"The Ultimate Gift" (2006)

"The Ultimate Gift" Movie Poster

Thanks to Kyle again for another great movie recommendation (and providing the DVD!)

I've been attracted to faith-inspired films in the last several years, particularly "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof." Knowing that there were probably going to subtle faith-related messages throughout this movie made it more intriguing.

The movie was inspired by the best-selling novel by Jim Stovall of the same name.

The tagline for the movie was "Life is how you live it...not how you spend it."

It was rated PG by the MPAA for thematic elements, some violence and language.

It won the 2006 Heartland Film Festival's Crystal Heart Award. It also received the Dove Foundation's seal of approval.

The movie received mostly mediocre ratings. Many critics did not dispute the sentimental value, but it was too sweet for them. Box office sales reflected ratings, as it opened to $1.2 million and many theaters pulled it from distribution. DVD sales grossed $9.55 million.

The trailer, included in the DVD, starts with a drumbeat. A man's voice calls, "Jason?" as a man turns around from a 10th floor elevator.

"How do you know my name?"

A black man from inside a conference room says, "It's my business to know everyone named in your grandfather's will."

As scenes of a cemetery are shown and then back to the conference room, Jason says, "I know what he left me. Nothing."

The same man says, "Walk away and you'll never know, will ya?"

The trailer goes through what appears to be family arguments about the inheritance, with Jason only caring about the money he will receive.

Then, he meets a woman and what appears to be her daughter in a park. As they walk away, Jason stops them with "Hey!"

"I need a friend."

"Explain yourself!" The little girl demands.

Jason shrugs and says, "It's complicated."

As they sit down and talk, the little girl looks at him and asks, "You have a bet with a dead guy? Cool."

As the movie starts, a elderly man is sitting in what appears to be a law library, preparing for either an interview or a broadcast. Then, a phone rings against a black screen. A woman answers the phone, says a few words, and hangs up. She walks into a portion of an office, where a black man in a suit and bow tie is sitting, looking solemn and depressed. "He's gone, sir." They exchange a few words about "business interests" and other things before the woman turns to walk away.

We find out that the man in the opening shot is named Eric Stevens, but you can call him Red (Academy Award nominee James Garner). We find out that the black man, Hamilton (Bill Cobbs), is a lawyer, and we hear a phone conversation between them, with Red proposing a few "business ideas, some that are still in the dream stage..."

Red and Hamilton started out as business partners and ended up as friends. As Hamilton sits down with members of Red's family to divvy up the will, his eldest child Bill was named owner of Red's oil and gas company. However, since Bill showed zero interest in the company while Red was alive, he didn't think it would change after his death. So Red left the company under the board's control, leaving Bill, his family and lawyers shocked and humiliated.

One by one, members of Red's family are left speechless and angry as they are confused about what a 10,000 acre cow farm is worth, how much they get, or that their estate will remain under the trustees.

As Jason Stevens (Drew Fuller) sits outside the boardroom, he is the last to enter, even though one of his family members holds the elevator door open. When he sits down, he sees a box in front of Hamilton and asks what's in it. "Your inheritance," Hamilton replies.

They sit down and Jason watches a DVD made by Red. He starts talking about gifts, and wanting to give Jason a series of gifts, which, will hopefully, result in "the ultimate gift." But, there's a catch: If Jason fails in any way, he loses everything.

Along the way, Jason learns 12 different gifts. He meets and becomes friends with people not only in the United States, but out of the country as well. He meets and begins to develop a special bond with Texas cattle rancher Gus (Brian Dennehy ), mother Alexia (Ali Hillis) and her young daughter Emily (Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin), among many others that Jason crosses paths with.

He endures many trials and struggles, but ultimately, like the title, receives the ultimate gift.

Like many critics, I enjoyed the sentimentality of the movie, but it was sweet enough to give me a sugar headache. The concept of the 12 gifts was a novel coming-of-age idea, but Jason's character was a little too conceited at the beginning for me to truly believe that he evolves so much throughout the period of 12 months.

However, the movie did evoke several emotions. Breslin in particular provided much of of the humor, though Fuller provided some quips as well. I cried several times, so if you watch it, be prepared for several tear-jerker moments.

Overall, I probably wouldn't watch this movie a second time, but it is a sweet, sentimental movie to watch when you want to be reminded of how precious life is and how you can learn things in the most unexpected ways.

As always, I appreciate any feedback, comments, and movie suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"100 Girls" (2000)

"100 Girls" Movie Poster

This movie recommendation came from my friend Amber. We were browsing the entertainment section at our local Wal-Mart just after New Year's. We walked along the movies aisle, and Amber stopped suddenly. She gasped and pointed to a DVD that was selling for $5. "OMG, I love this movie, and I didn't even realize Wal-Mart was selling it!" she exclaimed in the empty aisle at 10:30 p.m. I gave her $5 to buy it, and she continued to talk about how good it was.

"This guy, he's kinda dumb, but you know, that's how most college guys are...haha," she said. "But anyway, he gets stuck in an elevator with this mystery girl during a blackout, and then he has no idea what happened to her. He goes in search of her, meeting 100 women along the way. I love it!"

So almost four months have gone by, and I haven't seen it yet. Well, until now, anyway.

I found both the trailer and the full movie available FOR FREE on YouTube, since it wasn't available at the Longwood library.

The trailer begins with the side of a college dorm, with young women, some very scantily-clad, hanging out of the windows, as a male voice reads, "I love women. 100 girls, and one of them is my true love," as the scene shifts from woman to woman to woman. The male voice continues: "My forever soul mate, my kinesthetic destiny. The problem is, I don't know who she is," as a young college student is standing outside.

Then someone walks into an elevator with a laundry basket with the same guy standing idly. "My back was to her when the blackout hit." The scene changes to all the lights shorting out. "We never knew each others' names," he says as the young students kiss in the dark elevator.

"In the morning, she was gone." As the elevator door opens into sunshine, the young guy wakes up and is stunned to see that he is still in the elevator.

"You lose your virginity and you don't even know who it was with?" The guy's dumbfounded roommate asks him, as the main student has a stupid grin on his face, wondering who the mystery girl could be.

"Stop trying to find me," one silhouetted girl says.

"What?" The college guy says as his face turns to complete shock and confusion.

The guy's voice over reads, "I had one last chance. She was out there somewhere, watching me. I had to find her."

"100 Girls" was rated R and released on September 22, 2000, with a running time of 94 minutes.

As Amber described, Matthew (Jonathan Tucker) gets trapped in a elevator with a mystery girl when the power goes out in a women's dormitory, a.k.a. the "virgin vault." They have sex in the dark. In the morning, when Matthew wakes up, the woman is gone, leaving him with a just a pair of panties.

Determined to find the matching bra to those panties, Matthew embarks on a quest to find it, and the girl they belong to.

Along the way, Matthew becomes the dorm's work-study maintenance man, has various encounters with his roommate Rod (James DeBello), and tries to help as many of the women as he can, in search of the mystery girl. Emmanuelle Chriqui stars as Patty, who Matthew helps out in dealing with her abusive boyfriend, Crick (Johnny Green).

There are several notable names in "100 Girls." Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy" and "27 Dresses" fame plays Arlene. Larissa Oleynik from Nickelodeon's "The Secret World of Alex Mack" plays Wendy, a closeted lesbian who Matthew tries to help out in finding a mate. Jamie Pressly plays Cynthia. And, as a minor character, Eric Szmanda from "CSI:Crime Scene Investigation" plays Sam.

Overall, the acting was decent. The strongest actors in this movie were Johnathan Tucker, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Larisa Oleynik, and Jamie Pressly. Katherine Heigl and Eric Szmanda were decent, but not great.

Given the trailer, Tucker came off to me initially as being flighty and very aloof, since he is embarking on this quest to find one mystery woman out of 100 girls. However, Tucker plays Matthew very well and shows his true character throughout the movie as being kind, sincere and not all about finding the one girl, but helping all of them in some way.

James DeBello, who plays Rod, is very similar to Stephen Baldwin in many ways, especially with his dumb, stoner-like lines that are supposed to add humor, but really don't. It just makes him, both the actor and the character he plays, look stupid. The same goes for Johnny Green, who plays Crick, but Green's acting is less stupid and witless.

I would recommend watching this movie if you need a good laugh on a depressing day or night. I would watch it with a group of girls and guys alike; it is not strictly a chick flick or a man's movie. It is enjoyable for mostly everyone, the girls see the cute and funny guys, while the guys get to see and revel in lots of skin and fun activities involving women's bodies. But if you're squeamish around lots of nudity and sex, then I don't recommend it.

As always, I'll take any comments: feedback (positive or negative), and suggestions for movies!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Ghost World" (2001)

"Ghost World" Movie Poster

Thanks to Kyle again for another great movie recommendation. At the Longwood library, I have always passed over this movie in search of others. But I figured, since "Ghost World" has such a strong cult following, and it stars two up-and-coming actresses at the time, I should probably see it.

One of the first things that intrigued me was the cover of the DVD. Not to be stereotypical, but the two girls on the cover immediately struck me as outcasts, with their funky and mismatched clothes, odd shoes and one of the girl's close-cropped, blue-streaked hair. The tagline "Accentuate the negative" also got my attention. I knew that I would be in for an interesting time watching this movie.

"Ghost World" was rated R for strong language and some sexual content. It was made with a $7 million budget and runs for 111 minutes. It was released in the U.S. on July 20, 2001. Despite rave reviews, the movie only grossed $8.7 million.

Speaking of reviews, "Ghost World" fared very well with critics, despite its low number of box office receipts. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 92% percent rating, while Metacritic sports a score of 88. Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, writing, "I wanted to hug this movie. It takes such a risky journey and never steps wrong. It creates specific, original, believable, loveable characters, and meanders with them through their inconsolable days, never losing its sense of humor." Entertainment Weekly gave "Ghost World" an A-.

I didn't realize that "Ghost World" had originated as a graphic novel, which makes this movie even more interesting and intriguing.

The trailer can be both on the library's DVD and here on YouTube. The beginning automatically swept me in, with the upbeat music and the hilariousness of a bare-chested, very chiseled man swinging nunchucks outside a convenience store. "I can't believe we made it," one girl exclaims. One of the outcasts, in thick black-framed glasses and a very out-of-date dress, says sarcastically, "We graduated high school. How totally amazing."

"Ghost World. The Underground Comic Book Comes to Life," a voice-over reads as the same bare-chested, sunburnt man nunchucks the store manager's mop in the parking lot, as the outcasts and the teenaged store clerk (Brad Renfro) watch and laugh.

The movie stars a young Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson as best friends Enid and Rebecca, set in the summer after their high school graduation. Despite being social outcasts, Becky is more popular than Enid. Enid's diploma is awarded on the condition that she take a remedial art class, though she is a talented artist.

As the summer begins, the two girls meet a lonely man, Seymour (Steve Buscemi) through way of a personal ad. Playing a prank, Enid poses as the girl Seymour wants to make contact with. The girls have fun watching Seymour sit alone at a diner waiting for Enid to show up, but then Enid and Seymour become good friends.

Meanwhile, they continue to wreak havoc on others around them. Enid is frustrated with her art teacher Roberta's (Illeana Douglas) snide comments and discrimination against Enid, in favor of the other students. Enid, to get back at Roberta, asks Seymour to lend her a poster of an ugly caricatured black man, which Seymour's company used as a racist promotional art tool. When Enid presents it to the class, Roberta is so impressed she offers Enid a college scholarship.

Unfortunately, that is not all the havoc Enid and Becky cause or the trouble they get into. The entire summer is full of adventure and hilarity as these two social outcasts learn about themselves and the others around them.

Birch and Johansson are fabulous up-and-coming actresses, playing their parts almost seamlessly. It's like they transported themselves back to their own high school days and played the characters Enid and Becky as if they were those exact social outcasts in high school. (Hopefully this makes sense, readers!)

Buscemi is the perfect actor to play Seymour. He and Enid together are basically the epitome of loneliness, and his comedic outbursts just add to the humor of the characters and movie.

Overall, though I was skeptical at first, I really enjoyed this movie. It makes me interested in other lesser-known movies about social outcasts in high school, so if you have any suggestions or recommendations, please let me know!

As always, please leave comments, especially feedback and any movie suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Threesome" (1994)

"Threesome" Movie Poster

So I had never heard of "Threesome" until Spring Break a few weeks ago. My friends and I went to Starbucks then went back to our friend Laura's house to watch a movie. Her family recently got Netflix, which is literally one of the best business and entertainment concepts EVER to be invented or thought of. We debated over what movie to watch for probably 20 minutes, especially since we hit the "Comedy" category button, and Laura insisted on scrolling through all 14 or 15 pages of movie posters to pick just one movie.

We finally decided on "Threesome" because it looked funny and our group of friends is famous for our constant joking and sexual comments/references. We queued it up on the TV and settled back on the couches. Not knowing what to expect was left to our imaginations, and boy, was I surprised.

The movie stars Josh Charles as transfer student Eddy, Lara Flynn Boyle as independent and strong-willed Alex, and Stephen Baldwin as the All-American jock Stuart. It was written and directed by Andrew Fleming, as the movie is an autobiographical comedy mixed with social commentary, based on Fleming's college experiences and memories.

It was rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It was released on April 8, 1994 and runs for 93 minutes, and eventually grossed $14.8 million in revenues.

The whole movie centers around how a housing error put Eddy and Stuart together with a female roommate, Alex, who the college thought was a boy based on her name. Their experiences together as a trio of friends and the lust for one another's affections (or not) eventually causes them to drift apart.

The film received mostly negative review once it was released. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes said 26% of critics gave "Threesome" positive reviews, based on 23 reviews. Roger Ebert felt the move was unfunny and, "Like many kids their age, these three are more bold in talk than action, and the movie sounds right; it sounds like undergraduate human dialogue, intended to shock, to liberate, to amuse." Peter Travers' review for "Rolling Stone" magazine said, "We're supposed to get all teary when kinkiness threatens to break up a friendship that was hard to swallow in the first place" and courtesy of Alexander Gruszynski, "There's lots of glossy cinematography...as the three lovers wander the campus separately, looking contemplative. Now there's a laugh."

I couldn't find the movie on DVD in the Longwood library, but the whole movie is available on YouTube in 9 or 10 sections. Of course, Netflix is always an option.

Overall, I thought the movie of hliarious and just plain stupid. Boyle, Charles and Baldwin are perfect for the roles of college students. The antics of the main charaters as well as the people around them portray both college students of the past and today. I laughed really hard during the movie not just because of the jokes and sexual references, but also because I could picture my friends and Longwood acquaintances saying or doing similar things here in Farmville or at home.

It is clearly like a '90s movie with the clothing and hair styles, certain sayings and catchphrases and car makes, but some of the greatest movies were made in the '90s too.

It's difficult for me to compare "Threesome" with any of today's similar comedies, but if you find any that even remotely compare, please let me know!

I wouldn't put "Threesome" in the category of classic or a movie I could watch over and over, but I certainly rank it as one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while, and one that I could definitely relate to, being a college student and all that jazz.

As always, comments and questions and feedback are always encouraged and welcomed!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Havoc" (2005)

"Havoc" Movie Poster"

In response to the feedback I've gotten from my last post, I'm going to continue the trend of incorporating a movie's trailer into the review. A trailer says a lot about a movie even before someone pays money to go see it, at least that's what people think when they view these 1 1/2 to 2-minute long clips from the movie.

Thanks to Kyle for recommending (and letting me borrow the DVD) "Havoc" from 2005. It's a good movie starring Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Freddy Rodriguez, and a host of other great actors and actresses.

I easily found the trailer for "Havoc" on YouTube. It runs 1 minute, 56 seconds. Immediately, within the first few seconds I was intrigued by the characters and the action. It starts out with a girl being videotaped, a tough look on her face, asking "So you wanna know about us?" as the opening chords of either a rap or hip-hop song plays in the background. As her male friend points the camera at her and the scene switches to her walking with her friends, she says, "We live very sheltered lives."

The voice-over kicks in within in a few seconds with the interspersed lines, "They're rich...They're young...They want something real." As the black-haired girl and her friends explore the city, particularly at night, one of the girls suggest that they go downtown to explore the whole new world. Suddenly, the group of girls are gathered in a room, and one of the girls, with a raised voice, says, "There is a monetary zone of geography which we're not allowed to pass," as the scene cuts to a Mexican man approaching one of the girls, looking angry. Then suddenly, the same guy says, "You wanna come to a party?"

As party scenes and landscapes of the city fly by, the voice-over continues: "In every city, there are unspoken rules about where you can go, and who you can be with."

"None of it really matters. We're just teenagers, and we're bored," one of the girls says as guns are drawn, fights break out, and basically all hell breaks loose.

The cover of the DVD shows Hathaway's character lying on her back, being nuzzled by her Mexican love interest. The tagline: "Some lines are not meant to be crossed."

The whole premise of the movie is showing how bored Los Angeles teenagers have gotten, and how far they push their limits. Allison (Hathaway) and Emily (Phillips) leave their upscale suburb for a joyride through East L.A. As they are exposed to horrifying things such as drugs, gang brutality and violence, they don't become scared - they become infatuated.

Hathaway gives a stunning performance as Allison, who is a rich girl who can have anything she wants. She is an erotic character who literally has everything and can get anything - drugs, sex, and more. Scenes in the movie include her snorting cocaine, drinking multiple kinds of alcohol, and of course, having sex with multiple people.

Unfortunately, Allison and Emily's adventure into East L.A. becomes increasingly dangerous as rival gangs become involved over drugs and turf, the Mexicans versus the Pacific Palisades rich kids. What began as a film project by Allison's friend Eric (Matt O'Leary) to document the teen's faux-gangsta lifestyle becomes scary as Allison's boyfriend Toby (Mike Vogel) is involved in a gang, which has multiple skirmishes with rival gangs throughout the film.

As the movie progresses in a blur of action, both physical and sexual, Allison and her friends learn how truly sheltered their lives have been, and what they learned about the world outside of their former lives.

As always, I welcome comments, questions, criticism, and recommendations!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Ordinary People" (1980)

"Ordinary People" Movie Poster

I never realized, until now, how attracted I have become to dramatic films, I really enjoy them. I'm especially developing a taste for older movies, because they show a different way movies were made. This is in comparison to today's movies, which are more concentrated on action, sex or gore, rather than the story that encompasses the characters. Can you think of a movie that was made before the 1990s that shows this sentiment of the story over the action? Please feel free to comment!

I think the sentiment I mentioned above applies perfectly to 1980's smash hit "Ordinary People." Looking at the DVD case in the Longwood library a few days ago, I realized this movie won 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay Adaption. In my mind, if it won all these prestigious Oscars, it had to be a good movie.

The theatrical trailer is available to view on the library's DVD. I watched this first, just to get a sense of what the movie would be about. With the opening chords of Handel's "Messiah," a voice-over reads, "In this typical town, in this comfortable home, three ordinary people are about to live an extraordinary story."

The following is a smattering of the sound bites from the trailer:

"What kind of psychiatrist are you? You don't believe in dreams," a young man says, scoffing at the psychiatrist. "I do believe in dreams," the shrink responds, "only sometimes I want to know what's happening when you're awake."

Psychiatrist: "How long are you going to punish yourself? When are you going to quit?"

Young Man: "I just did one wrong thing..."

Psychiatrist: "And what was that one wrong thing you did?"

These little sound bites/clips pulled me in even more, as most trailers do. It made my hungry to find out what was wrong with the young man, why he was seeing a psychiatrist, why was he punishing himself.

The cast of characters is star-studded, and this movie gave some actors and actresses their start in the movie business.

The story follows a upper-class family residing in Lake Forest, Illinois. Though the movie is dated in the looks of the cars and clothes, the story and lessons learned are far more important.

A young and striking Donald Sutherland plays the easy-going and loving father Calvin Jarrett, Mary Tyler Moore plays his charming yet self-centered wife, Beth. They had two sons, Buck (Scott Doebler) and Conrad (Timothy Hutton), but we learn early on that Buck has died. Through a series of flashbacks from Conrad's point of view, it appears that Buck drowned in a lake of some sort during a fierce storm.

Along the way, the Jarrett family begins to disintegrate as details about Buck's death and the family come out. The clear protagonist is Conrad, a high-school student, as we see his life with his parents, adjusting with his friends, the swim team, and girls. As the movie progresses, psychiatrist Berger (Judd Hirsch) and girls Karen (Dinah Manoff) and Jeannine (Elizabeth McGovern).

Two other things, besides the fabulous acting and cast of characters, really sold this movie with me, keeping me riveted to my computer screen even after the 2-hour movie ended. One was the music selection. From the very beginning, Handel's iconic "Messiah" sets the tone of the movie. Second, the choice of scenery and setting truly shows the status of the Jarretts and their lives. The movie is set in the time between early fall and Christmas, and the scenery of suburban Illinois is gorgeous, keeping my attention the entire time.

The emotions in this movie are so raw and poignant, especially Timothy Hutton's character, Conrad. Besides Hutton's closeted emotions eventually making their way out, all the characters really show their emotions, especially as the movie progresses.

This fabulous drama is based on the 1976 novel by Judith Guest, which was her first published novel. The Academy Award-winning screenplay adaption was created by Alvin Sargent.

Besides Sargent winning Best Screenplay Adaption and the movie winning Best Picture, Best Director went to Robert Redford and Best Supporting Actor was Timothy Hutton, who certainly deserved it, at least in my book.

I hope you enjoyed this! Go pick up this awesome movie at the Greenwood Library. As always, I welcome any comments, questions, criticism, and of course, movie suggestions!

Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Permanent Record" (1988)

"Permanent Record" Movie Poster

Who thinks Keanu Reeves is a good actor? I'll admit, in the movies that I've seen him in, it's been hit or miss. When I was browsing in the library the other day (I'm practically there all the time, but not just for the movies), I found one of his earliest films, a 1988 release called "Permanent Record."

My first thought: It's about a teenager who did something so horrible that it went on his permanent record and scarred him for life. I personally had never heard of it, so I found the movie, in its entirety, on YouTube and proceeded to sit down and watch it, not sure what it was about or how Reeves's role would be portrayed.

Turns out, the movie wasn't what I thought it was. In fact, it was something completely different.

Also starring Alan Boyce and Jennifer Rubin, the movie begins with a bunch of teenagers hanging out on a hillside, a circle of 1980s-esque cars and trucks, and teens talking, laughing, smoking. It looks to be a very popular hangout spot or "lover's lane" type of place, where kids from school gather and boyfriends and girlfriends come to hang out and hook up. One of the cliffs overlooks the beautiful coast and water, which I later learned was Portland and Cannon Beach, Oregon. As a few of the teens walk along the cliffs, we see a girl sitting on the ground, back up against one of the rocks. She has what appears to be a planner or notebook on her lap, but then she closes it and stands, slowly walking down the rocky slope towards the massive group of cars. We see a motorcycle leave the area, and the girl joins up with another girl and a guy to get into their cars and leave.

The scene switches to a rural area with small, bungalow-style houses spaced apart. An older model car pulls into one of the grassy driveways. stopping abruptly as any teenage driver would. Seagulls cry as the boy gets out of the car and rushes toward a house. He enters the house quickly, where we hear loud electric guitar chords crashing. Another guy is in a separate room, likely a bedroom, playing the said guitar. The orange neon sign of the treble and bass clefs and music notes, along with the official "Recording" light-up sign, set the mood that this is a musician's bedroom.

As the arriving friend enters the bedroom, they start talking as if they are best friends. The first guy greets the guitarist and they talk about how the guitarist's dad left that morning, where the friend says, "You have a dad?" and the guitarist responds, "Once in a while," as he puts his guitar down. He starts talking about "how the party is on for tomorrow night," while his friend says, "Oh cool!"

As the movie progresses, we discover that the guitar player is named Chris (Reeves) and his best friend is David (Boyce). David is dating Lauren (Rubin), and as high school seniors, they seem to have it all and are living out their lives. Chris is the quirky outsider, while David has everything: talent, great grades, a sense of humor, and being the popular guy. However, something tragic happens at a party that's held along the coastal cliffs. What was thought to be an awful accident is something much worse, and their lives are changed forever.

Curious to know how it ends? Watch the movie online or get it from the Longwood library!

Stay tuned for another movie next week! As always, I greatly appreciate and welcome any comments, questions, and especially movie suggestions!

-Laura Beth :)

"Nell" (1994)

"Nell" Movie Poster

I first heard about this movie when I was in one of my Communication Studies courses a few semesters ago. Dr. Tracy had assigned us to read a particular chapter from Rebecca Ann Lind's "Race/Gender/Media: Considering Diversity Across Audiences, Content, and Producers." When I started reading, the example that the introductory paragraphs discussed was "Nell." The descriptors intrigued me because it was about a young woman who lived in the backwoods of North Carolina who came up with her own language. Yet, I haven't watched the movie until now. I didn't realize the Longwood library even had the movie until about a week ago.

The movie stars a young Jodie Foster, her first major movie appearance since the mega 1991 hit "The Silence of the Lambs," along with Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson.

This movie was based on the play "Idioglossia" by Mark Handley.

In the opening scene, there is an aerial flyover of sorts, taking you over blue mountains, lush green forest and a deep blue river shining in the early morning sun. A spooky-sounding woman's voice is heard, singing some sort of song but with no music. But the words are not really words; they are difficult to make out beyond child-like syllables and jumbled gibberish. As the flyover focuses on one part of the mountains, the engine of a motorcycle grows in volume. We then see a man riding a red motorcycle around a curve of the highway cut into one of the hills and forest.

As real music is heard, the scene switches to hands threading and then tying another person's black bootlaces. The scene goes back to the man on the motorcycle as the highway gives way to dirt trail, and making a right turn into the woods. The person's hands who were tying the bootlaces is now setting tortoiseshell combs into a woman's gray hair.

The man is still on the trail but heading ever-deeper into the woods. The trees and brush slow his pace every so often, but he continues on, with a determination to find his destination, no matter how far away from civilization he is. Then the scene changes back to the hands, where one pair is washing the other with water and a yellow sponge. As these scenes switch back and forth, the man is still making his way to his destination in the woods, while the pair of hands continues to prepare the older-appearing woman for the day, including smoothing her hair and placing a daisy bloom across her skin.

Finally, the man on the motorcycle stops at a place next to the rolling river, with bright sunshine illuminating the water, trees and surrounding scenery. He dismounts the motorcycle and grabs a cardboard box off the back, full of what appears to be groceries with Quaker Oatmeal, rags and other household supplies. The man walks a few feet and then puts the box on the ground. A leather change purse lays there, and he picks it up and takes the money out to pocket it. As he turns around to leave, weird sounds from behind him catches his attention, according to the dumbfounded look on his face. We see a dilapidated wooden cabin in the distance, surrounded by trees, almost completely secluded and swallowed by the forest. He turns around to face the cabin, his expression changing to astonishment with a hint of puzzlement, as he walks toward the cabin with the box, which appears that he has never approached the cabin before.

He walks hesitantly up the steps, as we see a screened porch overgrown with vines and clutter everywhere. He knocks softly on the entrance frame. The music changes to the spooky, danger-alerting kind of music that you probably hear in any horror movie. He calls out the name of the woman hesitantly as he slowly walks toward the entrance of the cabin. As he slowly looks around the corner and knocks again, he calls out "Ms. Kellty" once more. We see an overview of the primitive kitchen, before the view pans to the woman lying on her back on the floor, dead. As the man comes for a closer look, the woman is dressed in a pale blue dress, black boots and has two daisies covering her eyes. At this, the man runs out of the house and is seen riding away on his motorcycle, likely to go find help.

After the opening scenes, we are introduced to a doctor attending to an elderly man. As he walks out of the house talking to the man's daughter, a Sheriff's Department SUV pulls up with a honk, the driver saying, "Been looking all over for you, Jerry!" as he walks toward the road and the waiting vehicle. This is the first instance of Dr. Jerry Lovell (Neeson). As the SUV heads toward the mountains, Sheriff Todd Peterson (Nick Searcy) tells Jerry that Billy Fisher (Jeremy Davies) found her. "He delivers the groceries out there. I guess she's what you'd call a hermit." As the focus shifts to their faces, the Peterson continues, "She talks kinds funny too. Kinda like, duh, ooh, ma." Jerry responds,"You try talking out of one side of your face." The sheriff says, "Oh, you've seen her then?" Jerry says, "Only once."

As the two men cover up the dead woman's body and look for evidence, Jerry asks if no electricity, no phone, no running water is real. "She lived here all alone?" Jerry muses. The sheriff responds, "That's what hermits do, Love. They live alone and they die alone." As Jerry walks along the rocks out to a calm spot near the middle of the river, Todd calls out, "OK we're done here! Let's get back to civilization!" when Jerry appears resigned about having to leave this beautiful place of nature.

Jerry yells that he'll catch up as he goes back through the cabin. As he is musing over the now-opened packages of oatmeal and dry milk, he hears what sounds like footsteps above him. Discovering a set of stairs, he climbs up to a full-length oval mirror and what appears to be a bedroom. As he looks in the reflection over a mirror, the spooky music starts up again. Jerry continues to slowly look around, he finally sees in the mirror a young woman's bare leg, accompanied by a white dress or nightgown, her dark face covering her face as she is huddled in a corner of the room. She is hanging on to the rafter as Jerry whirls around to look at her, as she emits the strange noises that Billy heard earlier. Here, we are first introduced to Nell (Foster).

As the movie progresses, Nell, though a young woman, is child-like because she cannot speak like others. She expresses herself initially through anger and violence towards Jerry, but eventually warms up to him as his visits increase. Jerry wants to protect her from a life of laboratories and research studies, but he is at a loss about what to do with Nell. However, Jerry meets Dr. Paula Olsen (Richardson), a Charlotte, North Carolina psychologist.

I was captivated throughout the entire movie, a total of 113 minutes. The actors are brilliant with their roles, flawless in their characters. I highly recommend the movie, and the review for the original "Idioglossia" play can be found here.

I can't decide which one of two movies to review for next week, so I'm asking you readers to give me feedback. I'm deciding between "The Onion Field" and "Permanent Record."

Stay tuned until next week! As always, I welcome any comments, questions and movie suggestions! Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)

"Biloxi Blues" (1988)

"Biloxi Blues" Movie Poster

I don't know why, but I love movies from past decades and about wars. Ever since I took my awesome 20th Century World Topics history class my senior year in high school, I learned everything I could about all the major wars from the 20th Century: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War and so on.

I'm also passionate about the military. Though my family is small, I'm pretty sure all five branches of the military have been covered in some way. My dad is retired Coast Guard, and my grandfathers served in the Army and the Navy.

So when I picked up Neil Simon's "Biloxi Blues" from the library, seeing a young Matthew Broderick on the front cover wasn't the only thing that got me interested. The dog tags with pictures of Christopher Walken and Penelope Ann Miller plus the background of soldiers at what appears to be a training camp peaked my interest. It got me guessing what war this movie was set in, and well, by then, I knew I had to pick it up and watch it.

The opening scene shows Broderick's character staring out the window of an old train painted forest green with gold lettering, moving along a railroad trestle bridge over a huge body of water. Broderick is staring, while army recruits around him are talking and laughing. The music is the melodious yet sad "How High The Moon" by Pat Suzuki. The camera eventually pans out to give a stunning aerial view of the entire train and its locomotive puffing along toward its destination. You can watch the opening scenes to "Biloxi Blues" here on YouTube.

As the credits end and the music fades away, we see a close-up of Broderick's character's crestfallen face, as we learn it is 1945. He says, "I don't think much about the big war anymore, the one they call the second one, because the small wars that came after it, seem a lot bigger now than the big war was. Most people today look back at the big one with fond memories. It was, in a sense, an okay war. We knew why we were fighting it and we felt pretty proud of ourselves being in it. We liked the songs, we liked the uniforms. we liked the girls, we liked that everyone liked us. So looking back it really was one of the better wars. Except if you were just a kid, the year out of high school, heading south on a troop train, knowing that in two months, you'd be in some mud hole, fighting for your life."

As his voice-over continues, we see Broderick's character take up a fountain pen, open a school black-and-white speckled composition book, and begin to write. As the train continues on its journey, we hear the train whistle blow, and eventually fade out.

As the movie progresses and Broderick narrates, Broderick stars as 20-year-old Eugene Morris Jerome, a Jewish Brooklynite drafted into the U.S. Army during the last year of WWII. He is subsequently sent to Biloxi, Mississippi for basic training before being sent off to join the fight for the Allies. During training in Biloxi, Eugene has to deal with his fellow, often hostile recruits along with tough drill sergeant Merwin J. Toomey (Walken). Throughout training, Eugene, expecting the Army to be "dolls, doughnuts and USO dances," according to the movie cover, he learns about all walks of life and meets Daisy (Miller), along with a host of other characters.

Neil Simon is a master at making funny movies. The hilarious antics of Eugene's humor spices up the army and bootcamp life in Biloxi. Eugene's naivety is poignant early on, but he is transformed into the quintessential army man and the gentleman of the 1940s, who is captured by Miller and her heart. Walken, a brilliant actor, plays the role of Sgt. Toomey in hilarious fashion, eccentric but always annoyed by Eugene and the other recruits. Director Mike Nichols accomplished fantastic work with "Biloxi Blues," incorporating a great cast with Simon's semi-autobiographical play, the second of three parts.

I would highly recommend this film, especially if you are a Matthew Broderick or Christopher Walken fan. It is classic Simon comedy, set in the not-so-funny atmosphere of WWII bootcamp.

As always, I love any comments or suggestions for little-known movies to review!

Thanks for reading this week and stay tuned for a new review next week!

-Laura Beth :)

"Clockwatchers" (1997)

"Clockwatchers" Movie Poster

A couple of the greatest, funniest movies of all time released in the 1980s and 1990s were all about office life. Remember 198o's "9 to 5" with Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman? And how about 1999's "Office Space" with Gary Coleman and a whole crop of lazy office workers? Well, I bet you haven't heard of "Clockwatchers".

The seemingly-boring, yet goofy and hilarious trailer is posted on YouTube, where the voice announcer says, amongst the drab cubicles and bare walls, "In a world where nothing ever happens, a major catastrophe is about to strike." To be honest, when I first picked up this movie off the library shelf, I wasn't expecting much more than a silly 1990s movie about four girlfriends just trying to enjoy life and get out of working. However, seeing that this movie has been compared to "Taxi Driver" and "Working Girl," it changed my perspective a bit. Still, I was skeptical, but I said to myself to give it a try.

Winner of "Best Picture" at the Turin Film Festival and "Official Selection" at both the Sundance and Toronto Film Festival, this 1998 comedy-drama shows the life of four friends who are temping at an office building, taking viewers on the ride of all their adventures as friends, co-workers and eventually, enemies.

The movie opens with a ticking of a clock, with a solid black background and white script letters introducing the actors and actresses. Without any dialog, the first scene opens to a male receptionist reading a magazine with a nervous and impatient-looking woman, dressed in a gray sweater, pink blouse and brown skirt, standing on the other side of the counter. The ticking of the wall clock continues, showing it is almost 9 a.m. Once the clock turns to 9 a.m., the receptionist pushes the magazine aside, revealing the letters "GCA" behind him, asking the woman in a pleasant, orderly voice, "How can I help you?"

The beginning progresses with Iris (Toni Collette) beginning her job as a temporary office worker. On her first day, she waits for two hours until a woman worker escorts her to her cubicle, saying, "I hope you can type." Iris's duties are typing invoices on an ancient-looking typewriter and making copies of them. A mousy and quiet woman with large glasses, Iris works away, discarding the invoices with mistakes in her purse. She goes to make copies, where she meets Paula (Lisa Kudrow) jamming paper clips into the second copier so it will not work. Paula is much the opposite of Iris, dressed in a bright yellow and black shirt and short skirt set, flipping her blond hair around as Iris just tries to make the copies. Much of the same happens day in and day out, where, according to the back of the movie case, "Looking busy is a full time occupation."

Along the way, Iris and Paula become friends, and then they meet Margaret (Parker Posey) and Jane (Alanna Ubach). Margaret is the polar opposite of Iris, getting Iris to eventually stand up for herself and be more outspoken. Jane is the driven one, hoping for a full-time assistant position through temping at GCA. However, she is engaged to a jerk who is already cheating on her.

Eventually, friendships fall apart. Thefts begin to occur in the office, and everyone suspects the temps. Did the temps do it, or is someone else behind the stealing? Watch this movie to find out. With my initial skepticism, I surely didn't expect there to be a mystery wrapped up in this comedy-drama, but it certainly made "Clockwatchers" more entertaining and much more amusing than I originally imagined.

Thanks for reading! I willingly accept any comments on my reviews or suggestions for movies for me to review. My only requirements for movie suggestions: (a) it has to be a movie that I have never heard of or (b) a movie that you think not a lot of people --- especially college students --- haven't seen.

Tune in next week for a movie you probably haven't seen!

-Laura Beth :)

"Boys Don't Cry" (1999)

So the title of my first blog post in almost four months is a movie that I've wanted to see for such a long time, but never got around to it. I've literally picked it up from the Longwood University Greenwood Library movie shelf probably 10 times in my entire college career. Why I never got around to see it until now, I don't know. But I know one thing: I'm regretting waiting this long to finally see it.

This movie is based on the powerful, true story of transgender man Brandon Teena murdered on December 31, 1993 by male friends. Newcomers Hilary Swank and Chloe Sevigny command outstanding performances, along with Peter Sarsgaard , Matt McGrath, Brandon Sexton III, and Alicia Goranson as supporting characters.

Janet Maslin of The New York Times called this movie "The Best American Film of the Year!"

The movie opens with what appears to be a two-car race down a dark country highway. Music in the background is on beat with the lights of cars whizzing by and the reflection of headlights against windshields and mirrors. We see a boy's eyes in the rear-view mirror, before the flashing lights of a highway patrol car appear in the fog. The first words of dialog come from inside a trailer: "Short. Shorter hair."

Lonny (McGrath) is helping, reluctantly, to cut Brandon's (Swank) hair into a boy's style. In a plaid shirt, denim jeans and a brown belt, Brandon easily passes for a high-school-age guy, complete with cowboy hat and cigarette, as they make their way to the Broadway Skateland. Lonny gets even more agitated when Brandon says he has a date waiting inside, leaving Lonny stunned and confused in the crowded parking lot. As "You're Just What I Needed" plays in the background, their date progresses from casually skating around the rink into kissing in front of the girl's house. When she finally leaves to go inside, Brandon lifts his hands to the sky, as if thanking God for finally giving him a chance as a boy.

The next scene shows that the setting is Lincoln, Nebraska in 1993. A date's brother and his angry buddies are chasing Brandon into Lonny's trailer, shouting expletives, "You freak!" and "You f***ed my sister!" All the while, Lonny pins his sister to the wall yelling, "You are not a boy, that's what went wrong! You are not a boy," while Brandon looks exhilarated and happy. The scene ends with glass breaking, Lonny taking money from his Brandon's wallet, and saying, "You're not staying here anymore, Teena."

Brandon goes to the bar and strikes up a conversation with a girl named Candice (Goranson). She hates her name and is considering changing it, to which Brandon responds that changing your name "sometimes helps." As a drunk guy tries to sit next to Candice, Brandon tries to haul him off, resulting in a bar fight. Ex-convict John Lotter (Sarsgaard), Candice and Brandon run into an alley to escape the incoming cops. John notices that Brandon has "the tiniest hands" and that he'll have a shiner in the morning, to which Brandon seems very excited about.

The scenes are so well-done and portray the gritty side of the Midwest and countryside. The bars are dark, dank, full of pool tables and drunk guys. As Brandon converses with some of the guys at the pool tables, a guy yells for Lana (Sevigny). Brandon is dumbfounded, with a visible look of shock on his face.

As Brandon tries to make his way back to Lincoln and Lonny, he becomes romantically involved with Lana. Brandon is arrested and placed in the women's section of the Falls City jail. Lana bails him out and asks him why he was in the women's section. Brandon subsequently lies and says he was born a hermaphrodite and looking to get a sex-change operation sometime in the future. Lana then declares her love for him, "no matter what he is."

However, the ending is none too happy for Brandon and Lana, along with John, fellow ex-convict Tom Nissen (Sexton), and Candice.

The actors are absolutely fabulous and practically live and breathe their characters' personalities and show their true colors. Lonny is the overprotective brother. Brandon/Teena is the innocent teenager, looking and longing for love and acceptance as a boy. Candice and Lana are intriguing girls: Candice is the typical farm homemaker with a child. Lana is smitten with Brandon and wants to be with him, no matter what. However, though all their characters are bonded by seemingly-normal friendship, the events they all experience change their lives forever.

Tune in next week for another movie that you probably haven't heard of. I welcome all comments, questions and suggestions!

-Laura Beth :)