Medieval Park

Who is the boy on the cover?
This movie was made in 1999. It reminded me of " Dr Who" episodes, as far as acting and atmosphere. Nice castle, cool dragon, but generally poor special effects. Certainly no CGI to liven things up. 90 minutes long and moves slow. "G" rated . Might be a good movie for the 7 to 11 year olds, maybe! Remember, this was made before most of us had computers in the house, or cell phones, or cool video games to play. So by todays standard this movie is not very exciting or interesting. It originally was titled Teen Knight in 1999. Along similar ideas, the 2003 movie " Time Line " was great, and PG-13 rated. So, if you enjoy Dr Who situations, without Dr Who, this movie is for you. Oh, the kid on the dvd cover is not in this movie!





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Chasing Liberty [HD]

Disappointed there is no sound track CD for "Chasing Liberty"
Mandy Moore, Annabella Sciorra and Jeremy Piven are absolutely wonderful in the movie.
Storyline could have been better.
There are many excellent scenes of Europe, which make me want to trek thru
many places (Washington, Prague, Venice, Austria, Berlin, Harvard U, London).
An excellent collection of great music is in the movie, in the same order:
- American Girl, by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- The Seed, by The Roots
- If You Won't, by Jesse Harris
- Vivi Davvero, by Giorgia -- amazing Italian tune !
- If I'm not in love (with you), from Faith Hill's Breathe album
- Life will go on, from Chris Issak's Always Got Tonight album
- Puccini's Nessun Dorma, by Amici Forever -- always great !!
- To be with you, by Caroline Lost -- WoW !!!

----- For those who enjoy the music in the movie, here's the complete list (from IMDB) -----
(all original music in the film is by Christian Henson)
01. Goo Goo Dolls - Big...

A nice fun movie; the critics have been unfair
If you are tired of movies filled with computer graphics, tired of movies filled with explosions and destruction, tired of movies of teens doing things that will get them arrested, tired of movies about people with "real life problems", Chasing Liberty is a delightful, lightweight, fun (and funny), escapism movie that leaves you feeling good at the end. Yes the plot is a bit implausible and limited, but that is the fun of this movie. Mandy Moore is wonderful as Anna Foster, only daughter of U.S. President Foster, who is tired of living in a bubble. She wants to be a real teenager and experience life and love. Anna escapes the bubble, while on a state trip to Czech Republic, with the aid of someone (Matthew Goode), who turns out not to be who she thinks. Mandy has amazing talent for her age, and is set to be a superstar actress in the near future. She does not deserve to still be titled as a "pop princess" anymore. She is an actress in her own right, who can sing. She fills the...

Come on, you know you like it.
Let me just start off with yes, I love romantic fluff, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. This was a great piece of romantic fluff to watch on a lazy afternoon. It wasn't boring, the lead characters looked good, and it had a great soundtrack. Sure, you could drive a Mac truck through the plot holes, and I'd be pretty scared if the secret service was as dimwitted as they were in this movie, but it still did not take away from my enjoyment of the movie. If your a realist and hate quality cheese, save your time and money, and don't watch this movie. However, if you're like me and like happy endings, cute kisses, and leaving reality back in the real world, you may just enjoy this flick too. Good job, Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode!

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The Kite (Le Cerf-Volant) - Amazon.com Exclusive

Great storyline - pretty realistic
I'm Lebanese American and lost a lot of my Arabic when my father went back to Lebanon. I was looking for Arabic movies with English subtitles to watch and get used to the dialogue again. This movie surprised me. The storyline is really good and it's a sweet love. However translating the words to English, I can understand why the previous person who wrote their review didn't give the best reveiw. You will have to understand the culture to truely understand this story. It's so realistic on so many levels. I love Lebanon, and I vist my family a lot. Watching this movie kind of brings you into reality - how good we have it here in America. I really recommend this movie to those that love the language and the culture and understand it fully.

Niche Film
A subtitled Lebanese movie that may attract those with an interest in Middle East politics, customs and mores. A mix of serious drama, comedy and surreal interpretation that really doesn't seem to have much in the way of mainstream viewer appeal. More of a specialized niche film.



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Bank Roll

I Made "BANK ROLL" (a review from Doug Maguire)
The 1st thing you're probably thinking is, "5 Stars for your own movie -- IDIOT!" I was going to give "BANK ROLL" 4 Stars, because 4 is one of my favorite numbers and totally understand that very few movies are "perfect", but when I hovered over the 4 Stars and saw the ALT text was "I like it" -- well, I love this movie and that's why I had to click 5. I don't think "BANK ROLL" is perfect, but I do love this movie.

We worked on "BANK ROLL" for over a year and shot it in 6 months. The actors never got to see a full script as we were making up the story as we went along. So we would run cameras on a weekend day one month and rough out an edit to help us make sense for the next month. We used a few lights on our big "kitchen scene" at the top of the movie where it jump cuts to introduce all the characters and after that, it just seemed fake. I'm not a fan of using stylized lighting tricks or light sources that aren't natural to their environment. I respect those types of looks...

Weird - but good weird!
If you are looking for action, adventure, romance and suspense, then get another movie because Bank Roll is a slow-paced drama/comedy/independent film with unknown actors, but is actually quite amazing. The best way to describe it is "weird" and "good". It really made me laugh out loud at certain points where we had to pause and rewind things just to make sure I heard what I thought I heard. Almost the entire 90 minutes is dialogue driven where the bank robbers spend three days talking about everything under the sun except the heist they're doing. I kept forgetting it was a movie about a bank robbery as it felt more like Shakespeare in the park with swears! They DO rob a bank, I think. The way it ended made me scream, "NO WAY!" Then we listened to the cast audio commentary and I must say, I was a little disgusted and embarrassed. My husband, however, said this is his favorite feature. Guys were getting up to use the bathroom, they were all drinking and it's worth a listen if you like...



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Stolen Life (Amazon.com Exclusive)

A Psychologically Abused Woman in Modern China: A Very Slight Spoiler
Without spoiling the film, I'd like to add only slightly to Amazon's "Product Description":

Yanni, the main actress in the movie is living with her extended family who sees her as a waste of a person with little to no future. To everyone's surprise she is accepted to a college in Beijing. She goes, life opens up, the wonders of the world are hers to discover. For those who have visited China's Universities, all the sights are there, particularly those incredibly cramped (with sometimes as many as 7 student) dorm rooms. A wonderful and slightly older delivery man sights her, makes his move and they are in love. Soon Yanni finds out she is pregnant. Not surprisingly, while her lover remains committed, we are slowly taken out of the bright dorm rooms and even the streets of this "New China". The couple move to dwellings underground and we begin to wonder what this delivery man's intentions really are.

This is a powerful feminist movie, where you (man or woman,...

Sad but compelling independent film from China
Zhou Xun is one of the most compelling actresses working today and she grabs you right from the start in this film. She plays a young woman whose parents, intellectuals from the previous generation, have abandoned her for the most part, shuffling her off to live in near poverty with her granny and aunt. Then she's accepted into university, raising her class status momentarily, but falls in love with a truck driver, gets pregnant and her life unravels. There's subtle and deep social commentary embracing this extremely sad tale of family, love, and one woman's struggle to survive in modern China. I was very surprised by the script. It's softly brutal.

Sad but Probably True to Life
I enjoyed this movie if you can use the word enjoyed for something so tragic. It's a portrait of a blatant betrayal of trust. SPOILER ALERT: A girl leaves her dysfunctional home and gets involved with a boy. She becomes pregnant and the boyfriend talks her into having the baby by alluding to the fact that they will have a nice family together and somehow manage to make it financially even though they are totally broke. Nothing could be further from the truth as he has plans all along to sell the baby to another couple once it is born and then ditch the girl and find another woman to use the same ruse on. He is the perfect con artist and evil trickster. I found the movie interesting to get a glimpse of the gritty, underground world that many Chinese people live in which is no doubt all too true to life. The place they live underground in Beijing not only has little seedy apartments but also shops and places making food. A rather different and engaging movie. An eye opening view of one...

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The Fish Fall in Love (Mahiha Ashegh Mishavand) - Amazon.com Exclusive

charming film about interrupted love
This is a gentle film about lives and loves disrupted, the consequences of political exile, good food lovingly prepared, and a charming town on the Caspian sea. Contrary to a previous reviewer'r's opinion, it is not at all ambiguous if you watch and listen carefully. I've watched it three times so far and I like it more each time... The place itself is so seductive, I keep wanting to just be there...

Entertaining movie but not a must see
The movie is is about an Iranian woman who has a restaurant on the property of her ex fiance and when he suddenly returns she's afraid he'll take away everything. It's entertaining but I think it ends abruptly without giving closure for the story.

Important Subjects but Mediocre Rendering
Some important subjects were alluded to pertaining to the role of women in Iranian society but a lackluster, mediocre and incomplete rendering of those subjects left this audience confused and empty. The writer & director, if they are going to tell a story, they should finish their story however they think is appropriate and not leave it up to the audience to create their own ending. This ambiguity laden story telling style is a self-righteous attempt to be clever, intelligent and complex. But instead shows a lack of direction. The acting was flat, lacking emotion and depth. The story seemed to plod through many scenes and lacked impact where many opportunities to showcase Iranian culture presented themselves.

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The We and the I

Get Off The Bus: A Long, And Oftentimes Excruciating, Journey Into The Psyche Of An Urban High School Class
Filmmaker Michel Gondry hasn't exactly followed a typical Hollywood career path. Moving between music videos and eccentric indie films, Gondry is probably still best known for directing and co-writing 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" for which he shared a screenwriting Oscar. In fact, his only apparent concession to the realm of big budget spectacles came with the ill-fated adaptation of "The Green Hornet" in 2011. Returning to a smaller scope with the claustrophobic "The We and The I," Gondry has again thwarted conventional expectations. This intimate picture casts nonprofessional actors as Bronx high school students taking public transportation home on the last day of school. That's it, just a bunch of kids riding the bus! At times harrowing and unpleasant, at others joyful and amusing, the students terrorize innocent passengers and one another on a seemingly endless ride across the city. No one ever gets on, which is curious, so the boisterous crowd dwindles as...

(3.5 STARS) Michel Gondry's Snapshot of Bronx High School Students: Lively and Experimental
Michel Gondry's follow-up to the 2011 action movie "The Green Hornet" is something of a cinematic and social experiment. In his latest work "The We and the I" a group of New York high school students (all played by non-professional teenagers) travel on a city bus. Set on a fictional bus line BX66, the film follows the stories of the ensemble characters crammed in the same bus - those energetic students after school, often noisy and even rude.

Michael (Michael Brodie) and Big T (Jonathan Worrell) are the loudest, taking up the back row. Laidychen (Laidychen Carrasco) and Niomi (Meghan Murphy) are busy deciding who to invite to the party. At first the bus is like a chaos, with so much pent-up energy of these students. The school tear is over.

Over the course of the afternoon bus ride, however, as the school kids get off the bus one after another, the bus ride becomes something different - something quiet and pensive, with some of the students showing another side...

Words fail to convey its unique greatness
I have only seen this film once, and expect subsequent viewings to reveal more layers of complexity. I am too boggled and besotted this morning after to do more than list the ways one might love this film.
I was at first upset that the film is not on Blu Ray, but be assured that the DVD is very well done, and looks fine, even beautiful on a big screen TV.
First, from my perch in mainly white suburbia, I appreciate the intimacy that permits me to gaze carefully at all the different shades and shapes of people who ride the bus on the trip home after the last day of high school. Ken Kesey's Kool-Aid Acid bus could not contain more physical and psychic diversity. Just compare this film to American Graffiti to see how far we have come in the presentation of adolescent emotional realism on film.
Second, is the miracle of film editing that concatenates fluctuating tender affects and nasty impulses into a coherent unfolding. See this film less as plot or character driven...

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