Hamilton – Ad Astra, Take Shelter, The Soloist, Swing Vote, Beloved Jackie Browne, The Twelve Monkeys
• Charles S Dutton – Many
• Vondie Curtis-Hall –Cymbeline, Gridlock’d, Romeo and Juliet, Mystery Train
• Gary Clark Jr - Elvis
• Mary Steenburgen – The Help, Sunshine State, I Am Sam, Philadelphia, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
• Why? Music, Danny Glover
• Seen:  Once before. Now 7 November 2024      

       Alabama 1950. Ty (Glover) owns a club called the Honeydripper just outside the small town of Harmony. He has serious money problems and his debts are about to lose him the place. But he’s booked the popular radio star, electric guitar-playing Guitar Sam and plans on making a lot of money.

       Only Guitar Sam doesn’t show. Ty is ruined.

       Only a young wandering musician, Sonny () who has built his own electric guitar, has wandered into Harmony. Nobody knows what Guitar Sam looks like. What if Sonny…?

       There are a lot of side stories here, most of them interesting. The main story, the birth of the electric guitar in rhythm and blues and rock and roll is lovely. 

4* of 5

 

 

Call Jane

 

Call Jane 2022

• Director: Phyllis Naghy
• Based on a true story: yes
• Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara, Chris Messina, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games, Pitch Perfect, Sea Biscuit, Catch Me If You Can, Spider Man
• Sigourney Weaver - Many
• Kate Mara – The Martian, Transcendence, 127 Hours, Iron Man, Stone of Destiny
• Chris Messina – Argo
• Wunmi Mosaku – Philomena, Dancing on the Edge
• Why? The subject
• Seen:  6 November 2024      

       An appropriate film to watch on this day of catastrophe, when the disastrous election of Donald Trump further restricts the rights of women and many others.

       1968. Joy (Banks) is pregnant and is told by her doctor that a newly discovered heart condition is life-threatening if the pregnancy continues. The hospital refuses to grant her an abortion. In despair, she sees a poster at the bus stop. ‘Call Jane.’

       She does.

       Jane is a group of feminist women, led by Virginia (Weaver), running an illegal abortion clinic.

       It’s very dramatic and well-acted. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to this again. No matter what, the struggle continues. 

 

4* of 5