Big Miracle [2012]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-II)  Michael Phillips (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1430615/
CNS/USCCB review -
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/12mv014.htm
Michael Phillips' review -
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-big-miracle-20120203-51,0,3012326.story

Big Miracle (directed by Kevin Kwapis, screenplay by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler based on the book by Thomas Rose named Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event [1989] recently repackaged The Big Miracle [2011] to coincide with the release of the film ...) is indeed a nice feel-good family movie suitable for all but the smallest of children about a seemingly small event -- the 1988 rescue of three California grey whales stranded by ice off the coast of Point Barrow, Alaska -- that came to involve the cooperation of a truly improbable / remarkable coalition of rescuers.

These rescuers included:

Adam Carlson (played by John Krasinski) an Alaskan television reporter (affiliated at the time with NBC) who came upon this story as he was finishing a three month stint of reporting from Point Barrow, Alaska at the northern-most tip of the United States;

Rachel Cramer (played by Drew Berrymore) an Alaskan Green-Peace activist, previously romantically involved with Carlson who picked-up on the story soon after Carlson had reported it; 

J.W. McGraw (played by Ted Danson) an oil executive, who despite having had documented run-ins with Cramer over oil drilling leases, became involved after the story went national (apparently then NBC Evening News Anchor Tom Brokaw loved stories like this) and was convinced by his wife Ruth (played by Kathy Baker) that it would actually be good for his company public in terms of public relations, if he offered the services of his company's ice-breaking hovercraft barge, then located at the oil producing center of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska;

Col. Scott Beyer (played by Dermot Mulroney) of the Alaska Air National Guard, who was tasked by Alaska's Governor Haskell (played by Stephen Root) to direct the transportation of McGraw's barge from Prudhoe Bay to Point Barrow with aid of two of AANG's Sikorski skycrane helicopters.

Kelly Meyers (played by Vinessa Shaw) liason from then President Reagan's White House.  According to the film, having met as a result of this rescue effort and obviously having "hit it off," Meyers and Col. Beyer, actually married a year after the story took place;

The normally whale-hunting Inuit/Eskimo residents of Point Barrow, Alaska including 10-year old Nathan (played by Ahmaogak Sweeney) and his grandfather, Inuit/Eskimo elder Malik (played by John Pinkayak);

Two Minnesota small-time entrepreneurs Karl Hootkin (played by James LeGros) and Dean Glowacki (played by Rob Riggle) who arrived with a useful ice-melting gizmo that actually helped keep the the air holes being made in the ice by volunteers for the whales from freezing up;

And finally the crew of a Soviet icebreaker, led in the film by Captains Yuri (played by Stefan Kapicic) and Dimitri (played by Mark Ivanir), which was dispatched by then Soviet premier Gorbachev upon request of then U.S. President Reagan after it became clear that the only asset near enough to make a difference in the rescue effort would be Soviet.

All these people as well as a flood of reporters, big and small, including Jill Jerard, then of Los Angeles (played by Kristen Bell) came to the rescue of the three whales, who came to be known affectionately as Fred, Wilma and Bambam from the Flintstones cartoon.

Again, it's a feel good movie.  But it does remind us that all kinds of people can come together, "cut through the ice" and even "move mountains," when mobilized for a task that is nice.

At a time when the United States is so polarized it may be nice to remember that in the case of rescuing these three stranded grey whales, activists from Green Peace and Oil Execs, to say nothing of the Americans and Soviets, were able to work together.  The question becomes, could we work together now?  For the sake of our country and our world, hopefully the answer remains yes.


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Chronicle [2012]

MPAA (PG-13) CNS/USCCB (A-III) Roger Ebert (3 1/2 Stars) Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB review
Roger Ebert's review

Chronicle (directed by Josh Trank, screenplay by Max Landis) is a well conceived, well executed film of the faux "amateur video log" genre popularized by movies like the Blair Witch Project [1999] and the Paranormal Activity [2007, 2010, 2012] series.  These kind of films have become increasingly common with the proliferation all kinds of inexpensive video capturing/recording technologies (from Camcorders, to FlipCams to webcams) and socialmedia websites like YouTube and Facebook where one can share one's "captured moments" with the world. 

The phenomenon was discussed already in when Time Magazine picked "You" ("Us") as The Person of the Year in 2006, noting that already in 1991 famed Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola expressed the hope at the end of the documentary Hearts of Darkness [1991] on the making of his blockbuster/megaproduction/hit Apocalypse Now [1979] that the increasing availability of quality but inexpensive camcorders would democratize film-making making it accessible to a far larger pool of talented individuals than in the past and thus make film-making far more of an art-form and far-less of a commercial enterprise than in the past.

Indeed over the years, a substantial part of Francis Ford Coppola's prediction has come to pass as there is an ever increasing number of "indie films" being produced as well as an increasing popularity of film-festivals world-wide catering to or show-casing "low budget"/"independent" productions.  In the United States, the annual Sundance and Telluride film-festivals are perhaps the best known.  However, pretty much every major city and/or region of the country now offers similar film festivals during the course of the year.

Followers of this blog will note that I have a special place in my heart for low-budget/independent insurgent productions, posting in the past year reviews of such low-budget, indie projects as Another Earth [2011], Elite [2011], A Love Affair of Sorts [2011], Rid of Me [2011], The Future [2011], and a YouTube compilation sponsored in part by Ridley Scott called Life in a Day [2011].

Still one gets the sense that the best productions are those that are story-driven, utilize the low-tech equipment when appropriate but are also unafraid (and able...) to bring in higher-quality special-effects and editing equipment when needed as well.  Such a mix was apparently used in the making of the film Like Crazy [2011] (shot with off the shelf / consumer available video equipment, but then edited very, very well) A similar approach appears to have been used in the making of the current film, Chronicle, as well. The film-makers again made use primarily of off-the-shelf consumer available video equipment.  However, they proved also unafraid (and able...) to shell-out some money for reasonably high-quality special effects to effectively tell the increasingly harrowing story.

Wonderful, so what then is Chronicle about?  Chronicle's about Andrew Detmer (played by Dane DeHaan), a quiet teenager from a troubled home, his more outgoing and jockish cousin Matt Garetty (played by Alex Russell) and Matt's definitely gregarious and star-athlete best friend Steve Montgomery (played by Michael B. Jordan).  They're all apparently upper-classmen in a suburban high-school in the Seattle, Washington metropolitan area.  Andrew's mother, Karen (played by Bo Petersen), is very ill, needing oxygen to breath.  Andrew's father, Richard (played by Michael Kelly) is a former firefighter on forced disability, clearly unhappy with his circumstances.

At the beginning of the film, Andrew buys himself a (large) old, used video camera to "chronicle" his days with (that is to play).  A nerd already and from a family with not a lot of money, the contraption he buys does not exactly help him in his social standing:  The camera is by today's standards huge, awkward to use, and only makes him the butt of jokes when he takes it with him to school to chronicle his day.  The "douche bags" on the street that already picked on him, do so some more.  At school, the other students make fun of the unwieldy thing as he walks with it in the hallways (forcing them break stride to not hit him as he carries it on his shoulder).  As a final straw, a cheerleader approaches him as he sits in the bleachers after school filming them (as well as the football team going through drills) and asks him to "turn the camera off" because she found his filming them "really, really creepy."  Not a particularly great day ...

That evening, his cousin Matt drags Andrew to a party that Andrew didn't particularly want to attend, but now with the camera decides to go in order to film it.  On the way to the party, Matt tells Andrew what kind of a drag Andrew has been over the years.  Apparently, they've had this conversation before as Andrew doesn't really react to it, just films it.

At the party, however, things begin to look-up as Andrew runs into a girl, Casey (played by Ashley Hinshaw), far more popular than he (and a girl that apparently Matt has some interest in) who's at the party _also_ with her camera filming it "for her blog."  She finds it kinda cool that Andrew has a camera as well.  Indeed, when Matt sneers at the two sharing the joys of their hobby, he comes to realize that his attitude is actually pissing Casey off.  Hmm, maybe Andrew's not a complete loser after all...

Later in the evening, Andrew, having long-since spent pretty much all the little social grace that his nerdy self had, finds himself outside where the popular jock Steve runs into him.  He calls Andrew over.  He and Matt had found something "really cool" in the field/ravine below the house where the party was being held and thought it might be cool to actually video tape.

What Matt and Steve had found was a strange hole the size of an underground passage in the middle of that field, and when they entered it they came face to face with this strange, glowing (otherworldly?) crystalline structure.  As they come close to it, Andrew videotaping it all, the crystalline structure suddenly starts changing colors and making noise.  It gets louder and brighter, louder and brighter and suddenly everything goes black.

The movie resumes three weeks later.  Andrew has a new camera (apparently the old one was broken in that strange encounter) and the three teens find that they've been effected in a strange way ... they find that they are able to move first light objects and as the days/weeks go by progressively heavier objects with only their minds, something called telekenesis.  How utterly, utterly COOL!  Much ensues ...

But part of what ensues has to do with Andrew, a teen clearly damaged already by life at home and at school.  Can Andrew handle this new superpower that he and his two friends have acquired?  Can the damage of one's past be "cured" by a single, sudden, unexpected dose of AWESOME COOLNESS?  Or does one's past eventually re-emerge and make one even worse-off than before?

I found the movie fascinating, certainly one that most teenagers could appreciate.  In particular, I found the teenage dialogue in this film outstanding, almost exactly how one would imagine teens would talk in the situation(s) that they found themselves in.  And, yes, the film could be used to help young people appreciate the damage that they could cause by picking-on (bullying) others, as well as help troubled, previously picked-on teenagers realize the importance to getting help before those past experiences end-up consuming them.

My hat-off to the makers of this film: What a great, well acted and surprisingly "realistic" film they made!  And congrats to all the actors and actresses as well!


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Albert Nobbs [2011]

MPAA (R) CNS/USCCB () Roger Ebert (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (2 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602098/
CNS/USCCB review -
Roger Ebert's review -
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120125/REVIEWS/120129981

Albert Nobbs (directed by Rodrigo Garcia, screenplay by Glenn Close, John Banville and Gabriela Prekop) is a diminutive tale based on a story first presented over the course of chapters 45-53 of the early-20th century Irish author George Moore's novel A Story Teller's Holiday [1918] about a waiter named Albert Nobbs with a secret working at a higher-end hotel in Dublin at the end of the 19th century, the secret being that he was actually woman though presenting him/herself to the outside world (most notably to his/her employer) as a man.  The story was later reprinted under the title The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs in a collection of short stories by George Moore named Celibate Lives [1927].  The story was then adapted for as a one-person stage under the same title.  Glenn Close, who has received an 2012 Academy Awards nomination for her playing the role Albert Nobbs in the current film, received an Obie (Off Broadway) Award for playing Albert Nobbs in the stage production in 1982.

What to make of a film based on a short story that originally appeared as merely an episode in an early 20th century novel by an otherwise largely forgotten author perhaps best known for possibly influencing the far more famous Irish-born author, James Joyce?  Clearly the story has resonances with concerns of the present day.

Is it a great film?  Not especially.  It's primarily an art film.  As such, its appeal is certainly limited.  Nevertheless, it's a story that's interesting on a number of levels.  First, the story serves as reminder that even in the early 20th century (and if one thinks of Oscar Wilde during the Victorian Era) questions regarding sexuality and gender roles were not completely buried.  Second, the story/film reminds readers/viewers of a robust artistic/literary tradition that has existed in Ireland for at least a century that has often flown in the face of  both sentimental and at times dismissive stereotypes portraying Ireland as a placid outpost of unquestioning, unreflective, 'yes man' Catholicism.  James Joyce, after all, has come to be considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th century and his book Ulysses was voted as the most influential English language book of the 20th century.  In more recent years, with increased prosperity and the success of artists like Bono and actors like Liam Neeson, Ireland has become the home of an energetic youth oriented culture.

Indeed, I look forward to reading (and posting links to) reviews of this film coming from the various sectors of contemporary Irish society -- from its artistic/literary community (the film was screened to Irish Film and Television Academy members at a gala event in December 2011, and has since been nominated for sever 2012 IFTA awards), its youth culture (entertainment.ie, movies.ie), and yes, by one or another agency or office of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

I reiterate that Albert Nobbs (also starring Mia Wasikowka as one of the hotel's maids and eventually _something_ of a love interest to Albert Nobbs in the story) is not exactly a great film.  I do think that the primary complaint that a lot of young people (late-teens, young adults, I would not recommend the film to folks below high school age) will have in regards to the film would be that it is quite slow/boring (hey, it was written only a few years after the end of the Victorian Era ...).

Nevertheless, I do see the film as an invitation for readers of this blog to explore / discover through commentary written about the film and recent movies in general an Ireland that is perhaps far more energetic and vibrant than many would have previously thought.  And I do believe that St. Patrick, who indeed suffered much as a young adult and could be taken as a result as something of a patron to young adults, would be proud (I'm not talking here of this movie which is definitely still a "look back" or "backward looking," but rather of the cultural engine that Ireland has become over this past generation often led by its young).

ADDENDUM -

According to the Irish Times (3 Feb 2012), Albert Nobbs will be shown at the 10th Annual Dublin International Film Festival which will run between Feb 16-26, 2012.


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Man on a Ledge [2012]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  Roger Ebert (2 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (2 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568338/
CNS/USCCB review -
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/12mv012.htm
Roger Ebert's review -
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120125/REVIEWS/120129979

Man on a Ledge (directed by Asger Leth and written by Pablo F. Fenjives) is a film simple enough in concept that I suspect a fair number of people will object to account of its implicit politics:  Two years after NYPD cop Nick Cassidy (played by Sam Worthington) is framed by New York financier "big shot" David Englander (played by Ed Harris) for stealing a diamond that never went missing (but Englander needed to report missing for the insurance money to cover his Leeman Bros. losses) Cassidy improbably breaks out of prison and sets about doing the only thing that he could do to prove his innocence: prove that Englander still has the diamond.

How does he do that?  Well, he rents a room in a highrise upscale hotel next to Englander's headquarters and _walks out on a ledge_.  Why does he do that?  Well, to distract the police while his brother Joey (played by Jamie Bell) and Joey's hot (and more practically _thin_) girlfriend Angie (played by Genesis Rodriguez) break into Englander's offices to steal the diamond (and thus prove that Englander had it all along).  Of course much happens.

Obviously, the film requires a good deal of suspension of disbelief.  That Nick Cassidy would have been a cop, and then one who had previously "worked" in a sense for Englander (who had enough "clout" in the city to "borrow" cops on occasion for "security") does help the story somewhat.  Nick Cassidy (and presumably then his brother) would know something of Englander's security setup in his offices.  Nick would also know a fair amount about NYPD protocols.  Still, there's a "come-on" feel to the film.

On the other hand, it is probable that (1) "terrorists" could first take-control and hijack an entire U.S. battleship, and then (2) a single sailor, a lowly "cook" (who it turned-out was actually a Navy Seal only pretending to be a cook) could then take-down the terrorists, one-by-one, and eventually re-take the whole ship?  NO.  But it makes for one heck of a movie for a lot of American men facing declining economic prospects, competition from foreigners abroad and women and home and who may have felt Under Siege [1992] by it all.

Man on a Ledge is a similar kind of film.  It plays on a widely-held sense among the American public that "the little guy," who even followed the rules (a good cop) "took the fall" for 2008 financial crisis, while the big-shot Wall Street financiers who caused the crisis "walked between the rain-drops" and got away with _massive theft_ "scot-free."


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The Grey [2011]

MPAA (R) CNS/USCCB (L) Roger Ebert (3 1/2 Stars) Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1601913/
CNS/USCCB review -
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/12mv011.htm
Roger Ebert's review -
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120125/REVIEWS/120129984

The Grey (directed and cowritten by Joe Carnahan along with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers based on the short story by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers named "Ghost Walker") is about seven Alaska oil workers who out of a much larger group survive a plane crash in the Alaska wilderness only to be stalked, killed and eaten by wolves as they seek to find their way back to safety/civilization. 

It is a thoroughly harrowing tale that in its starkness asks of both the characters, led by Liam Neeson who plays a rifleman who had been working for the oil company as a guard hired to precisely keep wolves and other predators away from the other oil workers, as well as well as the audience some fundamental questions about life and death -- Who/what do you live for?  What/who are you willing to die for?  What's the meaning of an existence that at times can be so randomly cut short and over which one often has so little control?  And yes, where does God fit into the picture?

The picture becomes more poignant when one recalls that in real life, Liam Neeson (wiki) had lost his wife, Natasha Richardson, in 2009 to a freak skiing accident.  As such the questions asked and the manner in which they are asked are honest if certainly challenging to a Christian/Catholic believer. 

Indeed, winter, cold, snow, the grey skies of the frozen north, etc have all figured prominently in a fair number of American films in recent years -- The American [2010], Riding Hood [2011], Hanna [2011], The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [2011] and now The Grey [2012] -- often coupled then with explorations of themes of betrayal, loneliness, superficiality and/or hypocrisy.  In this time after 10 years of war and seemingly long-term economic uncertainty, is Hollywood (re)discovering its "inner Swede"?  and calling believers of our time to face fundamental questions of existence, justice/injustice with the honesty of the famed (and Nazi-era martyr) Rev. Dietrich Bonheoffer who already in the 1930s declared that he wasn't interested any more in what he dismissed as "cheap grace?"  Perhaps.


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One for the Money [2012]

MPAA (R) CNS/USCCB (A-III) Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598828/
CNS/USCCB review -
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/12mv013.htm

One for the Money (directed by Julie Anne Robinson, screenplay by Stacy Sherman, Karen Ray and Liz Brixius based on the gritty New Jersey romance novel by the same name by Janet Evanovich) is a remarkably good, well written, laugh-out-loud funny, if at times foul-mouth, rom-com that really deserves far more recognition than this initial installment is going to get.  However, One of the Money as a novel is the first in a series.  So one gets the sense that we're going to be seeing far more of Stephanie Plum (played by Katherine Heigl who believed in the picture enough to be an executive producer for the film) in the years to come.

What's the film about?  The film begins with Stephanie Plum approaching her parents' working-class Trenton, NJ home in her red sports car convertable, telling us her situation: She was coming home to Trenton, 6 months after being fired from working in the lingerie department at a Macy's department store somewhere in Newark, knowing that this was probably the last time she was driving her red convertible.  She parks the car in front of her parents' house, takes a long last look at it, and notes that she's 5 minutes late, meaning that her mother will think that she's dead.

Ma (played by Debra Monk) opens the door and the first thing out of her mouth is indeed "You're five minutes late, I thought you were dead."  Stephanie shrugs her shoulders, passes by the statue of Mary as the Immaculate Conception on her parents' porch and enters the house.  Ma notices Stephanie's car, confused, impressed, we don't really know, because before she can say anything, Stephanie tells her "Don't worry Ma, it'll be gone within an hour."  And the repo people are there taking the car away in less than ten minutes ...

Steph's home, so the family sits down to have dinner.  There's Ma, there's Pa (played by Louis Mustillo) and Grandma Masur (played by Debbie Reynolds).  Stephie shares her sob-story.  She's lost her job -- six months ago -- they just took her car and she's broke.  The folks quickly chime in with kind, well-meaning, "we're on your side" but, of course, totally obvious, generally inappropriate and certainly unsolicited advice:  "You need a job," says Pa.  "You need a husband," adds Ma.  Grandma, confused, chimes in, wondering how bad the economy's must have become, 'cause: "Everybody likes a good thong ..." And there it is ... :-).

A job's still probably the most realistic thing to find at this point.  Steph's already been married.  It didn't work out, has no particular prospects and isn't exactly looking.  Heck even her hair's all frizzy ... But where then to get a job?  Ma, pa and grandma scratch their heads and come up with Cousin Vinnie, who runs a Bail-Bonds place in the center (or at the edge) of town (take your pick ...).  "Cousin Vinnie?  He tried to make-out with me at my wedding?"  But at least it could be quick money.  We find out at Vinnie's (played by Patrick Fischler) Bail Bonds place what happened: "Steph, look I'm sorry about what happened back then.  I was very, very drunk and you looked like an old flame."  "Vin, I was in a white dress and a veil." "Yes, but I was very, very drunk ..."  And so it goes.  

Vinnie's tougher-than-Vinnie secretary named Connie (played by Ana Reeder) finds her a job that Steph's certainly gonna love: bringing in Steph's first love, apparently former heart throb Joe Morelli (played by Jason O'Mara).  Morelli had taken Steph's virginity near the end of high school (Okay, parents take note, this is _not_ a film that would give good role-model advice, except in a back-handed, "for the love of God don't do this" sort of way to impressionable teens...), "one night on the floor of the bakery" (where she worked in her first job). As Steph recalled the story, she noted "I gave him all my canoli that night." (Connie recalls, with a sigh "Honey, a lot of girls gave him their canoli back in the day ...").  And of course Joe dumped Steph.

It turns out that Steph had already gotten back at Joe years ago, something that Joe's mother (played by Angela Pietropinto) never forgave her for: "I just hope you live long enough to have your only son run over by some crazy-a b..., breaking his leg in three places, because she's pissed off at my boy for some crazy-a reason ..."  And Joe also hasn't forgotten either, "I remember you, Steph, every time it rains ..." ;-).  Anyway, Joe's since become a cop and was recently accused of shooting a low-life drug dealer but then inexplicably skipped-out on $500,000 bail.  All of Trenton's police force, of course, knows exactly where he is and what he's doing, but no one's bringing him in.  Still, Vinnie's out $500,000 and if Steph brings him in, 10% of that, $50k, would be hers... 

So this then sets up the story.  Steph sets out to find and bring in former "love-'em-and-leave 'em Joe" to the police (who know where he is already anyway ...).  Joe of course doesn't want to be brought in.  And there's obviously "a story" about that shooting that Joe was involved-in as well ... Much ensues...

There are all sorts of characters that both Steph and the audience are introduced to along the way, often in a very stereotypical but also in a very funny fashion.  There's Vinnie's ace bounty hunter "Ranger" (played by Daniel Sunjata) who oozes such utter _coolness_ that he's like a refrigerator when he's in the room.  He takes Steph, who wants to be a bounty hunter but doesn't even have a gun (just pepper spray) under his wing.  There are two prostitutes who Steph befriends and become her "contacts."  Says Lula (played by Sherri Shepherd), the friendlier, more cooperative of the two streetwalkers: "We have a good-cop / bad-cop routine here, only we're hookers ...").  There's a young gay Asian man named John Cho (Leonardo Nam) who "saw everything that went down the night" that Joe took down the low-life drug dealer, but between his accent and mannerisms it's all but impossible to understand him.  Yet, despite the "challenges" that Steph faces ... to no one's surprise, everything gets resolved in the end ...

Obviously, this film not going to win any "Walton Family Legacy Awards" or anything like that.  The lexicon of the characters of One for the Money has far more in common with that of the Blagojevich family of recent memory than with the Waltons ;-).  So if language is an issue at home, this film is definitely not for you.  But it is a very, very funny film and would certainly make for a _great_ young-adult date movie as Valentine's Day approaches.  

Indeed, since seeing Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, I've often wondered how great it would be if a theme park like Universal City would create a section of its park where people could enter into the "Paris of the 1920s" created in that film to chat with the characters portrayed in that film.  Leaving One For the Money, I felt the same way about Stephanie Plum's Trenton, NJ created in this film.  What a blast it would be to spend an hour or two walking through the over-the-top world and larger than life characters portrayed here.  Honestly what great story and what _great_ imagination!  Congrats Janet Evanovich, the screenwriters of this film, and Katherine Heigl and the rest of the cast for taking it on!


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My Reincarnation [2011]

MPAA (NR)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1742084/

My Reincarnation (directed by Jennifer Fox) is documentary which has followed 20 years of the life of Yeshi Silvano Namkai (from his mid 20s to his mid 40s today).  Yeshi was born in Italy some 40-45 years ago to Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, an exiled Tibetan Buddhist master, and Choogyal's Italian wife.  A few years after Yeshi was born, Choogyal was informed by various Tibetan Buddhist practitioners from "the old country" that they believed that Yeshi could be reincarnation of Chogyal's uncle who had been a well known Buddhist monk prior to his death at the hands of Chinese Communist authorities in the late 1950s-early 1960s.  Making note of this news, and informing his son of it at a relatively early age, Chogyal nevertheless had taken a perhaps typically Buddhist approach to the matter, one of detachment -- if this were true, that his son Yeshi really was the reincarnation of his uncle then it would inevitably manifest itself in some way, if not, then ... it won't.  Fascinating!

Particularly interesting during the course of the film were Yeshi's evolving feelings toward his father, who at the beginning of the film (when Yeshi was being interviewed in his mid 20s) Yeshi clearly resented for being "detached" and largely away from his family, as well as Yeshi's evolving feelings toward predictions regarding his destiny, which at the beginning of the film (again when Yeshi was being interviewed in his mid-20s) Yeshi did not particularly take seriously.  Yes, he knew what had been said about him -- that he was the reincarnation of his great-uncle -- but at the time of the beginning of the documentary (20 years ago) like most people his age, Yeshi was far more interested in getting married and getting a job (he found one working as a sales-rep/technician for IBM in Italy ;-).

However as the years went on in the documentary and he had gotten married and had kids of his own, Yeshi seemed to become more and more convinced that there may be something to the destiny that those Tibetan Buddhist practitioner friends of his father's had said that he was called to.  He described rather vivid and specific dremas that he was having regarding his uncle's life and fate at the hands of the Chinese communists.  At the end of the film, Yeshi does return (if for a visit) to Tibet as the religious figure that he seemed to be predestined to from birth.  Angain, fascinating!

Now I know that a fair number of Christians and even Catholics would be disturbed by a movie like this.  However, at least with regards to the Catholics, I would remind all, that the Catholic Church does see itself as a universal church, secure in its faith, and therefore capable of dialoging with respect with everybody.  The Second Vatican Council's declaration on non-Christian religions indeed said as much.

I personally have found it very easy to admire and respect the Buddhist religions which are generally presented peacefully and without great rancor.  And I also note the famous saying of Zen Buddhist master, D.T. Suzuki of the early 20th century, that Buddhism may focus "more on the Kitchen than the Cook" but that does not mean that it denies the Cook.  It simply means that Buddhism chooses not to focus on the Cook.  Focusing on the Cook is simply left to others, like us Christians and Catholics ;-).

And yes, over the last several generations we Cathoics and Christians too have come to appreciate more the beauty and value of the Cook's kitchen ;-).  Yes, if we choose, we can all come to live together with respect and in peace.


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