Rebecca Redshaw
Sofa Cinema
Published on Wed, Dec 30, 2009 by Rebecca RedshawRead More Sofa Cinema
Rebecca Redshaw's SOFA CINEMA: An Easy Guide to DVDs Volume 1 is available at your local bookstore, at the Sequim Gazette, and online at www.rebeccaredshaw.com.
The movies selected for review are the choice of the reviewer. Suggestions for DVD titles are welcome. Enjoy the movies.
2009 is winding down and it's time to reflect on the movies offered as entertainment for the year. Last week's movies were major releases and this week's documentary and hidden gems are some of the best. If you missed them when first released on DVD, add them to your gift list. Happy New Year!
DOCUMENTARY
"Pete Seeger: The Power of Song," rated PG
No movie has ever been more appropriately titled than "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song." The folk singer's music virtually plays throughout this 90-minute documentary, transitioning the singer's life from his early roots in folk music to union activist to popular recording artist to peace movement leader to conservationist; always the activist, always the consummate musician.
Since memories are triggered easily by music of the times, you may find it hard not to be nostalgic when you remember where you were when you first heard "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "If I Had a Hammer" and countless other tunes that this folk legend wrote or sang.
Jim Brown produced and directed this entertaining and informative documentary with timely comments from artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan, from Arlo Guthrie to the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines.
Seeger's on-camera comments are refreshing and the positive message of his music still holds true. "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" is a good movie, a good history lesson and a good reminder of the power of music.
HIDDEN GEMS
"The Lucky Ones," rated R
"The Lucky Ones" is neither a war movie nor a road picture. It isn't a buddy film or a chick flick. And it's all those things.
Cheever, Colee and T.F. (Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Peña) are soldiers on their way home from Iraq. Colee and T.F. are on 30-day leave to heal their battle wounds and Cheever, an older National Guardsman, had his back broken in noncombat accident (a Port-o-Potty fell off a delivery truck crushing three vertebrae). A power outage in New York City cancels all flights, so this motley trio rents a van and hits the road.
It can be boring driving long distances. It can be even more boring watching other people driving, but luckily writer/director Neil Burger (along with writer Dirk Wittenborn) serves up three diverse and interesting characters.
Peña's Sgt.T.K. is the epitome of a military man. He obeys and gives orders, he knows right from wrong, and he has a clear vision of his future. McAdams is refreshing as the private who is searching for acceptance. Robbins, an actor who rarely disappoints, aces the role of a too-old soldier watching the life he thought he was coming home to slip away.
"The Lucky Ones" isn't a war movie, a road picture, a buddy film or a chick flick. It's a film you won't want to miss.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," rated PG
Television detectives come in various shapes and sizes. There's tall and charismatic Angela Landsbury, gorgeous and intense Mariska Hargitay, brilliant and oozing Southern charm Kyra Sedgewick. And now available on DVD, there's a voluptuous and tenacious detective in Jill Scott.
Earning Grammys for her vocal gift as a soul singer proved only the beginning of the talent Scott has to offer. As the owner and lead detective in HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," Precious (played by Scott) combines all the qualities of the aforementioned slate of actors, plus the allure of the far off continent of Africa.
Precious is anything but stereotypical in her country of Botswana. She's a woman with property, a divorced woman with a business and a woman, who through clever wiles and wit, accepts all challenges. Her secretary, Grace, (played superbly by Anika Noni Rose) adds to the humor of the sometimes dire cases that stumble through their beaded door.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. A BBC/HBO production, seven episodes now are available on DVD and appropriate for family viewing. There are long winter nights ahead and no better way to escape than renting these DVDs and savoring good writing and good acting.
Rebecca Redshaw can be reached at r2redshaw@
hotmail.com.
The movies selected for review are the choice of the reviewer. Suggestions for DVD titles are welcome. Enjoy the movies.
2009 is winding down and it's time to reflect on the movies offered as entertainment for the year. Last week's movies were major releases and this week's documentary and hidden gems are some of the best. If you missed them when first released on DVD, add them to your gift list. Happy New Year!
DOCUMENTARY
"Pete Seeger: The Power of Song," rated PG
No movie has ever been more appropriately titled than "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song." The folk singer's music virtually plays throughout this 90-minute documentary, transitioning the singer's life from his early roots in folk music to union activist to popular recording artist to peace movement leader to conservationist; always the activist, always the consummate musician.
Since memories are triggered easily by music of the times, you may find it hard not to be nostalgic when you remember where you were when you first heard "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "If I Had a Hammer" and countless other tunes that this folk legend wrote or sang.
Jim Brown produced and directed this entertaining and informative documentary with timely comments from artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan, from Arlo Guthrie to the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines.
Seeger's on-camera comments are refreshing and the positive message of his music still holds true. "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" is a good movie, a good history lesson and a good reminder of the power of music.
HIDDEN GEMS
"The Lucky Ones," rated R
"The Lucky Ones" is neither a war movie nor a road picture. It isn't a buddy film or a chick flick. And it's all those things.
Cheever, Colee and T.F. (Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, and Michael Peña) are soldiers on their way home from Iraq. Colee and T.F. are on 30-day leave to heal their battle wounds and Cheever, an older National Guardsman, had his back broken in noncombat accident (a Port-o-Potty fell off a delivery truck crushing three vertebrae). A power outage in New York City cancels all flights, so this motley trio rents a van and hits the road.
It can be boring driving long distances. It can be even more boring watching other people driving, but luckily writer/director Neil Burger (along with writer Dirk Wittenborn) serves up three diverse and interesting characters.
Peña's Sgt.T.K. is the epitome of a military man. He obeys and gives orders, he knows right from wrong, and he has a clear vision of his future. McAdams is refreshing as the private who is searching for acceptance. Robbins, an actor who rarely disappoints, aces the role of a too-old soldier watching the life he thought he was coming home to slip away.
"The Lucky Ones" isn't a war movie, a road picture, a buddy film or a chick flick. It's a film you won't want to miss.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," rated PG
Television detectives come in various shapes and sizes. There's tall and charismatic Angela Landsbury, gorgeous and intense Mariska Hargitay, brilliant and oozing Southern charm Kyra Sedgewick. And now available on DVD, there's a voluptuous and tenacious detective in Jill Scott.
Earning Grammys for her vocal gift as a soul singer proved only the beginning of the talent Scott has to offer. As the owner and lead detective in HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," Precious (played by Scott) combines all the qualities of the aforementioned slate of actors, plus the allure of the far off continent of Africa.
Precious is anything but stereotypical in her country of Botswana. She's a woman with property, a divorced woman with a business and a woman, who through clever wiles and wit, accepts all challenges. Her secretary, Grace, (played superbly by Anika Noni Rose) adds to the humor of the sometimes dire cases that stumble through their beaded door.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. A BBC/HBO production, seven episodes now are available on DVD and appropriate for family viewing. There are long winter nights ahead and no better way to escape than renting these DVDs and savoring good writing and good acting.
Rebecca Redshaw can be reached at r2redshaw@
hotmail.com.
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