Saint Ralph (2004)

Not a great movie - I wanted to see it since it was about a marathoner (albeit fictional) and it's Canadian - how bad could it be? It is quite contrived, poorly acted, but not without some charms.

Ralph is in high school and his mother is dying. He wants a miracle, so he prays to the saints, decides he needs to work on his faith and decides he'll win the Boston Marathon... And there are a few laughs too.

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Blaise Pascal (1972)

As my son is named after this theologian/philosopher/scientist, a work buddy lent me this made for TV bio-pic, now a part of the Criterion Collection. The production is both elaborate in its sets and costumes, and yet quite simple in its script. The film essentially follows Blaise Pascal from his late teens through to his death giving him opportunity to speak some of his writings out loud and with props. There is little story or character development. In fact the setting draws the viewer in most as we are exposed to Catholic politics, scientific rivalries, provincial taxation, and superstitions.

The movie is slow, but full of Pascal's genius, so it's well worth the 2+ hours of view time.

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The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

This is another adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story (Minority Report, Blade Runner, Total Recall) - written as usual to challenge people's ideas about free will.

David Norris has a promising political career that suddenly goes awry, but he manages to fall in love on the night of his election defeat. What happens next though is far more outrageous: agents prevent him from meeting the girl again. What agents? Well from the Adjustment Bureau of course - a sci-fi organization who makes sure everything is staying on track, God's agents, angels with hats if you please.

The film really can't be taken seriously since the story is full of holes and is actually quite ridiculous, but as a parable about free will, it can't be ignored. I was quite disturbed by it's conclusion actually.

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This is England (2006)

The large meta-narrative of Britain and it's use of nationalism and violence to dominate in the world is replayed in the life of a young boy who is caught up in the skinhead movement of the 1980s. Mourning the loss of his father in the conflict of the Falkland Islands, Shaun is drawn in by the kindness of skinhead punks in backwater England.

I was particularly moved by the lack of pretension that the skinheads had. They genuinely cared for each other and shared their feelings frankly. The anger they directed towards immigrants was a misguided frustration with a nationalism that simply gave them groundless entitlement.

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The Secret of Kells (2009)

This is such a lovely, fresh film that I can't help but give it my full endorsement. The animation is themed after the illuminating art in the Book of Kells - Celtic production of the four Gospels circa 800 AD. The story focuses on an Irish monastery where this special book is being guarded and produced under constant threat of invading clans. A young boy left in the care of the monks is so drawn to the book and also to the forbidden woodlands that his loyalty to the abbot is questioned.

I can't wait to see it again.

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Nollywood Babylon (2008)

The makers of this documentary display a two pronged story pairing the burgeoning low budget high profit film industry in Nigeria with the prosperity gospel being preached in Nigerian mega churches. It is a fascinating look at what are often one dimensional issues.

We learn of how the video industry started and it's relationship to animist witchcraft and then we follow it is being used to promote Charismatic Christian values such as how to get rich and famous by making movies.

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9 (2009)

This is a terrific animated tale of heroism and self-sacrifice. It is a further contemplation of how our pursuit of technology and so-called progress can blind us from most virtues.

A collection of special rag dolls seek to redeem the world from a tyrant robot in a post-apocalyptic landscape. The dolls are mostly naïve, childlike giving the film a great tone.

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Il divo (2008)

Well, I can't say I had much of a clue as to what was going on as I watched this stylish bio pic on Giulio Andreotti, a corrupt Italian parliamentarian. But I thoroughly enjoyed this visual feast!

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Unmistaken Child (2008)

When a lama dies in central Asia, one of his disciples seeks out his reincarnated image in this fascinating documentary.

The film outlines the process of selecting a successor to a Buddhist spiritual leader and demonstrates the care and faith required to do so. The disciple becomes convinced that a toddler in a mountain village clearly demonstrates his master's qualities and presents him as the heir to this spiritual power. The child is presented with several objects, some belonging to the deceased lama, and if he can pick the right ones, he is clearly the new lama.

There are some rather heart breaking scenes - and perhaps they would be euphoric to a Buddhist.

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Heaven on Earth (2008)

This Canadian film explores the dark side of long distance arranged marriage.

Chand leaves her family in India to join her new future husband in a suburb of Toronto. She is quickly resented by her mother-in-law and is viewed as a liability in her new family. Chand copes with the abuse she suffers through fantasy and finds the strength to rise against her oppressors.

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Så som i himmelen (2004)

This Swedish film, As it is in Heaven, is one of the most beautiful stories of restoration and sacrifice I have ever been told.

A famous classical musician returns to his boyhood home when his health diminishes. Though he seeks solitude and an opportunity to enjoy the natural world, he is seduced into leading the local tiny church choir. As the choir develops, the town is changed.

The final seconds of the film are perhaps the most poignant and subtle moments of any film. I loved it! I shouldn't have lost the Academy Award to The Sea Inside.

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Okuribito (2008)

Departures tells the beautiful story of a Japanese cellist who, when faced with unemployment, begins to prepare bodies for burial at traditional ceremonies. The stigma attached to the work causes rifts in his personal life, but the impact he has on the mourning families brings a lovely meaning to his work.

The music is gorgeous throughout the film and the lead actor does a tremendous job facing inner conflicts. Japanese culture is lovingly portrayed too.

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Goya's Ghosts (2006)

Stacked with very fine actors and a compelling story, this film ultimately doesn't satisfy because of the multi-layered melodramatic threads in the fictional tale.

Francisco Goya, the famed political artist, is witness to the horrors of both the Catholic Inquisition and the invasion by Napoleonic forces into Spain. Caught in the midst of the worst kind of injustice is the daughter of one of Goya's patrons.

The film is not horrible, it just fails to bring much hope nor does it make the hopelessness palpable.

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The Invention of Lying (2009)

A little moral fable from Ricky Gervais falls flat on its lying face. In order to show the value of telling the truth and also the value of some discretionary truth hiding, The Invention of Lying creates a world where no one lies (and no one even has even an idea of God and there is no such thing as fiction).

Gervais plays a screenwriter for the only kind of movie there is - historical spoken word documentaries. Because of everyone's brutal honesty, he knows exactly where he fits in society - at the bottom. Something snaps in his brain and he is not able to make stuff up - easily becoming wealthy and famous.

It is hard to know what the film wanted to be more - a moral tale or a comedy. Neither works. I did laugh though. Twice. Not a funny film. There is the great idea that you can lie to yourself without actually knowing it. But the ideas that religion is completely made up, that fiction can not exhibit truth, that telling the truth can only be expressed brutally and selfishly, etc. are simply very inaccurate premises. The idea that only liars can have discernment is also deeply flawed.

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Entre les murs (2008)

The Class was a huge hit on the festival circuit and is almost indistinguishable from a documentary it is done so well. In it, we follow one teacher and one of his classes at a Parisian inner city school.

Trying to teach language to N. African and Asian immigrant junior high students who identify strongly with their own cultures and at the same time fighting to for a voice in a very established French nation is demonstrated to be extremely draining and even threatening to a teacher's career. The students don't shy away from expressing their pleasure and displeasure throughout the year.

As a teacher, I was deeply challenged by the bold students and the quiet students. They had a lot to say. They went through some very trying times. They have huge needs and strength.

This is an extraordinary film!

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Invincible (2001)

Werner Herzog tells true stories very well. He doesn't let his protagonist become overdramatic thus allowing for the story to be central and the character becomes greater by being less than the issue at hand.

Zishe, a young and simple Jewish blacksmith in rural Poland, becomes famous for his unbelievable strength. He is recruited to come to Berlin where he can be featured as a strong man at a posh night club where singers, dancers and magicians perform. His boss is an occultist who is on the inside with an up and coming National Socialist German Workers' Party. Zishe has to choose whether he will stand against the rising anti-semitism or embrace the fame he quickly achieves.

Sometimes, Herzog, who also wrote the screenplay, seems to be forcing his own interpretation of the story onto the screen than should be allowed, but it works nonetheless. Invincible is a poignant and very unique film, its simplicity being its strongest asset.

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Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)

This is the first silent film that I am reviewing on this blog. They have a hard time competing with speaking films I guess. As I saw Herzog's remake of this classic Nosferatu, I thought it would be cool to see how it built on this one. The stories are virtually identical - some divergence at the end.

The film is full of clues as the real estate agent travels to visit Count Orlok, a vampire and as he returns to find his town overcome by the plague.

A note if you do watch this, check out the various audio tracks at the beginning of the show. I found watching it in double speed helped with the super slow pacing and phrase panels.

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Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

So, I've recently discovered the films of Werner Herzog, so I zipped all of the ones I hadn't seen and got this 1979 remake of the 1922 German silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

The film opens with a sequence of mummified bodies, certainly the most gripping part of the film and the most horrifying too. The tale is that of Count Dracula, a vampire of Transylvania who is visited by a real estate agent, Mr. Harker, played by a much younger Bruno Ganz. The Count is super creepy which begs the question: Why in the world would Mr. Harker enter his decaying castle with this really long fingered dude with two pointy teeth and after having been warned by countless locals about the evils there. Anyway, he gets the warm welcome and Dracula makes his way by ship to Germany to dwell in his new home (and bring some rats along).

Herzog shot each sequence twice, once in English and once in German, thus all of the lines are spoken with thick German accents. The film has a strong low budget quality to it and the story just has the viewer shaking his head in disbelief. It has its moments, like a long out of print book with a missing cover.

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Henry Poole is Here (2008)

More a story about healing than a story of faith, Henry Poole is Here is an unrepentant moral tale whose characters fail to compel us.

Henry is sad and he's just moved into the neighbourhood. He's about to drink himself to death when the locals discover an image of Christ on his house's stucco. They begin to interfere with his life, forcing him to face his own doubts.

Yeah, this movie wasn't so good - though there were a couple moments that shined. It had a lot of potential as the actors are of a high enough calibre, but the writing and pace of the film fell flat.

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Nacho Libre (2006)

Jack Black becomes a man of the cloth and a luchador of the ring in this zany collaboration with Mike White.

Ignacio (Nacho for short), a junior monk in Mexico is faced with either finding a way to earn big money fast or continuing to feed slop to the orphans in his care. Finding some inspiration from a new and hot nun, Nacho teams up with a violent vagrant to become a local masked wrestler. He faces some moral compromises along the way.

The film is elegant and understated from the costumes to the music allowing Black to truly shine as a stout hearted athlete.

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