Amreeka (2009) - I thought this film was going to be more of a comedy than it was but it turned out to be a nice dramatic piece about 'the other side' of 9/11. And by that I mean anyone targeted by their looks and assumed to be part of a terrorist organization because of it. The movie wasn't super-preachy but showed a better developed look at what many people had to undergo because of hate and ignorance and fear rampant after 9/11.
I highly recommend this film if you want to get in touch with the lives of others and understand the personal impact actions have on others. It was well-done and touching. I was surprised to see
Alia Shawkat in this film after reading her bio, I see she is of Iraqi ancestry on her father's side. First of all, I didn't actually know her name, I just
knew that I knew this actress. Second of all, it was surprising to me that she was in a movie playing a Middle Eastern person but it makes sense now. I can only assume it was fun for her to work on this film and I think it would be wonderful if there were more scripts like this with more diverse characters than just white bread.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978) - This is a great bad movie. No, that's not a typo. This is one of those movies that's so bad it's good. It's a riot, with many references to historical events, which means, it's not exactly a low-brow comedy. If you are well-studied, you should get many of the references. It's one of those movies for smart people that don't take themselves so seriously. And not just smart politically/historically but also cinematically with references to other films. I would honestly
love to see this film remade with some big name stars to make the movie really something. Something like the next movie I watched....
Airplane! (1980) - Notice how both these great movies have exclamation points as part of the titles? This film is also the humorous high-brow type but you don't have to be a genius to know funny when you see it. This is one of those iconic movies that highlights the best of satire and makes it shine. It has tons of iconic actors in it, including
Julie Hagerty one of my favorites thanks to her
What About Bob? tie. :) Of course
Leslie Nielsen is the most noted character in the movie but I also enjoyed seeing
David Leisure as a Krishna,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a pilot pretending to not be the basketball star, oh and whadya know!...
Barbara Billingsley as the Jive Lady. This movie is a study in comedy to be sure. If you have any appreciation for fine art in your bones, you've probably already seen this. If you haven't, get to watching it now!
Jumanji (1995) - I showed my nephews this movie and it holds up, not that I didn't think it would. But sometimes it's hard to interest today's generation into something from 16 years ago. Wow. I was 10 when this came out!
Robin Williams is one of my favorite actors and it was funny to see
Kirsten Dunst with such a young face. Oooo! Here's why I'm glad I look these films up... I get to learn tidbits that I may not have noticed while watching the film... namely that
Jonathan Hyde played the father AND the hunter. Such a great dramatic casting/writing move! Adds quite a bit of symbolism to the film that I didn't otherwise notice! And
that is the beauty of film/art/creativity. The only note to anyone watching this film in 2011... remember, it was made in 1995 and technology has come quite a long way since then. But that doesn't prevent the adventure!
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) - My nephews requested to see this movie and 2 out of the 3 of them liked it. If you've ever seen any of the 'Ernest' movies, you know that these movies are
completely for kids. This particular film exemplified that when we saw that the grown-ups didn't listen to the kids, then got in trouble and needed the kids to bail them out. My youngest nephew (age 6) was really frightened by the troll and thought the movie deserved a rating of PG-13. ;) The troll was pretty gross, I'll give him that. After watching
Ernest Goes to Camp I looked up one of
Jim Varney's music recordings and came to the conclusion that his was a beautiful soul. If you think about, here was a man who dedicated much of his life to 'acting a child' to provide safe movies for kids. He plays the bumbling
Ernest P. Worrell in nearly 20 films in the 80's and 90's. Only someone who really loves it could go that long with such a character. He's well-loved and sorely missed. I know this isn't the review of the movie but of this particular character but what the movie lacks for solid watchability, it makes up for with heart. If you want to take some time off from being a serious cinematic adult, watch this or another Ernest flick and just laugh along. Also, this film features an
Eartha Kitt character. If you want to learn anything today, read her
amazing biography on IMDB.
Five movies in one week. Not too shabby. I would recommend all of them of course but only if you don't hold yourself in too high esteem. Loosen up and have fun!
