Sweetgrass (2009)

For the first 20 minutes, Sweetgrass rates 5 stars for its terse but powerful cinematography: National Geographic-caliber scenes of snowy mountain pastures without narration -- just the mountain wind and a vast herd of bleating sheep. Then we begin seeing and hearing the ranchers who are tending their sheep in this environment. Their words do not amount to dialog per se; the chatter is for the most part folksy, muffled, and incidental, so it serves as background noise almost like the sheep bleating. Just the same, the verbiage tends to distract from the film's natural setting -- and the deleted scenes would have exacerbated the situation if left in. Sweetgrass is a superb slice-of-life story of the rugged outdoorsmanship of sheep ranchers as they packride their way night and day through the mountains -- a way of life that is now gone. You see and hear the taciturn slow-burn mantras of ranchers for whom the words "cowboy philosophy" sound like a contradiction in terms. (For one thing, cattle and sheep ranchers seem to prefer words of one syllable or at most two. For another, their thought process may take days or weeks of reflection in isolation before resulting in a verdict -- of one syllable or at most two.) You feel for the young rancher who calls his mom at night on the cell phone because the trail is long and hard -- or the one guy who finally cracks and just bellows one curse word for several minutes at the hundreds of sheep that have been surrounding him and bleating nonstop for days. Traveling under these conditions is never easy -- then throw in vast herds of cantankerous sheep that need to be shown (or shoved) the way they should go. The camp gear looks really old and unwieldy too. So don't you dare sniff at or criticize these ranchers unless you can do what they have done -- if you could survive Facebook withdrawal for more than one day! Properly viewed, Sweetgrass is a Zen-like, almost spiritual experience. Reserve yourself some time to watch it without interruption. If you are open to the experience, it will be good for what ails you. Except for the deleted scenes, the bonus features are worth viewing too. Enjoy! 4.5 stars. (10-31-10)

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009)

Like other Futurama offerings that run 90 minutes or so, Into the Wild Green Yonder is basically three half-hour episodes played back-to-back. (You even have the opening and closing credits and commercial breaks all in place.) It's a very good feature-length show with a storyline that feels overall like Futurama should feel. (I like it better than The Beast with a Billion Backs.) Our story opens as a green bubble or shock wave expands its way across the universe, affecting star and planet systems as well as Fry's brain. Fry resists his newfound mind-reading abilities but tries to win a poker championship after Amy's obnoxiously rich parents decide to terraform 12% of the Milky Way galaxy to build a giant miniature golf course. Bender and a mysterious nemesis are also secretly in collusion to destroy the universe. A number of mild twists at the end make for a satisfying Futurama feature-length "movie" in three parts. Enjoy! 4 stars.

Between Your Legs (Entre las Piernas) (1999)

Between Your Legs seems to disappoint many viewers who find the title misleading or the content of the film to be other than what they expected. Speaking for myself, I see any film but esp. a foreign film as an opportunity to experience something new rather than to fulfill any preconceptions or expectations. Memento is an incomparable thriller whose structure, twists, and murders have compelled me to watch that film at least eight times. Between Your Legs is a murder thriller more like Blood Simple or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but set in Spain; you have to watch it closely (and I for one will be watching it at least one more time) to catch the multiple twists and interwoven liaisons that involve at least ten men and women as love, sex, addiction, business, or marriage partners. The title promises sexiness and the film exudes it through numerous furtive, urgent trysts -- showing female breasts and thighs but nothing of the men -- but even though the premise is sex addiction, it is the story that is compelling -- the story of A who cheated on B who cheated on C who cheated on D (and at least two murder investigations). Of course, it helps if you know Spanish fluently but the audio as well as the subtitles are more than adequate. Incidentally, I had to rent this movie from a competing service since it has been a Save title here for a great long while. Enjoy! 4 stars.

Starz Studios: Conviction / Red / My Soul To Take (2010)

This 12-min Starz Studios featurette previews the following movies in the order given: RED, Conviction, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Jack@ss 3D, My Soul to Take, Case 39, and Rifftrax: House on Haunted Hill. Its treatment is so-so -- tantalizing for one or two titles and not interesting for the rest. After viewing this featurette, I am just as jazzed to see RED as ever (no more but no less). You'd think Starz could drum up more interest in such a guilty pleasure (after all, it has Helen Mirren blowing off steam with high-caliber automatic weaponry) but Starz seems off its feed this time. After watching this featurette, I am more interested than ever in seeing Hilary Swank in Conviction (the story of a high school dropout who becomes a defense attorney out of fierce love and devotion for her unjustly imprisoned brother) and I am marginally more interested in seeing It's Kind of a Funny Story (where a confused teen boy finds self, love, and joy after being wrongly placed in psych lockup). I am still adamantly put off by the idiocies of Jack@ss 3D (though bits of it look more funny than the previews suggest). This featurette did nothing to attract me further towards My Soul to Take or Case 39 or even the Rifftrax take on Vincent Price's House on Haunted Hill (and it shouldn't have been that hard). 3 stars.

Ally McBeal: Bonus Material (1997)

Ally McBeal is perhaps my favorite TV show of all time, so viewing the entirety of these bonus materials is the next best thing to catching up on any episode or season of the show. The bonus materials present us with a solid background on the actors, the characters, the scriptwriter (David E. Kelley), and the creative possibilities that all of these people conjured up together. I think it's safe to say that without such a wildly popular show as Ally McBeal, with its quirkiness and frank talk about love and sex in relationships, we wouldn't have received or else so greatly enjoyed such TV series as The Practice or Boston Legal (which Kelley created afterwards), Law and Order anything, Sex and the City, and numerous others. This bonus disc includes Bygone Days: An Ally McBeal Retrospective, Season 2 TV Special: The Life and Trials of Ally McBeal, Vonda Shepard: I Know Better (music video), Season 2 Featurette, Season 3 Featurette, Season 5: Behind the Scenes (featurette), Season 5: Good-bye Ally, and The Practice: Axe Murderer (crossover episode). 4.5 stars.

Starz Studios: Toronto Film Festival Highlights (2010)

This 12-min Starz Studios featurette capsulizes six top-buzz-inducing movies from the Toronto Film Festival in 10 min then inexplicably tacks on a 2-min montage of Vanity Fair interview snippets that form a jumble of one-line nonsequiturs, mostly with people you won't recognize. (For example, I recognized Javier Bardem and could even understand his English, but without a context, what he said makes no sense.) Back to the six movies: The King's Speech, Black Swan, Beautiful Boy, The Town, Stone, and Hereafter apparently took the festival by storm. Colin Firth is King George VI, a repressed man (and king) with a speech impediment in a repressed society -- recently added to my date-movie wish list though higher now. Natalie Portman is a femme fatale ballet dancer in Black Swan -- likely to follow Mao's Last Dancer as a date movie. Beautiful Boy is about being parents of a Columbine-style suicide killer -- the topic and movie seem chilling enough that I will wait to see it at home. The Town and Stone are taut psychological dramas -- I will see The Town in theaters if there is time. Last but not least, Clint Eastwood's Hereafter recently took second-place on my must-see-in-theaters list. 3 stars.

Starz Studios: Life As We Know It / The Social Network / Secretariat (2010)

This 12-min Starz Studios featurette is much more interesting than usual. First, it can afford to give 1.5 to 2.25 min to each movie because it only presents us with seven: The Social Network, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Inside Job, Nowhere Boy, Tamara Drewe, Life As We Know It, and Secretariat. Second, the material we see is more coherent and lends greater insight into each movie than usual. Currently the top movie on my personal must-see list, The Social Network impressed me even more as a gotta-see film after catching this featurette. Shia Labeouf holds forth with great insight about Wall Street 2 but several Michael Douglas scenes push this movie even higher on my must-see list. Showing in limited release, Inside Job is a timely and chilling indictment about the lack of criminal convictions against the financial industry that has hijacked the American political system. Nowhere Boy is a biographical drama about the birth of The Beatles and looks quite interesting. Tamara Drewe moved slightly higher on my wish list thanks to this featurette. Life As We Know It appeals to me but this featurette didn't enhance that interest. Secretariat, however, has now raced ahead to the the top of my family must-see list since it is about exceptional faith and courage. 4 stars.

Starz Studios: Wall Street / Legend of the Guardians (2010)

This 12-min Starz Studios featurette presents 1.5- to 2-min capsulizations of the following movies: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Never Let Me Go, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, You Again, Alpha and Omega, and Let Me In. Also presented are 10- to 20-sec capsules of the following movies for the Halloween season: Hatchet II, My Soul to Take [3D], Paranormal Activity 2, and Saw 3D. After watching the featurette, I was more interested in seeing Wall Street, Never Let Me Go, Legend of the Guardians, and Let Me In. I'm still interested in seeing You Again but the featurette didn't help much with that movie or Alpha and Omega. None of the Halloween movie capsules seemed appealing at all (though admittedly Horror is not among my favorite genres). I still don't have much of an idea what Never Let Me Go is about and The Legend of the Guardians is still my leading must-see movie but Wall Street and Let Me In moved ahead significantly on my see-o-meter because of this featurette. 3 stars.

The Father Kino Story (1977)

The Father Kino Story is The Mission meets The Lone Ranger. It should appeal to family viewers who prefer The Alamo (1960) to The Alamo (2004), Fess Parker as Daniel Boone, and even something as contemporary as Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field. Richard Egan plays Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Catholic priest who in the late 1600s envisioned and pioneered an extensive missionary outreach to the indigenous peoples from Mexico City to Baja California (which Sir Francis Drake believed to be an island while Father Kino suspects it to be a peninsula leading back to the mainland west of Arizona). We see limited examples of the Mexican Army's officiousness and brutality when certain commanders paint all natives with the same brush of rebellion and then justify servitude, vengeance, and punishment. Father Kino intervenes for humane treatment and goes up the chain of command to finally broker a peace for all tribes that will preserve the work of the church and the civil government. He also creatively works with and around his church superiors, never giving up on his hope to return to ministry among the natives in (Baja) California. We see Ricardo Montalban, Cesar Romero, Aldo Ray, Keenan Wynn, and others in cameo roles and a mixed but mostly progressive approach to racial tolerance. (Father Kino is always for it, however, he overlooks one native chief's references to unconverted natives of other tribes as "devils" and wryly thanks the army commander who smugly points out his treatment of a half-Hispanic native as a "white.") This story feels historically believable is part of my Catholic movie list (tiny.cc/robolinks). Enjoy! 3 stars.

Glup (Glup, Una Aventura Sin Desperdicio) (2004)

Glup is basically A Town Called Panic meets Igor. This low-budget but charming Spanish-language animated movie is named for Glup (pronounced Gloop), a trenchcoat-cloaked detective who appears to be a coatrack inside. A precocious and determined little girl named Alicia meets Glup as she pursues her beloved antique radio (headed in a dump truck to the dump, thanks to her closeminded and humorless parents) that a kindly old neighbor helped her fix, while teaching her the treasure that can be found in old appliances and parts, esp. recycled ones. Racing through the dump with Glup and being pursued by menacing heads in helmets as well as the evil Incinerator's servants, Roll and Plunger and the cigar-chomping Mr. Toilet, Alicia and Glup have quite a pickle from which to extricate themselves. The animation is quirky but enjoyable. The Spanish dialog as well as its English-language captioning is fast-paced so it's best that you either know Spanish well or can read English rapidly. It's only 68 minutes so not a large investment of time. I wanted to give it 4.5 stars and might have if the length had been kept to three-fourths of an hour. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 4 stars.

The Browning Version (1951)

Released in 1951, Anthony Asquith directed The Browning Version, a British drama of manners and a perfect one at that. Not one moment, word, or syllable is wasted; every element works together to construct and elucidate the whole. Michael Redgrave masterfully plays the dry-as-dust British schoolteacher Andrew Crocker-Harris (Crock to his students), facing the day of his retirement as well as a series of critical realizations. Jean Kent is his much younger, scornful, cheating wife who thinks her affair and plans are secret and safe. (Since this is 1951, there is no sex but one kiss, which was probably scandalous at the time.) The title of the movie refers to a pivotal gift received by Crocker-Harris, a teacher of the Classics (Latin and Greek): the Robert Browning version of his life's study, Aeschylus' poem Agamemnon. Simultaneously, we discover that he abandoned writing his own scholarly edition of the poem some years ago -- and seems to be unaware of a number of details in the poem that parallel his own life's challenges. Asquith's The Browning Version presents itself as economically yet as lyrically as John Huston's The Dead. If you appreciate the classics, definitely do not miss this one! 5 stars.

The Grand (2007)

I love mockumentaries and parodies. I may not care for poker but I greatly enjoyed The Grand and its rags-to-riches poker tournament premise. As a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary, The Grand is more Waiting for Guffman than A Mighty Wind or Best in Show. It could have been funnier but its humor is embedded, laid-back, subtle, and contrarian -- more in The Office style of oh-no-he-didn't prickly or uncomfortable humor than spell-it-out-for-you belly-laugh humor. It's brainy humor (esp. Chris Parnell with his inside references to the sci-fi novel Dune) matched with dumbass humor (esp. Woody Harrelson as the drug-addled Vegas heir who tumbles into Wife No. 76). The ensemble cast stands out as a crowd-pleaser -- everyone has their moments to shine -- but I would rank them in the following order of prominence: Woody Harrelson (as the failed heir to a historic Vegas hotel he hopes to save), Cheryl Hines (as a loopy cardsharp who takes no prisoners at the poker table and supportively emasculates her even loopier husband, Ray Romano, at home), Chris Parnell (as an autistic-spectrum nerd-as-jerk who lives passive-aggressively with his mother, Estelle Harris, he reminds me of Jesse Eisenberg playing Mark Zuckerberg), David Cross (as a lesser cardsharp to his sister, perhaps because of an emasculating father), Richard Kind (as a clueless poker newbie with incredible luck), Werner Herzog (as an angry sadism fetishist with a poker sideline), and Dennis Farina (as an old-school-Vegas Rascal-riding cardsharp). The Grand is not as polished as Waiting for Guffman but it is about par for being dilatory and meandering. I would watch it again in a heartbeat. 4.5 stars.

Boys Town (1938)

Boys Town is a fine 1930s film and a solid Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney vehicle that tells the story of Father Edward J. Flanagan's founding of Boys Town outside of Omaha, Nebraska. (The few who criticize Father Flanagan's vision for his mission -- "There is no such thing as a bad boy" -- are missing the entire purpose of Boys Town, which is teaching trust, honor, and accountability -- that is to say, "Given the chance, every boy wants to become a responsible man.") Tracy is steadfast -- principled yet flexible -- in his role as Father Flanagan while Rooney is stolid but sometimes overacts. The supporting cast of Boys Town "citizens" are commendable in all their roles (esp. Pee-wee, who also adroitly chews into his lines). The movie is at times sentimental and mawkish but this is eight years before the better-balanced It's A Wonderful Life. It's a memorable and well-told story that many classic movie lovers will want to see. 4 stars. Boys Town (the movie) is accompanied on DVD by a documentary, The City of Little Men, that describes the founding principles and practice of self-governance at Boys Town (the place), as well as by a brief presentation by Father Flanagan, who plays himself in the documentary, and a 1939 radio address (audio only) about Boys Town. The flip side of the disc contains the sequel, Men of Boys Town, which is set three years later. Its story is slightly less interesting or dramatic but still memorable and worthy of a view. 3.5 stars.

Finding Cooper's Heaven (Climbing Jake's Ladder) (2008)

It's quite rare for me to see a "bad" movie because I take measures to minimize the likelihood I will be disappointed in my movie viewing selections. There are simply too many good to excellent movies (Crash, The Island, Avatar, Dark Knight) for me to want to mess with borderline or questionable ones (Norbit, White Chicks, Lottery Ticket, Doogal). Sometimes I intentionally try a stinker (Throg) or a popular movie fails to impress me (40-Year-Old Virgin). Finding Cooper's Heaven, however, is a case of a "bad" movie clothed in spiritual trappings that partly redeem it and partly make it even worse. Let me be clear: This movie's problem is its budget. And its script. And its acting. And its directing. And its editing. And its camerawork. And its lighting. And its soundtrack. And its preachiness. Discount these things, and it's barely mediocre. (The casting is only half-bad -- unless you include the acting.) There is no space to enumerate the jawdroppingly poor examples of these professional skill sets that abound in literally every scene. (On the plus side, this film could occupy an entire clinic on how not to make a movie. I'm not being mean, just candid, since I don't believe in writing a review without closely watching the whole movie from opening to closing credits.) These problems notwithstanding, the movie was made by a cluster of Vineyard and Baptist church families for spiritual reasons not artistic or technical ones. (Neither the movie nor anyone involved with it is so much as mentioned in IMDB.) Finding Cooper's Heaven did involve me emotionally somewhat because it addresses some of our deepest sorrows and fears: death of a family member and parents searching for lost children. Unfortunately, the production feels patently staged and manipulative because its low production values constantly broadcast exactly how it is staged and manipulative. (To make a good movie, you write and film good scenes then pare away everything that gets in the way. This film is nothing but mediocre scenes strung together by transitions that are eyesores.) The only audience for this movie, which has been awarded a Dove seal for its innocuous family values and low-key but insipid evangelical message, is the Amway and Wal-Mart crowd plus anyone who can accept several rungs of quality below the Lifetime channel. (Incidentally, I had to rent it from a competing service because this service only stocked it on two occasions for 1-2 weeks each.) 2.5 stars.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)

I read the Galbraiths' story in Catholic grade school (heh heh). Steve Martin's "updated" remake is fairly fast-paced and funny even though its modern mindset occasionally misses the boat. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt play parents of 12 children who (by nature and necessity) multitask and leverage their attention spans to provide a loving home for their entire family. Nearly every child has enough lines and scenes that you get to know them -- which is part and parcel of being in a large family after all. (Oddly enough, the movie occasionally provides the parents with private time and quiet moments that make me wonder what happened to all those kids for five minutes at a crack.) Dad accepts a job offer and the family moves to a bigger city at the same time as Mom's book about raising a happy family is suddenly published and she's sent on a book tour. (Incidentally, book publishing takes one year, not one month, and book tours last much longer than two weeks.) Dad insists he can handle the family logistics plus his demanding job -- or call Mom home early -- and the meltdown begins. The movie seems to counter the couple's attitude that modern parents can "have it all" (12 kids and two careers) by setting up the mother's meager accomplishment as the straw that broke the camel's back. (Being away for less than a week is enough to sunder the family and sabotage Oprah's plans to tape a show in their home.) But it's really about the career choices both parents made, so the solution to their family's happiness and welfare must involve sacrifices for both Mom and Dad. This movie is consistently funny and the whole cast works well together. (Some may complain about Hilary Duff or spoon on Ashton Kutcher and Piper Perabo -- and they are fine in their roles -- but my favorites are the put-upon boy nicknamed FedEx and the impish girl who devises Rube Goldberg-like pranks.) Enjoy! 3.5 stars.

Click (2006)

Click is a postmodern take on A Christmas Carol meets It's A Wonderful Life. It's mildly funny with some good lines. It's not a sophomoric Adam Sandler chucklefest -- he hasn't done one in years -- but it shouldn't be since Click also gets serious and even carries a message I found quite moving. I esp. liked the special effects and the futuristic design of the world in the 2020s and beyond. (The featurettes describe the design effort that went into developing the cars, computers, and architecture of the future.) As you may have guessed by now, the timbre of the movie is a mixed bag, so please avoid seeing Click if you are a retentive sort that insists on a slavish consistency in tone. You should also skip Click if you don't appreciate the mawkish sentimentality summarized in a climactic scene as Adam Sandler impresses on his son "Family comes first!" (because one's career is a poor substitute). Moreover, don't start to watch Click if three instances of preteen boys using the S word (that's one per half hour) and a handful of scenes where a dog is humping a giant stuffed animal are going to offend you into turning the movie off. Finally, to those who complain that Click is inappropriate for their young children: What part of PG-13 don't you understand? Some kvetch that Adam Sandler plays a jerk (when they apparently expected comedy) but many family men find themselves turned into unwilling workaholics because of dysfunctional work pressures. Sandler's character had to encounter his own "crisis of truth" to learn where to draw the line and put his family first. (It would have been too sad if the whole lesson had been learned after the fact so don't begrudge his second chance.) I enjoyed the entire ensemble cast, esp. Kate Beckinsdale as Adam's wife, Henry Winkler and Julie Kavner as his parents, and his kids at every age. Christopher Walken, of course, is such a natural that he should get an Oscar nomination for every syllable and eye blink. Enjoy! I would give Click 5 stars but its uncouth slivers push it down to 4.5 stars.