"Only When I Dance" (2009); "Freckles Comes Home" (1942); "Colonel Effingham's Raid" (1946); "The Artist" (2011); "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (2008); "City Island" (2009); "Choking Man" (2006)

"Only When I Dance" (2009)

Director: Beadie Finzi 

Stars: Irlan Santos da Silva, Isabela Coracy Alves Nascimento Santos and Mariza Estrella

WATCH FULL MOVIE ON HULU!!!!
This documentary follows two ballet students from the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Their abilities are simply amazing. The talent they have is outrageous as are the odds they face due to their financial and social situations. The amount of maturity these teenagers face is 'streets ahead'  (to coin a phrase from Community) from their peers. They are dedicated to their craft. As anyone even slightly familiar with the professional dance community would know, there are strict standards for dancers body weight and this was evident with the female. Of course she was completely fit by most standards but in the dance world, she was considered 'overweight'. To see that being expressed was heartbreaking as you realize that it must weigh down on this girl so heavily. Her body is perfect by anyone's standards, but to be a young black female dancing in Brazil signifies extra curves and exclusion from the Brazilian ballet standards. This film was inspiring to see despite the sad realities. It was one of those films that makes you re-evaluate where you are in your own life and what you have managed to accomplish so far. I actually teared up watching the trailer just now. It's so amazing what a person can accomplish in a lifetime. WATCH FULL MOVIE ON HULU!!!!

______________________________________

"Freckles Comes Home" (1942) 

Director:Jean Yarbrough

Writers: Gene Stratton-Porter (novel), Edmond Kelso (screenplay)

Stars: Johnny Downs, Gale Storm and Mantan Moreland

One of the films from my box set. There was a weird bit between the two black characters as a side story. It was a bit of a class issue as well, as one of the black servants was more 'high class' than the other. That was quite the interesting look into that situation. As far as the rest of the story, it was okay. Pretty standard story of boy needing to win back the girl from a con man and save his town ;) I liked how bold the gal was in the end. The scene at the end that took place at night was underdeveloped on my video and is only slightly better on the link on youtube. WATCH THE FULL MOVIE ON YOUTUBE!  

 _______________________________

"Colonel Effingham's Raid" (1946)

Director: Irving Pichel

Stars: Charles Coburn, Joan Bennett and William Eythe

This was a patriotic film done partially by character voiceover. The message was to do your civic duty and enlist AND pay attention to the issues in your community. There was quite the suspension of disbelief at the end when the soldiers got rowdy and out of line. Seems like that wouldn't have been allowed in the slightest!

Like many of the films from this box set, you can watch the films on youtube. (I think it it more or less legal because of the rights to the films having expired or something or other, legal jargon, mumble mumble. 

WATCH FULL MOVIE ON YOUTUBE! Link here and below.

__________________________________

"The Artist" (2011)

Director:Michel Hazanavicius

Writer:Michel Hazanavicius (scenario and dialogue)

Stars: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo and John Goodman

I had been very excited when I first saw the trailer because I was enchanted by the idea of a black and white silent film homage. I mean, hi, I was a film studies major in college, and I'm writing a movie blog, so yeah, film history is incredibly interesting to me. When I saw how it swept away the Golden Globes, it was time to finally getting around to see it. I don't know if it was my familiarity with black and white and silent films that 'jaded' me or if I just took it all for granted, but I wasn't completely blown away. I mean, I really liked the movie and it was an interesting experience to be in a theater devoid of the usual dialogue that can be distracting. I would most definitely suggest this movie to anyone who wants to experience that feeling. I would also just suggest it for the fact that it is pretty damn close to the feeling of the movies of that era. The time period detail was beautiful and the story line was nice, but it was hard to relate to the characters due to their privileged status. It was harder to feel sorry for them, in a way. Sometimes glamour makes it hard to sympathize with other humans, hence why celebrities often get thrown to the wolves when we dissect their private lives. All in all, a nice film and beautiful piece of art. Charming.

  "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (TV mini-series 2008)

Stars: Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day

For anyone who likes NPH or Firefly, this is a fun watch. The bad guy is the good guy and the good guy is not so good. It was a fun twist on a genre and the musical part of it wasn't terrible. ;) It was pretty short, all said and done. I was expecting a full length film, but it all came to be about 45 minutes, which left me wanting more. But it told the story it set out to tell. It was clever and I enjoyed it. 

______________________________

"City Island" (2009) 

Director: Raymond De Felitta

Writer: Raymond De Felitta

Stars: Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies and Steven Strait

 I enjoyed this film about loudmouth family with the inability to communicate only because I wasn't involved with the weirdness and it eventually ended. The shouting and the yelling was uncomfortable but a reminder that some families are just messed up. Fortunately, because of a series of events, their lives got much improved. I liked this film and recommend it. :)

________________________________

"Choking Man" (2006) 

Director: Steve Barron

Writer: Steve Barron

Stars: Octavio Gómez Berríos, Eugenia Yuan and Mandy Patinkin

Words to describe this film: disconcerting, audibly confusing, gut-kicking. The shots used in this film accurately conveyed to the audience the feelings we were supposed to feel. Tight shots on the incredibly shy Jorge were disconcerting. I really wanted to have a clear look at his face, but we were rarely granted access. It was audibly confusing only because of the HEAVY accents of the characters. I usually watch ALL of my films and shows with subtitles, regardless of the language, and I'm usually pretty good with understanding accents, but there were so many and it was hard to understand. It was gut-kicking because you REALLY felt for Jorge and wanted him to just speak up! And his home situation was scary as well. You knew something wasn't right and just wanted him to get to a better spot. OH! And Mandy Patinkin's character had dialogue about a place called Coral Castle in Florida and I've been there!!! It was super cool to hear a reference to it (although slightly inaccurate) in a film!