Staying with Ann’s mom in Redlands, we decide to watch a Disney movie on TV instead of renting something. Oops.

A man chooses Fight over Flight, against the wishes of his new wife. When no one will stand up for him, his wife sacrifices her beliefs to save him. Kind a bummer theme, but done with great attention to detail and deft storytelling.

I’m surprised there aren’t more movies that use dogs to comment on human beings. It can work SO well. Like Ammores Perros managed to use people’s relationships with their dogs dramatically, this movie excels at making fun of people through their dogs. What surprised me is how interesting the little spats people have are, no…

This movie lends itself to short, quippy descriptions. It’s a rejection of Hollywood glamour. A battle of the bands between Chopin and Tammy Wynette. A cynical advertisement for emigration to Alaska. An honest look at 70’s fashion. It came out the year after Midnight Cowboy, and has a similar feel and outlook, but falls a…

Visually and musically influenced by American gangster movies, this tale of a 1930’s gang in Shanghai made me wonder how much influence I was seeing from western films, and how much was actually present in China at that time. The story itself is not at all western. It moves slowly and thoughtfully, muting violence, examining…

This is a german movie about the fate of a hugely popular singing group started in 1927 called the Comedian Harmonists. Half of the members were Jewish, and the group was eventually split as Hitler came into power. The movie does a really good job of telling the story of the singers without focusing too…

At first I thought this movie was going be a bunch of droll intellectual dialog between stuffy characters, but it grew on me as everyone was introduced and established, especially the proud but penniless old Count of Albrit. Most of the action takes place outside Madrid in the late 19th century, and there are wonderful…

The definitive movie about addiction in modern life. Very artfully done, so much so that it’s almost as hard to face this movie as it is to face our own addictions. Ann & I found some recovery time necessary afterwards, with some quiet time outside and soothing music (all but the men in white coats).

It’s too bad this movie goes overboard with the melodrama, because it’s a worthy story. I’m glad to have watched it, mostly because it helps bring home the fact that racial killings, nationalization (or state-sponsored theft) of private property, and closed borders have been (and are) realities in other countries that destroy people and thier…

We curled up for a rest day to watch this, wanting something light. It was just right for that. Despite a predictable plot and characters, it is charmingly done and has some interesting historical and cultural perspective on the arrival of western culture in China in the form of cinema.