You know, Netflix sent this out to me and it got here on Friday. This is an HBO TV movie, starring Claire Danes, Catherine O’Hara, Julia Ormond, and David Strathairn, and is about an autistic girl. When I got it, it was a Friday night and I just didn’t feel like watching it! I mean, a biography — about a autistic girl?

But, I went ahead and put it in on Sunday to see how it was. First, it was well made and rather captivating and soon I found myself wondering how this girl was going to cope when everything in the world (it seems) is stacked against her and people are not understanding.

As the movie goes along you learn about Temple and some of her background and how he learns to cope. How a squeeze box that she designs and builds helps to calm her down when things feel (to her) like they are out of control.

One of the neater things was the way they showed how Temple saw things in pictures — images of things versus words or ideas or feelings — I guess I should say “see things” because she is still alive. I thought it would be really cool to be able to see images like that and to have that photographic mind to recall things you’ve seen before, such as pages out of a book — man that would have been a cool skill in school!

Temple graduates from school and eventually makes it through graduating with a doctorate. She graduated with a bachelors in Psychology — which is kind of mind boggling given that she would have a tougher time with some of the concepts. She then did her master’s in animal handling and wrote articles and designed systems for the cattle industry. All in all it is amazing what she accomplished and I can’t help but compare that to myself in some ways at how I should have achieved so much more than I actually have (or rather haven’t!).

One profound thing is that as the film goes on she talks about how she realized how precious life if, and that is true … we all need to be aware of how much life means and how we should live it to its fullest. Are you?

Now that I’ve seen this, I’m glad I took the time to watch it. This was better than the other movie this weekend (Sister’s Keeper).

Things I learned from this movie:

1. People are special.
2. Everyone is different, just because someone is different or autistic doesn’t mean they are a lesser human than you — they might actually be better.
3. Being yourself is always ok. Be real.
4. Whatever you want to do or achieve, aim for it, you can do it.

Rated TV. There might be some minor profanity. And bull testicles/balls are tossed about (literally) and discussed. And of course cattle slaughterhouses come into play.

Tonight’s fare was Sister’s Keeper and it didn’t make it easy to stay awake. It’s a film about an ex-military guy who is now a hit man and has a conscious and wants out of the business. But to do so he has to do one last job. A supposedly easy one where an unguarded female has been targeted and all he has to do is walk up and kill her and ride off into the sunset of a better life. Catch is, when she sees him she immediately thinks he is her long lost brother returned home. He lets himself get smitten by her as we learn that his wife and unborn baby both died during childbirth. And like mentioned before, his conscious keeps him from killing her and instead turns him into her protector to protect her from those hired killers who come to finish the job he didn’t.

All in all, Kent Faulcon – writer/director/actor – could have done worse, as the film does show some heart, but he could have done a lot better.

Don’t mistake this in Netflix for My Sister’s Keeper starring Abigail Breslin.

Things learned from this movie:

1. If you are a killer, always wear suits and ties.
2. If you need your gun, grip it tight and hold it way out so that everyone could see as you sneak and peer around corners.
3. Blinds will keep other killers (who are staking out the place your at) from knowing where you are.
4. Never believe that wheelchair-bound old people actually need their wheels or don’t know how to use a shot-gun.
5. Getting shot in the shoulder with a high powered rifle will be ok if you just sit calmly and keep pressure and a dish rag on it.
6. Recently widowed guys keep their house entirely empty.
7. Guys married to a hot chick need a mistress and will leave the hot one soon.

Rated R. 101 minutes (1 hour 41 minutes). Profanity and the mistress rolling around in bed briefly shows off her boobs.

Boogie Woogie, a film that follows a painting titled “Boogie Woogie” by Piet Mondrian as art dealers attempt to buy for resale from an old man (played by Christopher Lee). While he is refusing to sell you see into the art world, the dealers, the artists, and the gallery patrons.

This film has quite the cast to it, Gillian Anderson (of the X-Files), Heather Graham, Charlotte Rampling, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgård, Alan Cumming … etc. As you can see, its easy to have high expectations given the cast, and also that its listed as an “Independent Film” so you really can expect this film to be something different than the ordinary studio establishment film.

It’s ok.

It has twists, but everyone in the film knows what the others are doing (expect for Gillian’s finding out their paintings were sold out from underneath them) and continue on pretending to be blissfully unaware.

It helps if you recall that art is always in the eye of the beholder – if you like something then enjoy it, but don’t let someone push their “art” on you and fake liking it, be honest, enjoy what you want and let others revel in their art if that’s what they want. It is an art scene film, so expect the usual stiff parties at studios, high dollar value paintings, and drugs.

Overall the movie is entertaining enough, for a slow evening. It didn’t make me want to flip it off, but I bet if I had a phone call or something demanded my attention the probability of turning it back on and finishing are kind of low.

Things learned from this movie:

1. You don’t have to be an artist or rich to attend gallery events. If you are invited, go, your just as “normal” as anyone else there.
2. If you have an embedded twin inside you and have it surgically removed, your lover will have it encased in plastic for you.
3. Gay guys sent packing by the girls that they hang out with will break down and jump out of the window committing suicide.
4. Art gallery owners always have to be extremely happy – regardless what happens.
5. Being an artist looks like a lot of fun!

Rated R. 94 minutes (1 hour 34 minutes). Profanity and nudity. But honestly not as much as you would expect for an R-rated film. One scene has a girl getting out of a bathtub, and looking through the quick glimpse you see it all (again briefly). Oh, and an art gallery owner has his male lover come out stark naked and ask him who she was (a female whose name was being discussed) — sooo … you might want to look away during that scene as everything is on display.

Ah… Cemetery Junction, a British film about a very small town in England where a one Freddie Taylor (played by Christian Cooke) is really trying to do something with his life while balancing friends and seeing his school girlfriend come back into his life. Ricky Gervais also co-stars as well as co-directing with Stephen Merchant.

So he lives in a little dinky town where the main jobs are working in a factory. Everyone works there. To get ahead in life he decides to start working for an insurance company selling life insurance door to door. He has to deal with the tugs of his old friends who want things to remain the same. And on top of this he is slowly realizing how fleeting life is and how people never do get what they want or hope to out of life.

He sees his rich boss and the boss’s daughter (an old school friend) who is now engaged to the top salesman and boss’s favorite. Freddie can see how the boss’s wife is ignored. He can see how long time (30+ years) employees retire with applause and a cut glass fruit bowl.

The movie itself is kind of slow and boring, but if you look closely you’ll see that people who have potential and personality will settle for dead-end lives when taking a little risk and chance on life they can find happiness. Only … can they?

So if you watch this one, ask yourself how important is it to notice the people around you and care about them. How choosing a career or settling in life is like letting your dreams die. You have dreams, why not take some action or chances to make them come true. Or at least get yourself a little closer. And always, no matter what, show gratitude to people.

Things learned from this movie:

1. Um … if your vandalizing a sign don’t just wait for the police to show up.
2. Tattooing your chest may seem like a good idea at the time, but get a second opinion!
3. Small towns hold opportunity too.
4. Employers only hire you because it makes them better off. You have to stick up for yourself to get a fair shake.

Rated R. 95 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes). Profanity – a lot of British profanity. No skin aside from some anatomy cartoons and a tattoo of a naked vampire on a guy’s chest. Some fighting.

Oh my… What to say about Salvage… Well, this British film from 2008 is a mercifully short 78 minutes. There are not a lot of actors that you have to remember who are. That’s pretty much it – sorry.

While this is a low-budget film, and that is really obvious, there is nothing wrong with low budget films. The movie did not at all match the descriptions on the Netflix box. The movie isn’t scary. It makes little sense the whole time. It just isn’t very good.

Beth (Neve McIntosh) is a single mother who has her daughter coming home for Christmas. The daughter walks in on her and this guy having sex. The daughter gets angry and runs off to the neighbors. Beth calls the neighbors and her own daughter nasty names when they tell her to leave and let the daughter cool down at their home. After getting the door slammed in her face, SWAT team police and army units descend upon the town and knock her down. Helicopters fly overhead. A neighbor wanders into the street (he’s bloody and brandishing a cooking knife) and the police shoot him. They tell Beth to get back in her home and stay there. The guy she was sleeping with earlier wants to know why she’s distraught and why they shot the guy. Repeatedly asking her if he had a weapon, to which she kept saying “he wasn’t a terrorist” but finally admitting, yeah, he had a knife.

Strange things happen. People run around screaming and trying to get in their house only to be killed in a pool of blood. If they try to leave soldiers are right there telling them to get back in.

Well, not to ruin it for you if you still want to watch it … I’ll stop there, but that’s pretty much how it goes. They never do logical things, there is no explanations given for anything that happens to these people by the army. The phones and power are turned off. So, do yourself a favor too, turn off the tv and don’t watch this one.

Thanks.

Things learned from this movie:

1. Barricading your doors means it’s ok to leave the sliding glass doors in the back unlocked and free of furniture.
2. If it’s Christmas Eve and your expecting your daughter home, its ok to bring a guy home and sleep with him an hour or so before she’s to arrive.
3. Soldiers hold onto their hand-held radios really hard.
4. Getting a radio in a time of crisis when people are being killed is more important that getting an assault rifle.
5. When you are splattered and covered with blood, washing up means making sure your hands are mostly clean.
6. If monsters or something is outside attacking your community, you are better off going to the other side of the duplex and hiding out there.

Rated Not Rated. 76 minutes (1 hour 16 minutes). Profanity. Nudity – check. Beth is totally nude, but its kinda dark when her daughter surprises her. She then puts on a shirt later and you watch. Gore, some gorey scenes with fake blood if that bothers you.

For a nice evening of friendly family fun you can delve into the Tooth Fairy, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. He’s playing a hockey star who is a “big thing” in the minor leagues, as he hits people so hard he knocks teeth out. But, he’s also a hurt man who has had his dreams crushed (through injury at the least) and feels its ok to stomp on the dreams of others — vividly shown in the beginning when he tells a little league hockey player to give up on dreams, they’ll only make him sad and dissapointed.

Because of this and other similar actions, he’s summoned to Fairy Land, ruled by Julie Andrews, where he is sentenced to be an actual tooth fairy for a couple of weeks. There’s plenty of lame jokes, and special effects as he goes about trying to live his life and do his new “job”.

The main message of this film isn’t about how he goes about doing his job and making sure newly toothless kids find a dollar bill under their pillow but instead how he learns to realize the importance of dreaming, how letting go of your dreams and visions and imagination isn’t a good thing to be realistic, but it kills a part of your spirit. Learning how to say “what if” is very important in life.

And it is truly important! You have to believe in yourself, realize that you are just as good as anyone else, that if you have a dream you should try for it. Go ahead, take the risk and believe and do. And above all, don’t give up hope on your own dreams and for goodness sake, don’t destroy other people’s dreams. It’s really sad here to look at some of these kids in this movie and see how hurt and damaged they are when they dreams and fantasies are destroyed. And you have to ask yourself, was there someone who did that for you, ruined your dreams? Or was there someone who believed in you and encouraged you to continue to have faith in yourself that you can do and accomplish?

Things learned from this movie:

1. If you buy black-market fairy products they don’t work right.
2. Becoming invisible is a cool way to play tricks on people.
3. Fairies can live through being flushed.
4. Tutus make mens butts look big.
5. Tooth Fairies now days do not give coins, they give dollars right under your pillow!

Rated PG. 101 minutes (1 hour 41 minutes). Some sports violence, but that’s about it. It is rated PG, by the way.

Tonight Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is here to entertain us. And entertain it does. It’s a visually stunning piece that is unfortunately Heath Ledger’s last film. It is also, sadly, a hard to understand and grasp film because it deals with the imagination. So at times you are wondering exactly what is going on. But, keep in mind that it is a dream world at times and you are meant to view it simply with awe and wonder for what it is.

As mentioned a moment ago, this is a film that revolves around The Great Parnasus, Christopher Plummer, but the show is stolen by Tony, Heath Ledger who died during filming without completing the film. Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrel stepped in and finished Heath’s part donating their fees to Ledger’s daughter, Matilda.

In a nutshell, you have Dr. Parnassus (or Parny as “Mr. Nick”, aka, the Devil calls him), who centuries ago made a deal with the devil for immortality. The condition of that deal, well, would give away a little of the enjoyment of the movie, so I’ll not reveal that snippet. Basically Dr. Parnassus’s theory is that people will always tell stories and have imagination but with modern society his road show is run down because of the lack of imagination and participation in stories (I disagree, but what weight does my opinion hold?). Dr. Parnassus and the Devil continue to engage in little side bets that Parnassus continues to win by just the skin of his teeth. In fact, when the Devil does win one, he says “Damn, I won.” So clearly the Devil is getting more out of the thrill of the bet than from the actual winnings/losing.

As they are moving along, they stumble upon Heath Ledger’s character, Tony, hung from under a bridge. He’s rescued by Parnassus’ daughter and stagehands. But, amazingly Tony is alive, saved from the noose by a sturdy metal whistle-thingy. He’s lost his memory but slowly its revealed who he really is. Tony was once a charity and funds manager but was accused of embezzling the money. He beings to help out with the road show and lures people into Parnassus’s mirror, which is active when he’s in a trance. The mirror, becomes a dreamworld into the imagination of the one who entered. What do they find? The world of their dreams which eventually leads them to a choice — what do they chose, and choosing right or wrong determines if they make it back to the land of the living or head off to the realm of the Devil.

The movie also has some hidden morals. You can see someone running from supposed danger who meets a long stair case, the 12 x 12 x 12 Step Program. The long hard climb back to a normal life. Or, a quick easy walk over to a pub where you “could use a drink”. Choosing wrong here, the pub exploded and the Devil has won. Or perhaps a crossroad, one arrow is the High Road, the other the Low Road. If only life’s choices were so easily laid out like they are here, or as easy as they may seem in our dreams. Why don’t things work so well? Is it our lack of faith? Why do we always chose the easy path when a path that while it may seem harder, it really isn’t much worse of a path and it yields far better results in life. Doing the right thing is important regardless what the options may indicate.

All in all, its a fun little movie. Visually captivating and entertaining to watch. Some people may not care for it, but if you enjoy things that are just a little strange, this one will fit you.

Things learned from this movie:

1. A metal flute can save your life if your being lynched.
2. The Devil doesn’t really understand Black Magic.
3. If your midget was to leave you, you would go and get another.
4. Can you put a price on dreams?
5. Stories must go on.
6. If you see someone weaker than you, you should bully them.
7. Are you a betting man?
8. The Devil always collects at midnight.

Rated PG-13. 123 minutes (1 hours 3 minutes). Very much a “tame” movie. Not too much violence or profanity (there’s some). Valentina sits supposedly nude as Eve in the garden, draped only by her long hair as you scrutinize to see if you can spot a nipple.

A great little film about the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, Green Zone, with Matt Damon. Paul Greengrass is back with Matt Damon (both from the Jason Bourne series) for this tight little war, political drama. Great action and realism, the film shows some of the chaos that went on over there.

Not to give away too much of the plot, the story revolves around the search for WMD or Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. The teams are going to locations provided by top intelligence from an Iraqi source about where the WMD are, only there is never anything there. The source, named Magellan, is trusted and never question despite the string of bad information as the American troops blindly follow lead after lead. So why did such bad information get into the system?

Regardless, the film is well made, the war effects are great, the chaos is well represented. Its an enjoyable evening with a war movie for anyone who like this sort of film. Have at it!

Rated R. 115 minutes (1 hour 55 minutes). Profanity is used quite liberally. As a war film, there is a lot of violence.

This gem of a picture, Everlasting Moments, is a Swedish film about an early 1900s family, and particularly of the mother who finds escape through the lens of a camera. Just before she is married, Maria (played by Maria Heiskanen), wins a camera in a lottery and later in life begins to use it after trying to sell it to a photographer who takes a liking to her and teaches her how to use it. Little by little she gets better and finds more enjoyment in taking the photos as her family grows and through tough times of life her husband becomes cruel and abusive.

Honestly, it is a slow moving picture that Jan Troell presents here, but it sort of has to be. The worst part is, for people like me, its in Swedish and you have to read subtitles. But that isn’t a bad thing. It’s a beautiful picture and very touching — if you look and let it speak to you.

If you think about it, you could ask yourself some intriguing questions that are raised by the film. Why do people stay with abusive spouses? How is alcoholism so destructive and why can’t people quit or manage their addiction without it always getting the better of them? Do people have a propensity to cheat and can they not stop themselves? Why is it that some will realize how their behavior is hurting the ones they love, and even be moved by that realization, but yet are powerless to give it up? How do you make ends meet in tough times? Why is art and creativity such a great release from the cares and burdens of everyday life? Why do we have skills that we take for granted while everyone around us would treasure those skills and use them better? Can you find the charm and beauty inside everyone?

But I guess most of all, the film is entitled “Everlasting Moments” in reference to what is caught on film is an everlasting moment. You’ll never be that young again, that particular event or day will never happen again and you have it captured for it to live (as it were) forever. So like a photographer that chooses what they take a photo of and when to time it and from what point of reference to view it from, can we also mold our memories in the same way and keep the ones that look at life in the best possible way? Life is short and those around us that we love and cherish are worth the most in life how much of the bad things or bad habits should be overlooked in hopes of the future? What does keep people together, is it, as the film asked, is it love?

The film, which is based on the author’s family, ends after Maria’s death with her daughter discovering the camera and an undeveloped plate inside bearing the only photo  her mother ever took of herself, smiling back at us.

Not Rated. 131 minutes (2 hours 11 minutes) – yes, that’s two hours. But, while I started this prepared to sit and endure for the evening it flew by a lot faster than I expected.

This little movie Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief was surprisingly good! This is based on the book by Rick Riordan and was directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone 2, and the first two Harry Potter movies – Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets). You have Logan Lerman playing the title role of Percy Jackson, who unknown to him he is a demi-god and the son of Poseidon played by Kevin McKidd. Someone, it seems has stolen Zues’s (Sean Bean of the Lord of the Rings) lightning bolt and everyone thinks Percy has it. The gods will have a war if it isn’t returned in two weeks and this war would mean the end of the world … and I reckon this is the 2012 thing the Mayans were predicting.

Anyway, Percy finds out he is a demi-god, his mother (Catherine Keener) is taken off to the underworld as a bargaining chip for the lightning bolt – actually a weapon and Zeus’s special power. So he sets off on a journey to get his mother and find the lightning bolt to return it to Zeus. Along the way little things like a three headed Hydra and Medusa (by the appealing Uma Thurman) her special effects snake head is cool!

Not to give anything away if you haven’t seen or read the books, but on the recommendation of a friend I watched this and was pleasantly surprised because I thought it was a kids movie. There was several good little jokes poked in there, some jokes slid in for the adults and the CGI is well-done. It is interesting that the young Percy and his fellow demi-gods all pretty much despise their god parent (no pun intended) even though they have been told how they can’t be around them – isn’t permitted. I mean, if I just found out I was adopted and my real dad had all these powers and I’d have a few of them too, well – cool!

Things you learn:

1. If you are a demi-god you can go onto the casino floor even though you are underage.
2. If you eat the lotus flowers no one cares if you have goat’s legs – in fact women love you for it.
3. The entrance to hades and the underworld is in Hollywood!
4. It doesn’t take long to drive from Nashville to Las Vegas.
5. Maserati’s are way cool!
6. Even demi-gods love to play games and video games.
7. Swords never go out of style!
8. Apple iPods make great Medusa hunting and killing tools.

Rated PG. 118 minutes (1 hour 58 minutes). Action violence. There is a lot of fighting and the teenagers are playing with real swords and trying to cut.